PS4 players get Rabbids: Party of Legends and PHOGS, while those on PS5 get exclusive access to Luminous Productions’ Forspoken. Meanwhile, Premium subscribers can look forward to playing Sly 2: Band of Thieves, Sly 3: Honor Among Thieves, and Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy on PS5 and PS4, while PlayStation VR2 gets Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge.

All Classic titles sport rewind, custom filters, up-rendering and rewind functions, making it the best time to experience them. As for December’s PlayStation Plus Essential titles, head here for more details. They’re available until January 6th, 2025.

Chief among them is probably Need for Speed Unbound, Criterion’s open world racer, which launched last year. Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers will have access to it via EA Play on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and cloud starting June 22.

Another major new title to look forward to is F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch. TiGames’ acclaimed steampunk Metroidvania game launched for PS5, PS4, and PC in 2021, before coming to Switch last year. It’ll finally be releasing for Xbox Series X/S on June 27, and will also be available on Game Pass for PC, console, and cloud on the same day.

Beyond that, narrative adventure title The Bookwalker launches for Game Pass on June 22 (console and PC), Nordic adventure game Bramble: The Mountain King arrives on June 27 (cloud, console, and PC), and Story of Seasons: Friends of Mineral Town arrives on June 29 (console and PC).

June’s second wave will also bleed into the early days of next month, with Arcade Paradise launching for Game Pass on July 3 (console and PC), and Sword and Fairy: Together Forever wrapping up the batch on July 5 (console and PC).

TORMENTED SOULS

For fans of classic survival horror games, Tormented Souls is almost a must-play experience. While the genre is thriving right now, Tormented Souls is one of few games that delivers that classic fixed camera experience that old-school Resident Evil and Silent Hill games used to be known for, and it does it to great effect. It’s a little rough around the edges, admittedly, but the pros definitely outweigh the cons here.

It’s been confirmed that F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is headed to the Nintendo Switch, a platform that seems particularly well-suited for the kind of game it is. Earlier this year, the game received a classification rating for Nintendo’s platform in Taiwan, so this doesn’t exactly come as a huge surprise.

Publisher Bilbili will be assisted by Astrolabe Games in publishing the game on Switch. It will launch for the system on July 12, with pre-orders being live now, and costing 10% less until the game launches.

In our review of F.I.S.T., we awarded it a score of 7/10, saying, “Aside from rigid combat and some visual hiccups, F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch delivers a unique world with an intriguing narrative and tight traversal.” You can read our full review through here.

F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is currently available on PS5, PS4, and PC. Shortly after the game’s launch last year, its developers confirmed that work on new content was underway.

Our tough rabbit hero has made his way into Nintendo Switch! eShop Pre-order starts now! Enjoy 10% off before release date: July 12th, fight with Rayton against the Legion! pic.twitter.com/C8SEkeXME0

— F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch（暗影火炬城） (@FISTthegame) June 16, 2022

As reported by Gematsu, F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch was recently rated for the Nintendo Switch by the Taiwan Digital Game Rating Committee. A Switch version of the game hasn’t yet been officially announced of course, but this isn’t the first time that an imminent announcement for a game has been preceded by a classification rating for it, so one may very well be coming soon.

In our review of F.I.S.T., we awarded it a score of 7/10, saying, “Aside from rigid combat and some visual hiccups, F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch delivers a unique world with an intriguing narrative and tight traversal.” You can read our full review through here.

F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is currently available on PS5, PS4, and PC. Shortly after the game’s launch last year, its developers confirmed that work on new content was underway.

One year later, we’re looking back on the 25 best games released thus far for the PS5. So without further ado, let’s get into it.

Hades

Hades is many things. It’s a showcase of Supergiant Games’ deft character writing with a litany of well-written characters based on Greek mythology, each with hundreds of lines and dozens of interactions. It’s an incredible rogue-lite which balances its progression with the story, slowly unraveling more plot details with each escape attempt. And most importantly, it’s a great action game with stellar variety thanks to Boons and weapon upgrades that you want to jump into again and again, especially at 4K/60 FPS on the PS5.

