Europe’s next Nintendo Switch Online Game Trial kicks off today in Europe, and it’s for Pixpil’s beautiful pixel art adventure Eastward. From now until 24th January, you can try out this unique game for free if you’re subscribed to the Nintendo Switch Online service.
Eastward was published by Chucklefish and arrived on the Nintendo Switch in 2021 and takes place in a world filled with MIASMA. The survivors of this moved underground and above ground, abandoned towns and structures have been filled with overgrown plants and unusual creatures.
Get ready to rumble, embark on a swashbuckling adventure, grapple your way to victory, and make your way to the top this weekend on Xbox with Free Play Days! UFC 5, One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4, AEW: Fight Forever and Make Way are available this weekend for Xbox Game Pass Core and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members to play from Thursday January 18 at 12:01 a.m. PDT until Sunday, January 21 at 11:59 p.m. PDT.
Game Pass Core will give players access to our advanced multiplayer network, a select collection of over 25 games to play with friends around the world, and exclusive member deals! Read more about Game Pass Core at Xbox Wire.
How To Start Playing
Find and install the games on each of the individual game details page on Xbox.com. Clicking through will send you to the Microsoft Store, where you must be signed in to see the option to install with your Xbox Game Pass Core or Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership. To download on console, click on the Subscriptions tab in the Xbox Store and navigate down to the Free Play Days collection on your Xbox One and Xbox Series X|S.
Keep The Fun Going
Purchase the game and other editions at a limited time discount and continue playing while keeping your Gamerscore and achievements earned during the event! Please note that discounts, percentages, and title availability may vary by title and region.
Free Play Days (Game Pass Core or Game Pass Ultimate Required)
UFC 5 Optimized for Xbox Series X|S Powered by Frostbite, EA Sports UFC 5 is the next evolution of the fight game. From unrivalled graphics upgrades to all-new damage systems and doctor stoppages that affect gameplay in truly authentic fashion — this is as real as it gets.
AEW: Fight Forever Developed by YUKE’S, AEW: Fight Forever combines nostalgic arcade-wrestling with All Elite Wrestling finishers and moves. Fight Forever features a big roster of AEW talent, multiple match types including 4-way, tag-team, unsanctioned lights-out, and tons of customization options. Career mode, more than 40 weapons, and so much more for fighting and grappling fans alike!
Make Way Optimized for Xbox Series X|S, Smart Delivery Grab your friends and join the chaos! Make Way is a chaotic multiplayer racing game where up to four players battle to cross the finish line, all while avoiding obstacles and blowing each other up with wacky weapons. The twist? There are no pre-built courses. You’ll have to build your own tracks from a random selection of ridiculous pieces, race on your creations, then add to the track and repeat until a winner is decided. Play with up to four racers locally or online with cross-platform play. Join the fun for free from January 18-21.
ONE PIECE: PIRATE WARRIORS 4 Ultimate Edition (Xbox One)
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 All aboard, pirates! Battle your way through waves of enemies as your favorite One Piece characters in One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4. In a search for treasure, relive some of the One Piece series’ most memorable moments that span all the way from the beginning. Adventure awaits as One Piece Film: Red pack – featuring new characters from One Piece Film: Red– is available to purchase now and is included for owners of Character Pass 2. The new additional episode DLC and One Piece Film: Red Anime Song pack is also available on digital stores.
Don’t miss out on these exciting Free Play Days for Xbox Game Pass Core and Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members! Learn more about Free Play Days here and stay tuned to Xbox Wire to find out about future Free Play Days and all the latest Xbox gaming news.
Nothing about what Palworld attempts to do seems like it should work in the slightest. A thinly veiled Pokémon clone where you and your collectible monsters shoot people in the face with literal guns? A base building survival game where you use your kidnapped creatures as laborers, and are then forced to cook and eat those unpaid employees when times get tough? An open-world co-op adventure where you and your friends thwack helpless sheep over the head with a baseball bat to harvest their wool? Defying the odds, this wholly irreverent, gun-toting take on the creature collection genre has proven unrelentingly fun for the 15 hours I’ve binged so far. Its survival mechanics are intuitive and deep, its action-packed combat is silly and satisfying, and exploring the world in search of new Pals to kick the snot out of hasn’t come close to getting old – all of which is even more impressive considering this is just its Early Access release. I am baffled to report, dear reader, that Palworld is very good.
