Skip to main content

Digital Trends may earn a commission when you buy through links on our site. Why trust us?

Indie puzzler ‘Metrico+’ set to expand its horizons, launch across platforms

Metrico+ - Worlds Trailer | PS4
Metrico+, the follow-up to the indie puzzle-platform game for the PlayStation Vita, will launch on multiple platforms on August 23.

The new game, produced by Dutch developer Digital Dreams, will look to build upon the successes of the original, which was praised by IGN for its “ingenious puzzles” and by GameSpot for a “beautiful audio-visual blend” and “exciting sense of discovery.”

Recommended Videos

When the game launches on the PS Vita, PS4, Xbox One, and Steam later next month, it will come with new features, which Roy van de Mortel of Digital Dreams highlighted in post he wrote on the PlayStation blog.

Please enable Javascript to view this content

“We made the world of Metrico look way prettier for the big screen, there are new trophies, we added a speedrun mode, there are new and special character animations,” he wrote. “There is an entirely new story in the game, the music has been revised by Palmbomen, and most importantly: Metrico+ contains over 40 new puzzles utilizing new gameplay mechanics. That’s why we added a “+” to the title.”

For gamers who have purchased the original Metrico for PS Vita, the new version will only cost $6.99 on PlayStation. Reduced pricing on other platforms for original buyers has not been announced.

Van de Mortel said it was important for the company to incentivize original players to try Metrico+ by giving them a discount.

“Hopefully they will try Metrico+ and experience all the new challenges it has to offer and new worlds to explore, and see the reimagined world of Metrico on their television screens.”

While the game has many added features, it will still include many of the puzzles from the original — hence why the company chose to go with the Metrico+ name rather than “Metrico 2.”

Van de Mortel promises gamers that even if they’ve played the original Metrico, they’ll feel like they’re playing a different game with the new version.

“We know there are so many players that haven’t experienced the world of Metrico yet, that’s why we can’t wait to bring it to the PlayStation 4,” he wrote. “Hopefully you like it just as much as we loved creating it!”

Harrison Kaminsky
Former Digital Trends Contributor
Harrison’s obsession in the tech space originated in his father’s electronics store in Denville, New Jersey, where he…
PlayStation Plus Premium is finally living up to its potential
Jim Ryan talks about PlayStation on stage at CES 2023.

It was inevitable that PlayStation Plus would be broken up into tiers at some point. For years, it was already split between the core PlayStation Plus and PlayStation Now, but there was almost no focus put on the latter service until Xbox Game Pass started ramping up. Instead of just rebranding Now as a second tier to Plus, it was instead segmented into Extra and Premium above the Essential tier, which was largely unchanged from what Plus was prior to the change. Premium, being the most expensive option, and even getting the largest price hike with the price increases we saw last year, needed the quality and consistency to match the new asking price.

Up until very recently, I couldn't say PlayStation Plus Premium was worth the cost. It just wasn't delivering the kind of consistency it needed to sell it. Now, it looks like it may be living up to its potential as the best option for longtime PlayStation fans.
The promise of Premium
At a glance, Extra looks like the best value of PS Plus' three tiers if you want more than the absolute basics of online play, cloud saves, and a few free games a month. Extra provides access to a huge library of PS4 and PS5 games from first- and third-parties, frequent new additions, and even the occasional day-one drop. Premium, on the other hand, initially offered nothing more than a drip feed of two or three PS1 and PSP games for years. That's great if you happened to get a game you were fond of or curious about, but the inconsistent pace and quality of the games were hardly worth the yearly price when you could opt to just purchase any that caught your eye à la carte.

Read more
Honkai: Star Rail 2.0’s interstellar whodunnit mystery is its best chapter yet
Firefly white-haired girl talking to Trailblazer tall gray-haired girl in Honkai: Star Rail Penacony viewpoint

When I boot up Honkai: Star Rail to try its 2.0 update, I immediately take off to its new planet, Penacony, the Land of Dreams. As soon as I check into my hotel room, an introductory chapter passes me between pretty, charming people who seem to ask me the same question at every turn: Are you sure you want to trust me?

It’s a question that ties in with the recurring theme of destiny Star Rail sows in its prologue and strengthens it with narrative and gameplay told over the course of Penacony’s entry arc. While Honkai: Star Rail's side quests historically don't change the fates of playable characters, they can for less significant ones. Its 2.0 update takes that one step further.

Read more
PlayStation spent 2023 setting up dominoes. But will they fall in 2024?
A PS5 sits on a table with a DualSense standing up next to it.

2023 has already become a strong contender for the best year in gaming ever (at least when it comes to newly released games), but we've yet to see how it'll be remembered for PlayStation long-term. It currently stands as an experimental year filled with massive gambles that we won't see the results of until 2024 at the earliest.

From an outside perspective, 2023 might've seemed like PlayStation was resting on its laurels. With more hit third-party releases than most people could reasonably handle hitting on a near monthly cadence, the average PlayStation fan was likely content with "just" the utterly fantastic Marvel's Spider-Man 2 from the first-party side. In reality, this year Sony has set up a series of dominoes that, depending on how they fall, could very well determine its future -- for better or worse. Even though a few of its efforts are trending in the wrong direction, or at least have the community concerned, there's no turning the ship now.
Heavy on hardware
Sony put out more hardware this year than perhaps any other year in its history. We started off with the PlayStation VR2, got the surprise slim models of the PS5, the PlayStation Portal most recently, and will close out the year with its impressive Adaptive Controller. Of those, PSVR2 is the largest dice roll the company is currently watching play out. VR, in general, still only caters to a niche audience, and for as powerful and cutting-edge as the tech inside Sony's headset really is, that small audience is automatically cut by being tied to the PS5 install base willing to pay another massive entry fee. Despite all the cards stacked against it, Sony could pull an ace from its sleeve to justify the entire experiment: first-party games.

Read more