Remastering Fatal Frame: Maiden of Black Water and Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse was just the beginning. When Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja began crafting a full remake of the survival horror classic Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly, the mission was clear: keep what made the PlayStation 2 original so popular, while elevating it for a modern audience.

Directors Hidehiko Nakajima (action gameplay) and Makoto Shibata (story) took us through their journey of reconstructing Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly’s haunting atmosphere, its new features, and some of the challenges they faced ahead of the game’s March 12 launch on PlayStation 5.

What elements of the original game do you feel made it such a fan favorite?

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Shibata: I think it was because it evolved what was introduced in the first Fatal Frame game while placing greater emphasis on the story. By creating an experience that was frightening yet compelling enough to make players want to see what comes next, I felt that many players were able to enjoy its beautiful yet terrifying world through to the end.

In what ways did the power of the PS2 contribute toward the original Fatal Frame 2 design and visuals?

Shibata: We took advantage of the hardware’s specs and rendering capabilities to help depict spirits as semi-transparent and distorted. In addition, being able to apply screen-wide filters — adjusting noise, contrast, and color tones — at a low processing cost was extremely useful for creating visuals reminiscent of old film stock.

What were the essentials of the original that you needed to retain in this remake?

Shibata: Our main focus was the protagonist’s actions and Camera Obscura combat. Since the world and story are maintained, we focused on how players interact with that world.

From a visual standpoint, atmosphere is key. By carefully adjusting lighting, shadows, fog, and effects, we create a humid, unsettling environment where it feels as though spirits could appear at any moment. Exploring within that atmosphere is central to the series. And of course, the background music, filled with sounds that are barely audible or ambiguous, is also a crucial element.

Hi Pilots, We’re Turtle Juice, a small indie studio based in the interior of Brazil. Being far from the industry hubs has its challenges, but it’s also our advantage; it drives us to innovate, work harder, and prove that great games can come from anywhere. As a tight-knit team of 23 developers we believe we’ve managed to achieve that with our newest game – Mechborn.

Mechborn is a roguelike deckbuilder inspired by classic ’90s mech anime and Greek mythology. Earth and its colonies are under siege by Kaiju, and humanity’s last hope lies with the Mechborn: elite pilots capable of surviving Mech-Synchronization. But there’s more to Mechborn than just the pilots and mech you take into battle. I want to briefly showcase the systems and mechanics that define every run, every decision and every moment of tension you’ll face each run.

Your Mech is your deck

The core idea behind Mechborn is simple: your mech is your deck. Every mech is built from four parts: Head, Torso, Arms, and Legs. With each part adding cards to your starting deck.

This means deckbuilding begins before your first battle. Swapping out a part doesn’t just change stats, it fundamentally changes how your deck plays. On top of that, each mech comes in three distinct models: Original, Spartan, and Olympian – each with its own mechanical identity. Maybe you lean into mobility, heavy offense or focus on equipping a full matching set to gain a powerful HP bonus – the decision is up to you.

A new way to play cards: the conveyor belt

One of the biggest departures from traditional deckbuilders is our Conveyor Belt combat system.

What happened to humanity’s lost interstellar expedition, and why are the UESC trying to keep Runners out? You can start unraveling the mysteries of Tau Ceti IV when Marathon releases on March 6.

Marathon is the upcoming PvPvE survival extraction FPS from the creators of Halo and Destiny. Play as a bio-cybernetic Runner and team up in crews of three or run solo as you take on hostile security forces, rival Runners, and unpredictable environments. Scavenge derelict facilities and rugged landscapes for valuables, weapons, and information about what happened to the lost colony lightyears from Earth.*

Explore the secrets of Tau Ceti in the new gameplay trailer

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What happened to humanity’s lost interstellar expedition, and why are the UESC trying to keep Runners out? You can start unraveling the mysteries of Tau Ceti IV when Marathon releases on March 5.

Marathon is the upcoming PvPvE survival extraction FPS from the creators of Halo and Destiny. Play as a bio-cybernetic Runner and team up in crews of three or run solo as you take on hostile security forces, rival Runners, and unpredictable environments. Scavenge derelict facilities and rugged landscapes for valuables, weapons, and information about what happened to the lost colony lightyears from Earth.*

Explore the secrets of Tau Ceti in the new gameplay trailer

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Last week, we asked you to enter the frame of Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and share epic moments using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

toko_luke95 shares Maelle stance following a flurried attack

sorathluna shares Lune wielding a red elemental stain, ready to attack

rorottino shares Verso and Maelle playing on the piano, with the Paintress in the distance

PhotoModeColin shares Sciel prepping a moon-charged card in combat

gh_holy_mash shares Esquie floating through the map – whoo and also whee! 

CapturesKh shares Renoir framed by the Paintress’ glow

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: Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – Portraits
SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on January 21, 2026 

Next week, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 stays in frame. Share portraits of your favorite characters using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.

Hi everyone, I’m Light Zhong, co-founder and director at Hypergraph. With Arknights: Endfield launching on January 22 on PS5, today we’re excited to share more gameplay details on the game.

