Plus or minus?

13 more PS5, PS4, and Classic games will be making their way to PS Plus Extra and PS Plus Premium on Tuesday, with much of the reaction from the official announcement focusing on the strong line-up of retro titles Sony has put together for the drop. General highlights include Remnant 2, Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion, and some No More Heroes games, but then there's also Summoner and Jeanne d'Arc on the Classics side.

As always, though, we want your thoughts on this month's selection, so make your picks in the Polls below and then use the comments section to expand on your thoughts.

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Never put passion before principle.

We love a good 16-bit brawler here at Push Square, especially when they’re inspired by classic 80s movies like The Karate Kid. This latest effort from GameMill Entertainment will see you assume the role of Daniel Russo, Mr. Miyagi, Kumiko, and Ali Mills as you take on familiar foes like Johnny Lawrence and Terry Silver across 12 action-packed stages.

The press release reveals: “Set in the iconic locales of the first three, classic The Karate Kid movies from the 1980s, you’ll step out of the dojo and into the streets of the San Fernando Valley and Okinawa as you battle waves of enemies in this pixel art, side-scrolling, beat-‘em-up adventure.”

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It's coming home?

It's a big weekend of sport, as the Wimbledon final nears and England vie to maybe, hopefully, potentially bring it home. We'll be watching from behind the sofa.

Aaron Bayne

I've been gagging to give it a go, so it'll be the Concord beta for me this weekend.

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Fight or flight?

Sony's online multiplayer shooter, Concord, is currently going through an open beta, allowing the public to check out the game prior to launch in August. Playable on both PS5 and PC, the team-based, 5v5 FPS is giving players the opportunity to put it through its paces. We're super curious to know, then — what do you think?

Concord was announced in 2023; it's the debut game from Washington-based Firewalk Studios, a team with veterans of Destiny, Call of Duty, and more on-staff. While the initial CG teaser was little more than a mood-setter, Sony finally lifted the lid on the game earlier this year, debuting gameplay footage and introducing us to this new sci-fi world with a colourful cinematic trailer.

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Spooktacular.

Phasmophobia, the super-successful multiplayer horror game, has had a rough journey from PC to consoles. While it's seen its share of delays, developer Kinetic Games has now confirmed it's finally coming to PS5 later this year, "during our in-game Halloween Event".

In a community update on Steam, Kinetic says it "shared the frustration with console players" about the delayed release, but didn't want to commit to a release window until it had one it could meet. No specific date has been given, just that it'll be launching during its Halloween event, presumably narrowing things down to October.

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Ancient geopolitics in 4K.

Where is Robert Ramsey when we need him? The cheeky git’s no doubt enjoying a spot of sunshine while we’re left reeling, contending with the release date for – checks notes – Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake. Next you’ll be telling us they’ve announced returning characters for The Legend of Heroes: Kai no Kiseki Farewell, O Zemuria… Wait!

Anyway, Romance of the Three Kingdoms 8 Remake will launch digitally on 24th October across PS5 and PS4. There will be physical copies as well, but these will be exclusive to Japan.

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Finest Polish exports.

Considering the UK just voted in pasty former lawyer Keir Starmer, we’re a little jelly Poland’s prime minister looks like Lidia Sobieska – well, at least in Tekken 8, anyway. The character is being added to the PS5 fighter’s roster from 22nd July for Year 1 Pass owners, while everyone else will be able to purchase her from 25th July.

The newcomer will be accompanied by a big update, which will see various bugs squashed – although curiously, there’ll be no balance update this time. The patch will also include a brand-new, summer-themed Seaside Resort stage, which has a day-night cycle that progresses throughout the course of each encounter.

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Fire starter.

The drip marketing for Genshin Impact’s new Natlan region is well underway, but nothing is going to quench the thirst created by this new crop of characters. Our first taste of the storyline from this fresh open world area appears to be teasing some kind of Goblet of Fire, Hunger Games-esque tournament. Also, apparently everyone is hot as hell – and not just because this is the realm of the Pyro Archon.

There are dozens of new characters introduced here, including the flame-haired Mavuika, the scarf-wearing Chasca, and the blonde beauty Xiolen. You can expect all of these heroines to appear on future banners, with their own unique set of skills and gameplay attributes. Looking at social media, it looks like all of the aforementioned have resonated with fans.

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Wish upon a star.

Sony's PlayStation loyalty program, PS Stars, appears to be rolling back out to those in North and South America. The service has gradually been reactivated region by region, and it seems the Americas are now finally rejoining the party.

PS Stars was having issues, and was offline for a protracted period while Sony worked on fixing things up. The program slowly came back online, beginning with Asia before hitting Australia and Europe. Now, going by numerous accounts shared on ResetEra and Reddit, North and South America are also regaining access to PS Stars.

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Always bring a gun to a god fight.

Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn drops on PS5 and PS4 next week, on 18th July, and to tide us over in the meantime, we've been besieged by a suitably epic story trailer.

Developed by New Zealand-based studio A44 Games, Flintlock's narrative is one of vengeance. Playing as Nor, you are aided by a mysterious, foxlike being named Enki as you seek to rid the world of Kian of its overbearing gods. In proper Soulslike fashion, we are introduced to some of the deities who, unfortunately, must die: from the winged Uru, who guards the door to the Great Below, to the multi-armed Rammuha, who hates the power gunpowder gives to mortals.

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Turtle time.

