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Want something on PS5 that’ll blow you away? Mind your phrasing, as the fighters of Tekken 8 (p46) are more than happy to send you flying. It might be a shame there’s no last-gen version, but after spending hours with the new fighter it’s clear the n

WRITER BIO Oscar Taylor-Kent doesn’t love all RPGs, but has had a soft spot for those developed in Japan for years. But what should they be called? So, you might wonder, what’s the problem with saying ‘JRPG’? In a recent interview with SkillUp, Fina

WRITER BIO A member of the Lego Club for most of their childhood, Holly Swinyard has been deep in the brick box for a long time. The best hen do I have ever been to was one where the bride informed me, “I know you don’t like paintballing, so don’t b

facebook.com/PLAYgamingmag gamesradar.com/playmag twitter.com/@PLAYgamingmag play@futurenet.com I write in response to Luke’s piece about the Re-PlayStation [PLAY #25]. (Fantastic name.) I’ve also given this much thought lately and feel Sony c

The chill environments of Viewfinder, with its blend of space-white, vaguely Modernist architecture and the odd bit of vegetation, makes us think of both Portal and The Witness. Like them it’s also a first-person puzzler, with the latter’s sense of m

We survey the war wounds scoring the bodywork of our station wagon. Out here, we only have each other. Unfortunately, it’s so much more than just the odd ding; we’re lucky to have made it back to our hub of investigations inside Oppy’s Body Shop in o

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 2 JUN PUB BANDAI NAMCO / DEV BANDAI NAMCO / PLAYERS 1-2 Five years since Katamari Damacy got its Reroll remaster, its first sequel is getting the HD treatment. The only other series entry to involve creator Keita Takahashi, this

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 26 MAY PUB NIS AMERICA / DEV NIPPON ICHI SOFTWARE / PLAYERS 1 Billed as a ‘tactical survival RPG’, this cute dungeon crawler sees a party of adventurers lost in a dungeon. Exhausted and hungry after days alone, they eat the rott

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 10 AUG PUB FOCUS ENTERTAINMENT DEV DECK13 INTERACTIVE PLAYERS 1 Turns out this game does indeed look close to that sandtastic trailer we saw last year, with torrents of powder slipping and scattering everywhere as you fight. This sem

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 9 JUN PUB PERP GAMES DEV REFUGIUM GAMES / PLAYERS 1 Serious alien invasions in which you take up a farmer’s gun against a horde of black-eyed ‘greys’ are surprisingly under-represented in games, but that’s about to be put right on PS

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 20 JUN PUB FOCUS ENTERTAINMENT DEV TINDALOS INTERACTIVE PLAYERS 1 Picture XCOM set in the Aliens universe, with real-time control. That’s the vibe coming from the first in-game footage of Aliens: Dark Descent. You control a grou

FORMAT PS5 / ETA 16 JUN / PUB BANDAI NAMCO DEV LIMBIC ENTERTAINMENT / PLAYERS 1 Theme park builders are nothing new, but Park Beyond innovates with rides that couldn’t be built in real life, such as free-flipping rollercoasters and animated octopodes

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA 15 JUN PUB KO_OP / DEV KO_OP / PLAYERS 1 It’s been years since this one was announced, and GVH is finally imminent. It’s the last year of high school, you’re in a band, non-binary, have a massive crush and… Oh yes, the world is

He’s still a powerhouse who’s more agile than he initially appears, able to toss you around with grab combos or kick right through your attacks. One move allows him to soak damage, and Heat State gives him even more armour. Easier to operate here tha

Tap u at any point, and the camera will pull in close to your fighter… …then they’ll unleash a powerful slam attack as they enter the Heat State, gaining a slight advantage. You enter Heat State while pursuing your rival, allowing you to continue to

Some days, it feels like you’ve made a bad roll – a bunch of dice spill over to ones and twos, making you feel like you may as well just go back to bed. Citizen Sleeper captures that experience in a very literal way, swapping the mundane peril of rea

Do you remember when, as a young ’un, you first declared ‘I want to be a…’? Where does that moment feature in the story of you? And who heard you? For protagonist Benjamin Brynn it’s his mum Elle, and their relationship is scored by the notes of the

New characters, new drinks and a new mechanic all add an extra splash of interest to this second serving of Coffee Talk. Returning characters and their continuing sub-stories increase the cosy, day-in-the-life feel, and they blend with the additions

Even before this PS2 launch title was revived, its pyrotechnic twist on match-three puzzling had resurfaced by way of the PlayStation Plus Premium Classics library last year. But if you’ve revisited it via that service recently, you’ll have very litt

Blockbuster is still a thriving rental store that will never, ever go bankrupt,1 tie-dye is in, and the sound of grunge is all over the radio. Radical, isn’t it? Engaging in the music of the time, this ’90s-set game tours you through a satisfyingly r

You may never see the owner of ‘The Mind’ you explore here but you can be sure they’ve got the mother of all headaches. Playing as Dusty, the manifestation of courage, you gallivant about this poor soul’s psyche, fighting nightmares and shifting betw

Originally serialised before being collected into a graphic novel, Judge Dredd’s Cursed Earth storyline would make a perfect game. You’ve a kickass lead on a quest across a post-apocalyptic desert to collect a vaccine. The various episodes could be t

Every month, loads of games come to the PS Store. You’d be hard-pressed to play them all, so we’re looking at some that didn’t make the cut. This month, something wickedly unexpected this way comes, from returning sprites to your chance to build your

Remaking one of our favourite games always balanced on a knife’s edge, but thanks to how good that knife is to use, this one’s a success. Sumptuous visuals and terrific combat join the ultimate spring clean to create one of the best third-person acti

You won’t find another open world quite like this, the streets of Los Santos paling in comparison to this gorgeous western sprawl. Arthur Morgan’s wild west adventure is epic, emotional, and has enough teasing mysteries on every Horizon for no two co

It might not be the first game you think of when you hear the phrase ‘mascot kart racer’ but this is still a well-made arcade driving experience. Team Sonic Racing borrows plenty from its competition: boost pads, flying sections, and even anti-gravit

A visually stunning, level-based jaunt through environments absolutely packed with climbable surfaces. You swing your arms from handhold to handhold through lush jungles, up wintry slopes, and even across the rusted metals of abandoned bunkers. Plent

Metal Gear Solid 3 has an Ape Escape crossover minigame. A hologram of Horizon’s Aloy can be found in Death Stranding. Kratos and Sackboy were DLC characters for Everybody’s Golf 5. Geralt is playable in Soulcalibur VI. The plan was for Bandai Nam

ISSUE 27 / JUNE 2023 Future PLC Quay House, The Ambury, Bath BA1 1UA Editorial Editor Oscar Taylor-Kent @MrOscarTK oscar.taylor-kent@futurenet.com – 01225 442244Managing Art Editor Milford Coppock @milfcoppockOperations Editor Miriam McDonald @cri

Gun not included, unfortunately, but who wouldn’t want to cuddle up with this grumpy dark horse – er, ’hog? Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles are also available if you can’t handle Shadow’s bad-boy attitude. None of them are in stock until August, though, s