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Hey, everybody! Sid, Tim, and Brett are back this week to discuss the release of Borderlands 4, indie hit Hollow Knight: Silksong, and 30 years of PlayStation memories.

Stuff We Talked About

• Next week’s releases:
  • Borderlands 4 | PS5 (out today)
  • LEGO Voyagers | PS5, PS4
  • Frostpunk 2 | PS5
  • Towa and the Guardians of the Sacred Tree | PS5
  • Dying Light: The Beast | PS5
  • Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter | PS5
• Digimon Story: Time Stranger hands-on — New details revealed on the combat system and tropical Abyss Area.
• Hollow Knight: Silksong hands-on — Discover what’s new in the anticipated sequel, like mid-air healing, mantling on ledges, more challenging encounters, and more.
• Announcing PlayStation 30th Memories — We’re celebrating PlayStation history and you’re invited to be a part of it by sharing your memories. Head to PS blog for more details
• PlayStation Family App — This new mobile app gives parents more tools to guide their family’s PlayStation experience.

The Cast

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This month, step into the ring and dominate the squared circle in WWE 2K25, lead the Phantom Thieves in a new turn-based strategy adventure in Persona 5 Tactica, survive the unforgiving wilderness of the Amazonian jungle in Green Hell, or partake in a Holy Grail War set in Edo Japan in Fate/Samurai Remnant.

Meanwhile, Legacy of Kain: Defiance brings vampiric action-adventure to PlayStation Plus Deluxe.  

PlayStation Plus Extra and Deluxe | Game Catalog 

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WWE 2K25 | PS5, PS4 

“The Wiseman” Paul Heyman hosts The Bloodline’s Dynasty, a new 2K

At Sony Interactive Entertainment, we’re committed to providing safe play for gamers of all ages, including enhancing ways for parents to manage their children’s gaming experience. This includes the current parental control features available on the PS5 and PS4 console, such as playtime settings and age restriction settings for games. Today, we’re pleased to announce our next step in this commitment with PlayStation Family, a new dedicated parental control mobile app available on iOS and Android devices*. PlayStation Family app will be launching around the world starting today.

PlayStation Family app is a new experience to help parents set up and manage their children’s gaming experience on PlayStation – straight from their supported mobile device. The app includes a number of new customizable features for parents to manage their children’s playtime, including an activity report, more visibility into what their children are playing, and approving extra playtime requests  –  all at the tap of a finger. 

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This month, step into the ring and dominate the squared circle in WWE 2K25, lead the Phantom Thieves in a new turn-based strategy adventure in Persona 5 Tactica, survive the unforgiving wilderness of the Amazonian jungle in Green Hell, or partake in a Holy Grail War set in Edo Japan in Fate/Samurai Remnant. All these titles and more will be available Tuesday, September 16 in this month’s PlayStation Plus Game Catalog lineup*.

Meanwhile, Legacy of Kain: Defiance brings vampiric action-adventure to PlayStation Plus Premium.  

PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium | Game Catalog 

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There’s a very specific moment in Little Nightmares III that encapsulates the game so perfectly that it sticks with me long after I’ve finished my hands-on. Bandai Namco’s demo, ahead of the game’s PS5 and PS4 release on October 10, knew exactly what it was doing.

Picture the scene: I’ve assumed the pigtailed Alone, partner to the raven-masked Low, who is controlled by Bandai Namco’s Global Project Manager Lina Chaghouri. About 40 minutes in, we’re trapped in a shadow-soaked room containing an eerily unmoving man lying in a magician’s box – the type that typically has the magician sawn in half but still miraculously remains whole at the end of the performance. Our only way out? Via an exit too high to reach.

After a minute, I realise that the body’s exposed feet act as a handle. Grim. So I guide Alone over to it and pull. With Lina’s help, the box eventually splits into two, but so does the man. His entrails messily leak out as we guide the box to the end of the room so we can escape. It’s macabre, darkly humorous, and demonstrates the essential co-operation that makes Little Nightmares III so wonderfully compelling.

Expanding from Little Nightmares II

It also happens to be a favourite moment of Coralie Feniello, Bandai Namco’s Global Producer on the game. “In concept, it’s quite simple – pulling, pushing, picking up stuff are all tactile actions that make you feel like a child in that world. And this one is just pulling two boxes, but the setup and the setting of the place makes it memorable. I love having the player do something which is kind of immoral, but it’s the only way for them to get out of a situation.”

Fans of the popular horror puzzle platformer series will find these sorts of gruesome scenarios familiar. But what separates Little Nightmares III – thankfully without the entrails – from its siblings is the game’s focus on co-op play. While Little Nightmares II eventually allowed you to journey with an AI companion, its sequel not only has this feature from the start but also lets a second player control either Low or Alone, as a fully-fledged two-player game.

