The follow-up to 2019’s excellent Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order is nearly upon us, following a brief delay to give developer Respawn Entertainment extra time to polish things up. We were invited by publisher EA to a hidden venue in Hollywood, California to get nearly four hours of hands-on time with Star Wars Jedi: Survivor to see what Cal Kestis and crew have been up to since their latest epic adventure, and it’s shaping up to be a worth sequel to its critically-acclaimed predecessor.

Trouble finds Cal, yet again

The portion of the game we went hands-on with began about an hour into the campaign, no doubt to avoid spoiling exactly how things all start. Cal Kestis has been on the move for around five years since the conclusion of Fallen Order, and he and his reliable and inquisitive droid companion BD-1 have crash-landed on a backwoods planet known as Koboh while attempting to visit Cal’s old friend Greez Dritus.

It doesn’t take long before the local drama finds Cal, of course – a local gang known as the Bedlam Raiders is terrorizing locals, including prospectors who go to great lengths to try and harvest the planet’s natural minerals and ancient ruins. Cal, being a Jedi, naturally wants to help, and quickly crosses paths with the gang’s leader, an imposing Gen’Dai named Rayvis. This sets up what will no doubt be a lengthy sequence of encounters and battles between the two.

While we can’t go too deep into the story here, some things have changed while others have stayed the same. Cal’s repertoire of moves has been expanded upon, as he now has five different stances. The Dual Wield stance seen in the first game has been fully realized, while he also has access to a crossguard stance as seen used by Kylo Ren. Finally, one stance even allows the use of a blaster, which, while perhaps a bit uncivilized compared to a lightsaber, does have its uses.

From Story Mode to Grandmaster

There are five levels of difficulty to choose from, which can be freely switched at any time. A new Jedi Padawan mode sits between the absolute non-challenge that is Story Mode and the more average Jedi Knight level, to give players an occasional challenge without throwing insurmountable foes at them. Certain boss fights can be particularly tough, so being able to change the difficulty on the fly will no doubt help some players who don’t want to spend the extra time repeating a fight over and over. The Souls-like meditation circles are back in Jedi: Survivor, which allow you to manage skills, change stance loadouts, fast travel to other meditation circles, and heal. That last option does completely fill up Cal’s health and force bars, along with restoring BD-1’s stimpaks for healing in the field, but it also respawns all enemies.

Combat in Jedi: Survivor is melee-focused. While Cal is a Jedi and can wield the Force with ease, ultimately his use of those powers is limited by a Force meter and is used as an assist to get the upper hand against his enemies as he slices them up with his trusty lightsaber. After our hands-on time with the game, we were treated to a live demonstration by a member of the combat design team of just what was possible with mastery of the various mechanics available to the player. Think taking out groups of Stormtroopers in one fell swoop, or juggling enemies with a combination of Force moves, and even an occasional hit from a blaster. It’ll probably take several hours for any player to rise to that level of competence, but it all looked so smoothly animated you couldn’t help but be impressed with the options on display.

Like your own personal Star Wars movie

The production values in Jedi: Survivor are world-class. Whether it’s the incredibly detailed world, characters, weapons, or ships, the whole game plays, feels, and sounds like you’ve been transported into the world of Star Wars. Cinematics are fully rendered in-engine, and feature classic wipes between cuts, and plenty of tension between enemies in true sci-fi Western form. The world feels lived-in with other beings busy doing their own thing, and of course natural predators to either avoid or fight for potential experience.

In an interview with the team, Jason Harris, Design Director for Gameplay and Combat mentioned that Disney and Lucasfilm continued giving Respawn Entertainment essentially free license to create whatever they wanted to in order to flesh out their vision. Not to say they didn’t check in, of course, just that at this point their track record has earned a certain amount of trust with the intellectual property holders. He gave special mention to the teams involved in turning concept art into fully-realized, digital versions that perfectly reflected the intentions of the designers. The careful attention given to even background objects is easy to see throughout the experience.

As for performance, while the build we played was on a beefy PC, it should roughly represent what we will see when the game launches on the PS5. Respawn is leaving the previous generation of consoles behind, something we will no doubt see more of now that supplies of the current generation are more stable. This has many benefits, chief among them being quick loading times. There is a seamless transition between the game world and entering training areas, or respawning after a death. We did notice some stuttering in some of the game’s wider areas, but perhaps this will be buffed out by the time the game launches on April 28, or at least with a patch on or around launch.

Previous experience not necessary

From what we could tell, while it’s not necessary to have played The Fallen Order before you start up Survivor, it will help because there are a lot of references to the earlier game mentioned in passing between Cal and other characters. Otherwise, though, Cal is simply trying to fix his ship, the Mantis, and along the way discovers ancient Jedi ruins and an anomalous planet called Tanalorr that seems to be the key to Cal’s journey. So, it seems the story will be able to stand on its own, while offering plenty of callbacks and hidden references to the first game, and perhaps the novel that followed, for those who enjoy that sort of thing.

Star Wars Jedi: Survivor appears to continue telling Cal Kestis’s story in a most exciting fashion. Two additional fully-fleshed-out fighting stances ensure more variety in combat, and the fact that Cal retains his powers from the previous adventure means combat gets intense pretty early on. There is plenty of challenge to be found, and if this hands-on is any indication, Respawn Entertainment hasn’t fixed what isn’t broken and is seemingly giving us an improved version of what made The Fallen Order so appealing in the first place. Get ready to continue Cal Kestis’ journey when it launches on the PS5, Xbox Series, and PC platforms on April 28, 2023.

The post Star Wars Jedi: Survivor Preview: ‘A Worthy Sequel’ appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Zen Studios has been developing pinball games since essentially the developer’s inception in 2007. Their latest free-to-start game, Pinball FX, has released on all current and last-gen consoles. We’ve knocked some virtual balls around for a bit, and have arrived with our Pinball FX PS5 review to see if there’s anything new and noteworthy this time around.

Shiny coats of paint

Pinball FX represents a reboot of the series which originally began life on the Xbox 360 in 2007. This pinball simulator has been rebuilt using the Unreal Engine 4, which means 4K support and more realistic physics than ever before. At this point, though, the physics involved in pinball games have been all but perfected, because consoles have had more than enough power to calculate accurate-enough physics involved for at least the last generation or so. Still, utilizing this engine does mean that ray tracing is available on the PS5, which is turned off by default. A simple visit to the settings menu allows the player to choose between a performance or quality graphics mode, though in practice it’ll be difficult to tell the difference between the two modes. Regardless as to which mode is chosen, the game runs very smoothly, with no stuttering to note no matter how busy a particular table gets.

Naturally, the PS5’s zippy SSD means each table loads in just a few seconds. In fact, the longest load time is encountered when first booting up the game, as the game seems to check in to Zen Studios’ servers or otherwise appears to wait on some process before letting you get on with playing your tables. The DualSense controller is used for vibration, and that’s about the extent of console-specific use.

Controls for Pinball FX are dead simple. The right stick controls the table’s plunger, and you can vary how hard the ball is launched by tiling the stick back slightly as opposed to completely downwards. The cross button can also be used on tables that have a single launch speed, or to make choices when on an in-game mission as most tables include. Any shoulder button or trigger can be used to use the flippers, with no use of the adaptive triggers (it really wouldn’t make sense here as you need the flipper to react as soon as you press it). The left analog stick can be used to nudge the table, though of course doing this too frequently will cause most tables to lock up. Triangle toggles between eight built-in views, plus a special manual camera option which allows the player to set the camera’s height to whatever level they deem is most useful.

A mode for every mood

For each table, there are multiple modes to choose from. There is classic, which grants you three balls to start with, as you try to score as many points as possible before you run out of attempts. An arcade mode lets you use power-ups, including slowing down time or certain actions granting more points. One active power can be used with the square button, while two passive abilities factor in to how the tables behave, such as extending the amount of time before a combo opportunity expires. Hotseat allows for up to four players to compete against each other, while a practice mode grants you a whole hour of free play time to hone your skills as much as you can. Four other modes limit your play in ways such as number of flips, time, distance, or ball count.

