June 2024 is shaping up to be a pretty great month for PlayStation players. Not only are we coming off an entertaining State of Play showcase, but a new Days of Play initiative surrounding all the video game showcases this month is bringing a lot of new PS Plus additions with it. Many of those games hit PS Plus this week, and three in particular stand out to us.
For owners of Sony’s oft-neglected PlayStation VR2, the first game is one of its rare exclusives that take full advantage of the headset’s eye-tracking by seeing how often players blink. The next is a new PS Plus Essential game that’s a revival of Sega’s classic beat-’em-up series for the modern gaming era. Finally, the last title is an atmospheric and eerie fishing game that should entice fans of Lovecraftian horror.
Before Your Eyes
Before Your Eyes is a game where players relive the story of their life by jumping from memory to memory every time they blink. It’s a tear-jerking emotional adventure, and one of the most innovative indie games of the past decade. Typically, this game is played on PC with a webcam, but in 2023, Before Your Eyes made the leap to VR exclusively on the PlayStation VR2.
The core adventure is the same narratively in VR, but it feels even more immersive as your blinks are documented by the headset’s eye tracking, and you feel fully entrenched in these memories rather than watching them play out on your monitor underneath a webcam. If you enjoy VR experiences that aren’t just your typical first-person shooter, then you need to check Before Your Eyes out.
Before Your Eyes is available in VR on PlayStation VR2, and PS Plus Premium subscribers can now pick up the game for free. The non-VR version of this game is available on PC as well as iOS and Android via Netflix.
Streets of Rage 4
Streets of Rage is an iconic beat-’em-up series that began on the Sega Genesis. You’ve probably played one of the first three games in some Sega collection or re-release over the years. The series was unfortunately dormant for quite a long time, until Dotemu, Lizardcube, and Guard Crush Games got Sega to let them bring it back. The result is Streets of Rage 4, which came out in 2020 and was just as entertaining as the classics it was based on.
It’s a pretty straightforward beat-’em-up game, but each of its characters has a plethora of combos that are a joy to learn and string together in order to deal maximum damage. It also features some absolutely beautiful 2D animation that makes every punch a joy to look at. While Sega is working on a new 3D Streets of Rage game, I’d recommend checking this one out if you think you’d want something that plays more similarly to the retro Streets of Rage titles.
The PS4 version of Streets of Rage 4 is available as a monthly PS Plus Essential game until July 2. The game is also available on PC, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android.
Dredge
When Dredge starts out, it just seems like a simple fishing game where players have to go out and accrue fish that they can sell for a profit. As players go through this process to slowly repair and upgrade their boat, though, horror elements emerge. You’ll start fishing up creatures that look gross or mutated, and see creepy visions on the sea’s horizon if you stay out for too long after dark. The result is one of the most novel horror indie game experiences of 2023.
Dredge works because its core fishing gameplay loop is simply entertaining, but it goes above and beyond with its Lovecraftian aesthetics and narratives. It clearly resonated with people, and is even being made into a feature film by The Story Kitchen. Sony added Dredge to PS Plus Extra’s Game Catalog last month as part of Days of Play, so you should download Dredge and try it out if that premise sounds enticing to you.
The PS4 and PS5 versions of Dredge are part of the PS Plus Extra Game Catalog. It’s also on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.
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