Speaking to MP1st, the CEO of TiGames, Tao Zhang, confirmed they were still working on the game in post-launch. They mostly highlighted quality of life updates such as more languages and bug fixes. Interestingly, however, there is also mention of new content. Unfortunately, no more details are given about what that entails.

“There are a lot of great ideas of game mechanism that we had to give up when building Torch City, and more story we can’t wait to share, which we are willing to present to our players by various forms. Currently, we are still working on updates of F.I.S.T. as planning, like multi-languages supporting, bug fixing, and PC features adaption. After that, we will put our energy on developing new content, and keep updating the world of Torch City.”

Whether or not that new content ends up being something substantial is anyone’s guess, or if it’s in reference to another project entirely. Either way, it seems the developer at least will iron out any technical issues. The game is available now on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and PC.

For starters, there’s Back 4 Blood, which is out now and boasting up to a 46% performance boost with DLSS on. Baldur’s Gate 3 is also receiving a new update this week, and with DLSS on, it will see up to a whopping 88% performance boost at 4K resolution. Crysis Remastered Trilogy, out later this week, will also support DLSS across all three games.

Meanwhile, October 18 will also see DLSS support added to Rise of the Tomb Raider (with up to a 75% performance boost), while Shadow of the Tomb Raider – which currently supports DLSS 1.0 – will be upgraded to the current version as well. Chivalry 2 will receive support on October 26 and see up to 45% performance boosts, while Sword and Fairy 7, which is out on October 21, will also have full ray-tracing and DLSS support.

Swords of Legend Online will see up to 60% performance boosts starting October 14. Meanwhile, both F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch and Alan Wake Remastered are also new additions to the DLSS list in October.

It’s been announced via the game’s official Twitter page that F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is releasing for PC some time in October. It will be available via Steam and the Epic Games Store. An exact release date hasn’t been announced, but we’ll learn more about that in the coming days.

F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is current available on PS5 and PS4. In our review of the game, we said, “Aside from rigid combat and some visual hiccups, F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch delivers a unique world with an intriguing narrative and tight traversal.” You can read our full review through here.

Today we came with another big announcement: PC versions will be available in October on @Steam and @EpicGames , can’t wait to meet our PC fans! pic.twitter.com/A5oNnljnCB

— F.I.S.T.: Forged In Shadow Torch（暗影火炬城） (@FISTthegame) September 24, 2021

F.I.S.T. tells a story about a rabbit named Rayton who when an old friend gets arrested and taken to prison and he goes to rescue him, punching a multitude of robots led by the Legions of Iron Dogs along the way. Right out the gate, the title takes the anthropomorphic route in terms of its character design but it works surprisingly well. It never seemed too overdone and felt very natural or appealing to the setting. The story expands at a good pace and was very enjoyable throughout due in part to Ray himself. I was able to sample both the English and Chinese voicework and both casts do a fine job of selling the world of F.I.S.T., even if their character traits are familiar affairs. Still, having an English voice option for F.I.S.T. is surprising to me, since there are a lot of voiced NPC conversations and this is an independent game developed by a Chinese studio. Localization feats for a smaller game like this deserve recognition.

"Aside from some visual blemishes and initially restricted flow and structure, F.I.S.T. accomplishes its goal accompanied by the cool factor of playing as a rabbit bashing robots with a giant arm."

The art style of F.I.S.T. is very inspired for the approach it goes for. “Dieselpunk ” as it’s referred to is realized in the environmental design and the background detail is very sharp on the PlayStation 5. The nighttime scenery in the outdoor areas like the starting city shift very well with the camera adding a great deal of depth. The main city hub in particular looks great along with its China inspired scenery. F.I.S.T.’s world is very grimy and industrial, and the soundtrack composed by Caisong Bo compliments this nicely. The OST blends jazz and piano tunes for the main city hub with quieter sounds to set the moon while exploring the various zones. Sometimes a great score sets out to compliment the gameplay, instead of overtake it; and that is the case here.

F.I.S.T. runs at a smooth 60 fps at a native 4K on the PlayStation 5, and keeps the framerate with dynamic resolution scaling on the PS4 Pro. This is great because the two versions are very comparable in this respect. 1080p at 30 frames a second on the base PS4 console still can work modestly well but when the platforming gets hairy, 60 fps might seem vital. A Performance Mode on PS4 to knock the resolution down to achieve a higher framerate would be useful.

