PS Plus Free Games For July 2022 Leak Online

The PS Plus free games for July 2022, otherwise known as the Essential tier, are expected to be revealed by Sony on June 29. Sony typically announces its PS Plus free game batch on the last Wednesday before the first Tuesday of the month, while Sony has also announced that the new PS Plus Extra and Premium games will come near the middle of the month.

For example, Stray is already confirmed as a PS Plus Extra/Premium game in July, which is promising. It should be noted that Sony is still in a transition period in terms of bringing games to the service post-launch of the new tiers, and Sony had previously stated that there would be two free PS Plus games on the Essential tier every month. It seems, for now, that it may have meant at least two games every month, as three free PS Plus games have leaked online.

All rumors and leaks live and die by their source, but as many PS Plus subscribers know, the source of this leak is incredibly reliable. Dealabs user Billbil-kun has leaked nearly every PS Plus release of the last several months, even revealing a couple of Epic Games Store free titles too. Their track record is near spotless. With that in mind, Billbil-kun says that the three games for July 2022 are the following:

• Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time (PS5/PS4)
• The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan (PS4)
• Arcadegeddon (PS5/PS4)

The first was a long-awaited sequel, with a tongue-in-cheek subtitle, where Crash and Coco may team up, travel the world, gather crystals, and put the elementals into a hibernated state. The Dark Pictures: Man of Medan is one in an anthology of unique horror stories, with this one telling of four college students who are forced by pirates to look for Manchurian Gold, and in that pursuit, come across a ghost ship. Finally, Arcadegeddon is a co-op multiplayer shooter where players must save an arcade from an evil mega-corporation, which has attacked the new super game with a virus—and that is what players must stop.

These PS Plus games will be available to claim from July 5 to August 2, and interested players will have until then to claim the PS Plus free games for June 2022. These include God of War, Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker, and Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl.

Xbox Game Pass Image Suggests Starfield May Arrive in 'Early 2023'

While most gaming fans want their favorite upcoming titles to be as polished as possible upon release, news of delays still can be incredibly disappointing. The delays of two of 2022's most anticipated titles, co-op shooter Redfall and highly anticipated RPG Starfield, were announced by Bethesda recently. The upcoming space-themed action RPG has remained mostly an enigma since it was unveiled, with fans only getting glimpses of trailers and pieces of Starfield concept art. However, this hasn't exactly stopped hype from building around the game, which led to an understandable amount of disappointment regarding its delay.

It is possible that fans will be able to see some Starfield gameplay at this year's Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase on June 12, which will likely only make the extended wait feel that much more painful after gamers see what Bethesda has been working on. However, the delay of Starfield may not be as long as fans first thought, as a recent Reddit image shows the prospective release date promoted on Xbox Game Pass.

User ganndalf stated that they were signing back up for Xbox Game Pass when they glanced at the page for Starfield, which will be available via the subscription service for Xbox and PC. According to the Starfield Game Pass page, the expected release date for the game is "Early 2023." While Bethesda has promised that the game will launch in the first half of next year, the "early" aspect of its release date on Game Pass may indicate that fans won't have to wait too long beyond the turn of the new year.

Those in the comment section of ganndalf's Reddit post did point out that given the vague nature of "early 2023," it could be an interchangeable wording essentially meaning the first half of the new year. So fans shouldn't plan for a Starfield launch for January 1, for example, and expectations should perhaps be put in check about Starfield 's release date. However, Bethesda fans are often optimistic gamers and hope to see the next iteration of their favorite franchise whenever a showcase takes place. There are fans hoping for some more news on The Elder Scrolls 6 at the upcoming Xbox and Bethesda Games Showcase, for example.

Even with Bethesda's new expected release date of 2023, there is no guarantee that Starfield will be in players' hands at that point. It is possible that Starfield could experience another delay, especially considering the scope and level of detail it seems Bethesda is aiming for. Cyberpunk 2077 experienced multiple major delays before it eventually saw a release in late 2020. Even then, the game proved to need so much work that even the DLC expansions for Cyberpunk 2077 have since been delayed.

Resident Evil: Ethan Winters' Story May Not Be Over

The father's story may be done, but that doesn't mean that Resident Evil's Ethan Winters' story is over, with several possible avenues for his return.

At the end of Resident Evil Village, protagonist Ethan Winters sacrifices himself to destroy Mother Miranda and the Megamycete – the root cause of the events of the game and its predecessor, Resident Evil 7. Before his sacrifice, Capcom reveals that Ethan is a creation of the Mold, through vision interactions with Evelyn and Jack Baker after Mother Miranda rips his heart out from him. He discovers his regenerative Mold powers and heads off to save the day, leaving behind his wife Mia and daughter Rose.

The credits of Resident Evil Village deemed that 'The father's story is done,' which seems to suggest that fans have seen the last of Ethan, and the explosion in the unnamed Eastern European village setting of the eighth game seems to confirm this. But, Ethan Winters' story may not be over just yet, which could be explored in Resident Evil Village DLC or RE9.

