Are Gift items and other special items in Xenoverse 2 locked behind a PS Plus subscription?

Gift items in Xenoverse 2 are special items that can be bought from a merchant in the main city lobby of the game. It is my understanding that they shown up into the shop only when the player is playing online.

It is also my understanding that the game can't be played online without an active PS Plus subscription: the disclaimer you get in the game seems to indicate that only pvp, online PQ and other similar features should be inacessible, but I didn't see a way to even be able to access the city loby.

I am therefore trying to understand if I am missing some info or if some of the game content (gift foremost but also some items that apparently can be got only from online missions) is indeed locked behind having to pay for a PS Plus subscription.

Not necessarily, the are some rare occasions where you can play online without a PS Plus subscription, like last weekend:

Dive into the online multiplayer modes of your favorite PS4 and PS5 games without a PlayStation Plus subscription during our Online Multiplayer Weekend from 18th December at 12:01AM – Dec 19 11:59PM local time.