The PlayStation Plus Essential lineup for December 2025 is quite strange. For one, PlayStation is offering five games instead of the usual three for no particular reason. Also, three of them are multiplayer-focused games (and two of them have had tepid receptions). These five games are Neon White, LEGO Horizon Adventures, The Outlast Trials, Killing Floor 3, and Synduality Echo of Ada. All five will be available from December 2nd to January 5th, 2026.
Videos by ComicBook.com
Here’s a brief explainer on the PlayStation Plus Essential games for December 2025.
5) Neon White
Neon White is the most acclaimed game in this month’s offerings. It is a speedrunning-focused first-person game that came out in 2022, garnering a high average score of 89.
Neon White has guns, but it’s hard to call it a first-person shooter. Its short levels have certain cards sprinkled throughout that can be used as firearms or movement abilities. For example, players can get a submachine gun or burn that card on a ground pound. Stages are built around using these cards quickly and efficiently, and players are graded on how well they do once they cross the finish line.
While centered around speedrunning, Neon White is cleverly developed to also cater to those who don’t want to spend hours and hours looking up pro strategies on YouTube so they can shave seven milliseconds off their best time. Its difficulty is tuned so those unamused with going as fast as possible will be encouraged to step up their game, while also having a slew of tough times to clear for people who want to find every shortcut imaginable. The ability to appeal to two different crowds is incredibly impressive and demonstrates how well this game is designed.
Neon White also has a pretty involved story that’s built around anime tropes and homages. Solid and oftentimes purposely cheesy voice acting make it a delight to go through, but it never distracts from the frenetic platforming long enough. Its anime-soaked visual novel elements also make it more digestible for those who aren’t into speedrunning.
Neon White did not receive any DLC after launch nor did it get any big updates.
4) LEGO Horizon Adventures
LEGO Horizon Adventures is a LEGO-heavy spin-off of Guerrilla Games’ Horizon series that came out in 2024. It received middling to decent reviews and garnered an average score of 71.
As the title states, this game is a mix of both Horizon and the LEGO games, with the camera style and layout of the latter with the lore of the former. This means players can still hunt robotic animals but with a more simplified third-person aiming scheme and less of an emphasis on pinpoint precision. It makes sense for a LEGO game to control like this, but it also means LEGO Horizon is less engrossing than a typical Horizon game. The loss of the open world is also felt, as LEGO Horizon’s levels, while more or less matching Horizon’s post-post-apocalyptic style, aren’t as spectacular or awe-inspiring as some of the vivid vistas in Forbidden West. These worlds are at least built with LEGO bricks, meaning the game has a consistent look throughout.
Its shift in gameplay sheds most of Horizon’s magic, as does the shift in tone. LEGO Horizon retells the story of the first game in a silly way with more emphasis on slapstick goofs and gaffes, but the jokes just aren’t funny. Aloy has more of a personality here, but that can’t offset all the mediocre, groan-inducing attempts at humor.
LEGO Horizon Adventures didn’t get any DLC or major updates after launch.
3) Killing Floor 3
Killing Floor 3 is a cooperative-focused, wave-based shooter that came out in 2025. It garnered mediocre to average reviews, leveling out to an average score of 70.
While blasting hordes of undead alongside a few other players can be cathartic, Killing Floor 3 is a widely disliked sequel that undershoots when compared to its popular predecessor. This third title is much more generic, as it lacks Killing Floor‘s trademark British-ness and focuses more on sterile sci-fi maps. Many of its changes seemed like they were made with the intent of playing better with its monetization practices or fitting into the mold of other live service games. This can be cleanly felt with its specialists since there are fewer of them and each launched by being locked to a specific perk. Performance issues also plagued the game, but it was mostly criticized for how unfinished it felt and how it seemed like Tripwire Interactive had sanded away its identity. So while Killing Floor 3 has faster movement and thrilling gunplay, it lacks the staying power a game like this should have.
Killing Floor 3 remains a disappointment, yet Tripwire has still patched it up since its July launch and is still in the process of fixing it. It has decoupled perks from specialists (leading to more freedom), made many of the weapons much stronger, and added a physics-based mobility system that lets players push around the Zeds more effectively. The studio has also added three more guns that aren’t as futuristic. Tripwire has promised that it will add new maps, specialists, perks, weapons, mods, enemies, rewards, bosses, and more in the future. It remains to be seen if these changes and patches will eventually get this game to a more acceptable spot.
2) The Outlast Trials
The Outlast Trials is a multiplayer-focused horror game that came out of early access in 2024. Its stint in early access makes its critical reception harder to gauge, but it still received an average score of 72.
The Outlast Trials is one of the more unique online horror games. Instead of players being hunted by a human-controlled killer like Predator: Hunting Grounds or Friday the 13th: The Game, players have to work together to outsmart computer-controlled opponents. These come in the form of grunts and larger, more prestigious villains called Prime Assets that are usually especially heinous. Sneaking around or using items to get the job done can be exhilarating in ways that evoke the thrill of the first two Outlast games. Some Prime Assets are better than others and some of the objectives can get a bit repetitive after a while, but there’s nothing quite like The Outlast Trials.
Developer Red Barrels has added a ton to The Outlast Trials. In addition to eight premium skin packs, The Outlast Trials has gotten a slew of updates that have added new Prime Assets, maps, objectives, limited-time modes, cosmetics, menu overhauls, balance updates, enemies, and quality-of-life changes. Red Barrels even patched in a whole roguelite mode as well as the ability to invade other matches à la Dark Souls and kill other humans.
1) Synduality Echo of Ada
Synduality Echo of Ada is a mech-focused extraction shooter based on the Synduality: Noir anime that was released in 2025. It came out to tepid to poor reception, hitting an average score of 67.
Synduality has a lot to dislike. The aggressive monetization is off-putting, especially for a premium game. Its doll-like character models are janky and don’t mesh with its generic environments. The extraction gameplay is going to be hit-and-miss since it depends on players working together at least some of the time. Just getting ganked repeatedly is bound to happen and keep some users in a perpetual cycle of crushing losses.
However, it’s also possible to work within those boundaries and narrowly escape with a plentiful bounty or take the killing shot against other players who are otherwise distracted with the planet’s hostile fauna. Even with some occasional excitement stemming from the unpredictability of an online game, Synduality still gets repetitive and doesn’t have the staying power of its contemporaries. There are some single-player missions that aren’t predicated on risky gamble that comes with extraction shooters, but they’re hardly the focus here since they’re full of overly tanky enemies and must be unlocked through the online multiplayer.
Being an online-focused game, Synduality has seen a bit of support since launch. It has gotten more mechs, quests, maps, weapons, skins, mech rarities, balance changes, bosses, PvE arenas, and friendly NPCs called Magus that players can customize at their base. It is currently in its third season.
What do you think? Leave a comment below and join the conversation now in the ComicBook Forum!
Most Viewed
-
Image courtesy of Lucasfilm -
Image Courtesy of Warner Bros