There are also a couple of online options, such as tournaments which are real-time competitive matches where everyone tries to score the most points over a limited amount of time, number of tries, or some combination thereof. You can easily create your own tournament using a table that you own in just a few steps. There is also an Events tab, which features seasonal challenges across free and premium tables. Each day, you are given a certain amount of tries to complete some objective on a table. Complete it, and you’ll be rewarded one or more coins, which are used to track progress and earn time-limited unlocks such as collectibles or items to customize your player banner.

Tables are selected from a basic main menu, inside a special customizable room. Each table features various collectibles which can be earned by reaching various milestones in that table’s objectives list. These are usually little figurines related to the game, such as a sheriff’s star badge or a model stagecoach from the included freebie table, Wild West Rampage, or a Mysterio figure from the Spider-Man table. These are surprisingly well-detailed miniatures, and whenever the game is left running at the main menu it cycles through a couple of different camera angles so that you can see some of the things that you have placed down.

Questionable Monetization

One point of contention that long-time Zen Pinball fans may have lies in the game’s inability to import previously purchased tables. It is simply not an option in Pinball FX, with Zen Studios saying “For the new Pinball FX, every single table in our library has been remastered, updated, and optimized in Unreal Engine to deliver the best pinball experience going forward.” On the one hand, it’s understandable that porting these tables over may have come at considerable cost to the company. But it’s never a good look to charge a customer twice for the same thing, and this decision will likely anger some players.

Another issue that may irritate some can be found in Pinball FX’s monetization scheme. There is a premium currency called Pinball Coins which are priced at about ten cents per each, naturally selling in bundles beginning with 100 for $9.99 and scaling up all the way to 1200 for $99.99. Those two amounts conveniently match the price of the Pinball Pass’ one-month and 12-month subscriptions respectively. This is a season pass by another name, and grants the player unlimited plays of almost every table – the Indiana Jones and Marvel tables are not included, and must be purchased separately. The good news here is that these coins can only be redeemed for the Pinball Pass, as each table or pack of tables can be purchased for regular, fiat money and you won’t have to worry about having some leftover currency in an amount that isn’t quite enough to buy anything else.

Pinball FX is a top-tier pinball game with some growing pains inherent in switching development platforms. Having to re-buy your favorite tables is a pain, but considering these represent the best versions of dozens of tables, it is a good value overall. The Pinball Pass is Zen Studios’ first attempt at something approaching a season pass, but thankfully it is not required and you can simply purchase the tables that you prefer using regular money. The core game remains solid, and hopefully Pinball FX is supported by Zen Studios into the next generation of consoles.

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The nascent monster-hunting genre doesn’t have many entries outside of Monster Hunter itself, but developer Omega Force aims to change this with its new IP, Wild Hearts. Omega Force is perhaps best known for its Dynasty Warriors set of accessible, if repetitive, action games, and some hope has emerged not only for a competitor in this almost-exclusive space, but one that attempts something outside the tried-and-true formula of Capcom’s venerable franchise.

Where is a Kemono wearing a kimono?

The monsters in Wild Hearts are called Kemono, wildlife you are tasked with taking out using the various weapons and tools at your disposal. They’re not so much fantastical beasts as they are oversized animals combined with the ability to alter their local environment. So, while you won’t see any dragons or dinosaurs, what you will see is the scariest chicken to grace your screen since those ornery hens in the Legend of Zelda series. Each of these beasts has a dedicated entry in the game’s encyclopedia, which can reveal what elements each Kemono is strong or weak against.

Combat in Wild Hearts is faster-paced than Monster Hunters players will be accustomed to. Your character has unlimited stamina, so sprinting around an entire map is an option. Attacks also don’t consume any stamina, so provided you can keep an enemy stunned or otherwise off your back, then you could keep hitting them until they either flee or are defeated. There is a version of energy that is utilized when the player rolls or climbs a surface or monster Shadow of the Colossus style, only with enemies that are a bit smaller than those infamous colossi.

Melee combat is fast and furious, but what really sets Wild Hearts apart is its Karakuri — ancient technology wielded by your hunter. Using magic thread, various wood-based structures can be built or fused into larger units. Provided the player has enough thread, these can be built at any time and almost anywhere.

Basic Karakuri start simply, with things such as crates and springs to help the player get to higher ground or jump quickly out of danger. But stacking these items can result in a fusion, where the parts combine to produce something much larger or more useful than the constituent parts on their own.

For instance, stacking six crates will cause a large wall to be built in just a second or so, which can act as a shield from any incoming attacks, and one which all but guarantees a stunned Kemono if they should charge into it. Meanwhile, stacking three costlier springs will result in a large hammer being created, which immediately slams down on the ground, dealing large damage to any unlucky enemy caught underneath, while destroying itself in the process.

Leave your friends some Karakuri

Outside of combat, there’s also Dragon Karakuri, which are utility structures such as a tent to rest in, campfire to plan your next hunt, a forge to craft and upgrade equipment, a tower to ping and find target Kemono, and even some decorative units such as lights.

Each of these Dragon Karakuri cost a certain amount of resources to craft, and the total number of these resources is determined by the number of Dragon Pits the player has awakened and/or upgraded. Of course, materials must be handed over in order to upgrade these pits, but thankfully awakening them is usually not too costly, so upon your arrival in a new location you should at minimum be able to establish one camp and a tent. These tents are crucial as they also serve as fast travel spots.

In the case of non-offensive Karakuri, their addition to the world is permanent, unless a Kemono destroys it. This applies to other players’ worlds that you visit as well, meaning you can leave helpful Karakuri such as a zipline where you think your companion might benefit. You can also unlock a placeable message. Leaving behind helpful items gives off Death Stranding vibes, and it’s neat to see other players leave their marks on your own world.

As has been implied, online play is available in Wild Hearts. It supports cross-platform play as well, so hopefully, this means that finding or giving assistance remains a quick affair. Whenever you begin a hunt against a large Kemono, a quick hold of down on the d-pad is all it takes to send out a request for online assistance. Then, any player who visits a Hunter’s gate found throughout the world will be able to answer your call. It’s seamless and easy to use, and once a hunt is completed players go their separate ways, with all loot given to each player regardless of damage output or some other metric.

Eight core weapons to utilize

There are eight different types of weapons available to earn or craft, which is far fewer than in other hunting games. However, Omega Force opted to bake in over 200 variants of these eight weapons, and each owned weapon can be upgraded. This is performed at any forge, and each armament has a tree of unlocks that can be chosen from. Some are only available to craft once certain hidden conditions are met, thus encouraging actually using what you’ve built in order to become more familiar with it. Some of these unlocks lower the weapon’s stats, in order to reach another unlock below it that increases those same stats by a much larger amount.

While Monster Hunter gives the player companion cats (and now dogs), Wild Hearts has Tsukumo. These are little Karakuri-powered autonomous balls that kind of behave like robots, but whatever they are, they assist the player in battle by attacking Kemono, pulling aggro to lure attacks away from the player, healing, and other supportive actions. You can befriend dozens of them to collect cogs, which can be used at any campfire to upgrade your main companion Tsukumo. They’re sort of cute in a small companion sense, even if they don’t really have a face that you can see.

Not the prettiest monster hunt

Wild Hearts is built for utility and isn’t the prettiest game out there. On the PS5, there are two graphics modes as usual, with the player able to decide if they want to prioritize resolution or frame rate.  The result is a fairly smooth experience, with only occasional slowdowns.

Load times are quick here on the PS5 – its SSD has of course been a huge boon to this generation’s games just by being so quick at shuttling electrons. Yet, while things are zippy for the most part, occasionally heading back to Minato (the player’s main city they unlock early on) takes much longer than usual. Compared to the nearly instantaneous fast travel option when not switching maps, this odd lengthier loading screen indicates some room for improvement still exists. The DualSense controller is also utilized a little bit beyond vibrations, as the adaptive triggers are used lightly with some weapons, and a slightly sluggish feeling to the L2 button is applied when dealing a finishing blow to target/boss Kemono.

