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Bloober Team’s asymmetrical horror multiplayer game definitely needs the experimentation period, but it could come out of it with a solid addition to the crowded genre.
We got to speak with producer Hiroyuki Kobayashi about the upcoming Resident Evil Veronica, and learned several things with the short time that we had.
Jean-Luc played a two mission from Halo Campaign Evolved, and while it's nice to see Halo Studios has addressed Fan feedback, they still can't shake the feeling that this remake is lacking the special feeling a game like Halo deserves.
Jean-Luc saw a hands-off demo of Fable's life sim systems, like NPC interactions and buying real estate, and if it's as robust as it looks, it could be something players will spend hours on.
We got a behind closed door presentation of Gears of War: E-Day and want to share everything we learned.
Gears of War: E-Day made a big splash during the Xbox Games Showcase, as The Coalition dropped an action-packed preview on audiences. Not only is Gears looking better than ever, thanks to Unreal Engine 5 powering it, but several design choices are also adding up to make the game play better through fluid movement mechanics and levels that'll give you opportunities to put your skills to the test. GameSpot had the opportunity to take a closer look at the game and sit down with The Coalition's developers to learn more about the prequel. You can check out everything new that we learned from this interview that wasn't shown off in the initial preview in the video below. https://youtu.be/hh5Swf5p4jo Gears of War: E-Day is a fresh start for the franchise, and according to The Coalition, the developer started with an "empty hard drive" to rebuild Gears in Unreal Engine 5. The key location for E-Day is Kalona on the planet Sera, a city that will be devastated during Emergence Day when the Locust rise up to attack humanity. The Coalition says that the destruction will be felt throughout the campaign as environments change, and while E-Day isn't an open-world game, its large-scale arenas are combat puzzles waiting for players to solve them through smoother cover transitions and ultraviolence. Some missions will have tighter spaces to fight in, while others will give players access to entire neighborhoods to wage war in. The main goal is to make players feel like they're in a big-budget action movie as they slide and mantle over obstacles so that they can flank enemies. Other interesting tidbits from our time with The Coalition include the studio mentioning that E-Day has the longest campaign that it has ever designed--with the studio estimating that it'll take around 14 hours to complete--how E-Day was the story the studio wanted to tell next, and owners of PC gaming handhelds should expect to see it run just fine on those systems. Gears of War: E-Day launches for PC and Xbox Series X|S on October 3, but it’s not coming to PS5.
Gears of War: E-Day will once again see fan-favorite characters like Marcus Fenix and Dominic Santiago headline the next game in the franchise, but what about that unresolved cliffhanger from Gears 5? Will we ever see those lingering plot threads addressed? Developer The Coalition isn't spilling the beans on whether Kait Diaz and her team will be back in action, but the studio has revealed why it chose to craft a prequel instead of a sequel. Speaking to GameSpot, studio creative director Matt Searcy said that the tale of Emergence Day was simply the story it wanted to tell the most, with passion for the project dominating discussions. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Dk2Uf2Th9aM "We've got an opportunity here to tell a story we want to tell. What story do we want to tell? We chose E-Day," Searcy said to GameSpot. "After Gears 5, we shipped a bunch of games back-to-back, and the pandemic hit at the same time. Everybody was evaluating their job, where they wanted to live, and it wasn't so different for us. As a studio, what do we want to do with our next game? And it lined up exactly with Unreal Engine 5. No matter what we do, we're going to be starting with an empty hard drive." "So we looked at those two things, and the story we really want to tell is a story we've been talking about. And the opportunity to build all those things--not just our mechanics--but the Locust, our characters, all those things from scratch, was just too good to pass up. So we looked at that, and it's one of those things where the passion dominates like any other conversation. We love that story, but we went, 'if all we want to do is this,' then this is what we should be doing, and we just chose that." Gears 5 introduced some big revelations about the Locust, their origins, and Kait's connection to everything. For now, it looks like the dark origins of the Locust won't be a central plot point in E-Day, but that doesn't mean that the campaign won't be grim. The Coalition revealed that players will see plenty of civilian casualties during the campaign--which the studio estimates will take around 14 hours to complete--and the city of Kalona will start to fall apart as Emergence Day becomes a global catastrophe. Gears of War: E-Day Standard Edition $70 | Releases October 6 Preorder at Amazon Gears of War: E-Day Premium Edition $100 | Releases October 1 Preorder at Best Buy Gears of War: E-Day launches for PC and Xbox Series X|S on October 3, but it's not coming to PS5. Ahead of its launch, The Coalition has shown off how movement in the game has evolved and how the iconic Lancer will get an origin story. An open beta to test out the multiplayer will be held in August.
One of the great things about Insomniac's work on the Spider-Man games were the collectible costumes, and in Marvel's Wolverine, the studio is once again putting a fresh spin on Logan's signature threads. The most dangerous mutant alive has a brand-new outfit that pays tribute to his classic look, and Insomniac has already revealed a few more costumes than players can collect--if they feel like preordering the Deluxe Edition of the game--and we're betting that Insomniac will have a few more costumes for players to collect when the game launches on September 15. Here's a look at everything Insomniac has shown off so far. Marvel's Wolverine Standard Edition $70 | Releases September 15, 2026 Preorder at Amazon View at other stores Preorder at PS Direct Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at Walmart Preorder at GameStop Marvel's Wolverine Digital Deluxe Edition $80 | Releases September 15, 2026 Preorder at PlayStation The new battle suit Looking sharp, Logan! Clearly inspired by one of Wolverine's best costumes, the default suit worn by him in the game is a bold splash of yellow accented by black stripes and a menacing cowl. Like other modern-day supersuits, it mixes textured fabrics with flexible armor plates, durable leather, and even a few rubber pieces to tie everything together. It's classic Wolverine, but with a contemporary twist. Age of Apocalypse Weapon X-cellent threads What would have happened to the world if Charles Xavier had died before he could form the X-Men? Really, really bad stuff as Xavier's death led to the Age of Apocalypse, a dystopian timeline ruled by the ancient mutant En Sabah Nur. Wolverine--now going by his original codename of Weapon X--was part of a team with Jean Grey, but this version was missing a hand after a tussle with Cyclops. The costume was also seen in Deadpool and Wolverine, and for Marvel's Wolverine, Insomniac has updated the look while keeping the core design intact--and has also trimmed down Logan's infamously bushy hair from that era. The whiskery original When you're fighting the Hulk, you need to stand out. Make no mistake, this is an awful costume at first glance. The whiskers on the face, the Spirit Halloween mask, and the underwear on the outside don't do it many favors, but fortunately, it laid a foundation for better Wolverine costumes. Insomniac has recaptured this look in all its cheesy glory, and it's going to be hilarious to see Wolverine engaging in some ultraviolence while dressed as a rodeo clown. New X-Men, new leather smell What, you'd prefer yellow spandex? After the breakout success of the X-Men live-action movie at the box office, spandex was out, and leather was in. Capitalizing on the success of the film, the X-Men donned new black leather outfits, and Logan promptly forgot to wear a T-shirt. This would be his default look for years, and he'd later switch back to a yellow-and-blue costume as part of the Astonishing X-Men era of comics. Feeling Blue The Blue Man Mutant Group This blue costume looks like an Insomniac original. While the colors are new, the overall design looks like it takes inspiration from Logan's time in X-Force, a team of mutants that usually finds itself doing covert and dirty work in the shadows. Wolverine's X-Force costume primarily blends grey with black, so we won't be too surprised to see it as an option in the game. Savage style They don't call him mellow yellow. Another original outfit by the look of it, the Savage costume keeps things simple with a focus on black leather and yellow highlights. The closest equivalent to it would be the armored costume that Logan wore after he lost his healing factor, as that armored suit allowed him to survive lethal attacks while out in the field. Days of Future fashion past It's casual carnage Friday. Briefly seen in the recent gameplay preview, Logan's casual clothing looks like it was inspired by the civilian outfit he wore in the cult-classic X-Men storyline, Days of Future Past. While that saga ended with an elderly logo being reduced to a shiny skeleton at the hands of the Sentinels, this covert couture is alive and well in Marvel's Wolverine. Cowboyin' it up I hope that hat has a healing factor. A laidback collection of cowboy-inspired clothes, this Wolverine look has appeared in comic books, animated series, and movies over the decades. It's basically Wolverine if he were played by WWE legend Shawn Michaels. John Byrne brown-and-tan classic Does anyone know how to get bloodstains out of the best Wolverine costume? John Byrne brown-and-tan, another classic. One of Wolverine's most popular looks since it was introduced in the late '80s, Insomniac's version of the costume is even truer to the original than the version that popped up in Deadpool and Wolverine. The design allows it to look like Logan is wearing trunks on the outside, the seamlines enhance the colors, and even the boots flair up at the top. Just the kind of outfit you want to wear when you're throwing down with the Reavers. Patch me through (the next guy with my adamantium claws) License to thrill. Judging by the footage shown off so far, it looks like Marvel's Wolverine will include a stage or two featuring Logan in his high-roller suit. Normally worn when he goes by his alter-ego of Patch, we're betting that cleaning this formal attire is a nightmare after he's been involved in a bloody brawl.