Despite the clear, eyebrow-raising inspiration it takes from a certain creature collecting powerhouse, Palworld more closely resembles a formulaic survival game like Grounded, with a roster of lovable monsters to capture as a clever twist on that formula. You find yourself inexplicably dropped into the wilderness of a strange land filled with oversized, dangerous beasts called Pals. From there you’ll need to build a base, hilariously force the local fauna into your servitude, and upgrade your gear to wage war against the rotten members of the Syndicate who try to murder you with assault weapons every chance they get. You won’t find yourself hanging out in idyllic towns or challenging gym leaders to friendly contests – this isn’t that kind of adventure (unless it has a very stark change of tone later on). Instead, your goal is to survive the harsh land and face off against evil and/or psychotic Pal trainers who raze villages, attack your base, and command foreboding towers and dungeons filled with goons who shoot to kill.
And yeah, tonally, that’s an utterly unhinged combination. One moment I was taking in pastoral views as I explored for new Pals, gliding, climbing, crafting, and cooking like this was an off-brand Tears of the Kingdom. The next moment I was firing guns at armed thugs and considering the possibility of butchering a Pal who had been mentally broken by the poor working conditions of my sweatshop so I could consume his meat to avoid starvation. Rather than not addressing the questionable aspects of the creature collecting genre, Palworld amusingly leans into them and lets you do absurd things like pick up your fiery fox Pal and use it as a flamethrower to burn your enemies to a crisp, or equip your monkey Pal with a machine gun (which sure beats using tail whip). Once you get over how incredibly weird that all feels, it’s a complete blast.
It’s definitely a bit weird to hack a penguin unconscious with an ax.
Catching Pals out in the open world has been a ton of fun so far, though it’s definitely a bit weird to hack a small penguin unconscious with an ax, or even more alarmingly, take out a gun and riddle your target with lead before stuffing it into a capture sphere. It feels extremely wrong at first, to be sure, but I found myself disturbingly used to the ritual after a few hours – I mean, is doing the dirty work myself really all that different from battling them with another captured creature instead?
The Pals themselves, on the other hand, aren’t quite as original as the process of catching them, as I’d mostly describe the ones I’ve seen as “almost copyright infringement.” Seriously, there’s a mouselike lightning Pal, a sassy two-legged cat Pal, a dinosaur with a flower on its head, and many more that reminded me an awful lot of some collectible monsters from the days of my youth. That said, uninspired as they are, most have pretty neat designs and a lot of personality, which makes each one a ton of fun to hunt and do battle against.
Though capturing, leveling up, and fighting alongside Pals is a major and awesome part of the adventure, you’ll likely spend much more time hanging out at your bases, where you’ll craft useful items and facilities, cook meals, and arm yourself for war in the epic battles ahead. Just like most other survival games, you’ll need to keep a steady stream of crafting materials flowing in, like wood, stone, and food, and the key to automating that process so you don’t spend endless hours mind-numbingly chopping down trees and swatting rocks with a pickaxe is by making clever use of the Pals themselves. For example, farming could soak up lots of your time as you plant seeds, water your plots, and then harvest the crops, but once you’ve captured some Pals and put them to work at your base, you can have a plant Pal spit seeds out of its mouth, then have a water Pal blast them with water, before another Pal comes along to harvest the crop and move it to your storage container.
This Pal-based cooperation is not only ridiculously adorable to watch, but gives you even more reasons to catch every creature you find. You might not have much use for the fox-like Pal Foxparks in battle, but if you keep one at your base, whenever you fire up the grill to cook or use the furnace to smelt some ingots, your charming fire friend will come running to shoot fire at the appliance and make the task go by faster. Even the weakest creatures give you a whole new reason to catch not just one of them, but a whole bunch to be put to work at whatever it is they do well.
I’ve only barely scratched the surface of a world map that seems quite large, but so far running around and looking for hidden chests, battling dangerous boss Pals, raiding dungeons stuffed with loot, and chatting with a handful of NPCs and vendors scattered throughout the wilderness has been consistently entertaining. In one area I was ambushed by some wolflike Pals and a giant boss who was way beyond my level absolutely destroyed me, while in another I fought a camp of evil Pal trainers who had raided the area and put Pals in cages, and in another yet I found a shady blackmarket trader who was selling rare, probably illicitly obtained Pals. I recently unlocked the ability to ride some of my airborne Pals, too, which has opened up a lot of exploration options, but there’s still quite a lot left to do and see. Time will tell just how much depth there is, but after taking down a few bosses and with a few dozen Pals unlocked in my Paldeck, I’m absolutely champing at the bit to see more.
