This Week’s ‘Playstation Essentials’ Sale is Pretty Great

Although I grew up in the NES generation and have plenty of fond memories from the 8- and 16-bit eras, I spent most of my time gaming in my mid-to-late teens on the original Playstation. Games like Metal Gear Solid, Final Fantasy VII, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, and Resident Evil connected with me at such an impressionable age, and this week Sony is discounting a laundry list of these Playstation essentials across the PS3, PS4, and Vita consoles.

And hot damn, is it a doozy.

All discounts are listed with the PSN Plus subscriber price in USD. If you’re not a PSN Plus subscriber, fear not; just expect to pay a little more.

Notable discounts on PS4 include:

• Dragon Age: Inquisition – Deluxe Edition – $14

The Deluxe Edition includes a neat batch of extras, like a bog unicorn mount (essentially a dead horse with a sword pierced through its face, acting as the magical “horn”), a throne fashioned out of a giant dragon skull, and a digital copy of the game’s phenomenal soundtrack. If you haven’t played through Dragon Age: Inquisition yet, and you’re actually in to these types of games, I highly recommend it. It’s a pretty stellar open-world RPG with plenty of character customization, both in terms of physical appearance and standard battle class types with differing play styles.

Don’t have a PS4? The PS3 version is also on sale for $10.00.

• inFAMOUS: Second Son – $9.99

After wading through a sea of disappointing launch titles, Second Son was the first PS4 game to really hold my attention. It plays great, with new “hero” Delsin acting as a power sponge–absorbing the super powers of his enemies, rather than Cole’s sole affinity for electricity. This interesting mechanic allows you to play around with a series of awesome abilities, like absorbing neon signs to dash across the modern day landscape of Seattle, or using smoke to hurl fireballs. I enjoyed the game’s take on good and evil, and your actions not only alter the story, but Delsin’s abilities as well. It was one hell of a game at $60, and a complete steal at $9.99.

The game’s stand-alone DLC First Light takes place prior to the events of Second Son, and highlights one of the more interesting characters–the neon hurling Fetch. First Light is also on sale for $7.49 this week.

• Metro Redux – $9.00

If you enjoy horror games, first-person shooters, or (hopefully) both, $9 nets you remasters of the criminally underrated Metro 2033 and Metro: Last Light. The environments are haunting, the story is fairly interesting, and you could definitely do worse for the asking price.

• Saints Row IV: Re-Elected + Gat Out of Hell – $9.00

When aliens arrive to screw up your presidential term, it’s time to beat things with giant dildos and chew bubblegum.. and you’re all out of bubblegum. Actually, there’s an entire segment referencing They Live, which is even MORE of a reason for you to play this game. Saints Row IV already offered an absurd amount of content, but when you tack on all of the DLC missions and an entire stand-alone expansion, you’re looking at a pretty fucked up way to spend a couple of weeks.

The Playstation 3’s momentum is finally winding down, but there’s plenty to pick from this week.

• Mass Effect Trilogy – $9.00

The Mass Effect trilogy may very well be my favorite games of the modern era. I’ve poured countless hours in to befriending unlikely allies, romancing aliens, and doing my damnedest to save Earth from total annihilation; and I’m sure I’ll play through them again before Andromeda hits later this year. If you’ve yet to experience this iconic space opera, now is a great time to start.

• Demon’s Souls – $8.00

Before Bloodborne and Dark Souls, there was Demon’s Souls… and boy was it unforgiving. Chances are that if you’re a fan of the Souls games, you’ve already played this one, but if your first foray in to From Software’s punishing RPG design was Bloodborne, maybe it’s time to give yourself a history lesson.

• Devil May Cry HD Collection – $6.00

Devil May Cry pioneered an entire genre of stylish hack-n-slash games, which was almost immediately tainted by the release of its less-than-stellar sequel. However, third time’s a charm, right? Devil May Cry 3 still stands among the best in the genre, and $6 for 2 great games and 1 steaming pile of pickled dog crap isn’t necessarily a bad deal.

In my opinion, Vita owners have the best selection of discounts this week–especially if you’re in to playing PSone Classics on the go.

• Danganronpa: Trigger Happy Havoc ($16) & Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair ($14)

Part Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney, part Battle Royale or Lord of the Flies, Danganronpa is truly one of the most bizarre games I’ve ever played. In short, a group of overly talented students are trapped in a school that’s designed to prevent them from leaving. Your new sadistic and violent headmaster, a monochromatic teddy bear named Monokuma, gives you an ultimatum: live out the rest of your lives on campus, never seeing your family or friends again, or kill one of your fellow students and get away with murder. As the kids start dropping off, you’ll investigate the school’s grounds, build relationships, collect toys, and take part in a series of intense court trial mini-games in order to oust the killer and foil their attempt at freedom.

• Persona 4 Golden – $9.00

Persona 4 is one of the single greatest RPGs of all time, and Golden somehow makes it better. If you own a Vita, but not Persona 4 Golden, it’s time to go ahead and fix that.

• Freedom Wars – $6.00

If you somehow missed Freedom Wars while it was free to PSN Plus subscribers during the month of December, $6.00 is a great price to dive in. It’s a bit like Monster Hunter, but set in a weird sci-fi world reminiscent of Shin Megami Tensei III: Nocturne. As a sinner, you’ll undertake a series of quests with your customized hero in order to reduce your jail sentence. Sounds uninteresting, but it works. The gameplay is engaging, addictive, and it’s just a great way to spend time on the go.

It’s worth noting that PSone Classics work on the PS3 as well, but I personally prefer to play them on my Vita instead. If you’d like to relive the O.G. Playstation’s glory days, a little over a dollar or two can net you some pretty great games, like Final Fantasy VII, Parasite Eve, Xenogears, Final Fantasy Tactics, Wild Arms, Suikoden, Dino Crisis, Tomba!, Castlevania: Symphony of the Night, Chrono Trigger (albeit the absolute worst port available), Chrono Cross, and Breath of Fire IV. I have most of that in my cart right now for under $15, which feels like robbery.

For a full list of discounts, click this fine bit of text right here. There’s plenty more to choose from than what I listed above.

Picking anything up?