Wild Hearts: The Final Verdict

Wild Hearts has essentially checked every box when it comes to monster-hunting games. It is perhaps a little too similar to Monster Hunter to stand out on its own, and this issue lies in its presentation. Omega Force has a stable of action games with a far more stylish look and feel, such as Samurai Warriors, and borrowing from that may help to elevate this new franchise to even greater heights.

Wild Hearts seems to have the right ideas about what a modern monster-hunting game needs. If it could inject some of the flashier bits from their other games, then Omega Force would definitely have a fierce competitor on its hands in the monster hunting genre of games. Right now, it does of course stand in Capcom’s shadow, but suddenly this subgenre has started heating up. Competition breeds innovation, and it’s exciting to wonder what we’ll see next.

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From the creators of Ninja Gaiden and Dead or Alive comes Wanted: Dead — a throwback to the PS2-era of tough-as-nails melee-heavy single-player action games, but with a mixture of gunplay thrown in for good measure. The time has come to see if this hybrid of genres has done something fresh and exciting, or if it carries too much of that era’s faults to be worth your time and money.

Karaoke, ramen, and lots of cats

Wanted: Dead takes place in a slightly futuristic Hong Kong, and players take control of Lieutenant Hannah Stone, a hard-boiled cop/former war criminal. She is a member of the so-called Zombie Unit of the Hong Kong police force, headed by Captain Albert Simmons.

Despite seemingly taking place in the near future, Wanted: Dead features a ton of callbacks to the ‘80s, particularly in its police station hub area. There’s a jukebox that plays licensed songs ripped straight from the era, a claw machine to earn collectibles, and even a fully-working arcade machine that includes a seven-level 16-bit style shoot-em-up/bullet hell game called Space Runaway. There are also mini-games for eating ramen and singing karaoke, with plenty of options for cooling off after a particularly tough battle. The station is also littered with cats due to the gunsmith’s obsession with felines, adding to the game’s Yakuza-like wackiness.

Crushingly hard at times

Soleil previous work on hard-as-nails games translates to Wanted: Dead, which is similarly tough. There are only two difficulty levels available at first, Normal and Hard, with a third “Japanese Hard” difficulty unlockable once the game is cleared.

Wanted: Dead relies on quick reflexes, and even on the Normal difficulty level it is quick to punish poor performance, leaving little room for error. Even the game’s checkpoints are excruciatingly spaced out, resulting in frustrating repeats of sections if you are killed.

To be brutally honest, some will not be able to finish Wanted: Dead without either cheesing some glitch or simply having someone else play. While such a difficulty level is refreshing to see, at the same time this can render the game inaccessible to anyone who isn’t as good at this type of game. When even Elden Ring offers crutches in the form of spirits that can be summoned, it’s too bad some players will be unable to fully experience Wanted: Dead’s delightfully entertaining story.

While Wanted: Dead calls itself a slasher-shooter, it’s mostly a slasher. Ammunition is quite limited, and most enemies take several hits to defeat. At the same time, gun-toting enemies are typically weak to melee attacks, thus encouraging using that style of combat more frequently than emptying clips.

There’s a good reason for this, though: swordplay is thoroughly satisfying. Slicing and dicing enemies into pieces is visceral, and also unexpectedly gratuitous – though, perhaps not so much when you consider the game comes from the creators of Ninja Gaiden. Timeframes for blocking are pretty tight at the start, though an unlockable ability does increase the reaction window a bit.

Upgrades help a little

There are a number of unlockable abilities spread across three different branches – offensive, defensive, and utility. Each enemy defeated and checkpoint reached awards skill points (SP) which can be spent at any time. Whether it’s adding an extra move to a sword combo, unlocking the ability to throw grenades, or being able to carry more stimpaks to recover health, each ability is much-needed.

Initial unlocks are cheap, but the lowest-tier upgrades are quite expensive and careful thought must be given as to which ability will most benefit the player, or in other words whatever aspect of the game is currently giving the most grief.

Visually, Wanted: Dead is fine, but not a powerhouse by any means. Unreal Engine 4 is used here, which helps to keep the frame rate high most of the time. There are brief moments of slowdown in seemingly random areas, but overall things are consistently smooth to allow you to focus on combat.

As the game is linear, load times are quick, with a funny loading screen that shows the crew re-enacting a popular GIF. One amusing aspect of Wanted: Dead’s cutscenes involves seamless transitions from in-game scenery to full-motion anime cutscenes. It’s a great effect that I for one would’ve loved to see even more use of throughout the story.

Wanted: Dead Review: The final verdict

Wanted: Dead is a completely offline experience. There are no microtransactions or multiplayer modes to be found. Due to the difficulty level, it may take some players 20 hours to complete, while others might struggle more and take twice that amount of time if they can ever indeed finish it. The disconnected nature of Wanted: Dead is a welcome feature in this age of always-connected games, that’s for sure.

Wanted: Dead is going to annoy a lot of players. It’s also going to please plenty more. Soleil has made a game that leans heavily into its PS2-era inspirations, and that includes an unforgiving difficulty level. Without any real way to make things easier, some players may never see the ending of an otherwise enjoyable campaign, outside of watching a streamer perhaps. For those who can manage to hone their skills, however, the time put into Wanted: Dead will be worth it because this slasher-shooter offers so much visceral joy when things go your way that it makes all the painful death worth it.

The post Wanted: Dead Review (PS5) appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Sony’s first official enthusiast-centric controller has arrived for the PlayStation 5. The DualSense Edge promises nearly endless customization paired with official system support to give PlayStation gamers the ultimate control over their games, and perhaps a competitive advantage. We’ve spent the past week or so with the newest high-end controller, so it’s time to see if this device is worth the high asking price.

Just a little déjá vu

Up until now, Sony has only offered a single official controller for the PS5. The original DualSense was quite an upgrade from the DualShock 4, as it sported all the tech from that controller with new innovative additions such as adaptive triggers and haptic feedback. The DualSense Edge keeps all of that delicious tech and adds customization as the cherry on top. From the triggers to the analog sticks, and inclusive of such functionality as remapping buttons, all the standard trappings of a modern “pro” controller are here, and we’ll spend some time explaining each.

The DualSense Edge arrives in a hard plastic carrying case, which means you can easily travel with this or a standard DualSense in tow, confident in the knowledge that it’ll be safe from all but the most extreme bumps and bangs as a travel companion.

The case is secured with two zippers, each of which sport the PS logo – a common motif of Sony’s is to include either that or the iconic face buttons on a lot of different surfaces, in subtle ways that deftly avoid being too garish or flashy while not detracting from the overall premium look and feel of the product. A Velcro-held opening on the back even allows for the controller to be charged while remaining in the case, another thoughtful inclusion that shows the kinds of use cases Sony’s team thought of while developing this premium controller.

One potential issue that we noticed here, however, is that the enclosed space of the case does cause the controller to heat up a bit more than usual while charging, which may impact the battery over the life of the device, though this is pure speculation at this point.

The first thing you’ll notice about the DualSense Edge is that it looks more or less like the original. This is by design, as it means all accessories for the regular DualSense will work with the Edge, such as the official controller charging station. The speaker, microphone, headphone jack, and standard buttons are all in the same spot, so there’s nothing to get reacquainted with in terms of picking the Edge up to play games in the way you are used to. You could, in fact, use the DualSense Edge as-is out of the box without any customization. This would, of course, be a waste of paying a premium for this controller, but the point is that you could!

They’ve changed something

What has changed in terms of overall aesthetics is the color scheme. While the controller is still mostly white, the touchpad and face buttons are now black, with small PlayStation face buttons printed on the touchpad, and white lettering on the face buttons. A

removable black-colored plastic plate also covers the lower portion of the controller, and below that are two function buttons (more on those in a bit). Turning the controller on reveals a few other visible tweaks to the DualSense formula. The diffuse plastic that the LEDs on either side of the controller shine through has been shaped to be a tad longer, giving the light a slightly longer and more styled appearance.

The player indicator LEDs below the touchpad have also been altered, and now have a hard edge and appear pill-shaped. The microphone mute button and LED, alongside the PS button, appear unchanged.

