Cultural lessons for Ghost of Yōtei https://ift.tt/Q8qWDOs
As we established in our previous article, visiting Japan was an important part of creating the world of Ghost of Yōtei.
The Sucker Punch reference gathering team from left to right: Nate Fox, Ryuhei Katami, Jason Connell, Ian Ryan, Joanna Wang, Rob Davis.
Sucker Punch is an American company and we are well aware that we don’t naturally come equipped with the cultural knowledge to bring feudal Japan to life. To do that, we need a lot of help. Thankfully we are also part of PlayStation, for Ghost of Tsushima we were fortunate enough to receive steady feedback from our colleagues in Tokyo. As you might have guessed, the same is true for Ghost of Yōtei. Only this time we’ve broadened our roster of advisers.
When setting a game in Hokkaido we knew a crucial element was doing our best to represent Ainu culture in a respectful way. Thankfully we’d connected with an Ainu cultural adviser before setting out on our reference gathering trip and she was nice enough to introduce us to her family. The group of us traveled up a nearby mountain and got to know each other while foraging for vegetables. It was great, all of us from Sucker Punch stopped taking pictures and got our hands dirty. We started really looking at the plants beneath our feet. It was a lovely way to make new friends and start our journey in learning about Ainu culture. That night we resolved to put foraging into our new game, we wanted players to be able to share the experience we were lucky enough to have experienced.
Yukiko Kaizawa leads the Sucker Punch team foraging for vegetables.
Yukiko Kaizawa shows Joanna Wang and myself how to sort the vegetables in preparation for turning them into lunch.
We also had the opportunity to explore the displays in the Nibutani Ainu Museum while talking with our adviser. This really helped us get a sense for sorts of objects we’d see in the game and how they were used.
Nibutani Ainu Museum.
Exploring the Oshima Peninsula also gave us a terrific look into the lives of the Matsuamae clan who were there in strength during the time period our game takes place. It was interesting to see the proliferation of cherry trees on the peninsula, brought there from Honshu, yet uncommon in the rest of the island. That really told the story of how sparsely settled Hokkaido was in 1603 by the Wajin people. We’ve tried to mimic that quality in the game, leaning into areas of wilderness between homesteads. Of course down on the Oshima Peninsula clan Matsumae were very present, bringing with them a feeling of Honshu.
Clan Matsumae’s castle.
Our producer, Ryuhei Katami, took us all around Honshu to educate us on Edo culture. Here are some photos we took.
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My favorite stop was the impressive Nikko Toshogu Shrine. While there we obtained a blessing for the game from the enshrined deity, Tokugawa Ieyasu. The Omamori and Ema we received sit proudly in our studio on a high shelf facing south. They’re a constant reminder of the time we spent on the research trip. While our version of Hokkaido is fictional, the feeling of authenticity we strive to create has roots in those real world experiences.
Sucker Punch’s office
For anyone reading this, thinking that they might want to visit Hokkaido, my advice to you is: do it. Japan is a place so many of us go in our imaginations, to actually be there is a dream come true.
FBC: Firebreak developers discuss the inspiration and challenges creating their first multiplayer title https://ift.tt/RZsjdIX
Things are warming up as Remedy’s FBC: Firebreak approaches its June 17 launch on PlayStation 5 as part of the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog. We chatted with Communications Director Thomas Puha, Lead Level Designer Teemu Huhtiniemi, Lead Designer/Lead Technical Designer Anssi Hyytiainen, and Game Director/Lead Writer Mike Kayatta about some of the fascinating and often hilarious development secrets behind the first-person shooter.
PlayStation Blog: First, what PS5 and PS5 Pro features did you utilize?
Thomas Puha: We’ll support 3D Audio, and we’re prioritising 60 FPS on both formats. We’re aiming for FSR2 with an output resolution of 2560 x 1440 (1440p) on PS, and PSSR with an output resolution of 3840×2160 (4K) on PS5 Pro.
