I thought I had my fill of gaming subscription services. PlayStation Plus’s price increase turned me off and the offerings of Xbox Game Pass never fit my fancy. While both of these have their positives, I’ve never been one to just drop so much money every month for a bunch of games I don’t really care about. That was until I jumped into my yearly Christmas-time RPG mood and discovered the bounty of classics that’s built up on PS Plus.
Like the seasons, my gaming tastes change throughout the year. I get in a horror kick whenever September and October come around, but for some reason, I always get a hankering for a good RPG during the holidays. So like every year, I went on the hunt for a new title to sink my teeth into. What I didn’t know was that so many of those titles were sitting there for a relatively small monthly fee in the form of PlayStation Plus Premium.
After PlayStation upgraded its Plus program from offering two free titles a month to a multi-tiered Xbox Game Pass-like service, the service’s catalog got a lot bigger. The Premium tier is the highest of its three and gives access to a huge library of PS1, PS2, PSP, PS3, PS4, and PS5 games. What got me to finally bite the bullet and resubscribe was the number of RPGs I discovered when combing through the library.
From games that I’ve always wanted to play but missed out on, like Odin Sphere, to newer titles that I’d love to re-experience like Yakuza: Like a Dragon, there was enough there to justify diving back in. And those titles aren’t even a small percent of what’s available here. Vanillaware titles, Square Enix games, NIS franchises I’d never even heard of — there’s a whole lot to dig into. I sat aside an entire day to go through these games, spend 30 minutes to an hour with them, and decide whether I’d keep them installed or move on.
The experience took me back to my childhood days when demos were a lot more prevalent. I downloaded tons of trials of games I’ve never seen before just because I was bored on a weekend. My latest PlayStation Plus experience, except that it gave me entire titles at a fraction of the price I’d need for them all.
I’ve never been one to really care for these subscription services. I’m the type of guy who subscribes for a month, gets my fill, and unsubscribes soon after. I’m sure this time around will be the same if I’m being honest with myself. But considering I spent $18 for hours of content during my RPG season and was introduced to one of my new favorites in Odin Sphere makes me feel like I spent my money well.
If you’re like me, or someone needs a good gift idea for someone like me, a curious subscription won’t go unused. It offers plenty of games from heavy-hitting franchises like Final Fantasy, Yakuza, Star Ocean, and a lot more. Grab a voucher code, stuff it in a stocking, and give your loved ones the gift of RPGs this year.
