ILL is a first-person action-horror game coming to PS5 that aims to deliver relentless terror, both when the player is in full control and during the game’s motion-captured cutscenes. I’m Max Verehin, Co-founder of Team Clout, and I’m honored to give the PlayStation community a behind-the-scenes look at the work that goes into creating the cutscenes that complement the game’s immersive, horrific gameplay.

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Last month was filled with surprises, delights, and fights!  Some big new releases included God of War Sons of Sparta, Dragon Quest VII Reimagined, Resident Evil Requiem, Nioh 3, and Reanimal. 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.

Email us at PSPodcast@sony.com!

Subscribe via Apple Podcasts, Spotify, or download here

Hey, everybody! Tim, Kristen, and I are back this week to talk about the horrors of Racoon City, Reanimal, and trying to conquer your backlog before a wave of new games comes for us all. Along with our various journeys through Greece in God of War Sons of Sparta.

Stuff We Talked About

• Next week’s release highlights:
  • Resident Evil Requiem (out now) | PS5
  • Scott Pilgrim EX | PS5, PS4
  • Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered | PS5, PS4
  • Rager | PS VR2
  • Never Grave: The Witch and The Curse | PS5
  • Planet of Lana II | PS5
  • Marathon | PS5
    
    
• Death Stranding 2 PC specs reveal blog —See the power requirements to connect, widescreen support, and other features.
  
  
• Scott Pilgrim EX new character blog  —  Get acquainted with Goth Neil and Lady Envy, and check out the fun new stage, Casa Vania.
  
  
• God of War Sons of Sparta The Pit blog — Time to test your Spartan resolve in the roguelike challenge mode. See how to unlock this mode early and take it on solo or with local co-op. missions and objectives.
  
  
• Life is Strange: Reunion hands-on report — Chloe and Max are back for more time manipulation shenanigans. Check out new features, including the ability to play as both the protagonist and the interactive notebook.
  
  
• PlayStation Plus Monthly Games March
  • PGA Tour 2K25 | PS5
  • Monster Hunter Rise | PS5, PS4
  • Slime Rancher 2 | PS5
  • The Elder Scrolls Online Collection: Gold Road | PS5, PS4

The Cast

Last week, we asked to share well-framed moments from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

parmindernangla shares Atsu framed by the sun in Ghost of Yōtei

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artenpixels_ shares Ratchet framed by rock formations in Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

jobolts_ shares Arthur framed by some tree branches in Red Dead Redemption 2

call_me_xavii shares Aloy sitting in a frame-shaped hole overlooking water in Horizon Forbidden West.

EduardoPrx shares Eve framed by a halo of lights and containers in Stellar Blade.

x01.vp shares Rèmi standing in front of a circular light in Hell Us Is

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?

THEME: Heroic
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on March 4, 2026 

Next week, we need a hero. Share a heroic character using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Hello, fellow Wanderers. We’re proud to share new details about the very first major expansion to our wuxia epic, Where Winds Meet. It’s called Hexi — and it’s vast in scale and ambition!

So large, in fact, that it will be released in three distinct chapters that will be dropped from March to May 2026. It will feature three major maps with nearly 20 sub-regions – covering areas of endless deserts, ice fields, snow-capped mountains and vast swathes of grasslands. You’ll find it populated by eleven unique bosses, dozens of side quests and so much more.

We’ve tried to push boundaries, letting players inhabit characters from history and witness the era from the perspective of ordinary people caught up in the tides of history. This is what makes Hexi’s main story unique, existing outside of the game’s main timeline, and adopting a more cinematic approach to storytelling and gameplay.

There will also be a significant shift in the narrative, as we travel through time and space as if in a dream to a different era of Chinese history – the Tang Dynasty – one of the most prosperous eras of ancient China. At the end of the Tang Dynasty, however, the Hexi region loses all contact with the capital, Chang’an, and the Hexi people long for their spiritual homeland and this prompts your dream pilgrimage. 

The first chapter of the Hexi expansion is called the Jade Gate Pass and launches on March 5 (Pacific Time).  Set in a vast desert landscape, it represents the beginning of the biggest expansion since our game launched, offering up brand-new narratives, new bosses, fresh gameplay features and martial art styles.

To help you to survive and advance in the challenging desert environment, you can obtain two brand new wuxia skills in the Jade Gate Pass area. Sand Race literally allows you to surf on the sand to speed your progress, while Cosmic Reversal will empower you to reverse time itself and rebuild desert ruins. This skill will be particularly helpful for overcoming obstacles, uncovering secrets and solving puzzles. 

Whitecrown City lies between Jade Gate Pass and Liangzhou. Once the crossroads of travel from East to West and a vital part of the ancient frontier defence, now a time-eroded, abandoned shadow of its former glory.

Entering this city will rekindle ancient legends – Guo Xin – the last Grand Protector of Anxi – and the campaign boss. Standing as guardian of this lonely outpost, Guo Xin watches over the frontier in solitude. On this desolate ground, you will witness the reveal of secrets hidden deep beneath the annals of history.

