Sony has revealed the full line-up of PlayStation Plus Games Catalog additions for February 2024, which includes Assassin’s Creed Valhalla, Need for Speed Unbound, and more.
Announced on the PlayStation Blog, a total of 13 games are joining the library: nine in the Games Catalog available to Extra and Premium members and four in the Classic Games Catalog only available to Premium members.
February includes a solid number of role-playing games, with other highlights including Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds and a handful of entries in the beloved Tales series, such as Tales of Arise and Tales of Vesperia.
PlayStation Plus Games Catalog Additions for February 2024
PlayStation Plus Classics Games Catalog Additions for February 2024
Need for Speed Unbound is the latest entry in the long-running street racing franchise. Turning up the arcade elements to the max, Unbound includes over the top, anime-style graphics as the player overcomes rivals, avoids the cops, and more. It earned a 7/10 in IGN’s review: “Need for Speed Unbound hasn’t strayed very far from the fundamentals of 2019’s Heat, but its bold new animated style impresses,” we said.
Obsidian’s The Outer Worlds has the player explore a bright and colourful sci-fi universe with Fallout style gameplay, and similarly features a rampant storyline revolving around myriad factions all fighting for power. “With The Outer Worlds, Obsidian has found its own path in the space between Bethesda and BioWare’s RPGs, and it’s a great one,” we said in our 8/10 review.
The latest entry in the beloved RPG franchise from Bandai Namco, Tales of Arise tells the story of a young man wielding the Blazing Sword and an untouchable girl fighting their oppressors. “With an excellent story and cast and a reinvigorated combat system, Tales of Arise is the shot in the arm the long-running Tales RPG series needed to recapture its best moments,” IGN said in our 9/10 review.
Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is the 2020 entry in the long running and popular franchise in which players take on the role of Eivor, a Viking raider who does as much screaming and smashing as they do sneaking and stealth. In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “Assassin’s Creed Valhalla is a massive, beautiful open world fuelled by brutal living and the dirty work of conquerors. It’s a lot buggier than it should be but also impressive on multiple levels.”
In a full circle the moment, LEGO inspired Minecraft and Minecraft inspired LEGO Worlds. Players spawn in procedurally generated worlds made wholly of LEGO bricks and can destroy and build as much as they like. “LEGO Worlds is full of surprises to discover and has a great editor, but also bad combat and exploitable quest design,” we said in our 7/10 review.
In a more classic case of LEGO game goodness, LEGO Jurassic Park takes the traditional route by letting players work through a collection of levels inspired by the entire franchise. The game goes a lot further than the main story though, as players can also collect dozens of different characters, upgrades, and more. It earned a 7/10 in IGN’s review: “LEGO Jurassic World’s puzzles and combat keep up a great pace that get you past annoyances and back to the fun quickly.”
Something completely different comes in Roguebook, a roguelike deck builder where players encounter an ever changing world full of legendary encounters and stories. “Roguebook’s dual hero gameplay and overworld exploration give it a distinct identity, but its gameplay feels less focused than the very best deck-builders,” we said in our 7/10 review.
Not to be confused with the last entry, Rogue Lords is another rogue like but doesn’t involve deck building. Instead, players explore a gloomy 17th century New England where mortals and diabolical entities walk side by side. Dracula, the Headless Horseman, and Bloody Mary can all join the team too.
Bring more RPG magic in another fantasy adventure, Tales of Zestiria stars three inquisitive young adventurers set out to meet a prophesy and must face a powerful force rising in the shadows. This one earned a 7/10 from IGN: “An open-world map and fun new combat features make Tales of Zestiria an enjoyable roleplaying game.”
One of PlayStation’s most beloved forgotten franchises hits the Classic Games Catalog this month as Resistance: Retribution continues the epic sci-fi fight against the evil Chimera. The PSP game has “an engaging storyline, a likeable main character, tons of reasons to play it again, and one of the greatest multiplayer outings” the system offered, IGN said in our 9/10 review.
Jet Rider 2 is another classic, this one coming from the original PlayStation. This version has plenty of upgrades though, including up-rendering, rewind, quick save, and custom video filters. Players can race through canyons, national parks, roller coasters and more across 10 unrelenting tracks, and enjoy two-player racing in either horizontal or vertical split-screen.
Tales of Symphonia is the third Tales game joining the PlayStation Plus Games Catalog this month, promising another fantasy story in a world suffering from mana depletion. Originally released in 2003, a remastered version was released later, but the Games Catalog version appears to just be the original. “Tales of Symphonia has a broad appeal and its excellent art style and score tie the whole adventure together,” IGN said in our 8/10 review.
It’s unclear if it’s actually possible to play four Tales games in a single month but PlayStation is presenting that challenge. 2006’s Tales of Vesperia is the final game of the month, this time featuring a world reliant on a mysterious ancient technology known as Blastia. It also earned an 8/10 in IGN’s review. “Tales of Vesperia is a strong anime-style Japanese RPG with a wide-ranging story, compelling characters and an intense real-time battle system that keeps you on your toes,” we said.
The games added in January included Tiny Tina’s Wonderland, Just Cause 3, and more. Resident Evil 2 was perhaps the biggest of the bunch though, earning a 9/10 in IGN’s review. “Now this is how you remake a classic. Resident Evil 2 expertly reanimates the horrifying atmosphere and moments of extreme tension that made the original so revered,” we said.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.