Included alongside the DualSense Edge is a 2.8 meter (9.1 foot)-long USB-A to USB-C charging/data cable. It’s a premium, braided cable that is noticeably heavier in the hand than other cords of the same length. Naturally, the PS logo is embossed on the USB-C end to help you know that you grabbed the right cord. Its length ensures that most setups should have no issues playing on a wired connection, which many gamers considering this controller will want to do to remove any extra input lag.

While we’re on the topic of connectivity, a rather unique piece of this kit is the included cable lock. It’s a small cage-like mechanism that you open up, and lay the USB-C end of the cord inside. Closing it snaps the cord into place, and a locking slider prevents the cord from coming loose and being removed from the controller.

This does not prevent the USB-A portion of the cord from being yanked from the PS5 console, however, but perhaps the thinking here is that smaller tugs during intense gaming moments won’t result in a sudden, round-losing disconnection. This is an interesting inclusion which might provide more peace of mind than anything.

Plenty of combinations to choose from

Now, as far as physical customization goes, the DualSense Edge includes two sets of paddle triggers and three sets of joystick tops including the default style which comes pre-installed. Looking at the paddles first, these are installed around the back lower half of the controller, in holes labeled “LB” and “RB.” One set is the more traditional paddle shape, while the other set are in the shape of little half-domes. All four are made of metal and feel hefty and durable.

The reason why you’d choose one design over another seems to be the ease with which the paddle can be depressed – the half-domes offer less leverage and thus require a bit more force in order to actuate, so it would make sense to install these if you have a game’s ultimate move mapped to a paddle to avoid accidentally triggering the action while moving the controller or adjusting your grip. You can, of course, also mix and match these paddles to suit the game you’re playing.

As mentioned, the DualSense Edge comes with standard joystick tops pre-installed, along with two additional sets. These extra sets are dome-shaped and come in short and tall versions. They resemble the joystick tops as seen in earlier DualShock controllers.

I quickly became comfortable with having the standard top installed on the left stick and the taller dome on the right stick. This allows for more precise movements with the right stick, which is helpful in first-person shooters and other games where camera control is key to victory. Regardless of which sticks are used, installation is dead simple: pulling on the joystick pops the top off, and swapping in a new one is done with a satisfying click to confirm everything is in order.

Moving to the backside of the controller, up top are levers for each trigger to adjust their travel distance. Shortening this means you can perform quicker actions because the trigger is covering less distance than usual for a full activation. However, moving these sliders to anything other than the default automatically disables the adaptive trigger mechanism for that trigger – a welcome feature for competitive gamers who wouldn’t want any sort of resistance to get in the way of them performing an action anyway.

Of note here is that the L2 and R2 triggers feature more of those adorable mini PlayStation face button icons on their bottom half, for extra grip. This grip style is also featured along the inside grip of the controller (in addition to the grip which the standard DualSense also shares), which all adds up to a controller less likely to slip from your grip.

Happily repair friendly

Now we must touch upon the biggest physical change on the DualSense Edge controller – the joystick modules themselves. A release latch can be found on the bottom of the backside of the controller, and when engaged unlocks the black faceplate on the front of the unit. Once that is removed and a lever is raised, each joystick module can be removed entirely, to be replaced or cleaned if needed.

Sony sells replacement joystick modules for around $20 USD each. This does mean that replacing both sticks will set you back $40, which isn’t much cheaper than a standard DualSense. However, that’s still a whole lot less expensive than replacing the entire controller, and user-replaceable parts are a consumer-friendly inclusion that is appreciated, especially at this price point.

While the joysticks are potentiometer-based and thus may wear out or drift after some time, the fact that the DualSense Edge has swappable joystick modules does leave open the possibility of Sony making more reliable Hall effect-powered joystick modules to be swapped in (though this is simply wishful thinking here). At the very least, it does mean there is no lengthy or costly repair needed, as a simple swap is all that’s needed to get your sticks working like new.

Also of note is that the joysticks make a slight noise when they are moved off the center point, a subtle indicator that they have been moved, and in most configurations input will be picked up as soon as this click point is reached. This is perhaps a quirk of the modular system, but also a nice tactile bit of feedback in the joysticks while playing.

At the front of these modules is a function button, and this is where everything really comes together for the DualSense Edge. The PS5’s firmware has already received an update to enable support for the DualSense Edge, and the integration is at the system level. Holding either function button brings up a pop-up menu, and from here the user can quickly swap to a custom profile, adjust various audio settings, or head into the DualSense Edge customization section. It’s here where users will spend most of their time in experimenting to get the perfect setup for their chosen games.

Intuitive button mapping and customization

The list of things able to be adjusted is quite impressive: most buttons can be re-mapped, trigger and joystick deadzones can be customized (including a live preview of how your inputs are being interpreted with the proposed settings), joystick sensitivity curves can be precisely tuned to suit certain genres or playstyles, vibration and adaptive trigger intensity can be modified, and of course, these settings can be saved into a custom named profile.

While you can create as many profiles as you want, you can only assign three for quick swapping, as the circle, cross, and square buttons can be assigned to one custom profile each – triangle is reserved to get you back to the default profile. It does feel to me that more buttons could have been utilized for profile assignment, but then the pop-up menu would’ve taken up more screen real estate, so Sony probably opted for the more concise option here.

Whenever you do a quick swap change of profiles, the controller sends a short vibration and a system notification alerts you to this change, though even this aspect can be customized for those who’d rather not see or feel any sort of alert when changing profiles.

While the DualSense Edge has a lot of thoughtful additions, one area that its predecessor was behind the rest of the industry was battery life. Here, unfortunately, things remain the same. Under most conditions, expect to see a low battery warning pop up around the sixth or so hour of uninterrupted gaming, with complete power loss about an hour later.

Of course, you can eke out extra time by disabling adaptive triggers and haptic feedback, and perhaps a tiny bit more by disabling the LEDs. But at that point, you’re pinching pennies as far as the battery budget is concerned. Competitive gamers will likely keep the DualSense Edge plugged in for most of its life, so this is not a dealbreaker per se, just compared to other high-end controllers that feature battery life measured in the dozens of hours, it’s definitely not a spec Sony will highlight any time soon.

DualSense Edge Review: The final verdict

At an MSRP of $199.99 USD, this is the kind of purchase that warrants researching what else is out there. In this price bracket, you could splurge for other third-party controllers, though each of these usually includes some caveat.

The PDP Victrix Pro is a tad cheaper than the DualSense Edge at $179.99 USD but doesn’t have adaptive triggers or haptic feedback. The SCUF Reflex Pro does include those functions, however at $249.99 you’re now spending $50 more for a controller which isn’t directly integrated into the system and isn’t as customizable in terms of functionality. Finally, the TCP Ultimate is a few dollars more, though you lose rumble functionality entirely in order to save a bit on controller weight. So, pricing on the DualSense Edge feels about right.

The DualSense Edge is easily the best gaming controller Sony has ever put out. What it lacks in battery life, it makes up for in versatility. The system-level support for this highly configurable controller is fantastic, and a reminder that sometimes opting for first-party accessories is the best option. The combination of adjustable parts and customizable inputs make for practically unlimited options that are sure to suit any game and any gamer. If you’re looking for a robust controller that should see you through this console generation or want an extra edge against the competition (excuse the pun), then this is the controller for you.

The post DualSense Edge Review appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

After being delayed not once but twice, Forspoken is finally on the cusp of its January 24th release date. We’ve spent the past week or so magically parkouring all over the lands of Athia, and battled hundreds of zombie-like enemies and corrupted Tantas to render our verdict. Have the delays proved fruitful, or did Luminous Productions still need more time for its debut game?

Oh girl just wants to… go home

Forspoken begins its story in a New York courtroom, with an awkwardly handled set-up to its story that pitches orphan protagonist Alfre “Frey” Holland as a small-time criminal with a lengthy rap sheet. This courtroom drama opening is both dull and misguided, with Frey’s early characterization being quite tone-deaf in the current climate, and not helped by jarring dialogue that contrasts its story of gang violence with cringeworthy MCU-esque humor. Fortunately, things pick up with both Frey and the story in general after she finds a sentient golden bracelet named Cuff, who inexplicably thrust her into a whole new world, Athia.

