Last week, we asked you to take a walk on the spooky side and share some scary gaming moments using #PSshare #PSBlog. Just in time for Halloween, here are this week’s scary highlights: 

BarryPaust encounters a terrifying mold monster in Control.

CaliOcelot shares a haunting freaker in Days Gone.

Yuric83 shares a BB in some moody red lighting in Death’s Stranding.

Lunar9p has a terrifying face off in The Dark Pictures Anthology: Little Hope.

Alien_K121 shares a spooky hallway from Resident Evil 7: Biohazard.

NoomiPlay shares the adorable Rot having a darker moment in Kena: Bridge of Spirits.

Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week? 

THEME: Returnal – Photo Mode
SUBMIT BY: Wednesday 9 AM PT on November 3

Next week, we’re looping back to the alien world of Returnal. Share epic moments with the newly released Photo Mode using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

As someone who worked on the original Final Fantasy VIII as Director, it’s been quite the nostalgia trip to think about the game again – particularly since the PlayStation team asked me to share some recollections of the game’s development.

By the time we started work on Final Fantasy VIII, the gameplay of RPGs was very well-established. Players were used to strengthening characters by defeating monsters, earning money and EXP, levelling up and buying equipment – we felt that both developers and users were growing a little tired of the traditional format.

With Final Fantasy VIII, we wanted to try new things in the RPG genre – explore new mechanics as well as improve on aspects of our previous work. 

Here’s the story of how it all came together.

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Blurring the line between CG and gameplay

One area in which we innovated was the implementation of CG cutscenes. 

We used 3D CG scenes for the first time in Final Fantasy VII – I wrote about this at PlayStation Blog earlier this year. While I’m proud of what we were able to achieve, that game represented something of a transition period for us in how we used the technology. We wanted to fuse game scenes and cutscenes together, but the implementation wasn’t exactly how we wanted it.

There were parts of Final Fantasy VII where the cutscenes and real-time polygon characters looked out of place – for example, there were inconsistencies in the character proportions and polygon quality between scenes.

We worked very hard on improving this for Final Fantasy VIII. The game features multiple moments where you are able to move around the scene while the CG cutscene played, and we were able to get to a place where these in-game models appeared more naturally within these moments.

Part of the reason for this was experience. We created a CG production team for Final Fantasy VII and attempted to merge it with the conventional game team. Final Fantasy VIII was the second game we made with that team structure, and our proficiency had definitely improved. 

The team also understood that our ambition of blending gameplay and cutscenes meant that the new game’s scenes needed to be higher quality than before. The team pulled together to make that happen and that unity was reflected in the final product.

Knockout City, from the beginning, has always been a wild, competitive, and social online multiplayer dodgeball game. That’s not a formula the games industry has seen before, and the team at Velan Studios has been laser-focused on bringing players new types of gameplay that they’ve never seen before. From giving players special powers in the Superpowers! Playlist during season two, to putting a special brawler’s spin on throwing balls through hoops with Basketbrawl earlier this season, to the entire concept of a timing-based competitive multiplayer dodgeball game, we’re definitely not afraid to tread new ground.

But sometimes taking a fresh game and adding something familiar makes for a perfect combination too, and that’s why we’re excited to announce the next event coming to Knockout City on November 2: Royale Rumble. November 2 is also the day Knockout City will be available to PlayStation Plus members as part of the monthly game lineup.

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Royale Rumble’s main focus is the limited-time Playlist, KO Royale. This mode puts eight players into a free-for-all, complete with a closing Danger Zone. Unlike our other FFA Playlists, KO Royale doesn’t have players respawning immediately after getting KO’d. Instead, you’ll spectate to the end of the Danger Zone to see who comes out on top. Be the last brawler standing to earn a crown. Earn two crowns to win the match. Sounds simple, but when you’re facing off seven other crown-hungry brawlers, landing that final KO with a closing Danger Zone at your heels can be a tough proposition. Are you up to the task?

