Category: PlayStation

Hi everyone, I’m Phil Crifo, Tchia’s game director and co-founder of Awaceb. We are so excited that tomorrow Tchia launches to the world, and it’s the culmination of an incredible 5-year adventure for a tiny team making a big game.  

As we’re nearing the release, we wanted to give you a final look at how we expanded on the sandbox open-world formula. If you’re new to Tchia, no doubt the below overview will bring you up to speed before you dive in the game on PS4 and PS5.  

To prepare you for the adventure that lies ahead, we also wanted to give you a few early-game tips. And so here are some of the top five items & features that you will be using in the game’s opening hours 

Slingshot  

Tchia’s trusty slingshot was gifted to her by her father, Joxu. It’s the very first tool you’ll receive in the game, and it will come in handy to aim at trees and knock down coconuts or bananas to consume and restore your energy. It’s also a useful weapon to wield against the Maano – the fabric-made creatures that have abducted Tchia’s father – to buy some time as you’re trying to find flammable items to get rid of them once and for all.  

You can also test your aiming skills in shooting range challenges, where reaching the top score will get you a golden trophy. Those will prove very useful for other activities.  

The slingshot also leverages some of the unique PS5 features, such as the adaptive triggers, where you’ll feel the weight of the sling at the tips of your fingers. And if you feel like becoming an expert sharpshooter, you can activate the motion sensor for a more accurate aim.  Give it a go, it’s accessible to toggle on or off in the menu. 

Ukulele  

One of Tchia’s most unique features is the Ukulele. You can harness the powers of this magical instrument with just a few strums. It’s fully playable, customizable, and also a game-changer.  

Gifted to Tchia by Joxu’s best friend Tre, the ukulele can be used for a whole host of things. Through unlockable magical tunes called Soul Melodies, Tchia can affect the world around her, make new items or animals appear to give her the edge in exploration and combat. The ukulele also comes into play at some heart-warming story moments in the game, where you can play along to scripted songs.  

When resting at a camp, you can also style up your Ukulele to suit you, with many options to customize it to your own personal taste. 

For those who want to jam a little more freely, Tchia’s ukulele is fully playable, and you can experiment with an entire musical scale. Whether you want to play chords or a single string, bend notes, pluck or tweak your way to musical greatness – the choice is yours to play whatever you want! We are very excited to see what you do with this feature.  

Soul-jumping 

From the early days of developing Tchia, we always intended to make a game that felt like a toy-box. We designed Soul-jumping with that in mind. Soul-jumping is one of Tchia’s inherent powers and you’ll use this to take control of almost any item or animal you can find in the archipelago.  

As we’ve already covered the Soul-jumping mechanics in detail in our latest video: 

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Here are some new animals you may not have seen yet that you can use to your advantage. 

Seagulls

Birds overall offer one of the strongest traversal advantages in the game. This is also why they will eat your soul-meter quickly! Use their super accessible controls to fly over cliffs and get to your destination in a flash. And if you’re cheeky, you can use “R2” to dump a nasty surprise on unsuspecting inhabitants. Cows also allow you to do the same, but be careful, as their dung is a bit unstable due to the use of Soul-jumping and they tend to … explode! 

Dolphins

Of all sea creatures you can possess in Tchia, dolphins are probably your fastest option… They can rush through the ocean if you sprint, and you can even do cool flips and other stunts when jumping out of the water. Fish are the best way to travel underwater and won’t be using the stamina you consume to hold your breath, giving you time to quickly scout your surroundings for valuable chests & pearls. 

Dogs (or Boars!)

Most land animals have digging abilities, which can prove very valuable when looking for trinkets or other hidden surprises. They are also much faster than Tchia on foot should you need to cover a large area more quickly. Though cats can’t dig, they do have another special ability that we’ll let you discover for yourselves! We’re very proud of the sound effect we’ve prepared when you trigger their ability 😉 

Crabs

Crabs are slow and don’t cover as much ground as the other animals, but they surely pack a pinch! Use their powerful pincers to snap locks off chests and get easier access to them!  

Trinkets & Pearls 

Trinkets and pearls are collectibles that you can find throughout the archipelago and play a critical role in the coutume – a Caledonian ceremony performed as a gesture of appreciation and respect for someone. Whenever you need to do offerings, or buy additional cosmetics, trinkets and pearls are almost always involved.  

