Last week, we asked you to celebrate the seasons using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:
FlamingHobo666shares a golden bird flying across a spring field in Ghost of Yōtei
gh_holy_mashshares fallen autumn leaves in Onimusha: Way of the Sword
raphxander_shares the castle covered in winter snow in Hogwarts Legacy
RhodWulfLeonshares yellow flowers blooming in Horizon Forbidden West
John_Varela_Rshares Lara ice-picking her way up a mountainside in Rise of the Tomb Raider
JDanny7_VPshares a summer evening on the water in Red Dead Redemption 2
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Marvel’s Wolverine SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on September 23, 2026
Next week, unleash ferocious shares from Marvel’s Wolverine using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
Control Resonant: How Remedy is going bigger and weirder with its paranatural horror sequel on September 24 https://ift.tt/Gd8hsxt
Control was just the beginning. The paranatural realm established in Remedy Entertainment’s sci-fi action adventure thriller gets a full sequel in Control Resonant on PlayStation 5, which leaves the confines of the mysterious Oldest House and ventures into a world of terrifying entities, mind-bending cityscapes, and an unfairly incarcerated man with incredible abilities who just wants to find his sister.
I went hands-on with the full game ahead of its September 24 launch to discover how strange things really get in a warped and broken Manhattan. Spoiler: weird doesn’t even cover it, in the best possible way.
A story which resonates
Not familiar with Control? Never fear – Resonant has a handy recap trailer to get you up to speed, told from the perspective of the first game’s protagonist, Jesse. And given her younger brother is only just discovering this new, unfamiliar world, he’s the perfect vessel for any exposition you need to understand the game’s story.
Control Resonant keeps the surreal, horror tinged sci-fi tone of the first game, but amps it up with a powerful tale of people who fall through society’s cracks. This doesn’t refer to just Dylan, but also other characters who have been discarded or deemed unworthy. It’s an emotional theme reflected through Dylan’s relationship with Jesse, and his handler Zoe, but you’re given the chance to make your mark on Dylan’s shy personality by choosing some of his dialogue in specific conversations.
In fact, one of my favourite elements of Control Resonant’s tale are the optional mini-quests where Dylan can recreate a scene based on a memory or childhood thought using relevant objects in the environment. In one instance, through rescuing a couple of inanimate cats, I crafted a feline picnic area that Dylan drew, speaking to a part of his tragically lost childhood.
The reluctant hero
In contrast to the confident and determined Jesse, Dylan is shy and hesitant, in part due to spending years both in a coma and incarcerated by the FBC. But as a fascinating counterbalance, Dylan’s powers give him far more mobility than his older sister, which is appropriate given he has the larger environment of Manhattan to explore, full of wide streets, high rooftops, and even gravity distorted Inception-like areas where the city has folded in and on top of itself.
Holding down the X button elevates Dylan high enough to reach the summit of some of the city’s shorter buildings after a double jump, and a tap of the Circle-mapped dodge button lets him air dash. And by pressing Circle twice, Dylan can also dash so quickly he leaves an afterimage trail in his wake. That’s not to mention the unlockable traversal abilities gained via ‘Jesse Quests’, like the super handy Reach grappling hook.
All of which is essential when it comes to surviving encounters with the freakish Hiss entities that roam the city. But what makes Dylan relatable is that despite his vast power, he possesses a childlike awkwardness that grounds his interactions. Even when using his impressive abilities, he staggers, wobbles, and even clumsily topples over after long falls; a stark contrast to the typical 3-point stance ‘superhero landings’ we’re all used to.
Combat tailored to your style
When it comes to combat, Control Resonant doesn’t spare your mistakes. Much like its predecessor, aimlessly lurching into fights quickly results in a blood-red game over screen. Dylan’s paranatural abilities are far more melee slanted than Jesse’s, which means battles against the Hiss are often face-to-face (that’s when they actually possess a face), and require a lot of dodging, and quick, powerful and precise strikes.
While using a bus shelter, abandoned trucks and other parts of the Manhattan environment as cover is a big part of keeping Dylan alive, his offensive capabilities and combos are key. Control Resonant’s dense and versatile upgrade paths for the disarmingly charismatic protagonist are central to Dylan’s entire range of attacks.