Some of the DualSense wireless controller’s features are still a work in progress, but we’re looking to use haptic feedback in a similar way to our previous titles, such as Control and Alan Wake 2. For example, we want to differentiate the weapons to feel unique from each other using the adaptive triggers.
Going into the game itself, were there any other influences on its creation outside of Control?
Mike Kayatta: We looked at different TV shows that had lots of tools for going into a place and dealing with a crisis. One was a reality show called Dirty Jobs, where the host Mike Rowe finds these terrible, dangerous, or unexpected jobs that you don’t know exist, like cleaning out the inside of a water tower.
We also looked at PowerWash Simulator. Cleaning dirt is oddly meditative and really fulfilling. It made me wish a zombie attacked me to break the Zen, and then I’d go right back to cleaning. And we were like, that would be pretty fun in the game.
Were there specific challenges you faced given it’s your first multiplayer game and first-person shooter?
Anssi Hyytiainen: It’s radically different from a workflow point of view. You can’t really test it alone, necessarily, which is quite a different experience. And then there are times when one player is missing things on their screen that others are seeing. It was like, “What are you shooting at?”
What’s been yourfavoritemoments developing the game so far?
Teemu Huhtiniemi: There were so many. But I like when we started seeing all of these overlapping systems kind of click, because there’s a long time in the development where you talk about things on paper and have some prototypes, but you don’t really see it all come together until a point. Then you start seeing the interaction between the systems and all the fun that comes out of that.
Kayatta: I imagine there’s a lot of people who probably are a little skeptical about Remedy making something so different. Even internally, when the project was starting. And once we got the trailer out there, everyone was so nervous, but it got a pretty positive reaction. Exposing it to the public is very motivating, because with games, for a very long time, there is nothing, or it is janky and it’s ugly and you don’t find the fun immediately.
Were there any specific ideals you followed while you worked on the game?
Kayatta: Early on we were constantly asking ourselves, “Could this only happen in Control or at Remedy?” Because the first thing you hear is, “Okay, this is just another co-op multiplayer shooter” – there’s thousands of them, and they’re all good. So what can we do to make it worth playing our game? We were always saying we’ve got this super weird universe and really interesting studio, so we’re always looking at what we could do that nobody else can.
Huhtiniemi: I think for me it was when we chose to just embrace the chaos. Like, that’s the whole point of the game. It’s supposed to feel overwhelming and busy at times, so that was great to say it out loud.
Kayatta: Yeah, originally we had a prototype where there were only two Hiss in the level, but it just didn’t work, it wasn’t fun. Then everything just accidentally went in the opposite direction, where it was super chaos. At some point we actually started looking at Overcooked quite a bit, and saying, “Look, just embrace it. It’s gonna be nuts.”
How did you finally decide on the name FBC: Firebreak, and were there any rejected, alternate, or working titles?
Kayatta: So Firebreak is named after real world firebreaks, where you deforest an area to prevent a fire from spreading, but firebreaks are also topographical features of the Oldest House. And so we leaned into the term being a first responder who stops fires from spreading. The FBC part came from not wanting to put ‘Control’ in the title, so Control players wouldn’t feel like they had to detour to this before Control 2, but we didn’t want to totally detach from it either as that felt insincere.
An external partner pitched a title. They were very serious about talking up the game being in the Oldest House, and then dramatically revealed the name: Housekeepers. I got what they were going for, but I was like, we cannot call it this. It was like you were playing as a maid!
FBC: Firebreak launches on PS5 June 17 as a day on PlayStation Plus Game Catalog title.
PlayStation Plus Game Catalog for June: FBC: Firebreak, Battlefield 2042, Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 and more https://ift.tt/J3YZWsz
This month, join forces to tackle the paranormal crises of a mysterious federal agency under siege in the cooperative first-person shooter FBC: Firebreak, lead your team to victory in the iconic all-out warfare of Battlefield 2042, test your skills as a new Fazbear employee managing and maintaining the eerie pizzeria of Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 or live for the thrill of the hunt in the realistic hunting open world theHunter: Call of the Wild. All of these titles and more are available in June’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup*.