Ethan Winters May Return in the Next Resident Evil

Although Ethan's regenerative powers seemed to have weakened before he blew himself and the European horror village up, he has survived death before – his heart was ripped out from his chest by Mother Miranda before fans discovered that he had a relationship with the Mold. Plus, if fan theories and investigations are to be believed, the approaching body at the end of the final cutscene with Rose Winters could actually be her very father rather than just Ethan's character model. The fact that the black van Rose was in seemed to have suddenly stopped seemingly supports this.

While it seems highly unlikely that Capcom will bring Ethan back to act as Resident Evil 9's protagonist, it won't be surprising if Ethan's story is not truly over. Although fans may not hear of a new Resident Evil game for a while, fans are more than happy to speculate of what may come next. The likelier candidate for a protagonist in Resident Evil 9 would be either Rose Winters or Chris Redfield, but there are a few ways that Capcom could approach the return of Ethan.

Resident Evil 9 should avoid making big mistakes with his return. Perhaps the most easily explainable solution would be that Ethan miraculously survived the explosion and was only able to fully recover his body over a long period of time – hitting home the fact that his Mold regeneration powers had weakened. By the time he fully regenerates, Rose has grown into a teenager and is under the protection of some agency. In this timeline, Rose will be the protagonist, but Ethan may be some sort of partner.

Another way Ethan can be reinserted into the series is by acting as a guide to Rose. In Resident Evil Village, Evelyn and Jack Baker explains that the Megamycete will store the DNA and memories of those it infects, so Ethan's imprint within the Mold could create a connection through Rose's Mold-related powers. The figure walking towards the van at the end of her cutscene in Village would be the start of Rose 'seeing' Ethan, and he would act as a guide to Rose, communicating to her in the same way as Evelyn.

But, this is Resident Evil, and Capcom could instead take a dark twist to Ethan's story – in a similar situation to Jill Valentine. The now-evil BSAA could wind of who exactly caused the explosion in the Village, and since the Mold keeps a person's memories and DNA, the organization could find a morsel of remains and figure out how to manipulate it to piece Ethan back together. Ethan, who wouldn't know how Rose looks like, acts as the pawn of the BSAA to get to the powerful Winters daughter – or maybe he could become the new embodiment of the Megamycete and is a final boss.

Either way, the story of Ethan Winters may not be over. While Resident Evil 9 has some mysteries to solve, it would also most likely have a different protagonist for players to play, and there are a few ways that Capcom could bring the Winters father back into the fold.

Elden Ring’s Radahn Festival is FromSoftware’s Most Rewarding NPC Experience

Elden Ring's Radahn Festival and Starscourge Radahn boss fight is easily FromSoftware's most unique and satisfying questline.

Many quests in FromSoftware games have players interacting with NPCs and following loose instructions that involve opaque guidelines. Indeed, FromSoftware is known for how little it holds the player’s hand, and while this is a concern for many players who are uninitiated with the developer’s niche gameplay formula, it can be a breath of fresh air to those who dislike how coddling traditional action-RPGs can be.

If players like to feel as though they must learn everything about a game’s world on their own and enjoy the struggle of finding one’s path organically, FromSoftware games such as Elden Ring may be a perfect fit. Elden Ring is more approachable than other FromSoftware titles due to how broad its scope is as an open-world game, which is new for the developer. But Elden Ring’s questlines, while as elaborate and dense as any, are also more rewarding as there are throughlines players can closely follow. One of these through lines results in Elden Ring’s Radahn Festival.

Elden Ring’s Radahn Festival is Optional, But Worth It

In Elden Ring, the Radahn Festival is a ceremonious event that comes before a battle against General Radahn. The festival is held at Redmane Castle on the southeastern corner of Caelid, where the red shores of the Wailing Dunes meet the water. This festival is a necessary prerequisite to being able to fight Starscourge Radahn, as the NPC companions who may be summoned need to be available. There are multiple ways to trigger the Radahn Festival, and it is entirely possible for players to have triggered it in a way unbeknownst to them in a first playthrough, such as not even having journeyed to Redmane Castle until the festivities had already begun. But when players arrive after it has started, they will see a number of spectral NPCs waiting for them there.

However, the Radahn Festival, as well as facing Radahn himself, is completely optional. In order to progress through the Lands Between and access the later areas, players only need to have killed two demigod bosses and activated one of their Great Runes. The choice is up to players, and as such Radahn could be avoided throughout the entire game if players choose instead to kill Godrick and Rennala, for example.

Likewise, players do not need to actually seek out and befriend the NPC summons that appear at the festival. These NPCs include Blaidd, Iron Fist Alexander, Bloody Finger Okina, Lionel the Lionhearted, Great Horned Tragoth, Castellan Jerren, Finger Maiden Therolina, and Patches. Many of these characters are not actually NPCs players can find to interact with anyway, while quests for some of them are long-winded and may span the entire game.