As with all of our events, there’s a selection of Contracts to complete, each rewarding Holobux. Finish all of ‘em to net yourself 1500 Holobux, which is more than enough to snag this season’s Brawl Pass if you’re joining us partway through the season.

Also in Royale Rumble, there’s a whole wardrobe full of items for customizing your brawler available in the first-ever Brawl Shop sale. Not only are the prices discounted, but we’ve also brought back some limited-time items that have been locked up tight in the Bank of Knockout City’s vault ever since their events ended. The custom legendary outfits from Heatwave and Knockout City Heroes are making their first reappearance since the events ended. Don’t miss this chance to pick them up for a reduced price before they’re gone forever (again).

Royale Rumble will be sticking around until November 16 when we’ll be switching over to our next event with yet another brand new game mode that completely

It’s a bumper PlayStation Plus lineup this November, with six titles in total available to add to your game library starting Tuesday, November 2. Partake in an epic dodgeball tournament with Knockout City, play sleuth and spot imposters in social deduction game First Class Trouble, then wield weapons and battle monsters in the fantasy world of Kingdoms of Amalur: Re-Reckoning.

And to celebrate PS VR’s 5th anniversary, this month’s PlayStation Plus lineup will include three bonus PS VR titles. Survive the horrors aboard a procedurally generated spaceship in The Persistence, tackle zombies in The Walking Dead: Saints & Sinners and showcase your sword skills in roguelike Until You Fall.

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Knockout City | PS5 & PS4

Team up and duke it out with rival crews in style as you settle the score with epic dodgeball battles online*. Brace yourself for outrageous fun and intense competition in an all-new take on team-based multiplayer games. Customize your character and form a crew with friends to start your Knockout City takeover. Knock out opponents with trick shots and coordinated teamwork while dodging and catching balls flying across the map. No ball? No problem! You can literally ball up, roll into a teammate’s hands, and become the ultimate weapon.

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First Class Trouble** | PS5 &PS4

First Class Trouble is a social deduction party game where six people play together online* aboard a luxury space cruiser. At the start of each game, four players will be randomly selected to be Residents,

The season of haunting and hunting is upon us with October in full swing. This makes it a perfect time to jump into the jungle and deliver some scares to the Fireteam or turn the tables and hunt the hunter. We are excited to introduce our newest Predator to the lineup for October’s paid DLC, the Exiled Predator. And for those Predators out there who want to mask up for Halloween we have three new masks making their way into the free update just in time for the night of haunting…or hunting.

This month’s paid DLC introduces the Exiled Predator to the universe. It’s unknown when or how this Predator was exiled, but it was clearly able to adapt and hunt undetected in the far reaches of Yautja territory. While avoiding common hunting grounds, this Yautja was able to hunt legendary warriors on chains of the Pacific Islands. The Exiled Predator carefully interpreted and crafted armor from local raw materials out of a deep respect for these warriors. In addition, players will gain access to the Hook weapon, which is an early access weapon skin that will be unlockable to all players by December 2021.

October’s free update does not disappoint with ways to scare and scare yourself. Night maps have made their way into the game with this update. Get ready for all the jump scares! Night maps present a new way to play the game that has already produced plenty of exciting, very intense hunting experiences during our internal playtests. The Fireteam must now navigate through dark jungles and light-filled camps to complete their missions. To help visibility in the night maps, the Fireteam will be able to toggle Night Vision when needed. The Predator can now use the cover of darkness to stalk their prey, so make sure you don’t get your biomask knocked off by the Fireteam. As mentioned earlier, not only will the Predator have the darkness for the hunt, but also three new masks with this update. Newest masks to join the Predator “closet” are Salamander, Mors, and Foxtrot masks. In addition, this update brings the Cleopatra smart disc weapon skin to all players with it unlocking at level 27.

Everyone at IllFonic is excited to see how the community’s hunting styles change under the cover of night in the jungle. Keep those videos and screenshots rolling in on all the social platforms, we love to see them! In the meantime, we will see you in the jungle!

