PlayStation Update for February 25th: Thief, Tales of Symphonia Chronicles, and the largest amount of discounts ever

There is a large amount of new releases and special deals for PlayStation owners this week, so let's get right into it.

New Releases

PS4

• Thief - $59.99 (Digital/Retail)
• Basement Crawl - $9.99* (Digital)

PS3

• Thief - $59.99 (Digital/Retail)
• Castlevania: Lords of Shadow 2 - $59.99 (Digital/Retail)
• Magus - $29.99 (Digital/Retail)
• Pac-Man Museum - $9.99* (Digital)
• Port Royal 3 Gold Edition - $29.99 (Retail)
• Tales of Symphonia Chronicles - $39.99 (Digital/Retail)

Vita

• Mahjong World Contest - $3.99* (Digital)

PS2/PSone Classics

• Herc's Adventures (PSone) - $5.99* (Digital)

*Projected price, not official.

Finally, a new triple-A title is being released this week, and arguably the biggest title of the year so far. Thief is getting mediocre reviews out of the gate, currently holding a 70 out of 100 at Metacritic at the time of this post.

Stealth games are generally not my cup of tea, so my pick of the week would be Tales of Symphonia Chronicles. It includes both games that were exclusive to the Nintendo GameCube and Wii (respectively). The first game is one of the better "Tales of" stories, and even spawned an anime series. The second one can get a little long and pales in comparison, but it's still features a good conclusion to the entire saga.

Vita features its worst week, and for those interested in Mahjong, it was already released in Europe with a detailed review from Vita Player here. However, the week may be slow for new releases on the handheld, but there's plenty of options in a massive sale this week.

Sony has two different sales going on at the same time. First, they feature some games that we've all missed in the past year. These deals aren't exactly doorbusters like their first sale earlier this year, but there's plenty of deals that are worth it.

NOTE: All the following prices are available to those that have a PlayStation Plus subscription.

Back to 2013 Sale

• Diablo III - $35.99
• Dragon's Crown (PS3/Vita) - $17.49
• Grand Theft Auto: Vice City (PS2 classic?) - $4.89
• Guacamelee! (Cross-buy) - $7.34
• Injustice: Gods Among Us (Ultimate Edition, Vita) - $14.69
• Injustice: Gods Among Us (Ultimate Edition, PS3/PS4) - $24.49
• Ni No Kuni: Wrath of the White Witch - $6.99
• Persona 2: Eternal Punishment (PS2 classic?) - $3.49
• Persona 4 Arena - $7.50
• Rayman Legends - $29.39
• Sly Cooper: Thieves in Time (Vita) - $17.49
• Spelunky (Cross-buy) - $7.34
• Super Motherload (Cross-buy) - $3.75
• Tales of Xillia - $14.99
• Terraria (PS3) - $5.99
• The Walking Dead: Season 2, Episode 1 - $2.79
• The Walking Dead: Season 2 Pass - $10.49
• Wolf Among Us: Episode 1 - $2.39
• Wolf Among Us: Season Pass - $8.99
• WWE 2K14 - $29.99

I'm not into either The Walking Dead or Wolf Among Us games, but those season passes sparked a lot of fans to snag those up. Other highlights include Ni No Kuni at seven bucks, Guacamelee for under eight bucks, Injustice on the PS4 for $25, Dragon's Crown at $17.49 (either PS3 or Vita, it's not cross-buy), or Terraria on the PS3 for those that don't have it on the Vita or other handheld device.

The next sale celebrates the birthday of the Vita.

PlayStation Vita 2-Year Anniversary Sale

• Castlestorm - $4.89
• Castlestorm (Collector's Edition) - $6.99
• Castlestorm: From Outcast to Savior - $1.39
• Castlestorm: The Warrior Queen - $1.39
• Hotline Miami - $2.50
• Velocity Ultra - $2.09
• Sumioni: Demon Arts - $4.89
• Orgarhythm - $4.59
• Ragnarok Odyssey- $14.69
• Valhalla Knights 3 - $14.69
• Stick it to the Man - $6.29
• Machinarium - $1.75
• Proteus - $4.19
• Killzone Mercenary - $17.49
• Escape Plan - $7.34
• Open Me! - $4.89
• Malicious Rebirth - $7.34
• flOw - $2.79
• Flower - $3.49

Again, some games like Killzone were available for less in Sony's bigger sale earlier this year, but that's still not a bad price for one of the most full-fledged games on the handheld. Other recommendations are the Castlestorm collector's edition, Hotline Miami, Machinarium, and both flOw and Flower if those haven't been purchased yet. Remember, those games are now cross-buy for PS4 and Vita for those that purchased them on PS3 in the past.

