Final Fantasy XVI will be the first mainline-numbered Final Fantasy game with a Mature rating. The presumption might be that developer Creative Business Unit III wanted this game to have more violence to accompany its new action-heavy combat, but that’s not the case. The team put little thought into the rating – it just came naturally, according to various members of CBUIII I spoke to for our FFXVI cover story.
“We actually get this question kind of a lot – people ask us if the rating went up because [we] wanted to make a more violent game, and the answer to that is no,” producer Naoki Yoshida says. “On the outside, it doesn’t appear [the rating system] has changed. You still have your E, you still have your Teen, and you still have your Mature. The problem is that over the years, as more games have come out and as we move forward, the regulations within those have actually changed a lot.”
Final Fantasy XVI Producer Naoki Yoshida
Yoshida says the team understands these ratings are ultimately meant to protect children from sensitive content, but it’s still more restrictive to what a studio can do in a game. He says before, studios could do “much, much more,” but now, “we’re finding ourselves not able to do as much to get the same rating we did before.” One example he gives is that it’s okay to kill a zombie violently today, but if that character is a human, you’ll push the rating more. Suppose someone’s getting pierced with an arrow, Yoshida says that will no longer be allowed with a Teen rating – it will immediately take you to the M rating “because it’s too realistic now” in instances where games are pushing for higher-fidelity visuals.
He also brings up the differences in rating systems between different world regions. Ultimately, though, CBUIII made the game it wanted to.
“We wanted to create something that was based in reality, that felt really real, and talk about complex and violent themes such as war,” Yoshida says. “You can’t have a war without certain imagery. Clive is in the trenches, he’s fighting for his life, he’s covered with dirt and blood. Once you start limiting that when you’re trying to create something that’s very real [...], it takes the player out of the reality and makes it feel more like a game. That’s what we didn’t want to do. So rather than maintaining the Teen rating, which would have limited a lot of the things that we could do and [what we] show in cutscenes, the Mature rating allows us to tell the story that we wanted to in the way we want to tell it.
“We’re not going out of our way to create content that’s violent or sensationalist. We just wanted to create [...] the story that we wanted to tell that’s going to feel real and the story that’s going to resonate best with players without hiding anything. It’s by allowing ourselves that Mature rating [that we’re allowed] to not hold back and tell the story we want to tell.”
I ask Yoshida if he and CBUIII were worried about pushback from Square Enix since a Mature rating could theoretically limit the player base. He says it wasn’t a big deal, joking that perhaps he’s not as fearful of his corporate overlookers as he should be. But ultimately, he said Square Enix understood why the team needed to be free from rating restraint with FFXVI. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Yoshida is on Square Enix’s board of directors, who are the ones he had to break the news to, either.
Director Hiroshi Takai echoes Yoshida’s thoughts, citing that the Mature rating has “allowed us to be able to [...] show more now that there are fewer restrictions to our narrative and the way we tell our story.”
“The Final Fantasy series has always been about trying to get as many people to play the game as possible, and that’s why historically, this series has aimed for the lower ratings – like the Teen – to get the game into the hands of as many players as possible.”
He says in the past, that was a lot easier because of hardware restrictions. But as consoles become more powerful, visuals become more lifelike, and getting a lower rating is more challenging.
Final Fantasy XVI Director Hiroshi Takai
“With the new generations of hardware and the visuals becoming more and more realistic, if you want to tell a story that feels real, it also needs to look real,” Takai says. “By showing the [realistic] visuals, it’s hard to keep that within the realms of a lower rating because it becomes so visceral, and I think you can see this trend since the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 when graphics became a bit more realistic.
“By moving up to a higher rating, it allows us to tell the story we want to tell without having to fake it. If you’re trying to tell a story about war, but you can’t show blood, it’s not going to be realistic.”
Takai reiterates CBUIII isn’t using the Mature rating to make FFXVI hyper-violent – it just helps the team maintain a “real feel.”
Localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox says the Mature rating allowed him to expand on dialogue as “there are certain words that will kick you from a Teen rating to a Mature rating, and if you’re stuck with a Teen rating, you have to avoid those types of words, even if the character seems like a character that would use those types of words.”
Final Fantasy XVI Localization Director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox
He says if you get the sense a character is avoiding words they’d likely say, that character doesn’t feel natural anymore, which is something the Mature rating allowed CBUIII to avoid.
“Like it or not, a lot of people in the world swear, and it’s part of how they communicate,” Koji continues. “To have a whole world where no one swears at all, it just doesn’t feel like a real world.” He adds this doesn’t mean every character will swear, though – there are people in the real world who don’t, after all.
“While Clive will use [swear words and Mature language] every now and then, we tried to make it in situations where it fits, like, ‘Oh, a giant boulder is coming towards me.’ Of course, they’re going to say, ‘S---!’ But then he’s not using it in everyday conversation because that’s not Clive’s character.”
If you’ve kept up with FFXVI’s trailers, you’ve already heard and seen how that Mature rating appears in the game’s action and dialogue. That rating (and tone) carries through the hours of the game I played for this cover story trip, too, and I can’t wait to see how far this game pushes it this summer.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 31 May 2023 | 7:45 pm
Square Enix and Final Fantasy XVI developer Creative Business Unit III have been open about the game spanning decades of protagonist Clive Rosfield’s life for years. It’s an interesting aspect of this story because it speaks to how broad its horizons might be. What starts as a revenge story will grow into one of war, its effects on people, and ultimately, Valisthea’s place in a fight between Eikons, Dominants, and more over crystals.
It also means we’ll be seeing a lot of Clive’s life. During my cover story trip, I played a few of FFXVI’s opening hours, much of which took place in the past, when Clive is just 15 and his younger brother Joshua even younger. I learned a lot about their relationship with each other as well as with their parents, and more I won’t spoil here. But I also flashed forward to a 28-year-old Clive to catch up with him years after a deeply traumatic childhood event, and CBUIII and Square Enix say we’ll go even further into Clive’s life, into his 30s.
I asked FFXVI creative director Kazutoyo Maehiro about the decision to have the game span decades of the protagonist’s life and the challenges that come with it. To my surprise, he said there weren’t many.
“Overall, I don’t think there were too many challenges when writing Clive’s story,” Maehiro says. “I knew where I wanted to take it and was able to create the story fairly quickly, focusing on that revenge but then also showing the rest of this life.”
Maehiro said the true challenge was writing about things that take a long time in real-life, like wars, which are central to FFXVI’s story.
“The story ended up being something that would take place over a long period of time,” he says. “In a novel, that’d be very easy to do because you just write about it and then you go to the next chapter and 10 years have passed. But when you’re doing that in a game, and you want people to play these things, that requires creating assets and creating things for the end game, and that takes development costs and time as well.
“And so probably the biggest challenge was taking this story that spent so many years and transforming it and translating it into something that players could play in real-time, but also get the sense that time has passed at low dev costs.”
He says that creating one model – say, Clive’s younger model – could take anywhere from one to two years. And FFXVI has at least three Clive models. Add in all the other characters that age over time , and those hours start to add up.
I didn’t get to see any of Clive in his 30s, but I’m excited to see how he differs both as a narrative character and a controllable one compared to the younger versions of himself. Fortunately, we have just under a month to go because FFXVI hits PlayStation 5 on June 22.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 31 May 2023 | 3:25 pm
For a licensed racing game, 2021’s Hot Wheels Unleashed was a fun and respectable debut, and now we’ll get to see how developer Milestone builds on that foundation with an upcoming sequel.
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged arrives on October 19 and retains the fun “little toy car in a big world” presentation with new additions under the hood. Players can now get behind the wheel of motorcycles and ATVs, and the game has over 130 vehicles total at launch.
Players race across five diverse environments using new skills: double jumping and lateral dashing. The double jump can be performed at any time to leap over rivals and obstacles, while dashing is great for sideswiping nearby opponents or dodging hazards. Milestone touts increased interactivity between vehicles and objects on and off the track, and playstyles can be customized using perks earned by earning skill points.
Modes include a revamped story-driven campaign starring four original characters, complete with animated cutscenes. Other challenges include events designed to test players’ skills such as drifting and evading crashes. For online multiplayer, the game supports cross-play (except on Switch), and players can now create friend parties. Local two-player splitscreen also makes a return.
The popular creation suite from the first game now features a refined Track Editor with expanded features and a Livery Editor update introducing the Sticker Editor to create and save custom patterns and shapes. Best of all, all user-generated content will be sharable cross-platform at launch, though it's unclear if any player-made content from the original can be imported into this game.
Hot Wheels Unleashed 2: Turbocharged will be available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC. Check out some of the sequel's cars in the screenshot gallery below.
Posted on 31 May 2023 | 3:02 pm
A handful of former CD Projekt Red (The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077) developers have created a new studio named Blank. to make a character-driven game set in an apocalypse, "with a twist or two."
Cyberpunk 2077 game director and The Witcher 3 co-game director Mateusz Kanik has co-founded Blank. with Jędrzej Mróz and Marcin Jefimow, both former executive producers on The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077. Together, this new studio aims to apply "their years of experience to a clean slate" and bring "beautifully crafted games and unique experiences to players, favoring novel territory rather than well-trodden ground." A press release from Blank. says the studio has no plans to make "clones, or predictable entries."
Alongside the studio reveal, Blank. has released concept art for its unannounced project, which is the aforementioned game set in an apocalypse, which you can see below:
Kanik will serve as the game's director, while Mróz and Jefimow will be executive producers. Mikołaj Marchewka joins the project as its managing director. Two other former CDPR devs in Michal Dobrowolski and Artur Ganszyniec will work on the game as design director and narrative director, respectively. Former Division 48 Studio developer Grzegorz Przybyś is the game's art director.