We’re pleased to announce Seize the Throne, an exciting new community challenge that draws inspiration from our new global brand spot. Our aim is to spotlight the power of play, which unites us through unforgettable moments and bold new experiences.

This special event calls on players to join together in a chess-themed celebration.* By playing together to complete three Stages of Community Goals, players can reach the King’s Tower, access the Inner Chambers, and breach the Throne Room — earning exclusive PSN avatars and a one-of-a-kind PS4 theme along the way.**

Eligible players from participating countries will also compete to win grand prizes by testing their PlayStation knowledge in a series of challenging trivia questions. Available grand prizes include a PlayStation 5 console, the King’s PlayStation Shapes Ring Set, and a bundle featuring a Pulse 3D Wireless Headset as well as a PlayStation Store digital gift card ($100 USD or equivalent provided in local currency).*** 

Registrations begin now and will remain open until the end of Stage Two. The first part of the competition ends when the community completes all three Stages to seize the throne, or until November 16th (whichever comes first). Here are the steps to participate:

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1. Sign Up 

Register with your PSN Sign-In ID here. Once signed up, players will be automatically entered into all future Stages of the program and the question round.

The event is open to PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 users in the following locations: Argentina, Australia, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Croatia, Czech Republic, Denmark, Finland, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Hungary, Indonesia, Ireland, Italy, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, Netherlands, New Zealand, Norway, Poland, Portugal, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, Slovakia, South Korea, Spain, Sweden, Switzerland, Taiwan, Thailand, United Kingdom, and the United States. Please note: players from Brazil, Italy and Japan cannot take part in the question round of Seize the Throne.

2. Start Playing!

There are three Stages throughout the event, with the first Stage kicking off on November 2. Each Stage will require players to complete the following activities to earn points and achieve the Community Goal for each Stage:

• Play PS4/PS5 games — Every PS4/PS5 game that each player plays for at least an hour (across as many sessions as

Today’s State of Play brought with it in-depth looks, first reveals and updates on third party releases coming to PS4 and PS5 in the near future. Missed the show and its announcements? Worry not: we’ve got everything you need to know right here. 

Directly below you can catch (or rewatch) the State of Play highlights, see the full trailers and get a run down of every announcement made during its ~20 minute runtime. Eager to know more about those games? Click on a headline to go to a PS Blog post featuring extra details and insight, written by the game’s creator. 

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Catch the highlights of the latest State of Play episode with the above quick video recap.

Deathverse: Let It Die

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A multiplayer survival action game built around a reality game show, in which you’ll fight it out for fame, glory and fortune. 

We Are OFK 

The first installment in the Star Ocean series released in 1996, and five mainline games, one spinoff game, and one mobile game have been developed to this day since then. This year marks the 25^th anniversary of the series and its latest mainline title – Star Ocean The Divine Force – been announced.

Star Ocean The Divine Force is developed by Square Enix and tri-Ace, and set to release on PlayStation 4 and PlayStation 5 in 2022. The game features a story that blends sci-fi and fantasy, a rich lineup of characters and side stories, a battle system delivering exhilarating combat with easy controls, and more. 

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Star Ocean The Divine Force Features: 

• A story that changes based on the choices made, where heroes intersect between the two worlds of sci-fi and fantasy
• A rich lineup of playable characters 
• Freedom to fly around the environment 
• Three-dimensional traversal and exploration where everything in-sight is a field for adventure 
• The Star Ocean game with the fastest and mightiest action in the series

Protagonists from two different civilizations collide

The “Double Hero” system returns in which the story spanning the stars and beyond will unfold from the perspective of each protagonist, one from an advanced civilization (sci-fi) and the other from an underdeveloped planet (fantasy). Events that unfold throughout the story as well as the ally characters you end up with will differ based on the protagonist the player chooses.  

In this game, there is range of playable characters in addition to the two protagonists, and you can control each of the party members.

