3 new PS Plus games you need to play this weekend (August 23-25)

This week, we received our monthly batch of new additions to the PlayStation Plus Premium and Extra game catalog. It’s a great group of games that includes a fantastic RPG, underrated gems, Sword Art Online games, and some PS2 TimeSplitters games getting rereleased for the first time. If you’re looking for something to play this weekend, that means there are plenty of new games to choose from, but I specifically want to highlight three worthwhile games that just came to the service. They can all maintain your attention for more than just a weekend too.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt

CD Projekt Red’s crowning achievement needs little introduction. The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt is one of the best RPGs ever made, thanks to its fantastic world-building, writing, and characters. Geralt of Rivia is now one of gaming’s most iconic protagonists, and this RPG also put book characters Ciri and Yennefer in a central role for the first time. It features some of the best sidequests in an RPG too, as most of them are given the same care as the main questline. We’re over nine years out from its original release, and The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt still holds up. If you somehow haven’t played it yet, you need to this weekend. The PS4 and PS5 versions of The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt are now part of the PS Plus Extra Game Catalog. It’s also available on PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, and Nintendo Switch.

Wild Hearts

Although no game has been able to dethrone Monster Hunter, I think Omega Force and EA’s Wild Hearts is an extremely underrated alternative. Wild Hearts‘ unique twist on the formula is its Karakuri mechanic, which lets players build items like springs or a bulwark within the environment in order to help during a fight. It leaves a palpable mark of your battle in the hunt’s aftermath, which is a satisfying feeling I’ve never gotten from Monster Hunter. Not a lot of people talk about Wild Hearts, which launched last February, but the wait for Monster Hunter Wilds will be a little less painful if