Upcoming PS5 Exclusives We Can't Wait To Play In 2023

These days, Square Enix releases two kinds of titles: New entries in legacy franchises and everything else. Usually, another studio develops titles that fall into the "everything else" category, and Square only handles publishing duties, but "Forspoken" is one game that is an "everything else" game developed by the studio behind "Final Fantasy XV."

Admittedly, "Forspoken" can be divisive. Ever since the initial trailer, many viewers found faults within the aesthetics. Accusations of making the game "woke" were common, and many viewers felt the dialogue was bad. Given the divisive reception of "Final Fantasy XV," the fact that the same team developed both games didn't help. But now that content creators and the general public have their hands on demo builds, players are opening up to "Forspoken."

The general consensus is "Forspoken" is genuinely fun thanks to its sandbox approach to combat. Players can mix and match attacks within different magic schools, and given the game's open-world size and design, audiences will have plenty of room to experiment. Even if the story is sub-par (which seems unlikely since the writer wrote for "Rogue One"), the combat and traversal will keep players entertained. If nothing else, the recent "Forspoken" demo has demonstrated the game's promise.

The "Final Fantasy" series has lacked an important key feature for a while — fantasy. The "Final Fantasy" series has focused more on sci-fi than fantasy ever since "Final Fantasy VII," which is one reason to be are excited for "Final Fantasy XVI."

While a demo isn't yet available, trailers make it abundantly clear "Final Fantasy XVI" will return the series to its fantasy roots, but it will be a fantasy catered to older audiences. Each trailer demonstrates that the game world will be dark and gritty. Not "Dark Souls" dark, though; more like "The Witcher" or "Game of Thrones" dark, where war, political intrigue, and revenge are a daily part of life. Plus, the game will reportedly feature an "M for Mature" rating for stuff like drug use and torture (via Kotaku). That's certainly darker than any prior "Final Fantasy" games.

While some might balk at the idea of another action-based "Final Fantasy," the combat looks fast and satisfying. More importantly, the system designers appear to have taken the criticisms of "Final Fantasy XV" to heart. Of course, we won't know how much fights have improved until we've played a demo, but current impressions point towards a superior experience. Here's hoping "Final Fantasy XVI" pans out like that.

"Horizon Zero Dawn" gave Guerilla Games the success it deserved. Now, "Horizon" is a big-name franchise, complete with a sequel, board game, and an upcoming VR spinoff. Given the PlayStation's previous luck with VR titles, that final idea sounds like a winner.

Unlike other "Horizon" titles, "Horizon Call of the Mountain" will focus on a new protagonist, Ryas, and won't feature an open world, but much of the appeal will remain intact. The game's website boasts it will deliver the same living, breathing world of prior "Horizon" games, and trailers demonstrate a lot of combat will involve hunting giant robots and strategically dismantling them to gain an edge. If you thought fighting a Thunderjaw in "Horizon Forbidden West" was terrifying, wait until "Horizon Call of the Mountain" forces you to actually crane your neck up to get a feel for the monstrosity's true scale.

It might be too early to judge "Call of the Mountain" by its trailers, but the game might serve as the PlayStation VR2's killer app. In many ways, the game shares a lot of DNA with Valve's "Half-Life Alyx," from first-person VR combat to utilizing VR tech to deliver beautiful vistas. Here's hoping "Horizon Call of the Mountain" pushes quite a few PS VR2 sales.

During the 2021 PlayStation showcase, Sony introduced audiences to the Korean game "Project Eve." Fast forward one year to the 2022 September State of Play, and Sony has another trailer for the game, this time with the finalized title of "Stellar Blade." The game looks promising.

The trailers makes clear that "Stellar Blade" wears its inspiration on its sleeves. The action and soundtrack channel games like "NieR: Automata," as swordplay is fast and fluid, and music is the right mix of heart gripping and atmospheric. Plus, "Stellar Blade" will include its own combat-accentuating murder drone, which is always a plus.

Most gamers probably have never heard of the developers behind "Stellar Blade," Shift Up, but that's not surprising since the studio has mostly created mobile titles such as "Destiny Child" and "Goddess of Victory: Nikke." "Stellar Blade" is Shift Up's first non-mobile game, and if trailers are any indication, it could be the first of many console projects for the studio, possibly even the first of many PlayStation exclusives. Fingers crossed.

Video games are inspired by cultures and events from all over the world. Games based on Norse and Greek mythology are common to the point of being trite, but some games draw from more obscure locations and cultures.

"Tchia" is the second game developed by the indie studio Awaceb but is the company's first title for consoles like the PlayStation. The game puts its best foot forward with a colorful and appealing art style, and its world is heavily inspired by the little-known nation of New Caledonia — a French territory island a few hundred miles east of Australia.

While "Tchia" is visually appealing, the meat of its experience will sprout from its world. The game will be fully explorable and even feature a novel "Soul Jumping" mechanic that lets the protagonist, the titular Tchia, possess animals and objects. Sure, you can control seagulls and dogs, but what other game lets you possess an oil barrel or lamp? On that note, how many games take place in a semi-fictionalized version of New Caledonia? "Tchia" not only promises to give players a memorable, open-world experience, but it will also introduce many gamers to a beautiful land and culture.

Games don't necessarily need to be complicated in order to be fun. Titles such as "Inside" and "Little Nightmares" demonstrate that simplicity is just as if not more effective, especially when developers are aiming for a specific theme like horror.

"Bramble: The Mountain King" is the second title by Dimfrost Studio. Previously, the company developed the VR title "A Writer And His Daughter," which was supposed to be the first part of a trilogy, but instead of making a sequel, the studio instead started work on "Bramble." The game draws heavily from Nordic stories. One second the main protagonist is riding on the back of a giant hedgehog (or maybe the main character is tiny), the next he is running for his life from a waterlogged zombie violinist. And that's only a sample of how dark and grim the game will get.

Recently, Dimfrost released a demo for "Bramble," and the game hits many of the same notes as titles like "Inside." Levels and movement are kept simple with a minimum of button presses, and platforming and puzzles rely on timing. Moreover, sound design does a lot of heavy lifting for the atmosphere. Fans of deceptively moody and dark platformers will no doubt flock to "Bramble: The Mountain King" when it releases in 2023.

Survival games are as popular as they are common. Usually, they ask players to survive isolated islands, build shelters, and manage meters that govern the protagonist's hunger, thirst, and sleep levels. A solid formula to be sure, but so many games use these systems that players are often driven to survival titles that switch things up.

"Pacific Drive" is the first game developed by Ironwood Studios, and like many survival titles, it will force players to endure in an isolated area. But this time, gamers will have to maintain and upgrade a car in a wilderness filled with "anomalies." These will include pools of acid, freak electrical storms, and "instability fronts" (via the trailer). Moreover, the game's website states "Pacific Drive" will be "run-based," which means no two players will have the same experience. As the site puts it, the game is a "road-lite," as corny as that sounds.

If the trailer is any indication, "Pacific Drive" is going to be a mix between "S.T.A.L.K.E.R." (survival horror games that take place in a Chernobyl Exclusion Zone filled with reality-defying anomalies) and "Beware" (an indie open world horror driving simulator). Both are fun, if underrated, games, so what happens when you mix the two? Should be enjoyable to witness when "Pacific Drive" releases next year.