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-burger cast of characters. This week podcast Beyond is Max Scoville, Brian Altano, Jada Griffin and Mitchell Saltzman. 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

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 and Okja. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth sales aren’t anywhere near its predecessor’s, which isn’t that surprising when you dig into the different circumstances they released under. If demo downloads are any indication of sales, Stellar Blade should do well, Ratchet & Clank’s Bouncer weapon has been added to the 2016 game in honor of its 8th anniversary. Finally, some cool games are hitting PS+ this month, including Dave The Diver, Animal Well, Nour and Misma Chronicles. Podcast Beyond is Max Scoville, Brian Altano, Jada Griffin and this week features special guests Abubakar Salim and Max’s disruptive epoxy-stealing toddler. 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

We just got a brand new trailer for Star Wars Outlaws, Ubisoft’s open-world action adventure set in the beloved galaxy far, far away. Specifically, it’s set in the grimy criminal underworld between The Empire Strikes Back and Return of the Jedi, hitting some similar beats to 1996’s beloved (but no longer canon) Shadows of The Empire. As much as we’d love revolutionary leaps and bounds in game design, we’re totally fine if this is one of Ubisoft’s patented “climb the tower, clear the outpost” Assassin’s Creed Far Cry Watch Dogs-likes, since the subject matter does a lot of heavy lifting. In other news, Bloodborne Kart is now Nightmare Kart and it’s out at the end of next month (but only on PC) and the most-played PlayStation games of 2023 were mostly from a few years earlier, people just kept playing them. Helldivers 2 gets yet another war bond this week, Democratic Detonation, just in time for those no-good Automatons striking back with a vengeance. This week, Beyond is Max Scoville, Jada Griffin, Brian Altano and Matt Kim. We had fun, we hope you did too. 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

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, or rest on the PS5’s laurels and stick to home consoles, plus the occasional weirdo accessory. The PlayStation Portal was sort of portable, and it was technically a PSP, was Sony testing the waters? Hmm. In other news, a new feature in the PS App is being beta-tested that would let you take in-game lore on the go, letting you access stuff like journal entries, character databases, and that sort of thing through your phone or mobile device. Not something we were demanding, but cool nonetheless, and definitely a fun way to supplement games we’re playing when we’re not actually playing them. Helldivers 2 got a patch that adds blizzards, sandstorms, and makes fire hurt more. Stellar Blade’s demo just dropped, and it’s undeniably a good-looking game, but the discourse around its protagonist’s appearance makes it hard to be remotely critical of any other aspects like the story, creature design, mechanics or combat. Still, that won’t stop us from stumbling across this week’s most explosive minefield. In other news, Suicide Squad Kill The Justice League’s first DLC is here, and Jada and Akeem have strong feelings, good and bad, about how it handles DC’s clown prince of crime: Captain Boomerang. Just kidding, it’s about… The Joker. Ha Ha Ha Why So Serious? Hey if you read all this, thanks for sticking around. How do you feel about little neckties? 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

This week, we’re eatin’ good! Two massive sprawling open-world action RPGs just dropped, Dragon’s Dogma II and Rise of the Ronin but… which one is worth your time? Join Brian Altano, Jada Griffin and Mitchell Saltzman as they compare and contrast Capcom and Koei Tecmo’s latest contributions to the run-around-and-fight-stuff genre. Ultimately, both games are packed with tons of great gameplay, mechanics, systems, features, moments, all that good stuff you’d expect from an open-world game, but they both offer dramatically different experiences, so it’s really just a matter of taste. Meanwhile, Jada checked out a bunch of cool games at the annual Game Developers Conference in San Francisco last week, including Tales of Kenzara: Zau, Hyper Light Breaker, Little Kitty Big City, Luna Abyss, The Sinking City 2, Dungeons of Hinterburg, Angerfoot, and South Park Snow Day, and she also got to try out some unconventional means of interacting with games at the ALT.CTRL.GDC exhibit, which showcases unusual game controllers. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

