PlayStation Plus has updated its game offerings in the Extra and Premium tiers, taking away quite a few titles, but adding some new ones. The game I'm most eager to dive into is Gloomhaven: Mercenaries Edition. The board game Gloomhaven was the highest-rated title on Board Game Geek for several years. Its punishing difficulty was perfect for a tactical RPG.
The Mercenaries Edition includes the base game and the Solo Scenarios: Mercenary Challenges. They feature 17 deadly combat challenges, each tailored to one of the game's 17 characters. Each of these mercs has their own unique way of making enemies nice and dead.
The game features more than 1,000 abilities, 280 scenarios in two separate campaigns, solo and online co-op for up to four players, and crossplatform multiplayer. Gloomhaven has a branching narrative in which your actions affect the landscape. You're welcome to sell your particular set of skills to anyone, honest or corrupt, but this world is what you make it.
During solo play, you can control up to four mercs, while multiplayer allows each member of your team to control one. The game will increase the difficulty the more players are involved, so it keeps things challenging. The punishing difficulty is rewarding when you figure out the right combinations to keep your heroes alive.
Each character's combat abilities are represented by a deck of cards, and as in games such as Slay The Spire, you'll gain and lose new ones as random things happen along the way. Careful planning will get you out alive, the lack of it will add you to the many corpses littering these dungeons.
I've heard Gloomhaven described as "tabletop Dark Souls," and that's an accurate assessment. Whether you're a dungeon crawling vet or a newer tactical strategist, there's a whole lot to to love. Do the tutorial please, you'll thank me later.