Tag: Plus

PlayStation Essentials for March 2023

This month has a lot of value.

Battlefield is a franchise that has managed to lose its identity more and more with each new title. It’s never a bad thing to see a franchise trying to stay fresh and evolve, but Battlefield has changed to chase the dollar over creativity. Even titles like Battlefield: Hotline was at least an intreating attempt at changing the franchise, but now with Battlefield 2042 it feels as if the franchise is flatlining. Critics gave Battlefield 2042 mediocre reviews, however the players spoke critically of the game due to game breaking bugs, and a lack of features missing from previous entries. Most notably Battlefield 2042 has no single player campaign. Battlefield titles usually launch broken, and by the time they have the game working properly the player base is gone, so maybe now is the time to check it out before the servers feel dead.

Mincraft Dungeons has always looked really fun. It does seem to look like it’s more geared towards children with simplistic dungeon crawling. Like Diablo it would likely be a blast to play with friends. It’s great to see Mincraft continue to be supported on PlayStation, and next moth Minecraft Legends comes to the platform too. Be sure to add Minecraft Dungeons to to your library.

Code Vein is another soulsborne inspired game that has always appealed to me through the artwork. It looks good and reviewed well. If you are not burned out, or are looking for another soulsborne game this one might be for you.

All three titles are available from the 7th March for the PlayStation Plus Essential tier until April 3rd 2023. Battlefield 2042 is the only PlayStation 5 title in the essential tier this month, and it is also available on PlayStation 4.

Are you excited with this selection of games?

Robert Ring

PlayStation Essentials for February 2023

This is a surprising month for February.

First off is Evil Dead: The Game for PS4 and PS5. Evil Dead is a zany franchise and one I’ve tried multiple times to get into. I did think Evil Dead (2013) was an excellent horror movie and Evil Dead Rises coming out this year looks good. It’s a series that is ridiculous, like Looney Tunes with horror. The fan base is dedicated so it’s not surprising that there is now a game. The game came out to good reviews and plays like Friday the 13th, and Dead by Daylight, so if you like asymmetrical multiplayer horror games, this one is for you.

OlliOlli was a surprise little hit on the PS Vita. It was a simple side scroller where you jumped obstacles on a skateboard and gather a score based on your tricks. It’s popularity led to ports on all consoles, and a sequel came out which was more of the same. OlliOlli World is the latest entry in the franchise and looks to have completely reinvented itself. The reviews were great for this game when it launched last year, so look forward to adding the PS4, and PS5 versions to your library.

The Mafia series has been a consistently good franchise with a forth game in development. Mafia: Definitive Edition is a complete remake of the original game and had overall favourable reviews. Just the setting is enough to jump into this title if you haven’t before. PS4 version will be available for download.

Destiny 2: Beyond Light is the expansion before last year’s The Witch Queen. The next expansion, Lightfall comes out at the end of this month, so this is perhaps to get more people to jump back in. Is this going to be PlayStation’s approach to Destiny 2‘s expansions coming to PlayStation Plus in the future with next year’s expansion we get The Witch Queen? Either way this is an additional game to the line up this month, and Destiny 2 is great. Beyond Light will be available for download on PS4 and PS5.

All four titles are available from the 7th February for the PlayStation Plus Essential tier until March 6th 2023.

Are you excited with this selection of games?

Robert Ring

PlayStation Essentials for January 2023

This is a great month for January.

Starting off the list is Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order (PS4 & PS5). This game is great. At the time this was the game coming off two poorly received Star Wars Battlefront games. People were ready to write this game off with EA’s poor track record. Aside from some bugs the game was a thrill, a hit, and finally we got to feel like a Jedi again. This game is a souls like and it’s probably the best entry into that genre while surprisingly feeling at home in the Star Wars universe. This is definitely a game I recommend and great for returning players who want to prepare themselves for the sequel releasing in March.

Fallout online sounded ideal, all we wanted was a single player Fallout game that we could play with friends. Instead we got a Fallout game that felt stripped of content. No NPC’s, and No real storytelling. If the world was more eye-catching it could have carried the game through the bad press. It stopped many people from jumping into the game and I may have liked playing it more if more people I knew jumped into it. Instead I was playing a solo Fallout online game with little for me. Times have changed and like Elder Scrolls Online the game has turned a new leaf. The team has added plenty of new content, and has a remarkable player base of dedicated players. It’s good to see that the game has changed and I may return to see what changes have been made. Check out my original review for Fallout 76 here.

Axiom Verge was a modest hit when it came out and while the sequel doesn’t seem to have made as big of a splash I plan to check it out myself. Axiom Verge 2 (PS4 & PS5) looks really good. I have not played enough metroidvania style games, plus it might be a good palette cleanser before ALL the releases we are getting this year.

All three titles are available now for the PlayStation Plus Essential tier until 06/02/2023.

Any excitement or disappointment with this selection of games?

Robert Ring