The Last of Us is returning for a second season in 2025 and we’re finally starting to learn who will be joining the cast, playing some of our favorite characters from the second game in Naughty Dog’s PlayStation series. It all kicked off with the big reveal that Booksmart’s Kaitlyn Dever would be taking on the role of Abby, followed soon after that by the casting announcements of Jesse and Dina.
There will be plenty more reveals as we get closer to the much-anticipated debut of Season 2, and we’ll be updating this article as we learn more! For now, however, come check out who the new cast members are, who is returning, who may return, and who, sadly, appears not to be coming back.
Abby is one of the playable characters in The Last of Us Part 2 and has a huge role to play in the upcoming story. While we won’t spoil too much here, Abby is a member of the Fireflies who crosses paths with Joel and Ellie early in the second game. HBO has described Abby as a “skilled soldier whose black-and-white view of the world is challenged as she seeks vengeance for those she loved.”
“Our casting process for season two has been identical to season one: we look for world-class actors who embody the souls of the characters in the source material,” series co-creators Craig Mazin and Neil Druckmann said in a joint statement. “Nothing matters more than talent, and we’re thrilled to have an acclaimed performer like Kaitlyn join Pedro, Bella and the rest of our family.”
Who Voiced Abby in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Laura Bailey
Jesse was first introduced in The Last of Us Part 2 and is a leader of the patrol groups in Jackson, Wyoming, a community Joel, Ellie, and Tommy call home at the beginning of the second game. He is a friend of Ellie and is also an ex-boyfriend of Dina.
“Young is one of those rare actors who is immediately undeniable the moment you see him,” Mazin and Druckmann said. “We’re so lucky to have him, and we can’t wait for the audience to see Young shine in our show.”
Who Voiced Jesse in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Stephen Chang
Isabella Merced as Dina
Dora and the Lost City of Gold and Transformers: The Last Knight’s Isabella Merced is playing Dina in The Last of Us’ second season. For those unfamiliar, Dina is another member of the community of Jackson and is Ellie’s partner who plays a pivotal role in the story. Her relationship with Ellie evolves and grows in many ways throughout the game and she is one of the strongest voices in her life. Does she always listen to that voice? You’ll have to wait to find out.
“Dina is warm, brilliant, wild, funny, moral, dangerous and instantly lovable,” said Mazin and Druckmann. “You can search forever for an actor who effortlessly embodies all of those things, or you can find Isabela Merced right away.”
Who Voiced Dina in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Shannon Woodward
The Last of Us TV Show Season 2 Confirmed Returning Cast
Spoilers ahead for The Last of Us Season 1!
Pedro Pascal as Joel
Pedro Pascal will once again be returning as Joel in the second season of The Last of Us. When we last left Joel, he had just gone on a murderous rampage against the Fireflies to save Ellie. Marlene explained to Joel that while the procedure to see if Ellie’s body could actually lead to a cure would kill her, it would be for the greater good. Joel clearly didn’t agree this was the right option and rescued Ellie, takingher away from there.
The final scene saw him lying to Ellie and telling her the Fireflies had already failed to develop a cure for the cordyceps infection and that they didn’t need her anymore. He also chose not to reveal the bloodshed he left behind. When he swore to Ellie that what he said was true, Ellie just gave him an uneasy, “Okay.”
Who Voiced Joel in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Troy Baker
Bella Ramsey as Ellie
Bella Ramsey will be returning as Ellie in The Last of Us’ second season and will once again star alongside Pedro Pascal’s Joel. As with Joel, the last time we saw Ellie was when she was lied to by Joel about what happened with the Fireflies at that fateful hospital. Ellie was under anesthesia as she was getting ready for a procedure that would kill her but hopefully find a cure for the cordyceps infection. She didn’t know she was going to die.
Joel wasn’t OK with that and rescued her while killing many along the way, yet Ellie was unconscious the whole time so didn’t have a choice in the matter. We don’t know exactly what Ellie thinks after Joel lies to her at the end of the season, but Season 2 will no doubt dive deep into that and what it means for their relationship.
