“I’M ARACHNOPHOBIC, BUT CAN’T USE ARACHNOPHOBIA MODES IN GAMES (YET).”

Welcome

One of the best things about gaming as

Tracking Monster Hunter’s future

Ahead of Monster Hunter Wilds next year, two story-focused spinoffs come to PlayStation

Come and GDC it all

San Francisco’s biggest gaming conference isn’t just for developers, but as Rollin Bishop discovers, it helps

Punch Nazis

Twin-superhero adventure Marvel 1943: Rise Of Hydra looks totally Unreal

Meet the RPA

Get pushy in Arranger: A Role-Puzzling Adventure

Threading the needle

Eternal Strands boasts big bosses and terrific tactility

Which game should pamper our pets next?

Sqex Pets offers Square Enix-themed pet merch – which companies should follow suit?

Skeletons

From bony heroes to fleshless monsters, they won’t stay in the closet forever

“VIDEOGAMES SHOULD EXPLORE ENGAGING ROMANTIC RELATIONSHIPS.”

Grand Theft Auto VI’s romantic story arc promises to steal our hearts

System Shock

Hunt: SHODAN

Indika

The devil on your shoulder 

MultiVersus

Welcome to the slam

Visions Of Mana

Tree-t yourself to this mana-fold return

Kunitsu-Gami: Path of The Goddess

Not quite a walk in the park

Synduality: Echo of Ada

Nonsensical name, enjoyable game

Asphalt: Legends Unite

FORMAT PS5, PS4 / ETA JULY 2024 / PUB

Metal: Hellsinger VR

FORMAT PSVR2 / ETA 2024 / PUB FUNCOM

Shadow and flame

Why Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree is more than simple DLC – it’s a huge new open world adventure that’ll take over your gaming life

Dark world

Journeying to the Land Of Shadow

Cracking skulls

Eight new ways to get fighty

Making enemies

More like the Land Of Shad-foe

SHAPING YOUR WORLDS

Jess Kinghorn chats with world-building masters from Larian Studios, Techland, HoYoverse, Billy Goat Entertainment, and CD Projekt Red about what goes into crafting your favourite places on PlayStation

GENERATION OPEN

From ambitious RPGs to sweeping adventures, Jeremy Peel unpacks the history of the open world from PS1 to PS5

Dragon’s Dogma 2

Our heart has been stolen

Rise Of The Ronin

Proof that Ninja Gaiden wasn’t merely a flash in Japan

Harold Halibut

Under the sea, under the sea, it’s still the ’70s

Planet Zoo: Console Edition

Radio the keepers, it’s about to get wild

Unicorn Overlord

Friendship is strategic magic

Freedom Planet 2

Not so much ‘beating Sonic at his own game’ as evolving it

As Dusk Falls

In this robbery, no-one gets away clean

Open Roads

Heading home down the beaten path

Suicide Squad: Kill The Justice League – Season One

Set the whole world laughing

STALKER: Shadow Of Chornobyl

Rad FPS or radioactive waste?

Lego DC Super-Villains

Looking for caps in all the wrong places

Warframe – Dante Unbound

The new spellcaster offers magic moments

Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising – 2B

…or not 2B?

PS5 Hall of fame

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE NEW GEN’S GREATEST GAMES

PS4 Hall of fame

THE DEFINITIVE GUIDE TO THE LAST GEN’S GREATEST GAMES

PSVR2 Hall of fame

THE VIRTUAL REALITY HITS YOU HAVE TO PLAY

X-Men Origins: Wolverine Uncaged Edition

15 years and two far better films later…

Ken Amada

Henry Stockdale believes we shouldn’t write Persona 3’s Ken off after his initial missteps

MLB 11: The Show

King of the swingers still reigns supreme

Jak And Daxter: The Lost Frontier

We’re going Jak to the last game in the series

THE BREIF HISTORY OF Reboots

Wait, haven’t we said all this before?

Law and disorder

The Streets Of Rage 4 gang break out of the police precinct slammer. We predict a riot