Amazon is having another one of its “Buy 2 Get 1 50% Off” sales and it is absolutely filled to the brim with puzzles this time around. There are hundreds of options included in this sale from some of the best puzzle brands out there. If you’re on the hunt for your next puzzle, or are just looking to grab a nice gift for the puzzler in your life, this promotion makes it a great time to save some money.
To take advantage of the promotion, you’ll just need to add two eligible jigsaw puzzles to your Amazon cart and the 50% discount will be applied to whichever one is the least expensive. And since it isn’t just puzzles included (there are board games as well), you can also mix and match with other items to still get that discount. I’ve gathered some of my top picks from this sale below, but there’s a ton of other options available if you want to browse the sale yourself.
Jigsaw Puzzle Sale on Amazon Today
Like I mentioned above, there are a ton of puzzles included in this sale. I couldn’t possibly include them all, so I’ve only highlighted a few top picks that I think best represent what is included here. There’s a fairly wide variety of piece counts, from 300 to 3000, but I mostly stuck to 1000-piece puzzles here as they are the most popular whenever I’ve covered a puzzle sale.
If you are looking for some suggestions for what to buy, the Spider-Verse puzzle from Buffalo games has been on our list of the best puzzles for adults for over a year now. It’s got a ton of different Spideys and is consistently one of the most popular marvel puzzles out there. There’s also the Disney & Pixar Shop puzzle from Ravensburger that offers something similar for fans of Disney instead of Marvel. There’s a bunch of characters and easter eggs hidden in each one.
I’d also recommend checking out The Drippy Trip puzzle. It’s the latest puzzle made by The Magic Puzzle Company and actually features a few fun secrets from the popular cartoon Adventure Time. If you aren’t familiar with Magic Puzzle Company Puzzles, they are a mix between jigsaw puzzle and magic kit and are generally very popular with families. There have been five different series of these types of puzzles and Amazon has a bunch of them featured in this sale right now.
Board Games Are Also Included
Amazon’s buy 1, get 1 50% off sale also extends to board games. So if you want to purchase a puzzle and a board game you can still get that 50% off. There are a surprising number of board games included in the sale and you can mix and match to your heart’s desire. There’s even some crossover between IP so you can purchase a Lord of the Rings puzzleand a Lord of the Rings board game all at once if you want.
Amazon’s October Prime Day has ended, but the online retailer is already offering a new “Buy 2, Get 1 50% Off” sale this week. There’s a little bit of everything for everyone in here, from classic family games to modern party games. If you’ve been hoping to add some more board games to your tabletop collection, right now is a great time to do so.
The sale itself is fairly straightforward: Amazon has a big list of items that are included in the promotion and all you need to do is add two in your cart and the 50% discount will be applied to whatever the cheaper one is. That means if you want to take full advantage of the savings, you’ll want to buy two similarly priced items. I’ve gathered some of the best options in the sale here, which are based off of IGN’s own board game reviews and recommendations.
Buy 1, Get 1 50% Off Board Games
The amount of options to choose from in this sale is truly staggering, and it’s difficult to choose only a few recommendations to highlight. Are you looking for intriguing murder mystery games to play during a Halloween party? Do you need a fun family board game you can break out on weekends? Are you hoping to find a great strategy game that will take all night to play? There are tabletop options for all of those scenarios right here.
For those working with a smaller budget, I’d recommend checking out Flip 7. We reviewed it earlier this year and absolutely loved it. It’s a fairly easy push-you-luck card game that can be played in under 20 minutes. At only $8, it’s already cheap, and this promotion will end up dropping that price down to just $4 when you buy something else (that’s at least $8) with it. All-in-all, it’s an easy recommendation to make for anyone who just wants a fun game that has a shallow learning curve.
If you’re looking for something a bit heartier that’s still family friendly, Ticket to Ride – both the original U.S. and some of the European versions – is also included here. This game is a modern classic that does a great job of combining simple gameplay with stimulating turn-based strategy.
Once you find a game you like, the next step is picking out a good second option to take full advantage of the discount. I’d recommend browsing through some of the classic board games here that are essential for any collection, stuff like Clue, Catan, Sorry!, and multiple versions of Monopoly. If you don’t already have those, now is a great time to pick one or more up for a substantial discount.
