Released in 2023 (and winner of our Game of the Year award), Alan Wake 2 follows up on the original by offering two protagonists: Wake and Saga Anderson. The latter is an FBI special agent investigating mysterious murders in Bright Falls and eventually connects with the former. Boasting incredible production values and storytelling, the sequel sold over two million units as of February 2025.

But that’s not all. To celebrate The Last of Us Day on September 26th, PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium members can experience The Last of Us Part 2 on PS4 and The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered on PS5. In terms of PlayStation Classics, Premium members can look forward to the addition of Tekken 3 (PS One), Soulcalibur 3 (PS2) and Tomb Raider: Anniversary (PS2) later this year.

15. Need for Speed: High Stakes

When players still had some measure of sympathy and expectations from Electronic Arts, the Need for Speed series delivered its fourth title – High Stakes. It featured new additions to the timeworn formula, including realistic damage, a deeper Hot Pursuit mode where players could control the police and tournaments. High Stakes also pushed the limits of risk vs reward, resulting in some real high stakes (pun fully intended).

While Bloomberg’s Jason Schreier said that the latter is indeed “coming,” the former has been more mysterious. Giant Bomb’s Jeff Grubb shined more light on it in the recent Game Mess Mornings stream. “Most of the Square-Enix games on that list have been confirmed or even came out by now, except for Final Fantasy 9 Remake and Final Fantasy Tactics Remaster…I will say, I heard very recently, once again, Final Fantasy 9 Remake is real. That is real and happening.”

Of course, there’s the question of what kind of remake it will be. Will it follow Final Fantasy 7 Remake and update the combat to be more real-time with pause? Is it akin to Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion with the same gameplay but ground-up remade visuals? Time will tell, but hopefully, Square Enix won’t go the Final Fantasy 8 Remastered route.

If an announcement for either title is in the works, a reveal could be coming at the Summer Game Fest Showcase on June 8th. Stay tuned for more details in the meantime.

Other titles include Dragon Ball Z: Kakarot, Haven, Life is Strange: True Colors, Rainbow Six Extraction and Tchia on PS4 and PS5. PS4 players also get Final Fantasy Type-0 HD, Immortals Fenyx Rising, Life is Strange 2, NEO: The World Ends with You, RAGE 2, Street Fighter 5 Champion Edition, and Untitled Goose Game. Of course, these are all playable on PS5, thanks to backward compatibility.

For Premium subscribers, Ape Escape 2 and Ridge Racer Type 4 for PlayStation One are coming along with Syphon Filter: Dark Mirror from the PlayStation Portable era. The latter benefits from up-rendering, quick saving, video filters and a rewind function. Stay tuned for more details when the above titles go live next week.

PS4 players also gain access to Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX and Monster Energy Supercross – The Official Videogame 5. But other titles includ Spiritfarer: Farewell Edition, Chicory: A Colorful Tale, and Dragon Ball Xenoverse 2. Ubisoft’s Assassin’s Creed Origins, Rabbids Invasion: The Interactive TV Show, Rayman Legends, Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game – Complete Edition, and Watch Dogs 2 are also included.

The Classics Catalog, exclusive to PS Plus Premium subscribers, includes Syphon Filter 2 on the PS One. PS3 titles available via cloud streaming include Bentley’s Hackpack, The Sly Collection, and Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time. The new PlayStation Portable titles for the month include Kingdom of Paradise and Toy Story 3.

PlayStation users in Asia, specifically Windy Corner TV in Hong Kong, saw an image of Regina from Dino Crisis in the PlayStation Store for the Classics Catalogue banner. Dino Crisis isn’t currently available in the Catalogue and neither Capcom nor Sony has announced it will be coming. We’ll have to wait for more details in the meantime.

PlayStation Plus will also be coming to Japan on June 1st, North and South America on June 13th, and June 22nd in Europe. The full list of available games for each region has yet to be revealed though Sony did confirm some PS3 titles that would be included.

I logged onto the Hong Kong store and can confirm this is real.

However Dino Crisis isn't available to download or purchase…..yet. https://t.co/rzpFRmdpa9 pic.twitter.com/GPyqpIrV5X

— Windy Corner TV – Robert (@windycornertv) May 25, 2022

Classic Games Catalog – Original PlayStation and PSP

PlayStation Studios

• Ape Escape | Japan Studio, Original Playstation
• Hot Shots Golf | Japan Studio, Original Playstation
• I.Q. Intelligent Qube | Japan Studio, Original PlayStation
• Jumping Flash! | Japan Studio, Original PlayStation
• Syphon Filter | Bend Studio, Original PlayStation
• Super Stardust Portable | Housemarque, PSP

Third Party Partners

• Mr. Driller | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., Original PlayStation
• Tekken 2 | Bandai Namco Entertainment Inc., Original PlayStation
• Worms World Party | Team 17, Original PlayStation
• Worms Armageddon | Team17, Original PlayStation

Classic Games Catalog – Remasters

PlayStation Studios

• Ape Escape 2 | Japan Studio, PS4
• Arc The Lad: Twilight of the Spirits | Japan Studio, PS4
• Dark Cloud | Japan Studio, PS4
• Dark Cloud 2 | Japan Studio, PS4
• FantaVision | SIE, PS4
• Hot Shots Tennis | Japan Studio, PS4
• Jak II | Naughty Dog, PS4
• Jak 3| Naughty Dog, PS4
• Jak X: Combat Racing | Naughty Dog, PS4
• Jak and Daxter: The Precursor Legacy | Naughty Dog, PS4
• Rogue Galaxy | Japan Studio, PS4
• Siren | Japan Studio, PS4
• Wild Arms 3 | SIE, PS4