The first and secondary forms of his shapeshifting Aberrant weapon can be enhanced with status effects including burn and infect, as well as perks such as better cooldowns and increased damage to combo finishers. Further to that, Dylan’s bonus Combat Ability can change up your tactics as well, whether it’s a shield, a barrage of projectiles, or an ally formed via ambient junk in the environment, each featuring some nice resistance on the Adaptive Triggers to give them a sense of physical weight.
Combat Abilities consume Power, which can be regained via melee attacks, so conflict is all about strategy, balance and using L3 as much as possible to activate chainable execution moves on stunned foes.
With a default of six total first and secondary Aberrant to choose from, there are dozens of loadout combinations to personalise Dylan with, which can be unlocked, changed and tested by visiting the mysterious Gap, a limbo-like hub accessible by holding down on the Directional buttons. Add that to the choices available in the multiple skill trees, and Control Resonant expands massively on the combat options of its precursor.
Missions for all types of player
Although the substantial and twisted Manhattan is yours to explore, Control Resonant isn’t quite an open world. True, it’s a shift from Jesse’s adventure through the office building confines of the FBC headquarters, , but the game smartly gives you digestible and focused sandboxes to explore, aided by a variety of mission objectives. These ranged from being combat driven, such as clearing an area of Hiss or investigating a missing person, to helping construct and fixing a machine, with Zoe’s radio chatter audible via the DualSense Controller’s speaker during relevant tasks.
Handily, the game also lets you prioritise your missions, so I not only had the choice to progress the main story, but also focus on searching for Jesse or engaging in side stories. There are even arcade cabinets to unlock in each zone, where you can reward Dylan’s skills via timed challenges.
The openness doesn’t reduce the horror and thriller elements that made the first game so memorable, either. There are plenty of disturbing and creepy moments that sometimes even heavily shudder the DualSense Controller – from hallucinatory jump scare visions and sudden booming announcements from The Board, to reality warping taxis and the ground-shaking arrival of misshapen enemies that had me thinking twice about my choices. Actually, while I’m on the subject…
The Resonants are deeply unsettling
Control is well known for its Brutalist inspired architecture and unforgettable art design, which carries over here, but things get delightfully weird with its Resonants, the often colossal and intimidating boss encounters. The first one was a giant porcelain doll’s face using taxis and girders to bludgeon Dylan, and things only became more unpredictable from there. Another confrontation surprised me entirely by not being a traditional boss fight at all. I won’t spoil it here, but you’ll know it when you see it.
Co-op roguelite Shape of Dreams launches today on PS5 https://ift.tt/8fa0NJq
Hi everyone, PlayStation players! I’m Eunseop Shim, developer at Lizard Smoothie.
I’m thrilled to finally be sharing this news. Shape of Dreams launches today on PlayStation 5, arriving alongside The Starless Path — our 1st Anniversary Update, and the largest update we’ve ever made.
Watch our newly released launch trailer first, then read on to see what’s waiting deep inside the dream world.
Combat and Travelers
Shape of Dreams is fast-paced, spectacular and aggressive. You become one of completely different nine Travelers, and descend deep into the Rapids — a dream world that reshapes itself every time you enter. Once you’ve chosen your Traveler, it’s time to dive into the Rapids.
Memories and Essences
Combat is fast and flashy, but how you take control of the battlefield is entirely yours to decide.
Memories are the core abilities you equip. Essences slot into those Memories and fundamentally rewrite how the ability works.
Take a single-target attack Memory and attach an Essence that chains the ability to nearby enemies, or one that cuts its cooldown every time you land a hit, and it becomes something else entirely — an ability capable of wiping out an entire room. With more than 200 Memories and Essences available, no two runs are the same, and a run isn’t about finding the right answer.
It’s about deciding what to make out of what you’ve found. Digging up wild synergies nobody saw coming — that’s the real heart of this game.
Traveler Memory and Identity Memory
Every Traveler begins with two unique traits at the center of their build: the Traveler Memory, an active skill, and the Identity Memory, a passive. Before each run begins, you pick one of two options in each of these slots. Your choices let you go beyond simply stacking abilities on top and adjust the starting point itself.
Constellation
Every Traveler has their own Constellation to fill in, and progress isn’t lost when a run ends — it accumulates. Travelers who return to the Rapids again and again grow to heights a single descent could never reach. The Starless Path adds new Stars you can slot in.
Four-player co-op
You can play the whole game by yourself, or run it as a four-player online party. In co-op, builds lock into one another: one player freezes enemies while a teammate drives extra damage into the frozen targets, or someone pulls everything into a single point so the rest of the party can sweep it all at once.