You will find a lot of them throughout your journey, and you can identify their locations by activating shouting spots, that will reveal more activities and collectibles around you.  

Once you’ve collected enough of them, make your way to the nearest town or dock and see what kind of outfits or boat customization items you can unlock by spending them.  

Camera 

As you travel across the archipelago, you will meet many inhabitants who will help you on your journey. This is the case of Louise, a young girl from the village of Weliwele, that will give you a camera and ask you to take loads of pictures.  

Tchia is all about finding joy in the little things, and the camera system makes no exception. It was created to emulate the super rewarding process of shooting on film. Select your lens, your film roll, and even set up a tripod with a self-timer to take a cool pose. As you’re shooting on film, you’ll have to find a place where you can develop your pictures and enjoy the surprise of finding out how accomplished a photographer you are.  

A final word on accessibility

This was a last look at Tchia before it releases tomorrow, and we’re so grateful to everyone that has been with us throughout the development of our game. At the heart of Tchia is accessibility, and this is a philosophy that runs through the game in many ways.  

All activities and challenges have been set up so that performance is always optional, and you don’t need skills to progress in the story. Should you get stuck, you will always have the possibility to skip a gameplay segment so that you can discover what lies next with ease. Plus, if you really want to, you can start your journey at any point in the story via the chapter selection menu, available right at the beginning of your adventure.  

Tchia is a vibrant and colourful game inspired by New Caledonian culture. It’s a poetic coming of age story, but it also includes scenes that are not suitable for children. Therefore, if you want to play with your little ones, we recommend that you activate the “family mode”, that will automatically make some of the more violent or graphic scenes in the game suitable for the whole family. 

We can’t wait for you to dive into Tchia! And remember, if you’d like to customize Tchia & her boat to the colours of the other Kepler Interactive games, you can purchase the Oléti Edition (or the Kepler Customization Pack) that includes outfits, ukulele & boat customization items from the games Sifu, Scorn, Flintlock & Cat Quest.  

Oléti! 

Hello, Tourist. Your next adventure awaits in the war-torn, walker-infested streets of New Orleans, with new threats, action-packed combat, and even more walkers. And then there’s the dreaded Axeman hell-bent on retribution.

To help you on your journey, our team at Skydance Interactive has prepared a survival guide for The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution. The game releases on PlayStation VR2 tomorrow, March 21.

Pack for the trip

In The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, you’ve got to prepare for anything and everything. Unending herds of walkers, diabolical individuals plotting your every downfall, and an unrelenting, seemingly unstoppable Axeman, to name a few. You’ll face intense challenges every time you set foot outside of base camp, so you’ll need the right resources.

First, upgrade your inventory size as soon as you can. To do this, you’ll need to upgrade the Gear Station at base camp to Level 6, and from there you can obtain the “Deep Pockets” upgrade. This adds nine inventory slots to your backpack and an extra large slot to carry two-handed weapons (such as the coveted chainsaw). Increasing your inventory size will help you in the long run with crafting healing items, weapons and other necessary upgrades.

In addition, upgrading your armor will help protect you against the walkers and enemies you encounter on your missions. Explore the new catacombs near base camp and you’ll find a new Heaving Plating Armor recipe to craft.

Weapons are a given (more on that below), but the right food will replenish your health and stamina when you need it most. We recommend crafting your own food using the recipes available in-game; while eating a can of beans you found could help you in a pinch, there is the likelihood it’ll make you sick, and you’ll need to craft medicine to undo the effects of eating low quality food. Some of the best recipes you’ll want to try are beignets, gumbo, and jambalaya.

Lastly, pack enough bandages and medicine each time you venture out into the city to heal yourself when you’re caught in a bad spot. The new crafting tables at base camp feature upgrades which can make healing, low stamina and curing sickness a worry of the past.

Know your weaponry

You’ll encounter a variety of weapons to help in your battle against walkers, members of the Tower and other dangers lurking around every corner. As powerful as each weapon can be, it’ll be of no use if you don’t know how to use it to your advantage. The most important thing is to take your time with a new weapon, and understand your best way to reload it. Be sure to try it out on a few sparse walkers before you rely on it for a herd.

Some of the most powerful weapons have nasty weaknesses for balance reasons, so you’ll need to understand each weapon’s unique features. They may be great for cutting through a herd but horrible against humans, or very good at range but nightmarish in close quarters.