There’s plenty to talk about this week! The leaked PlayStation 5 Pro specs have Max and Brian speculating about who exactly needs a mid-century modern mid-generation refresh, aside from people who want the best possible console experience for Grand Theft Auto 6. Mostly, though, the thing we’re most excited to talk about is Dragon’s Dogma 2. Reviews are out, and the consensus is this new chapter improves upon what made the first game great, but what does that mean for people who didn’t play the original when it came out in 2012? Capcom’s long-awaited sequel to the cult-classic action RPG might have a lot in common with FromSoftware’s Dark Souls and Elden Ring games, but the moment-to-moment gameplay is extremely different, largely in part to more more of an emphasis on unpredictable emergent moments, chaotic battles, and wacky antics thanks to the unique pawn system. Meanwhile, Brian played through Alone In The Dark, the reimagining of the survival-horror classic, and while it falls short of the experience provided by Capcom’s excellent Resident Evil remakes, it’s still a good time for anyone who prefers puzzle solving in a spooky house to just shooting monsters in the head. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 Vanillaware’s answer to Nintendo’s Fire Emblem for non-tendo players, and it applies the studio’s trademark painterly aesthetic to the turn-based tactical strategy genre that seems to have plenty of Ogre Battle DNA. Speaking of Unicorns, because we were, Brian gives an impromptu review of Unicorn Princess, which probably wasn’t designed with any of us in mind, but that still doesn’t mean children should have to play a game about picking up garbage in order to appease Unica the Unicorn or whatever. Because the uphill battles of adulthood and parenting aren’t enough, Max has been playing Expeditions: A Mudrunner game, which is a game about making clunky old slow trucks drive slowly up little hills so you can look for rocks, and if it sounds tedious, that’s because it is, but in a way that’s oddly soothing and enjoyable. Are you still reading this? Does anybody read these? Do you think the truck game sounds like fun, or would you rather just zap the space bugs and mean robots? It’s nice that we have so many options when it comes to video games. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

What’s happening in the video game industry? The BEYOND crew discuss the recent layoffs happening in the games industry, including Sony announcing a significant amount of layoffs hitting PlayStation. The #PlayStation layoffs affected 900 staff members, with Jim Ryan issuing a statement about the situation - but what does it all mean? Max, Brian and Akeem break it all down, plus touching upon the EA Games layoffs that hit 670 workers. This also led to EA sunsetting a few games, and announcing it’ll be moving away from future licensed IP. The BEYOND crew also dive into the updates heading to Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 on the #PlayStation5 with the addition of New Games Plus content on the #PS5, as well as exploring the rumored PS5 Pro. Not to mention the potential of PSVR2 having PC compatibility - what will it mean for PlayStation in the VR space moving forward? Plus, Respawn’s canceled Star Wars FPS was rumored to be about a Mandalorian bounty hunter, much like Lucasarts’ Star Wars 1313. Sadly, it seems like games about intergalactic bounty hunters have a hard time getting made, even beyond Star Wars: Metroid Prime 4 is in development hell, the original Prey 2 was shelved, and High on Life came out, but not without its share of controversy. Is the genre cursed? All this and more in this episode of BEYOND! Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is almost here, and the reviews are in! Michael Higham joins us to discuss his thoughts on the game (which he scored a 9 out of 10, something we totally forgot to mention on the show) and there’s a lot to say about this massive installment in such a beloved series - which we’ll do while steering clear of story spoilers as much as possible. We discuss new additions to combat, like Synergy Abilities, and how the expanded roster shakes up the experience when swapping between Cloud, Tifa, Barrett, Aerith, Yuffie, Red XIII and the rest of the game. Mostly, though, we praise Rebirth for turning us loose in a mostly open-world Gaia that feels leaps and bounds more ambitious than Remake’s Midgar. While there are plenty of fun minigames, they’re not all winners, which is ultimately a minor nitpick - especially considering how much fun Queen’s Blood is - it’s safe to say this is one of the biggest games of the year, and one we’ll be thinking and talking about for quite some time. Podcast beyond is Max Scoville, Nick Limon and Jada Griffin with special guest Michael Higham. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices

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 prior to the Xbox acquisition, exploring the implications for future cross-platform releases. We also shine a spotlight on Helldivers 2, delving into the game's 'unspoken' co-op etiquette and what it adds to the gaming experience. Additionally, get our first impressions of Skull & Bones as Travis takes the helm for its review, and join Brian as he navigates the world of Yakuza. Don't miss our preview of Fanfest 2024, where we tease what to expect from the full days of trailers, exclusive reveals, and interviews. It's an episode packed with insights, speculation, and excitement for the future of gaming across consoles. Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices