The comments came during Sony’s new ‘Creator to Creator’ series, which centres around a roundtable discussion behind some of the key figures behind HBO’s The Last of Us. This includes Neil Druckmann (co-creator of the show and game), Craig Mazin (co-creator of the series), Pedro Pascal (Joel), Bella Ramsey (Ellie) and Asad Qizilbash (head of PlayStation Productions).
In the first part of the series, Pascal mentioned how impressed he was that the production team “dressed entire areas of the downtown Edmonton and Calgary [areas].” In response, Ramsey smiled and said they “pissed off all the residents,” which elicited a chuckle from the group. “We shut off a highway!” Druckmann pointed out.
That said, Mazin noted that “they were so polite about it,” while Ramsey said “they loved it.” Pascal added that “they were really nice about it.”
This isn’t the first time The Last of Us team has praised Alberta. Speaking to MobileSyrup late last year, Mazin said the crew in the province was “fantastic,” while Pascal commended “the warmth and the dedication” of everyone involved. The series leads also said they loved the province’s landscapes, giving a special shoutout to the “magical little town” of Canmore.
Jeffrey Pierce, who plays Perry on the show and Tommy in the video games, also told us that his time in Calgary was “maybe my favourite experience filming [ever].” Meanwhile, production designer John Paino has said he was “shocked” at how “clean” Alberta was compared to the U.S.
Sony says Part 2 of the Creator to Creator series will drop next week, although it’s suggesting you watch the eighth episode, which premieres March 5th, beforehand.
PlayStation has teamed up with NBA star LeBron James on a limited-edition PS5 cover and DualSense controller.
The Black PS5 accessories were co-designed by James and feature quotes and imagery from his journey, including “nothing is given, everything is earned” and “build, uplift, empower.
However, PlayStation has confirmed to MobileSyrup that the accessories aren’t coming to Canada. Instead, the company has teased a separate Canada-focused collaboration with Toronto-born actor-comedian, King Bach. While it says more will be shared on that later this year, it did point to a PS5 ad with Bach that ran during the Super Bowl last month:
The partnerships with James and Bach come as part of PlayStation’s new “Playmakers” program, a promotional campaign that sees the gaming giant partner with prominent athletes, actors, artists, gamers and other figures.
That said, PlayStation previously worked with James on a decidedly strange God of War Ragnarök adin which he, Ben Stiller and John Travolta all appeared with their respective sons.
The second season of The Last of Usmight begin filming later this year.
During an interview with Collider to promote The Mandalorian Season 3, Pedro Pascal, who stars as Joel on The Last of Us, was asked about the sophomore outing for the popular HBO series. While he noted that he couldn’t reveal much, he did tease that production could begin sometime in 2023.
“In the year 2023? Oh, what season are we in now? We’re getting into spring?” he said coyly. “Yes, there is a chance. Yes.”
The Last of Us was renewed last month after only two episodes had aired, with HBO saying the series had its second-biggest premiere ever after House of the Dragon. However, the network didn’t reveal any further details beyond confirming that it would adapt the 2020 PlayStation game The Last of Us Part II. Craig Mazin, co-creator of the series, has also indicated that at least two seasons may be needed to fully adapt the sequel.
For now, though, the first season of The Last of Us still has one more episode before its March 12th finale. It should be noted that we don’t actually know how far along Mazin and co-creator Neil Druckmann (co-director of The Last of Us) actually are in the writing process for Season 2, although Pascal’s comments suggest they might have made some significant progress already.
Another big question: where will The Last of Us Season 2 film? Most notably, Season 1 was filmed entirely in Alberta in what’s believed to be part of Canada’s largest TV production to date. Bella Ramsey, who stars opposite Pascal as Ellie, has also suggested that production could return to Canada, although HBO hasn’t made any official comment on the matter.
It’s worth noting that Canmore — Pascal and Ramsey’s favourite filming location — stands in for Jackson, Wyoming in the series, and the first few hours of The Last of Us Part II are set in the American town. Therefore, it remains to be seen whether HBO will return to the Alberta location — or any others — for Season 2.