Noise and light are also a factor when you are trying to sneak around, so keep that in mind as you arm yourself for a sortie. Lastly, not all weapons are paragons of durability in the harsh climate of post-apocalyptic New Orleans, so my advice is to always pack a spare or two.

A few more words should be said about the extra layers of depth in interactions that you will experience moving from PS VR to PS VR2. The new Sense controllers make reloading, healing yourself and revving up a chainsaw extremely precise and tactile, so make sure you are ready for that feedback and finger tracking action.

Explore the world

It’s crucial to make use of anything you can scavenge in the world, so it pays to explore your surroundings whenever possible.

A key way to earn more loot is by completing missions for the Exile trade network. Sonny’s Pawn Shop is a great starting point to take on new missions, which open new options for gathering and crafting essential survival gear.

For Tourists who are undaunted by a challenge, clearing walker-infested areas will help you obtain the best gear. Naturally, we know you’d want to avoid walkers as much as possible, but Chapter 2: Retribution is all about high risk, high rewards. One area in this state is Old Town – clearing this area (and others like it) will unlock Exile trade missions and night mode exploration for that area, featuring even better loot.

Befriend the night

Exploring at night introduces a different way to play in the world of The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners, and can be beneficial to your survival, as certain resources are more prominent at night. With night mode come new rules for scavenging and exploration, not to mention even more encounters with even larger amounts of walkers. Difficulty is high, but we promise, the reward is well worth it.

Your tactical flashlight will be useful here, and switching it to UV will reveal hidden information that will guide you through the darkness, as well as finding items that can only be found at night (such as key ingredients for one of the new crafting benches at base camp). You can also use flares to distract walkers and make your escape.

If you master night mode, you’ll find backpacks full of loot and essential scavenging materials for your crafting station.

–

In The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners – Chapter 2: Retribution, there are plenty of things in the world out to end you, but an even greater number of methods to survive your way. We hope these tips will help you as you continue your tour through New Orleans on PS VR 2 starting March 21. Good luck, Tourist.

Hello, I’m Tommy Refenes. You may remember me from such games as Super Meat Boy and Super Meat Boy Forever. I’m delighted to be able to tell you that the Meat Boy universe is returning to PlayStation later this year in the form of a brand new title called Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine! 

Meat Boy has had enough games (for now). Now it’s time for Dr. Fetus to be a star. Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine takes place right after the events of Super Meat Boy Forever (right after the ending, before the post credits scene, to be exact). Dr. Fetus wants to make clones of Meat Boy and he needs to weed out all of the crappy clones from the gene pool to get pure, perfect, killable Meat Boys. I wonder what Dr. Fetus would do with a never ending supply of Meat Boys…hmmm…probably a question for another time.

Buzzsaws, lasers, missiles, and other hazards

What this means in practice is a Puyo Puyo-style match-four puzzler with a unique hardcore twist, courtesy of the nefarious Dr. Fetus’ devious contraptions. As you’re trying to get your color-coded clones to the bottom of the screen and build combos, you’ll have to deal with buzzsaws, missiles and a host of other hazards primed to destroy your clones if you don’t play with the precision that the Super Meat Boy series has always demanded. In other words, what we are doing with Dr Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine Machine is bringing the hardcore challenge Meat Boy is known for to create a one-of-a-kind blend of puzzle and action gameplay. 

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The genesis of this game lies in a long lasting relationship between Team Meat and our friends at Headup. We’ve worked together for almost 12 years in various capacities and we love them. So when they approached us with this idea for a match-four puzzle game, we were pretty busy with launching Super Meat Boy Forever but after that was out we looked at their pitch and prototype and fell in love all over again. We merged their design and programming skills – mainly Niko Panagiotopoulos and Mark Aldrup – with our art and design skills and now we have this wickedly fun and beautiful puzzle game that we never would have even considered making if not for their amazing prototype and desire to make something new and awesome.

It’s time to enjoy dying again

The game has over 100 hand-crafted levels filled with hazards and traps that will test your puzzle mind along with your finger reflexes. It’s a game in the Meat Boy Universe, so expect to die – over and over again. When you have finally died enough your skills will be second nature and you will start beating levels with no more effort than taking a single, simple breath. You will feel accomplished. You will feel…whole. At that point you will then have to fight a boss which will kill you over and over. You will know death. It’s a lot of fun and pretty cute too! 