Over the past few years, our team has been working to create a new kind of experience set in the Arknights universe, one that blends real-time squad combat, exploration, and large-scale industrial systems into a single, interconnected adventure, where every decision you make helps shape humanity’s next frontier.

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Discovering a new game to get lost in for hours can be a phenomenal experience. But sometimes, you need a quick hit — a game you can pick up and play just for a bit and still have a great time. The PlayStation Plus Catalog and Classics Catalog are filled with games that fit that description exactly, offering experiences that you can dip into for a few minutes and have a blast. PlayStation Portal owners, these are great picks for you to cozy up with.

Below, we’ve compiled a list of 9 excellent quick-hit games from the PS Plus Catalog — although they can definitely keep you engrossed for a lot longer. Next time you’ve got a couple of minutes to spare, fire up one of these.

Blue Prince | 2025 | PlayStation Plus Game Catalog

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Set to launch on February 12, 2026, Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 bundles two titles into one: Yakuza Kiwami 3, a remake of the original Yakuza 3 released in 2009, and the all-new Dark Ties, which stars Yoshitaka Mine, Kiryu’s adversary.

I recently had the opportunity to go hands-on with the game at a press event, which covered various sections from both the remaster Yakuza Kiwami 3 and the all-new Dark Ties, a brand-new tale featuring Yoshitaka Mine from Yakuza 3. Read on for my initial thoughts and impressions. 

At the same event, Sega announced a playable demo will be available for the title, more news of which will be shared in the future. 

Yakuza Kiwami 3 hands-on

Yakuza Kiwami 3 follows Kazuma Kiryu as he settles in Okinawa to run the Morning Glory Orphanage, only to find himself entangled in a web of sinister conspiracy.

In the demo, I was embroiled in Kiryu’s clash with the Ryudo Family, an Okinawan yakuza syndicate scheming to seize the Morning Glory Orphanage’s land, where I faced off against the Ryudo patriarch Shigeru Nakahara and family captain Rikiya Shimabukuro.

A standout moment showed Rikiya — initially hostile towards Kiryu — shifting his perspective after watching him bravely risk everything alone to save the head of the local shopping district. This entirely new scene, missing from the original Yakuza 3, masterfully captures Rikiya’s growing respect for Kiryu through nuanced facial expressions.

Master weapons and enjoy the thrill of “Ryukyu Style” combat

City streets spark spontaneous fights where Kiryu can switch fluidly between his Dragon of Dojima: Kiwami Style and Ryukyu Style.

Ryukyu Style maps weapons to different buttons for easy, diverse attacks. Weapons switch automatically based on the button pressed, so even simple button mashing feels satisfying.

Players can expect a variety of Heat Actions, as well as the Dragon Boost, which activates by maxing out Kiryu’s gauge. The Dragon Finisher delivers a final devastating blow, complete with a backdrop of a roaring dragon.

Life at Morning Glory: deepening ties with the children

Life at Morning Glory is a side-adventure where Kiryu nurtures bonds with children at the orphanage through cooking, sewing, helping with homework, and heartfelt chats. Kiryu’s “Daddy Rank” increases as trust grows, reflecting his growth as a father figure. Earning enough trust unlocks each child’s unique Family Time Event.

I became quite emotionally invested while I was playing, especially when thinking it was all for the children. The interactions perfectly echo Kiryu’s challenges as a novice parent striving to do his best, and transform minigames from mundane tasks into heartfelt moments of caring for the ki

Hello, fellow bikers, this is Paolo Bertoni, Game Director of Ride 6. As we rev things up ahead of the game’s release on PS5, planned for February 12, 2026, I’d like to take you behind the scenes to explore the brand-new career mode we’ve been crafting, and share how it brings our vision to life.

The goal of a project like Ride is to immerse virtual riders in the same thrills that every real biker seeks when they open the garage door and hop on their bike. So we asked ourselves: what fuels that passion? It wasn’t hard to figure out, considering that for much of our team, motorcycles aren’t just a job, they’re a way of life. Over the years, the Ride franchise has built a huge roster of bikes and tracks to give players as many choices as possible. With Ride 6, we wanted to go further. We wanted to capture the very essence of being a biker, an experience we called Ride Fest.

Ride Fest is much more than a career; it’s a motorcycle festival that plunges players into the love of riding, freedom, and the sense of camaraderie that defines the biker spirit. It replaces the traditional championship format with a more open approach, offering a horizontal progression system based on chapters. You will get to choose which events to tackle, from single races and endurance challenges to championships and time attacks, all organized into themed areas based on criteria such as bike category, manufacturer, circuit type, weather conditions, or legendary champions.

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Before we say goodbye to 2025, let’s take a look back and see what were the most downloaded games of the year. It was a great time for sports, shooters, and some new PlayStation VR2 games. Sports favorites topped the charts in US/Canada and EU, with NBA 2K26 and EA Sports FC26, respectively. Juggernaut GTA V found a home in the top three for both regions, with new 2025 release Battlefield 6 claiming second place in the US. Fortnite took top place for free-to-play games, and Beat Saber continues its PS VR2 success.

Check out the full listings below.

PS5 Games

*Naming of products may differ between regions
*Upgrades not included

PS4 Games