Over three years ago, my friends (including MobileSyrup gaming editor Brad Shankar) and I visited Japan for the first time. Over the duration of nine days, we travelled to the busy izakayas in Tokyo, the spiritual streets of Kyoto and the vibrant Blade Runner-esque, neon-light-filled Osaka.
I was left awestruck by the country, and as soon as I returned to Canada, I was eager to go back to Japan. My trip left a lasting imprint on me and reaffirmed my desire to teach English there, with my ideal location being Kyoto.
However, the world changed shortly after returning home (can you believe that the COVID-19 pandemic started three years ago?), and so did the trajectory of my life. Suddenly, travelling to Japan seemed lightyears away and the itch to experience even a little bit more of the country grew stronger.
Then, I discovered Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio’s Yakuza 0.
What I thought would be a welcome distraction quickly became one of my favourite games of all-time. Though the gameplay is a simple 3D beat-em-up, I loved how it balanced wacky humour with deeply serious and emotional moments. It also cleverly combined the setting of Japan’s fascinating bubble economy with its gameplay, using huge stacks of cash to upgrade your move-set.
What added to my Yakuza 0 Japan trip simulation was the insane amount of mini-games that you can play, from disco dancing and karaoke to classic arcade games and billiards. At a time when I felt that big open-world games were starting to become more tiresome to play, having a smaller but vastly dense sandbox area was refreshing.
After my Yakuza 0 playthrough, I was hooked, finishing Kiwami and Kiwami 2 in quick succession, along with going back to revisit the minigames. Though I ended up taking a break from the series, I felt drawn back after seeing the announcement for Like a Dragon: Ishin!
Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a remastered version of the Japan exclusive of the same name, handled similarly to the Kiwami games, including graphical improvements and added content. It’s considered a spin-off, featuring the same characters from previous Yakuza titles (this time including beloved characters from Yakuza 0) but with different backstories and personalities.
Even though we’ve gotten more Edo-based samurai games recently, such as Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice and Ghost of Tsushima, Like a Dragon: Ishin! was more enticing because of the distinct charm that Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio adds to its games.
That said, Ishin! excels in its narrative and gameplay, though with a few shortcomings.
The undercover samurai in modern-day Kyoto
The story involves Ryoma Sakamoto (resemblance based on Yakuza hero Kiryu Kazama), a lone samurai coming back to his hometown Tosa after his sword training in Edo. In a span of a few hours, Ryoma becomes embroiled in a political civil war conflict between the Bakufu, the current authoritarian military government, and the Loyalist Party, a group dedicated to the Emperor with plans to overthrow the government. After a series of events, Ryoma ostracizes himself from Tosa to pursue his own investigation in the city of Kyo (modern-day Kyoto) with an undercover name.
This leads to an interesting dynamic in the story, as his sworn brother is the leader of the Loyalist Party while he becomes a high-ranking captain in Bakufu’s elite samurai army, the Shinsengumi. Without going into spoilers, I found the story to be quite interesting, especially compared to the more crime-focused Yakuza counterpart.
However, while you get more out of the game if you played the past Yakuza titles, it also spoils a bit of the plot because some characters follow the same fate. This was quite apparent at the start of the game with Ryoma’s reasoning for leaving Tosa in the first place. Thankfully, the predictability does fade after you get into the real meat of the story, and despite this issue, the inclusion of the Yakuza 0 characters was fantastic, especially in regards to the boss fights.
Ryoma Sakamoto’s bizarre adventures
For a Yakuza/Like a Dragon title, sub-stories are just as important as the story, and Ishin! has some great ones.
From helping out a good-hearted loan shark to aiding a person who’s being ignored for talking literally all day, these side-quests provide lots of humour to keep players engrossed in Kyo.
There is also a lot to do in the city, and at times, it feels overwhelming when you’re trying to progress through the main story. Whether it’s the dozens of people that you can befriend or the countless mini-games, it can be a detriment because your progression is constantly interrupted (though you’re free to just ignore it).