If you’re already a fan of Meat Boy, first, thank you and, second, there’s going to be a lot in Dr. Fetus’ Mean Meat Machine to please you. We’ve got a whole bunch of familiar Super Meat Boy and Super Meat Boy Forever locations like the picturesque Forest, the Hospital, and Salt Factory, all with dazzling backgrounds, animations and cutscenes created by the original Super Meat Boy Forever artists. We’ve also got an incredible soundtrack created by the talented Ridiculon.

It’s been fun to see Meat Boy heading in a new direction in collaboration with a team who showed us a possibility for the series that had never crossed our minds. What’s come out of it is a game that exists in a familiar genre, but at the same time is like no other game in that genre. The move to inject the hardcore meaty DNA of Super Meat Boy into a match-four puzzler is one that I think few of you would have expected (heck, we didn’t expect it when Headup first bought us the idea!). But trust me, it was a crazy enough idea to work and I can’t wait for you all to be able to try and survive Dr. Fetus’ twisted test chambers yourself when the game hits PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 later this year.

Last week, we asked you to travel to the Three Kingdoms and explore Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty, sharing your adventures using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

profjpg shares a black and white silhouette fighting with a spear

marka_game shares a griffin-human hybrid mid fight

Mannitugames shares a player leaping on their white horse and brandishing a sword

Nu_Lupo shares a player unleashing a red phoenix-like bird

LemonShiko45 shares an adorable Shitieshou demon that looks like a reverse colored panda

themarkplumb shares a player standing in a cherry blossom forest wearing an ornate red armor set.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: Green
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on March 22, 2023

Next week, we’re seeing green. Share verdant, emerald, citrine, or any shade of green found in the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

With the recent launch of Destiny 2: Lightfall, the latest expansion for Bungie’s sci-fi action MMO, players have been diving deep into new activities, exploring a new elemental power in Strand, and discovering the secrets of Neptune’s hidden city of Neomuna. A new Destiny 2 expansion also means a new raid – Destiny’s challenging cooperative adventures designed for fireteams of six, built to test players’ skill, problem solving, and ability to work as a team. On March 10, Guardians all over the world delved into the latest – and arguably most visually stunning – raid to date: Root of Nightmares.

To celebrate the launch of Lightfall’s new raid, we recently spoke with three members of the Destiny team: Associate Designer Kailani Marrero, Staff Designer June Meyer, and Design Lead Brian Frank to get behind-the-scenes insights into what it’s like working on (and giving names to) some of the most mysterious, intriguing, and challenging content in all of gaming.

How does the Root of Nightmares raid move the narrative forward following the initial events of Lightfall?

June Meyer: Root of Nightmares sees players investigating The Witness’ pyramid in the aftermath of the end of the Lightfall campaign. In the raid, players get to see firsthand how the Traveler’s Light terraforms the landscape, bringing new life and disrupting the existing environment. We’ve never had a chance to see or influence this process, and the raid gives players the opportunity to transform the environment through their actions.

Kailani Marrero: It was important to ensure that the lessons the player (and the Guardian) learned on Neomuna translated to their journey in the raid. The Guardian spends some time learning to “go with the flow” – especially when coming to terms with Osiris and learning to wield Strand during the campaign – and we took that mentality into the raid encounter. Without spoiling things for those who haven’t experienced the raid yet, the Guardians know who the threat is, and they know that this entity must be taken out. Even in the face of overwhelming odds, there is work to be done and that confidence in yourself, and in your allies, still should remain true.

Q: What are some specific examples of Bungie incorporating narrative themes into the puzzle-like gameplay elements of Destiny 2’s raids?

Brian Frank: In Vow of the Disciple [from Destiny 2: The Witch Queen], the symbols and their meanings were designed as a system from which gameplay events would build statements about the places and characters in our world. Within the context of The Witch Queen’s themes of deception and illusion, they were intended to be evocative of truths, lies, or prophecies. They also help to illicit wonder from players in having to interpret and communicate them to the fireteam in order to progress through the raid.

KM: Narrative themes are often the bow on top of the experience that adds that extra “oomph” to a raid. Many mechanics are done ahead of time with the general narrative concept of the raid in mind and then more context is given by the narrative designer. The bones are there but then you get to build on top of it to make it even cooler and to give context where needed.