Nobody is forced into a fixed role. Four independent builds collide and interlock on the battlefield until they come together into one perfect rhythm.
Cross-play is live at launch. PS5 lobbies are fully unified with PC and other consoles, so you can head straight out with friends without waiting around.
New in The Starless Path
Our largest update ever. Every improvement and piece of new content we’ve forged over the past year alongside more than 1.5 million players on Steam is fully baked into today’s PS5 version.
New Traveler Cetus joins as a ranged frost tank, locking down the battlefield with ice while keeping shields up on himself and everyone around him. If you want to be the reason your party survives a bad map, start with Cetus.
The Way of Stars is a new system where each Traveler’s story is woven together like a constellation. Travelers who reach the depths of the Rapids unlock hidden episodes and illustrations, and face a new ending along with the toughest final boss in the game. On top of that, existing world bosses gain threatening secondary attack patterns, turning out craftier and more lethal behavior at higher difficulties.
Fallen Stars and Faded Memories: A new feature in The Starless Path. The Identity Memory introduced above can now be swapped for one of 6 Universal Identity Memories, rather than being limited to your Traveler’s own. This opens up a completely new progression path for your Traveler!
A year ago, we asked players a single question. Would you risk everything to shape a dream? Today, we finally get to put that question to PlayStation players too.
(For Southeast Asia) PlayStation Plus Tokyo Game Show promotion starts 17 September https://ift.tt/VkwqtDG
Players who join PlayStation Plus during 17 September to 30 September can save up to 25% on a PS Plus 12-month membership!
Current PlayStation Plus members can save big on the remainder of their membership when upgrading a current plan to PlayStation Plus Extra or Deluxe.*
With PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe, get access to monthly games, exclusive discounts, online multiplayer, and hundreds of games through the Game Catalog and Classics Catalog, including hit titles like Helldivers 2, Ghost of Tsushima and many more. Explore the Classics Catalog with PlayStation Plus Deluxe, try select games like the epic Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 with Game Trials, and more.*
*Availability of Classics and Game Catalog varies over time, region/country, and plan. See https://ift.tt/fpCUqQ6 for details and updates on PlayStation Plus offerings. PlayStation Plus is an ongoing subscription subject to a recurring subscription fee taken automatically (at the then-current PS Store price) at the frequency you choose at purchase until cancellation. Terms apply: play.st/psplus-usageterms
A Close Quarters Look at Proto Man in Mega Man: Dual Override https://ift.tt/YK4GujC
At long last, the Blue Bomber is leaping back into action with Mega Man: Dual Override. However, he’s not the only one making a return in the highly anticipated game. Capcom’s latest evolution of the Mega Man series also features a second playable character!
Proto Man is making his comeback in Mega Man: Dual Override, and the fan favorite is armed with a powerful playstyle that’s entirely his own. Today, we’re excited to share a closer look at Proto Man and the unique arsenal he’ll unleash in this all-new adventure.
Proto Man’s return in Dual Override is something we’ve been teasing from the very jump. Fans may have heard his signature whistle in our reveal trailer, but now it’s official. Proto Man is back, and in the latest footage, you can catch the first look at him in action.
Alongside the arrival of Mega Man: Dual Override, next year marks the 40th anniversary of the series. It’s a long legacy, and Proto Man has been a key part of that story over the years. As Dr. Light’s first creation, he’s the legendary prototype who started it all. The mysterious red-clad robot originally debuted as an adversary in Mega Man 3. Over time, however, Proto Man has moved beyond his rivalry with the Blue Bomber. Now, he’s a trusted ally who appears when Mega Man is in trouble, lending a hand when it matters most.
It’s been a bit since Proto Man’s last appearance as a playable character in Mega Man 10, but he’s picked up some new tricks since then. Over the course of Dual Override, players will discover Proto Man and Mega Man each excel in different areas, possessing their own distinct strengths, combat philosophies, and even progression systems.
Contrasting with Mega Man’s longer-range approach to combat, Proto Man excels in close quarters. The wandering warrior has a more aggressive but technical playstyle that rewards rushing into the fray with precision. His iconic weapon, the Proto Buster, may have a relatively short range, but it packs a serious punch with high attack power at point blank.
The Proto Shield also returns in Dual Override, and this time around, players will have the chance to wield it on both offense and defense, as part of Proto Man’s special abilities. Unlike Mega Man, who replicates the powers of Robot Masters he defeats, Proto Man walks his own path. By defeating bosses over the course of the journey, he’ll unlock new attacks (many of which revolve around his shield), reinforcing his role as a close-range fighter.
