Hola! For this month’s Players’ Choice poll, we’ve got a prime selection of gaming decadence for you to choose from. JRPG sequel NEO: The World Ends With You released to high praise from fans of the quirky original, The Great Ace Attorney Chronicles appeals to fans of loud exclamations and pointing at people, Tribes of Midgard makes a boisterous debut, and oh-so-much more. Hit the poll below before Sunday night to cast your vote, and we’ll update this post with the winner next week. See you then!

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. Soon thereafter, we’ll close the polls, tally your votes, and announce the winner at PlayStation.Blog. PlayStation Store will also showcase some top Players’ Choice winners throughout the year.

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? In keeping with our long tradition in the Game of the Year Awards, remastered or re-released games won’t qualify. Ambitious, larger-scale rebuilds and remakes like Shadow of the Colossus and Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy will.

How are nominees decided? The PlayStation.Blog and PlayStation Store editorial teams will gather a list of that month’s most noteworthy releases and use it to seed the poll. Write-in votes will be accepted.

An eclectic mix of compelling titles await PlayStation Now members this month*. Nier: Automata promises compelling story and blistering RPG action in a far-flung future as combat androids take on a mechanical threat. Sci-fi style Ghostrunner challenges you to master its potent combination of unforgiving but ever thrilling parkour and one-hit-kill mechanics. Meanwhile, Undertale takes a nonviolent approach to traditional dungeon crawling. All are must plays, and all three are available to play from tomorrow, Tuesday, August 3. 

Let’s take a closer look at each in turn.

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Nier: Automata

In this captivating action RPG, invaders from another world attack without warning, unleashing machine lifeforms. To break the deadlock, a new breed of android infantry is sent into the fray: the YoRHa squad. Join androids 2B and 9S in their ferocious battle to reclaim an overrun dystopia and experience mesmerizing, high-speed combat that’s the specialty of development studio PlatinumGames.

Nier: Automata is available until Monday, November 1, 2021.

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Ghostrunner

Wield a blade and perform amazing parkour feats to battle your way up a megastructure tower city in this intense, fast-paced first-person adventure. Slice your enemies with a monomolecular katana, dodge bullets with your superhuman reflexes, and employ a variety of specialized techniques to prevail. One-hit one-kill mechanics make combat fast and intense. Use your superior mobility (and frequent checkpoints!) to engage in a fea

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Welcome back! This week, the team shares their Game of the Year-So-Far selections, and highlight news from the Annapurna showcase.

Stuff We Talked About

• Hunter’s Arena: Legends
• Destruction AllStars
• Life Is Strange: True Colors
• Stray
• The Outer Wilds
• Returnal
• It Takes Two
• Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart
• Going Under

The Cast

Sid Shuman – Senior Director of Content Communications, SIE

Kristen Zitani – Senior Content Communications Specialist, SIE

Thanks to Cory Schmitz

Last week, we asked you to keep out of the shadows in the dangerous world of A Plague Tale: Innocence. While avoiding plague-infesting supernatural rats, you shared Amicia and Hugo’s best moments using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights: 

RyoppyGamePhoto shares Amicia carrying Hugo as he grows weak.

DKANG0316 shares Hugo’s connection to the rats growing.

justinphotomode shares a lovely portrait of Amicia.

ISAchan_97 got up close and personal with the rats.

kuanpunchman stays in the light.

crisg_art shares an emotional shot of Hugo.

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: Bosses

SUBMIT BY: Wednesday 9 AM PT on August 4

Next week, we’re facing our toughest enemies. Share epic moments confronting bosses from your favorite games using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Mobius Games is very excited to finally talk about our first (and only) expansion to Outer Wilds! Echoes of the Eye adds a mysterious new location to the solar system, packed with secrets to uncover. We designed the expansion as if it was always lurking within the world of Outer Wilds but hadn’t been discovered yet. When Echoes of the Eye launches, check out the new museum exhibit on Timber Hearth which marks the trailhead for one last journey into the deepest, darkest part of the solar system.

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You might be wondering why we chose to add content when Outer Wilds is already a complete experience. As a relatively small and un-established studio we needed a project to immediately follow Outer Wilds that wasn’t too big or crazy, while still allowing us to grow as developers and hopefully deliver something that would appeal to fans of Outer Wilds. Internally we had been tossing around various, more conventional, ideas for Outer Wilds DLC. Ultimately we realized that we wouldn’t be comfortable expanding on the existing game unless it gave players something new and substantial to explore while also adding something meaningful to the narrative. While Echoes of the Eye doesn’t match the breadth of the base game by itself, it does have more depth than any existing location in the solar system. Our playtesters have been pleasantly surprised by how deep the rabbit hole goes! 