JM: The thematic goal with the mechanics of Root of Nightmares was that only through wielding both Light and Darkness can Guardians succeed in their fight against The Witness. Players begin the activity using solely Light and in the second encounter, both Light and Darkness are required but never combined. By the final encounter, players have learned how to combine these elements in truly meaningful ways.

Q: What are some of your favorite raid names from past expansions, and why?

KM: I’m sure that answer would change with every person you ask! I am completely biased and love Root of Nightmares over all of them. It took us a bit to get to a point of agreement – we had a good laugh about the unintentional “blank OF blank” formula – but Root of Nightmares won out because it was just too good to pass up.

This time around, we wanted a name that sounded both mysterious and sinister, and this was the winner by far. Some players may have also picked up on hidden messages in Neomuna hinting at who they might face in the boss fight, and we wanted to pay that off with the raid name. If you know your Destiny lore, certain names immediately come to mind when you think “Nightmares.”

If I had to pick my top three though, it would be: Root of Nightmares, Vow of the Disciple, and Last Wish [from Destiny 2: Forsaken].

JM: Deep Stone Crypt [from Destiny 2: Beyond Light] will always be a special one for me because of its simplicity. The name of the raid revealed everything about the activity and nothing at the same time. We knew that the most important piece for players was letting them know where they were going, but we thought it was critical to keep the player journey under wraps. This was the first name proposed in our discussion and we didn’t bother coming up with other options because we knew it was the best choice.

Q: What goals does the team keep in mind when naming a raid?

BF: Our goal is for the name to capture a sense of mystery, for it to be evocative of an adventure you can imagine your character embarking on, or of a challenge to endure and overcome with your fireteam.

KM: Naming a raid means finding that combination of words that really capture the essence of the activity. They’re usually meant to toe the line between giving you absolutely nothing and everything all at the same time. It’s a difficult-yet-fun challenge!

Q: What else would the Bungie team like players – new or returning to Destiny 2 – to know about how raids fit into the experience?

KM: For me, Destiny raids are such a unique experience. You see a lot of different raid experiences across MMOs, RPGs, and the combination thereof, but to see it in an FPS, for me, is so cool. It’s a challenge for players who are willing to meet it and as a reward you get cool stuff and more story. Wins all around.

BF: As pinnacle cooperative activities, Destiny raids are designed to foster player stories. We set a high bar for coordination and mastery of the challenges unique to each raid. It is very rewarding to succeed, which requires reliance on your fireteam, when at the outset to achieve victory may have seemed impossible.

Q: How can Lightfall players best prepare to partake in the Root of Nightmares raid?

BF: If you’re up for the challenge, the Legendary campaign is a great way to acquire a set of gear that puts you right at the recommended Power level for the raid. Another approach would be to engage in Lightfall and Seasonal ritual activities that offer Power upgrades.

JM: Run Neomuna activities to unlock your Strand fragments, because grappling and mobility are great ways to stay alive in each of the raid encounters. Also, dungeons are a good opportunity to gear up and to dip your toe into more complex endgame activities without needing to get as many teammates together. 

KM: Finding a great fireteam is paramount to having fun during any Destiny 2 raid. If you don’t know five other players to raid with, don’t worry! You can use the “Fireteams” feature on the Destiny 2 mobile app to either join an existing raid group or create your own from scratch.

Destiny 2: Lightfall is available now.

Today we’ll be exploring a totally new addition to the Diablo universe; World Bosses. These unique battles in Diablo IV give a taste of what it’s like to play with a large group of players engaging with a monster that is massive in scale, ferocity, and impact.

Core Philosophy

Each World Boss extends from four core player experience pillars. These pillars allow for alignment on the kind of gameplay that is our standard, even as we attempt to create wildly different monsters and challenges.

Everyone can contribute and be part of the solution
This is an activity for players of all classes, so no match-up feels favored towards one class and playstyle. There are no required actions to bring down a boss, so the “fun” can’t be monopolized or prevented.

Players should feel grateful for other players joining in
This content is for all players, from those who are learning the game, all the way up to masters. The activity is built so that each extra player means the World Boss will be conquered a little bit quicker. Don’t worry if you don’t know every attack; getting in and playing is the best way to learn.

