Silenos

@LiamCroft thanks for the top review, judging by other video reviews I've seen and read online 8/10 sounds like EXACTLY the right score for this one!

@get2sammyb we're with you all the way, Sammy, ignore the naysayers!

Actually not unhappy about this, February was a complete and utter bust on all tiers of PS+ but always up for some videogame golf action, hopefully there'll be some other decent titles for us.

Avowed is the very definition of Unreal Engine 5 AAA slop, not terrible but 6.5/10 absolute tops.

Not the most exciting week ever judging by that list, PS Plus or otherwise. The enhanced Ys X game might be ok, let's see.

Some decent variety but not for me - Spiderman is pretty to look at but I find to be a very overrated open world experience, the driving game looks broken, Monster Hunter Stories would prefer to play on the 3DS, Echoes Of The End judging by the Steam reviews looks painfully mid in that Unreal Engine way.

@Matroska we'll have to assume you've got your wires tangled up because you weren't there at the time (not to mention your maths ain't mathing, a say 15yo kid in say 1975 would now be around 65) - if your first experience of games was Super Mario World then sorry to burst your bubble that you were pretty late to the party, as anyone from the ZX Spectrum/Atari/C64 etc and arcade generation, i.e. the og gamers, will be happy to tell you!

@Matroska absolute nonsense, boomers were the ORIGINAL gamers, arguably the best generation of all, back in the days of the ZX Spectrum, Commodore 64, Atari 2600, and video game arcades everywhere.

@Dalamar was very close to doing the same but persevered and now, having reached the magnificent Chapter II, am absolutely loving it

Thanks once again for a great review, Sammy. Initially I loved the exploration and fighting but was very intimidated by the AIC Factory gameplay, am still rubbish at it but was lucky enough in the gacha and have done just enough to keep my team going. After 30-40h entered Chapter II which is just glorious and has made the effort all the more worthwhile. Highly recommended game which does require some time investment to initially get going, you really don't have to spend any money to fully enjoy.

@get2sammyb thanks for the great recap, Sammy - lots of exciting titles to look forward to checking out!

@naruball absolutely wrong (your notion of a 'good' or 'bad' game is entirely subjective) and yes, as you say, it also applies to the entire entertainment industry - bottom line is that people will not waste valuable time doing things that they're not enjoying

@Divergent95 because this, because that? don't see much evidence supporting your wild assumptions - I repeat, the game successfully launched with a high player count but nobody stuck around because the game is boring (no music, vast empty maps, limited to 3v3), it's that simple - maybe try playing it yourself?

@Divergent95 that clearly isn't the case here though, is it? an impressive nearly 100,000 Steam users downloaded and tried the game and didn't enjoy it to the extent that the numbers cratered within hours - this is the entertainment industry, if your game is good people will play it, it's that simple

Music is banging, gameplay seems fun, cars look a bit light and floaty though. The original Tokyo Extreme Racer was one of the classics.

Feel a bit queasy about all these 'Chinese games look the same' comments - the UE5 criticism is more valid though. Personally find all these new titles refreshing after seemingly decades of Western games based around guys running around shooting each other.

If 'Undisputed' is the main event, I dread to think what will be on the undercard.

My only issue with GT7 is the ludicrous amount of space it takes up on my vanilla PS5 disk space, would be elated if an option was introduced to opt out of all the bloaty 'scapes', pointless videos and more.

@LiamCroft are you not part of J2 Global who also own IGN?

@Max_the_German 'while maintaining their number one position in the Chinese region' is pretty definitive evidence that it is indeed resonating with Chinese customers

Lukewarm is an epic understatement - the Steam numbers literally cratered within a matter of hours - not a good sign for a F2P.

British comedy? Looks more like Mind Your Language or George And Mildred, if you're old enough to remember. I'll stick to Fable 2, thanks.

@lazarus11 to begin with I thought so too but actually it's really not that hard! what I find a bit tiresome is all the strategic factory building gameplay - the open world fights, looting, and exploration is otherwise a lot of fun.

Would be great if people stopped misspelling 'gacha' as 'gatcha' - despite being an often apt pun, it's a Japanese word that has absolutely nothing to do with the English word 'gotcha'.
That all said, these often very high quality games are essentially free to fully enjoy for those not prone to gambling addictions and seem like an eminently much better deal than paying $60-70+ for some buggy AAA game with predatory MTXs and DLCs.