Meanwhile, PS2’s Deus Ex: The Conspiracy merges action-RPG, stealth and FPS gameplay in PlayStation Plus Premium.
All titles will be available to play on June 17.
PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium | Game Catalog
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FBC: Firebreak | PS5
Launching on the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog this month is FBC: Firebreak, a cooperative first-person shooter set within a mysterious federal agency under assault by otherworldly forces. Return to the strange and unexpected world of Control or venture in for the first time in this standalone, multiplayer experience. As a years-long siege on the agency’s headquarters reaches its boiling point, only Firebreak—the Bureau’s most versatile unit—has the gear and the guts to plunge into the building’s strangest crises, restore order, contain the chaos, and fight to reclaim control. Join forces with friends or strangers to tackle each job as a well-oiled crew. Survival in this three-player cooperative FPS hinges on quick thinking and seamless teamwork as you scramble to tame raging paranatural crises across a variety of unexpected locations.
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Battlefield 2042 | PS4, PS5
Battlefield 2042 is a first-person shooter that marks the return to the iconic all-out warfare of the franchise. With the help of a cutting-edge arsenal, engage in intense, immersive multiplayer battles. Lead your team to victory in both large all-out warfare and close quarters combat on maps from the world of 2042 and classic Battlefield titles. Find your playstyle in class-based gameplay and take on several experiences comprising elevated versions of Conquest and Breakthrough. Explore Battlefield Portal, a platform where players can discover, create, and share unexpected battles from Battlefield’s past and present.
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Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 | PS5
Five Nights at Freddy’s: Help Wanted 2 is the sequel to the terrifying VR experience that brought new life to the iconic horror franchise. As a brand new Fazbear employee you’ll have to prove you have what it takes to excel in all aspects of Pizzeria management and maintenance. Find out if you have what it takes to be a Fazbear Entertainment Superstar!
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theHunter: Call of the Wild | PS4
Discover an atmospheric hunting game like no other in this realistic, stunning open world – regularly updated in collaboration with its community. Immerse yourself in the single player campaign, or share the ultimate hunting experience with friends. Roam freely across meticulously crafted environments and explore a diverse range of regions and biomes, each with its own unique flora and fauna. Experience the intricacies of complex animal behavior, dynamic weather events, full day and night cycles, simulated ballistics, highly realistic acoustics, and scents carried by the wind. Select from a variety of weapons, ammunition, and equipment to create the ultimate hunting experience. With a diverse range of wildlife, including Jackrabbits, Mallard Ducks, Black Bears, Elk, and Moose, you will need to strategically match prey to weaponry to successfully track, lure, and ambush animals based on their unique behavior and environment.
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We Love Katamari Reroll + Royal Reverie | PS4, PS5
We Love Katamari Damacy, the second title in the Katamari series released in 2005, has been remastered with redesigned graphics and a revamped in-game UI. The King of the Cosmos accidentally destroyed all the stars in the universe. He sent his son, the Prince, to Earth and ordered him to create a large katamari. Roll the katamari to make it bigger and bigger, rolling up all the things on the earth. You can roll up anything from paper clips and snacks in the house, to telephone poles and buildings in the town, to even living creatures such as people and animals. Once the katamari is complete, it will turn into a star that colors the night sky. You cannot roll up anything larger than the current size of your katamari, so the key is to think in advance about the order in which you roll things up around the stage. In Royal Reverie, roll up katamari as the King of All Cosmos in his boyhood!
