Sony just announced the newest additions to PlayStation Plus Games Catalog; these will be available on January 17, 2023.
Nine new games are joining the PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium Game Catalog, including the outstanding Devil May Cry 5, the zombie slaying co-op shooter Back 4 Blood, and the vibrant single-player explorer Omno.
Those who use PlayStation Premium will be treated to some marvelous PS1 classics as well. These include Star Wars Demolition, where you can choose over ten iconic vehicles and battle it out across various arenas, Syphon Filter 3, and Hot Shots Golf 2.
Best of the bunch
While some big hitters are joining the roster in PlayStation Plus, such as Life is Strange and Dragon Ball FighterZ, the stand out for me is Devil May Cry 5.
When I dropped into the boots of demon hunter Dante and started carving up monsters in Devil May Cry 5, the world felt so familiar despite not playing the earlier games in the series. The hellish creatures and the foreboding atmosphere were like old friends. It all clicked when I realized that the Devil May Cry franchise was the rejected offspring of one of my all-time favorite horror games.
Devil May Cry came to life thanks to a rejected proposal for Resident Evil 4 in 1999. Initially developed for the PS2, producer Shinji Mikami requested director Hideki Kamiya to revamp the iconic series and try to take Resident Evil in a different direction.
Under the name ‘Team Little Devil’, early research began, including a trip to Spain to examine various castles as a basis for the game’s environment. Sadly developer studio Capcom ultimately decided that this idea would be too far of a departure from the series, so it was abandoned.
Luckily, the premise was tweaked to become the first Devil May Cry instead of scrapping the whole concept. I think getting Resident Evil 4 and Devil May Cry may have been one of the best two-for-one deals I’ve ever seen. But don’t take my word for it; head to PlayStation Plus and find out for yourself with Devil May Cry 5.
Rose-tinted glasses
Devil May Cry 5 is one of my favorite games, not just because of its incredibly chaotic fights or fantastic voice acting, but because it was my first window into this series.
While I had always loved Resident Evil, I had never come across this devil hunter's paradise. That is until the pandemic hit in early 2020. Being left isolated alone with not much else to do, I began to scour the internet for something I could sink my teeth into. Thankfully, Devil May Cry 5 was on sale on Steam.
Having this series to enjoy and explore over the first few months of the pandemic helped me tremendously, and so I’ll always think fondly of Dante and his devil-hunting crew.
I also have to admit that I was pleasantly surprised to hear the superb voice acting of Nero’s Johnny Yong Bosch, who also stars in the English Dub of Bleach as the protagonist Ichigo Kurosaki. As someone who had grown up with this anime series, it was definitely a welcomed surprise to hear a familiar voice amidst all the slaughter and monstrous devils.