"We're thrilled to announce Blank. and to start expanding our incredible team," Kanik writes in a press release. "After working for years in an increasingly conservative industry, we're ready to make bold, impactful projects that share our creativity and values. Where the industry champions a dictatorship of the creative individual, we want to give ownership to the team. Where the industry leans on crunch culture, we prefer work-life balance. Where the industry says bigger is better, we're setting our sights on highly polished games with a focus on emotion, story, and craftsmanship."
Mróz writes that the team plans to marry inspired ideas with well-defined scopes to strong teams of support and realistic budgets.
"We're committed to quality craftsmanship and running the studio in a sustainable way," Mróz writes. "We plan to increase our projects' scope as we expand the team and its capabilities."
Blank. is headquartered in Warsaw, Poland, and currently consists of 10 team members. It's looking to expand to 60 members to develop its unannounced project.
What do you want to see this studio create? Let us know in the comments below!
Posted on 31 May 2023 | 1:31 pm
2021's Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City blended together the stories of the first Resident Evil game and its sequel, Resident Evil 2 (which received a fantastic remake in 2019), and while it wasn't a complete knockout hit, some have been asking for a sequel. It seems one might be on the way.
According to a new report on Sudbury.com, a news organization that covers the Greater Sudbury area in Canada, which is where Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City was filmed, Sudbury is receiving an $11 million injection from the provincial government, as reported by PCGamesN. This government is funding 20 local projects through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and while a sequel to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City hasn't officially been named as one of those 20 projects, there is one called "Umbrella Chronicles," and it's receiving $2 million.
If you're familiar with the Resident Evil series, you know "Umbrella Chronicles" is likely a nod to The Umbrella Chronicles spinoff game. Add in that the film company behind "Umbrella Chronicles" is Raccoon HG Film Productions, the same company behind Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City, and the picture gets a little clearer: we might be getting a sequel.
It's important to note this isn't an official confirmation of a sequel. Perhaps Raccoon HG Film Productions is making a different Resident Evil movie unattached to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City. Only time will tell.
In the meantime, watch our interview with two of the 2021 film's stars and then check out this featurette from Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City with some behind-the-scenes details.
[Source: Sudbury.com via PCGamesN]
Do you want a sequel to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City? Let us know in the comments below!
Posted on 31 May 2023 | 12:43 pm
If you’ve heard Joshua Rosfield, the younger brother of Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield, in trailers and gameplay, there’s a good chance you find that voice very familiar. That’s because it’s Logan Hannan, the voice of Hugo de Rune from Asobo Studio’s A Plague Tale series.
Logan Hannan – The Voice Of Joshua Rosfield
Naturally, the voices Hannan uses between Joshua and Hugo are different but there’s a young familiarity to it and it turns out, it was actually his performance as the latter that landed him the role of the former, according to FFXVI localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox.
Koji says the auditions for Joshua’s voice were some of the first to happen. The team chose an actor that was very close to puberty, he says, but at the time, it seemed like it’d work out just fine. In some instances within game development, an actor can record all of their lines in a block of time, but in other instances, that’s not the case. Because FFXVI uses motion capture, scenes had to be performed first before voice lines could be recorded. This meant that the first Joshua actor couldn’t record all of his lines in one go. Unfortunately, puberty hit during recording, and “he could no longer sound like an 8-year-old.” He sounded like someone who was 15 years old, Koji says, and “it wasn’t going to work.”
“And it was at this time that I had played enough of A Plague Tale that I thought, ‘Okay, rather than doing another set of auditions, I know exactly who we want. I played this game and he was great in it. Let’s go with [Hannan] from A Plague Tale,’” Koji says. “That ended up working out.”
It’s the scariest aspect of voice recording with children, Koji says, noting that it’s not uncommon. “I imagine no one’s ever been angrier about puberty” than the original actor for Joshua, he adds.
As for why Hannan, Koji says it’s because his performance in the A Plague Tale series encapsulates everything FFXVI developer Creative Business Unit III needed in Joshua.
“When we got the scripts, it was like ‘Okay, we’re going to have this very, very intense scene with a very, very young character,’” Koji says in reference to the murder of Joshua in FFXVI. “We knew having a young kid be there and be happy, we had to put him through literal hell. Because the focus is to make this as real as possible, we didn’t want to go the route of hiring an adult actor and have them do a child’s voice because unless you get someone who’s really, really good at that, they can end up sounding fake.
“On the other hand, we’d be asking an 8-year-old actor to act out the scenes that are super violent. It’s an M-rated game, so we needed to find someone that can produce this visceral performance but also make it sound real.”
If you’ve played A Plague Tale: Innocence, or its sequel A Plague Tale: Requiem, then you know Hannan is quite capable of that considering what Hugo endures in those games.
“I’m thinking, ‘Who did this?’ [while playing A Plague Tale] and I see that it’s a kid at that age and I’m like, ‘This is who we need to bring into the project’ while thinking there’s no way he’s going to say ‘Yes,’” Koji says.
CBUIII contacted Hannan and he was very interested. After his audition, the team thought he was the perfect fit for Joshua.
“I mean, he’s screaming in anguish and that’s very difficult for even an older actor to do without making it sound kind of fake and cheesy, and I think we got these really, really real performances,” Koji says. “Despite Logan being so young, he’s such a great actor and it was such fun to work with him and hopefully, I can use him again in the future.
“Although he’s getting older, so his voice is going to change so I’ll need to cast him for a different type of role, but he’s such a great actor,” Koji adds.
Joshua’s older brother, Clive, is voiced by Ben Starr, a relative newcomer to video game acting. Koji says Starr actually auditioned for a different role, for someone who works with Clive during one of the game’s opening missions.
Ben Starr – The Voice Of Clive Rosfield
“It was an audition for one of those characters that Ben Starr came in and he auditioned for that character, and we heard it in the studio and the director was like, ‘Okay, this is good, but you’ve got a really great voice. Can you read this script?” And they handed him the Clive script, even though he came in for a different [role].”
Koji listened and immediately heard the character of Clive.
“After hearing maybe 20 other professional voice actors that had done lots of different games, lots of different movies and theater, and you hear all these different voices thinking, ‘Is this going to be Clive or not?’ And you’re on the fence like, ‘Maybe it could be Clive, I don’t know,’” Koji says. “The minute that we heard Ben Starr, everyone knew that this is the voice, this is the voice of Clive, and all of a sudden, all of the dialogue that I had translated or written up to then, I could hear it in that voice and we knew immediately that was the voice.
“So he came in auditioning for a part that has maybe like 10 lines and he ends up getting to be the hero. I think that was really exciting. It was one of those ‘Eureka’ types of moments where you hear it and immediately you know.”
Koji says after finding Starr, they let the Japanese team hear him as Clive and that team agreed he was the perfect voice for FFXVI’s protagonist. Even though CBUIII has cast a Japanese voice actor for Clive as well, FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida still plays the game in English because of Starr's performance, according to Koji.
We’ll all get to hear more of Joshua and Clive in less than a month when FFXVI hits PlayStation 5 on June 22.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 30 May 2023 | 7:45 pm
Developer Mega Cat Studios has released a new trailer for its upcoming pro wrestling RPG, WrestleQuest, alongside news that the game will be released this August.
More specifically, WrestleQuest hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, and Netflix (for all subscribers) on August 8. This news was revealed in a new "Legends" trailer released by Mega Cat for the game today, which you can check out for yourself below:
As you can see, WrestleQuest continues to look great, and now, we know we only have a few months to wait.
While waiting to learn more, read about how we think wrestling games should expand to more genres (like WrestleQuest is doing), and then read about why WrestleQuest is one of five promising non-WWE wrestling games to watch out for.
WrestleQuest hits PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, PC, and Netflix on August 8.
Are you picking up WrestleQuest later this year? Let us know in the comments below!
Posted on 30 May 2023 | 6:04 pm
Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the next first-party PlayStation title making the jump to Steam on July 26, marking the series' first appearance on PC.
The 2021 dimension-hopping adventure served as one of the earliest showcases of the PlayStation 5’s tech (namely it’s fast-loading SSD), and the PC version sports additional bells and whistles such as:
- Performance-enhancing upscaling for Nvidia DLSS 3, AMD FSR 2, and Intel XeSS
- Unlocked framerate
- Ray-traced reflections/shadows
- Ultra-wide support for 21:9, 32:9, and 48:9 monitors
Developer Nixxes Software is handling this PC port of the acclaimed action platformer, which sees Ratchet & Clank fighting to stop their old foe Dr. Nefarious from conquering the multiverse with the help of Ratchet's alternate universe counterpart, Rivet. In our review, we scored the game a 9 out of 10, with former editor-in-chief Andrew Reiner writing, "It’s a great continuation of the series that is just a joy to play. It steals your eye with its stunning vistas, makes you care about the characters, and is loaded to the hilt with fan service (especially in the alternate dimension and a weapon you have to assemble)."
Will you be checking out Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart on Steam? Let us know in the comments!
Posted on 30 May 2023 | 3:28 pm
Designing combat in a Final Fantasy game seems like a double-edged sword. On one hand, you likely want to appeal to the fans of the series, and on the other, you want to attract new players. But it’s impossible to please everyone when making big changes like developer Creative Business Unit III is doing with Final Fantasy XVI – using a real-time action combat system that couldn’t be further from the series’ classic turn-based roots.