Medics have found themselves fighting their own war in Battlefield 6 as desperate players take to using the repair tool to leave messages begging for revives.
EA and Battlefield Studios opened the floodgates when Battlefield 6 launched last week, October 10, for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. As more than 740,000 players gathered to play on Steam alone, a new discussion about in-game classes has bubbled to the top with one question: are medics doing their job?
The Support class no doubt plays an important role in any Battlefield 6 multiplayer match. While Assault, Engineer, and Recon classes, too, bring important tools and skills to a fight, it’s only the Support class that can get downed soldiers back on their feet at lightning speed.
Squad mates of any class are free to revive each other with or without the medic tools in Support, though they are locked only to reviving players in their squad and take much longer to pick them up. Support players do not have these squad limitations and can instantly revive a soldier with things like defibrillators.
With dozens of teammates in every Battlefield 6 match, there’s always plenty of players looking to be revived, and as buildings are often crumbling down around them, the chances of being picked up aren’t always too likely. Heightening the stress on both ends are measurements for downed players showing how far away the nearest group of medics is. When JohnBattlefield2000 opts not to revive you at just five meters away, things tend to get a bit heated.
Some have already begun using the repair tool, a gadget wielded by engineers to repair vehicles (and draw on walls) in Battlefield for years, to leave messages for Support medics who neglect their fallen comrades. One popular post from Reddit user dobrewski77 contains a not-so-nice plea, asking others to “remember to revive your teammates.” It’s fair to want to get back into the fight, but those who favor Support say it’s not that easy to pull off a successful save.
“Stop hitting redeploy and you’ll be revived,” one person replied in an X/Twitter post. “I wish people would ask where is the Medic instead of insta skipping the revive,” another Reddit comment added.
For more, you can check out our Battlefield 6 multiplayer review in progress as well as our 5/10 campaign review. While Support players and downed teammates argue over who should do what on the battlefield, you can see some of the memes that everyone in the middle has come to love, below.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
In celebration of IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition, Humble Bundle is releasing a special bundle that, for at least $25, will get you a collection of 8 games and DLC worth $293, including Train Sim World 6, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, and TerraTech.
In addition, your purchase will go a long way in supporting Code for America, a civic tech nonprofit that partners with the U.S. government to build digital tools, change policies, and improve programs.
The IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition Humble Bundle is available right here and will be available for purchase until tktktk. This is just one of the many ways we are celebrating IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition, which streams live on October 15 at 9am PT/12pm ET and will feature dozens of exclusive game trailers, interviews with celebrities, and exclusive clips and reveals across games, TV, and more. This includes Predator: Badlands, Netflix’s The Witcher, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, IT: Welcome to Derry, The Outer Worlds 2, and much more.
OK, back to the bundle. It can once again can be fully unlocked by donating at least $25 and it includes the following;
As you can see in the list above, donating at least a certain amount will allow you to add these games to your gaming library, i.e. donating $10 will get you the bottom three games, $15 will get you the bottom six games, and $25 will get you everything.
Now, let’s get into the games themselves.
Train Sim World 6 was actually just released on September 30 and allows you to navigate and manage different routes across the world. Included in this bundle is the base game and four DLC routes that will give you even more ways to immerse yourself in the fascinating world of trains.
Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is the first classic RPG set in the 41st millennium and it casts you as a Rogue Trader, a “scion of an ancient dynasty of daring privateers that reign over their trade empire and explore the fringes of the Imperium’s frontier.” Read our review here.
SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake was released in 2023 and is actually the prequel to the upcoming game, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide. This first game follows a tale of what happens when a mysterious fortunre teller grants SpongeBob and Patrick their wishes, which causes portals to strange Wishworlds to pop up. Read our review here.
Wandering Sword is a martial arts RPG that features gorgeous 3D pixel art and stars a swordsman who is caught up in a feud that leads him to become a master at martial arts.
Koira had us sold by tasking us with protecting an adorable puppy, and it also features a musical adventure that’s hand-drawn and sends you deep into a magical forest.