On top of all this is ‘Another Life,’ a farming simulator where Ryoma can grow produce, cook food, own pets and sell various goods. It doesn’t help that despite the great narrative, Ishin!‘s pacing can be quite slow at times. If you’re trying to breeze past the story, you may find that there’s a lack of action set-pieces, especially if you’re a newer fan who started off with Yakuza 0.
Saying all of that, the advice that I have for playing this game will sound bizarre. If you have the time (which, as an adult, feels shorter as you get older), my recommendation would be to play the game at your own pace and not speed through the story. Complete the sub-stories you want, develop the farming business you desire and embrace Kyo’s wackiness and chaos without any constraints. You’ll get a more enhanced experience that way.
The art of the sword… and revolver
Like most of the Yakuza games before the switch to a traditional RPG system, Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a 3D beat-em-up where you use different battle styles to defeat multiple enemies.
There are four combat styles to choose between:
Brawler — the traditional battle style from previous Yakuza games where you fight with your fists or can pick up nearby objects to smack the living hell out of enemies
Swordsman — use your katana for highly damaging strikes at the cost of range and mobility
Gunman — prioritize a revolver to shoot enemies from afar with ease
Wild Dancer — uses both swords and revolvers to perform chaotic combos
Wild Dancer is especially devastating, as you can perform combos to a single enemy or use a spinning gun attack to blow away multiple people at once.
However, a new addition to the combat with this remaster are the Trooper Cards, which act like special moves that you can manually control or perform automatically. In the original game, you can only use Trooper Cards in the dungeon-crawler minigame, but now, they’re usable in regular gameplay.
It’s a bit similar to the deck system in Kingdom Hearts Re: Chain of Memories, where specific cards can perform combat moves, buffs, or healing. You can also assign three cards to each battle system, meaning you can have a deck of 12 catered to a specific play style. The Trooper Cards are great to use and add a bit more strategy to boss battles, specifically. However, it’s, thankfully, not complex compared to an RPG system, so you won’t constantly be shifting cards around for specific battles once you have a comfortable loadout.
Reliving Kyo through emotional connections
If Yakuza 0 was used to recreate my trip to Tokyo and Osaka, Like a Dragon Ishin! was my way of experiencing historic Kyoto and reminiscing over my own emotional connections to the city.
Thanks to the new graphical uplift, Ishin! looks really beautiful, especially at night when you can see the lanterns lit up near the river and towns. It’s by no means groundbreaking compared to current-gen games, but for someone who has an interest in Kyoto, it’s a great way to bring the Edo-period prefecture to light.
This setting enhances the game, distancing itself from the urban locations of previous Yakuza games while offering a fresh sense of discovery. Personally speaking, it’s a dream combination of my favourite place in Japan with my interest in ancient history. Because of this, I’ll always connect my emotional experience of Kyoto to this game, which will encourage replayability because of the sheer amount of content and my own sentiments on the prefecture.
Overall, Like a Dragon: Ishin! is a great remaster that should be on your radar whether you’re a Yakuza fan or new to the series. It’s both familiar and distinct, allowing players to familiarize themselves with the series without knowledge of the past Yakuza games. Furthermore, it allowed me to reminisce about my first trip to Kyoto because of my ties to the area.
For that, Like a Dragon: Ishin! delivered an experience that was priceless to me, and as I revisit Japan later this year, it will be a game that I remember as I walk through the streets of Kyoto again.
Like a Dragon: Ishin! is available on the PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and PC via Steam.
Looking back, though, it was certainly imperfect. The resolution drawbacks were fairly significant, you still had to use the PS4’s DualShock 4 controller and there were some odd cut-to-black moments for certain transitions when protagonist Ethan Winters was moving, like dropping from a ladder. To be fair, it’s clear that such concessions were necessary for a first-gen VR experience, but it nonetheless makes the experience feel a tad dated in hindsight.
