Summary
A new month means a new selection ofPS Plusgames. While thePS Plus Extra and Premium games for April 2024remain to be seen, fans know what the Essential tier will add on April 2. These areImmortals of Aveum, Minecraft Legends, andSkul: The Hero Slayer.
Of course, some fans may be curious about how these games play and what kind of games they are.PS Plusadds a lot of great games, but obviously, not everything is for everyone. The good news is thePS Plus free games for April 2024cast a wide net, with a good variety of games appealing to FPS, strategy, and roguelite/platformer fans.
PS Plus: Immortals of Aveum
Immortals of Aveumis a first-person shooter with a twist; players utilizemagical spells by using Sigilsinstead of the standard array of weaponry, alongside special abilities like shields or a magical whip (Think Scorpion inMortal Kombat). It is heavily inspired by the classic titleHexen, and that’s evident across all of its gameplay. It’s worth any FPS fans' time and attention, especially on PS Plus, but they shouldn’t expect anything revolutionary - just a simple, fun campaign.
While sales ofImmortals of Aveumhaven’t been great, its addition to PS Plus could breathe new life into it!
Story-wise, players take on the role of Jak as he is dragged into the Everwar, where humanity fights over control of magic and leylines within the world. Jak is a special Triarch, someone capable of wielding all colors of magic, and plays a significant role in turning the tide in Lucium’s favor against the tyrannical Rasharnians. There are plenty of supporting characters, but it’s very much a scenario where you love or hate the characters; there’s little in between. Whilesales ofImmortals of Aveumhaven’t been great, its addition to PS Plus could breathe new life into it, as it is a perfect example of a game someone might play if not buy outright.
PS Plus: Minecraft Legends
WhereImmortals of Aveumis serious regarding story and gameplay,Minecraft Legendstakes a more laid-back approach (if ironically, with more strategic gameplay elements). Players seek to defendMinecraft’s Overworld from an invasion by piglins, where players must unlock new abilities, constructs, and more to defend villages,take out Piglin outposts, and gather allies. In the end, they’ll face the dreaded Great Hog. It launched with a single-player story, monthly events called Lost Legends, and co-op and competitive multiplayer support.
Minecraft Legends has all the resource-gathering and building the franchise is known for, some fun strategy elements, and relaxing gameplay.
In the game, players collect classicMinecraftresourcessuch as Wood and Stone, as well as more advanced resources like Redstone, to construct defenses and buildings and summon mobs and allay to face off with the Piglins and their allies. As players progress throughout the game, they are able to find more and more of these as they wage war with the Piglins. Overall, it has all the resource-gathering and building the franchise is known for, some fun strategy elements, and relaxing gameplay.
PS Plus - Skul: The Hero Slayer
The third game checks off the indie selection forPS Plus with roguelite action platformer,Skul: The Hero Slayer. As its name suggests, the plotline is the opposite of most games, where players are essentially on the bad guy’s side. Story-wise, Skul is the survivor of a human attack on the Demon King’s Castle, one where the Imperial Army and Hero of Caeleon teamed up to capture all of them except Skul. Now, Skul must venture out to save his king from the realm’s humans.
There are a few roguelite elements to make Skul stand out a bit more than Hollow Knight and Rogue Legacy.
Anyone who has played a 2D action platformer can easily understand how Skul plays, which is not all that different fromgames likeHollow KnightandRogue Legacy. However, there are a few roguelite elements to make it stand out a bit more. Players will restart runs with every death, but each run is more exciting because of how customizable Skul is. Skul can gain new abilities based on which two skulls he’s wearing, so players must find combos that work for them and help tackle the challenges of each run.
The randomized element here means players have to get good with a wide swath of abilities and pair these with other gameplay elements, like items, to get as far as they can in each run. Indeed, this very premise makes it one of the most excitingroguelite games on PS Plus- when it’s added in April, anyway.