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutants Unleashed is the sequel to the recent film reimagining, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Mutant Mayhem, and it finally has a release date. Order up a couple of tuna, peanut butter, and grape jelly pizzas for 18th October on PS5 and PS4.

Set a few months after the movie's events, Mutants Unleashed will see our shelled heroes combat the worst of New York City while skating up a storm and pursuing their dream of attending a regular high school. This all-new tale can be played alone or cooperatively, with each of the Turtles boasting their own unique gameplay style and a fresh sense of style to boot.

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The veil comes off.

The Veilguard, the next instalment of BioWare's Dragon Age series, will feature nudity in the style of similarly adult RPGs like Cyberpunk 2077 and Baldur's Gate 3. This is important for many reasons, immersion perhaps one of them, but it marks the first time a game developed by the studio will spice up its romance scenes by showing some digital skin.

That's according to essential journalism done by Game Informer, which went hands-on with the game and discovered the revelation. They found that topless nudity was present during character creation, allowing players to customize things like chest size, and game director Corinne Busche assured the outlet that: "This is a mature RPG."

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Founder, CEO Hyung-Tae Kim now a billionaire.

South Korean developer Shift Up, responsible for PS5 exclusive Stellar Blade, has gone public, completing an initial public offering (IPO) worth some 435 billion won, or about $320 million. Founder and CEO, Hyung-Tae Kim remains the largest shareholder, with a stake worth an eye-watering $1.2 billion, with Chinese holding company Tencent moving into second place. The company itself has projected valuation of around $2.3 billion.

Bloomberg reports that it's the largest gaming IPO to come out of South Korea in more than two years since PUBG dev Krafton raised some $3.8 billion back in 2021 (thanks, GamesIndustry.biz). Along with Stellar Blade, Shift Up has been printing money through its successful mobile games, Goddess of Victory: Nikke and Destiny Child. The studio intends to double down on what it does best and will use the proceeds to grow its games portfolio.

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We are all Exhausted Man.

Exhausted Man is a ludicrous physics game in which players must inhabit the role of someone who is absolutely knackered but refuses to sleep. In this delirious state, their body operates like a worm or snake, wriggling and writhing about (literally climbing the walls), struggling with the most basic of tasks, and it's coming to PS5 and PS4 on 25th July.

Developer Candleman Games describes Exhausted Man as an "absurd sitcom depicting an exhausted life", and we feel whatever it is they are going for deep in our bones. Over on the PlayStation Blog, the studio describes basing the game's surreal locomotion on caterpillars, with the head acting as the anchor point. Perhaps one of the more outlandish concepts for a physics game since the seminal Octodad: Dadliest Catch, we can't wait to rest our weary bodies down on the couch with this one. Please enjoy some more Exhausted Man below:

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Another Clanker.

Spin-off title Ratchet & Clank: Size Matters, originally developed by High Impact Games, will be freed from its PSP and PS2 shackles next week, when it’s ported to PS5 and PS4 as part of Sony’s PS Plus Premium catalogue. The bite-sized adventure – which can be beaten in around five to six hours – takes Insomniac Games’ tried and trusted gameplay loop and scales it down, which is entertaining enough if you’re looking for some mindless action.

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Three-point turn.

Here's an odd one: Distance, an intense racing game that finally launched on PlayStation after nearly 10 years, has quickly been removed from sale. It was available on the PS Store from 9th July, but has subsequently been taken down, and now has a new release date of 19th July.

It's unknown quite why this has occurred, but while there's no comment on this matter directly, a blog post from Refract Studios does go over this new date. It also goes into some detail about the differences between this version and the PC release, most notably the lack of level editor and online multiplayer in the PlayStation version. Instead, a handful of user-made tracks are included alongside the base game, which is priced at $19.99 / €19.99.

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It ain't trap-easy.

Aero the Acro-Bat, a cult classic 16-bit platformer from Sunsoft, is making its grand return on PS5 and PS4. Scheduled for release on 2nd August 2024, you can take a look at this retro title in the above announcement trailer.

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Going bonkers with Bambino.

Four months since its release, The Outlast Trials is getting its first dose of post-launch content in the form of Project Lupara. This co-op take on the traditionally single-player horror series is a surprisingly fun time with friends but with its first seasonal update since its launch, is it doing enough to keep players engaged? We managed to get an early look at Project Lupara, including its new villain, environment, challenges, cosmetics and much more, and it’s safe to say that fans of the game have plenty to dig into.

For those out of the know, The Outlast Trials is a co-op horror experience where teams of four will endure trials - various menial tasks while being hunted down by an assortment of maniacs. As fans of the Outlast series, it’s nice to see Red Barrels - the game’s Montreal-based developer - keep hold of the pillars of the franchise, with grotesque violence, battery-draining night vision, and defenceless gameplay where your only options are to run and hide. It makes for a thrilling cooperative experience, that we’ve loved getting back into in the run-up to this new season.

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Ready your rizz.

Think you’ve got game? It’s time to put it to the test: acclaimed Chinese dating sim Love Is All Around appears to be PlayStation bound, following its surprise hit release on PC. The game – an FMV affair where you assume the role of apparent alpha male Gu Yi – will require you to use your new-found rizz, as you attempt to woo one of six beauties, each with their own totally-not-stereotypical personalities.

It’s a full first-person experience, where the characters all interact with you directly. As the developer itself explains: “We are all nerds who want to have a date every day, but will never step out of the house to the real world. Therefore, we would like use interactive video as tool to create one fantasy dream after another, to create dreams for players, and to make our dreams come true for ourselves.”

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