Mina the Hollower is a hit for Yacht Club, having recently passed 500,000 copies sold. The gothic take on classic Game Boy adventure games goes to some appropriately dark places. The story is mostly set in stone, but you actually can get an alternate ending. You just need to plan for it and execute everything perfectly. Spoilers follow. In the standard ending for Mina the Hollower, Mina confronts Baron Lionel, only to have the tables turned on her by the townsfolk outlining her various "crimes" against the good people of Tenebrous Isle. He effectively makes Mina into public enemy number one, and the residents angrily chase Mina out of town. There are more than 50 variables they can bring up in this scene, ranging from story elements like sealing the Duke in his Crypt or viewing the ribbon-cutting ceremony, to gameplay that you didn't even realize was being tracked, like defeating the Mock Moon or attacking the rabbit monster. It even dings you for breaking any lamps or candles, which is extremely difficult to avoid since you regularly break them while fighting enemies. But YouTuber ChickenSoup (via Polygon) discovered that if you manage to finish the game while avoiding absolutely everything on the no-no list, the confrontation with Lionel plays out differently. He no longer has any crimes to confront you with, and no one in the crowd speaks up with their own grievances. So rather than turn the tables, Lionel invites you to join him. At that point Mina can reject the offer, triggering the standard ending, or accept and become his right-hand mouse. If you don't have the patience for all that you can just watch it here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=QueDPQyXs6w&t=572s It's a dark turn for an ending that was already pretty grim. And it's fitting with the tone of Mina, since you have to work extremely hard just to get an ending that's worse. The regular ending is likely meant to be the canonical one. But still, it's an awfully neat Easter egg in a game chock full of secrets to find. For more on how to conquer the (slightly less daunting) challenges in Mina, be sure to check out our Mina the Hollower guides hub.
Creative Assembly's Alien Isolation 2 has been 12 years in the making, and it picks up where it left off: with a terrifying game of cat and mouse. Get more details about the game from Mark Delaney's 30 minutes of hands-on time.
Generative AI was a hot topic during Summer Game Fest, as more game development companies have been implementing it in upcoming projects. One game that isn't utilizing the technology is Gundam: Rogue Orbit, as the next entry in the decades-old mecha anime series has confirmed that its game is 100% human-created. Speaking to GameSpot, Gundam: Rogue Orbit producers Yuya Tomiyama and Shinya Satake had a simple response when quizzed about the game and how it is being developed. "For this title, we can say that there's no generative AI use," the producers said. In contrast, Sega's reveal of Crazy Taxi: World Tour has been met with a mixed reception after the game's original creator, Kenji Kanno, defended the use of GenAI in its development. Following an AI disclosure on Steam, Kanno said that the game's artists use generative AI to produce reference material, and then they start to "draw the actual thing." https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fXtfc6DfBWc As noted by the director of research and insights at Niko Partners for the Asia and MENA markets, Daniel Ahmad, GenAI technologies are more widely accepted in Asian markets, while the tools have received noticeable pushback in the West due in part to how they're trained on existing work produced by human artists. Creatives largely view GenAI as a plagiarism machine, due to how many of them find that their work has been used without their permission, credit, or compensation. Games like Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 have felt this blowback, as, despite being hailed as one of the best new games of 2025, the use of AI placeholder assets resulted in it losing one of its game awards. Developer Sandfall Interactive has said that humans will make all work in its future games. Crimson Desert has also been criticized for its use of GenAI--which was quickly removed by Pearl Abyss after it was discovered--while the developers behind recent releases like Subnautica 2 and 007: First Light moved to reassure players that the technology was not used in the development of those games.
Alien Isolation 2 is a sequel many players have waited a long, long time for. I certainly count myself among them. The original is a classic survival-horror game that I adore. 12 years after that game was first released, I finally got to play about 30 minutes of the upcoming sequel during Summer Game Fest. Its novel setting and an intimidating run-in with the Xenomorph had me excited for a mix of elements that felt both new and old in different ways, but more than anything, I came away suspicious of how it'll use a major character from the last game. As you may recall, the first Alien Isolation introduced a new character for the franchise, Amanda Ripley, daughter of Ellen Ripley, the star of the movies, and arguably the very best "Final Girl" in horror movie history. As far as we know, the younger Ripley survives the events of Alien Isolation and is still alive for some time. The series' comic book canon--assuming the games are considering it at all--says Ripley doesn't die for another 50-ish years after the events of Isolation. To the best of my memory, the demo I played doesn't mention when we are, nor exactly where we are. It only sets us on an alien planet, where we're touring a human colony before investigating a mysterious crashed vessel. The playable character in the demo is named Blake, and early marketing materials suggest she really is the new protagonist of the game. I've been entertaining the theory that maybe Blake isn't long for this story, but whether that's true or not, I believe wholeheartedly we'll see Ripley again one way or another. Why? Because Ripley narrates the introduction to my demo, which seemed to be the very start of the game, rather than a vertical slice built just for the hands-on preview, as is sometimes the case in this line of work. It's sort of a meta-analysis of what I played rather than anything in the text of the game, I admit, but I just don't believe Creative Assembly would bring back Andrea Deck, Ripley's voice actor, only to perform a brief, introductory narration. Assuming that's true, it refers me back to Blake. We don't know much about her yet, but the demo I played implies she's climbing her company's corporate ladder, as others showing her around the colony refer to her as an "exec," not long before they veer off-course to inspect the vessel. Fans know how this series tends to feel about white-collar workers and corporations, so I wonder if Blake is either a villain in hiding or possibly a good-natured person caught up in corporate bullshit, which would certainly make her more sympathetic as a character and lead me to extinguish most of my suspicions about her. https://youtu.be/g2mDfFDaIi4 My main takeaway, though, is that whether Blake is a good guy or a bad guy, the game's sole playable character or an early misdirect for a sequel that once again stars Ripley, we will see Ripley again. As far as we know, she's out there alive somewhere, and the Xenomorph threat has crash-landed on this planet. It might even be Ripley's fault, given how the first game ends with her ejecting the alien into the other direction, safely away from her. She's not going to be able to stay away if she feels responsible for what the Xenomorph does on this colony planet. For now, I'm keeping an eye on this Blake character, watching what Creative Assembly says about her in future developer diaries. And no matter what they say, I'll be waiting for Ripley's other shoe to drop. Alien Isolation 2 is set to arrive in 2027 for PC, PS5, Xbox, and Switch 2.
Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition $50 | Releases September 29 Preorder at Amazon (PS5) View at other stores Preorder at Amazon (Xbox Series X) Preorder at Amazon (Switch 2) Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at Walmart With the main game as popular as ever and a live-action movie adaptation winning big at the box office, Minecraft is keeping that momentum going with a new spin-off arriving soon. Preorders are now live for Minecraft Dungeons 2, and this sequel is aiming to offer a deeper experience when it launches in September. It looks like only the physical Deluxe Edition is available to preorder at the MSRP of $50 on Xbox Series X, PS5, and Switch 2, while the day-one version available through Xbox Game Pass will be a standard release that doesn't include any of the extra DLC. Minecraft Dungeons 2 Preorder Bonuses Minecraft Dungeons 2 preorder bonuses Preordering Minecraft Dungeons 2 will unlock two exclusive hero skins, the Twisted Cape accessory, and the Twisted Chicken pet. Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition $50 | Releases September 29 The Minecraft Dungeons 2 Deluxe Edition includes the base game on disc, preorder bonuses, and the following extra DLC: Soul Cape 4 x Hero Skins DLC packs 1 and 2 Preorder at Amazon (PS5) Preorder at Amazon (Xbox Series X) Preorder at Amazon (Switch 2) Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at Walmart The sequel to 2020’s dungeon-crawler is a Minecraft-flavored take on ARPGs like Diablo, and the original game earned positive reviews when it was first released. GameSpot’s Minecraft Dungeons review scored the game a 7/10, remarking on how it expanded on the world of Minecraft with its goofy charm and rock-solid gameplay. In Minecraft Dungeons 2, it looks like the land is once again in chaos, and it's up to a hero to save the day. Swapping a pickaxe for a sword, players will have to take on hordes of enemies, use craftable items to grow in power, and collect legendary gear. August and September are shaping up to be very busy months as various games are looking to avoid being caught in the wake of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 in October and GTA 6 in November. Several big games are out that month, so if you're looking to stock up on new releases, there's a lot to look forward to. Some of the highlights in August are Beast of Reincarnation and Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition for the Switch 2, while September's big releases include The Blood of Dawnwalker, Marvel's Wolverine, and Control Resonant. Once October rolls around, things will continue to heat up with Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, Gears of War: E-Day, and Star Wars Galactic Racer in the first days of the month. Each game comes with preorder bonuses, and most of them will be available in various editions, so if you're looking to see which one you should get, you can click through to see what's on offer. More Deals And Preorders Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Preorders Include An Alucard-Themed Bonus Costume Rayman Legends Retold Preorders Include Bonus Costumes Based On Rayman 3 Where To Preorder Control Resonant Silent Hill: Townfall Preorders Emerge At Amazon And Best Buy Fable Premium Edition Preorders Include 5-Day Early Access To The Full Game Preorders Are Open For Like a Dragon Prequel Stranger Than Heaven More Deals And Preorders Links (3)
