Starting March 17th, the catalog is updated with Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, Persona 5 Royal, Blasphemous 2 and six other titles.
PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium are getting an update in March with many new PS4 and PS5 games. While the most important titles this month are undoubtedly Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 and Persona 5 Royal, the list also includes several other high-quality experiences, including the classic PlayStation title Tekken: Dark Resurrection.
From the engaging metroidvania Blasphemous 2 to the fascinating settings of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria, from the cyberpunk atmospheres of Metal Eden to the intriguing sandbox structure of Astroneer, and finally to the American football matches of Madden NFL 26, here are all the contents that will be available to subscribers starting March 17th.
Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2
Long-awaited by fans of the original title from Relic Entertainment, Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 resumes the story of Demetrian Titus, unjustly sentenced to a long prison term and serving in the Deathwatch on practically suicidal missions against the Tyranid swarms, before undergoing the painful transformation into a Primaris.
In his new condition, the legendary Space Marine is assigned to the command of Captain Acheran and assisted by two veterans, Chairon and Gadriel, to liberate some planets from the same, terrible threat. However, behind the endless hordes of Tyranids lies something else, and Titus will have to discover what it is, fighting to the death if necessary.
In terms of gameplay, Space Marine 2 represents a clear evolution from the first installment, mixing third-person shooter mechanics and violent melee combat, complete with spectacular finishers, to deliver a decidedly solid, impactful, and more substantial experience, playable solo or in co-op with two companions.
As we wrote in our review of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2, the developers at Saber Interactive have managed to create an excellent sequel, boasting a great campaign and secondary modes capable of adding further substance to the package, including Operations and competitive online multiplayer.
Persona 5 Royal
Persona 5 Royal stands as the definitive version of Atlus’ acclaimed JRPG, enriched with new characters, additional gameplay mechanics, and an entire third semester of narrative content absent from the original edition. More than a simple update, Royal revises and expands practically every aspect of the adventure, following a philosophy already adopted by the Japanese studio.
Among the main novelties are three new characters: Kasumi Yoshizawa, who joins the Phantom Thieves even in battle; Takuto Maruki, a school counselor who becomes an important confidant; and Jose, a mysterious inhabitant of the Metaverse with whom to exchange special items. The game also introduces new secondary activities, such as darts and billiards, useful for improving group skills and critical hit probabilities.
The numerous improvements made by Atlus developers make the experience more fluid and accessible, but exploration of the dungeons has also been redesigned, and some bosses have undergone modifications to their repertoire to make the encounters more strategic. The Phantom Thieves’ headquarters in the Metaverse has also been expanded.
Great attention has also been paid to the technical aspects, with all the necessary optimizations on PS5 in terms of resolution and frame rate, and the inclusion of Italian subtitles: an important aspect for Italian players, especially given the considerable amount of text to consult during the adventure.
Did you read our review of Persona 5 Royal?
Blasphemous 2
Blasphemous 2 confidently relaunches the dark and deeply symbolic imagery created by The Game Kitchen, inspired by Hispanic religious tradition: a world where pain, penance, and distorted faith represent the only path to redemption, and the Penitent One embodies these values.
Engaged in fighting creatures generated by a deforming Miracle that has transformed men and places into grotesque manifestations of devotion, the powerful warrior can now use three different weapons to overcome his adversaries: a heavy censer but devastating, a balanced toothed saber, and a combination of rapier and dagger, quick and geared towards counterattacks.
Within a campaign characterized by remarkable artistic design, featuring more detailed and evocative pixel art, we will have the opportunity to explore intricate scenarios full of secrets to discover, unlock new abilities, and exploit the power of Prayers to build different approaches to action, to which are also added various character enhancement systems.
More fast-paced and dynamic than the original Blasphemous, this new chapter of the saga doesn’t shine in terms of challenge, but approaches the metroidvania genre competently, encouraging backtracking thanks to teleportation mechanics that allow the Penitent One to move quickly from one point on the map to another.
Desire to grasp more? Here’s our review of Blasphemous 2.
Metal Eden
Metal Eden follows the mission of ASKA, a sophisticated combat gynoid tasked with recovering the cores of the citizens of the orbital city of Moebius: a gigantic space metropolis now reduced to a technological ruin made of platforms, colossal buildings, and automated systems that continue to function, despite the absence of their creators.
Equipped with extraordinary abilities, the game’s protagonist can even transform into a metallic sphere to overcome certain obstacles, like in the Metroid series, within a gameplay that alternates between frantic exploration phases and real arenas of combat where we will have to face waves of increasingly dangerous robots.
Further details can be found in our review of Metal Eden.
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria
The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria catapults players into the evocative settings created by J.R.R. Tolkien for an experience characterized by an original narrative design. The story takes place in the Fourth Age of Middle-earth, after the defeat of Sauron, during a period of reconstruction.
We find Gimli, who decides to reunite several clans of dwarves with the aim of reclaiming Khazad-dum and restoring Moria to its people, and during the campaign, we will control one of these slight characters, participating in the dangerous expedition into the depths of the lost city. However, the intriguing premises do not translate into a truly solid product for the many fans of The Lord of the Rings: we discussed this and more in our review of The Lord of the Rings: Return to Moria.
Astroneer
Astroneer is a sci-fi survival sandbox game set on distant planets, where the initial goal is to explore the surrounding world and develop a base to build a rocket to reach other locations: an installment that doesn’t aim to reinvent the genre but proposes some interesting ideas, such as the constant management of energy and oxygen, the latter being a fundamental resource for our survival.
Equipped with a multifunctional backpack equipped with a tool capable of sucking materials from the ground, allowing us to collect resources and shape the environment through terraforming, in the game we will dig tunnels, reach underground caves, and discover hidden deposits, always ready to face unpredictable and unexpected situations.
Here’s our review of Astroneer.
Madden NFL 26
American football doesn’t yet have many fans in Italy, but there’s no doubt that Madden NFL 26 stands as a faithful and detailed simulation of this sport, rich in content and featuring gameplay that in this edition introduces an AI-based machine learning system for more believable athlete behavior.
These players boast a graphical representation more convincing than ever, including customized styles, movements that mirror their real-life counterparts, and tactical decisions that make the players easily recognizable, delivering a spectacular experience that is sure to appeal to fans of the sport.
Tekken: Dark Resurrection
Tekken: Dark Resurrection concludes the list of March games as the re-edition of Tekken 5, introducing new content, additional characters such as Lili and Sergei Dragunov, as well as the return of Armor King, along with extra modes designed to offer a greater degree of variety for the many fans of the Bandai Namco series.
Alongside classic options such as Story Mode, Arcade Battle, and Quick Battle, we find the novelty of Tekken Dojo and Gold Rush, with their challenges based on leaderboards and the collection of rewards, as well as the fun Tekken Bowl minigame and numerous options for customizing fighters thanks to the credits earned with each victory.
