Mafia: Definitive Edition and Celeste lead November's PlayStation Now games
Plus Final Fantasy 9 and more.
As the calendar flips from October to November, and you pop that sexy calculator costume back in the cupboard for another year, Sony arrives with a fresh batch of PlayStation Now titles, which this month include Mafia: Definitive Edition, Celeste, and Final Fantasy 9.
Last year's Mafia: Definitive Edition is, of course, the fancied up version of Illusion Softworks' fondly remembered open-world mobster game from 2002. This new version certainly looks the part, reimagining the 1930s city of Lost Heaven for modern hardware, but Eurogamer's Chris Tapsell didn't feel the the tweaks to its ageing gameplay were quite so successful.
"It's a marvelous, period-perfect setting, with fireworks and tension and some nice views of the city," Chris wrote in his rather lukewarm review, "but it immediately evokes the thought of Hitman, or even GTA 5, games next to which Mafia suffers thanks to its lack of pageantry and more traditionally linear, rigid mission design."
Celeste, though, is an absolute banger - a pitch-perfect blend of tough but rewarding arcade platforming and surprisingly rich storytelling from TowerFall developer Extremely OK Games. "Celeste is brutal, but it's also sweet," wrote Eurogamer's Christian Donlan in his Recommended review back in 2018, "and in its handling of the two elements it finds both a touching, timely narrative and an enviable sense of balance. What a game."
That's not all, however! There's some classic JRPG action heading to PlayStation Now in November courtesy of Final Fantasy 9 - which celebrates its 21st birthday this year - plus Totally Reliable Delivery Service, a chaotic game of multiplayer package delivery with a focus on raucous platforming, ludicrous vehicles, and rag doll physics in sandbox world.
All four games will be available to PlayStation Now subscribers from tomorrow, 2nd November. Mafia: Definitive Edition leaves the service on Monday, 28th February next year.