Instead of switching between these tools one at a time, Proto Man will develop a versatile loadout of Shield Actions that can all be used on command to tap into more offense and mobility on the fly. However, this power comes at a cost. Overreliance on these skills puts a strain on Proto Man’s body, causing him to overheat with repeated use. So please be mindful of Proto Man’s temperature to help him stay cool in the heat of battle.
Choice and customization are also at the core of Dual Override. Beyond selecting between Mega Man and Proto Man, players can also enjoy added flexibility with the Custom Chip system – one of the brand-new gameplay features in Dual Override.
There are more than 50 chips in the game, each of which grants an active ability or passive effect, so you can experiment by creating tailor-made builds with countless combinations. Whether it’s more offense, survivability, or something else entirely, Custom Chips open up a whole new world of tactical options for Mega Man and Proto Man to explore.
Another one of the game’s key features (it’s in the title, after all!) is the Override system. This new addition allows the game’s dual protagonists to transcend their normal limits, unleashing tremendous power and amplifying their abilities for a short period of time.
You can catch a glimpse of Proto Man activating his explosive Override in the latest trailer. This dramatic transformation shouldn’t be undertaken lightly, though! Once Override ends, our heroes will find themselves in a more vulnerable state. So, it’s important to choose the perfect moment to pull the trigger on harnessing this high-risk, high-reward maneuver.
With two playable heroes, each with their own unique playstyles, and new features that add layers of strategy to the experience, fans can look forward to plenty of variety of depth in Mega Man: Dual Override when it launches in Spring 2027 for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. Until then, you can wishlist the game now on the PlayStation Store.
Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth launches on September 18 https://ift.tt/DfnZv4b
My name is Kristina, I work at the indie studio Hyper Games. We’re based in Norway, so you can be sure we know a lot about snow, which is great with our upcoming cozy adventure game, Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth.
It is our second Moomin game and it is coming to PlayStation 5 on September 18. Our first was the cozy spring and musical adventure Snufkin: Melody of Moominvalley.
The main character, Moomintroll, wakes up from his hibernation, but winter is still lingering and no one else in the family is ready to rouse from their slumber. Our reluctant hero then decides to bring back spring to wake everyone up and get his best friend, Snufkin, back to Moominvalley.
The Moomins were created by Tove Jansson, and the first story was published in 1945. Having lived through World War II, Tove created a world away from war and facism. The stories of the Moomins reflect life itself and contain a mixture of darkness and humor, and how to get along with it all.
Tove was a private, but courageous person and in addition to war, she lived through a period where having a same-gender partner was illegal. She used concealed language and creative storytelling to express love in her stories. For example, in our game you meet a character named Too-Ticky, which Tove created based on her life partner, Tuulikki Pietilä.
The interactive storybook
It has been such a joy creating games from the stories made by Tove Jansson and we have done our best to bring to life a world that reflects both the softness and emotional complexity of the Moomins.
For Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth, we wanted to create a game that gives the players a storybook atmosphere with an aquarelle look, inspired by Tove’s own visual works. To achieve this we combined 3D shapes with proper 2D painted elements, using several shading and texturing tricks to achieve a coherent mix of the two. It is made to look like the watercolors have tinted the paper, but imperfectly like it typically can be.
We try to do as much as possible in our game development engine Unity, with shader and texture work, as this makes for a concise look of it all.
You can find references to Tove’s art, characters and stories in Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth. Did you see the carpet in the screenshot above? Let’s take a closer look.
You can find both the Ancestor, and the Hattifatteners on the carpet.
And then we have a beautiful red chair in the living room, and an X-ray of Moomintroll in his bedroom that some fans might recognise.
The snow of Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth
As mentioned, to get the storybook look, we have mostly flat structures, landscapes and items in the game, but we wanted the snow to feel like it has weight and move in relation to Moomintroll.
The game’s terrain is created from simple shapes, and a deformable layer of snow is added. The layer will respond to interaction from characters and other elements and give the feel of actually walking through the snow.
In the engine it looks like this…
In the screenshot above, you can also see bushes that are flat and maybe look similar to stage props used in theater? Clever use of perspective and camera angles are possibly the closest we come to creating magic.
The result are areas where soft snow gets brought up and thrown down as weighted and textured substances. It looks perfect to make snow figurines with.