Re-playable
We put heavy emphasis on mechanics that remain interesting time-after-time and feel larger-than-life. Experiencing the same Boss with a different class will present different challenges.

Stagger must be interesting and helpful but never required
Players who stagger or break the guard of a boss are rewarded with a high-impact adjustment to the fight flow. We spend a lot of time making these stagger moments significant without them being required.

Unique Experiences

World bosses are high-intensity fights filled with new to Diablo experiences, terrifying challenges, and joyous triumphs. It’s a lot of pressure to get them right!

From the Ashava concept art, you can see that even though we had a strong idea for the overall shape and claws, her head and overall texture went through multiple passes to find what told the clearest story about who she is and worked best with our top-down camera.

Once we’re aligned on what we think our new horror will look like from a high level, we move into building it in the engine.  At this stage the monster is extremely basic because making amazing character models takes a lot of time! The team can’t always wait for a finished model, so we start with something a little rough around the edges.

The process now becomes playtest-playtest-playtest. The team refines attack tells, damage payloads, timings, and assesses whole attacks for how well they’re working.  Bespoke spawn animations are created to tell a story of who this monster is and where it’s coming from. Stagger mechanics are reviewed to make sure that the player has interesting choices and it’s a rewarding experience.

Boss deaths are often given special focus; it’s an impactful moment that showcases the last gasp of a horrific monster in Sanctuary and each World Boss wants to leave a lasting impression.

Multiplayer Focus

As you’ve likely noticed, these titanic combatants are meant to be engaged with as a group. Going up against one without a sizable collection of fellow players would be a mistake until you’ve learned what’s in each World Boss’ bag of tricks.

Our first task was to make sure our World Bosses cover large portions of the field with each attack. To accomplish this, we built some of our biggest attacks first; spectacle abilities that clear out huge spaces with massive damage.

We can’t only have giant attacks though! Our teams work incredibly hard to challenge players that tend to move quickly, adapt to attack patterns, and are always looking for the easiest way to complete a boss. We address this by mapping out many different attacks, utilizing dangerous locations, and making sure we’re creating interesting challenges for all player styles.

Our next step is to make large portions of the map dangerous and blocked off, thereby preventing players from trying to stay super far away in safety. Ashava accomplishes this by spreading her poison and doing leap attacks. Other World Bosses will solve this problem in different ways to keep players on their toes.

Challenge Ashava early

The team is extremely excited to release our World Bosses out into Sanctuary, and hopefully now you know more about the dedication the team is putting into bringing them to you. If you want to challenge Ashava yourself during the Open Beta and Early Access weekends, you can do so on March 18 and March 25 at 10 a.m., 12 p.m., 10 p.m. and midnight PDT.

Hi everyone, we are Deck13’s Sven Hammer, Principal Technical Designer, and Lila Grimaldi, Narrative Designer. We’re bringing you Atlas Fallen on May 16, an epic and explosive action-RPG where you’ll play as a hero who rises against the reign of a tyrannical god. You’ll explore a semi-open, sand-covered world called Atlas and battle mythical creatures. Your heroic abilities come from a magical artifact, and we’re here to tell you about its lore and mechanics!

The Essence of Atlas

In the world of Atlas, Essence is at the core of everything. All organic things and each particle of its sand-covered surface are made of it. An ancient form of magic built its powers on Essence, but its knowledge has been long lost. One day, our hero stumbles upon the remains of this magic in the form of a centuries-old artifact: the Gauntlet.

The Gauntlet gives its wearer control over the Essence present in their surroundings. Thus, they can manipulate Essence grains found in objects, structures, elements, and change their structural integrity, reassemble or destroy them. Our hero will use it to shape the sand around them into various weapons during combat. The gauntlet’s ability to manipulate its surroundings allows players to propel themselves into the air for epic vertical movements and fast traversal by sliding over the sands of Atlas. The Gauntlet is a very versatile tool!

Reforging the Gauntlet

Unfortunately for our hero, they find a malfunction in the Gauntlet. Forged by a mysterious being, it was dismantled soon after its creation to prevent anyone from wielding its magic again. Two vital components are required: the Catalyzer and the Shards.