Absolutely love the Nioh series (and pretty much all the other spin-off games) - only wish they'd update their graphics engine, it's beginning to really look tired.

@Oram77 it's currently 35th on Steam's Top Sellers chart, nice try though!

Marathon has been dead in the water for some time - Bungie's brand reputation has taken too many big hits over recent years to recover with yet another entry in an already bloated live service extraction shooter space. Their good track record with gameplay mechanics isn't enough to carry this, and for me this weird neon art style is fatiguing. Probably should go free to play out of the gate and if it's fun people will stick around and buy MTX and season passes rather than a $40 cash grab from their diehard fans.

Excellent feature, many thanks.

Demon's Souls for me is still the best of the bunch. Beautiful graphics and amazing unique gameplay and enemy design. Tried Ragnarok but unskippable and seemingly interminable cutscenes became too annoying, can't take the characters in Spiderman seriously, Ghost Of Tsushima was fun and gorgeous to look at for 20-30 hours before tiring of its repetitive formula.

@guacguacboo if you really want to play it, just give it a couple of months or so when it will inevitably be free on PS+

No NFS pun intended but I'll be swerving this lacklustre selection in the hope that this month's Extra is a better offering.

At least after these underwhelming announcements things can only get better!

Absolutely terrible start to the new year. Surely they could have come up with some better fare than this slop? Still enjoying Wo Long Fallen Dynasty so hopefully there'll be better games to come.

Tried it, thought it was absolute rubbish, a low point in racing games - disappointing start to the new year to be honest, let's hope some of the other games will be more exciting.

Another fantastic list! All very good refreshingly individual choices.

Superb selection! Maybe the best one yet.

@Dogbreath @stefan771 although people are generally accepting of developers needing the extra time to 'polish' their games, it typically has much more to do with marketing and financials

I'm all in on this one! Looks awesome.

Even though it's not what I would choose this is a very good list!
Mine would be:
1) Where Winds Meet
2) Shinobi: Art Of Vengeance
3) Ninja Gaiden 4
4) Hollow Knight: Silksong
5) Clair Obscur

@judgmentarrows if you hold on a little bit longer, it'll inevitably be under 20 or even free on PS+, 40 is still way too much

Ironically, Tencent's biggest problem was that their game looked a zillion times better than Horizon and would have probably have surpassed it in popularity.

@SeaDaVie Steam has a chart which lists nearly 100 extraction shooters already out, there is nothing remotely original about Marathon hence the term 'generic', just more dubiously monetised corporatist slop @MinerWilly google is your friend

@get2sammyb I don't think anybody's questioning the quality of the gunplay, it's that this is yet another generic live service extraction shooter at a high price point from a company that engages in notoriously aggressive monetisation, and one that has been accused of serial plagiarism and serious technical issues with their games. It's extraordinary how many commenters are prepared to overlook these corporate practices.

After the plagiarisms fiasco and the frankly terrible PR, this game is dead in the water and Bungie know it. The Concord price point of $40 for a generic-looking live service game is the final nail in the coffin.

Cat Quest 3!!! Say no more, it's a great month.

Really looking forward to Nioh 3 after playing the first demo - however - just noted the insanely high pricing of this game on the PS Store. It's no wonder AAA publishers are struggling with this oblivious approach to market realities with current aggressive competition from high quality free-to-play titles and indies.

@rjejr playing on og PS5 here and there are some tech issues with textures and occasional drop-out but at least it seems to have stopped crashing, absolutely agree with all your points - the quality and depth of these F2P games is absolutely amazing (yes, with the very occasional exception!) - also, the Infinity Nikki 2.0 update is indeed like a whole new game and just as beautifully realised as before

I tried Wuthering Waves but found the storytelling and gameplay incomprehensible, having a much better time in Where Winds Meet, incredibly rich experience which I highly recommend.

The interview doesn't sell the gameplay well, all very much sounding like a reskinned Hitman, this 007 game is not looking any better the nearer we get to release date.

Quantity not quality sadly, the Lego game is really not a good one. That said, looking forward to checking out what they've done with RDR on PS5!