To get ready for Invincible VS, this bundle will allow you to jump into Invincible Presents: Atom Eve, where you will play as one of the most powerful superheroes in the Invincible universe and will need to unravel a mystery while also dealing with the challenges of everyday life.
TerraTech is an open-world sandbox adventure and vehicular combat game that puts its focus on design, crafting and discovery, making it perfect for those with a big imagination.
Last by certainly not least, Predator: Hunting Grounds rounds out the IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition bundle and lets you bring up to four friends with you to not only play as an elite military fireteam, but to also become the Predator yourself and hunt down those who dare oppose you. Oh, and it may just help you get hyped for Predator: Badlands! Read our review here.
Humble Bundle is part of IGN Entertainment, the division of Ziff Davis that includes GamesIndustry.biz, IGN, and MapGenie.
The latest Steam Next Fest began this week, showcasing a wide range of upcoming titles. And as has become a trend, publishing platform indie.io has several titles featured. To celebrate, it has launched a campaign called Next Fest Party that will run from October 13–20 and includes free demos for 12 different games.
The games come from a variety of different developers in a variety of different genres, so we figured we’d give you a rundown of everything that’s available. Below you’ll find brief descriptions of each game, with each title linked to its free demos so you can try them for yourself.
This 2D top-down roguelite shooter is chaotic, silly, and a bit gross (well, as gross as a 2D game can be). Your city has been overrun with slime mutants who have one goal in mind: ripping your face off. The natural reaction should be to prevent that, so you’ll need to upgrade your weapons and special abilities to fend off the horde. The demo drops you into the game’s first level, and you just need to survive as long as you can. Simple, right?
Kriophobia also challenges you to survive, but in a VERY different way. You play as Anna, a geophysicist who’s trapped in a frozen Soviet bunker … and something else is down there with you. This is classic psychological horror, perfect for spooky season and for players who don’t want their hands held. Combat is tense and difficult, to the point it’s sometimes best avoided altogether. The demo is a standalone section of the game’s second chapter, where you’ll have to contend with the cold, mysterious abominations, and Anna’s traumatic past.
This pixel shooter is a bullet-hell roguelike set in a post-apocalyptic kingdom where an attempted cure for death resulted in an all-consuming plague instead. You were a doctor before this event, but now you must use cursed masks and plague-infused weapons to deal with escalating waves of enemies. The demo is a vertical slice that will give you a sense of the game’s fast pace and let you experiment with different cursed masks and power-ups.
It’s time to pick up your Battlemallet, go delving into mines, and try to safely make it out with as many riches as you can in this first-person extraction roguelite. The mines are randomly generated, so no two trips are the same. You’ll need to craft items like support beams and ladders to traverse dangerous areas, as well as utilize lanterns and floodlights to see in the darkness. Once you’ve grabbed your loot, you’ll need to be wary of traps and other dangers on your way back to safety.
Do you like stealing stuff and then causing untold destruction throughout the city as you try to make your escape while an escalating police force chases you? Well, great news. That’s the premise of the aptly named Heistfest. You’ll speed your way through hand-drawn environments, and things will get more intense the longer you evade capture. And if you think that means just adding some more cop cars and maybe some guns, think again. You’ll have to deal with spike traps, helicopters, paratroopers, tanks, and full-on airstrikes. Chaos and fun are more important than realism anyway. The demo is a vertical slice that gives you a sense of the core gameplay loop: rob a bank, spark a police chase, and see how long you can survive as public enemy #1.
It’s Halloween time, so of course there can’t just be one scary game on this list. This one is a psychological horror walking sim focused on atmosphere, exploration, and puzzle solving. You play as Yuki Tachibana, a Japanese high school student who recently moved into a new apartment with her family. Something sinister awakens within the walls of their new home, warping reality and dredging up sins of the past. With flashlight in hand, you’ll uncover notes, solve environmental puzzles, and reveal the secrets of Yuki’s family.
You are Solus, a scavenger drone sent to salvage the nullstar from a dying world. But there’s only one goal that really matters in this game: be faster. You’ll need to master the flying mechanics, thrusters, and momentum to make it through levels as quickly as possible. Those levels are high-risk, high-reward, and you’ll need to stay on your toes to deal with everything they can throw at you.