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Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes | PS4, PS5
Directed and produced by the creator of treasured JRPG series Suikoden, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes provides a contemporary take on the classic JRPG experience. In the land of Allraan, two friends from different backgrounds are united by a war waged by the power-hungry Galdean Empire. Explore a diverse, magical world populated by humans, beastmen, elves and desert people. Meet and recruit over 100 unique characters, each with their own vivid voice acting and intricate backstories. Over four years in the making, and funded by the most successful Kickstarter videogame campaign of 2020, Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes features turn-based battles, a staggering selection of heroes and a thrilling story to discover.
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Train Sim World 5 | PS4, PS5
The rails are yours in Train Sim World 5! Take on new challenges and new roles as you master the tracks and trains of iconic cities across 3 new routes. Immerse yourself in the ultimate rail hobby and embark on your next journey. Be swept off your feet with the commuter mayhem of the West Coast main line with the Northwestern Class 350, the twisting Kinzigtalbahn with the tilting DB BR 411 ICE-T, or the sun-soaked tracks of the San Bernardino line and its Metrolink movements, powered by the MP36 & F125.
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Endless Dungeon | PS4, PS5
Endless Dungeon is a unique blend of roguelite, tactical action, and tower defense set in the award-winning Endless Universe. Plunge into an abandoned space station alone or with friends in co-op, recruit a team of shipwrecked heroes, and protect your crystal against never-ending waves of monsters… or die trying, get reloaded, and try again. You’re stranded on an abandoned space station chock-full of monsters and mysteries. To get out you’ll have to reach The Core, but you can’t do that without your crystal bot. That scuttling critter is your key to surviving the procedurally generated rooms of this space ruin. Sadly, it’s also a fragile soul, and every monster in the place wants a piece of it. You’re going to have to think quick, plan well, place your turrets, and then… fireworks! Bugs, bots and blobs will stop at nothing to turn you and that crystal into dust and debris. With a large choice of weapons and turrets, the right gear will be the difference between life and death.
PlayStation Plus Premium
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Deus Ex: The Conspiracy | PS4, PS5
This is an emulation of the classic PS2 title, Deus Ex: The Conspiracy, playable on PS4 and PS5 for the first time. The year is 2052 and the world is a dangerous and chaotic place. Terrorists operate openly – killing thousands; drugs, disease and pollution kill even more. The world’s economies are close to collapse and the gap between the insanely wealthy and the desperately poor grows ever wider. Worst of all, an age- old conspiracy bent on world domination has decided that the time is right to emerge from the shadows and take control.
*PlayStation Plus Game Catalog and PlayStation Plus Premium/Deluxe lineups may differ by region. Please check PlayStation Store on release day.
Gran Turismo World Series 2025 Round 1 recap – great racing in London https://ift.tt/wVbMEIx
A sold-out 700-strong crowd at the BBC’s famous TC1 studio in West London’s Television Centre was treated to an awesome demonstration of racing on Gran Turismo 7 on Saturday, 7 June. With a display of stunning cars gracing the Helios Circle outside the iconic venue, and a big screen relaying the action to those without a ticket, there was a festival feel as some of the world’s fastest SIM racers gathered in the UK’s capital city for Round 1 of the Gran Turismo World Series 2025.
First up was the Manufacturers Cup, a team competition in which the drivers represent their favourite automotive marque. Present for Round 1 were the team members who had qualified online for the Asia-Oceania region. The combination was Gr.3 cars racing around the Tokyo Expressway – South Counterclockwise.
First blood went to Team BMW’s Seiya Suzuki who took pole position in a two-part qualifying session. Lining up alongside him was two-time Manufacturers Cup champion Takuya Miyazono representing Team Subaru. Lined up in P3 was Team Porsche’s 911 RSR, driven by Shota Sato.
The Grand Final saw strategy play a decisive role. Teams were required to make one pit stop and had to choose between soft- and medium-compound tires. The early stages of the race saw drivers hold their positions, assessing both the track and their rivals. But once all the competitors had completed their sole pit stops, the tone shifted dramatically. The gloves came off, transforming the contest into an all-out battle royale.