Star Wars Zero Company Standard Edition $60 | Releases August 27 Preorder at Amazon View at other stores Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at Walmart Preorder at GameStop Preorder at Target We've seen a string of excellent Star Wars games in the last few years, and Star Wars Zero Company looks to be the next promising entry in the storied franchise. The strategy game will see players command an elite squad of operatives in turn-based tactical skirmishes across the galaxy during the Clone Wars. Preorders for the game are now open ahead of its release on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on August 27. You can preorder the Standard and Digital Deluxe Editions at multiple retailers, and both editions include preorder bonuses. Here's a closer look at what you'll get in each version. Star Wars Zero Company Preorder Bonuses Star WArs Zero Company preorder bonuses Preorder any edition of Star Wars Zero Company, and you'll unlock the Crystalline Astromech Cosmetic Pack. This will allow you to update your droids--the same line that R2-D2 hails from--with new colors and parts like an R3 droid body, R-series heads, and the exclusive BR-1 droid. Star Wars Zero Company Standard Edition $60 | Releases August 27 Available on both PS5 and Xbox Series X, the physical edition of Star Wars Zero Company includes the base game and the Crystalline Astromech Cosmetic Pack preorder bonus. Physical PS5 and Xbox preorders are available at multiple retailers, while digital preorders are available on console and PC. Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at Walmart Preorder at GameStop Preorder at Target Star Wars Zero Company Standard Edition Digital Deluxe Edition $50 | Releases August 27 Star Wars Zero Company Deluxe Edition The Digital Deluxe Edition of Star Wars Zero Company includes unique cosmetic items inspired by the Clone Wars era of the franchise, like a Republic Officer Uniform, 100th Clone Company armor set, and an ARC Trooper armor set. You'll also get the Shadow Collective pack, a collection of DLC that includes Pyke helmets and tattoo cosmetics alongside five themed weapon designs. Preorders are available on console and PC, and you can grab a digital code at Amazon. Preorder at Amazon Revealed last year, Star Wars Zero Company is an XCOM-inspired single-player turn-based tactics game. Developed by Bit Reactor–a studio that includes former Firaxis developers–Zero Company is set during the twilight of the Clone Wars and follows Hawks, a former Republic officer working behind the scenes of the galactic civil war. Alongside a roster of original characters--including the Clonetrooper Trick, Jedi Padawan Tel-Rea Vokoss, and the Mandalorian Cly Kullervo--Hawks will hunt down the leader of a Separatist-aligned cult named Kundri Fathom, who poses a threat to the entire galaxy. Star Wars Zero Company is one of several games headlining a very busy couple of months on the gaming calendar. For more games, you can also check out our preorder guides for highly anticipated titles like Control Resonant, Halo: Campaign Evolved, Gears of War: E-Day, and Stranger Than Heaven. More Deals And Preorders Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Preorders Include An Alucard-Themed Bonus Costume Rayman Legends Retold Preorders Include Bonus Costumes Based On Rayman 3 Where To Preorder Control Resonant Silent Hill: Townfall Preorders Emerge At Amazon And Best Buy Fable Premium Edition Preorders Include 5-Day Early Access To The Full Game Preorders Are Open For Like a Dragon Prequel Stranger Than Heaven More Deals And Preorders Links (3)
Persona 4 Revival Standard Edition $70 | Releases February 18, 2027 Preorder at Amazon View at other stores Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop Persona 4 Revival Collector's Edition $250 | Releases February 18, 2027 Preorder at Amazon View at other stores Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop Persona 4 returns with a ground-up remake for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC dubbed Persona 4 Revival launching February 18, 2027. Preorders for the physical edition are open now at multiple retailers, and grabbing the game early gets you a selection of in-game bonuses. The game will also be available on Xbox Game Pass at launch. Persona 4 Revival Preorder Bonuses If you place a preorder via any retailer, you'll get a P3R & P5R Extra BGM Set. Placing your preorder through Amazon will also get you an exclusive bonus: A set of four double-sided character cards with their matching Personas on the flip sides. Persona 4 Revival Standard Edition $70 | Releases February 18, 2027 The Persona 4 Revival Standard Edition includes the full base game plus the P3R and P4% Extra BGM Set DLC is you preorder. Physical preorders are available for PS5 and Xbox Series X. Digital preorders are available on console and PC. It's also worth noting there is a UK-exclusive Steelbook edition available for $78 at Amazon.co.uk, which ships to the US if you're interested in a bonus. Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop Persona 4 Revival Collector's Edition $250 | Releases February 18, 2027 The Persona 4 Revival Collector's Edition includes the base game and preorder bonuses, plus several physical collectibles like a statue of Izanagi and the protagonist standing atop a pile of TVs, a steelbook game case, artbook, and more. Check out the full list of Collector's Edition content below: Base Game Protagonist & Izanagi Statue Steelbook case Artbook Keycaps & Keychain DLC - Costume Set, Persona Set, BGM Set Collector's Box Preorder at Amazon Preorder at Best Buy Preorder at GameStop Persona 4 Revival Digital Editions $70-$100 | Releases February 18, 2026 Two of the digital versions of Persona 4 Revival come with their own unique set of bonus items. The regular edition does not come with any extras, but the Digital Deluxe Edition and the Digital Premium Edition come with fun character outfits and BGM sets listed below. Digital preorders are available on consoles and PC, and Steam players can save up to 13% by preordering at Fanatical. Persona 4 Revival Digital Deluxe Edition includes: Persona 4 Revival P4R: Velvet Outfit Set P4R: P3R Persona Set 1 & Persona Set 2 P4R: P5R Persona Set 1 & Persona Set 2 Persona 4 Revival Digital Premium Edition includes: Persona 4 Revival P4R: Velvet Outfit Set P4R: P3R S.E.E.S. Uniform Set P4R: P5R Phantom Thieves Costume Set P4R: P3R Persona Set 1 & Persona Set 2 P4R: P5R Persona Set 1 & Persona Set 2 P4R: P3R BGM Set P4R: P5R BGM Set There is also a UK-exclusive edition of the game that comes with the steelbook, which retails for $78 on Amazon.co.uk. It does ship to the US, in case you're interested in a steelbook option without all the additional items in the Collector's Edition. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1osdiOAkBKc We gave Persona 4 Golden high marks in our 2023 review, and they were well-deserved. If you missed out on its original release, Persona 4 Revival will give you a perfect excuse to try out this highly acclaimed RPG. Atlus also remade Persona 3 in 2024 as Persona 3 Reload, which got equally high marks from us in its review. "Simply put, Reload is the greatest way to experience Persona 3’s story, and Persona 3’s story is one well worth experiencing," GameSpot's Jessica Cogswell wrote. While older entries in the Persona series continue to get the glow-up, Atlus also revealed our first look at Persona 6 on Sunday, June 7. The trailer doesn't reveal much about the story to come or mention a release date, but as some leakers predicted, the entry's signature color appears to be green. Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom. More Deals And Preorders Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse Preorders Include An Alucard-Themed Bonus Costume Rayman Legends Retold Preorders Include Bonus Costumes Based On Rayman 3 Where To Preorder Control Resonant Silent Hill: Townfall Preorders Emerge At Amazon And Best Buy Fable Premium Edition Preorders Include 5-Day Early Access To The Full Game Preorders Are Open For Like a Dragon Prequel Stranger Than Heaven More Deals And Preorders Links (3)
With the release of Monument of Triumph, Destiny 2's story has finally come to some semblance of a conclusion. Now that the limited-time event is officially live, players are jumping into the game to celebrate a final hurrah, and pay their respects to a game that has been getting steady updates since 2017 yet won't be getting any more presumably ever again. For many, this feels like the end of their respective Guardians' stories--which is such a shame, as the game's overarching story was just beginning to get really good. But this doesn't have to be the end. Destiny has always felt like a series of campfire stories. Its fantastical tales are filled with grand heroics, incomprehensible horrors, and cliffhanger conclusions that leave a rapt audience desperately wondering what's supposed to happen next. Destiny's stories are also told communally, first framed by a team of multiple writers and then repeated over and over again by excited fans recounting their own experiences. These retellings often recraft the original tales, adding newly learned information or omitting details that no longer matter. This makes for stories that seem to continuously evolve, simultaneously becoming more grand and more personal over time. But despite the series' penchant for weaving bold, new narratives, they are never treated as so important that they are eternal. So many of Destiny's stories have disappeared entirely via the Vault, much like a legend that continues to only exist in the memories of those who were around to see the myth first come into being in the first place. In that respect, Destiny reminds me a whole lot of playing a very different type of experience: tabletop role-playing games. Almost every TTRPG encourages its players to collaborate in the storytelling, like a group of kids around a campfire all chiming in to add more spooky details to the speaker's scary story. This makes them a fantastic framework for the types of stories told in episodic live-service games, like Destiny 2, Warframe, or Apex Legends. So if you're bummed that the story of your Guardian is coming to an end, it might be time to contact your friends and make sure this isn't the last tale you all tell together. But where to start? While there are plenty of TTRPGs out there that can help scratch that mythical sci-fi itch if the genre is all that's important to you--Austin Walker's Realis, for example, as well as Evil Hat's Scum and Villainy and the Motherboard campaign frame for Darrington Press' Daggerheart. However, there are four RPGs that I think specifically work best for delivering a squad-focused, loot-centric, mythical sci-fi action-adventure experience. Those games are LIGHT: Beacon Edition, Songs for the Dusk, The Brightest Things We Know, and Dungeons & Destiny. "I've been a huge Destiny fan since the alpha," tabletop RPG designer and LIGHT: Beacon Edition creator Spencer Campbell told me. "I remember playing that, [then] calling my cousin--who I played an unhealthy number of hours of Borderlands with--and telling him that this was something special. Fast forward to 2020, I was now playing an unhealthy number of hours of Destiny with that same cousin. I was also playing a lot of TTRPGs--something that he hadn't experienced. I asked him if he would be interested in playing one if it were like Destiny, and he said, 'Yeah.' "I got this drive in me to try and capture the feeling of Destiny on the tabletop," Campbell continued. "I knew my cousin would bounce off of the more popular TTRPG systems at the time--especially [Dungeons & Dragons] 5E--so I needed to do something different. And so, LIGHT came to be. So while there are a million things about Destiny that I love--the setting, frenetic gameplay, badass powers--my biggest driving force at the time was to show my video-game-playing cousin that TTRPGs could be just as fun, if done right." The original LIGHT was structured to be a copy and paste of how Destiny works mechanically but in TTRPG form. However, the newer LIGHT: Beacon Edition adds more elemental-themed classes--the decay-centric Wither, chaos-focused Fractal, and cold-aligned Shiver--to complement Destiny's original three elements--the fire-focused Solar, lightning-focused Arc, and gravity-centric Void--which are packaged into the Pyre, Volt, and Nether classes in the TTRPG. With this change, Campbell opted to create a game with six classes rather than follow Destiny 2's example of giving the three original classes several distinct subclasses. "I moved away [from mimicking Destiny exactly] in the Beacon Edition for a couple reasons," Campbell said. "First of all, [LIGHT] was too 1-to-1. This game was supposed to be a love letter and it was feeling more like a carbon copy in many ways. Second, I tend to prefer simplicity in my games, so cutting it down made sense. Finally, I prefer focus in my games. LUMEN--which is the system that didn't exist at the time, but would be made from my time designing LIGHT--is about giving you a very flavorful class with a curated suite of powers. If I had all these different possible combinations [with different subclasses], the feeling of focus would go away. Instead, giving six classes that have intentionality behind their design was a much better direction to go." LIGHT: Beacon Edition is perhaps the most rules-lite (heh) RPG for a Destiny-like