You probably haven’t seen a bullet hell quite like this one. In Air Hares, your main goal isn’t shooting enemies out of the sky; it’s using your plane to seed and water crops to save the starving people of the barren Winrose Warren. But your feathered foes in the Gale Gang want to stop you, so you’ll need to dodge, jab, and ram them to send them packing and get back to your important work.
Miniature golf gets a chaotic overhaul in Binary Golf, where you use your golf ball to eliminate targets until the final one becomes the hole you need to get your ball into. But this isn’t just any old mini golf course. You can jump over hazards, teleport across courses, and phase through objects to pull off trick shots. The demo includes the game’s first two episodes, which will teach you the ropes before pitting you against a boss to test what you’ve learned.
If you’ve ever wondered what would happen if a roguelike deckbuilder collided with a magical coin-pusher machine, The Cascadier has your answer, and it’s gloriously chaotic. Each run has you charging coins with elemental powers from your deck and dropping them into dazzling, pinball-like cabinets that erupt in chain reactions if you drop your coin just right. You’ll be guided by Fortuna, the trickster goddess of luck, and her envious brother Theodan as you chase divine rewards.
Each round starts with ten coins to drop and your deck of earned abilities. Like any good coin pusher, you’ll scoop up coins mid-round and play them back in to keep your score and ticket count climbing. Run out, and the round’s over, so make every toss count. Hit your score goal to move on, then choose new powersets to add to your growing deck and mix things up in the next run. You’ll spend your hard-earned tickets on upgrading Trinkets that grant new abilities and permanent boosts. The demo lets you try the first cabinet, a lush, nature-themed machine that hints at the elemental powers each new board will bring.
A multiplayer party game, Elemental Brawl tasks you with beating up your friends with the power of the elements. Each round begins with everyone only being able to punch and kick, but as time goes on, random elemental orbs will drop. Collecting them grants you powers related to that element, and you can combine elements as the round continues. And the maps aren’t static, you can use your elements to burn them, freeze them, turn puddles into steam traps, and more. It’s all about coming up with creative ways to eliminate your opponents.
A puzzle game with simple yet addictive gameplay, Chowdown Kitty presents you with a board filled with cat treats. Connect matching treats in a string of three or more, and those treats get pulled out and put in a food bowl for a cat. The more treats you manage to string together, the higher your score gets and the happier the cat gets.
October’s IGN First continues with even more gameplay from Crimson Desert. This time we’re taking a look at a main story quest, one which brings us face to face with one of the campaign’s most imposing foes: Golden Star, a colossal mechanical dragon.
So far, we’ve shown off a lot of combat. Crimson Desert is an open-world action game, of course, so naturally combat is key to the entire experience. You’ll see plenty more sword-slinging in the video above. But we also wanted to showcase a little more of the story and help contextualize where some of those… stranger elements come from.
But first, the basics. You play as Kliff, leader of the Greymanes free sword company. Not that he’s doing much leading right now. Crimson Desert’s prologue sees the Greymanes attacked by their sworn rivals, the Black Bears, and the assault leaves the company wounded and scattered (a bloody opening you can see in action here). Alone, Kliff sets out on a mission to seek out his lost allies, rebuild the Greymanes, and exact vengeance on the enemies who tore the company apart.
That mission takes Kliff on a journey across Pywel, a massive continent made up of numerous regions, including the titular Crimson Desert. As he explores, he learns of a number of powerful artefacts that grant immense power – a power that some are using to wreak destructive havoc rather than enact good deeds. Kliff takes it upon himself to get involved and finds himself falling down a rabbit hole that leads to a grander destiny.
In the quest we’re showcasing today, “Master of the Forgotten Lands”, Kliff has found himself wound up in the affairs of Marni, a scientific genius. Fans of Black Desert Online, developer Pearl Abyss’ previous game, may recognise the name Marni, and while Kliff’s new acquaintance is not the same character, they are somewhat mirror images of each other – both incredibly intelligent scientists who make the impossible possible via unorthodox methods. In Marni’s secret cliff base, you can see one of the origin points of Crimson Desert’s steampunk aesthetic. His array of strange devices suggest he’s much more advanced than Pywel’s wider Medieval-like society.