The more Essence comes into play, the harder it is to control. The role of the Catalyzer is to gather Essence and channel it into itself, increasing its raw power tenfold. This component has been broken into three fragments called “Catalyst Pieces”, which you’ll have to find and put back together. Collecting a new Catalyst Piece allows you to reforge a part of the Gauntlet, unlocking a new powerful ability in the process. Each Catalyst Piece must be completed with specific Essence-infused objects called “Shards”, which enhance the hero’s control over Essence.

Throughout your journey in the world of Atlas, you will come across those Catalyst Pieces and Shards, and get to gradually augment the capabilities of your Gauntlet and progress further into the game.

The shape-shifting weapon

Once you have the power to manipulate Essence, you can shape the sand around you into various weapons. In order to do so, you must find the corresponding Weapon Remembrance. Three weapons can be found throughout your journey: the Dunecleaver, the Sandwhip and the Knuckledust. They all grow more massive and powerful as you amass Essence during combat, this process is called gaining Momentum.

The Dunecleaver is a heavy weapon that does wonders when it comes to dealing very impactful area-of-effect damage to your foes. Depending on the attacks you are performing, it will take one of two different shapes. One of them is an axe—ideal to perform large sweeps which deal a good amount of damage while destabilizing your target; the other is a hammer—specialized in crowd control, it creates large damage areas when slammed into the ground.

The Sandwhip combines the fast swings of a sword with the wide sweeps of a whip. It’s your fastest, most efficient weapon at building up Momentum and offers a wide variety of mobility options. A great example of this is the Sandwhip Hook: a move which allows you to latch onto your target and pull yourself towards it. This makes the Sandwhip a highly versatile weapon in that you can either use it to keep your enemies at a safe distance while building up Momentum or use its high mobility to quickly in and out of a fight, allowing you to land devastating melee dagger hits that consume Momentum over time.

Finally, the Knuckledust is a fist weapon that covers both forearms and grows into additional pairs of arms as your Momentum builds up. The Knuckledust shines in dealing high damage-per-second on single targets, which makes it a perfect choice to swiftly take out selected threats.

You’ll be able to wield two weapons at a time, which allows you to create a unique loadout with your favorite moves. In addition to these weapons your combat capabilities will be strongly enhanced by the use of Essence Stones. Those will enable you to perform unique and powerful attacks, customizable to your preferred playstyle.

Sand-taming abilities outside of combat

The sand-taming abilities granted by the Gauntlet are not limited to its shapeshifting qualities. Here are three abilities that you’ll also rely on, allowing you to traverse the world of Atlas with speed and power, and to interact with specific objects and structures.

Air dash can be used while airborne, channeling the Essence around you to propel yourself forward and dash through the air. Thanks to this ability, you can easily get to a specific target, reach the next structure to land on, surmount big chasms and cover great distances rapidly.

Raise enables you to lift imposing structures and objects buried in the ground thanks to the Essence in the sand. This ability is crucial for you to uncover hidden treasures and sunken ruins, as well as create new paths over raised structures and even reveal pathways that have long been forgotten.

Crush gives you the ability to rip magical seals and chains apart, which is how you’ll access forbidden grounds—a necessary step for you to progress in your journey and change the course of Atlas’ history.

We hope you enjoyed this introduction to the epic fun you’ll have taming the sand in Atlas Fallen, releasing May 16 on PlayStation 5. Pre-order it now to get the bonus DLC Ruin Rising Pack!

Hi, my name is Gareth Damian Martin and I am the solo developer behind Citizen Sleeper, one of 2022’s most beloved indie games coming to PS4 and PS5 on March 31. It’s been a wild ride since the release last May, and I have been blown away by the support, positive press and award nominations alike. As a longtime PlayStation player, I’m so happy to finally bring the game, complete with all its DLC to both PS4 and PS5.

Complete and expanded

Since its release, Citizen Sleeper has only been growing and continues on that trajectory with a three-episode DLC series expanding on the world and its stories. The first episode, Flux, saw a refugee flotilla arrive at the game’s ring-shaped space station, Erlin’s Eye. In episode 2, Refuge, a new threat to the future of the station was revealed. The PlayStation version will launch alongside the third and final episode, Purge, which completes the story of the flotilla and the wider game. That means players getting started on March 31st will have the complete game and all its DLC available to them from the get-go.