experience thanks to its LUMEN system, giving you and your friends just enough to run a game but leaving a lot open to how the story is framed and told. In this RPG, you play as an immortal guardian known as a Beacon powered by light, and you're tasked with going out on missions throughout the solar system to defeat enemies and find powerful loot. It's still a TTRPG, meaning everyone at the table is collaborating on the narrative, but much of the storytelling legwork in LIGHT: Beacon Edition, like the lore, is up to you. This is very freeing, letting you add essentially whatever you want to LIGHT--which can be Destiny, but can also be your own world. However, if you want a bit more structure, you'll have to look elsewhere. If you want a system that gives you rules for a narrative framing so that it's easier to make each session feel like an episode in a season of a television show, and takes place in a world that has a more firmly established lore that is Destiny-like but unique all its own, then Songs for the Dusk is for you. The RPG uses the Forged in the Dark system, best known as the blueprint for Blades in the Dark, but reframes the system's focus on completing heists/assassinations and building a criminal empire to instead focus on going on strike missions for loot and building up a community for your fellow "striders." "In spite of [Blades in the Dark's] focus on shadowy criminals, I don't think the Forged in the Dark system is all that grim in tone--frankly, the stress system feels downright optimistic at times," tabletop game designer and Songs for the Dusk creator Kavita Poduri told me. "But the aspect I found most compelling is its focus on episodic storytelling. The mission-downtime cycle excels both at developing high-intensity action sequences and at providing opportunities for character expression. People love expressing their characters if you give them half a chance--it's the reason half of them even play--and most Forged in the Dark games, Songs for the Dusk included, provide at least two after every mission." She continued: "Forged games also tend to produce characters that have a kind of scrappiness to them, which suits Songs' tone. I once heard someone say he liked Destiny the most when it made him feel small in a big world. An important corollary of that feeling is the sense that, with the right combination of cleverness and teamwork, you can survive--maybe even triumph--in that world anyway. This is the feeling of scrambling for reloads and getting down team buffs to tear through a raid boss' final stand, or trying to chase down a teammate's Ghost during a Grandmaster Nightfall, and it's a key part of why victories in Destiny feel so triumphant. The desperation that players feel searching for the right combination of stress, abilities, and teamwork to save a town or escape a crumbling ruin helps, I hope, to produce a similar kind of triumph." I love the Forged in the Dark system, and subsequently Songs for the Dusk is the Destiny-like I most want to pick up and play. Though I haven't had the chance to play this RPG specifically, I have played a lot of Forged in the Dark games and appreciate the way that system utilizes classes that are highly niche to their specific purpose to promote teamwork within the squad, gives the Game Master progress clocks to keep the action rolling, and builds stress and trauma into character creation to make interestingly flawed heroes. Some of my best characters have been made in Forged in the Dark games, and two of my favorite top 10 TTRPG stories that I've been a part of have been in campaigns that were Blades in the Dark and Scum and Villainy. "A lot of [Song for the Dusk's] techniques are drawn from the broader pool of narrative RPGs: turn players' questions about the setting back on them and make their answers true, allow everyone to contribute to discussions about tone and direction, talk to each other about what kinds of missions you want to go on and what themes you want to explore, etc," Poduri said. "My favorite, though, comes early in the process: the community. At the beginning of every Songs for the Dusk campaign, you're asked to create the science-fantasy community where you live, and to invent NPCs tied to various parts of it: the mysterious robot who helps with the farming, the friendly gene-modded animal person who runs the scrap shop, the spirit who helps you develop new machines. People love these communities; they love getting the chance to develop the context for their characters as much as the history, and just about any time a new set of players comes back from a session they're almost more enthusiastic to talk about the weird NPCs they made than about their own characters." Like the other games in this article, Songs for the Dusk has a narrative set-up that should be familiar to anyone who has played Destiny. You play as empowered heroes known for going out into the world after a terrible cataclysm destroyed almost everything. The RPG keeps the conflict very human, though--you and your squad explore the world in search of old technology and contend with the politics that continue to linger in the world, not go into space to fight alien robotic hiveminds. "On an immediate level, I wanted to evoke both the technical and the fantastic, the sense that there were a dozen different ways to push the limits of possibility," Poduri said. "But in terms of feeling, I was aiming for a mix of vibrancy, awe, and solemnity. The first Destiny game was incredible at communicating a strange mix of melancholy and wonder. So much had been lost, and there was so much to do, and things were not good or safe, but look, look, isn't this world amazing? Isn't it brighter and stranger than you might ever have dreamed? The artists--Ashanti Fortson, Annie Johnston-Glick, and Taiga Runnel--did a fantastic job at communicating this, in my opinion; I'd be hard-pressed to find better." Because of the nature of Forged in the Dark, downtime is caked into Songs for the Dusk, putting a greater emphasis on role-playing your characters through scenarios where they're relaxing, talking to NPCs, and building up a community. While these elements can certainly be played in other RPGs, Songs for the Dusk seems to handle them the best by making them a central part of the episodic gameplay loop, cultivating calming lulls to better amplify the action-packed highs. This is probably the RPG you want if connecting with beloved NPCs and talking about random stuff with your friends in central hubs is your favorite part of games like Destiny. If you and your friend group already play TTRPGs, there's a good chance y'all play the biggest game in the space: Dungeons & Dragons. And while branching out and trying new systems and RPGs is good for both Game Masters and players, it can also be tricky to convince people to move away from what they're already comfortable with. If you like Destiny and you also like D&D (specifically 5E or 5.5E), then the RPG for you is clear: Dungeons & Destiny. Similar to Star Wars 5E--which reframes the swords and sorcery of D&D 5E to fit the blasters, lightsabers, and Force powers of Star Wars--Dungeons & Destiny flavors the classes, items, species, and magic of Wizards of the Coast's famed TTRPG to emulate the Destiny universe. Helmed by Velvet Fang, Dungeons & Destiny is a massive rework of an already wargame-heavy system, meaning combat and loot is the main focus. That doesn't mean you can't tell interesting stories with it--there are plenty of actual-play podcasts out there that showcase how you can use D&D to tell a compelling tale--but there's little within the rules that promote that aspect of play. You and your group have to be the ones to bring the narrative framing. With Dungeons & Destiny, you're getting a lot. There are a ton of third-party resources out there devoted to telling sci-fi stories in D&D, and the Dungeons & Destiny RPG has a free player's guidebook to help new players learn to make a character and start playing, a free architect guidebook to help fledgling Game Masters learn to run Dungeons & Destiny, and a free monster bestiary, map pack, and token pack so that you can start running combat encounters immediately. You'll still need to familiarize yourself with the rules of D&D 5E to run this game, meaning this RPG has the most prep time of any game listed in this article if you're brand new to playing TTRPGs. But like we said before: If you're already playing D&D, you essentially already understand how Dungeons & Destiny works. If that's you, this might be the easiest of the four games to pick up. The first edition of Dungeons & Destiny launched in 1.0 back in 2018, making it one of the earliest Destiny-like TTRPGs and the oldest in this article. The new Dungeons & Destiny 2E is currently being playtested, which will update the game with more classes, feats, species, and loot. Finally, like Songs for the Dusk, The Brightest Things We Know is also built on the Blades in the Dark system. However, unlike Songs for the Dusk, The Brightest Things We Know hasn't launched in 1.0 yet. This isn't unusual--lots of RPGs remain in an early-access playtest state for years prior to their official release. That doesn't mean you shouldn't try The Brightest Things We Know, though; at the very least, since it's not finished yet, it's free. "[Blades in the Dark] is a system I have a lot of fondness with, and have a lot of fun playing around with and altering, because I feel like it's made of a lot of individual parts you can very easily exchange and alter," tabletop game designer and The Brightest Things We Know creator Briar Sovereign told me. "My big pet peeve with a lot of FITD-based games is that they don't change enough! It's a great kit, and a great foundation. But it's one best used with some of your own pieces swapped in, because Blades is a very specific game for a very specific setting and feel." In The Brightest Things We Know, you play as--as Sovereign describes them--"star-blessed demigods" who have risen from the dead after the arrival of a great alien being known as the Visitor. While the stories you tell are up to you, the crux of the setting makes the past of these demigods the main mystery of each story, with players trying to do all they can to protect their allies before their god-like powers diminish. It feels very coded to the starting plotline of Destiny 2 back when it first launched in 2017. "TBTWK was pretty directly borne out of games like Destiny and Warframe--these sprawling, complicated sci-fantasy settings full of factions and weird superhumans with mysterious pasts, both of which were games I had played a lot of but had eventually given up playing for various reasons," Sovereign said. "Nothing in the TTRPG space really satisfied me when it came to what I'd liked about them, so I took my own spin on it." They continued: "In The Brightest Things We Know, every mission you as characters go on, the group designs and assembles for themselves out of little pieces of mission briefings they've collected--so you're always working together to figure out what kind of story you're going to tell before you even touch the ground. I think my favorite part of making and telling stories with other people like this is the surprises it brings. There's always going to be some angle or incredible little detail that you never would have thought of that someone else brings to the table instead, and that's probably one of the most exciting things about tabletop games for me." I won't sit here and pretend these games are a perfect fix--TTRPGs are a completely different medium to video games, so even if these four RPGs feel like Destiny, they're not exactly the same. But I know that there are people who enjoyed Baldur's Gate or Dragon Age and then went on to find a lot of joy in Dungeons & Dragons; that people who enjoyed Alien Isolation and Dead Space went on to love Mothership; that people who enjoyed Citizen Sleeper and Mass Effect went on to appreciate Scum and Villainy. You'll find a lot of similarities between your favorite video games and certain tabletop games if you're just willing to give the latter a chance, and Destiny specifically happens to have inspired a handful of great-looking games. So if you're not quite ready to see your Guardian's journey come to an end, and you want to keep experiencing their story through the lens of a campfire-like tale that you and your friends tell together, don't fret. Go grab some dice.