Available from September 18
Thank you for reading our little art deep dive, we hope you find a lot of fun art and details when playing through Moomintroll: Winter’s Warmth and feel the hygge, as we would say, of Moominvalley.
We leave you with concept art for a dark and cold winter forest and Moomintroll who realizes he is braver than he thought.
Silent Hill: Townfall creators break down PS5 features, out September 25 https://ift.tt/jfbE8Zr
Silent Hill: Townfall incorporates multiple elements that draw players into its tense, unnerving world. In this post, we would like to present what developer Screen Burn focused on to realize this level of immersion, as well as how PS5 features are integrated in the game’s experience.
I would first like to give a brief introduction of the game for players who are learning about Silent Hill: Townfall for the first time. This is the first full-length game in the series that is presented in first-person, and this allows players to be truly immersed in the world that the game has to offer. The limited scope of vision in this perspective turns sound into a crucial element, and 3D audio convincingly recreates nearby sounds.
Simon, the protagonist, drifts through the cold seas and shores up on St. Amelia, wandering through the empty town with nothing but the objective to “put things right” to guide him. Replacing the iconic radio is a device called the CRTV, which players will hold in one hand to scout roaming monsters, search for clues to puzzles, and explore the island.
Screen Burn are masters of narrative-driven puzzles, and players will get to experience the story not just through cinematics alone, but also through various puzzles in a fragmented fashion. Scattered secrets and pieces of the story come together to gradually reveal a gruesome past. As a very socially conscious story in the series, the game will present a deep narrative between the individual and the corporate as well as the individual and society at large.
Building immersive horror
Generally, Silent Hill: Townfall’s style of horror is less about jump scares and gore, and more about tension and escalating uncertainty. Building that tension, sustaining it, and releasing just at the right time is one of the secret ingredients in all good horror. When that horror is interactive, and the player is free to explore at their own pace, you need complex visual, auditory and tactile systems to understand the current experience, deliver crafted moments, and react to the player’s actions.
Sound from all around
The sound design, background audio, and musical score all work together in harmony to create a truly nightmarish soundscape that conjures images and scenarios in the player’s head, even when they can’t see anything unusual in front of them.
Working with Audio Director Byron Bullock, and composer Pilotpriest, the team have gone to great efforts to ensure that the sound of the environments and its horrific inhabitants lift the believability when navigating the town, all delivered through complex and finely-tuned custom 3D audio systems, that truly give you a sense of depth and space.
A believable world to explore
St. Amelia is densely layered with true-to-the-era details, all drawn from our developers’ own experiences.
The town isn’t as dilapidated as many fans of the series will be used to. Instead, St. Amelia feels like a place that has recently gone through its own trauma, rather than left to rot after countless years of abandonment. Its world is recently lived in, and it’s deeply important to the story that players get a sense of the community that inhabits the island, and ultimately care about the issues it has faced, and what it stands to lose. That level of detail and storytelling in the environment pulls players in, and doesn’t let go.
Ray-traced lighting helps to not only paint these scenes in beautifully soft ambient lighting from the foggy world outside, but it also means the environments react believably with your flashlight, flashing alarm lights, or the sudden shocking change from the blue-grey fog to the bright red Otherworld, layered in pipes, alarm lights, broken buildings and stained walls.
Horror in your hands
The last piece of the puzzle is in your hands as you play. Using the array of features on the DualSense Controller, we give every swing of a weapon, pull of a trigger, or thud of a heavy footstep from a nearby enemy a tactile sensation via Haptic Feedback. You can feel the weight of the trigger of each weapon uniquely via Adaptive Triggers. You can even use the Motion Controls of the controller to fine tune the CRTV, or give aiming your firearms an intuitive feel, all customizable in the game’s menu options.
Ultimately, all of the lengths we go to are designed to have you forget you are playing a game, and instead immerse you in the moment, scared to move on, but compelled to continue. That rich, atmospheric experience complements the desire to know what truly unfolded in St. Amelia, and what Simon, Zoe and Richard have to do with it all…
Silent Hill: Townfall is a brand-new, first-person Silent Hill brought to life by the PS5. We hope players will find their minds flooded with all sorts of thoughts and emotions that come from being a member of the complex modern-day society. Please experience for yourself the deep contemplations and narrative journey that Simon embarks upon. The game launches on September 25, but we will continue to share updates on Silent Hill: Townfall, so stay tuned.
