Well, PlayStation has revealed the free games for the Plus subscription in January; wait, is that Infinite Wealth? So soon? The game has just been released! I mean, it really feels like it just dropped. Also, they are adding Resident Evil Village too? This is an incredibly good month, which is a bit crazy considering how sometimes the lineup might be… hmm… not very exciting. But not this time. The official PlayStation tweet featured the major titles along with some playful emojis – a candle for Resident Evil Village, a dragon for Infinite Wealth, a truck for Expeditions: A MudRunner Game, and a shushing face for A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead. It is a rather powerful selection, horror lovers, RPG fans, off-road simulator aficionados, and… people who liked the movie, I guess are all covered.
Players reacted online without any delay and, as always, the reactions were quite varied. There are those who are really excited, and the user ‘Eikon refantazio’ remarked “Finally get to play infinite wealth 🙌.. W” which is totally relatable. Another gamer, Gelson Luz, was more articulate, stating that they were “mighty excited about Resident Evil Village” and mentioned the diversity of the offerings, saying “something for every kind of player.” That is the kind of scenario you desire, right? A variety of gamers, each finding something to be thrilled about. Even the person with the rather blunt username ‘Sagittarius 0’ simply pronounced it “A decent lineup for a change.” High recognition from the online community!
Nevertheless, you cannot make everyone happy, and the PlayStation Plus discussion remains a constant presence on gaming Twitter. The familiar “this is why I stopped paying” remark has been made, with user ‘XXX’ describing it as the “same old crap rotation” and insisting that one could simply wait for the games to go on sale before buying them. Sometimes this is indeed a fair point, but getting a new Yakuza game on a subscription is still a good deal. The other main criticism, which has been raised frequently, is concerning the Classics catalog for Premium members. Several users including ‘CorneredFoxes’ and ‘NaughtyDogSA’ were pleading for more than one classic game per month, with the latter calling it “ridiculous!” Others like ‘Singh®️’ were very straightforward: “Dawg why are y’all only giving one classic game tf.” So Sony, are you listening? The public seems to want their PS1 and PSP games back!
Out of the replies, funny and random dialogues emerged. One person suggested that playing Exit 8, which is on the list, is a good option. Another user, ‘Michael Price’, supplied specific instructions to “make sure you play Village in VR.” That is an excellent suggestion if you own the headset! Then, there was a long conversation in Portuguese and Arabic about whether or not one should first finish a game before the next one is released, a problem faced by all gamers regardless of the language spoken. “I’ll try to finish it before RE9,” a gamer stated. Good luck with that, buddy.
What a surprise! It is always interesting to see what attracts the audience. The reference to A Quiet Place: The Road Ahead got at least one individual, ‘Jon’, overly excited: “I’m gonna play this shit out of quiet place.” Thus that game has a certain group of players. Meanwhile, sequel to MudRunner is there just for the extremely specific and extremely relaxed aura of logging through a swamp. It’s a bizarre and stunning blend, which is exactly what these catalogs should represent.
So what is the conclusion? PlayStation Plus has made a strong beginning to the year. An RPG that was just released and was critically acclaimed like Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth could be described as a power move, which indicates that they are not afraid to add the biggest titles relatively fast. Alongside one mainstream horror hit like Resident Evil Village they create two soft punches that are hard to ignore. While the discussion between subscription vs. ownership will go on forever, and Premium subscribers will undoubtedly continue to ask for more retro content, the January lineup is offering immediate high-quality options for a large section of the players. It’s a reminder that for the majority of gamers, the accessibility and surprise of these monthly drops can still pack a serious punch and add real value to their gaming time.