As someone who loves the franchise’s turn-based format and its more action-forward design as of late, and as someone who’s played FFXVI for more than five hours at this point, I’m quite pleased with the combat. It’s fast-paced, action-heavy, and perhaps most importantly, fitting of this world and these characters. I especially like the singular focus on Clive, as you never control any of your party members (although you give combat-related orders to Clive’s dog companion, Torgal).
Designing this combat was the biggest challenge of FFXVI’s development, according to producer Naoki Yoshida (the same Yoshida that’s the director of Final Fantasy XIV).
“Probably the biggest challenge had to do with designing the battle system and going into full real-time action,” Yoshida tells me within Square Enix’s Tokyo, Japan, office building. “We’ve mentioned in the past that with Final Fantasy XVI, we wanted to bring in a new generation of gamers to the Final Fantasy series, and one of our main focuses during early development was how to do this.”
Yoshida says CBUIII is full of developers that love turn-based games and grew up on them, even within Final Fantasy history. But when it came to designing FFXVI, the team asked itself which games are popular today amongst younger generations of players and which games the team was enjoying these days. It turned out that a lot of the teams’ answers were action games.
“Instead of going back to turn-based, we said, ‘Okay, this is a chance for us to challenge ourselves to try to do something that the series had never done but that we want to really try to do, and that’s moving to the full action-based system,’” Yoshida continues. “There was always the option to maybe try a hybrid type of system where we have action and turn-based elements, but again, rather than trying that and having something that’s not complete and not satisfying, we decided to focus fully on just bringing the action.”
And that action is what you can experience in FFXVI when it launches exclusively on PlayStation 5 on June 22.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 30 May 2023 | 3:25 pm
Square Enix has revealed that Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai will be released this September.
More specifically, it hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC on September 28. Alongside this release date, Square Enix has released a new trailer showing off more of what to expect in this game set in the Dragon Quest universe.
Check out the new Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai trailer for yourself below:
Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai is a video game adaptation of The Adventure of Dai anime, which is based on a manga, which itself is based on the Dragon Quest game series. It is an action role-playing game that combines visuals from both the manga and anime of The Adventure of Dai, and it will feature a Story Mode and the Temple of Recollection. In the former, you'll play through a standard campaign that adapts The Adventure of Dai, while in the Temple of Recollection, you can fight through a dungeon that changes with each playthrough.
"Beat the monsters that dwell within for exciting rewards that will help you take down enemies that grow stronger the deeper you go," a press release from Square Enix reads. "Players can also collect and equip accessories known as Bond Memories, which augment the abilities and stats of the character they are equipped to. Additionally, each time a Bond Memory is unlocked, scenes from the original manga will be revealed. Bond Memories can also be further powered up by conquering the Temple of Recollection and its challenging ever-changing stages."
Preordering the game on any platform will get you Dai's special "Legendary Hero" outfit and the Bond Memory, "The Hero's Tutor." The digital deluxe edition of the game includes Popp's special "Legendary Mage" outfit, Maam's "Legendary Priest" and "Legendary Martial Artist" outfits, and Hyunckel's "Legendary Swordsman" and "Legendary Warrior" outfits.
Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai began as a popular manga series written by Riku Sanjo and illustrated by Koji Inada in 1989. In 2020, an anime adaptation of this manga began to air, and now, Infinity Strash is a game based on that anime adaptation.
Are you picking up Infinity Strash next month? Let us know in the comments below!
Posted on 30 May 2023 | 2:53 pm
The October 2022 announcement of Silent Hill: Ascension, an interactive streaming series from Genvid Entertainment and Konami, raised some eyebrows from fans but provided little in the way of details. Today, Genvid broke its silence by not only giving us new details on the series but also a trailer.
In this series, which will unfold simultaneously across the globe, those watching can help decide the fates of Ascension's main characters. This means that as the story plays out, the audience will have a say in who survives the surely horrific story, who will be redeemed or damned by their actions, and who will suffer the almost certainly ghastly consequences. According to Genvid Entertainment, not even the developers will know the results of the story until it unfolds.
Silent Hill: Ascension features an ensemble of new characters, monsters, and locations within the Silent Hill universe. Genvid has crafted a real-time interactive system that allows viewers from around the world to decide these characters' fates within the narrative the studio has crafted. Beginning later in 2023, fans can tune in to live story moments where each day is different based on audience interactions.
Silent Hill: Ascension is set to stream later this year. If this unique concept has piqued your interest, you can check out the reveal trailer below.
Posted on 30 May 2023 | 1:00 pm
Final Fantasy XVI’s combat is fast, chaotic, and, most importantly, fun. There are plenty of combos to pull off, and in just the small taste of the action during my cover story trip to Square Enix’s Tokyo, Japan, office, I saw so much variance in setting up Clive’s combative abilities that I can’t wait to see what others do in-game.
I also watched combat director Ryota Suzuki play through some of the most challenging encounters in the game, and unsurprisingly, he excelled, taking maybe one or two hits in the 20 minutes he played. He used combos I didn’t really comprehend – admittedly, he was playing at a much later portion of the game than I had hands-on access with – and it got me thinking: is he excited to see what players do with FFXVI’s combat, much like I was sitting there watching him pull off intricate combos against myriad enemies?
Final Fantasy XVI Combat Director Ryota Suzuki
“I’ve always tried to give players a lot of freedom when it comes to the controls and the action in the game, and give them lots of options that they can take and then do their own thing with,” Suzuki tells me. “So I’m expecting that there’s going to be a lot of weird things that they’re going to do with certain abilities. I can’t say what those abilities are, but I already have a few ideas because I’ve left a lot of things open-ended in that way.
“I’m really excited to see what players will do with them because there are definitely things that I didn’t expect, but I do like putting that stuff out there so that they have stuff to play with and surprise me with. When they do things I expected, I’m happy, but I’m also really happy when they [...] do something that is completely unexpected. It’s one of the exciting things about being a developer.”
Like Suzuki, I look forward to seeing what far more advanced players do with FFXVI’s combat, and fortunately, we have less than a month to go.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 29 May 2023 | 7:45 pm
On May 27, the development team behind Wii and GameCube emulator Dolphin announced a massive roadblock: Nintendo's legal team was moving to prevent the software from launching on Steam. While the Dolphin team is investigating its options, the project is currently "indefinitely postponed." Here's the full quote from their blog post:
It is with much disappointment that we have to announce that the Dolphin on Steam release has been indefinitely postponed. We were notified by Valve that Nintendo has issued a cease and desist citing the DMCA against Dolphin's Steam page, and have removed Dolphin from Steam until the matter is settled. We are currently investigating our options and will have a more in-depth response in the near future.
We appreciate your patience in the meantime.
Originally reported by PCGamer, this is not actually a DMCA takedown, just the warning of one. Kellen Voyer, an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and technology law spoke with PCGamer and said, "Here, there is no allegation that Valve is currently hosting anything that infringes Nintendo’s copyright or, more broadly, violates the DMCA. Rather, Nintendo is sending clear notice to Valve that it considers Dolphin to violate the DMCA and should it be released on Steam, Nintendo will likely take further action."
Dolphin has been around for about 20 years now, first developed as closed source in 2003, until it moved to open source in 2008. This past March, the team announced plans to bring the program to Steam, which would have likely increased the number of people with access to its services. If Dolphin's developers decide to fight Nintendo's block, they'll have their work cut out for them. Nintendo is notorious for its brutality in the court of law, whether it's shutting down fan content or pushing for severe punishment for hackers. In the meantime, the service is still available on Dolphin's website, since the team itself has yet to receive any warning directly from Nintendo.
Source: PCGamer, IGN
Do you think Dolphin will ever be released on Steam? Let us know in the comments!
Posted on 29 May 2023 | 6:00 pm
Robosen Robotics has for some years fostered a fun partnership with Hasbro and its Transformers license, including an awesome fully transformable Generation 1 Optimus Prime that would change between robot and truck on its own.
In a similar spirit, the same team now has a new robotic collectible coming to market, this time emulating the Optimus Prime character as he appears in the new Rise of the Beasts live-action film. Instead of full transformation like the previous G1-style incarnation, this new collectible is built as a display piece that can shift between various aerial action poses, speak lines of dialogue, and respond to voice and app commands from your phone or other device.
The figure features 21 precision servo motors and 69 microchips. Even before mounting on his included stand, Prime stands at 16 inches tall.
The team even brought in legendary voice actor Peter Cullen to reprise his role and record brand-new lines for the character to spout.
The new Rise of the Beasts Optimus Prime limited edition collectible will put you back a hefty sum; it’s currently on a preorder sale of $699 (instead of the regular price of $899). If that's not too high a price for controlling an intergalactic hero, he's all yours. The vaunted Aubobot leader will be ready to head out on a mission to your home in the fourth quarter of 2023.
Posted on 29 May 2023 | 4:00 pm
Final Fantasy XVI is the most action-forward game in the mainline series’ history, and while it’s been a point of contention between players excited for this and fans of the franchise who yearn for something turn-based, it’s hard to deny the combat looks flashy and fun. And as someone who’s played a few hours of the game, I can say it is.
While I attribute most of that to how great it feels to control Clive, it turns out there might be some tricks developer Creative Business Unit III learned developing Final Fantasy XIV’s action to make FFXVI’s combat feel even more satisfying beyond the actual gameplay.
“For example, in boss battles, when you have an attack and you may see certain areas on the ground that light up to show that’s where the attack’s going to be, that’s something you might recognize from Final Fantasy XIV,” Naoki Yoshida, the game’s producer, tells me. “Moving to this real-time action-based battle system, we wanted players not to be overwhelmed with what was going on on-screen because there’s a lot going on. We didn’t want any situations where players will be playing and think, ‘Okay, I just took damage. Why did I take damage? I don’t know why.’ They wanted to make it very understandable to players so they didn’t feel like they were being ripped off.”