Furthermore, another formidable boss in Jade Gate Pass is the Wandering Ark, whose legend is deeply embedded in the Hexi lore and is waiting to be discovered in the desert wilderness. This boss does not stay in a fixed location – it’s a colossal vessel moving freely across the desert sea. Encountering this vessel, players need to be precise and strategic in discerning where to attack this opponent, while defending against ruthless ranged and close quarter attacks.

Fortun

Today, we’re excited to announce that an upgraded version of PSSR (PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution) will be rolling out globally to PS5 Pro players in the coming weeks. PSSR is an AI library that analyzes game images pixel by pixel as it upscales them, and it’s been used to boost the effective resolution of over 50 titles on PS5 Pro to date.

We’ve been hard at work on a new version of PSSR, which takes a very different approach to not only the neural network but also the overall algorithm. We are happy to share that Resident Evil Requiem – shipping today – is the first title to use this more advanced PSSR, which is helping to keep both frame rate and image quality high. Here’s Masaru Ijuin from Capcom who shares insight on the upgraded version of PSSR for the game:

“With Resident Evil Requiem, we focused on enhancing the presentation quality of the protagonist through an upgraded version of RE Engine to deepen the player’s immersion in horror. For example, each individual strand of hair and beard is rendered as a polygon, allowing it to move realistically in response to body motion and wind. The way light passes through his hair changes depending on how the strands of hair are overlapped as well. This detailed expression of texture is one of the many details that we would especially love for our fans to see.

The upgraded PSSR has allowed us to elevate our expressiveness by successfully processing these details and textural particularities, which are traditionally difficult to upscale because of their intricacy. We hope you will experience this unprecedented level of horror and visual fidelity, and the new gameplay feel it delivers.”

– Masaru Ijuin, Senior Manager Engine Development Support Section R&D Foundational Technology Department, Capcom

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When players return to Nosgoth in Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered on PS4 and PS5, they are not only revisiting a defining chapter of the saga, but are also stepping into one that was never released.

Included with the definitive edition of Defiance Remastered is a playable demo of The Dark Prophecy, the unfinished sixth entry in the Legacy of Kain series. For years, this project existed only in fragments, remembered through concept art and early development materials. Now, players can experience a preserved segment of that lost chapter firsthand.

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Looking for your next challenge in God of War Sons of Sparta? Go to the place all aspiring Spartans prove their worth as warriors, the Pit of Agonies.  

Enter The Pit today

The Pit is a separate endgame roguelike challenge mode that gives you different enemies and reward pools each time you play. 

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March’s PlayStation Plus Monthly Games lineup features four games available to all PlayStation Plus members*. 

Improve your swing on the green in PGA Tour 2K25, seek out adventure in Monster Hunter Rise, enjoy a mix of farm sim meets first-person adventure with Slime Rancher 2, and explore a massive multiplayer fantasy world in The Elder Scrolls Online. All these titles will be available to PlayStation Plus members from Tuesday March 3 until Monday April 6. 

Let’s take a closer look at the games. 

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PGA Tour 2K25 | PS5 

It always comes back to Chloe Price and Max Caulfield. Through several games, branching narrative series Life is Strange has explored the consequences of love, friendship, and community, but the duo’s bond remains the beating heart of the overarching tale.

As Life is Strange: Reunion is said to be the final chapter in Max and Chloe’s story, it’s no surprise that both characters have returned, thanks to the cumulative events of Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Although some of the more significant decisions you’ve made from the first game, such as Max and Chloe’s relationship and the fate of Arcadia Bay, have carried over as well.

I spent some time with the game to dive into why fans should be excited about the partners-in-crime getting one last chance.

Some more familiar faces return

It’s not just about Max and Chloe making their comeback. Many characters from Life is Strange: Double Exposure appear, with Moses, a graduate, as a focal point because he is one of the victims of a fire that Max is trying to prevent. Dr. Yasmin Fayyad and her shapeshifting daughter Safi are present too, but Max’s friend Amanda was very much the focal point of the demo’s opening minutes. Which led to…

Ready to Rewind again?

My first task in the demo was to save Amanda from a demoralising heckler during her stand-up routine at the Snapping Turtle campus bar. It was a gentle reintroduction to Max’s Rewind ability, as once I failed my first attempt to stop the jeering troublemaker, I rewound our encounter with L1. Using the information I learned in our previous conversations, Max was able to talk to him again and make up a story that forced him to leave.

Max’s ability can be accessed at any time, but fundamentally, its use in the demo was to get around tight-lipped people, such as realizing that spilling beer over Double Exposure’s disgraced university professor, Lucas, is the only way to get a sneaky peek at his hidden documents.

The revelations from that action led Max to investigate the unsettling Abraxus House, triggering a more action driven use of Rewind. After bumping into another familiar character, journalism student Loretta, the two women were trapped in a creepy basement, under threat of discovery. Using a broom to barricade the door proved useless, but Rewind allowed me t