Who Voiced Bella in The Last of Us Part 2 Game? Ashley Johnson
The Last of Us TV Show Season 2 Possible Returning Cast
Gabriel Luna as Tommy
Tommy is Joel’s brother and Gabriel Luna will most likely be making a return in Season 2 as the character played a big part in The Last of Us Part 2. We last saw him in Jackson with his wife, Maria. Joel had initially asked Tommy to take Ellie to the Fireflies after he admitted he wasn’t strong enough to do it and couldn’t after the loss of his daughter, Sarah. However, he changed his mind after speaking with Ellie and the two left Tommy behind in Jackson, but not before Tommy said they always had a home there.
Rutina Wesley as Maria
Rutina Wesley’s Maria is a leader of the Jackson community and Tommy’s wife. We last saw her in Jackson when she was cutting Ellie’s hair and telling her to be careful who to trust. She will most likely be returning for Season 2.
Merle Dandridge as Marlene
Merle Dandridge’s Marlene was killed by Joel in the final episode of The Last of Us’ first season, so we won’t be seeing her in the present time of Season 2. However, she did appear in flashbacks during The Last of Us Part 2 and very well may show up again this next season in that fashion.
While Tess didn’t appear in The Last of Us Part 2, it’s not out of the realm of possibility that we could get another flashback to Joel and Tess’ life before she died in the show to flesh out their story.
Will Nick Offerman’s Bill and Murray Bartlett’s Frank Return in The Last of Us?
It doesn’t sound like it…
The Last of Us’ episode which focused on the story of Nick Offerman’s Bill and Murray Bartlett’s Frank was one of our favorite of the show’s first season. In fact, we loved it so much that we gave it a rare 10/10.
“Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett take on leading role duties with elegance, leaving an unmistakably beautiful mark on the show as we’re shown a side of humanity that makes what Joel and Ellie are fighting for worth saving,” IGN’s Simon Cardy wrote. “It’s an episode, just like love, that lives long in the memory after experiencing it.”
However, Mazin has shut down that idea and said Offerman was just joking about the prequel. “I’m very proud of the episode we did with Bill and Frank,” Mazin said. “There won’t be more Bill and Frank. Nick was joking about a prequel, that was kind of a joke. We are very happy with what we achieved.”
Games Done Quick is busy raising loads of money for the Prevent Cancer Foundation, so we have a little chat about speedrunning, speedrunners, the benefits of breaking the game vs. the quality of a purist speedrun, and also a dog. We don’t have a Nate this week, but James has been playing Apelegs again and offers a surprising self-assessment of how he feels like he’s past his Apex Legends prime, and how confidence is a really necessary skill in competitive shooters. Worth tuning in for a listen to that.
Over a decade after the last Killzone game came out, Sony has reminded fans that it was once a thing via The Last of Us 2 Remastered.
Guerrilla’s sci-fi first-person shooter series, once seen as a Halo killer, last saw a release with PlayStation 4 launch title Killzone Shadow Fall in 2013. But we haven’t seen a new game in the series since, with Sony shutting down Shadow Fall’s servers in 2022.
Now, with the release of The Last of Us 2 Remastered, we have a reminder of Killzone’s existence via an in-game T-shirt — and it’s fair to say fans have noticed. While The Last of Us 2 Remastered references a number of dormant PlayStation franchises, such as Resistance, The Getaway, Twisted Metal, and WipEout, it’s Killzone that’s sparked the most vociferous reaction. Here’s a snippet:
as a killzone fan we’ve been LONG, LONG overdue for a new game. Just boggles my mind that of all the ways for sony to remind themselves that Killzone DOES exist…it’s in the form a TLOU ll t-shirt. No new game so far, nothing.
In the 10 years since Shadow Fall’s release, Sony has given no indication that it’s ready to return to the Killzone franchise. Guerrilla instead followed Shadow Fall with 2017’s blockbuster hit Horizon Zero Dawn, which went on to sell over 20 million copies. It comes as no surprise that the studio has focused on Horizon ever since, with Horizon Forbidden West coming out in 2022 and PlayStation VR2 launch title Horizon Call of the Mountain coming out in 2023. A multiplayer Horizon game is currently in the works, as well as a third mainline Horizon game.