Another discount this week that's not involved in this sale is Starhawk, now available for $10.49. I purchased this game over a year ago and it still sits firmly on my shelf all wrapped up. One day, I'll get to this game.

Instant Game Collection

Finally, this week's addition in the IGC for PS+ subscribers is Modnation Racers: Road Trip.

Have a great week everybody!

Ni No Kuni brings back childhood memories and my sanity

When people get older, life tends to get more ridiculous. As I move on to my adult years after graduating college, there's so much responsibility to accept, problems that are encountered, and drama that is created that makes me wonder why more people don't lose their sanity. But then I popped in Ni No Kuni, an RPG recommended to me by many that I picked up when it hit the $20 mark on Amazon, and it changed everything for me.

Depression is something that I tend to suffer with from time to time, but it's nothing that needs to be medically treated. Everyone goes through the kind of depression I have; when people feel lost in their life or confused about something. Lately I've been wondering why I'm taking the path I chose, why I'm still in a place that I don't feel happy in.

When sports don't grab my attention, and there are moments that even the most exciting games can't reach out for it, video games generally always do. It was one of those moments when I popped in Ni No Kuni after getting it in the mail, expecting an RPG that's geared more toward kids after looking at the animation style on the case and thumbing through the manual while it installed on the PlayStation 3.

I tried it anyway, thanks to one thing really capturing my eye: Studio Ghibli. I'm generally a fan of anything released by that company. Princess Mononoke, Kiki's Delivery Service, Spirited Away, and so many other movie titles have captured my emotion, something they can do to any kind of person if they open up to it. I figured at worst, I would love the story involved with the game.

Little did I know I'd be blown away with it.

It took me instantly back to all the hours I spent playing The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time on the Nintendo 64. I literally spent hours upon hours going through the world and exploring every nook and cranny. Not only did I defeat all the castles, but I talked to every character I could, collected all the golden skulltulas, grabbed every piece of heart...I was in love with that game. It took my heart more than any girl could in middle school.

The only other game that came close for me getting that feeling of excitement and adventure was Okami, but I only played that through once and didn't go back to complete 100 percent of it.

Ni No Kuni not only gives me those great memories, but it improves on it. For a long time, I put Zelda: OOT on a pedestal, a game that couldn't be touched by anything I ever played. Not anymore.

It's Zelda, featuring RPG mechanics that are intuitive and easy to learn. Parts of the game seem overwhelming at first with all the different features thrown at me, but it was easy to learn and remember. Anytime I forget a specific aspect, it's as simple as asking a help block on the menu screen.

With a vast variety of side quests available, a department that Zelda: Majora's Mask introduced to me but failed miserably with, Ni No Kuni makes them less of a chore and even fun to do.

From the captivating introduction to the highlighted words in dialogue, there's lots similarities to Zelda yet so many different things that can be done. I haven't fallen in love with a game like this since we were reaching the new millennium. I feel that my video game play has been rejuvenated after slugging through triple-A titles and indie games.

Sure, there's plenty of people that are playing Grand Theft Auto V right now, and I'll definitely be one of those people down the road. But when things are rough, or when I start feeling bad or depressed, I always go to my therapy: Ni No Kuni. It grabs ahold of me and puts me right into another world that I care so much more about than the problems I deal with in my own life.

Then when I return to my normal life, I don't feel as bad anymore. It's something I need more than ever at this point of my life. I know I'll be disappointed to see it end, but like all movies from Studio Ghibli, I'm sure there won't be any disappointment on how it ends.

Thank you to all of those that worked on this beautiful, magnificent game. From the incredible storytelling, great voice acting, lovable characters, big world to explore, vast enemies encounters, intuitive battle system, to easy-to-use gameplay mechanics, this has easily become the best game of this generation. But more importantly, I hope to persuade others to play it.

[Photo credit: Flickr]