“We learned things from Little Nightmares II and did a lot of playtests,” reveals Coralie. “We basically had to design the game three times, including adding things like cute flavour animations that are specific to single player. We started by designing the multiplayer first, because we wanted to make sure that the AI would behave like a human player. And through every playtest we’ve done, we’ve been checking the player’s enjoyment.”

Balancing horror with a friend

Chances are, another frightening thought might now be creeping into your head – does the addition of human co-op diminish the scares? “Maintaining horror during co-op can be complicated and was something we thought about a lot at the beginning of development,” says Coralie. “Supermassive Games has been doing multiplayer on the Dark Pictures Anthology for years now, and so it was good for us to work with them on that aspect.

“From early playtests, we found that it was fine, and actually created a different type of atmosphere. Sometimes you’ll have players who will get scared because the other player is scared, out of empathy. You’ll also share laughs and experience a wider range of emotions, but I don’t think it’s breaking the scariness.”

Hello! I’m Blake from the Ironwood Studios team and we’re proud to introduce Whispers in the Woods, a major narrative and gameplay expansion to Pacific Drive.

When Pacific Drive first launched in February 2024, players joined their trusty station wagon to brave the haunting, anomaly-filled Olympic Exclusion Zone. The game’s unique blend of driving, tense exploration, and scrappy car maintenance quickly resonated with fans of car and survival games alike. Now, we are excited to bring players back to the driver’s seat and back to the Zone in Whispers in the Woods, coming later this year for Playstation 5.

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With Destiny 2: The Edge of Fate, the Destiny development team launched a new saga for Guardians everywhere. In the expansion, players explore the planetoid of Kepler, located on the edge of the Sol system, offering intrigue, adventure, and access to strange powers that Guardians used to solve puzzles, defeat enemies, and progress deeper into the location’s mysteries. 

Today, the next chapter in the story is unveiled with the Ash & Iron major update. Ash & Iron will feature, among other rewards and activities, a new Exotic Mission (coming in October) and a new three-player activity known as Reclaim. A fast-paced and constantly evolving Fireteam Ops activity, Reclaim will find Guardians searching for Golden Age tech in the Plaguelands, which just so happens to be the foothold for antagonist Maya Sundaresh. 

“The Vanguard is sending Guardians in on what feels like a form of guerrilla warfare — short, sharp strikes to reclaim territory and recover Golden Age assets before they can be turned against us,” said Destiny 2 design lead Clayton Kisko. “The Vex are the primary force holding these zones, but they’re not alone. Reclaim is all about methodically dismantling Maya’s presence, uncovering what her motivation is for pursuing the Golden Age technology, and reestablishing control in an area that’s been contested for too long.”

What will be standing in Guardians’ way is more than just those pesky Vex. One of the pillars for Reclaim was variety and dynamic challenge. “No two runs should feel exactly alike,” said Destiny 2 creative director Ben Wommack. “One run might ask you to defend a point under waves of enemies, while the next could push you to unlock a Vex code password. Enemy lineups shift between the different versions of Reclaim, and enemy compositions shift between runs. You may face off against Vex forces in one activity and a different enemy faction the next. Bosses are randomized, and between activities, each comes with its own set of mechanics that evolve in higher difficulties.”

The strategic elements that result from those dynamic challenges give Reclaim its replayability, offering players multiple ways to complete an encounter. “You might uncover hidden chests tucked away in the environment, track down and eliminate roaming high-value targets, or choose from any of the available encounters scattered around the space — each with their own mechanics and enemy compositions,” said Destiny senior design lead Jason Reynolds. “You’ll also find research objects that can be gathered and turned over to the Vanguard to advance the mission. The ‘problem’ isn’t just about surviving the fight in front of you, it’s about deciding how you want to move the progress meter forward. Do you split up to cover more ground and gather efficiently, or stick together and muscle through one encounter at a time?”

That Golden Age tech that you’re hunting for in Reclaim is more than just a sci-fi MacGuffin, too. Uncovering Golden Age devices will offer a chance at buffs that will change a fireteam’s approach to an encoun

While the world was officially introduced to PlayStation back in 1994, this month heralds another special occasion in PlayStation history worth celebrating. September 2025 marks 30 years since PlayStation launched in North America and Europe, bringing players together across the world with the gift of gaming. 

To keep our 30th anniversary celebration going, we want to see and hear your stories with PlayStation over the last three decades. To do that, through the month of September we’re inviting players to share the memories of your journey with PlayStation. Here’s how:

How to Participate

Starting today through September 23, 2025, players can share pictures or videos of their memories with PlayStation – unboxing a console from the original PlayStation to PS5, receiving one as a gift, holding a favorite controller or PlayStation exclusive title – on X or Instagram using the hashtag #PlayStation30Memories*. Make sure to tell us your name, where you’re from, and the story behind your memory. 