That doesn’t leave much room for a Killzone revival, unfortunately. “Sons and daughters of Helghan let us cope for a Killzone come back,” said redditor alefava99.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Your favourite beaver-based colony sim Timberborn‘s latest big update has arrived, and honestly, I’d say your poor beavers won’t appreciate it one bit. The main reason being, it adds a new ecological hazard called Badwater, that doesn’t only make your water bad, but your crops and beavers at risk of being bad. Still, there are plenty of new buildings to help you harness the power of the stanky water and errr, exercise halls for beavers to get their sweat on. I wouldn’t recommend they rehydrate with the bad water, though.
The hybrid nature of the Nintendo Switch means that it’s often an item that ends up getting chucked in a rucksack or carried around when we leave home, and, to that end, we’ve seen a host of carry cases and bags designed to accommodate not just the console itself, but its various accessories and add-ons.
San Fransico-based WaterField Designs has produced several Switch-focused storage options, usually focusing on a high level of protection twinned with premium materials and a fashion-conscious appearance – as well as a lofty price tag to match.
Hi, everyone! Your local, friendly Aibius Corp. PR rep here to tell you about the latest free Title Update coming to Exoprimal, and just in time, too – Exoprimal is on sale for 50% off across Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and Windows PC now through January 30! Buckle up because we have two new 10-player co-op missions with boss fights – including a truly special Monster Hunter crossover – new Exosuit variants to take for a spin, a new map to explore, more rigs and modules to augment your gameplay, and out-of-this-world cosmetics that’ll have you looking like you’re living in 3043 while everyone else is stuck in 2043. Don’t check your calendar, check out what we have in store for you!
We’re proud to share that our roster of Exosuits will be expanding with a set of unlockable β (Beta) variant suits! Just like the α (Alpha) suits before them, these suits have unique weapons that change up the way you play, adding new ways to roast dinosaurs and toast the competition. And that’s not the only roster that’s getting an upgrade: the list of missions provided by Leviathan, who we’ll remind you is our extremely stable, reliable, and trustworthy AI, is also expanding with two new 10-player co-op missions!
The Barrage Beta Variant Exosuit
First up, we have the Neo Triceratops. This multi-horned terror has been uphanced on its journey through time, resulting in fun-tastic mutations that you wouldn’t see on a normal dinosaur. While a typical Triceratops is a challenge on its own, this is a particularly vicious fight that requires rival squads to work together as a team of 10. Skilled Exofighters who exhibit how teamwork makes the dream work will be rewarded with bonus existence. Do your best out there!
In addition, Aibius Research and Development has recorded what appears to be a Rathalos from the Monster Hunter series (based on data recovered from charred Exosuits). While we’ve seen our fair share of dinosaurs, we haven’t seen anything quite like this. Rathalos is capable of flight, fire breathing, and devastating attacks with its tail, claws, and body. We’ve even received reports that small, raptor-like creatures called Velociprey tend to show up alongside the Rathalos as well. Good luck coming back in one piece! Remember, per your employee agreement, Aibius is not responsible for any on-the-job loss of pieces.
Following in the footsteps of Monster Hunter: World, seasoned Exofighters may begin to see monster tracks across a variety of maps while working towards Dino Survival objectives. In Monster Hunter: World, gathering up enough tracks will help guide you to the monster that you’re looking for. What do you suppose that means if you gather enough of them in Exoprimal? (That’s your cue to go find some tracks, Exofighters!)
The new Stealth Rig in action.
We’re also pleased to bring some additional information on this monstrous encounter to you, courtesy of Exoprimal’s development team!
Several members of Exoprimal’s dev team have also worked on Monster Hunter titles in the past, so they felt that bringing these two worlds together was a natural fit. It makes sense, really, as both Exoprimaland Monster Hunter are about a team of people working together to take down fearsome foes. When fans expressed their hopes that there would be a crossover with Monster Hunter in the future, the Exoprimal team decided that they’d lock it in.
In addition, the Rathalos is an iconic monster from the storied series, so it felt like a natural fit to include this flying wyvern as both a representative of Monster Hunter and as a formidable threat in Exoprimal. Based on player feedback and the popularity of 10-player missions, the dev team adjusted the scope of this boss battle to ensure it was both fun and challenging for a 10-player hunting party.
Valentine’s Day skins.