None of that is an issue with Resident Evil Village, the franchise’s second outing that’s fully playable in VR on PlayStation. (Sadly, Resident Evil 4 VR is an Oculus Quest 2 exclusive.) Where RE7 translated somewhat awkwardly to VR, Village feels absolutely built for it. Across the board, Capcom has smartly leveraged the PlayStation VR2‘s beefier specs and unique features to take an already great game and deliver an experience that is, hands-down, one of the best I’ve ever had on VR, even after only a couple of hours.
That starts with the visuals. On a base level, the PS VR2’s 4K HDR support already puts it well above the 1080 HDR of its predecessor. What’s more, the PS VR2 leverages eye-tracking to improve the fidelity of what you’re directly looking at by reducing image quality in your peripheral. In other words, Village is remarkably crisp in VR, with the game’s realistic character models, solid art direction and intricately designed levels all looking quite sharp. I’m also not normally someone who notices the implementation of 3D Audio (spatial sound), but I absolutely felt the difference here, adding to the immersion as all kinds of vampires, ghouls and other creatures hissed at me from the shadows.
But beyond that, the game’s cinematic presentation truly comes to life in VR. When a gruesome Lycan tackles you to the floor, snarls through its blood-soaked fangs and takes a bite out of you, it’s frighteningly up-and-close-and-personal. Running through the sadistic Heisenberg’s trap-infested catacombs feels like a thrilling rollercoaster ride thanks to the ability to freely rotate your head as you slide down a slope. And yes, seeing everyone’s favourite tall vampire, Lady Dimitrescu, tower above you is genuinely chilling. It’s one thing for Capcom to tell us she’s 9’6″ — it’s another to see that represented, to scale, in VR. Village wasn’t a terribly scary game on the whole outside of the horrifying Beneviento house, but seeing the game’s nightmarish assortment of enemies from this new perspective absolutely makes them more fearsome.
More importantly, though, VR dramatically builds upon Village‘s already satisfying gameplay mechanics. As mentioned, RE7 in VR was limited to the DualShock 4, which made the headset feel more like an add-on than the actual main event. Village, on the other hand, is playable entirely with the PS VR2’s comfortable motion-controlled Sense gamepads — a setup that offers two key benefits.
First, you can now fully interact with your surroundings by moving your arms, whether that’s reaching down to pull open a drawer, sliding a lock on a gate, or rotating an ornate tablet for a puzzle. Considering a key part of Resident Evil is scouring every nook and cranny to find precious ammo, herbs and other resources, the motion controls make otherwise basic activities feel far more engaging.
Of course, full control over Ethan’s arms extends to combat. At any time, you can swing your arms upward in a blocking position to protect against upcoming attacks or make slashing and stabbing gestures for knife attacks. Through this interactivity, Village‘s rudimentary melee combat feels genuinely engrossing, especially when you’re low on ammo and have to desperately fall back on it. Capcom has even made it so the knife will automatically return to the sheath on Ethan’s left arm should you drop it. While this may break the immersion a bit, it’s worth it so you don’t have to try fumbling around to pick it up. The same applies to the other weapons that Ethan will acquire. And on that note — first-person gunplay with the Sense controllers is an absolute blast. So much so, in fact, that it’s hard to believe I ever settled for using a controller and VR setup with RE7. That’s because it feels so intuitive. Naturally, aiming anything with motion controls will automatically feel more immersive than analogue sticks, and that’s before you factor in the differences between each gun. For example, reloading your handgun means you have to physically grab a clip from your hip, push it into the bottom of your firearm and then pull back the slide on top. Your shotgun, meanwhile, requires you to load shells one at a time and then pump the barrel between each shot.
This sounds fairly simple, but when you have a group of beasts just a few feet away, this real-time, multi-step process is a real game-changer. Indeed, there’s a nail-biting tension as you pepper an enemy until he falls, only for your clip to go empty as he starts to get back up, leading you to frantically have to reload your gun, aim and fire before he lunges at you. (For this reason, I didn’t bother with managing two weapons through dual-wielding, one of the VR version’s new features, but that’s still an undeniably cool option to have.) An added benefit to all of this? It addresses two of my only issues with Village — the downplaying of horror in some sections and the game becoming too easy by the end as Ethan becomes a walking armory. When you have to fend off macabre foes who are quite literally up in your face through skin-of-your-teeth gunplay, things definitely feel scarier and more challenging.Honestly, my only gripes with Village‘s VR version are pretty minor. You have to download a separate free file on the PlayStation Store that works alongside your copy of the base game, so your previous saves unfortunately can’t be carried over. There are also some jarring moments in cutscenes where Ethan may automatically move where you’re not looking, resulting in some brief disorientation. On the whole, it’s a lot smoother and more natural than RE7, leading me to feel no motion sickness, but these (few and far in between) instances are still worth mentioning.