At the end of that submission window, we’ll select memories to be included in a 30th Anniversary highlight reel to commemorate our journey together and share on our blog and social channels.

We can’t wait to go on this trip down memory lane with you, and to continue making new ones. 

*By posting a photo or video with the #PlayStation30Memories hashtag to X or Instagram between now and September 23, 2025 you are agreeing that Sony Interactive Entertainment LLC may use the content (including your social media username, name, and location) as described in your post, edit and display it alongside other content and to promote it as part of the PlayStation 30th Anniversary campaign. Posts should comply with the X and Instagram terms of service (as applicable). This promotion is not associated with or sponsored, endorsed, or administered by X or Instagram. 

It’s been a really long wait, but Hollow Knight: Silksong, Team Cherry’s sequel to the beloved side-scrolling search-action game Hollow Knight is finally here. The game introduces a whole lot of changes and additions to what made Hollow Knight great, expanding on both the formula of a classic and some key elements of the side-scrolling exploration-action genre in general.

Here’s a semi-spoilery look at what I’ve seen in Pharloom so far — we won’t talk about the story or any major developments, but if you want to discover all the new mechanics and touches yourself, dig into the game before reading on.

Spoiler warning: If you’d like to avoid light spoilers for Hollow Knight and Hollow Knight: Silksong, do not continue.

Silksong makes healing a whole new tactical decision

Hollow Knight’s healing system is one of its essential features, setting the pace of combat and creating an intense risk-reward calculus within every fight. As long as you’ve got enough Soul stored up from hitting enemies, you can hold Circle to heal a single point of health at any time — but you need to stand still for about three seconds to do it. 

Silksong gives you a faster, more versatile heal. You still charge it by hitting enemies — gathering Silk rather than Soul — but hitting Circle once activates Bind, a healing move you can use anywhere, even in mid-air. Instead of getting one point of health back, you get three, but you can only heal when your Silk is full and healing always costs all your Silk. And like in Hollow Knight, Silk powers some of your strongest abilities.

Those adjustments to healing completely change the calculus of when and where to heal, setting a faster tempo for combat in Silksong that’s just as tactical.

Enemies are smarter and more defensive

You’ll often find your opponents feinting, backstepping, and guarding against your attacks and trying to counter. Many opponents are aggressive, but also defensively minded,

It’s been a hot minute since the last Digimon game graced our screens, but the wait is nearly over – Digimon Story Time Stranger will be advancing the series in fresh ways when it hits PS5 on October 3. I was lucky enough to spend some time with the monster-taming RPG to find out what evolutions await.

An intriguing story, set within stunning sights

My introduction to this new era of Digimon was bookended by two separate story beats. The first was the opening of the game, where I chose Dan Yuki (and then later Kanan Yuki, but my choice didn’t affect the story) of ADAMAS, a secret organisation charged with investigating and fixing anomalous phenomena. And it just so happens there’s one in Shinjuku.

A trek across my starting point in Tokyo led to an encounter with some Digimon within a perilous underground section, a broken and abandoned office space, and eventually a fraught battle on top of a skyscraper.

While this created a good foundation for the game, the second story section was a comparative explosion of colourful fantasy, letting me explore the Digital World’s Abyss Area. Sure, Tokyo has its charms, but the Abyss Area’s beautiful and unapologetic depiction of the Digimon culture ranks as one of the most impressive sights in the series to date. Between the clear pools, shimmering rock formations, and a group of Digimon revering MarineAngemon singing and dancing, it was an unforgettable set-up that truly showed off the glossy, anime-style visuals.  

It has a mature side

The Digimon series is no stranger to deep themes and topics, so fans will be happy to hear that even this curated playtest showed signs that Time Stranger isn’t going to shy away from big questions. Between the two story sections, there were already clear indications that there’s an exploration of interspecies war between the Digimon and Titans, the pressure of societal expectations, and even the navigation of mental health when I was visiting Shellmon and trying to discover why they haven’t left their home.

There are still plenty of light-hearted laughs

Even when the stakes are high, Digimon Story Time Stranger doesn’t forget its Saturday morning cartoon influences, either. Any brooding is balanced by its desire to have fun and deliver a lightness of touch, whether it’s through the idle animations of your party members, its joyful voice acting, humorous dialogue choices when talking to NPCs, or the ability to collect a variety of incidental cards and costumes.

Not to mention that, yes, you can ride some of the Digimon in your team via the DigiRide option. Does it make traversing the environment any quicker? Only in some cases. But is it fun to see your agent hop on Leomon’s shoulder as you romp through a kaleidoscopic land of wonder? Oh yes.

Starting out with familiar RPG elements

Digimon Story Time Stranger’s tried and tested battle system has plenty of familiarities to get you started. My first encounter with the cute