The dev team also made sure that the Rathalos’ movements and attacks are true to Monster Hunter, re-creating the thrill of the hunt for Exofighters while reinforcing the role-based co-op gameplay and strategy that Exoprimal is built on. We won’t spoil the details, but fans of Monster Hunter who know the tricks of the trade will have an edge when it comes to fighting the Rathalos. Meeting certain conditions will also change the in-game music. Make sure you’re communicating with your fellow Hunters – er, Exofighters – to work together and make your hunt successful!
That about wraps things up for us, but there’s even more included in Exoprimal’s Season 3 update, including new Monster Hunter cosmetics, a new season of the Survival Pass, limited-time campaigns for Lunar New Year and Valentine’s Day, and a Double XP Campaign on top of the rigs, modules, map, Exosuit variants, and boss fight missions we already mentioned. Exoprimal is available now for 50% off, so don’t miss out on your opportunity to pick it up while it’s on sale and join the hunt on Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, and PC (also available with Game Pass)!
Exoprimal is an online, team-based action game that pits humanity’s cutting-edge exosuit technology against history’s most ferocious beasts – dinosaurs.
Exosuits are grouped into different roles, and players will pilot these exosuits to hold firm against overwhelming dinosaur swarms in online-only, team-based action game modes.
Dino Survival, the main game mode, sees two teams of five players compete in a variety of PvE and PvP missions.
Players will be transported to the scene of the latest dinosaur outbreak and follow Leviathan’s guidance to complete objectives. The team that completes the mission first will emerge victorious.
Whether players are engaging the other team directly, or fighting alongside them against a common enemy, the aim is to accomplish objectives as quickly as possible. Missions vary depending on player skill and other factors, meaning no two matches will unfold the same way.
Two of PlayStation’s big hitters have recently dipped their toes into the roguelike waters, albeit with different philosophies driving them. The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s No Return plants its feet firmly in the camp of “gameplay is king”, offering a showcase for its tense stealth combat with no narrative dressing. God of War Ragnarok: Valhalla, on the other hand, is a much more story-focused experience, and one that I gained a lot more satisfaction from as a result. That’s not to say Naughty Dog’s attempts are by any means bad – I’ve enjoyed a good few hours playing No Return – but for me, there’s only one clear winner here, and he has a big beard and a massive axe.
Both modes are love letters to the characters and worlds established by their parent games with clear fan service paid throughout, whether that be the sights and sounds of Kratos’ Spartan roots resurfacing or the chance to finally play as some fan favourites from The Last of Us Part 2. But only Sony Santa Monica pushes the boat out on what to expect from a roguelike spin-off mode.
Fundamentally, God of War’s gameplay is just much better suited to the roguelike genre, thanks to its many different runic abilities, accompanying skill trees, and a greater variety of enemy types. That much larger set of varying factors can only benefit a mode where randomisation plays such a huge part, especially in comparison to The Last of Us’ limited arsenal and handful of enemies. Each run of Valhalla feels distinctly more fresh than anything No Return can muster, and it regularly treats us to new arenas to fight in, as opposed to No Return’s recycled venues from Part 2’s story. While mods to these levels can genuinely affect the way you need to approach an encounter, whether that be heavy fog shrouding Scars and Clickers or enemies dropping explosives upon death, No Return simply doesn’t have the underlying design structure that can make the most of the roguelike ethos.
For Naughty Dog to strip its best-known quality out of the mode completely is a bold move, and one that I don’t think pays off.
In terms of pure combat, both systems are well-tuned to being a roguelike. There’s something deeply satisfying about the systemic puzzle box nature of The Last of Us’ stealth action as you skulk through long grass picking off your prey. The lack of variety restricts the randomness, and on the upside, this makes for a more methodical experience that allows you to set your strategies in concrete. But for me, the song of ice and fire that Kratos’ axe and blades create makes my heart sing. It’s a brutal rhythm that lets you slice through enemies and the pot-luck approach to new upgrades and runic abilities makes each run of Valhalla feel genuinely different to play as you choose which weapon to specialise in and which destructive rage mode to unleash.
But while Valhalla makes excellent use of God of War’s gameplay fundamentals, it’s not the thing that makes it special. That’s found in its use of the modern PlayStation’s mantra, which has moulded itself into a seamless hybrid of cinematic spectacle and layered storytelling. Narrative is what drives both The Last of Us and God of War series and every run of Valhalla adds new, intimate layers to Kratos’ story. But in No Return there is no such dedication to story. For Naughty Dog to strip its best-known quality out of the mode completely is a bold move, and one that I don’t think pays off.