One trapping F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch falls into in its visual presentation is the use of motion blur and camera shake. The game uses both camera and per-object motion blur, taking away a significant amount of sharpness from the picture in both gameplay and cutscenes. Being a game made in Unreal Engine, this is likely a limitation of the software as opposed to an artistic choice; at least in regards to camera blur. The options menu offers no customization for the visuals other than the camera angle of finishers, so it comes down to personal preference. I usually almost always turn off camera blur but in a 2D side scroller such as F.I.S.T., it’s less of an issue than in a 3D game. Every time Ray attacks, the camera shakes a little or a lot and unfortunately this cannot be turned off either. While most of the cutscenes in the game are with static models with limited animation, the dynamic cutscenes are when the animators really flexes their muscles. Characters have great choreography in these sequences, and they really highlight what motion blur can add to the table when animating characters.

"The interconnected map is incredibly large."

The combat starts off pretty stale and clunky. Weapons have light and heavy attacks that can be chained together, but there isn’t much room for experimentation. The skill tree for each weapon is built around adding combos instead of boots to attack or health. Players are specifically shown what they can and cannot do. It’s only when later abilities and combo extenders are gained where things really get going. However, most of the later skills for each weapon do require Data Disks, which can be obtained from boss fights, exploration or purchased for a hefty sum. SP moves are stronger attacks that use a resource bar refilled by attacking foes. I think that these are best used as strong combo enders and can make combat more manageable. Some of the boss fights can be very taxing, and this is because of how enemy staggering is handled. When Ray staggers or does not stagger a foe is very inconsistent and can lead to taking unnecessary hits or deaths when committing to combos. To that end, SP abilities do not grant invincibility either but have a better chance to stagger. There are two more weapons obtained in the story, but Ray’s first tool in his arsenal is the most fun and versatile to use; but the second weapon he obtains, a drill, does allow him to glide and traverse underwater which is a great boost to moving around the world.

The interconnected map is incredibly large. Each named zone such as the Sewers, Tower, or otherwise are color coded on the map to help differentiate them from the world view. Tracking later objectives or previous unclaimed secrets can be a pain but mission goals are easily seen with a small text box or a red exclamation icon on screen. One other minor note about viewing the map is that you can’t cycle through or pin specific icons for collectibles and goals. What this comes down to is a map that does the job at letting you know what’s around you and where you can go, but heavy backtracking might require a little more time to relearn where certain doors or barriers were that hide secrets.

Traversal offers a steadier form of progression and in a game like this, it is always welcome and this part of the game delivers on the fun factor the most. F.I.S.T. knows when it’s the right time to introduce a new movement option after you get accustomed to a previous ability. Rayton will find transformers throughout the world, giving him movement upgrades. Like with combat, traversing the world can be stiff but it becomes fast and fluid past the early parts of the game. One small but extremely appreciated aspect of the platforming challenge that really helps its pace is that hugging walls does give you an extra dash. This gives the player fluid movement through the levels which are largely boxed rooms and hallways filled with enemies and traps.

"F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is worth keeping an eye on."

It’s when F.I.S.T. combines combat with intense platforming challenges that starts to bring a level of frustration. Depending on the combination of enemies and room hazards, moving forward may take several tries. Early on, there’s a skill that makes executions give EP back. EP is a resource used for gadgets and one of them is a flask that heals Rayton. I recommend getting this ability in the skill tree as soon as possible as it can help keep you going through tougher areas as long as enemies are able to be executed along the way. Some foes do have weapons that can stun or stick you in place, and certain hazards like poisonous fluid in the sewers make this a really lethal and vexing combination.

F.I.S.T.: Forged in Shadow Torch is worth keeping an eye on. It brings some unique flavor to the platformer genre with its story and world building but lacks some map functionality. After some time gaining the exploration and combat tools available, platforming is very responsive and fluid to play even though combat doesn’t reach the same heights. Ever still, punching robots with a large metal fist is very satisfying to do.

This game was reviewed on the PlayStation 5.