This quest takes Kliff on a journey along the Great Ocean of Pywel’s coast, up Mount Benus, and into Marni’s Masterium, where an army of unexpected foes await. And then, at the castle’s summit, Kliff must hold his own against the colossal Golden Star. Will he succeed? You’ll have to watch our brand new gameplay video to find out.
Stick with IGN throughout this month for even more from Crimson Desert. Later this week we’ll be revealing how Pearl Abyss created Golden Star, taking you behind the scenes to see how sound, vision, and gameplay mechanics combine to create a striking boss battle.
Matt Purslow is IGN’s Executive Editor of Features.
Marvel’s Spider-Man set for Magic: The Gathering has finally swung into stores (after its recent prerelease), and the unique combination of comic book icons and fun new play designs is making it pretty popular so far.
So popular, in fact, that one rare card has already sold for $10,000 (and is even now getting listings for over $30,000) while others are also making a strong case for collectors themselves, tallying in the hundreds for market value.
If you’re looking to hunt any of these rare cards down, your best bet is picking up a Collector Booster set from Amazon right now, but be prepared to pay around $480 for just 12 packs.
Otherwise, buying cards standalone is perfectly legit as well, especially for some of the less pricey picks from the latest Universes Beyond set. For now, these are the most expensive Spidey cards to look out for when cracking packs, courtesy of data from our friends at TCGPlayer.
10. Cosmic Spider-Man (Extended Art)
Keyword soup on a five-color card? We may not have got Commander decks for Marvel’s Spider-Man, but Comic Spider-Man makes a great argument to helm one.
He powers up every Spider you have, giving them the same keywords, and that applies to Spider heroes, too. So, if you want to build a Spider-Verse deck, this is the way to go.
9. Norman Osborn/ Green Goblin (Borderless)
Norman’s standard card is fairly good value as well at $12.95, but if you want the full borderless art, it’s not much more to pay standalone. Featuring some of the MTG x Spidey sets coolest art, I can see why Green Goblin is attracting some attention.
8. Gwenom, Remorseless (Extended Art)
Kicking off the list with a banger, Gwenom, Remorseless is a Venomized version of Gwen. It’s 4/4 with Deathtouch and lifelink, which lets you spend life to play extra cards from the top of your library.
It’s a neat idea, and one I’m curious to see players build around. The card was around $37 last month, but is now sitting at more steady $16-$20.
7. Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer (Extended Art)
An awesome card is a 5/5 that brings back a card from your graveyard, Anti-Venom, Horrifying Healer can also power up as it takes damage.
You could, in theory, end up using him as a game-ending play if it takes enough damage from other players, or you could use him in a deck that’ll have your own creatures damage him to make him a juggernaut.
6. Gwen Stacy/Ghost-Spider (Borderless)
Sticking with Gwen, but a much less spooky version, this borderless card shows our heroine relaxing before flipping into action against Electro.
This version of Miles Morales is currently fetching close to $65, which is pretty spenny, but much less than it was demanding closer to release when it was sitting at $150 or more. Miles powers up others and then transforms into a camouflaging web-slinger with first strike and haste.
If you’re looking for something a little less expensive, he’s got another transforming Miles Morales card that was sitting at around $40 during release week, but you can expect to pay just over $14 for him these days, and that’s a bargain.
4. Peter Parker/Amazing Spider-Man (Borderless)
He had to show up eventually, right? This card looks like the iconic moment Peter Parker gets bit by a spider on one side, and his first appearance alongside Marvel’s Fantastic Four on the other.
It’s currently sitting at around $100, a significant drop from its recent highs of $200.
3. Eddie Brock/Venom, Lethal Protector (Borderless)
This Eddie Brock/Venom, Lethal Protector card is another one with a comic-book cover on the flipside, and the iconic antihero is fetching a mean price at $200.
As for gameplay, Venom lets you sacrifice cards to draw and play other spells, potentially shifting your board state pretty quickly.