Resident Evil games have always been designed with replayability in mind, which is undeniably valuable for many, but I’ll confess that I’m generally not inclined to revisit the same campaigns for bonus weapons and other unlockables. However, Village is one that I absolutely intend to see through to the end another time on PS VR2. The heightened atmosphere, jaw-dropping sense of scope and gripping combat afforded by the headset make this a legitimately transformative version of Resident Evil Village. Outside of Horizon Call of the Mountain, this is easily the PS VR2’s killer app.
Resident Evil Village‘s VR mode is available for free to anyone who owns the standard or Gold Edition of the base game. It’s worth noting that yet-to-be-revealed PS VR2 content is also in development for the upcoming Resident Evil 4 remake.
There’s been a lot of talk of mushrooms on the internet thanks to HBO’s The Last of Us. The TV show’s apocalypse is all thanks to the Cordyceps fungus and its haunting effects. Series star Pedro Pascal has come forward with his thoughts on another fungus — the magic mushroom.
During an interview on Late Night with Seth Meyers, Pascal, who plays Joel Miller in the series, talked about working on set and his experiences with the show’s infected. Partially through the interview, Meyers asks Pascal whether working on The Last of Us has put him off from enjoying mushroom dishes like pasta.
“I love mushrooms. All kinds,” Pascal emphasizes. “The kinds in restaurants. The kinds that used to come in a little ziplock bag in the ’90s. And now the kinds that are in these colourful chocolates,” he continues.
Meyers then continues joking about ingesting some psychedelic mushrooms and watching The Last of Us. “That I would not do,” Pascal quickly interjects. “That might put you off it for good. So don’t do that.”
The Last of Us is heavily inspired by and based on the video game franchise from PlayStation’s Naughty Dog. Six episodes into the series and audiences have already faced very heavy and emotional narrative threads. Each episode sees Pascal’s Joel and Ellie, played by Bella Ramsey, cross the U.S. in hopes of finding a cure for the Cordecypt virus. Along the way, our two characters stumble upon a cast of characters and horrifying infected.
One infected in particular, dubbed Bloater, has recently built quite the acclaim online. Production and the VFX pulled no punches in replicating the giant enemy from the game and making it a horrifying threat on-screen during the fifth episode of the series. Comprised of grotesque fundal growths, the Bloater became the internet’s number one mushroom. The actor who played infected even went as far as to say “He seems to be a bit of a sex icon.”
Pascal’s comments on the combination of magic mushrooms and the widely successful HBO show are mainly in jest. However, it’s a good to keep in mind as we head toward the final three episodes of the season.
PlayStation has revealed the free games coming to PlayStation Plus Essential in March 2023.
The three games in question are first-person shooter Battlefield 2042 (PS4/PS5), dungeon crawler Minecraft Dungeons (PS4) and action-RPG Code Vein (PS4). All three titles will be available through PS Plus from March 7th to April 4th.
PlayStation Plus Essential costs $11.99/month or $69.99/year.
To start, the company dropped a brief sizzle PS VR2 reel promoting games like Horizon Call of the Mountain and Resident Evil Village while mentioning that the headset just launched this week.