This once-beautiful and peaceful world is ruled by four Tantas, or goddesses, who have become corrupted with something called the Break, a miasma that infects anything organic that it touches, in extreme cases killing them outright. Anything but Frey, that is, who seems to be immune to its effects in most cases.

This sets Frey up with one main goal: returning home. Why exactly she wants to return to a life that she was so headstrong about leaving behind is a bit confounding, as the game itself points out many times. But the voice acting is excellent, even if the dialogue is notably ropey, though Frey is destined to divide opinion as a protagonist. She’s a 21-year-old who swears a lot, doesn’t want to be bothered by other people’s problems, and has quite clearly had enough of everyone’s bullshit.

Storytelling is not one of Forspoken’s strong points, and this is best evidenced by this blasé introduction, but the lore that can be found throughout the land of Athia fares better, as there are many stories of love, loss, rebuilding, and more to be found in various notes and mementos found during Frey’s travels. Athia is divided into several states, and those states are further divided into (former) villages and towns. The map is huge, but not overwhelmingly so, and easy to navigate. Zooming in far enough on the map causes it to transform from an overhead view into an isometric one, like a miniature version that has much more detail about the geography and architecture.

A rough intro, but fun combat

Forspoken’s introduction may not set the tone well, but sticking with it through the first few chapters and getting to the open-world section is worth it. Much like most any open-world game released in the last few years, the entire map is open to the player upon clearing the introduction, complete with massive mini-boss enemies that can and will kill you in a hit or two.

There are all kinds of terrain to clamber over, though with Frey’s Flow mechanic of traversal, you can do so in a much more tightly-orchestrated way. Holding down the circle button turns on something of an autopilot mode for Frey, both in terms of how she moves and how she dodges attacks.

Whenever a dodgeable attack is incoming, if the player is holding the circle button (and has enough stamina), then Frey will automatically dodge out of the way. Firing with R2 is enhanced during her dodge animation, resulting in a stylish way to take down your would-be assassin. Certain attacks are unblockable, though, and much like someone using a Tesla’s autopilot functionality still needs to be aware of the road conditions, the player must also be aware of where to go and where potential threats are coming from, as this doesn’t magically turn Forspoken into some sort of auto-playing idle game.

Combat is as varied as was promised during our preview last month. Frey starts out with her basic purple magic and defeating the world’s Tantas grants new magic under different colors, and wildly different fighting styles. Holding L1 allows the player to select a support magic, which as the name implies casts spells designed to help Frey along in battle. Usually, this means creating a shield or sapping health from nearby enemies, but there are also offensive support options such as laying explosive traps, spawning a flower that doubles as a turret (especially helpful against flying enemies), or creating a dome of fire that boosts your attacks whenever you’re inside it. A third type of spell called surge magic serves as Frey’s super moves, which are devastating area-damaging attacks.

Unlimited ‘ammo’

Rather than have a pool of mana from which to cast these spells, each of Frey’s support abilities has a separate cooldown timer, while her main attack spells are effectively unlimited (and usually have the option to charge them for greater effect). Bigger/more powerful spells naturally have a lengthier cooldown timer, and of course, the aforementioned surge magic has the longest timer of them all. An option in Forspoken lets the game automatically change to a cooled-off power if you so choose, which can be handy if you’d like to simply fire everything you’ve got at an enemy without having to slow things down and decide what you’d like to fire out.

Early on in the story, Frey stumbles upon safehouses peppered throughout the tattered landscape, which serve as locations to recover and craft in. But they also contain bookshelves, where she can opt to track up to three Spellcraft challenges. These are mini-quests that task the player with performing certain feats with the selected spell. This is a great way to get players used to all the options at their disposal. An example would be using Frey’s purple magic against enemies that are weak to it, thus teaching you to analyze an enemy using Cuff’s scanning ability before fighting, or another challenge which asks players to leap over enemies and then attack them using Tanta Sila’s sword-based melee magic. Completing these challenges results in a boost to some of Frey’s stats, in addition to the mastery of the ability that has been learned.

Beyond upgrading spells, Frey also has cloaks, necklaces, and nail polish to upgrade her stats. There are dozens of different resources to gather, from plants to rocks and various other bits and bobs. The nail polish is interesting in that each hand can have a different design painted on them, with various effects such as increasing attacks, decreasing cooldown timers, etc. Finding the right combination of equipment with unlocked upgrades can result in Frey being immune to poison with a much faster stamina recharge rate, making the player feel nigh unstoppable as the story progresses.

A visual treat

Being a PS5 console exclusive, some DualSense features are used in Forspoken. Cuff’s voices comes through the controller’s speaker, while haptic feedback is used for things as subtle as Frey’s footsteps, explosions, and other more traditional actions. Finally, adaptive triggers are used for casting magical spells, though the effect isn’t so much immersive as used for a trigger point that fires off the chosen spell.

Graphically, Forspoken is a treat. There are three graphics modes to choose from, or six if you’re playing on a newer TV or monitor. Performance mode obviously looks the “worst,” while the quality mode sports the most detail while dropping the frame rate at times.

In between the two is the Ray Tracing mode, which offers the best lighting while retaining most of the details in the quality mode. If you’re hooked up to a display capable of 120 Hz refresh rates, then you can toggle this on or off for each graphics mode as well. I had this turned on for most of my time with Forspoken, and turning it off was a jarring experience as the frame rate suddenly slowed to a crawl. In any case, whatever mode you run the game in, it’ll be hard to spot the differences in detail when you actually play the game, because things are so fast-paced you hardly have time to discern if there’s some extra aliasing going on with some of the foliage off in the distance.

While there has been some concern around the internet that Forspoken is poorly optimized, I can happily report that this is not the case on the PS5. With the exception of looking down onto certain open areas with large buildings in them, the custom Luminous Engine held to whatever frame rate target was set by the selected graphics mode. Even as dozens of “breakzombies” began attacking, things held steady and the engine stayed out of the way and allowed me to focus on raining down the pain.

Load times in Forspoken are also impressively quick. It takes on average less than two seconds to continue a saved game, and around the same amount of time to fast travel to any destination on the game’s rather large map. Frey and Cuff even comment on this most of the time upon finishing fast travel, as a cheeky pseudo-breaking of the fourth wall. The PS5’s SSD no doubt helps achieve such speedy load times, but it is still so great that this is the generation in which lengthy load times have effectively evaporated.

Forspoken Review: The final verdict

Forspoken is a complete experience, with a play time estimated at around 30 hours if you’re mainlining the campaign, and perhaps twice that length if opting to complete all the side missions and activities. It’s single-player only, with no online options or microtransactions to deal with. Forspoken is a great game to get lost in, precisely because there are no distractions associated with online-centric games.

Forspoken represented a huge risk taken by newcomer Luminous Productions. While the story may feel a bit contrived at times, the Flow method of traversal and combat more than makes up for it. Frey may annoy some people as the protagonist, but stringing together a chain of magical commands within just a few seconds while deftly avoiding incoming fireballs is rewarding, and ultimately, I came away from Forspoken having enjoyed my time helping the people of Athia.

The post Forspoken Review (PS5) appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Monster Hunter Rise is finally headed to more consoles beyond the humble Nintendo Switch, after nearly two years of console exclusivity there. With new maps, monsters, gear, and even some new traversal methods available, this is an ambitious entry in the long-running franchise. The time certainly feels right to set about in a new land during this New Year season.

Not the prettiest monster

Monster Hunter Rise originally released on the Nintendo Switch, and it shows. It’s surprising to know that the RE Engine is used here, because this looks nowhere close to the same graphical fidelity as the recent Resident Evil games.

Of course, this is a much different kind of game, but it seems not much attention was paid to giving this port a shiny current-gen coat of paint. At least load times are nearly non-existent, as missions load within just a few seconds. Adaptive triggers are also used, but beyond that, there’s not much utilization of the PS5’s unique features, which is probably expected in a port.