Although glimpses of extra story can be seen in The Last of Us Part 2 Remastered’s Lost Levels – a collection of cut sequences that offer insight into a previous draft of Part 2 – I couldn’t help but feel I’d rather be playing through a new chapter of Abby or Ellie’s story, akin to something like the original’s fantastic Left Behind DLC. But No Return has no such ambitions. It’s perhaps a little unfair to expect such a thing when Naughty Dog’s version of a roguelike is so clearly based around the thrill of combat as opposed to the thrills the studio regularly treats us to. But still, the mode can’t help but create a philosophical dissonance between the core themes and message of The Last of Us Part 2 and its meditations on the cyclical impact of violence. Even if the mode is undeniably fun, its existence feels at odds with its story.
No Return asks you to detach from the story, whereas Valhalla invites you to dive deeper in. No Return reduces its nuanced characters to killing machines, whereas God Of War asks further questions as to why violence follows Kratos at every step.
No Return asks you to detach from the story, whereas Valhalla invites you to dive deeper in.
This is the key factor as to why Valhalla is the much more successful experiment – it never once feels at odds with what has come before it, instead serving as an epilogue to Ragnarok and an essential chapter of Kratos’ evolution. And that’s even before treating old-school fans to some truly spine-tingling moments that feature familiar faces and places from earlier in Kratos’ journey. It smartly uses the live-die-repeat nature of a roguelike to steadily tell its story in a way that perfectly reflects the pages of Norse mythology.
Even upon death, you’re rewarded with new dialogue and details from the likes of Freya and Mimir as you move further on your quest of uncovering the secrets of Valhalla, all while reframing Kratos’ past and hinting at his future. Of course, God of War isn’t the first game to do this and the mode appears to be heavily influenced by the Gods of a shared pantheon in Supergiant’s phenomenal Hades, which previously mastered marrying storytelling with roguelike mechanics. The genre lends itself to these fantasy or sci-fi settings, such as those seen in Returnal or Deathloop, in which it’s easier for us to suspend belief and allow for linear narratives to progress despite time seemingly repeating itself.
The firmly grounded nature of The Last of Us inherently doesn’t lend itself to such storytelling techniques and so Naughty Dog smartly doesn’t attempt such a thing. But that lack of a story sets it apart from God of War’s take, and is where it unfortunately pales in comparison. The Last of Us Part 2’s stealth combat is fantastic and is up there as some of the best since sneaking around as Snake in The Phantom Pain, but it was never what carried me through its story.
Ellie’s journey and what thrilling moment lies around the next corner is what makes that game so special, and without it, No Return is “just”a very good action-orientated mode that rewards your efforts with new character and weapon skin unlocks. Valhalla, on the other hand, is the complete package, and could reasonably be considered its own game – which makes it even more impressive considering we got it for free.
Evidently, God of War had more story to tell when The Last of Us isn’t quite yet ready to move onto its next chapter.
Valhalla dropped out of nowhere and the true extent of its ambition was pretty much undersold as it arrived to a relatively quiet fanfare. No Return on the other hand has gone through the traditional hype cycle of multiple trailers and hands-on preview beats, leading it to be much more anticipated than its effectively shadow-dropped cousin. In some ways, then, it’s unfortunate that Valhalla launched before Naughty Dog had the chance to release No Return, as Santa Monica’s stab at the roguelike genre is an altogether different beast and one that may have set unreasonable expectations for its Sony stablemate.
Evidently, God of War had more story to tell when The Last of Us isn’t quite yet ready to move onto its next chapter. It’s understandable that Naughty Dog wouldn’t force an epilogue of sorts in for the sake of it, and a roguelike mode wouldn’t necessarily be the best lens to see a new Abby or Ellie chapter through. But that lack of storytelling means that when placing these two experiences side-by-side No Return ends up feeling slim and safe next to the comparatively complete Valhalla. Both are great fun in their own right, but in this round of the battle of PlayStation heavyweights, Kratos comes out on top.
Simon Cardy thinks Ellie wouldn’t last two minutes in Valhalla. Follow him on Twitter at @CardySimon.
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