Stellar Blade is finally upon us! The verdict? The long-awaited and surprisingly controversial PS5 exclusive from Shift Up solidly delivers on its promise of a visually stunning action game, though it falls short of greatness in a few other areas. IGN’s reviewer Mitchell Saltzman joins us to have a nice spoiler-free chat about what he loved about the game, and what didn’t blow him away. We break down what makes the combat so satisfying, the awesome boss fights, the many collectibles and costumes, but also some of the frustrations, like wonky platforming, convoluted backtracking, and a nothing ..read more

We would love Sony to make a successor to the PlayStation Portable and PS Vita, but does it make sense? On the one hand, portable consoles are all the rage, between Nintendo Switch’s record-breaking success and a Switch 2 (or whatever it’s called) waiting in the wings, Valve’s surprise entry into the gaming hardware race with the Steam Deck and now, Xbox head Phil Spencer talking about how he’d love a dedicated way to take Xbox on the go. So, there’s demand for new dedicated portable PlayStation device, but there’s also a lot of competition. Does it make sense for Sony to hop on the bandwagon ..read more

Helldivers 2 kicks ass. This isn’t news, obviously. You probably know that already and you’re probably one of the millions of players spreading democracy throughout the galaxy at this very moment. That said, WHY is this game such a hit? Join Max Scoville, Brian Altano, Jada Griffin and Akeem Lawanson as they unpack the many charms of Arrowhead’s cooperative bug-zapper bot-blaster hit that seems to be Sony’s secret weapon in the ongoing war of live-service games that seems to dominate the gaming space more and more every year. But, there are other games to talk about! Unicorn Overlord is Vanill ..read more

In this episode of Beyond, we dive deep into the thrilling possibility of Xbox games launching on PlayStation platforms, marking a potential shift in the console wars as we know them. With rumors swirling about Hi-Fi Rush, Pentiment, Sea of Thieves, Starfield, and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle making their way to the PS5, we unpack what this could mean for gamers everywhere. Phil Spencer's recent comments hint at an exciting future for Xbox, and we're here to analyze every detail ahead of the planned business update event. Plus, we discuss the unique case of Bethesda's PS5 exclusives prio ..read more

The entire Beyond crew is finally back together again and this time, we talk about Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth and how much of a breath of fresh air it is. As if the year hasn't already gotten off to a good start, we also find that Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is exactly what we're looking for in a quality Metroidvania and we tell you why it's worth diving into. We also dip into more Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League's plans for the future and what exactly is the deal with Dragon's Dogma 2's lack of fast travel. Join Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Akeem Lawanson, and Brian Altano in t ..read more

Happy New Year! In this week’s Beyond, which we pre-recorded two weeks ago, we discuss how there’s a ton of potential for A24 and Kojima Productions’ upcoming Death Stranding live-action feature film adaptation to capture a lot of the game’s best qualities while leaving out some of the stuff that turned people off of playing it. In other news, we take a look back at Sony’s 2023, and discuss what PlayStation did right, and what left us scratching (or shaking) our heads in confusion and dismay. Aside from Insomniac and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, the most exciting stuff happening on or around PlaySta ..read more

Hello and welcome to a very special episode of Beyond! Today, we’re taking a look back at some of our past coverage of God of War: Ragnarök. For starters, a spoiler-filled deep-dive on the game with director Eric Williams, followed by some 1-on-1 interviews with the cast, including Kratos himself, Christopher Judge. Spoilers ahead, so if you haven’t played Ragnarök… get on that. Otherwise, enjoy! EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/pobeyond Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices ..read more

Join us as we explore how Naughty Dog created the terrifying Rat King and revisit an interview with director Neil Druckmann and narrative lead Halley Gross. EXCLUSIVE NordVPN Deal ➼ https://nordvpn.com/pobeyond Try it risk-free now with a 30-day money-back guarantee! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices ..read more

Helldivers 2 is a hit, and thanks to its simultaneous PlayStation 5 and PC release, and not only is it the best-selling game of 2024, it’s Sony’s 7th most profitable game in dollar sales, just a couple months since it launched. So, what could go wrong? Well, with Arrowhead Studios’ shooter riding high, some powers-that-be at Sony decided to make the announcement that playing Helldivers 2 on Steam would soon require a PlayStation Network account. Unsurprisingly, the community was not happy about this news, and once again mobilized against a common enemy, though this time, it was unfortunat ..read more

This week, Tales of Kenzera: ZAU creative director, Surgent Studios founder and former assassin Abubakar Salim joins us to discuss his upcoming Metroidvania, and the journey from starring in a video game to developing one. Meanwhile, more PS5 Pro details leak, including its cool codename, “Project Trinity,” continuing the Matrix-esque naming convention started with PSVR’s “Project Morpheus.” Video game monsters are rarely rooted in practical effects, but Stellar Blade’s Naytibas began as clay sculptures from Hee-Cheol Jang, whose previous work includes Bong Joon Ho’s creature features The Host ..read more