As a habitual early adopter, I rushed through the turnstile to board the PlayStation VR train. I was excited to have an easy plug-and-play solution for VR, and I eagerly consumed the sparse early library consisting of games like Batman: Arkham VR. After a year or so, the lack of new releases started to take the shine off the device. It was taking up space--not only as a physical object but the empty space needed to enjoy it--and I ultimately sold it. What felt like immediately afterward, in 2018, Moss arrived. Moss was the first of several critically acclaimed VR games, which would ultimately include Moss: Book 2 and others like Astro Bot Rescue Mission. I cursed my rotten timing and never got a chance to play Moss or its sequel. So I've been especially keen to check out Moss: The Forgotten Relic, a compilation of the two games reworked for consoles. Judging by a short demo, my excitement hasn't been misplaced. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=8z3XAu9kr3g My demo included a short segment of Moss: Book 2, walking me through the basic puzzle and battle mechanics. You are the Reader, peering down into the storybook and able to impact the world through your own actions. Your perspective is locked to a point, as the characters move through the world below you, so it's as if you're looking down into the hidden world of mice adventurers. This is a remnant of its VR roots, but it doesn't feel so innately tied to VR that it's out of place in a standard action-adventure game. After being introduced to the brave (and adorable) little mouse Quill and learning how to move her around the world, she's struck down and you as the Reader have to reach inside the book to save her. This is one moment I'm sure was more impactful in full VR, where you would presumably feel yourself physically moving into the play space, but The Forgotten Relic maps it to a shoulder button, which gets the feeling across relatively well. That starting-point illustration of reaching inside the world was iterated on by showing me that I could "grab" an enemy beetle to guide it to certain points. This wasn't an actual grip around the enemy, though, since I didn't pick up the beetle itself. Instead I guided it like a cursor using an ethereal blue light, and it followed the path. Similarly, the shoulder button was used to grab and pull and mechanisms, opening pathways or raising platforms for Quill to cross, all the while taking down scattered beetles with a tiny mouse-scale sword. After a while I came across enemies with tougher shells, along with icons marked with a hammer, and sure enough, a nearby statue split open to reveal a new weapon, a hammer. This was a bit more awkward. I could swing the hammer as normal for a heavier attack, but this wasn't enough to take down the enemies with metallic shells. To do that I had to use a charged attack, which didn't work exactly as I'd expected. Instead of simply charging and releasing, holding down the button would produce another ghostly blue outline of a hammer, which floats in place where it was charged. Then I would have to highlight it with the cursor to bring the hammer down. That delayed action is used for puzzle solving--letting you queue up a strike against a pressure plate and then move into position for whatever device it activates--but it takes some getting used to. Fortunately the combat in this demo was low-pressure enough that I never felt overwhelmed by this strong attack requiring multiple steps, but I could see it being tricky in the full game. Moss: The Forgotten Relic After this it was just a matter of combining the skills I had learned thus far--fighting with the sword and hammer, guiding a beetle enemy to a pressure plate across multiple platforms, and solving a few other environmental puzzles. The demo ended just as it teased a boss fight, which looked massive compared to Quill. Moss: The Forgotten Relic looks to be a second chance at life for a great series that I missed the first time around. While aspects of the game still seem made for VR, the charm and personality shine through. VR might still be the best place to play the Moss games, but for those of us who never got a headset--or foolishly got rid of it--this looks to be a close second.
Nintendo’s June 2026 Nintendo Direct has come and gone, and alongside a slew of announcements, the presentation was concluded with a very brief glimpse of a much-rumored remake, The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. The initial moments of footage feature a beautiful tapestry, alongside a narrator giving a cliff-notes introduction to the series as a whole. However, as the gorgeous stylized retelling of Link’s story fades, a brand-new take on OoT’s Link emerges, and it is… underwhelming to say the least. https://youtu.be/r8eMoxo4ipE?si=US8wwCfO-8TJhuAI Importantly, the footage revealed today is a teaser. It is undoubtedly just meant to evoke memories, excite longtime fans, and announce this project to the world. It’s often a fool’s errand, trying to offer a definitive statement on so little information, but seeing as Nintendo decided to reveal it this way, we have to work with what we have. The finished product certainly could look different, but so far, what's shown has left me with a single, lingering question: Is The Legend of Zelda series about to become a lot less weird? The Legend of Zelda is a strange series to explain, and it's even harder to offer a definitive entry point for hopeful newcomers. Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom might be the most recent and critically acclaimed entries, but you’ll be missing a lot of great nods to the past if you start here. Link To The Past is also a fantastic starting point, but many people won’t even attempt a game with such ‘outdated’ graphics nowadays (cowards). The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past When push comes to shove, I'd argue that the best way to learn about Zelda is probably to play Ocarina of Time, but the N64 entry has aged quite badly in terms of visuals, and mechanically, it definitely needs a few tweaks here and there. With that in mind, a remake of Ocarina of Time makes perfect sense on paper--especially when you consider a Legend of Zelda live-action film is coming in less than a year. This remake will allow young fans to play the most iconic entry in the series with the gorgeous modern visuals they crave. Then, newcomers of all ages can get a crash course in Zelda’s biggest characters, lore, and most impactful story beats. But that first look at a young Link, huddled up in his hut in Kokiri Forest, didn’t stir up the emotions I was hoping this reveal would. It looks graphically impressive; it even looks beautiful, in a way. But it doesn’t evoke the personality of Zelda that I recognize and love. Whether it’s Wind Waker’s vibrant cel-shaded world, the darker tone and gnarled characters of Twilight Princess, or the beautiful painterly style of Skyward Sword, Zelda always feels distinct. It goes without saying that this remake of Ocarina of Time will have many more moments and opportunities to visually impress than this brief scene portrays, but Nintendo itself has chosen to make this our first look. Those few seconds of footage show a clean, polished, realistic, and utterly dull version of Link that doesn’t seem to convey any of the visual identity the series is known for. A sleeping young Link in The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake. With a huge movie on the horizon, I wonder if Ocarina of Time's new art direction is meant to create one clear visual identity for Zelda--one that is far more grounded and presumably appeals to the fans the series is sure to gain following the release of the film. Much like Mario, this new movie will have a lot of merch, so perhaps this remake is here in part to clearly define the iconography and visual identity of the Zelda franchise and to help consumers when browsing store shelves. Ever since the Super Mario Movie released, Donkey Kong now looks much closer to his cinematic counterpart, and it's a drastic shift from his former Rare-designed style. Nintendo likely was never going to reveal a remake of Ocarina of Time with a drastic visual overhaul. While something cel-shaded or even animated like Orbitals would be a dream come true for me, that doesn’t make business sense. But therein lies the problem. This brief glimpse of Ocarina of Time feels sanded down, focus-tested, and polished to sell to a mass market. This snapshot seems like the most consumer-ready version of Zelda--an already consumer-friendly series--we've seen yet, and it will almost certainly be used to heavily promote the upcoming movie alongside popcorn buckets, McDonald's toys, and a MooMoo Milk-flavoured Oreo collab. But is that a good enough reason to remake OoT? Nintendo is a multi-billion dollar company, and Zelda is one of its tentpole franchises, so yes, it is a mass market product already, but does it need to look this bland? A look at the upcoming The Legend of Zelda live-action movie. A remaster of the original could work; in fact, we know it could, because it did. Ocarina of Time 3DS is a gorgeous and vibrant retelling that takes the quirks of the original and runs with them. Taken at face value, this brief reveal gives "hire this man" Unreal demo vibes like so many viral Mario clips, and while that might be fine in other franchises, it doesn’t fly here. Zelda works because it is weird; the series' dedication to a bold visual identity (despite what fans think) is a core tenet of its spirit. I’m a huge Zelda fan, and I will play this Ocarina of Time remake; in fact, I’ll probably love it. Yet at this point, I can’t help but worry Nintendo has produced a distilled and sanitized version of this famously quirky series, all just to get a perfect product on shelves to promote before the movie. This remake doesn’t need to look drastically different, or strange and off-putting, but this visual style feels so dialed back in the other direction that there might be nothing of Zelda left. Here’s hoping gameplay footage proves us wrong soon.
Jess Cogswell got to see 15 minutes of Silent Hill Townfall gameplay and learned more about the game, the aggressive enemies, gameplay mechanics and more.
Nintendo's decision to host a Nintendo Direct this June befuddles me. The virtual showcase wasn't terrible, but it certainly didn't wow me either. Deltarune is very cool, so it was nice to see a release date for Chapter 5, and I'm sure plenty of folks are thrilled to jump back into Pokemon Pokopia with its new expansion pass. But the games that would have been this Direct's big hitters, Kingdom Hearts IV and a remake for The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time, got extremely short teasers that didn't drum up much hype (for me, anyway). The entire Direct felt somewhat lackluster, and I wonder why Nintendo didn't just hold off on having a showcase until later this year. The current landscape of virtual game showcases owes a lot to Nintendo. While major virtual presentations being livestreamed were a major part of E3 when that was still a thing, Nintendo established the framework for how showcases should work with its Directs, starting back in 2011. Nintendo basically separated itself from E3 entirely in 2013, ditching its annual stage presentation to just host Directs. And because of that, Nintendo no longer needed to be restrained to summer for big announcements. The community understood that Directs were their own thing, and they could be hosted at any time. This has been incredible for Nintendo as it's been able to have showcases whenever there has been something to showcase. While some Directs have been far more impressive than others, most of them--especially in recent years--have done a great job of getting the audience excited and talking about at least one game. Each one felt carefully curated and well-prepared. The lack of substantial gameplay or news for Kingdom Hearts IV and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time leaves me wondering why Nintendo revealed anything about them at all. These announcements felt undercooked, like they both could have spent a bit more time in secrecy before their public unveiling to the world. Comparing this Direct to more recent June Directs paints a stark contrast. In 2025, we got a substantial gameplay reveal for Donkey Kong Bananza; in 2024, we got the announcement and gameplay reveal for The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom and both a gameplay reveal and plenty of new info for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond; and in 2023, we got the announcement and gameplay reveal for Pokemon Scarlet/Violet's two DLC expansions, the announcement and gameplay reveal for the remake of Super Mario RPG, the gameplay reveal for Pikmin 4, and the announcement and a pretty big gameplay reveal for Super Mario Bros. Wonder. When I compare those showcases to this year's Direct, it feels like night and day. Maybe something was happening behind the scenes that prevented Nintendo from being able to show what it planned to, or perhaps Nintendo thinks the mere mention of Ocarina of Time getting a remake for Switch 2 is an announcement on par with an entire gameplay reveal for Mario, Pokemon, Donkey Kong, Metroid, or any of its other first-party franchises. If anything, however, this showcase felt more like an act of obligation than anything else, as if Nintendo felt a need to showcase something, anything, to warrant being in the Summer Game Fest conversation. And, frankly, Nintendo doesn't need to be a part of the SGF conversation. It continues to draw viewership for its Directs and hype for its games, largely because its showcases for upcoming games almost always celebrate them with detailed looks at gameplay and fun insights from game directors or producers. If Nintendo somehow feels like it needs to host a Direct within the vicinity of SGF, I hope it ditches that philosophy soon. I'd much rather only have Directs when Nintendo has something it wants to show off, not when it feels pressured it has to show anything off.