While Monster Hunter Rise does allow for co-op with up to four players, the entire game can be played through solo. The missions designed for squads are at a higher difficulty level than regular missions, however, so often times it is best to take a friend or three along to complete these. There is a story, though it’s rather light fare, and the main campaign should take most hunters around 20 hours to complete. Advancing major plot points usually occurs by completing so-called Urgent missions, which despite such a label can be completed whenever you are able/ready to.

A couple of standout features make their debut in Monster Hunter Rise. First up are two new methods of traversal: Wirebugs and Palamutes. Wirebugs are these white insects that the player can utilize kind of like Spider-Man’s web slinging ability, however by default only two are active and need a cooldown after use. Players can find extras throughout the landscape, which can be helpful especially against boss monsters.

Palamutes, meanwhile, are a canine-like species of companion animals that will fight alongside you much like the cat-like Palico species. Unlike those felines, though, Palamutes can be mounted and ridden like a small horse. This allows for quickly moving about the area while using none of the player’s stamina. Considering the larger size of most of Rise’s maps, this feature is appreciated. You can also attack while on this animal, though the attacks are limited in order to encourage more traditional combat.

What’re ya crafting?

Speaking of combat, Monster Hunter Rise excels in giving players a plethora of gear options. There are fourteen different types of weapons, for starters, from swords and spears to bows and something called an insect glaive. While all weapons can interface with these insects in some fashion, the insect glaive uses special beetle-looking Kinsects, which opens up a more airborne-centric fighting style. It’s easy to play with this weapon, but to play well with it will require some dedication.

Weapons and armor can be crafted for players and companions alike. Oftentimes, you’ll need parts from larger monsters in order to craft newer and better stuff. A large weapon tree shows off dozens of options, along with the path to create some of the game’s most powerful weapons. There is a grind in this part of Rise, but then that’s something anyone playing any Monster Hunter game should expect at this point.

The core game loop in Rise is pretty simple, but since it has worked so well in the past, why fix what ain’t broke? You start out as a freshly-minted hunter at the guild for the Kamura village, with low-level everything. After a few successful hunts, you can use the loot dropped from monsters to craft better and better gear until you’re taking on massive beasts with relative ease, all the while accompanied by some combination of friends and companions. While the map may change, the gameplay does not, and as such, it can feel a little repetitive at times.

Rampage Against the Monsters

That’s where Rise’s new game mode, Rampage, comes in to break up the monotony. Early on in the campaign, the player will unlock the ability to go out on Rampage missions. Something called the Calamity is raging on outside the safety of Kamura village, and the player can choose to help out the cause by defending the gates of the town from an encroaching horde of monsters.

Rampage is essentially a real-time tower defense mode, where the player can set up various stations along a path that monsters will take. Some of these stations can be manned by NPCs, controlled by the player, or spawn a super-powerful character from the story to help out for a while. Rampage is perfect to play when you’re tired of traditional hunts but still want to keep playing Monster Hunter.

You should also expect to spend a not insignificant amount of time managing inventory. With dozens of different resources to manage (and even two currencies to earn) and a limited inventory, oftentimes the most important work you’ll do is preparing your loadout for the next mission. Will you use one of your precious bag slots for a trap, knowing you can only carry one of that type? Or will you use that slot for more healing items, since you’re going on an Urgent, tough mission? The choice is yours and usually boils down to how you play.

Kinda slow to the draw…

Monster Hunter Rise can be played in almost any style. There are plenty of melee weapons, but also some longer-ranged options such as bowguns for those who don’t like to be so easily smacked around. Rise can be a little frustrating as most animations cannot be interrupted while fighting, and for all but a few weapons fighting is a slow affair. Even drinking healing potions feels like it takes a little too long, though perhaps this is by design as you have to time your healing and be away from any danger so as to not interrupt your drinking animation.

Monster Hunter Rise is a solid RPG that will require dedication to conquer. Once you figure out your play style and get comfortable with the game’s many systems, it’s fun to gear up, grab some food, and proceed to take on as many missions as you have the time for. Combat may feel sluggish, and there are certainly better-looking games out there. But few games let you mount a canine into battle against a dragon, while your feline companion grows a healing fruit tree in the midst of all the chaos. If for nothing else, play Monster Hunter Rise for the fun of doing just that.

The post Monster Hunter Rise Review (PS5) appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

Forspoken was first announced during Sony’s June 2020 State of Play webcast, known only as Project Athia. Fast-forward two and a half years later, and the game is quickly parkouring its way towards its (twice-delayed) release date of January 24th.

While a playable teaser demo released following an announcement during last week’s The Game Awards, we managed to sneak off to Square Enix’s LAX-adjacent offices ahead of the awards show to take a deeper dive into the game with a four-hour hands-on session. Time to see what developer Luminous Productions has been up to as they leap into the tail end of development.

Please take me home

For those unfamiliar, Forspoken stars Frey Holland, a typical young woman in New York, who is seemingly tired of her current life and plans to get away from everything. Little does she know that her plan is about to succeed in the most absurd way possible.

When she stumbles upon a magical, sentient bracelet (he prefers the term vambrace), Frey is transported into a whole different world entirely, called Athia. New York City and the United States of America at large may have their own share of problems like any country, but they’re nothing like what Athia is facing.

An ominous miasma that Frey calls the Break has infected the land, turning every living thing it touches into either dust or a much more ferocious, bloodthirsty version of its former self. The land has been ruled by four women known as Tantas, and Athia was a peaceful place to live before the Break.

Now, however, each Tanta rules with an iron fist, as all have been corrupted by the Break. For some reason, Frey and her unwanted bracelet partner whom she derisively calls Cuff are unaffected by the Break, as they have seemingly been purposely summoned into Athia in order to help the few remaining people who have managed to escape to a city on top of the mountains.

At first, Frey is reluctant to want to help anyone, even after one of the citizens helps to get her out of prison. Her main focus is on getting back home. Why, exactly, she is so eager to get back to the life that just a few hours ago she was ready to leave behind is a mystery. Perhaps it’s simply the familiarity of her old life is still something she’d rather have than being thrust into the problems of strangers in a strange land? Whatever the case, I know that personally I’d probably want to stay in Athia with the magical powers she quickly unlocks.

After befriending some of the locals, Frey finds herself caring for their fates, and thus decides that some of them are worth fighting for. She’s not exactly a noble warrior at the outset, and that comes across as believably endearing as you see her cold façade gradually chip away as she warms up to a select few people in need.

Joined at the wrist

One “person,” if they could indeed be called that, whom Frey is especially cold to at the start of her adventure is Cuff. Again, he is a sentient, or at least possessed, metal bracelet that Frey put on shortly before she was teleported to the land of Athia. He is permanently attached to her right arm, and can help block attacks as well as channel the magical essence that now flows through Frey.

He also talks, a lot. Think Mimir from God of War levels of talking, and you’ll have some idea of what I mean. Though in this case, only Frey can hear what he is saying, which results in some comical moments where other characters hear Frey talking to what sounds like herself. Her initial dismissive attitude towards him is due in no small part to their seemingly permanent arrangement, as up until now it seems Frey had no one she could depend on in her regular life. Growing up like that will naturally make anyone distrust others.

Forspoken boasts at least two signature gameplay features: magical parkour, and over 100 magic combat options. The magical parkour system is one that Luminous Productions said they had very early on in their work, before perhaps even the name of the game was decided upon. Once they had this more or less working, the world was built with it in mind. This means that there are usually a lot of obstacles between any two given points on a map, but it’s nothing a little parkour can’t get you through.

It basically works like this: while you move, you simply hold down the circle button, and Frey will effortlessly increase her speed while deftly jumping up and over almost anything in her path. The skill is not unlimited, however, though the stamina that this uses is quite plentiful even in the early stages of the adventure. Naturally, this stamina can be upgraded as the player progresses.

Like regular parkour, but MAGIC

The magical parkour serves as a basis for getting Frey into the “Flow,” the name for Forspoken’s combo system. By holding down circle during combat, Frey can kind of go on autopilot and automatically dodge most incoming attacks.