Final Fantasy XVI Producer Naoki Yoshida
By creating these visual cues, players can see precisely where attacks are coming from during the chaos of combat.
“It reduces that stress level [in combat],” Yoshida continues. “That’s something from the early stages of battle design that we wanted to incorporate from Final Fantasy XIV because it works well and allows players to know what’s going to happen.”
Yoshida says the direction for this kind of design came from FFXVI director Hiroshi Takai, who, before helping direct CBUIII’s efforts in FFXIV, worked as a VFX animator.
“For him, it’s all about having those effects going on on-screen all the time,” Yoshida says. “He wanted something that was visually stimulating, but he also understands that can make the screen very busy and very difficult for players to understand what’s going on at all times. So [we’ve created] this balance, where you can still have the visual cues and all of the excitement on the screen, but also have cues there so players understand what’s going on. Even if things are going off, you’ll know exactly when to evade. You’ll know exactly where the damage is coming from. A lot of effort was put into creating the system.”
I notice other FFXIV-isms within FFXVI after playing through some of the game’s opening sections during my cover story trip. For example, the icons present throughout the game’s UI resemble what you’d find in the MMO, especially as it relates to main scenario quests and side quests. Even starting and completing missions sounds familiar, with a quick Victory Fanfare jingle that plays as the screen says you’ve finished something.
And, I’m told that FFXVI will, of course, feature puns in quest titles just like those present throughout so many of the scenarios within FFXIV.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 29 May 2023 | 3:25 pm
Naughty Dog, the renowned developer behind franchises such as Uncharted and The Last of Us, has released a statement on its multiplayer title in The Last of Us universe. In the post, the developer says it needs more time than originally forecasted for the multiplayer project, but softens the blow by teasing an unannounced single-player-focused game.
"We know many of you have been looking forward to hearing more about our The Last of Us multiplayer game," the statement reads. "We're incredibly proud of the job our studio has done thus far, but as development has continued, we've realized what is best for the game is to give it more time. Our team will continue to work on the project, as well as our other games in development, including a brand new single-player experience; we look forward to sharing more soon. We're grateful to our fantastic community for your support – thank you for your passion for our games, it continues to drive us."
pic.twitter.com/DOeO8ZHSlh
— Naughty Dog (@Naughty_Dog) May 26, 2023
This statement comes on the heels of a report from Bloomberg, which communicated troubles on the development of the title. According to the report, the development team has been scaled back while the studio's leadership decides on a direction.
This multiplayer project was originally in development as a mode for The Last of Us Part II, similar to the multiplayer mode of the original The Last of Us. However, as the scope of both the single-player campaign and the multiplayer mode expanded, Naughty Dog made the call to prioritize the single-player campaign, which came out in 2020. In June 2022, Naughty Dog announced that the multiplayer component was now a standalone project and shared a piece of concept art (above). Earlier this year, Naughty Dog released another new piece of concept art (below) and promised more details on the standalone multiplayer project later this year.
Naughty Dog's most recent all-new game, 2020's The Last of Us Part II, received universal critical acclaim with a 93 on Metacritic but has proven divisive among players. In the time since that launch, Naughty Dog has released the Uncharted: Legacy of Thieves Collection, which included remastered versions of Uncharted 4: A Thief's End and Uncharted: The Lost Legacy, and The Last of Us Part I, a remake of The Last of Us and The Last of Us: Left Behind. Perhaps the biggest impact The Last of Us has had in 2023 came in the form of the first season of the HBO series starring Pedro Pascal and Bella Ramsey, which garnered widespread praise.
There's no word on when we'll hear more from Naughty Dog on either this multiplayer game or the single-player project it mentioned in this statement, but with this week's PlayStation Showcase neglecting to mention any of the studio's projects, it could be a while before we know substantial details.
Posted on 26 May 2023 | 10:48 pm
Final Fantasy XVI’s Valisthea is sprawling, comprising a mix of five main nations, various more-linear dungeons, and some open field areas. The primary focus of FFXVI will be playing through Clive’s story and all it entails, but there’s more to the game than just the main scenario.
I was curious about how players will get around Valisthea, especially with developer Creative Business Unit III at the helm. In its MMO, Final Fantasy XIV, mounts are abundant. You can ride chocobos, the Regalia from Final Fantasy XV, Magitek armor, and more. There are dozens of mounts to acquire in-game, and I wondered if that would bleed over into FFXVI.
“To tell you the truth, it’s pretty much just chocobos,” FFXVI director Hiroshi Takai tells me. “In past Final Fantasy games, you’d have canoes or boats or cars to travel in. But in Final Fantasy XVI, because our game is based on that main world map and traveling from that world map and doing fast travel from that, we found that there wasn’t really a need for any kind of expanded type of traversal systems. So yeah, currently, we only have walking and the chocobos.”
However, Takai notes there are parts in the story where Clive will use other types of traversal, but these aren’t accessible elsewhere.
As Takai notes, a lot of FFXVI’s traversal happens through the game’s beautifully designed, tilt-shifted 3D map. You can fast travel from Cid’s hideaway to side quest locations or even main scenario areas. You can also travel to the game’s open field areas by way of fast travel. For the most part, fast travel is how you’ll get around. But within open field areas and more linear areas, you can walk, run, and ride a chocobo to get around, too.
I’m still hoping we’ll acquire something unique and secret, like FFXV’s Regalia Type-F, in which the car you drive around for most of the game turns into a flying vehicle. But if the director says it’s just walking and chocobos, I should temper my expectations. Fortunately, we have less than a month to go until FFXVI hits PlayStation 5 on June 22.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 26 May 2023 | 7:45 pm
During our Final Fantasy XVI cover story trip, I played a few hours of the game much of the press experienced. But I was also given an exclusive tour of FFXVI’s endgame and other supplementary content by creative director Hiroshi Takai and combat director Ryota Suzuki.
It’s safe to say there’s plenty to play, especially if you enjoy chasing numbers in combat.
FFXVI features an Arcade Mode, allowing players to run through stages they’ve already completed, this time with an on-screen score calculator and combat grader. But a New Game+ playthrough opens up two additional versions, and both are more difficult than the game’s base Story Mode and Action Mode difficulties. It’s important to note you can play through New Game+ on one of these base difficulties if you’d like, but you’re missing a lot of features intended for New Game+. If you’re after treasures you missed or PlayStation Trophies you didn’t collect, Stage Replay might suit your needs better. And if you’re after some combat training or a speedy, destructive action fix, there’s a special training mode, accessible through a statuesque Arete Stone within Clive’s main hub.
New Game+ lets you play through FFXVI with all of your previously unlocked abilities and gear from the jump, but the highlight is Final Fantasy Mode. This increases the game’s difficulty, changes monster placement, and remixes which enemies might appear in combat.
“The main design philosophy is that the first playthrough is about learning Clive, learning the controls, and then enjoying the story,” Suzuki says. “The second playthrough, we want to shift that focus – because the story hasn’t changed – to the action. For example, in Story Mode, while players may encounter waves of enemies, a lot of times, enemies don’t attack at once to allow players to be able to handle everything. In the harder modes of the game, we have removed these limitations so that you have multiple enemies all attacking Clive at the same time.
“Basically, what we’ve done with [Final Fantasy] Mode is give players controlling Clive the sense that they’re always in danger, that death is around the corner, and that you’ll need to really, really pay attention to be able to clear the content.”
In a Final Fantasy Mode New Game+ playthrough, by interacting with the Arete Stone in your hideaways, you can complete Final Fantasy Mode difficulty stages in Arcade Mode or an even more difficult variant called Ultimaniac Mode. Arcade Mode’s global leaderboards will only be active in these two modes.
“[These modes were] pretty much created solely for the hardcore players, those players that pride themselves on their skills in action games,” Suzuki says, noting that the only exclusive reward players can earn from these modes is pride. “[It’s] a challenge that, even for them, is going to be very difficult to complete.”
And Final Fantasy and Ultimaniac Mode are just two things awaiting you in a more challenging run of New Game+. A New Game+ run also allows you to upgrade your weapons further beyond what you can in your initial playthrough. You can also upgrade accessories, which is only possible in the game in a Final Fantasy Mode playthrough in New Game+. You’ll also gain access to the Final Chronolith Trials, or if you’re not in Final Fantasy Mode, just Chronolith Trials.
These trials are the most difficult challenge in FFXVI, Takai says. They consist of multiple stages, each with four rounds of enemies. The first three rounds will be standard waves of monsters, each increasing in difficulty as you progress. The fourth round, however, will feature a boss. Chronolith Trials are also time trials, and every stage contains a list of moves, combos, and objectives you can execute to gain more time. However, pulling these off won’t be easy because there’s no healing in these trials, save for recovery that immediately begins after activating any Limit Break move.
Each Chronolith Trial is based on an Eikon. I watch Takai and Suzuki play through Phoenix’s Trial by Fire. In it, you only have access to Phoenix’s Eikonic abilities, forcing you to play much differently than you might outside these trials, where you can mix and match Eikonic abilities on the fly. And like Arcade Mode, the Chronolith Trials contain a global leaderboard but only in Final Fantasy Mode. As you play through the game, you’ll find stones similar in appearance to the Arete Stone, and interacting with these unlocks Chronolith Trials for you to complete.