2. Spectacular Spider-Man (Various)
The Spectacular Spider-Man cards from this set were bound to be popular, both because the card is great and its artwork is awesome, but if you have a textured foil one, you might be in for a windfall.
The Soul Stone is not only a piece of Marvel history – its card is exciting in its own right.
To play it, you’ll exile a card in order to trigger its ‘Harness’ ability, which essentially brings a creature card back from your Graveyard every turn. It’s going for around $100.
This powerful card is up for big money in its borderless format, but the Soul Stone’s Cosmic Foil variant is even harder to find.
As I mentioned, one has reportedly already sold for $10,000-$15,000. Right now, it’s listed at $40,000, with a market value of $32,000. Wow.
Yes, there’s also a less flashy version of The Soul Stone, to consider as well, but this Thanos artwork looks amazing… if you’re lucky enough to pull it, or have a spare $2000 to blow.
The Borderless version of the card is currently going for around $1,500 on TCGPlayer, but the site lists its market value as closer to $1,700.
Otherwise, the cheapest way to pick this card up is via its standard variant, which still goes for around $100 right now as well. Not exactly cheap, but miles better than $40k.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
Code Vein getting a sequel, as announced at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, was a pleasant surprise. The original was good! It was one of those games that necessarily didn’t blow people away, but was fun popcorn for action-RPG fans who like deep character creators, over-the-top plots, and far more weapons and customization choices than any person can reasonably keep track of. But good or not, loads of excellent games in this genre never resurface after their initial debut, so Bandai Namco being willing to return to its twist on vampires and take another crack at perfecting the pitch is some seriously good news. Sure, the developer has disavowed any plot connections to the original, which has some fans worried. But I just got 45 minutes of hands-off time with Code Vein 2, and came out feeling confident that direct sequel or no, this follow-up feels like a far more fully realized vision of the fast-paced, flashy action RPG that Code Vein 1 was always striving to be.
Dress to Impress
I did get a very, very brief stint of hands-on time with Code Vein 2, in that Bandai Namco let me mess around in the c haracter creator before they took over. No huge surprises here, but if you liked the robustness of Code Vein 1’s character creator and can spend hours tweaking eyebrow shapes, I’ve got good news for you. You can choose from preset designs, of course, for folks who don’t want to sit on this screen all day, but you can also adjust minute details like teeth and ear shapes if that’s more your bag. I had a lot of fun picking out a really big, silly hat for my character to wear. One of my favorite elements of the creator is the ability to select an outfit, and then turn on and off certain pieces of it. Love a cute dress but hate the weird garter it makes you wear with it? Just turn it off!
Once I had settled on a cute hat and hairstyle, I handed the controller back over to the devs, and sat back to watch what they had to show me. The mission they elected to demonstrate was one where the player is sent off with a partner (a buddy) named Josée to restore power to a city area. They selected the quest area from a large overworld map and traveled there instantly, though they arrived not in a closed dungeon but in a large, lovely, ruined city with multiple dungeons available to them just by running (or driving a motorcycle) around. I got to watch some gameplay both from an optional dungeon near where we landed, and from the actual objective dungeon itself, a substation where the hero might be able to get the city’s power running again.
Define “Open”
One big question I had going into this preview was whether Code Vein 2 was open world, or open zone, or something else. After chatting with the team, asking about the issue several times, and watching the demo, I’m still not 100% sure how to answer this. The team says it’s not open world, but also kept saying Code Vein 2 had “one single overworld” and that traveling is “a bit more open” than in Code Vein 1. There does seem to be a lot of interconnectivity – I watched the he=ro zoom around the outdoor area on a motorcycle (with Josée adorably sitting cross-legged on the back) and covering some meaningful distance without running into artificial walls, but it’s possible there were some much further along. Director Hiroshi Yoshimura also told me that the overworld is “significantly” bigger, while the dungeon sizes are roughly the same as Code Vein 1. Make of all that what you will for now.
When I asked about the world, director Yoshimura repeatedly pointed out that the focus was less on exploration and more on the various character companions you’ll meet in Code Vein 2. You’ll be traveling to points in the world specifically for missions tied to these characters that will let you get to know them better. Much of Code Vein 2 does indeed seem to be centered around these buddies, or partners as they’re now called, even more so than the first game since the sequel won’t feature co-op.