Since we didn’t have a ton of time during our hands-on demo, this part of the tutorial was quickly gone over, and I didn’t feel too confident holding Circle down as Frey would often move around a bit too quickly for my liking. Instead, I watched for the star-like icon that appeared as enemies prepared to attack me, and simply held circle whenever I saw them to dodge.

This worked well enough that I didn’t take damage too often, even allowing me to get through one of the early bosses without much hassle. This Flow mechanic is going to take a lot of practice to get through, but from what I’ve seen the payoff will be worth it.

Outside of combat, the magical parkour serves as a great exploration tool. Pressing up on the D-pad makes Cuff scan the nearby area, which will highlight chests and enemies that Frey should be aware of. Often times, the chests and other goodies are up and out of reach, but holding the circle button allows Frey to easily scale most buildings, and learned abilities allow her to kick and jump off walls in order to get a little bit higher. Not every area will be easily reachable at the start of the game, though, so some areas will probably need to be re-visited as the player progresses. This method of traversal will also take some getting used to, as it is incredibly quick and requires you to react quickly to whatever comes your way.

There are four different magic colors, each with their own style and uses. During our session, we mostly utilized the purple magic, which is the type that Frey has from the outset of her adventure. These attacks are ranged and earth-based, more akin to a third-person shooting mechanic. It’s something that’s easy to grasp. Pressing R2 fires off some projectiles, while holding the button allows for three different attacks, selectable by holding the R1 button: options include launching a larger projectile to deal more damage, firing off a burst of controlled shots, or creating a shield of rocks that protect Frey until she lets go, at which point the shield’s contents are fired straight ahead, damaging anything unlucky enough to be in her path.

A combo for every style

Frey also has an assortment of assist magics, which can be equipped separately by holding the L1 button. While we only saw a small sampling of these, the L2 button fires off these moves and varies from summoning a plant-based turret that fires at enemies for a time, to binding enemies in vines and leaving them wide open to attacks, and even leeching life force from enemies in order to heal Frey.

There are thousands of combinations between main and support magic attacks, and surely players of all types will find their own combinations that work well for them. For instance, towards the end of our session we were able to check out the red magic, which is melee focused and summons weapons made of magic which can be used to punish enemies who dare to invade Frey’s personal space. Switching magic can be done by holding L1 and R1, pressing left or right on the D-Pad, or even swiping on the DualSense’s touchpad. Again, there are plenty of options, and whichever one feels right in the moment will be right for you.

Speaking of options, the land of Athia is awash with them. In fact, at the start of our session we were cautioned to try and avoid going too far off the path that leads us to our next objective, because much like other open-world games, the entire world is available for the player to explore and interact with from the second chapter onwards.

Of course, some areas are going to be inhabited by formidable enemies that will take down early-game players in one hit, which serve as a natural deterrent to heading off in any old which way, but the freedom to figure this out on your own is great for those who love to just explore a vast new landscape. Athia was designed with magical parkour in mind, after all, so it is a huge playground in which players can hone their skills before going about Frey’s actual business of saving this cursed land. I will admit that I nearly didn’t make it to the end of our prescribed content, likely because I was able to roam about wherever I wanted.

There are also numerous style options for Frey, and all of them are functional. She can equip and upgrade various apparel such as masks, necklaces, and cloaks at workbenches tucked away within safehouses found throughout the land of Athia. Resources for these upgrades can be found on fallen enemies, in chests, or perhaps given as quest rewards.

Frey can also paint her nails in a unique upgrade option that I don’t remember in other games before. Each hand can be painted in a separate style if desired, for different effects such as extra damage, or easier recovery. Though, you could always just go with your favorite look instead. The choice, as ever, is yours.

Forspoken has a ton of potential, and is now a game that I am excited to get my hands on again as the release nears. The flow mechanic is going to take some getting used to – there is no getting around this. But I believe investing the time in it will allow players to reap the rewards and master the game in whatever way they so choose. The mixture of a large world, interesting cast of characters, and a vast array of magical combat options seems like a great combination, and soon we’ll find out if all these ideas meld together well when Forspoken launches on the PS5 and PC platforms on January 24, 2023.

The post Forspoken Hands-on Gameplay Preview (PS5) appeared first on PlayStation LifeStyle.

If Red Dead Redemption, God of War, and Devil May Cry had a baby, it might look a little something like Evil West. Hell, throw in Gears of War for good measure. But could this be a case of too many influences in the kitchen? Or does developer Flying Wild Hog know how to balance this recipe into a smorgasbord of delectable over-the-top action you’d be proud to bring home to Pa?

Cowboys vs. vampires

Evil West stars Jesse Rentier (pronounced Ren-tea-ay), son to William Rentier of the Rentier Institute. This institute has been tasked by the United States government to protect the fledgling country from all manner of supernatural beasts including vampires, werewolves (or something like them), and others.

The game takes some obvious liberties with history, but it does weave an entertaining alternate reality in which cholera outbreaks were in actuality a bit of necromancy gone horribly wrong, for example. A war between vampires and humans has just begun because one sect of vampires fears that the technological progress humans are making will cause them to surpass the eternal blood drinkers. The story’s not too deep, but sometimes you just want to play a game to forget your troubles and enjoy the simple act of killing hordes of the underworld.

Evil West uses the old reliable Unreal Engine 4, which hums along swimmingly on the PS5. There’s no slowdown to speak of, and the game boots with a graphics option set to prioritize image quality over performance. Unlike more recent games, however, you cannot switch between these modes without rebooting the game, which is odd to see and means you really have to think about which mode you want to play the game in because autosaves aren’t too plentiful.

Levels usually load in quicker than you can read the interstitial text, and adaptive triggers are used for some of Jesse’s weapons. Graphically, some of Evil West’s landscapes are beautiful, and while character models are serviceable, they aren’t usually much more than that. Animations are generally smooth, though they are sometimes awkward in cutscenes. Characters are fully voiced, though outside of cutscenes their mouths do not match what they are saying, if they move at all.

Cheesing your way to victory

The solo campaign can be completed in around 10-15 hours, depending mostly on difficulty level. Note that playing in co-op does scale the difficulty up a bit, though those playing on the Easy/Story difficulty level shouldn’t find many chokepoints where things become too tough. In fact, once some of Jesse’s main abilities are unlocked, it becomes very easy to cheese moves and simply shock your way to victory. There are trophies for playing in certain ways in an effort to highlight the options available to the player, but you’ll probably find your favorite way to destroy hordes of enemies in a short time.

Also, some cinematics have very awkward cutting, which makes you think you accidentally skipped something, but upon replaying a few sections it was determined that, no, this was actually how that scene was written. It’s definitely odd.

Evil West is a bit of a mixed genre. While Jesse has a slew of guns at his disposal, he also has a powerful melee weapon and even a flamethrower later on. So, this can be described as a third-person shooter beat-em-up action game, though you are mostly free to play it however you like.

Truthfully, after unlocking the ability to reel enemies in, instantly stunning them with electricity, and then following that up with a series of punches (with pinball-like sound effects, to boot), it becomes so tempting to simply stick with this winning strategy, but then you would miss out on juggling enemies in the air or knocking them into each other like bowling pins. There are a lot of options for dispatching enemies, and since most of them don’t put up too much of a fight on the lower difficulties it really is up to you to decide which method is the most fun.

Evil West draws obvious inspiration from many older games. Some of this isn’t necessarily a good thing. For example, there are invisible walls throughout the adventure, rather than having the environment be an impassable obstacle to guide the player in a certain direction. At many points, an obvious battle is about to take place, as you can see enemies within a corralled-off area. Yet, shooting anyone ahead of entering the area is strictly prohibited. Even if you can find a good angle, if you’ve yet to trigger a fight, the enemies are protected by a barrier that renders your bullets useless. This points to level design problems, but since most enemies are susceptible to all of Jesse’s attacks it’s not a huge concern.

Co-op is fun… when it works

One other issue we hit during our time with Evil West involved co-op. It took a couple of tries to connect to a session, even though it was done through an invite system. Player two can load their character’s latest build from the single-player campaign, however, progress is only saved for whoever is the host and plays as player one.