Third Party Partners

• Baja: Edge of Control HD | THQ Nordic, PS4
• Bioshock Remastered | 2K Games, PS4
• Borderlands The Handsome Collection | 2K Games, PS4
• Bulletstorm: Full Clip Edition | Gearbox Publishing, PS4
• Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning | THQ Nordic, PS4
• Lego Harry Potter Collection | WB Games, PS4

PlayStation 3 titles are available via cloud streaming for PS4, PS5 and PC where available (otherwise they can be downloaded digitally). Some of the titles are as follows:

PlayStation Studios

• Crash Commando | Creative Vault Studios, PS3
• Demon’s Souls | From Software, PS3
• echochrome | Japan Studio, PS3
• Hot Shots Golf: Out of Bounds | Japan Studio, PS3
• Hot Shots Golf: World Invitational | Japan Studio, PS3
• Ico | Japan Studio, PS3
• Infamous | Sucker Punch, PS3
• Infamous 2 | Sucker Punch, PS3
• Infamous: Festival of Blood | Sucker Punch, PS3
• LocoRoco Cocoreccho! | Japan Studio, PS3
• MotorStorm Apocalypse | Evolution Studios, PS3
• MotorStorm RC | Evolution Studios, PS3
• Puppeteer | Japan Studio, PS3
• rain | Japan Studio, PS3
• Ratchet & Clank: Quest For Booty | Insomniac Games, PS3
• Ratchet & Clank: A Crack in Time |Insomniac Games, PS3
• Ratchet & Clank: Into the Nexus | Insomniac Games, PS3
• Resistance 3 | Insomniac Games, PS3
• Super Stardust HD | Housemarque, PS3
• Tokyo Jungle | Japan Studio, PS3
• When Vikings Attack | Clever Beans, PS3

Third Party Partners

• Asura’s Wrath | Capcom Co., Ltd., PS3
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 | Konami, PS3
• Devil May Cry HD Collection | Capcom Co., Ltd., PS3
• Enslaved: Odyssey to the West | Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc., PS3
• F.E.A.R. | WB Games, PS3
• Lost Planet 2 | Capcom Co., Ltd., PS3
• Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 | Koei Tecmo, PS3
• Red Dead Redemption: Undead Nightmare |Rockstar Games, PS3

Sony is touting improved frame rates and higher-quality resolution for some titles. Certain PS One and PSP titles will also have a new UI that allows for saving at any time and even rewinding to fix mistakes.

Those who have purchased the digital versions of PS One and PSP titles also won’t have to separately purchase or subscribe to PS Plus to play them on PS4 and PS5. Simply head to the PlayStation Store and download these versions for no additional cost. Some titles can also be purchased individually.

The final benefit of PlayStation Plus Premium is time-limited game trials. These are two hour long trials with the timer only counting down while in-game. Trophies unlocked and progress made will transfer over into the full game if you decide to purchase. Some of the titles that will have trials include:

PlayStation Studios

• Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection | Naughty Dog, PS5
• Horizon Forbidden West | Guerrilla Games, PS4/PS5

Third Party Partners

• Cyberpunk 2077 | CD Projekt, PS5
• Farming Simulator 22 | Giants Software GmBH, PS4/PS5
• Tiny Tina’s Wonderland | 2K Games, PS4/PS5
• WWE 2K22 | 2K Games, PS4/PS5

PlayStation Plus Premium will be available for $17.99 per month, $49.99 per quarter, and $119.99 per 12 months. It launches first on May 24th for Asia, followed by Japan on June 2nd. North and South America get it on June 13th while Europe, Australia and New Zealand can subscribe on June 23rd.

Fredley thanked Mike Bishop for bringing him on board as an initial hire, adding “Let’s go and ensure our industry’s history isn’t forgotten!” Bishop has worked at PlayStation Studios as a Global QA Manager for the Engineering Operations team since January 2017. The exact scope of the Game Preservation team is unknown but given how retro titles heavily factor into the new PlayStation Plus tiers, it’s not all that unexpected.

Whether this leads to features like native PS3 emulation on the PS5 remains to be seen so stay tuned. In the meantime, the new PlayStation Plus launches on May 23rd for Asia, June 13th for the Americas and June 22nd for Europe.

The patent specifically describes, “Backward compatibility through use of spoof clock and fine grain frequency control.” Given that the PS5 already has backwards compatibility for a number of PS4 titles, it could instead point to support for titles from PS One, PS2 and PS3 eras. Which is pretty great if true considering the number of classics – like God of War Collection, The Sly Collection, Resistance, Killzone and so on – that aren’t playable on newer PlayStation consoles.

Of course, time will tell how long it takes for this to be implemented in current hardware. Sony is reportedly planning some kind of competitor for Game Pass, codenamed “Spartacus”, which will seemingly combine PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now while leveraging backwards compatibility. It’s apparently coming in Spring 2022 for PS4 and PS5 so perhaps this patent may tie into that. We’ll find out in the coming months so stay tuned.

https://twitter.com/shaunmcilroy/status/1481360035506761729

https://twitter.com/shaunmcilroy/status/1481360759556919300

Parliament Of Serbia in Belgrade – Half-Life 2

City 17’s European-inspired architecture and aesthetics are fairly easy to recognize, though the Overwatch Nexus is perhaps the closest to being based on an actual building. As the main building for the Overwatch forces, the Nexus was formerly a political building before the Combine invaded. It turns out that it’s actually inspired by the Parliament of Serbia in Belgrade. The similarities between the two buildings, from their general structure to the opening archway are noteworthy, though the signature dome isn’t as defined on the Nexus. Though it’s not outright confirmed in-game, browsing through the texture files reveals the word “parliament” which further hints at the inspiration.