PlayStation Plus “Beautiful” New Free Game Is Already A Hit

One of the free PlayStation Plus titles for May is already winning fans over, earning comparisons to Sekiro and praise for beautiful visuals and dance-like combat. PlayStation Plus members at any level can get access to this exclusive game, dropping for free for subscribers in May.

Next month’s free PS Plus games were officially announced yesterday. The free titles feature a range of genres for any type of gamer, and include EA Sports FC 26 and Wuchang Fallen Feathers. It’s the third title that has many fans particularly excited.

Reddit user TurtleGEE360 shared a heartfelt call to other Redditors, urging them to try the final free PlayStation Plus game, Nine Sols. The Reddit user describes Nine Sols as having “amazing exploration, beautiful art style, incredibly fun bosses, and arguably the best combat in a 2D platformer.”

The title was developed by Taiwanese indie studio Red Candle Games, which previously released the (excellent and underrated) 2D psychological horror title, Detention. In Nine Sols, the studio branched out from their previous works.

The title is a brutal 2D platforming, Metroidvania-style game with stunning hand-drawn art. Back before Hollow Knight: Silksong was finally released, we described the game as an excellent alternative, and the title is still very much worth playing.

Nine Sols sends players on an adventure through a lore-rich world inspired by Eastern fantasy. The protagonist, a fox-like creature named Yi, embarks on a quest to defeat the nine rulers of a world abandoned by hope.

The game uses a Sekiro-inspired blocking combat style for fluid fighting and exploration and “Sekiro dance-like combat.” Besides this, every boss enemy presents a new challenge to learn and overcome, each one requiring a different approach.

Sekiro fans will enjoy the 2D platformer, but so will gamers who wanted to play Sekiro, but were turned off by its brutal difficulty. As Redditor welfedad notes, Nine Sols “has difficulty setting for people who liked Sekiro but got filtered by its difficultly.” This makes Nine Sols the perfect game for anyone who’s been interested in Soulslike games, but was prevented from getting into one because of their inherent difficulty.

Other fans have chimed in on the Reddit thread to praise Nine Sols for everything from the style to the memorable boss battles. The final boss fight, in particular, is remembered by many who played the game as “the Mount Everest of final bosses. Just majestic, and maddeningly difficult,” according to Reddit user zsakos_lbp.

Nine Sols will be available for free to PlayStation Plus subscribers of any tier starting Tuesday, May 5.

Brand

Sony

Original Release Date

June 29, 2010

Original MSRP (USD)

$59.99 (Essential), $99.99 (Extra), $119.99 (Premium) – Per Year

App Store

PlayStation Store