Following that, the show went as follows:
The Foglands (PS VR2) — TBA 2023
Green Hell VR (PS VR2) — TBA 2023
Synapse (PS VR2) — TBA 2023
Journey to Foundation (PS VR2) — fall 2023
Before Your Eyes (PS VR2) — March 10th, 2023
Destiny 2: Lightfall (PS4/PS5) — February 28th, 2023
DeTchia (PS4/PS5) — March 21st, 2023 (also coming to PS Plus Extra and Premium that day)
Humanity (PS4/PS5/PS VR2) — May 2023
Goodbye Volcano High (PS4/PS5) — June 15th, 2023 [Canadian game — Montreal-based KO_OP]
Naruto x Boruto Ultimate Ninja Storm Connections (PS4/PS5) — TBA 2023
Baldur’s Gate III (PS5) — August 31st, 2023
Wayfinder (PS4/PS5) — beta coming February 28th, 2023
Street Fighter VI: Zangief, Lily and Cammy reveals — releasing June 2nd, 2023
Resident Evil 4 remake (new trailer and confirmation of “special demo coming soon” — game releases March 24th, 2023
As promised, the State of Play concluded with a lengthy gameplay demo for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, the new game from Batman: Arkham developer Rocksteady. Here’s the full demo below:
The game is releasing on PS5 on May 26th, 2023.
What was your favourite part of the State of Play? Let us know in the comments.
The next generation of PlayStation VR, the appropriately named PlayStation VR2, is finally here.
As a peripheral for the PlayStation 5, the PS VR2 sports 4K HDR visuals, on top of features like eye-tracking, front cameras and haptic feedback and adaptive triggers with the new Sense controllers.
Games-wise, the headset has more than 40 games coming at or shortly after launch, including Horizon Call of the Mountain, Star Wars: Tales from the Galaxy’s Edge, Before Your Eyes, Creed: Rise to Glory Championship Edition, Resident Evil Village and Gran Turismo 7. While some games are on the original PS VR and offer free PS VR2 updates, the new headset isn’t backwards compatible with its predecessor.
Then there’s the price. In Canada, the PS VR2 has a rather steep price tag of $750. An $819.99 Call of the Mountain bundle is available, which includes the headset and the game, but that only saves you $10.
After two months, we have our first PlayStation State of Play for 2023 on February 23rd.
This showcase will look at five PS VR2 games that are set to arrive later this year, as well as anticipated games from third-party partners.
Additionally, we’ll get 15 minutes of all-new gameplay and updates on Rocksteady Studios’ upcoming title, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.
The PlayStation State of Play begins this Thursday at 4pm ET and 1pm PT on Twitch and YouTube.
Unfortunately, we won’t see Insomniac’s Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, considering its focus on third-party titles. However, I’m hoping we see more from Neowiz’s Lies of P.
However, the world changed shortly after returning home (can you believe that the COVID-19 pandemic started three years ago?), and so did the trajectory of my life. Suddenly, travelling to Japan seemed lightyears away and the itch to experience even a little bit more of the country grew stronger.
More importantly, though, VR dramatically builds upon Village‘s already satisfying gameplay mechanics. As mentioned, RE7 in VR was limited to the DualShock 4, which made the headset feel more like an add-on than the actual main event. Village, on the other hand, is playable entirely with the PS VR2’s comfortable motion-controlled Sense gamepads — a setup that offers two key benefits.
And on that note — first-person gunplay with the Sense controllers is an absolute blast. So much so, in fact, that it’s hard to believe I ever settled for using a controller and VR setup with RE7. That’s because it feels so intuitive. Naturally, aiming anything with motion controls will automatically feel more immersive than analogue sticks, and that’s before you factor in the differences between each gun. For example, reloading your handgun means you have to physically grab a clip from your hip, push it into the bottom of your firearm and then pull back the slide on top. Your shotgun, meanwhile, requires you to load shells one at a time and then pump the barrel between each shot.
Honestly, my only gripes with Village‘s VR version are pretty minor. You have to download a separate free file on the PlayStation Store that works alongside your copy of the base game, so your previous saves unfortunately can’t be carried over. There are also some jarring moments in cutscenes where Ethan may automatically move where you’re not looking, resulting in some brief disorientation. On the whole, it’s a lot smoother and more natural than RE7, leading me to feel no motion sickness, but these (few and far in between) instances are still worth mentioning.
