Code Vein II maintains the core elements of its predecessor, but it feels more like a standalone action-RPG than a sequel. That’s because it greatly expands on the series’ combat systems and ideas to offer a huge amount of customization, while telling an all-new story about vampiric characters called Revenants that’s not linked to the original Code Vein.

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With all the great titles 2025 has graced us with, there’s barely been time to put down the DualSense wireless controller these past 12 months. No matter what genre you favor chances are you’ve been eating well, whether it’s been big budget blockbusters like Death Stranding 2: On the Beach and Ghost of Yōtei, or instant classics like Hollow Knight: Silksong and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33.

Sure, 2026 has a lot to live up to, but even its first few months have plenty coming to PS5 and PS4. Better get your wishlists ready, things are about to get busy in the best way…

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Last month, we wrapped up another year of gaming with some 2D goodness and new takes on sports. Some big new releases included Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Skate Story, and Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow. Which game was your favorite?
 

How does it work? At the end of every month, PlayStation Blog will open a poll where you can vote for the best new game released that month. After the polls close we will tally your votes, and announce the winner on our social channels and PlayStation.Blog. 

What is the voting criteria? That’s up to you! If you were only able to recommend one new release to a friend that month, which would it be? Note: re-released games don’t qualify, but remakes do. We define remakes as ambitious, larger-scale rebuilds such as Resident Evil 4 (2023) and Final Fantasy VII Remake.

How are nominees decided? The PlayStation Blog editorial team will gather a list of that month’s most noteworthy releases and use it to seed the poll. 

Enjoy hours of electric, adrenaline-pumping racing action, embark on an epic journey through a realm of forgotten Disney characters and explore a long-forgotten cavern teeming with untold secrets with the PlayStation Plus Monthly Games for January 2026. Need For Speed Unbound, Disney Epic Mickey: Rebrushed and Core Keeper will be available to PlayStation Plus members from Tuesday January 6 until Monday February 2*.

Let’s take a closer look at each of the games. 

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Need For Speed Unbound | PS5

Start at the bottom, race to the top in the latest entry in the iconic Need for Speed franchise. With separ

Ninjas and samurai have always been a staple of video games, but even with their perennial popularity, 2025 has been an exceptionally good year for titles about deadly Japanese warriors. A bunch of ninja- and samurai-themed games hit PlayStation 5 this year, offering a huge variety of takes on the idea of becoming a sneaky, sword-wielding fighter in dark clothes.

From fast-paced combo-ridden action games, to slower and stealthier assassin-themed takes, no matter how you like your ninjas, 2025 has had something for you.

Assassin’s Creed Shadows

Sure, the Assassin’s Creed series is about two ancient orders of ridiculously influential warriors battling one another throughout history, and also there are godlike aliens. But what the games sometimes lack in narrative realism, they make up for in nailing historical settings. Assassin’s Creed Shadows’ depiction of feudal Japan is unmatched, and the series’ focus on stealthy takedowns is right in line with the ninja sensibilities of its protagonist, Naoe — after all, “assassin” is right there in the name. But if you’re looking for some variety, good news: Assassin’s Creed Shadows has two protagonists, so you can get the ninja experience and a taste of the samurai life throughout the course of its lengthy story.

Publisher: Ubisoft | Developer: Ubisoft Quebec | PS5

The joy of working with indies is never knowing what you’ll stumble upon next. Every year brings something unexpected and delightful, no matter what your genre of preference is. The indie-focused teams here at Sony Interactive Entertainment have bundled up some of their personal favorite indie games from the past year. Here are some of the games that surprised, enchanted, and tickled us in 2025.

Baby Steps

Developer: Gabe Cuzzillo, Maxi Boch, Bennett Foddy
Publisher: Devolver Digital

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Hello everyone! I’m Takashi Ishihara, the Game Director and Art Director for Lumines Arise at Enhance. It’s been a little over a month since we released Lumines Arise, a reimagining of the Lumines puzzle game series originally introduced in 2004, on PlayStation 5 with optional PS VR2 support. Hopefully, you’ve been enjoying playing through the Journey mode, exploring the Mission mode and its Training missions and Challenges, battling other players around the world in Burst Battle, or taking part in Weekend Loomii Live events.

I’d like to give you more insight into the development of Lumines Arise and how the team at Enhance brought this project to life.

Defining next-generation Lumines

We already knew that after Tetris Effect: Connected, we wanted to revisit Lumines. The big question in our heads at that time was, “What defines the next Lumines?” An image began brewing in my head, and I spent time thinking about key words and colors that would represent the new game. It was all very abstract at first, but slowly the main idea took shape. This is when I sat down with Executive Producer Tetsuya Mizuguchi to align on the core concept and where we’d like this iteration to go. Once that was agreed upon, I went full tilt in designing individual stages, picking out moments or feelings I wanted to see visualized, including the UI/UX, getting an idea of the musical styles that might pair with each.

As it came together, I made a pre-visualization video. That’s when a real team was starting to take shape so I shared it with them. We started talking about how to make the concept even better and improve on the foundation. After this initial shaping and polishing process, that’s when we really started building out the game.

Developing Stages over time

A common question that we get is how long does it take you to create a full stage from start to finish. Well, that’s a bit of a difficult one to answer, since during development we continually polish, improve, and tweak little thing

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Hey, everybody! Sid, Kristen, and Brett are back this week to discuss their top games of 2025, both in terms of hours played and the ones they can’t stop thinking about. This episode also includes a spoiler-filled Ghost of Yōtei interview with Sucker Punch Creative Directors Jason Connell and Nate Fox.

Stuff We Talked About

• Holiday Cards 2025 — Celebrate the holidays with festive cards from our studio friends and developers. See if you can find your favorite characters getting into some yuletide shenanigans.
  
  
• Marathon new features and updates — Get detailed information on all the changes and updates made to Marathon ahead of its March 2026 release. Extract all the data and be prepared to run as a squad or solo.
  
  
• Saros developers reflect on Story Trailer — The Housemarque team breaks down the new story trailer, going over the emotional throughlines of the title, working with seasoned actors to bring the vision to life, and more.
  
  
• Helldivers 2 update —.Blast into some mandatory holiday cheer with the Festival of Reckoning on December 18. Enjoy limited-time access to a host of stratagems and other themed goodies.
  
  
• PlayStation Blog GOTY 2025 Winners — The votes are in, and it’s time to see what the community’s top picks are for 2025.

The Cast

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Last week, we asked you take off and share your best moments in Microsoft Flight Simulator using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here’s this week’s highlights:

Akkan_Vader shares a birdseye view of their plane above a sprawling city

TheSkinnyRage shares their plane taking off into the night

Akkan_Vader shares their plane on the tarmac ready to take off

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme, or be inspired by other great games featuring Photo Mode. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?

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Unforgettable stories and characters, outrageous combat, and some hilarious mini-games – the acclaimed Yakuza / Like a Dragon series has a massive following for all the right reasons.

With Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties’ launching on PlayStation 5 February 12 next year – and to celebrate the franchise’s 20th anniversary, with the first game Yakuza launching on PS2 20 years ago this month – it’s only fitting to mark the moment with some of the developers who know these hard-hitting titles best.

So we sat down with Executive Producer Masayoshi Yokoyama, Chief Director Ryosuke Horii, and Chief Producer Hiroyuki Sakamoto to talk about their thoughts on the series’ 20th anniversary, its journey so far, and the upcoming Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties. 

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