Sony drops a big batch of new games into the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Game Catalog around the midpoint of each month. The latest set of games for the subscription service dropped on September 18, and it was a fantastic group of titles. From games that launched right into the service on day one to ones getting PS5 ports right after an appearance in the critically acclaimed Astro Bot, there are plenty of awesome new games to choose from if you’re looking for something to play this weekend on PS Plus. If you need more help narrowing those choices down, I’d recommend these three games in particular.
The Plucky Squire is a new indie game from All Possible Futures, a studio led by former Pokémon artist James Turner. It’s a love letter to creatives, video games, and the art that inspires people. It plays around with genre a lot. It’ll be a top-down action game like The Legend of Zelda as you venture through a storybook before you’re forcing to jump out of the book and into the real world, where it becomes a 3D platformer. It’s a brisk 6-hour tribute to creativity that honors everything from The Legend of Zelda to Punch Out and Rhythm Heaven, so play through it this weekend if you can. The Plucky Squire is available through PS Plus Extra on PS5. It’s also available on PC, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
If you enjoy games that experiment with how storytelling can work within this medium, then you should check out Road 96. It’s a first-person narrative adventure game where you control teenagers trying to escape the authoritarian nation of Petria. On the way to the border, narrative events are presented in a procedurally generated order. They feature narrative choices that impact the broader story or can result in the death of that teenager. It’s a moving narrative experience that makes a lot of bold choices, and your playthrough is bound to not be quite like anyone else’s. The PlayStation Plus Extra Game Catalog now includes the PS4 and PS5 versions of Road 96. It’s also on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
Mister Mosquito made a cameo in Astro Bot earlier this month and is the first of the VIP Bots to get their game on PS Plus in the wake of that release. If you’ve never heard of or played Mister Mosquito before, you’re in for a treat, as it is a thoroughly weird game. In it, you control the titular mosquito, who torments a Japanese family as he tries to suck their blood without being noticed. It’s the kind of odd, off-the-wall game from Japanese developers that we just don’t get much anymore, so it’s great to see it added to Sony’s subscription service. Mister Mosquito is available as part of PlayStation Plus Premium’s Classics Catalog or can be purchased on PS4 or PS5.
Acer’s Predator Atlas 8 finally has a US release date and price, several months after the company first showed off the handheld in May. The highlight is the Intel Arc G3 Extreme chip inside, which has been adopted by only a couple of other consoles besides the Atlas 8. This version will go on sale exclusively at Best Buy on November 1 for $1,299.99.
Acer originally said the Atlas 8 would arrive in North America in October, but left pricing open at the time. The launch came amid the ongoing DRAM crunch, which has made memory more expensive across the PC industry and complicated pricing for hardware makers.
Gaming laptops and I have a complicated relationship. One of my first gaming rigs was an Acer Predator that was already outdated when I bought it. I was a broke college kid, and that was the best I could afford. So trying out high-end gaming laptops is always fun. But ASUS' ROG Zephyrus G14 is a lot more than a laptop that can run AAA games. It is portable, so you're not lugging around a 2.5kg machine everywhere you go. It is built well, none of that plastic chassis, and can even function as a normal laptop outside of just gaming.
Google Play is borrowing one of the Nintendo Switch’s most useful little tricks. A new Sidekick tool called Playbacks captures a short clip after something interesting has already happened, sparing players from running a screen recorder throughout an entire game.
Playbacks is part of Google Play Store v53.8 and keeps saved clips on the phone. Google first announced it earlier this month, but the new Play Store update marks its arrival for players. Anyone who has watched a perfect win vanish because the record button came too late already understands the appeal.