Rolls and roles

But what are you getting yourself into if you decide to build a life on Erlin’s Eye? Citizen Sleeper is a narrative-focused sci-fi RPG, but it’s nothing like anything you’ve played before. Taking inspiration from tabletop role-playing games, each “cycle” you’ll roll your dice, and then decide how best to use them.

From taking a bar shift for a few extra chits, to investigating a station-wide conspiracy, everything in the game uses dice to determine its outcome. The result is a broad world filled with various paths and endings, and a whole host of characters to meet. You’ll need to think carefully about which dice you use for what, and face the outcomes of unlucky rolls and difficult decisions.

Allies and adversaries

Character design is a big part of what players have fallen in love with in Citizen Sleeper. To create the diverse cast of salvagers, bartenders, chefs, mercenaries and more, I worked with French comic artist Guillaume Singellin. Guillaume’s art brings a beautiful human touch to the sometimes melancholy and stark world of Citizen Sleeper, and you’ll be able to choose which of the captivating characters you want to spend your time with.

That’s what’s at the heart of Citizen Sleeper—building a life and community in a sci-fi world that feels human and emotionally impactful. I hope you’ll give the game a shot on March 31st and join the 500,000 and counting who have already made a life on The Eye.

Next month, Aloy will face new threats in a danger-filled land as she embarks on a new adventure. Horizon Forbidden West’s Burning Shore expansion leverages the power of PS5 to make this journey possible. We reached out to Guerrilla to understand how, and to find out more about the enticing combat and world design details we should expect on April 19. Game Director Mathijs de Jonge offers his development insights.

PlayStation Blog: What were your first impressions when first learning about the power and capabilities of the PS5, from a developer perspective?

Mathijs de Jonge: Horizon Forbidden West is a very visual game, so the promise of more CPU power and memory meant we were going to be able to add even more quality to the image; and gameplay-wise I was most looking forward to being able to play at 60fps. This was high on my wishlist as it works so well with our combat gameplay as you’re fighting the machines.

When I first heard about the superfast SSD, it was hard to believe that it was so capable – but it seems like loading times truly are a thing of the past. This works brilliantly for a game like Horizon Forbidden West, where long loading screens can be a real immersion breaker. From a development point of view, fast loading also helped me with reviewing the game because I could jump straight into any section without having to wait.

How have you taken advantage of PS5’s power to create Horizon Forbidden West: Burning Shores?

One of our key priorities with Horizon games is to add a ton of detail and richness to our environments. On Horizon Forbidden West, everything we added or increased was something we’d need to have a plan around how to optimize for PS4 as well. On Burning Shores, since we can just focus on PS5, we’ve been able to charge forward and we’re really excited about what we’ve been able to pull off in creating this stunning post-post-apocalyptic version of Los Angeles.

The cityscape ruins of LA and its surroundings are highly detailed and require a lot of processing power as well as fast streaming technology to run properly; especially when the player is flying over the lands and can see a lot at once. One of the settlements is situated in and around those detailed ruins, and we were able to squeeze a lot of activity in there.

Another notable one is a particular battle scene that requires a LOT of memory and processing power! To achieve this grand vision both technically and creatively, we definitely were thankful for the many advantages that the PS5 hardware brings.

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Horizon Forbidden West delivers fantastic visual effects, animations and immersive audio during combat encounters, especially when battling some of the larger machines. How have you taken advantage of PS5 to deliver these rich visual performances and what can we expect from Burning Shores?

Using the PS5’s processing power we can run certain simulations at higher speed creating more lifelike results and a better gameplay experience. On PS5, the Horizon Forbidden West base game runs at a higher resolution and at a higher framerate than on PS4, and assets are more detailed which makes the overall quality much better. There is also a special lighting setup for Aloy that we normally only display during cinematics, but is active on the PS5 at all times. On PS5 we can draw at higher detail much further into the distance, displaying the stunning vistas our players encounters all across the map. We also support 40Hz Mode and Variable Refresh Rate on capable TVs for even more fluid gameplay.

What is your favorite PS5 game released so far? And from a developer perspective how do you feel it best takes advantage of the hardware?

I sank many hours into Elden Ring on my PS5 and was really impressed by everything it had to offer, but I think God of War Ragnarök wins it for me in terms of character designs and overall visual splendor.

Horizon Forbidden West is available now on PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 and is part of the PlayStation Plus Game Catalog.The Burning Shores expansion will be available April 19.