My very first reaction upon seeing the new story-driven focus of Virtua Fighter Crossroads – RGG Studios' bold new reimagining of the storied fighting game franchise – was “Hey you got Shenmue in my Virtua Fighter.” Both of those franchises were created by Sega royalty Yu Suzuki, who was responsible for many of the company’s biggest hits from Space Harrier to After Burner. Shenmue was arguably his most ambitious, an early open-world game with a scale (and commensurate budget!) that wowed the Dreamcast audience in 1999. Six years earlier, Virtua Fighter was the first 3D fighting game and its creation heralded a massive shift in the gaming industry. So it stands to reason that Suzuki’s legacy looms large over the franchise, not to mention Sega itself, and Crossroads' creative director tells GameSpot that it was important to them to show Suzuki their game. At Summer Game Fest last weekend, creative director Riichiro Yamada told GameSpot that they had a chance to show off their concept for Virtua Fighter Crossroads to Suzuki who “gave such great feedback” about “how this really is still Virtua Fighter.” With this motivation imbued in them from the franchise creator, RGG knew they were “going in a good direction.” New series protagonist Cielo just walking down the street instead of fighting people. "All right, we're doing it. We're doing it well,” he recalls thinking. "When I came into the company, Shenmue was big, and Yu-san was the top creator. So, the fact that I was able to pitch this game and get such great feedback made me feel pretty good," Yamada said. "The old game was really an arcade game, but when we were talking to Yu-san, we threw out, 'It can’t just be arcade. It’s got to be a game for everyone first.' And that means story and narrative that we weren’t able to do in the old games." While Yamada was scared he’d get bad feedback from Suzuki, he said, “Yu-san was like, ‘Yeah, you're right’ [about adding story and narrative].” And with that validation, he thought “Ok, we all agree let’s do this.” Despite the fact that Yu Suzuki stepped down from much of his responsibilities at Sega nearly two decades ago, after spending over two decades there, his imprint and legacy are still helping define what's next for Sega. For more on Sega's Summer Game Fest lineup, check out our coverage of Virtua Fighter Crossroads' 1v1 mode, the new Crazy Taxi World Tour, and even [checks notes] Tupac in Stranger Than Heaven.
Prior to this week, the only options that Switch owners had to play the Kingdom Hearts franchise was via the cloud versions offered by Square Enix. However, with the new Switch and Switch 2 versions on the horizon, Square Enix has announced that Kingdom Hearts' Switch cloud versions are being delisted. The following titles will be affected by the decision and no longer playable after today, June 9. ・Kingdom Hearts - HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX - Cloud Version・Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue Cloud Version・Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind (DLC) Cloud Version・Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece Cloud Version Separately, those game collections ranged from $40 to $50, while Kingdom Hearts Integrum Masterpiece brought them all together for $90. The newly announced digital versions of Kingdom Hearts - HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX for Switch and Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] for Switch 2 are available for preorder now. Players who owned Switch cloud copies of previous Kingdom Hearts games are eligible to get a 50% discount on the following digital versions: ・Kingdom Hearts - HD 1.5+2.5 ReMIX - (Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 version)・Kingdom Hearts HD 2.8 Final Chapter Prologue (Nintendo Switch 2 version)・Kingdom Hearts III + Re Mind (DLC) (Nintendo Switch 2 version)・Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] (Nintendo Switch 2 version) https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=ldMqRmTwy80 There will be a physical version of Kingdom Hearts Collection [I~III] for Switch 2, but the discount will not be offered for that compilation. There is one bright spot for players who owned cloud versions of these games. Square Enix has confirmed that the save data from those editions will be transferable to the Switch 2 digital versions. As for the future of the Kingdom Hearts franchise, Kingdom Hearts 4 received a surprise teaser during today's Nintendo Direct. That came with the news that the Switch 2 port of Kingdom Hearts 4 will arrive alongside its counterparts on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. For now, the sequel doesn't have a release date.
The Guitar Hero series may be dead and gone, but in its place comes a new game called Stage Tour, and it's made by the latest evolution of the same studio that created Guitar Hero. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=kckXRmcp_Uk A critical component of any good music games is its tracklist, and the Embracer-owned RedOctane Games has announced the first 25 tunes for Stage Tour. The officially licensed setlist includes songs from a range of genres, and features big-name bands like Red Hot Chili Peppers, Weezer, and Ghost. And of course, there is Smash Smash's "All Star," which is forever connected to the animated classic Shrek. Stage Tour songs, so far "RATATATA" — BABYMETAL & Electric Callboy "Get The Funk Out" — Extreme "Square Hammer" — Ghost "Mimi's Delivery Service" — Good Kid "Dani California" — Red Hot Chili Peppers "Terminator Oscillator" — Static-X "Island In The Sun" — Weezer "Bite Me" — Avril Lavigne "Airhead" — Honey Revenge "For A Pessimist, I'm Pretty Optimistic" — Paramore "Do Me Like That" — The Paradox "Jane!" — The Long Faces "The Unknowing" — Jfarrari "Siren" — Castle Rat "Broken Dreams, Inc." — Rise Against "Psychosocial" — Slipknot "The Motherload" — Mastodon "The End" — Mammoth "Blind and Frozen" — Beast In Black "Just Like Heaven" — The Cure "Just" — Radiohead "Just Pretend" — Bad Omens "In the Stars" — The Rolling Stones "All Star" — Smash Mouth "Starlight" — Muse RedOctane will announce more artists and tracks later this summer--including at Gamescom this month-- ahead of launch later this year on console and PC. Just like Guitar Hero and Rock Band before it, Stage Tour allows players to group up or play music solo on guitar, drums, keyboard, and vocals. Some of the in-game guitars for Stage Tour. In terms of peripherals, players can buy a specially designed guitar controller made in partnership with Gibson's Kramer, along with a modulator guitar kit. Additionally, Stage Tour features in-game guitars from Gibson, Epiphone, and Kramer, including the iconic Gibson SG.
The Monument of Triumph update is the final content update for Destiny 2. When I first began playing the game a decade ago, I was instantly hooked. Over the years I've made friends, experienced the best long-running narrative in a game ever, and cleared all of my plans to be able to experience the newest raid, dungeon, or next story beat. This time around it's a little different. There is no race to be prepared for, and my clan hasn't been frantically discussing the best builds or possible strategies. We're all just going to log in one final time, see what Bungie has made for us, and enjoy it for what it is. It seems we're not alone in that sentiment, as the Destiny 2 player count on Steam alone has shot up to more than 160,000 and climbing. Notably, the player count is peaking at almost double that of Marathon's highest recorded on SteamDB. It's not quite the lofty heights of the finale of The Final Shape, or the release of Lightfall, which saw 316,750 Guardians log in to discover what would happen after the Vanguard discovered the pyramid-shaped fleet of The Witness was approaching. Still, it's a statement to Sony that people do still care about Destiny. A lot. As the player count soared, the old Destiny 2 traditions began to return in the form of server queues, error codes, and randomly getting kicked from an instance. It wouldn't be a Destiny 2 update without some technical issues, after all. There is still a petition running to get Sony and Bungie to consider making Destiny 3, although the creator of that petition, Luckyy10p, says it's been made to "send a message" rather than a genuine belief that this could turn the tide of the game's future. But if any decision makers from those companies are reading this article, we do, in fact, really want Destiny 3.
I never played much Star Fox as a kid. Save for maybe a few minutes here and there at a friend or cousin's house, I've basically not played the series whatsoever. So I was safely out on playing the new one arriving this summer for Switch 2. But a funny thing happened this morning: We actually learned who is making it--something that oddly doesn't happen much with Nintendo games until we can watch the credits--and the answer has completely changed my plans. The New York-based Velan Studios was delighted to announce today that it's the development team working with Nintendo on Star Fox, and that the game is built on Velan's proprietary engine, Viper. If you don't know it by name, Velan is a fairly young team, established in 2016, with several games to its name. Of those, the most important one to me is Knockout City. The 3v3 dodgeball game was an incredibly fun arcade sports game, and I've never really gotten over the game coming offline a few years ago. It's one of my favorite games ever. I've followed the team since then and have been enjoying its more recent release, Midnight Murder Club, a PvP shooter set in a completely darkened mansion that demands players rely on flashlights and sounds to track down their opponents. What these two very different games have in common, beyond their novel gameplay mechanics, is their abundance of charm. Both games offer ample opportunities for players to showcase their skills, but they were also soundtracked by the frequent laughter from those playing. There's a childlike heart to both games that can't be missed--what better way to capture a youthful spirit than things like dodgeball and hide-and-seek? https://bsky.app/profile/velanstudios.bsky.social/post/3mnuig2crp225 I don't know much about Star Fox, but to me, that sounds like the perfect team to take on a Nintendo franchise where players fly through space and perform daring combat maneuvers on an adventure with colorful characters. To the extent I can get away with "rooting" for a studio, a relatively small team that made one of my favorite games but has since suffered some commercial struggles seems to qualify. I assume the publisher and developer rekindled their relationship from earlier to make Star Fox happen. Believe it or not, the team's very first game was Nintendo's Mario Kart Live: Home Circuit, an augmented-reality racing game. Velan would later go on to use the same tech in a Hot Wheels game, too, and has also released a virtual-reality pinball game called Bounce Arcade. This type of portfolio suggests a team willing to try unconventional things, and to bring Star Fox back, I think you need to think outside the box. I'm excited to see Velan get called on for such a major project. As many players are surely returning to Star Fox as longtime fans hopeful for a revival that feels like it was worth the wait, I come to it from a decidedly different angle, but suddenly eager to play it, too.