I can’t go hands-on with any of this endgame content, but what I watch Takai and Suzuki play is blisteringly chaotic, fast-paced, and sure to bring the challenge fans of Devil May Cry might expect, as Suzuki also helped design combat in Devil May Cry V for Capcom.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 26 May 2023 | 3:25 pm
Zelda received its second post-release patch last night, and just like its first post-release update, the patch notes cover a lot of ground without diving into many specifics.
Here are the patch notes from Nintendo's website:
Ver. 1.1.2 (Released May 25, 2023)
Audio Bug Fixes
• Fixed an issue where the sound would play at an extremely high volume in certain conditions.
Additional Fixes
• Fixed an issue in the main quest, “Camera Work in the Depths”, where players could not progress beyond a certain point. Downloading the update will allow players to proceed past that point.
• Several issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.
Alongside fixing the audio issue and the Camera Work in the Depths quest, the "Several issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience," note is covering a lot of ground. It seems most if not all of the duplication glitches players discovered, which allowed them to duplicate rare items in the game with suprisingly little effort, have effectively been removed from the game, according to posters on the r/NintendoSwitch subreddit.
For more on Zelda, you can read Game Informer's Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom review, our beginner tips guide, our interview with producer and director Eiji Aonuma and Hidemaro Fujibayashi, our Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom Amiibo guide, this feature of stupid screenshots, and a tip of how to find interesting sidequests.
Posted on 26 May 2023 | 2:43 pm
During my hands-on time with Final Fantasy XVI for our cover story, I play through the game’s opening hours, which feature moments from Clive’s childhood when he’s 15 years old and a flash forward to a 28-year-old Clive. Here, Clive meets Cidolfus Telamon, or Cid for short – because this is Final Fantasy, after all. Shortly after, Cid brings Clive to a place dubbed Cid’s hideaway.
This hideaway is one of the main hubs in FFXVI. While I’m not sure of its location in Valisthea, the continent where the game takes place, it looks built into a cavernous structure. It features a pub where you speak with locals about what’s going on in the world, side quests to pick up, and a music player, as well. I discover music tracks exploring Valisthea, and while these are new tracks from the score of FFXVI, I suspect music from other Final Fantasy games might also be discoverable.
Cid's hideaway
Elsewhere in the hideaway, there’s a blacksmith where I can purchase new weapons and gear and upgrade what I have, and there’s a general goods stand for buying things like potions. I also find Harpocatres in the hideaway, who I can interact with as I progress through FFXVI to learn more about Valisthean history.
Hideaway loresman Harpocrates
Otto’s Counter is a feature of Cid’s hideaway players will interact with a lot, I suspect. Otto is the manager of sorts for the hub, and his employees will be helpful in Clive’s journey. One of them is Gaute, who handles Alliant Reports. These keep track of Clive’s ongoing relationships, and players can interact with a special menu to read the reports scouts create to record people in trouble across the realm. Clive can fast-travel directly to these locations to help them – or, in other words, complete a sidequest.
Not far from Gaute is The Patron’s Whisper, run by Desiree. At The Patron’s Whisper, you’ll receive gifts from people you’ve helped in the form of crafting resources, Gil (Valisthea’s currency), and more. These gifts are tied directly to the Renown Clive earns around Valisthea as his name and good deeds spread to its people. The rewards from Renown aren’t what you get from completing quests – you’ll get those immediately – but rather, a bonus.
The Patron's Whisper
The third major aspect of Otto’s Counter is the Hunt Board. If you’ve played Final Fantasy XII, this board is familiar because it looks and works similarly. That’s not surprising, considering a good chunk of FFXVI’s team leads worked on FFXII. At this board, you collect bounties and perform hunts throughout Valisthea. Sometimes, you’ll stumble upon a hunt without the bounty, but there’s no need to stress about picking it up. If you complete the hunt, you’ll receive the reward associated with it next time you return to the Hunt Board.
The enemy will be boxed within a virtual arena at a Hunt location. The fight must occur here – exit the arena and the hunt will end, making it easy to escape if you’re in over your head.
Separate from Otto’s Counter but within the hideaway is Clive’s chambers. Here, Clive can read letters he receives. Sometimes these letters will lead to new side quests; other times, they’re updates from characters you’ve interacted with, and sometimes they’re warnings. You can also add some personality to Clive’s room via the Wall of Memories, which begins as empty shelves and spaces where trinkets from Clive’s journey will one day sit as a reminder of what he’s accomplished, where he’s been, and who he’s helped.
Overall, the tour I got of Cid’s hideaway was expansive, but I get the sense there’s even more to it and I’m excited to see all of it when FFXVI hits PlayStation 5 on June 22.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 25 May 2023 | 7:45 pm
When discussing Final Fantasy XVI’s combat or watching gameplay, it’s hard not to think about other action combat games, such as Capcom’s Devil May Cry series. And if its combat reminds you of DMC, it’s probably because the combat director of FFXVI is Ryota Suzuki, who helped design combat on Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 5. But he also worked on Marvel Vs. Capcom 2.
While the DMC inspirations laced within FFXVI’s combat are hard to miss, Suzuki told me that Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 inspired some of FFXVI's systems as well.
Final Fantasy XVI Combat Director Ryota Suzuki
Final Fantasy XVI Combat Director Ryota Suzuki
“There’s actually something from Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 that we took and put into Final Fantasy XVI, and that is, as you may or may not know, in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2, we had the Assist system where you could give orders to your partner in battle,” Suzuki says. “And by implementing that system, we were able to create the sense of not just one-on-one but multiple people fighting at the same time to create this very frenetic battle system.
“We brought some of that knowledge into creating the system with Torgal [Clive’s companion dog that can be commanded in battle to do different things] and being able to give the pet commands where you’re by yourself but still working together.”
He and the team at Capcom created that Assist system 22 years ago. In it, you give orders to a partner in battle. Doing so creates a period where the main character can’t act. He says Creative Business Unit III didn’t want to do that in FFXVI, so it removed that aspect of the Assist system.
“[That way], when the player gave that order, the player would be able to continue to act, so it’d create more types of frenetic battles where both the partner [Torgal] and the player could still be playing and participating in the battle even though the commands are being given.”
On top of that, Suzuki notes that special actions in FFXVI’s combat were inspired by Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 as well. When you time certain commands just right, it will unlock, in real-time, even more special types of moves, something players experienced with combos in Marvel Vs. Capcom 2 will find feels loosely familiar.
“[These special moves] are one of the things we wanted to implement early on [...] that’s not necessary, but players, if they have the skill, would be able to pull off in of those base foundations.”
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 25 May 2023 | 3:25 pm
Atari and developer Sneakybox have announced Days of Doom, an apocalyptic turn-based tactical roguelite. The game hopes to subvert the expectations of those who are tired of the brown and gray color palettes of other apocalypse settings by placing the action over vibrant and colorful backdrops as you battle through hordes of zombies, raiders, and mutant lizards.
Navigating the wasteland to reach a sanctuary will require strategy, as you must combat the encroaching mutated forces using your group of distinct survivors. Beyond the turn-based tactics at play, you must also manage your scarce collection of resources and keep your wits about you as you maneuver through the hordes of the undead.
Each of the eight survivor classes features unique abilities that can be used to shift your fortunes in battle. For example, the Pyro class allows you to burn enemies and leave them with residual damage each turn while combining the Hydromancer with the Thrasher can drench enemies with water before electrocuting them for a devastating synergy. Players will need to use these abilities to their advantage and think strategically with these abilities to overcome the seemingly insurmountable odds.
And, of course, with it being a roguelite game, players can expect each run to feel unique. More than 50 randomly occurring events present risk-reward scenarios for players during their runs, while more than 70 collectible items and runes can help you turn the odds in your favor in your given run. However, as you play several runs and make progress, you unlock permanent upgrades, such as party size increases and resource accumulation speed.
If you'd like to learn more, you can check out the reveal trailer below.
Days of Doom arrives on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, and Atari VCS later this year.
Posted on 25 May 2023 | 12:00 pm
Today’s PlayStation Showcase saw Square Enix unveil a squeaky-clean online shooter called Foamstars.
This wacky new multiplayer shooter pits two teams of four against each other using weapons that shoot, you guessed it, foam. Battlefields are covered in soapy foam, which players can use to their advantage by creating slippery surfaces to slide at high speeds. Foam can also be used in other ways, such as to shield yourself and your teammates from attacks or create vantage points. The trailer shows off a bunch of goofy weapons and the game pretty much feels like the anti-thesis of Splatoon.
Square Enix promises to share more about Foamstars in the future, but it’s coming to PlayStation 5 and 4.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 10:06 pm
To close out today’s PlayStation Showcase, Sony and Insomniac pulled out the big webs for a new look at Spider-Man 2. The long-awaited sequel is now targeting a release this fall, and an extended gameplay sequence showed us what we can expect.
An opening cinematic reveals some insight into the villainous Kraven the Hunter. Tired of easy prey in the deep jungle, one of his minions suggests a move to a new hunting ground in New York, where the likes of Spider-Man, Black Cat, and Tombstone promise more challenging targets.
The action jumps to six months later in Queens, as a black-suited Peter Parker bursts from a basement to battle some of the Hunter’s goons. The gameplay sequence that follows is impressive, showing off Spider-Man’s new symbiote abilities, which allow for an array of tentacle attacks that can often bring down many opponents at once.
After the battle, Peter learns Kraven’s team is hunting Doctor Connors, otherwise known as the Lizard. And since the hunt is happening in Harlem, he won’t be able to get there in time. He immediately calls Miles, and the perspective changes, suggesting the game (while single-player) allows for change-ups between the two Spider-Man leads.