Lap 16 delivered a moment to remember. A fierce midfield battle involving multiple cars erupted, and in the chaos, the Porsche 911 RS was nudged from behind, sending it to the back of the field and effectively ending its race. The race culminated in a tense final showdown between Sato in the BMW and Miyazono in the Subaru. The two drivers traded the lead several times, but it was Miyazono who executed a flawless pass in his BRZ GT300 at the last hairpin, slipping by Sato’s M6 GT3 to take the checkered flag and the six championship points. BMW settled for five points, while Team Mazda, led by veteran Ryota Kokubun in the RX-VISION GT3, claimed the final podium spot and four points.
In the Nations Cup the Le Mans 24H track provided a fitting setting for the Sprint Race, a week before the 93rd running of the famous race, and the Aston Martin Valkyrie the right car for the job. Spaniard Jose Serrano kept countryman Pol Urra at bay with a victory that rewarded him with pole position for the Gran Finale.
As is tradition in the Gran Turismo World Series, the drivers would switch to the Red Bull X2019 Competition cars adorned in their nations’ colours for the Grand Final race run around the reverse configuration of Gran Turismo 7’s Gran Valley Highway. Nearly every driver on the grid chose to start the 20-laps on medium-compound tyres. However, the Netherlands’ Kaj de Bruin, starting from P10, opted to gamble on softs. His bold strategy paid off early, propelling him into the lead by the fourth lap. Yet he struggled to maintain the pace under relentless pressure from Serrano, Urra, Kylian Drumont of France, Takuma Miyazono and Takuma Sasaki of Japan, and Italy’s Valerio Gallo.
Exceeding 320 km/h on the straights, the drivers left nothing on the table. Tyre strategy played a pivotal role: de Bruin made two stops, while most others managed with just one. Miyazono and Drumont chose hard-compound tires for their final stints, a gamble against the favoured mediums and softs. In the closing laps, a fierce wheel-to-wheel battle for the lead unfolded between the two Spaniards, each pushing the other to the limit. The fantastic sold-out crowd watching the action live was on the edge of their seats, gasping and cheering with every turn and attempted overtake.
Ultimately, Serrano emerged victorious, crossing the finish line first by just over two-tenths of a second. Urra settled for 2nd, with Gallo completing the podium in 3rd.
With a spectacular Round 1 complete, the action moves from London to Berlin where Round 2 will be hosted in the Uber Eats Music Hall close to the East Side Gallery.
Tickets are on sale now here. Round 3 tickets for The Orpheum Theatre in Los Angeles are also available here. Add the Gran Turismo World Series to your calendar and come and join us for more thrilling action.
Round 1 – London, UK | Saturday, 7 June
Round 2 – Berlin, Germany | Saturday, 20 September
Round 3 – Los Angeles, USA | Saturday, 8 November
World Finals – Fukuoka, Japan | Saturday, 20 and Sunday, 21 December
Summer Game Fest 2025 hands-on report https://ift.tt/STbMn6e
The PlayStation Blog crew returned to Los Angeles to attend another Summer Game Fest Play Days. The team got some one-on-one time with a diverse selection of upcoming PS5 games. Here are the highlights!
Crimson Desert | Coming 2025
Publisher: Pearl Abyss | Developer: Pearl Abyss | PS5
Crimson Desert is bringing deep, complex melee combat to its epic open world. In combat, players can chain together kicks, grapples, strong slices, leaping attacks, and much more in a deep, layered combat system that feels more like Soul Calibur than Dark Souls. The action is fast and acrobatic, and builds in ferocity when you imbue your strongest melee attacks with powerful elemental magic like ice and thunder. Or shoot a flare to trigger an incoming artillery attack to annihilate hordes of your melee opponents.