After months of rumors and leaks, Nintendo finally officially announced its remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. It's an appropriate way to mark the series' 40th birthday this year, as Ocarina of Time is widely regarded as one of the best Zelda games of all time, along with being a formative experience for games' transition to 3D. Despite the obvious significance, though, the art style used for our extremely brief glimpse was divisive--and that's something Nintendo could have avoided by showing gameplay. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=r8eMoxo4ipE First, let's review what this cinematic reveal trailer actually does show. The narration explains the land of Hyrule, which houses a small forest in one corner, full of spritely folk who act as protectors with the help of their guardian fairies--with the exception of one boy, who does not have a fairy. Against this narration we see slow pans around a tapestry showing familiar elements like the Great Deku Tree and Link himself. It then transitions to a view of Link, sleeping in his bed, as the Triforce starts to resonate on his hand. As reveals go, it was an appropriately reverent tease. It established the world and what makes this version of Link special as he starts his adventure to eventually become the destined Hero of Time. It hints at a larger story with the iconic Triforce symbol glowing on his hand. I especially love that plot point in Ocarina of Time, so it was exciting to see it being teased right from the start. And to a certain extent, announcing it this way makes sense. It's a remake of a beloved game, after all, so the first thing Nintendo showed us is essentially a recreation of how we got our first look at Link in the original Ocarina of Time: peacefully sleeping and unaware of his heroic destiny. At the same time, the original Ocarina of Time probably would've been a lot less exciting if this was all we had to go on: Image Credit: Game Master TV on YouTube Nintendo surely wants to save its gameplay presentation for another time, likely a dedicated Direct event that focuses solely on Ocarina of Time. That will be where it shows off the first gameplay and likely details any updates or new quality-of-life features. It's a classic PR video game rollout: a tease to wet fans' whistles, followed by a showcase later on. So why is this one inspiring such divisive reactions? To start, the Ocarina remake was so heavily rumored and leaked that fans had already priced in the reveal as a foregone conclusion. The purpose of a teaser like this is to announce the existence of a project, but the types of people who follow gaming news closely--and who would tune in for a Nintendo Direct in the middle of a weekday--already knew about it. Nintendo essentially said "Hey, this exists!" and the reaction was "Yeah, we know." And that is also why the lack of gameplay stands out here. The remake isn't a surprise, and we all know the story by heart. If we had seen even a snippet of gameplay, we would have a better idea of how this art style works in motion, when Link is actually moving around the world. It's difficult to judge, by this brief cinematic snippet, how well the art style will work for the dynamism and adventure that characterizes the Zelda series. Nintendo has a special gift for artistry, honed by years of squeezing the most out of its underpowered hardware. I have no doubts that in motion, in gameplay, the Ocarina of Time remake will look excellent. But by forgoing that for its first reveal, Nintendo generated debate over whether this art style works. None of us will really know how well it works until we see it in practice, but Nintendo chose to present it this way. Now we have no choice but to wonder and second-guess until we see the game in action--hopefully sooner rather than later.
At Fanfest 2025, Fenris Creations' CEO Hilmar Veigar Pétursson made a throwaway comment about preserving the history of Eve Online in an epic poem--inked in the blood of the players who created it. Turns out, the members of Eve's absurdly dedicated playerbase were surprisingly enthusiastic about the idea. Now, at the 2026 edition of Fanfest, Fenris Creations (formerly CCP Games) is collecting their blood and putting it to use to realize a pretty extreme goal. But it's one that doesn't look anything like how the studio originally envisioned it. After last year's Fanfest, developers set to work on figuring out just how to safely collect players' blood and use it as ink to write the poem, known in Eve as the Capsuleer Edda. They quickly realized several things: Blood is a terrible ink; collecting the necessary amount of blood from each person is ethically questionable; and responsibly gathering one of the most precious bodily fluids a person possesses is trickier than it first seems. So, they set out to find some help. Developers started searching for blood experts who might have the expertise they needed, and discovered an unassuming news article. The article mentioned Mark Crowther, an acclaimed University professor and chair of medicine at McMaster University, and the Leo Pharma chair in Thrombosis Research. He's also a global authority on blood disorders and anticoagulation. It talked about Crowther's work on a study focused on the blood thinner Warfarin, taking place in Iceland, where Fenris Creations is based. And it mentioned that Crowther, or Crowthrm Kaundur, as he's known in-game, was an avid fan of Eve Online. The stars had seemingly aligned, and Fenris had their expert. The Capsuleer Edda was a-go. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uegcZqbpKfY I spoke to Crowther at this year's Fanfest about his involvement with the project, and how it's changed since Fenris's early visualizations. "I was in the audience last year when Hilmar [Veigar Pétursson, Fenris CEO] announced it," Crowther explained. "When he said he was going to write the history of Eve in blood, I looked at my son and said, 'That's cool, but it's also really dumb.' That's for two big reasons. The first is, you can't just use human blood for something because it isn't ink--it wouldn't work as an ink--but more importantly, you'd create a huge biohazard. You can't just start sloshing human blood around!" Crowther received an email from Pétursson a few months later, which opened a dialogue between him and the developers working on the Capsuleer Edda project. Hilmar Smári Finsen, Fenris's marketing and events coordinator, confirmed that Fenris was having "some difficulties" in making the project a reality. "They wanted to be able to look a Capsuleer in the eye and say, 'If you do the appropriate test, you will be in that ink,'" Crowther explained. "But the way they originally wanted to do it, it just wouldn't work." The Capsuleer Edda. "Because Iceland has traditionally had a very genetically homogenous population, there's been a lot of DNA work done here," he continued. "A lot. Some really important studies have come out of Iceland and so as a result of that, there's a lot of technology companies in Iceland." One such company is helping Fenris ensure that the procedure is safe, and is processing the participants' collected blood. That processing removes any pathogens and minimizes the biohazard risk. "We put in place industry-standard rigor around making sure the blood is not a biohazard," Crowther explained. Eve is dying. Another issue the team faced was more ethical. "DNA is very personal, there are all kinds of consent and legal issues around how you use it, and we've worked through that with the help of an Icelandic legal team," he said. Finsen stated that there is "no person I would rather have on the team than [Mark]. Every conversation we've had, we've expressed some concerns or issues. He's just like, 'This is the way to do it, this is how you do it.' He's solved a lot of issues that we, as a video game company, never could have imagined." For Crowther, that's just second nature. "In the real world where I work, in terms of research and stuff, we deal with this every day," he said. "We do these kinds of projects. For these guys, it's like, 'Oh my God, how are we going to do this?' For us, it's like, 'Oh, we got to get another consent through.' So it was a neat alignment of two completely divergent sets of skills." Eve Online. With the technicalities of gathering and processing blood under control, Fenris's next consideration was around what, exactly, they wanted to preserve for thousands of years. The term "edda" has been applied to two medieval Icelandic texts: the Prose Edda and the Poetic Edda. Both were recorded in 13th Century Iceland, but refer to material far older, reaching as far back as the time of the Vikings. Due to their influence on Iceland's skaldic tradition, Fenris knew that it wanted to follow a similar path and create something that would be referred back to, not only as a way to understand Eve Online, but a way to understand the world players experienced outside of the game. The Capsuleer Edda poem is being written collaboratively by Andri Snær Magnason and Jónas Reynir Gunnarsson, two local poets with extensive experience. Magnason has known Fenris CEO Pétursson for some time--the two were actually born on the same day in the same house. Magnason's brother even helped with beta testing Eve Online prior to its release. Gunnarsson played Eve Online from its inception and became a poet later in life. Death is a serious matter. "Hilmar and I have often discussed all sorts of concepts of games, games versus real life, and a game as the mother of storytelling," Gunnarsson explained. "It was impossible 30 years ago to immerse so many people within a single universe." Pétursson, Gunnarsson, and Magnason would go on to discuss putting the world of Eve into words with a root--a mythological source, a founding poem. "It's not only the game's Bible, but something even deeper. We went further into it and I said, 'If we do that, I would want it to be written on calfskin.' Then I spoke to the calfskin provider in the UK, and he claims that it will last for 5,000 years," Magnason said. Calfskin is used in the project because of its longevity, but also because of its rich historical legacy. Calfskin was used in the Middle Ages for valuable texts. The calfskin provider, Gunnarsson explains, makes most of the documents for the royal family. The Capsuleer Edda will be the first Icelandic text to be preserved on calfskin, or vellum, in 700 years. Eve Online. Of course, 5,000 years in the future would see a very different world than the one we live in now. If the Edda is kept in a dry place away from sunlight, it has the potential to outlast almost everything that we can see now. Magnason and Gunnarsson knew it was important to not only capture the spirit of Eve, but to preserve the state of the universe as we know and live in it today. "When we started making the poem, and started thinking of it lasting for 5,000 years, then we thought of it as one of a few artifacts that might remain from our current civilization. It could be the only text of us that will remain, from all of our books of poetry. So that turned into a conceptual artwork," Magnason explained. "Kind of like how Icelandic mythology might be a future memory, that's what the Vikings were dreaming of--the afterlife, where they would fight all day and drink all night amongst the stars. That is what's happening here now." Gunnarsson added, "It's like a video game. They kill each other, and you're revived, reborn, and just drink with your buddies." The Vikings dreamed of the excitement and urges and essence of war, without the bloody consequences of grief and terror. Could you work all of those