Miles has some new tricks of his own, including some slick wingsuit capabilities that send him zipping at high speed between buildings, and web lines that let him chart his own path to taking down foes from above during stealth passages.
After a sequence trying to track down the Lizard, we learn that Connors has shed his skin and is clearly growing into a larger reptilian form, with an equally larger appetite. After linking up with his friend, Ganke, and the ominous arrival of Peter in his black symbiote suit, a thrilling chase sequence ensues down the East River, where Peter and Miles are taking down drones, jet skis, and boats as Kraven’s team chases the Lizard.
While it’s not clear why Peter and Miles are so interested in saving the Lizard (traditionally a villain in the stories), there seems to be some information they need from him, making his survival a must.
The rest of the gameplay sequence is equally exciting, from a crash into the water to a headlong escape along the water as The Lizard tries to attack from below. From animation to pacing to camera work – the entire sequence looks like it wouldn’t feel out of place in the next Marvel Cinematic Universe film. Except, of course, Spider-Man 2 is a fully interactive experience where players control the two Spider-Men along the way.
As the extended demo winds down, we see Peter acting in a very un-Peter way, doubling down on aggressive and dangerous tendencies he’s been showing throughout the sequence, leaving Miles worried about his friend and mentor.
Amid several notable reveals and new videos over the course of the PlayStation Showcase this afternoon, Spider-Man 2 stood out for its remarkable polish, taut action, and a focus on complete and uncut gameplay sequences. The game looks fantastic and is one to watch closely in the lead-up to its launch later this year.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 9:33 pm
Nomanda Studio, the maker of 2018’s Gris, has revealed a beautiful new title called Neva. The game stars a young woman and her wolf companion as they survive a dangerous world together.
The game follows the woman who adopts the wolf as a cub, with players getting to watch it grow up into an adult and the bond that blossoms along the way. The pair must battle dark forces plaguing a dying world. A press release states gameplay includes platforming, combat, and puzzle-solving with minimal UI and a stunning presentation.
Neva is coming in 2024 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, and PC.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 9:32 pm
The 2020 first-person action title Ghostrunner has garnered a strong community of fans thanks to its precise controls and high-octane action. Perhaps that's why, less than a year following its initial PC release, a sequel was announced. However, outside of some concept art, we haven't seen or heard much from developer One More Level or publisher 505 Games.
However, that changed today, as the studio released a first gameplay look for the highly anticipated sequel. Revealed during today's PlayStation Showcase, the trailer shows the game's cyber-ninja protagonist, Jack, participating in the series' trademark fast-paced, always-forward combat and traversal. According to the team, the sequel looks to elevate the formula in every category, including the addition of vehicular combat.
You can see the trailer for yourself below.
Ghostrunner 2 arrives later this year for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 9:30 pm
Bungie is best known as the team behind Halo and Destiny, but it's digging through the crates of its past to bring back one of its original successes, Marathon.
Marathon was first released for the Apple Macintosh in 1994 and was a first-person shooter centering on a space-faring security cop fighting to stop an alien invasion. It was followed by two sequels, with the third entry arriving in 1996. This new Marathon sports a distinctly vibrant look and will also be a first-person shooter, but is a PvP extraction-style experience. Players control a runner in order to, according to the game's website, "compete for survival, riches, and renown in a world of evolving, persistent zones, where any run can lead to greatness."
The game's website also has the following synopsis:
A massive ghost ship hangs in low orbit over a lost colony on tau ceti iv. The 30,000 souls who call this place home have disappeared without a trace. strange signals hint at mysterious artifacts, long-dormant ai, and troves of untold riches. You are a runner, venturing into the unknown in a fight for fame… and infamy. Who among you will write their names across the stars?
Marathon is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. It will support cross-play and cross-progression but does not have a release window.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 9:13 pm
One of the biggest 2023 PlayStation Showcase announcements was a confirmation of the long-rumored remake of Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater. At the tail end of that announcement, however, was another exciting, admittedly smaller announcement that the first three Metal Gear Solid games will be ported to PlayStation 5 in one presumed package.
The single image above appeared at the end of the Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater remake teaser with the words, "Sneak back into the original games on PlayStation 5," with an autumn 2023 release window. The package is called Metal Gear Solid Master Collection Volume 1, which implies more Metal Gears may be on the way. A Volume 2 could, hopefully, finally free Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriots from its PlayStation 3 prison – the only platform that game has ever been made available on.
Update: According to the game's listing on the PlayStation Store, the package will also include the original Metal Gear and Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake. Here is how the the listing of included games is worded on the page.
- Metal Gear
- Metal Gear 2: Solid Snake
- Metal Gear Solid (Including VR Missions/Special Missions)
- Metal Gear Solid 2: Sons of Liberty (HD Collection version)
- Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater (HD Collection version)
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 9:12 pm
Beat Saber has been promised for PlayStation VR2 for some time, but the game is finally officially available on the platform today as a free update for those who own the PlayStation 4 version of Beat Saber. Revealed during the PlayStation Showcase, a Queen music pack will also be available for the game. The pack will also be available on other platforms where the game is available.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 9:00 pm
During the PlayStation Showcase event today, the company announced "Project Q," its internal name for a handheld remote-play device.
Check it out below:
Details are scarce as of writing, but we know it'll allow you to play games installed on the PS5 over wifi to the device, except for VR games. Project Q will have an 8-inch screen and the shape and features of the PS5's Dualsense controller.
Additionally, the company revealed PlayStation wireless earbuds, compatible with PS5s and PCs, and smartphones via Bluetooth.
No further info was given, but more details are expected to come "in the near future."
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:59 pm
Ubisoft showed off a new look at Assassin’s Creed Mirage at today's PlayStation Showcase. The trailer shows protagonist Basim as he leaps, slides, and fights his way across the ancient streets of Baghdad.
Basim was introduced to Assassin’s Creed players in the earlier release of Valhalla, but this new game jumps back to an earlier time in the character’s life.
The action on display looks slick and modern but strongly calls to mind the flow of gameplay that longtime players may recall from early games in the series, controlling the likes of Altair and Ezio as they moved through large urban cityscapes. The new combat system, in particular, features some especially impressive animations and combat moves. The trailer also suggests that players will have a number of choices in how to approach a given mission, with clear decisions outlined in pre-mission briefings and then the chance to execute on a chosen plan.
Assassin’s Creed Mirage is targeting release on October 12 for PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PS4, and PC.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:46 pm
The fan-demanded sequel to Dragon's Dogma has been announced for some time, but during the 2023 PlayStation Showcase, we got our first look at the game's visual direction with a bit of what appears to be gameplay. The footage lacked U.I., but there is no reason not to believe the game will look like this.
The footage shows a very realistic art style with impressive creatures and magic effects. Unfortunately, a release date for the game was not shared.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:45 pm
The rumors were true. Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater is getting remade for PlayStation 5 and Xbox.
The remake is officially called Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater. A cinematic teaser showcased a jungle filled with dangerous animals vying for dominance, with Naked Snake emerging from the depth of a bog to show off his remade look. Originally released in 2004, the title is a 1960s-era prequel to the Metal Gear series that tells the origin story of Big Boss and lays the groundwork for the entire Metal Gear fiction.
Unfortunately, we don't get to see gameplay, and the title doesn’t have a release window, but the first three Metal Gear Solid games are also being bundled in a collection heading to PlayStation 5 this fall. What do you think of this first look at Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater? Let us know in the comments!
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:37 pm
Alan Wake 2 had an appearance today during the PlayStation Showcase event. And as you might've guessed, the trailer left a lot of questions. But it did answer an all-important one: when the game is coming out.
Here's what we gathered: Alan is trapped ... somewhere. According to him, he has to write to escape. Ostensibly, that's from the cult members chasing and attacking seemingly everyone within a 50-mile radius. Alan is writing about the police investigation into the death of Robert Nightingale, one of the antagonists of the first game. Here, the trailer splits into multiple perspectives: that of Alan and that of two investigators (one of which is voiced by James McCaffrey, of Max Payne fame, which Remedy also developed). Notably, we see that we'll play at least two different characters in Alan Wake 2: Alan, of course, but then also one of the investigators, a young woman named Saga Anderson.
The trailer closes with the game's release date: October 17, 2023.
Alan Wake 2 was originally announced back at The Game Awards 2021 via a cinematic trailer. This is the first time we've seen the game in action.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:34 pm
During PlayStation's 2023 Showcase Sony showed Towers Of Aghasba – a game about rebuilding a strange alien world. The admittedly early footage from the game shows a character rebuilding a town, gliding through the air on a paraglider, riding and fighting strange creatures, and collecting resources. The trailer also showed flying whales in the sky.
Towers Of Aghasba comes from Dreamlit and appears to be taking ample inspiration from Breath of the Wild and should be arriving next year.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:30 pm
Today’s PlayStation Showcase brought the reveal of Sword of the Sea, a new game from Giant Squid, the development team behind Abzu and The Pathless.
The most striking visuals of the new game come from a vast desert that brings to mind thatgamecompany’s Journey. That’s not coincidence, since Giant Squid’s founder is Matt Nava, who was previously art director at thatgamecompany. But while this new game is destined to draw strong comparisons to that classic title, there were some notable differences on display. First, the desert itself looks much more like a flowing sea, and the character you control like a surfer moving through the water. In certain sequences, the desert seems to actually transform into water, suggesting a mystery at the core of the game.
In the footage shown, we see a focus on flow movement for the protagonist as they ride across the sand and trick off of half-pipes. From surrounding descriptions about the game, we know that you control a character named the Wraith, who was brought back to life to restore life to a ruined world, while facing off against vast leviathans that attempt to block progress.
