Gamer83

Rise of the Ronin

@get2sammyb
It's more than a shame, this is going to be disastrous for the game's sales prospects. The soundtrack is a huge part of the experience. I'll probably still buy it, but not going to lie, this is a lot like the Switch port of No More Heroes 1 missing Heavenly Star.

One of my favorites in the series and still in my 5 games of this gen.

Played a little bit of Tomb Raider Legend. It's great to have it available and I like the game so will be playing to get the trophies, but, the Xbox 360 version on Series X is the better option for anybody who hasn't played the game before.

@Rich33
I also don't love seeing PlayStation and Xbox sharing their IP with eachother or Nintendo. On the other hand, releasing their games on their own consoles but also having a PC version for day one? Don't really have a problem with that, two very different markets.

@Rich33
Obviously can't speak for others but as a PS5 and Xbox Series X owner myself, I'll keep the Xbox because as of now it still does have a few console exclusives, but if it gets to the point where every MS-owned IP shows up on PS5, I'd still keep playing those games on Xbox because I've put a lot of money into that ecosystem over the years. I'll buy the next Xbox for the same reason. Of course, if I was new to gaming, right now the choice is PlayStation over Xbox with Nintendo as a nice complimentary option.

This is why I don't understand the hope some people still have for the demise of the Xbox brand. PlayStation needs strong competition, and for the first time in a long time, Xbox delivered something good. Your turn, Sony...

Hoping this one gets me back into the series. Last Call of Duty I bought was Black Ops Cold War.

Interesting. Not sure if it's a day one buy, but a game I'll be paying attention to.

This will be a great addition to King of Fighter 15, Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.

I would've preferred two more SF characters instead of Mai and Terry, but still a cool group of fighters none the less.

@Ashina
Don't stop there... Astro Bot as well. It's exactly the type of game the Nintendo audience likes. Would be a good Switch 2 launch game.

Heck yeah. Have the platinum but still play this one from time to time as it's one of my top 5 PS5 games. Any new, free content is always appreciated.

I'd buy it as I'm a big fan of both the PSP and the Vita, but I'd rather Sony focus on the home market.

Since what I saw recently has me completely uninterested in the Silent Hill 2 remake, I hope this delivers. I've liked everything Keiichiro Toyama has made before, especially the Gravity Rush series.

Yakuza is my third favorite franchise after Resident Evil and Metroid but I have my doubts Amazon can do it justice as a tv series. Hope I'm wrong, will definitely tune in for the first season, at least.

Looks like Metal Slug, which is cool, unfortunately the gameplay style isn't something I can get into. I'm sure the soundtrack will be a banger, Tee Lopes also made the TMNT Shredder's Revenge music.

@NEStalgia
It's beyond ridiculous thinking. What's really crazy is, it's not that long ago that Sony realized budget pricing should exist for certain types of games.

@CamPatUK
Yup. I get it. I hope Sony doesn't F things up.

Feels like they're setting this up to be a $70 game, which I think will bury it. I'd still buy it but I don't think the vast majority would. Even $60 is pushing things because Playroom was free. I think $40-$50 would be the sweet spot. I want this game to succeed because if it doesn't Sony's take away won't be 'we screwed up on pricing and advertising,' it'll be 'gamers don't want games like Astro Bot.'

1. Monster Hunter Wilds
2. Astro Bot
Both of those look awesome.

As for the other games, it was all a steaming pile of meh, and I'm especially disappointed with how badly Bloober Team seems to be dropping the ball with Silent Hill 2, though, I guess I shouldn't be shocked because I knew where things were headed once 'modern audience' was injected into the conversation. I don't want to write off Path of Exile 2 or Ballad or Antara but free-to-play is always cause for concern.

I don't care if people don't like beat-em-ups, that's fine. However, ranking a month that features Streets of Rage 4 as 'crap' is insanity. Don't have to like a genre to be able to appreciate a well-made game, and SoR 4 is fantastic.

Big fan of Playroom's soundtrack, so this is great news.

Something I hope Capcom keeps from Monster Hunter Rise is the pacing. I tried other MH games in the past (Tri on the Wii and World on PS4) but could never get into the series until Rise came along. The other games just felt too slow and deliberate when it came to tracking the monsters and all that stuff leading up to the battles whereas Rise was action packed from the start. Good, more large-scale storytelling would be a nice bonus but as the article states that's not completely necessary for Monster Hunter.

