The better consoles and PCs get with tech, the more robust games will both play and look. It’s starting to get a bit ridiculous in the size department though. It was announced thatCall of Duty: Black Ops 6will be over 300GB.
That is a ludicrous number for anyone to have stored on their console or PC hard drive, especially for PS5 owners who have a more limited amount of space out of the box. The size of PS5 games is getting obnoxiously big, but there are quite a few bangers that have miraculously clocked in under 20 GB and above 10 GB. From indie hits to AAA games from major studios, these are all worth a look.
Scarlet Nexusgives players two campaignsto jump into from the start. There are Kasane and Yuito, who are linked cosmically by a thread. They are both exterminators, of sorts, who explore the boundaries of the last remaining city on Earth.
Their mission is to kill monsters, collect data, and explore. Eventually, the two get tangled into a plot featuring multiple timelines and things only get wilder from there. To see the whole thing, players need to play it twice but each story is different enough to make it worthwhile. Plus Kasane and Yuito control differently and have different party members along for the ride.
Sand Landis based on a mangaby Akira Toriyamaof the same name. The manga is only one volume long, giving the developers at ILCA plenty of room to expand on the universe. Players are the prince of the demons, Beelzebub, who aligns himself with a human to find water.
As Beezelbub, players can attack enemies like in a typical action RPG. The true gimmick and worthwhile part of the game though, are the vehicles he can pilot from cars to tanks to mechs. It’s also an interesting game to explore and encourages players to engage with side quests to gain access to better parts for vehicles.
5Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crew
Tactics, Strategy, and Pirates
Shadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewis a tactical stealth game. Players begin as a dead pirate, Afia, who has to rescue her ship at the start along with reviving her crew in an ongoing adventure. Players can take a set amount of characters into battle and switch between them on the go.Each character inShadow Gambit: The Cursed Crewhas distinct abilities that will help take down enemies. For example, Afia can warp to kill enemies and Suleidy can sprout bushes which players can then use to hide in.
Players can also pause the game and have all characters take an action and then execute those plans in real-time. If timed right, they can take down two enemies at once, for example. Plus there’s a save ability that makes retrying setups a breeze, so players should save often. Mechanically, it’s set up very well for a stealth game and the tactical gameplay open up the options vastly.
Maneaterfeels like a spiritual sequel toE.V.O.: Search for Eden, a game published by Enix on the SNES before they became the mighty Square Enix. In that action RPG, players could evolve their fish by eating and battling other sea creatures.Maneateris like that except players will controla particular sea creature, a shark, who will grow as players feed and level it up.
In this process, they can learn new moves, swim faster, and even jump on land for small bits at a time. The ultimate goal is to get revenge on the humans that killed their mom which is as good a plot device as any. It may not be the best-looking PS5 game visually, but the chaos players can create is just too wild not to experience at least once.
Astro’s Playroomis the ultimate PS5 app that came packaged with the console. It can be called a tech demo but it is so much more than that. Astro will go through a handful of worlds with a few levels in each realm. Players can rescue other robots and collect treasures in levels.
All of these treasures inAstro’s Playroomare Easter Eggsto the PlayStation empire from specific games to consoles like the PSP. At the end of each realm are gigantic boss fights that stand out in any platformer of this generation. It looks great, sounds great, and the demonstrations it uses with the PS5 controller are clever from vibrational bounces to flicks with the trackpad. Thankfully, this experience will be expanded upon whenAstro Botlaunches on the PS5.
Bugsnaxis more thana catchy jingle, although it still rules. Players come to a mysterious island under the impression that they are going to study interesting creatures. All of the bugs have merged with food, for example, there are hamburger spiders with fries for legs. There is more to the story than that as players will slowly unravel what is happening to the citizens around the island.
Plot spoilers aside, players can build traps to catch these food-based bugs for side quests and further study. It’s kind of likePokemon Snapif players had a more active role.Bugsnaxis a hard gameto get into without patience, butplayerswho enjoy games with unusualtwistsmay appreciate this one.
Sifuisa martial arts-based roguelike. As is typical for the genre, players are on a quest for revenge. The catch is that when players lose during a run or continue to the next level, they age. This makes them weaker over time and eventually, they can no longer continue even if they are having a good run.
It’s one of the wildest concepts for a roguelike and hard to boot even with permanent upgrades. The combat can be even more challenging as players have to get into the habit of reading enemy patterns and countering. It’s the type of martial arts game where players will feel every blow thanks to the tactical feedback on the controller and the sound effects. It’s a brutal game but also deeply rewarding.