Sword of the Sea is coming to PS5, but no word yet on a release date.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:29 pm
Helldivers is making a comeback in the form of a sequel. Helldivers II is coming this year for PlayStation 5 and PC.
A humorous trailer showed off the game’s sci-fi action and sense of humor. The most notable aspect is the game’s switch to third-person shooting as opposed to the purely top-down perspective of 2015 original. You'll team up with up to four friends to blast apart scores of extraterrestrial threats using a variety of high-tech weaponry.
For more, you can read our review of the first Helldivers here.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:16 pm
The Talos Principle is a well-regarded puzzle game about androids discovering sentience and grappling with those ideas. During the 2023 PlayStation Showcase, Sony revealed The Talos Principle II with mysterious voiceover declaring a new world awaits you full of dangers and mysteries all while showing impressive vistas and structures.
The Talos Principle II arrives this year.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 8:13 pm
Phantom Blade 0, a new entry in the Phantom Blade series, was announced today during the most recent PlayStation Showcase via a cinematic and gameplay trailer.
While it was hard to ascertain specifics from the trailer, we did get glimpses at the game's action RPG combat, which is fast, frenetic, and stylish. According to a YouTube description, Phantom Blade 0 is inspired by Chinese martial arts and steampunk. In it, you play as the Dark Raider, out for revenge against "The Order." Additionally, the voiceover twice asks a disembodied character what they will do with what little time they have left. Specifically, 66 days. Their response is to get their heart back.
Check out the trailer below:
No release information was given.
Phantom Blade 0 is being developed by Cruel Man Studio, based in Kowloon Bay, Hong Kong. The studio was founded in 2019, and thus far, has worked with Tencent and Square Enix.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 7:58 pm
Sony kicked off its 2023 PlayStation Showcase with a new game called Fairgames. The pre-rendered trailer began with complaints about needless wealth and transitioned to a team working together to pull of a heist in a skyscraper. The trailer ended with the tagline take it till you make it and QR code link to taketheir.money.
Little else was offered about the game from the footage shown, but considering the showcase it appeared on, it;s safe to assume it will be releasing in a PlayStation console. The game is being developed by Haven.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 7:56 pm
After playing several hours of Final Fantasy XVI in Square Enix’s Tokyo, Japan, offices for this month’s cover story, I spend about 20 minutes in one of the game’s various open field areas. FFXVI isn’t an open world game, but it features several large areas where players, as Clive, are free to explore the location, fight monsters, pick up side quests, find treasure, and more.
I spend about 20 minutes checking out every nook and cranny of one of the earlier open field locations in the game. After that, I check my map to see how much I had covered in the area I was permitted to explore – it was about an eighth, which is to say these zones are massive. But much of the game occurs in focused, dungeon-esque missions where players make their way through more linear areas, defeating monsters and bosses along the way.
After playing through this, I asked producer Naoki Yoshida why the team opted for open fields rather than a full open world game, especially in a time when the style is more popular than ever. One of the more surprising reasons is 2016’s Final Fantasy XV.
“If we look back at Final Fantasy XV, a lot of the criticism about that game was kind of centered on the story,” Yoshida says before listing out some of the criticism. “‘Some of the storytelling elements weren’t as good as they could have been,’ or, ‘Towards the end, the story kind of loses its focus,’ or, ‘We have this story that needs to be told in DLC’ and then that DLC gets canceled so it can’t be told.
“So there are lots of problems there with the storytelling that we find. And for Final Fantasy XVI, we wanted to make sure that again, our focus [is] on storytelling […] so that we can cover those gaps that [FFXV] had.”
Yoshida says he and the team, as players, play many open world games, but telling a succinct and focused story in that format would have been tough because FFXVI takes place across an entire continent.
“For example, if you create this open world of the 23 wards of Tokyo, then basically, your story has to take place in the 23 wards of Tokyo, and it can’t take place outside of that,” Yoshida says. “You can create more areas outside of that, but then that takes a lot of resources, and the more that you create, then the bigger chance that you have of that giant area that you created becoming empty, and that’s the one thing that players hate the most: [a] huge open world but there’s nothing to do in it.”
Creative Business Unit III wanted to avoid this very dilemma.
“To begin with, Final Fantasy XVI and the Final Fantasy series in general, have always been about traveling to a lot of different exotic places, meeting a lot of different people and cultures, and ultimately saving the world,” Yoshida continues. “And so if we’re restricted by a smaller open world area, we can’t do that. And because we wanted to do that, that’s why we ended up going in the direction that we did. We could have created an entire open world that would fit, but then by doing that, development time takes just that much more time.”
Instead, Yoshida says the team looked at the story and the script to see where the main narrative would take players. The team then decided this journey didn’t fit an open world setting.
"And rather than trying to take that [journey] and force it into an open world setting because open world games happen to be popular, we decided that, 'No, we want to tell the story the way we want to tell it and make it a global scale type of thing and this is probably going to work better,'" Yoshida tells me. "Once the core development team had seen the story and where it’s going to take us, then there wasn’t really a discussion about [making it open world].”
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 7:45 pm
For a few years now, we’ve heard Final Fantasy XVI is inspired by HBO’s Game of Thrones, and during my cover story trip to Tokyo, Japan, to speak with Creative Business Unit III, I learned more about this. Specifically, and perhaps critically, I learned that the team was inspired by the first four seasons of Game of Thrones. Or at least, that’s where it started.
“Right around the start of the game’s development back when we’re in that early period is right about when [Season 4 of Game of Thrones on HBO] was airing,” FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida tells me. “We had seen it grow into this television show that was loved around the world, not just by older generations but younger generations as well. So we bought the Blu-Ray box of Seasons 1, 2, 3, and 4, and made everyone on the team watch it basically to get across to developers that this is what’s trending in the world – that this is the type of fantasy that people are enjoying.”
The Iron Kingdom
But Yoshida says the team took great caution to avoid FFXVI feeling like a carbon copy of Game of Thrones. While its inspirations are clear, it feels like its own thing after playing and watching the game for roughly five hours. Plus, with everything else going on in the game – specifically the Eikon vs. Eikon combat – the team drew on other sources of inspiration like Attack on Titan, Neon Genesis Evangelion, Godzilla, Ultraman, and more.
Not only does Game of Thrones inspire the story and world feel of Final Fantasy XVI, but it also inspires a lot of its visual style, according to art director Hiroshi Minagawa.
Final Fantasy XVI Art Director Hiroshi Minagawa
“When I joined the team and spoke with Takai-san about the overall look of the game, we had that broad stroke that we wanted to have something that’s going to have that Game of Thrones feel, that kind of pure standard high fantasy that you’d see in that type of program and visual medium,” he tells me.
While people today still argue where Game of Thrones began to falter, you’d be hard-pressed to find someone who thinks the answer is somewhere in those first four seasons. Those episodes are fantastic television, and if FFXVI’s take on fantasy comes close to rivaling them, we could be in for something special. Fortunately, we don’t have too wait long because FFXVI hits PlayStation 5 on June 22.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 24 May 2023 | 3:25 pm
Mortal Kombat 1’s incredible cinematic debut trailer ignited the collective excitement of a fanbase champing at the bit to see it in action. Looks like they'll only have to wait a couple more weeks.
Host Geoff Keighley has confirmed that Summer Game Fest will include the gameplay premiere of Mortal Kombat 1, presented by NetherRealm Studios head, Ed Boon. The annual live summer showcase of new video game trailers and world premieres will be livestreamed on June 8, beginning at 12 p.m. PT/3 p.m. ET.
Don't miss the world gameplay premiere of @MORTALKOMBAT 1 when Ed Boon (@Noobde) joins @geoffkeighley live on stage at #SummerGameFest on Thursday, June 8.
Watch the livestream at https://t.co/gO9QVWF4nN
Join us in person at @youtubetheater - Tickets: https://t.co/vpFuPnfyTe pic.twitter.com/VCjxZNCnx9
— Summer Game Fest (@summergamefest) May 23, 2023
Mortal Kombat 1 is the first entry of the new timeline following the events of Mortal Kombat 11. So far, all we know about its gameplay are Kameo Fighters, a new feature described by NetherRealm Studios as a unique roster of partner fighters that aid players during matches. It feels all but confirmed that we'll see this mechanic in action at SGF alongside the game's other bells and whistles ahead of its September 19 launch.
Summer Game Fest is the biggest event happening in June, but it's far from the only video game showcase on the horizon. You can keep track of every big livestream taking place around it by checking out our June Summer Game Fest streaming schedule.
Posted on 23 May 2023 | 10:35 pm
When Marvel's Spider-Man 2 was announced in September 2021, it showed off various elements that got players frothing at the mouth for the sequel to one of the greatest superhero games of all time. While seeing Venom emerge from the shadows was extremely exciting, the bulk of the trailer showcased Peter Parker and Miles Morales working side by side to take down several goons in the streets of New York.
That in itself was merely an eyebrow-raising affair, but it's hardly confirmation of cooperative play. However, when Miles Morales voice actor Nadji Jeter responded to a SacAnime panel question about whether or not Spider-Man 2 is a co-op game or not with, "I don't know if it's been announced or not, but I think so," that added fuel to the fire.
Yesterday, when a Twitter user asked if the speculation and rumors were true, Insomniac Games unexpectedly jumped in to clear the air. "Nope! It is an epic single-player adventure!," the tweet from the official Insomniac Games account said. This seems to fully debunk the speculation from fans and comments from Jeter, and that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 will follow in the footsteps of Marvel's Spider-Man and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales in being a fully single-player experience.
Nope! It is an epic single-player adventure!
