PS5 drops 'beautifully written' free game that's yours to keep, no PS Plus required

PlayStation 5 users can now pick up a new free narrative-heavy game that doesn’t require PlayStation Plus to access.

The educational interactive film The Light in the Darkness was praised for its emotional story and accessible source of information regarding the Holocaust when it was first released in 2023.

Developed by Voices of the Forgotten, it was an interactive film that followed a Polish-Jewish family living during the Holocaust in Nazi-occupied France, and served as a tool for educating young players about this significant historical event.

It’s a short but effective way at telling the story of what Jewish people experienced during World War II, and was praised for this at the time.

A director’s cut of the interactive film, originally announced in 2025, is now available for PC and PS5 players to download for free.

The Light in the Darkness: Director’s Cut builds upon the original release with extended narrative content, improved visuals, updated gameplay, and fully voiced cutscenes. Essentially, it features a lot of technical and artistic improvements which help to bring it closer to the developer’s original vision.

Voices of the Forgotten hopes that this new release will help to “deepen emotional impact and accessibility for younger audiences”.

You can check out the website for a direct comparison between the original version and the director’s cut, including side-by-side panels of scenes from both.

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Arcade Distillery

The Light in the Darkness is exclusive on PS5 until October

One review of The Light in the Darkness: Director's Cut by a player on PlayStation 5 reads: “I cannot express the emotion this game made me feel. It is so beautifully written, the story is accurate to history, and the characters, while they don't do much besides walk and talk, have a way of drawing you in and making you feel for them.

“This game gave me a whole new perspective on the Holocaust, and the emotions. God, the emotions. Be prepared to bawl your eyes out if you have any sort of empathy for those who suffered.”

The Light in the Darkness: Director’s Cut is available now on PlayStation 5, where it is available exclusively until it gets a PC release in October.

Originally conceptualised as a Nintendo DS game called Imagination Is the Only Escape in 2008, this version was never published but eventually turned into The Light in the Darkness years later.

Voices of the Forgotten’s Luc Bernard has created several video game projects based on educating people about the Holocaust, including the Fortnite Holocaust Museum which is available in-game for anyone to read and learn about the experiences of Jewish people during the Second World War.

Opening in 2023, visitors of the museum can view photos and plaques featuring people who resisted the Nazis, as well as see examples of Nazi atrocities. There's also a hall to read more about famous historical figures of the Holocaust, including Marianne Cohn and Abdol Hossein Sardari.

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