Friend Circle
In my preview, I got a decent look at some of the partner dynamics between the main character and Josée. Josée’s got a big ol’ sword she swings around, slow but powerful, and at different points I saw her light it on fire for both close-up and long-range attacks. Without actually playing myself it’s hard to say whether or not the AI has improved from Code Vein 1 (where it could be a bit finicky or, at times, suicidal). Though, if you hate dealing with AI partners at all, they can assist you in Code Vein 2 via “assimilation” – effectively removing them from the battlefield, but giving yourself significant stat boosts and powerful new abilities to compensate. One other feature I did appreciate was the ability of partners to revive you when you fall in battle, and vice versa if your partners fall, wisely on a cooldown so it can’t be spammed for immortality.
From what I could see, Code Vein veterans will be perfectly happy with the sequel’s bursting larder of combat abilities and character customization. Code Vein 2 wants you to get really comfortable cycling through different types of skills, and boy, you better keep track of all those Proper Nouns. But here’s the jist: you’ll attack with your weapon to start building up bleeds on an enemy, then use your equipped auxiliary “Jail” weapon to gain a resource called Ichor. Ichor can then be spent on far more powerful abilities, such as “bequeathed formae”, special, powerful weapons like a huge bow and arrow or a powerful shield. Or, you can activate your Jails for huge finisher moves, like swinging an enormous scythe or briefly gaining big, vampiric wings.
Code Vein 2, like its predecessor, seems to benefit from just trying stuff out and seeing what’s fun and effective.
I don’t mean to spend this whole preview lamenting that this was a hands-off demo, but man, I wish I could have gotten ahold of a controller just to muck around in the menus! Code Vein 2, like its predecessor, seems to benefit from just trying stuff out and seeing what’s fun and effective, and even with just the options I saw in the demo I feel like I could waste a lot of time wildly flailing around with different combinations until I was happy with my particular expression of it.
When This Baby Hits 88mph…
I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see anything from one of Code Vein 2’s most intriguing key features: time travel. It takes place in a present day where a horrible calamity has taken place in the past, and you and your companions are given the ability to travel back in time and change history. Though you’re strongly urged not to meddle with the past, obviously, you do anyway. I’m told you’re allowed to freely travel between past and present most of the time (occasionally you’ll be locked out of doing so), and things you do in the past can influence what’s going on in the present, even to the point of making it impossible to return to the present. But I wasn’t able to see any of that in action during my preview, so it’s hard for me to say how extensive or interesting this element actually is.
One other, somewhat fangirly note – hey, I love Go Shiina’s music? Shiina returns as composer for Code Vein 2 after working on Code Vein 1, and he’s also composed for my two favorite Tales games (don’t laugh at me for this): Tales of Legendia and Tales of Zestiria. His excellence was on full display both in my preview and in the story trailer I watched ahead of time, with soaring strings and chaotic vocals backing Code Vein 2’s intense battles. Sign me up for another banger Shiina soundtrack, thanks!
While Bandai Namco has confirmed that Code Vein 2 is a complete departure from the story and universe of the first game, it’s familiar enough in gameplay and style that I came away feeling pretty happy with the direction. I’ve seen fans calling it a “soft reboot” and I think that’s an accurate summation: it’s true to the philosophy of Code Vein without being beholden to its lore Wiki. Nothing I’ve seen has shocked me so far, but I don’t think it needs to: everything good about Code Vein 1 is here, just bigger, shinier, and slash-slash-slashier. Now just let me tinker around in the character creator for just a few more minutes…
A French retailer has all but confirmed Assassin’s Creed Shadows is indeed coming to Nintendo Switch 2, and it looks like it’ll be another controversial Game-Key Card game.
As noted by the eagle-eyed members of the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, however, the key art used in the new retail listing also suggests the game will come as a Game-Key Card. This means that unlike, say, Cyberpunk 2077, which is fully contained on a 64GB cartridge on Switch 2, players will instead have to download part or all of a game before they can play.
