Welcome to the Best Games on PS Premium and Extra of April 2023. This month we have an exciting lineup with some big games and some you might not have heard of before. Here you can find the best selection of games in the author’s opinion for April.
Marvel’s Spider-man
Manhattan’s Friendly neighborhood web-slinger swings onto PlayStation. Let’s face it if you don’t know Marvel or even Spider-Man you are missing out, and this game gives everything you have been looking for. Take up the role of a superhero in the heart of New York City to deal swift and decisive justice to evil-doers. In Spidey’s quest to protect the people of NYC, he will be faced with challenge after challenge including super villains the likes of Vulture, Rhino, and the Scorpion. With no backup and the innocents of Manhattan caught in the ensuing battle, how will our hero manage to win the day?
Depending on which edition you pick, as highlighted below, you might enhance the story with the City That Never Sleeps, a 3 part story that revolves around the events leading up to the bridging game Marvel’s Spider-Man: Miles Morales. Below is a quick breakdown:
The Heist:
Part 1 revolves around Black Cat acquiring intel for one of the crime bosses to try and take power in New York, thanks to the events of the base game. This leads Spider-Man to find out that there is seemingly more going on than meets the eye and agrees to help Black Cat, subsequently reaching an unexpected ending in the skyline of Manhattan.
Turf Wars:
Part 2 reveals the mastermind to Spider-Man as Hammerhead during a gang war in the heart of the city he helps a police raid to arrest Hammerhead which fails. Vowing to fix the errors, Spider-Man is determined to bring Hammerhead to justice, however, the best-laid plans can always fall apart and as Spider-Man learns, Hammerhead is after Sable Tech to help in his war.
Silver Lining:
This third and final part of the City That Never Sleeps sees Spider-Man teaming up with an unlikely ally once more for the sake of his city. With Hammerhead raging a near unstoppable war over New York, and now enhanced with Sable Tech there is little to stop the events that are unfolding. Experience a new story with the City That Never Sleeps Expansion.
In addition to these, you will also get access to the New Game+ trophy set, no matter which edition of the game you pick. In regards to the trophies, there is not really anything that will give you any trouble, However, if you want a guide we have you covered with a complete set written off the Remastered Game:
Marvel’s Spider-Man Trophy Guide
Developed by Insomniac Games, and published by Sony this take on the famous superhero is a real game-changer for Spidey fans. Originally released in 2018 for the PS4 2 years later they released a Remaster for the PS5, unfortunately, the Subscription only has the PS4 release of the game. On the plus side, there are 2 editions of the game, before you get looking to stack Trophy lists there is only a list for PS4 and one for PS5. The reason for the 2 editions is one is the base game and the other is the GOTY edition which contains The City That Never Sleeps DLCs (see image above) meaning you can get the full 100%. It is highly recommended to play the GOTY edition as you will be able to play through the 3 bonus DLC which adds a little extra to the story of the game.
The Sly Collection
So a raccoon? That’s the hero we are going with? Join the Cooper Gang and become the greatest thieves, who only rip off master criminals. In Sly’s words, “We specialize in stealing from criminals, after all, there’s no honor, no challenge, no fun stealing from ordinary people. You rip off a master criminal and you know you’re a master thief“. In this Collection, you will get 3 full games, The Thevious Racoonus, Band of Thieves, and Among Thieves, all tied together in a single streamable package. Are you ready to become a master thief?
Sly Cooper and the Thevious Racoonus:
The Cooper Clan, a family of master thieves, all their knowledge and abilities documented in the Thevious Racoonus. Years before the start of the game a gang known as the Fiendish Five divide the book between all its members upon finding the Coopers, in doing so Sly becomes Orphaned and there he meets lifelong friends Bentley and Murray. Now Sly has got the means to find them and recover the pages.
Sly 2: Band Of Thieves:
2 years after Sly recovered the Thievius Racoonus from the Findish Five the Cooper Gang finds out that the ancient enemy of the Cooper Clan is at the Museum of Natural History. In response to this Sly attempts to recover all the parts and finally put an end to the terror pitted against his family, unfortunately, they have already been stolen and the Cooper Gang needs to find the thieves. This takes them all over the world in an attempt to prevent the revival of the Cooper Clans’ deadliest enemy.
Sly 3: Among Thieves:
The Cooper Vault, a treasure trove of the accumulated wealth of the Cooper Clan, which Sly learned about from a colleague of his father. Upon reaching the destination the Cooper Gang finds out that the island has been taken over by someone trying to break into the Cooper vault. In response to this Sly decides to form a team to get into the vault and claim his family’s treasures.