More broadly, I spotted some familiar features of the open-world medieval-fantasy genre, like summoning a horse to cover ground more quickly, liberating enemy strongholds, and epic boss battles. The open world is huge, with Pearl Abyss claiming it will take more than two hours to traverse the game’s continent on horseback. If you love open-world games and appreciate deep, layered melee combat, this is one to watch.
– Sid Shuman
Crisol: Theater of Idols | Coming 2025
Publisher: Blumhouse Games | Developer: Vermila Studios | PS5
Crisol: Theater of Idols takes fighting to the death to a whole new level, as you try to survive against unholy animatronic horrors across the streets of a reimagined steampunk Spain using your own blood as ammo. Exploring the cursed corners of Tormentosa becomes an exercise in restraint and stealth as every reload drains directly from your own lifesource. Luckily, protagonist Gabriel can also absorb blood from enemies and corpses he encounters along the way, but it’s important to stay calm and shoot with purpose – a not-so-easy task as the jerking and twitching weapon-wielding statues of saints rush towards you. I triumphantly made it to the end of my gameplay segment with a single drop of blood left, ready to learn more of what this beautifully twisted world has in store for Gabriel.
-Kristen Zitani
Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 | Coming August 5
Publisher: Sega | Developer: CyberConnect2 | PS5
With Demon Slayer: Kimetsu No Yaiba The Movie: Infinity Castle coming in September and the success of the anime. Demon Slayer -Kimetsu no Yaiba- The Hinokami Chronicles 2 will be released at a great time for fans of the series. The Hinokami Chronicles 2 follows the events of The Entertainment District, The Swordsmith Village, and The Hashira Training arcs featuring more in-depth battle mechanics and cinematic setpieces in the single-player mode. The new gear system allows players to tweak each Demon Slayer with different skills and traits to reflect their playstyle regardless of the Demon Slayer’s breathing style.
Versus Mode feels like its own separate game instead of an optional multiplayer mode. All nine Hashira will be playable along with new Upper Rank demons in its 40+ fighting roster. The new assist and combo system is on par with modern fighting game standards and something I can see some players focusing on exclusively.
-O’Dell Harmon Jr.
Directive 8020 | Coming October 2
Publisher: Supermassive Games | Developer: Supermassive Games | PS5
Supermassive Games has always understood that some of the best moments in horror come from well-intentioned human decisions. Branching choices and butterfly effects have been the mainstay of the Dark Pictures games, where the horror tropes may seem familiar, but your actions and choices ultimately craft the scares and thrills. Directive 8020 charts a course for space, and immediately sets the tone that no one is safe. I played through a small gameslice twice this weekend. In my session, crew members came in contact with cloned versions of themselves, which soon morphed into hulking horrors.
The encounter set off a chain of events, an argument amongst the crew, and finally a choice – can everyone here be trusted, or is one of us a clone? The choice I made in the first playthrough opened the door to new discussions and revealed secrets; the second playthrough saw a more violent conclusion and a branch possibly closed off. Luckily Supermassive has included the Turning Points system, a branching chart of the key decision moments that can shift the story. As you play, you can access this chart and move back to major decisions, allowing you another chance to craft your story again and again.
-Kristen Zitani
FBC: Firebreak | Coming June 17
Publisher: Remedy | Developer: Remedy | PS5
Fans of quirky co-op shooters should take note of FBC: Firebreak, which launches day one into PlayStation Plus Extra in mid-June. Set in the paranormal world of Control, Firebreak pits players against hordes of otherworldly Hiss invaders and a menagerie of disturbing new enemies while accomplishing mission objectives that require cooperative teamwork. Each player selects a starting Crisis Kit, which grants standard firearms and bombs to blast enemies, plus a signature tool that can magnify the abilities of teammates. One their own, the effects of these tools are weak, but stack them together and you’ll inflict impressive damage or manipulate the environment.