— Insomniac Games (@insomniacgames) May 22, 2023
This isn't the first time a Spider-Man 2 voice actor has seemingly confirmed details about the game without the permission of the studio or PR team. Back in March, Venom voice actor Tony Todd announced to the world through his Twitter account that Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is expected to launch in September of this year, with commercials starting to appear in August. While we are still waiting to see if that pans out better than Jeter's comments about co-op, Todd has since deleted the original tweet.
With a PlayStation Showcase set to air tomorrow, we might not have long to wait to learn more. For now, Marvel's Spider-Man 2 is set to arrive on PlayStation 5 later this year.
[via IGN]
Posted on 23 May 2023 | 9:13 pm
Since the reveal of Final Fantasy XVI, players have asked about a potential PC version of the game, especially given that the PlayStation 5-exclusivity reveal came with a six-month window. Some potential players have assumed when that window is up, a PC version of FFXVI will be released.
During my FFXVI cover story trip to Square Enix’s Tokyo, Japan, office, I asked producer Naoki Yoshida about a PC version of the game. While it sounds like it’s on the way, he stresses that it will be longer than six months before players see or even possibly hear about it. I’m guessing he mentions six months because of the aforementioned exclusivity window, but he reiterates that this window expiring does not mean the PC version of FFXVI will go live then or anytime soon.
So for now, and presumably quite a while after the game’s release, if you want to play FFXVI, you’ll need a PlayStation 5.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 23 May 2023 | 7:45 pm
One of the more interesting facets of interviewing various members of Creative Business Unit III, the studio behind the development of Final Fantasy XVI, during this cover story trip, was hearing about the differences between developing an MMO in Final Fantasy XIV and a new single-player Final Fantasy. With the former, CBUIII gets to create settings and characters they can easily return to in future patch quests, expansions, and more. But theoretically, that’s not the case with the latter – Clive Rosfield’s story wraps up in Final Fantasy XVI.
And right now, that indeed could be the end of Clive and the rest of Valisthea’s story because currently, CBUIII has no plans for FFXVI DLC, according to director Hiroshi Takai. He and producer Naoki Yoshida say the team’s priority is getting the game into players’ hands to see what they think.
“It’s a one-off game,” Yoshida tells me. “We’re asking players to pay the full price for this experience, and so we want an experience that’s going to equal the amount of money that players are going to be paying and we want them to have satisfaction equal to what they paid or even more than that.
He, Takai, and the rest of CBUIII I speak to reiterate they created Valisthea to be vast, and it’s a world the team would like to return to. I get the sense if the demand is there, CBUIII is ready on a moment’s notice to return, perhaps through DLC or, harkening back to its MMO expertise, an expansion. At this point, considering recent entries like Final Fantasy XV and Final Fantasy VII Remake did receive DLC, it’d be unusual to see FFXVI not receive any.
“We have no idea if people are going to fall in love with Valisthea and fall in love with Clive’s story and want to see more of the world and more of its characters,” Yoshida says. “So while we always want to consider DLC or spinoffs or those types of things where you can learn more about the game, first we want to see if Valisthea and Clive are really things players around the world want to see more of and then make that decision.”
On a similar note, Takai says there aren’t any plans for non-game tie-ins a la FFXV’s Kingsglaive to supplement the world of FFXVI for the time being.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 23 May 2023 | 3:25 pm
With Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse set to arrive in theaters in just over a week, it should come as no surprise that Fortnite is adding some items and costumes to the most expansive IP crossover in gaming history. As teased yesterday, Miles Morales and Miguel O'Hara (AKA Spider-Man 2099) are joining Fortnite in promotion of the highly anticipated film.
The new additions, which include reskinned Spider-Man's Web-Shooters – now called Spider-Verse Web-Shooters – and two new Outfits, accompany Spider-Man themed Week 11 Quests. Epic Games teases that the Web-Shooters, in particular, will come in handy in those Quests. While most of those Quests award XP, one will give you the "Silk & Cologne (EI8HT version)" lobby track from Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse.
If this sounds up your alley, you can find the Spider-Verse Web-Shooters on the ground or by exchanging bars for them from Spider-Gwen. You can also find the Spider-Man (Miles Morales) Outfit, which includes the masked Earth 1610 alt style and the Spider-Verse Portal Back Bling, as well as the Spider-Man 2099 Outfit, which includes the 2099 Web Cape Back Bling, in the Item Shop. These items, along with other accessories, can be purchased as part of the Across the Spider-Verse Bundle. That bundle includes the Mega City Swing Loading Screen.
Spider-Man: Across the Spider-Verse arrives in theaters on June 2.
Posted on 23 May 2023 | 2:01 pm
When it was announced in February, Samba de Amigo: Party Central excited many who look back on the 2000 Dreamcast/Arcade title with a nostalgic fondness. The rhythm game, which tasks players with shaking maracas to the beat of popular songs, finally has a concrete release date. Players can expect to transform their Joy-Cons into maracas when the Switch-exclusive title launches on August 29.
Samba de Amigo: Party Central's launch soundtrack already features 40 popular tracks from artists like Ariana Grande, Kesha, Nicki Minaj, and Carly Rae Jepsen, as well as some tracks from Sonic Adventure 2 and Sonic Forces. While "City Escape" and "Fist Bump" from those games are a part of the launch lineup, fans of Sega's lineup of games can anticipate even more content from Sonic, as well as other Sega franchises, through downloadable content.
The Sonic Music DLC Pack includes "Open Your Heart" from Sonic Adventure, "Reach for the Stars" from Sonic Colors: Ultimate, and "I'm Here" from Sonic Frontiers. The Sega Music DLC Pack includes "Bakamitai (Taxi Driver Edition)" from the Yakuza series, "Go Go Cheer Girl!" from Space Channel 5: Part 2, and "Rhythm Thief Theme" from "Rhythm Thief & the Emperor's Treasure.
All of these DLC tracks are included as part of the Digital Deluxe Edition, which will be available on the Nintendo eShop for $50. The Digital Deluxe version also includes special costumes for Sonic, Tails, Space Channel 5, Super Monkey Ball, and Puyo Puyo, further hammering home the Sega theme in this game. The standard edition costs $40.
Samba de Amigo: Party Central arrives on Switch on August 29. For more on the game, check out our coverage of the announcement and see the first trailer here.
Posted on 23 May 2023 | 2:00 pm
NetEase Games has announced the founding of a new game studio based in Canada. The studio is headed up by Sean Crooks, a former Ubisoft producer with credits ranging from Just Dance and Driver to the Watch Dogs franchise. Other members of the team include developers who have worked on series like Splinter Cell, Army of Two, Far Cry, and Child of Light.
The team hopes its first project will kickstart a new franchise. The title is an open-world, story-driven action/adventure title that draws inspiration from '80s action and horror films. Bad Brain is using Unreal Engine 5 to develop its debut title, which will launch across multiple platforms.
"I'm honored to be leading this talented team of developers in Canada," Crooks said in a press release. "We're all passionate about creating memorable and meaningful experiences. NetEase Games has given us a warm welcome, with an abundance of support and creative freedom to allow us to do what we do best. Our first game is a passion project that gives us the opportunity to truly free our brains."
NetEase, which is based in China, views this as an investment in the Canadian game-development industry. "We're thrilled to welcome Bad Brain Game Studios into our family and enriching our presence in Canada," NetEase Games president of global investments and partnerships Simon Zhu said in that same release. "With this new studio, NetEase Games continues its commitment to nurturing top-tier talent in Canada and creating games that players love. Canada has a thriving gaming industry, and we're excited to continue to be a part of it. We believe that our talented teams in Toronto, Montreal, and beyond will create some of the most innovative and exciting games the industry has seen."
Bad Brain Game Studios will have offices in Toronto, Ontario, and Montreal, Quebec, and will operate using a hybrid work model. To learn more, you can visit the studio's official website.
Posted on 23 May 2023 | 12:00 pm
Since the PlayStation 3 generation, updates released on a game’s launch day, colloquially known as Day One patches or updates, have been the norm. Sometimes they’re small, squashing a few last-minute bugs, but other times, they’re massive and nigh essential to enjoying the adventure before you.
However, Day One patches draw criticism from players excited to jump into the action, only to be left watching a download bar fill up. Some players with slower internet or limited access might be left waiting for hours, if not days, depending on download speeds. During my Final Fantasy XVI cover story trip, I asked the team about its March accomplishment of going gold and what the team was working on now.
Final Fantasy XVI has gone gold.
From the entire team, including Torgal, we hope you're looking forward to #FF16's launch on June 22nd 🐺 pic.twitter.com/Vrtd3cMNW5
— FINAL FANTASY XVI (@finalfantasyxvi) March 31, 2023
To my surprise, developer Creative Business Unit III isn’t working on a day one patch, a revelation that continues to become rarer with each new release in games. Director Hiroshi Takai gave me a few reasons as to why.
Final Fantasy XVI Director Hiroshi Takai
Final Fantasy XVI Director Hiroshi Takai
The first is that the team is confident in its final build of Final Fantasy XVI. The second is that he and producer Naoki Yoshida (and the rest of the CBUIII team) believe the game should be ready to go at launch, recognizing that not everyone has access to the internet needed to download a day one patch in light of Final Fantasy XVI’s global simultaneous release. So as of right now, we won’t be downloading a big patch on June 22 when the game hits PlayStation 5.
However, Takai notes that CBUIII is testing the game daily and searching for bugs, and things could change as a result, but right now, like in the days of old Final Fantasy, this entry should work entirely as expected out of the box.
For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.
Posted on 22 May 2023 | 7:45 pm