Both players take control of their own copy of Jesse, and of course, cutscenes are not modified to account for two players. There is no drop-in/drop-out co-op like we’ve seen in other recent games, either. So, if you’re having connection issues or otherwise need to leave, the only wait to join your friend again is to have them quit back to the main menu and re-invite you.

We also hit a glitch where player two was stuck at a Perk selection screen with no perk points to buy the required upgrade, and also no way to back out of the menu. Once player one reached another cinematic things were okay, with the exception of that first new cutscene playing with no audio. Little things like this are hardly a dealbreaker, but they are annoying in the moment.

Evil West is a fun, frenetic, blood-soaked, testosterone-fueled action game with a lot to like. There’s some old-school charm to it, but at the same time some old-school frustrations. When co-op works, it’s fun, though it is by no means required to enjoy the game on its own merits. When you’re through the holiday’s festivities, and you want something to play that’s a bit mindless while also being entertaining, then Evil West should be on your list of games to play.

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Sonic the Hedgehog is a game series older than many people who might be reading this. While the blue blur dominated the gaming landscape in the ‘90s, the transition to 3D was not so kind to him, as evident by earlier Sonic games that strayed from the original formula. Yet, Sonic Team perseveres, and here we have the release of Sonic Frontiers. Can Sonic and company really find success in an open-world setup, or is this one franchise that should stick to its roots?

A Strange Tale

Sonic Frontiers has a semi-serious story going on here, whereby Dr. Robotnik (or “Eggman” as Sonic and crew refer to him) attaches his latest invention to an ancient portal, awakening some robots while also accidentally getting himself and others sucked into Cyber Space. It’s up to Sonic to free his friends, who are trapped within some sort of hovering containment device. Conveniently, he is teleported into a world that has springs to jump onto, rails to grind, balloons to pop, and other items he can quickly leap onto.

By exploring the world, keys can be found, alongside memory tokens for whichever friend he is trying to free from the Cyber World. Meanwhile, each world is inhabited by these creatures called Koco, which are these small stone statues brought to life. Although they sound like babies, it is revealed that they are inhabited by the spirits of the ancient people who used to roam these lands, and their stories take many dark turns as Sonic and his friends attempt to help these creatures out.

Sonic was never really much of an RPG series, and yet Sonic Frontiers has such mechanics in spades. The aforementioned Koco can be collected by merely getting close enough to them, and then handed to an Elder Koco, who is much larger than these collected Koco. Turning in enough allows Sonic to choose whether to upgrade his speed level, or his ring-carrying capacity.

Certain special seeds can also be found and collected, and turned in to another elder Koco, who will automatically upgrade Sonic’s attack and defense stats. Each of these four core stats can be upgraded to level 99, and they do actually affect how quickly Sonic can dispatch most enemies, or how many rings he’ll lose each time he is hit – for all but the toughest of enemies, it is no longer the case that one hit causes you to lose all of your rings.

Furthering the RPG elements is an unlockable skill tree that grants Sonic additional abilities. Beyond the tutorial, players can spend as much or as little of their levels on these skills. This includes such abilities as Cyloop, where the player holds Triangle to run around and leave a trail of energy behind them. If they complete a circle with this trail and release the button, various effects can happen depending upon the context – shielded enemies will lose their protection, others will become stunned. It can also be used on the environment at certain obvious spots to unearth hidden memory tokens, seeds, or just a collection of rings.

If Sonic ever has as many rings as he can currently hold, which starts out at 400, then a brief cutscene plays where blue lightning fills the background, and Sonic’s eyes glow blue. Now, his boost speed is slightly increased, with some crackling electricity left in its wake. It feels weird that Sonic is sort of an action RPG during these overworld areas, but it’s also oddly rewarding figuring out all of these disjointed options and combining various strategies to take on some of the game’s more formidable opponents.

Meet the Titans

At key moments in the story, Sonic takes on Titans, which are these massive creatures brought to life by a mysterious character seemingly created by Dr. Robotnik. He usually fights them as Super Sonic, once he has temporarily collected all seven Chaos Emeralds, and these staged boss fights feel like an entirely different game. Dare I say it, between the Titan fights and the ancient ruins, Sonic Frontiers feels kind of like a Sonic Adventure game, and I think I mean that in a good way.

Outside of Titan fights, mini-bosses can be encountered, marked with an X on the current world’s map. These are usually massive enemies in their own right, often requiring multiple stages in order to defeat them. They reward gears, which are used to unlock portals, and these portals are gateways to the game’s actual levels, which are more traditional Sonic levels we’re all used to – both 2D and 3D levels that feature classic enemies to stomp, rails to grind, speed boosts to zoom through, and although they are usually over in under two minutes, represent some of the most fun you’ll have in Sonic Frontiers.

Depending upon how many of each level’s goals you meet or exceed, you’ll receive a number of portal keys upon returning to the overworld. Acquiring enough of these keys can unlock a nearby Chaos Emerald. Generally, you don’t have to clear too many objectives to earn enough keys to progress the story. However, at certain points, the game requires you to collect enough memory tokens to speak to another character.

Collecting these isn’t a problem, but at least once per world you’re forced into a minigame with little instruction, and must clear it in order to progress the story. This screeches the pacing of the game to a halt, as occasionally what you have to do in the minigame is not clear at all. A few tries will usually clear things up as you are forced to improvise a solution, but having these minigames be a requirement to continue the adventure leaves a bad impression.

An internal engine called the Hedgehog Engine 2 powers Sonic Frontiers. It’s seemingly a good engine, which can present large open areas and at least in the PS5’s case offers a toggle for 60 fps or 4K prioritization. It did seem to keep up with the action onscreen in either mode, and while the higher frame rate is nice, the world just looks better when in the 4K mode. Quixel Megascans is used as well, which is a tileset featuring very high resolution scans of environments, which can potentially free up environmental artists when creating worlds. It’s evident in the various boulders, trees, and other landscapes and gets the job done.

Go Fish

The gang’s all here in Sonic Frontiers, as Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, and others take on Dr. Robotnik in his latest scheme involving the “ancients” and some sort of Cyber Space area controlled by a character he created. Hell, even Big makes an appearance. Everyone is voiced, and although Sonic sounds almost too mature for his character, you do eventually get used to it.

The soundtrack to the game’s individual levels is actually surprisingly varied and even pulse-pounding at times. Boosting causes a filter to be applied to the audio, to help sell the sense of speed. However, in the overworld, the music takes on a more somber tone, and as Sonic races around each new abandoned world he is dropped into, things start out melancholy, but once more memories are played back, the music becomes more lively, building into what sounds like the full soundtrack intended for each area. In fact, outside of a weird dance Sonic occasionally performs when helping out the Koco, none of the audio sounds like a Sonic game at all.

That’s one thing that stuck with me throughout my time with Sonic Frontiers. As so much of your time is spent outside of the main, fast-paced levels, this doesn’t really feel like a Sonic game. It feels like an RPG with an incredibly weird story, one that is laced with a ton of sadness and loneliness. Most of these worlds are abandoned, and Sonic is seemingly on his own with his friends just out of reach as they are stuck between worlds. Despite this, though, Sonic remains upbeat and resolute in his goal of saving his friends once more from the clutches of evil. There is a lot to unpack in this story, much of it whimsically nonsensical, but when even Dr. Robotnik comes out with some deeper insight into how he respects Sonic as an opponent, it’s evident Sonic Team wanted you to maybe feel something about the world and story they are presenting.

Sonic Frontiers is a strange, yet fun time. The individual levels showcase Sonic at his fast-paced, ring-hoarding best, and some of the overworlds sport rewarding exploration mechanics. The insistence by Sonic Team to jam in minigames that block progress to the story is frustrating to say the least, and some of the larger maps’ designs feel a little haphazard. Overall, though, the weirdness of the story will keep some going just to see, well, where the hell it’s all going. It’s weird how much this doesn’t feel like a Sonic game outside of the individual levels, but this is an interesting direction that Sonic Team has taken their blue blur, and hopefully we will see a continued evolution that coalesces into something great.

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