Hopefully there's a demo in the lead up but even if not I'll still get this on launch day. Easily one of my most anticipated games right now and with Capcom riding a serious hot streak, little doubt this will be one of 2025's best.

Right now this is my most-wanted game for the rest of the year. Big fan of Astro's Playroom, look forward to seeing what the team does with a more full game.

Probably will be gone from the list entirely next month but hopefully the April result is good enough that it means Stellar Blade can be considered a success overall.

Wish it was like the Xbox Series X where you could also put a disc copy in for games that are part of the bc program but this is still better than nothing. Hoping to see a good number of Namco games with Tekken 5 at the top of the list.

I have a Premium subscription but going to spend the money anyway to buy Sly Cooper and Tomb Raider Legend. Both great games and a chance to show Sony that some of us do want more PS2 games on the service.

Sega is my favorite video game company of all time but it's always been run by idiots. Good thing Nagoshi made the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series happen anyway.

Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8.

@get2sammyb
Great job, thanks for taking the time to put this together.

Unfortunately, at least from what I've seen on twitter, the fighting on both sides continues. I could understand if this game had any real harmful content in it, but it doesn't. Don't like skimpy outfits? Move the f on and play one of the billion games that doesn't have them.

Never played Rescue Mission on the PSVR but Astro's Playroom is still one of my favorite PS5 games. This would be perfect for the Fall/Holiday season.

@Ashina
It's because the type of game Stellar Blade is. Certain types have to crap on it to prove what great, non-sexist people they are.

I've moved on to Street Fighter 6 and Tekken 8 but this was my favorite fighting game on PS4 when it released. If you can find it for $30 or under, I'd still recommend it to any PS4/5 owners looking for something a bit different than the usual.

Really is no competition in Japan for Nintendo right now.

That's not a great payoff for the boss rush mode but at least it's free.

I'm not very optimistic but I'll probably go see it anyway. I went to the theatre back in 2009 to see the Chun-Li movie and I was the only one there.

@meistergeister
Agree. Borderline criminal that Muramasa Rebirth didn't get the same 'Pro' treatment that Dragon's Crown did. I'd have bought it again, especially if there had been a physical release.

Good. Haven't played it but, given Vanillaware's pedigree, there's no doubt Unicorn Overlord is great for what it is. However, I want something more similar to Odin Sphere, Muramasa or Dragon's Crown in terms of gameplay. I like 13 Sentinels a lot but it was more the goofy story and characters that kept me going throughout the adventure where as with those other 3, the combat was the main draw.

@UltimateOtaku91
Been a lot of great games this year that fell off quicker than they should've. Why anybody would buy the garbage that is Mortal Kombat 11 over Tekken 8 is beyond me.

Worst part of the game, aside from the putrid way DLC has been handled, is easily the soundtrack. And, of course, you have to pay to get the music worth a damn. It really is amazing how Capcom can get DLC right with Resident Evil but fails on every level concerning that with SF 6.

A sequel would be awesome.

Seems like an obvious move. MS has to do something to attract more people to the Xbox brand.

@UltimateOtaku91
I think this one is supposed to be a return to the RPG style of more recent ACs. If you want a modern AC that is more 'classic' style, Mirage is actually pretty good.

Day one buy for me. I like pretty much all the AC games.

And that tally will grow because Xbox gave up. It's a two horse race from here on out and the industry is not going to better for it because Nintendo provides more of a complimentary option than a serious competitor to the hardware Sony releases.

If you go in with the right expectations, Wanted: Dead can be a fun time. Very janky but I enjoyed it for the throwback to the PS2 era that it is. At that price, definitely worth a shot. House of the Dead Remake is fun, too.

I always hate when this happens. Get used to how a character plays and then they go and screw it all up. Happens 100% of the time. For once, just leave well enough alone.

@Ainu20
Censorship decisions don't always make sense. That's true going back to the 90s. No company tried harder to be seen as cool than Sega but even then Sega of America would sometimes make choices that didn't line up with how it usually acted. For example, all the changes made in Streets of Rage 3, especially to the females. All the female villains got covered up compared to the Japanese release but somehow Blaze's outfit was allowed to be exactly the same, though they made an odd decision to make the outfit white for the U.S. instead of the traditional red.