As you might guess, adding something substantial to the existing game was a rabbit hole of its own. Making Outer Wilds content is an involved process, and it wasn’t long before the DLC became an expansion. Because it needed to work equally well for both new and returning players, the structure of Echoes of the Eye wound up resembling a microcosm of the original game as a whole. That being said, don’t expect Echoes of the Eye to be the base game in miniature. We took some risks with the method of storytelling and added plenty of new mechanics. Outer Wilds has always had light horror elements to it, but this expansion really leans into the spooky side of things (don’t worry, we’ve added a “reduced frights” option to the menu if you find it too intense!)

As with Outer Wilds, Echoes of the Eye will play best the less you know about it, so we’re trying to avoid spoili

Hello, everyone! After a long period of intense work with the team, we are delighted to finally be able to show more about our game Stray with this just-released gameplay trailer. But we wanted to add a bit more context to what you’ve hopefully just enjoyed.

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At its core, Stray is an adventure game. It tells the story of a cat who accidentally falls into a weird, mysterious city and his journey to return to his family. Exploration is a key element and as we love to add lots of details to our environments, we hope players will enjoy looking for all the little bits of hidden lore that we’ve added across each level.

There’s quite a lot to find and learn about this forgotten city and the surprising characters who live in it! Not everything will be explained clearly, so it will be up to the most attentive and insightful players to figure out what exactly this place is, who these inhabitants and creatures are, and the story and purpose of this beguiling world in which we are immersed.

The cat is definitely the star of the show in the game though, and it was important for us to show a glimpse of all the playful interactions that he can have with his environment. Some of them are useful and will help solve puzzles as you progress, and some are just here because cats will be cats — and as most cat owners know painfully well, no sofa can be left unscratched.

The unique perspective of playing as a cat also creates interesting opportunities in terms of level design. Some of the usual tropes of videogames can be twisted in funny and interesting ways: a grid blocking the way for humans? Not for a cat! A decorative rain pipe spiraling along a building? Perfect platforming sequence for a feline!

A Memoir Blue is an atmospheric journey featuring a champion swimmer named Miriam who, on the day of her greatest achievement, begins to reflect on long forgotten memories.

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The story of the game is based on a childhood journey I took with my mom. My recollection as a child was that we had taken a wonderful day trip to the neighboring seaside city, but when I became older I realized my mother had taken me with her as she ran away from home.

Although the game was built around this personal story, it quickly expanded into a larger scale world that players could explore in greater detail. True events are still at the core of the game with some creative additions to help our players understand what Miriam is feeling as she progresses along her journey.

Some of the scenes depicted are taken directly from my memories as a six year old. One of the things I remember vividly was the train my mom and I took during the beginning of our trip. 

We also visited a scenic lake where my mom rented a boat for just the two of us to enjoy the views as the breeze swept through our hair.

Eventually, after our fateful day trip, we moved into a small apartment that was so small we could only fit a single reading chair in it. But as a child I had fond memories of that place and was happy to call it home.

Sadness

Sadness is expressed with a blue aura that is fluid and consuming. Inside a sadness nova, the world takes on a gray-blue pallor. It may seem as if a rain cloud has blocked out the sun. Everything looks and sounds heavier, darker, duller. You can witness this first-hand as Alex watches Steph as she mourns Gabe’s death.

Fear

Fear is expressed with a purple aura that jumps and spikes, like an EKG monitor. Inside a fear nova, the world is all jagged lines and dark shadows. The player can hear her heartbeat in her ears. There are jump scares around every corner. As she looks down into a dark abyss, she may even see monsters staring back at her. Alex first gets a glimpse of this fear in Haven Springs as Mac is overwhelmed about the situation behind Gabe’s death while at his wake.

Anger

Anger is expressed with a violent red that flickers like a flame. Inside an anger nova, the world is intense and hot. Lights and sounds are amped up, movements are sharp and staggered. The player can hear short, shallow breaths. The world seems to pulse with adrenaline and clench like a fist. This Anger washes over Alex during her witnessing Steph having a tense