urges out in a space where it's basically a game? That was Valhalla, Gunnarsson said. "Now we are in Valhalla, but maybe there is a future memory of this actual world after 20,000 years that we haven't found out yet. Because Hilmar and Eve Online have been flirting with the Viking heritage, with swords, it's been a bit anachronistic." Eve Online. During the keynote speech at this year's Eve Fanfest, Pétursson mentioned that he wanted to take the Capsuleer Edda to the moon. As I've come to learn, when the Fenris Creations CEO jokes about something, it very quickly becomes a real possibility. "It might be on the moon for a thousand years, and then somebody brings it back, and there has been a 700-year regime on Earth that has erased everything that we've done. All previous history has been erased, so we've had to consider how to convey 2026 to a civilization where this constructed, manmade, linear time has been erased and 2026 doesn't mean anything," Magnason explained. The process of taking the blood and the resulting mix up of all of the DNA came as a bit of a surprise to Magnason, who says that he'd prefer to have the possibility of reviving players thousands of years in the future purely from their DNA. "I understand the ethical concerns, but you leave DNA everywhere," he said. "You go to the hairdresser and leave it behind!" Eve Fanfest 2026. Although the Capsuleer Edda is going to be written on calfskin, possibly in a shortened form since "calfskin is very expensive," Andri said, he also believes that poetry should reach people. "I think some games could be questionable, but this game has real deep threads of friendship, people have real, life-changing experiences," he said. "Poetry always amplifies, supports, or mirrors those experiences." It's not solely his decision, but Magnason said he believes the Capsuleer Edda should be offered to Eve players in a format other than the original calfskin copies, so they can read it and experience it in their own way. Although the timeline for the creation of the Capsuleer Edda is not firmly established just yet, everyone involved assures me that it "will definitely" be happening. So, while the first version of the Edda has been printed, it's not yet available to read, and Fenris doesn't want to give players false expectations around that timeline. With the scientific processes underway, and the poets having kindly done a deep dive on how they went about writing the Capsuleer Edda, there was only one thing left for me to do. I had to get involved. Having my blood taken (!) Signing up to the blood donation was easy, albeit thorough. There were plenty of consent forms to read, and the medical staff on site did an excellent job of explaining the procedure. They'd first clean my skin with an alcohol wipe, and then take out a clean, sterilized, single-use needle.They pricked my index finger and squeezed it, allowing a few drops of blood to drop onto a piece of absorbent paper that soaked them up. That was then tossed into a general box, immediately anonymizing my sample. Then, for good measure, I got a pack of Eve Online band-aids and a carton of orange juice to take away. If in the future my blood sample makes its way to the moon in the form of an epic poem, it'll be much further than I'll have gotten during my living existence. I have no immediate plans to physically go to the moon--but if I've learned anything from the sheer dedication of Eve players, developers, and professional collaborators, it's to never say never.
The Season 8.5 update is coming soon in Marvel Rivals, and in addition to the arrival of Cyclops as well as the new Bounty Annihilation game mode, the shop is getting into the summer spirit with a brand new set of themed skins. Just like last year around this time, NetEase Games is celebrating the arrival of the summer season with a new event beginning on June 18. The 2026 Summer Festival Event will introduce new in-game login rewards, the Hellfire Bay Beach social hub, and the return of the 616 Day Vault. However, players will also be able to purchase a total of 10 new summer-themed skins from the shop in Marvel Rivals. These skins are called "Swimsuit Special costumes" and will be available for 10 different heroes. Ever since the release of the swimsuit skins during the 2025 summer event, fans have been pleading with the developers to add more, and NetEase Games obliged. The 10 Swimsuit Special costumes will be for heroes like Emma Frost, White Fox, Black Widow, Cloak & Dagger, Captain America, and more. While we don't have any official names or in-game images of the individual skins yet, we do have a rendering of what the skins will look like for each of the heroes. Below, we'll list every hero receiving a Swimsuit Special costume in the Marvel Rivals 2026 Summer Festival Event. Emma Frost Just like her name, Emma Frost's swimsuit for the summer event is white and cold. However, the skin also comes with a large sun hat and some high heels that certainly add a little bit of height to the character. Doctor Strange Doctor Strange's swimsuit skin might have the most detail out of the entire lineup. For starters, he has the Eye of Agamotto around his neck and a purple Hawaiian shirt with an orange speedo bathing suit. However, the subtle details really separate the skin, as he has a flower in his ear, a handbag, and shark flip-flops. Cloak & Dagger As always with Cloak & Dagger, you're getting two skins for the price of one. Cloak dons seashell-themed attire while Dagger matches him. However, the two wear contrasting colored bathing suits to signify which side of the light/dark force dimension they command. Spider-Man Spider-Man's summer skin sees him exit his spidey costume in favor of a Peter Parker look. However, there are still plenty of references to the sticky hero in the skin, with the hat, speedo, and flip-flops all having the Spider-Man logo on them. Mister Fantastic Mister Fantastic might not be wearing a speedo-style bathing suit, but it's pretty close. The hero still has a utility belt and a utility armband as part of the swimsuit skin, though. Lady Loki Many fans were hoping for a swimsuit Lady Loki skin, and the developers delivered. The skin features Lady Loki in a black and green one-piece suit with plenty of gold accents to round out the look. Daredevil Daredevil seems to be the resident lifeguard on duty in the Summer Festival Event. His entire ensemble looks like something out of Baywatch. Black Widow To no one's surprise, it appears as though Black Widow has the most revealing swimsuit skin in the Summer Festival Event. While not as revealing as other skins in the past, this swimsuit costume features a corset-style one-piece suit as well as large high heels with an ankle holster. Captain America Captain America's swimsuit looks more like gym attire than anything else, but that certainly fits the hero's aesthetic. Curiously, the swimsuit looks more orange than red, but there's still a star and stripes featured across the suit. White Fox Finally, White Fox is the tenth and final hero with a swimsuit skin in the Summer Festival Event. The skin certainly matches the character's vibe, complete with a furry sun hat, orange one-piece suit, and flowered high heels.
Overwatch's next hero is a dual-wielding cyberpunk demon named Shion, developer Blizzard has revealed, and she looks like she's ripped straight from Cyberpunk 2077. Shion is billed as "the most terrifying elder of the Hashimoto Clan," a Japanese criminal family that has ties to the global terrorist organization Talon and is behind the assassination of Sojiro Shimada, the father of Hanzo and Genji. That should make for some interesting story developments between the two brothers and Shion, with Kiriko and Mizuki also shown in artwork for the new season and presumably set to play a role as well. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=UKJL7JfIvNg A new animated story trailer gives players their first proper glimpse at Shion in action, as she battles against Sojourn on top of a train in order to obtain a mysterious shipment critical to Talon's plans. Looking almost entirely cybernetic, with red horns and a stylish white suit, she certainly makes a strong first impression, standing out among Overwatch's already incredibly distinct and diverse cast of playable heroes. The trailer doesn't give too much away in terms of what Shion's abilities or role might be, though she can be seen using two pistols and a knife. Her aggressive combat style and attitude is certainly giving Damage-role vibes, but we'll have to wait for Blizzard to reveal her toolkit to know for sure. In case her cyberpunk influences weren't obvious enough, she's also shown drifting around Tokyo on a motorcycle, Akira style. Players won't have to wait long to see more of Shion. She'll be arriving in Overwatch Season 3 for free on June 16, as the game continues its 2026 Reign of Talon storyline. Blizzard rebranded Overwatch 2 into simply Overwatch earlier this year in a massive update that added five new heroes at once. Blizzard additionally promised another new hero each season for the remainder of 2026, for a total of 10 new heroes this year. Season 2 introduced Sierra, a Damage hero with a grappling hook that saw players quickly complaining about her ultimate ability being too powerful. In other related news, some of Overwatch's most iconic characters are now in Fortnite.
During the June Nintendo Direct, Vampire Survivors developer Poncle announced an adaptation of the hit manga and anime series Jujutsu Kaisen, called Jujutsu Kaisen Rumble: Survivaton. Like Vampire Survivors, players will battle sinister forces--Cursed Spirits born from humanity's fears and anxieties--grow in power, and eventually become the strongest sorcerer on the block. The only catch is that this is a multiplayer game, and there's only room for one survivor when the clock runs out. Up to eight players can compete online, and as you cut through enemies, you'll accumulate points. The top two players will face off in a duel, and only one of them will emerge victorious. Another cool feature directly inspired by the source material is how players can add rules once they gather 100 points. This is taken directly from the Culling Games arc of the Jujutsu Kaisen series, and allows for an opponent's momentum to be disrupted while you climb up the ranks. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=yffQAXMLSL0 As you'd expect, powerful bosses will also appear while you're exorcising Cursed Spirits, new characters can be unlocked by meeting certain conditions, and each sorcerer has a unique ability. Poncle says that the game roster will include over 20 Jujutsu Kaisen characters, each with their own skills and playstyle. The game launches later in 2026 for PC, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and Switch 2. If you haven't seen Jujutsu Kaisen yet, then you've missed out on one of the hottest anime adaptations of the 2020s. The show follows Yuji Itadori after he swallows the cursed finger--no, really--of history's greatest and most malevolent sorcerer, Ryomen Sukuna, and becomes a vessel for the genocidal hedonist. Throw in outstanding animation, a killer soundtrack, and memorable characters like a talking panda, and you've got all the ingredients you need for a hit anime. Meanwhile, Poncle remains busy with other projects, like a brand-new expansion for Vampire Survivors and a spin-off set in the Warhammer 40,000 universe. The developer also announced the formation of Survivaton, a new label dedicated to Survivors-like projects, and the formation of the studio's Japan branch.
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