Raymond

A young man from the nonfederated planet of Verguld. He is the captain of the merchant vessel Ydas under Lawrence Logistics, a company run by his family. His confidence often sees him rushing recklessly into situations when it comes to his friends and work, much to the distress of the Ydas crew. Raymond has a big heart, affable nature, and a good nose for business. His lack of affiliation with the Pangalactic Federation means he is not bound by the Underdeveloped Planet Preservation Pact. This sincere openness to meet others where they’re at regardless of technological advancement wins Laeticia over, but leaves Albaird wary.

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Hello everyone, we are proud to be a part of the latest State of Play and on behalf of the studio, I’d like to deliver a few dev notes to accompany our new State of Play trailer.

This is our very first reveal of the world map in Little Devil Inside, and our intention was to give you folks a look at how travel works by skipping through a typical mission in the game.

Essentially, we tried to create a dynamic, miniature-like representation of the world with tilt-shift effect.

During travel in world map travel view, you will come across and encounter various events. Some are forced but in most cases, you will have the option to engage or not.

Many are just simple interactions that can be performed while remaining in world map travel view, such as clearing up a road block or re-fuelling your vehicle at an oil station.

There are of course instances where you can zoom in further to an actual real-time gameplay level where you can perform all the real-time actions, attend to Billy’s (the protagonist) needs, and fulfill your missions.

Regardless of mission content, you are free to roam the world map.

You can travel on foot, on a horse (or a mule to be exact…), in vehicles, and of course on a train. Traveling on foot is slowest but you can go where other forms of transportation cannot take you.

Another design aspect we wished to show is the overall tone, manner, and pace of actual gameplay.

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The game is not about leveling up the character as quickly as you can and speed running through all the content.

As such, the pace of the game is designed to try and touch the player’s emotions by giving enough time and space and allow them to “take-in” the various atmosphere. Hence, no fast travel.

Welcome aboard the Alithea, a luxurious state-of-the-art space cruiser, where nothing is what it seems. Cue ominous music. What began as a relaxing vacation to outer space has erupted into a full-blown A.I. uprising, and those “friendly servants” who’ve been providing bottomless champagne are now trying to kill you!

First Class Trouble is a social deception party game, which means communication with the other players is key. Unfortunately, it also means you can’t trust anyone. The situation may sound dire, and things can get chaotic quickly, but don’t panic yet (even if you catch on fire, or get shoved into a pool)! We’ve put together a few tips and tricks to help you survive the wrath of C.A.I.N.

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First, let’s start with the basics: At the beginning of each game, you’ll be randomly assigned the role of either Resident or Personoid. Residents are human passengers, and Personoids are mechanically engineered assistants whose programming has been overwritten.

Although everyone plays together, you’ll have different objectives to complete depending on your role. Here you’ll have a crucial decision to make: collaborate or deceive?

For Residents, your main goal is to shut down the rogue A.I. at the heart of the Alithea. To reach C.A.I.N., you’ll need to collect three keycards to progress to the next level deeper inside the ship.

For Personoids, your main goal is simple: stop the Residents from succeeding at all costs. That means lying, tricking, and ultimately ridding the ship of those pesky humans.

Despite the many potential perils in the game (and there are a lot), deception is arguably the most deadly weapon to wield in First Class Trouble. Who can you trust? Should you follow the player asking for your help with a co-operative task, or are they leading into a trap?

Only you can decide, but here’s a few helpful things to keep in mind:

• Residents need oxygen to survive and can replenish the ship’s supply by finding spare canisters and turning them in at designated oxygen stations. Personoids don’t need air and can sabotage those same stations, so be on the lookout for anyone suspiciously lingering near one.
• Personoids are tricksters and will always be looking for opportunities to shove an unsuspecting Resident into fire or lock them in a freezer. However, Personoids can also use syringes against Residents for an up close insta-kill. If you see another player grab a syringe, watch out!