PlayStation Plus Essential Games for May 2026, Explained

The PlayStation Plus Essential lineup for May 2026 is unlike most other months for one big reason. While other trios run across a spread of genres, May’s three games include two Soulslikes that ape heavily from FromSoftware’s ouvre. It’s uncommon, but at least these two were regarded relatively well (although one is more beloved than the other). The whole lineup consists of Wuchang: Fallen Features, Nine Sols, and EA FC 26.

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Here’s an explainer for each of the three games. All three will be available for PlayStation Plus Essential subscribers from May 5th to June 1st.

3) Wuchang: Fallen Feathers

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers is an action RPG heavily inspired by the first Dark Souls, albeit with slightly faster action and draped in Chinese mythology. The game was received somewhat well, earning an average score of 76.

Wuchang’s Dark Souls obsession is obvious based purely on what kind of game it is, but it goes much deeper that superficial similarities, as Wuchang‘s excellent and labyrinthine level design evokes that seminal 2011 hit. It’s initially confusing but wraps around on itself in clever ways and isn’t mostly a straightforward path, something even the best Soulslikes fall victim to. Combat leans more into its action roots, which makes most of its bouts lean-forward tests of skill. Sometimes it goes a little overboard, though, especially with a few of its boss fights that have ludicrously sharp difficulty spikes.

Wuchang has been heavily updated since launch, and while patches usually make a game definitively better, the case isn’t as clear-cut for Wuchang. Along with a few free pieces of gear, developer Leenzee’s updates have smoothed over some common pain points many early players had. Wuchang’s getup animation is much faster now and has more invincibility frames, leading to fewer instances of getting frustratingly juggled once knocked down (which was a huge issue at launch).

Players can also choose to directly spawn at a boss, which is a solid quality-of-life feature that cuts down on the game’s laborious adherence to the unfortunate genre traditions of boss runbacks. The healing animation is now faster and can be canceled with a dodge, another change to make things speedier. The slow elevators have been sped up, so players don’t have to wait for as long to hop on. The amount of landmines has been reduced, too, and players take less damage from traps. There are still many of them, which is frustrating, but they are not as punishing now.

Leenzee’s ability to tighten up the gameplay comes in strict opposition to how the team handled its story with its flurry of updates. Backlash from players in China seemed to have influenced the decision to make some of the bosses merely collapse after being slain. Instead of dying, they simply become “exhausted.” It’s a strange adjustment since it goes directly against its narrative themes and seems to be the result of caving to a few loud voices. Other human enemies that were previously hostile are now friendly and can’t be killed.

Wuchang doesn’t have a typical expansion like many other Soulslikes. However, players who buy its Deluxe Edition upgrade pack for $9.99 get access to nine costumes, eight weapons, and a skill upgrade item.

2) Nine Sols

Nine Sols is also a Soulslike, but is of the search action platformer variety with a heavier emphasis on parries like Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice. It reviewed well, coming in at an average score of 86.

Nine Sols is completely unlike developer Red Candle Games’ previously two horror titles — Detention and the unfortunately delisted Devotion — but a continuation of their quality and with a noticeably higher budget. Nine Sols gives players a suite of powers that make traversal engaging and smooth, yet the combat is the true star here. The aforementioned comparison to Sekiro is apt for many reasons, and Nine Sols earns it because of how responsive and fluid its controls are. It’s a tough game that demands near-perfection at times, but isn’t frustrating because the onus is always on the player to improve, something demonstrated by its sweaty boss fights.

And while it’s worthy for those qualities alone, Nine Sols’ story is unexpectedly nuanced. Like Detention and Devotion, Nine Sols digs into some deeper and more mature themes that are surprising because of its colorful art direction. So while it didn’t need a killer story because it can lean solely on its gameplay, its narrative allows it to ascend even higher above many of its peers.

Red Candle updated Nine Sols a few times after launch, but most of these updates revolved around bug fixes and came with the console versions that were released later than the PC original. These console versions coincided with its boss replay mode, too. The studio made one major change after each port had come out, though, as it added in colorblind support options.

1) EA Sports FC 26

As its title implies, EA Sports FC 26 is a soccer game. It reviewed decently and came in at an 80 average.

Soccer is still soccer, so FC 26 isn’t a radical departure from what’s expected. It’s an iterative sequel but the Competitive and Authentic modifiers open the game up to more styles. Competitive is more traditional and based on speed, where Authentic is slower and more realistic. It’s a smart adjustment that deepens the experience without forsaking any one part of the audience. This larger change comes paired with other tweaks like better tackling, improved dribbling, and smarter goalies.

However, FC 26 is noticeably more scummy when compared to other entries with its extra nasty monetization strategies. By launching with a season pass, locking some stars behind it, and constantly pushing players to the store, it’s hard to escape the pull of spending more money. It is still repulsive to treat sports games like free-to-play casinos, and it’s not getting any better with nonsense like this.

FC 26 has patched the game extensively since launch. Many of these changes are minute adjustments that might be imperceptible to some like increasing the “frequency of wingers making attacking runs into the box” and making Center Backs “less likely to run wide when marking central attackers,” but many of the updates have been explicitly shaped by fan feedback, leaving less room for unpopular changes in the vein of what happened to FC 25.

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