PS5 games

Some games tend to collapse under the expectations set by their own buzz. In the case of ARC Raiders, the opposite seems to be the case as they handle the wild buzz with calm assurance. Since the moment of the launch, Embark Studios has managed what few live service titles ever do, which is an incredibly smooth debut. With well over 350,000 Steam players in the first three days, this post-collapse sci-fi shooter seems to have really resonated. Even better, the servers managed to hold up over the entire span. There were no major outages, no endless login queues, no early meltdowns, just a stable, functioning world that felt prepared for the floods of players who buy PC games joining in. This is important to focus on because ARC Raiders is built around rhythm: a steady weave of tension, collection, and return. Its central core does not revolve around chaos, but unification. Thanks to that smooth launch, players were able to lose themselves in the world without distraction. The outc...

Night City has no mercy. That’s the first thing Phantom Liberty reestablishes—and does it without the cockiness of a game that has its life together. No, Phantom Liberty isn’t Cyberpunk 2077 in desperate need of a cherry-on-the-cake redemption arc. It is a makeshift reaffirmation of what this world was supposed to be in the first place: seductive and brutal, unsentimental, oozing with choice, and, more importantly, consequence. The original game felt a bit like it was trying to be Blade Runner and, at the same time, tripping into Idiocracy with sword-shaped dildos lopped off as loot. Phantom Liberty adjusts the pendulum back. The world is no longer drenched in cheap irony, feeling far more grounded — and willing to punish you for getting it wrong. Not mechanically. Narratively. Phantom Liberty is a jolt to the neural interface for an RPG player who’s been starved for morally complex, heavy decisions since the golden era of Obsidian and early BioWare. The spy-thriller premise serves ...

Honestly, I felt a jumbled mix of excitement and nerves the first time I saw a teaser for the new Death Stranding. Hideo Kojima loves to toy with reality, so it can be hard to tell where the game stops and his wild ideas begin. The first Death Stranding definitely wasn't just another title you boot up on a Saturday; it was a long, eerie journey that made you think about loneliness, human links, and the way build-ups can also bring everything crashing down. Rather than relying on the usual combat or leveling grind, its story sucked me in simply because it was bold enough to ask big questions. Sitting at the center of all that was the Beach, a strange, dreamy space that felt equal parts welcome and unsettling. Decoding "On The Beach": A Permanent Address in the Borderland Between Life and Death The Beach. Not the sunny getaway you picture, but a haunting borderland between life and death, a shared dream and nightmare that keeps the Death Stranding running. In the first g...

My first experience with Ghost of Yōtei was the same as with any open-world game: I stopped moving. I stood there while the light changed and the landscape. I stood there while the wind slid through the tall grasses. I was there long enough to watch the snow start to fall.  There were no distracting high-definition textures or annoying, overdone cinematic cutscenes. Every tree, stone, and ripple of water was placed with intention. There's no exaggeration to be had in saying that Ghost of Yōtei is one of the most breathtaking open-world games ever created. I've enjoyed a huge number of open-world games, especially the Assassin's Creed games. I've experienced the beautiful cities of Renaissance Italy, the Caribbean Sea, and the cold hills of England. Yet nothing prepared me for the quiet power of Ghost of Yōtei, a game that I strongly recommend to all fans of the genre who buy PS5 adventure games . Its visuals do not overwhelm you, but ra...

The Opening Gluttony: A Feast at Launch Some games ask you to be patient, to trust that the experience will eventually unfold, but Diablo IV is not one of them. It launches, bursting at the seams with everything you could want. It offers not one but many endgame experiences to indulge in immediately. It is the richest, boldest, most varied endgame experience to be offered at launch in years, in any genre. Other live-service games require months to build substantial offerings, but Diablo IV was released not only complete but also confident. The entire structure encouraged me to excess, to an entire world filled with activities meant to satisfy, and consume, every idle minute. As soon as you finish the campaign and you take those first steps, you notice the world is different. The parts of the map you had become familiar with during the main story started reshaping and expanding outward. "It doesn't end, it just keeps unfolding," is the sentiment...