Developed by Sucker Punch Productions, and published by Sony Computer Entertainment these 3 games from the PS2 generation are a fantastic addition to the stealth genre. Originally released in 2002/2003 (Sly Cooper and the Thievious Racoonus), 2004 (Sly 2: Band of Thieves), and 2005 (Sly 3: Among Thieves) these 3 titles were re-released in a collection in 2011 for the PS3 by Sanzaru Games. They are regarded as Platforming Puzzle games with Action/Adventure and comical sequences throughout. The major difference with Sly being added to this list is it is fun for people of all ages, being rated a 3+ in Europe by Pegi and E in America by ESRB (Sly 3: Among Thieves was rated E10+) originally. This is slightly different in the Collection as it is rated a 7+ in Europe and E-E10+ in America.
Tron Run/r
The Grid, A Digital Frontier. Most people will know the name Tron from the early 1980s as an incredible and revolutionary concept where the data in a computer could be personified as entities like IRL. Skip forward to 2010 and we get a sequel to the iconic film, entitled Tron Legacy, which sparked a new “Digital Frontier”. Tron Run/r is the latest addition to the series’s games line, and pretty much all you do is what it says on the tin, you run, or drive.
This is an endless runner-styled arcade game with platforming and racing sequences. Developed by Sanzaru games and released in 2016, this Disney-published title shows off the Tron concept in a different way. The main goal of the game is to reach the endpoint scoring as much as you can, however, this being an endless runner it’s hard to believe that it is “Endless” like it is sold as. The only reason for this is that you have an endpoint to get to in each course you undertake. That being said the game is fun and pretty interesting. Even without a shiny platinum trophy to add to your cabinet if you like Tron, you should check it out.
Last Day of June
What would you do to save the one you love? Last Day of June puts this question in the forefront of the game and reiterates its importance throughout the game, although this is the case it is only what the design is meant to interpret to the player. Unfortunately, because of this, the game’s highlights revolve around Love and Loss, which makes the game emotionally painful for some people. All told the game is a fantastic adventure even with the sadness of the story and how things play out.
The game isn’t all that long, somewhere around 5 hours, however, when playing it can feel like it runs for hours. The main characters, Carl and June, are designed in such a way that it’s hard not to continue playing and find out how things will end. Although the story revolves around Carl and June your time will be spent controlling other characters who play a pivotal role in the events that occur. This is done in a similar fashion to The Time Machine movie from 2002, where you will revisit the events that lead you to where you are but try to alter the events to make a favorable outcome.
Developed by Avantgarden (formerly Ovosonico) and published by 505 Games in 2017, the game features the musical scores from Steven Wilson, who inspired the game with his song Drive Home. The concept of the game is rather a remarkable thing, let’s face it, when has that question not occurred in a need for an answer either in reality or the digital worlds? What Avantgarden has done with the simplest, and probably most painful, of ideas is something else, and playing it is the only way to really feel what the developers wanted to convey. The game is regarded as an adventure puzzle game.
Dark Chronicle (Dark Cloud 2)
Time Travel, an evil emperor, and the fate of 2 worlds rest on the shoulders of unlikely heroes. Join Max, a boy with no knowledge of the world beyond his small town, and Monica a princess from the future that is being destroyed. Together these unlikely heroes must rebuild a ruined world, gain allies in both the Past and future, and put an end to the ambitions of an evil ruler. Journey to different lands like Sindane, Starlight Canyon, and Heim Rada, each with unique challenges, new monsters, and an interesting world-building mechanic.
Developed for the PS2 and released back in 2003 by Level-5, who is more prominently known for the Ni no Kuni series, this is regarded as the Spiritual Successor to the 2000 game Dark Cloud. The game revolves around 2 key ideas, the first being that these stones called Atlamillia have the power to jump between Past and Future, and the second is more of a civilization mechanic called Georama Carpanteriam. Both of these components are important parts to make the game as good as it is, using the Carpanteriam mode you will be constructing the world that the Present (Past) is meant to be like so that when you travel to the Future it should be how it is meant to be. You do this by collecting Georama components from dungeons, each of the Carpanterium locations has its own challenges to overcome and trials to contend with.
Although this game seems a little dated and the controls are more than a little irritating it is still worth the time and effort to try it. Even with its age against it, the game is still good nowadays and definitely worth a try.
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