One mission tasked us with destroying sinister sticky notes littering the landscape. As one of my teammates drenched the stickies with water blasts, I zapped them with electrical attacks to quickly vaporize them — saving time and ammo. The battle raged through a large office complex as we contended with the stickie notes, rampaging Hiss enemies, and ultimately the big boss encounter in Sticky Ricky. This is one shooter where you’ll need to constantly collaborate with your teammates’ attacks to succeed, and it’s a satisfying feeling when the systems all come together. Post-launch content will be available for no additional cost, with major post-launch updates scheduled for this fall and winter. Firebreak is a unique, chaotic take on the co-op genre; I’ll definitely be playing more come launch.
-Sid Shuman
Grave Seasons | Coming 2025
Publisher: Blumhouse Games | Developer: Perfect Garbage | PS5
Cozy horror blooms in Grave Seasons, a narrative farming sim with a terrifying serial killer twist. As you harvest crops and build relationships with your (extremely attractive) neighbors, supernatural horrors soon paint your new town Ashenridge red, setting you on a path to solving which townsperson is behind the latest crop of death. Every time you play, a random townsperson is selected as the killer, meaning this mystery can take new twists every session – and yes, the killer is romanceable. While I didn’t have time to watch my planted carrot seeds mature, the clues I gathered from the first deadly encounter had me ready to start a new day and see how this mystery would grow.
-Kristen Zitani
Mixtape | Coming 2025
Publisher: Annapurna Interactive | Developer: Beethoven & Dinosaur | PS5
Annapurna’s Mixtape understands that music is more than some notes and sounds — it’s a force that can color and shape memories, relationships, and dreams. No one understands this more than fourth-wall-breaking protagonist Stacy Rockford, who has crafted the perfect playlist to a final high school adventure with her friends. Whether it was skating down scenic Pacific coast highways to DEVO where Stacy claps along to the beat between tricks, head banging through memories of late night drives to Silverchair, or even recreating a disgustingly detailed first kiss (some songs can be ruined by a memory after all…), Beethoven & Dinosaur has crafted a visual and sonic experience that I am ready to press Play on.
-Kristen Zitani
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance | Coming August 29
Publisher: Sega | Developer: Sega, Lizardcube | PS5
The Shinobi franchise returns with Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, an action title full of personality. This latest installment sees Joe Musashi clashing with the evil ENE Corp, who wish to take over the world and destroy the Musashi clan. Along with the beautiful artwork, the game focuses on exploring and backtracking once you gain new abilities and acquire new ninpo techniques to take on your enemies.
The slight shift works well as you explore with your ninja tools and find new paths and secrets that fit well with a profession that does its best work in the shadows. Combat was fun and swift, with special finishes and items to mix things up or get yourself out of a tight spot. While moment-to-moment skirmishes were manageable, the boss battle required precision and little room for error. Joe’s new adventure successfully expands on the original’s feel while mixing modern genres and elements.
-O’Dell Harmon Jr.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds | Coming September 25
Publisher: Sega | Developer: Sonic Team | PS5
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds is equal parts Sega mascot racer and a celebration of Sonic’s long history in games. Factor in the inclusion of characters like Hatsune Miku, Ichiban Kasuga, as well as the new mid-race world warping mechanic, and you’ve a promising tour de force.. In each race, you have a random rival among the racers. The consistent banter as the race goes on and different situations that arise sets it apart from other games in the genre. It made each race feel unique and made me want to see the interactions between characters who, under normal circumstances, would never cross over.
The world warping lets the lead racer dictate where the middle lap will take place, and while I initially thought it would be purely cosmetic, in reality, it’s very strategic. Since these destinations can focus on driving, boating, or flying, you can pick a path that could play to your strengths or horribly hinder your opponents if you know how they are kitted. While the game is clearly for fans, its racing mechanics are the real deal.
-O’Dell Harmon Jr.
Be on the lookout for these upcoming titles and more featured at Summer Game Fest coming to PlayStation.