It’ll likely divide fans who continue to debate the practice of publishers providing Game-Key Cards in Switch 2 boxed games instead of a physical cartridge. It’s proven to be a divisive practice among some, not least because while it allows collectors to have a game’s box on their shelf, they’re essentially useless unless your console is connected to the internet.
Nintendo recently launched a survey designed to poll the Switch 2 userbase on its thoughts surrounding digital and physical games, with questions designed to probe the reasons you might consider one option over another. Nintendo’s also interested in finding out if your attitude to digital downloads has shifted over time.
In September, a Ubisoft developer who worked on the Nintendo port of Star Wars Outlawsdefended the use of Game-Key Cards, saying the real reason why the Switch 2 version of Star Wars Outlaws uses a Game-Key Card was due to the Switch 2’s data speeds, and how quickly the hardware can read information from its bespoke cartridges, versus games downloaded to the console’s internal memory.
If you missed Assassin’s Creed Shadows the first time around, now may be a good time to try it out. Released back in March, it returned 8/10 in the IGN review.
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Ghost of Yotei gives its revenge-seeking protagonist Atsu a wide range of traditional Japanese weapons to wield, including bows, swords and spears. Last week, however, a Japanese-speaking user on X questioned whether it was realistic or even possible for Atsu to draw a very long sword from her back, prompting a flood of video comments from traditional Japanese martial arts practitioners.
In Ghost of Yotei, you’ll pick up the Odachi (literally ‘big sword’) in The Way of the Odachi quest (check out our walkthrough here). It is a useful addition to Atsu’s arsenal, especially when facing off against larger enemies (brutes). It allows her to block heavy attacks and then push back against the opponent, opening them up for a devastating slice.
As she already has two swords at her hip, Atsu opts to sheath the Odachi on her back, however X user ikazombie questioned how on earth you’d pull this off without dislocating something. Upon slowing the clip down, they realised that you could theoretically draw and sheath it from over your left shoulder, but seemed unconvinced about how this would be accomplished in real life.
Japanese martial arts practitioners commented with videos. User Harima_mekkai (a member of the Tenshinryu school) decided to try out Atsu’s way of wearing and drawing an Odachi. She posted a video of herself successfully unsheathing a 1m long sword weighing 1.5kg from over her left shoulder. This shows that the drawing part of Atsu’s Odachi technique is actually doable, albeit it takes effort and training to pull it off that smoothly.
Another user by the name of Lornplum replied with a video of himself drawing and sheathing a back-mounted sword and described the way Atsu deals with the length by holding the blade as she draws it as a “brilliant touch of realism.”
Sucker Punch did get members of the Tenshinryu school to do motion capture for the sword fights and stances in Ghost of Yotei. Tenshinryu is a traditional Japanese martial art which dates from the 1600s and covers the art of a wide variety of weapons, including spears, swords and chain sickles. PlayStation Japan recently posted a side-by-side video of Ghost of Yotei footage and Tenshinryu members enacting the fight scene.
However, there is still a bit of video game coolness trumping realism here. The clips of real-life pros show them moving the sheath up and over their shoulder more (or even around their body) to make it easier to draw and sheath the weapon. This is especially apparent when sheathing the sword. It seems that the amount of movement in Atsu’s Odaichi sheathing was reduced, likely to make whipping out and holstering the weapon smoother and more responsive for players.
As Lornplum commented on Harima_Mekkai’s demonstration of drawing a Odaichi Atsu-style: “As you can see, with some effort anyone can manage to draw it, however sheathing it (like Atsu does) is pretty much impossible.”
While they look cool in games, it goes without saying that having a sword on your back in real life makes it much more awkward to access than if it was at your hip. Last year, a Link cosplayer found it impossible to unsheath their back-mounted sword Breath of the Wild-style. However, they received a bit of unexpected advice from none other than Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, who explained that they made Link’s sword skills a little more realistic for Smash Bros. Ultimate by having him move the scabbard.
IGN’s Ghost of Yotei review returned an 8/10. We said: “A predictable but well-executed story takes you through Ghost of Yotei’s gorgeous landscapes and satisfying, fluid action – it may not be revolutionizing open world games, but it’s a great distillation of the samurai fantasy.”
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
