Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is a “Slow Life RPG” in which you live out 14 different lives in… hold on, record scratch and/or Gru’s Plan fourth panel – let me run that premise by myself again. I have to live 14 different lives? How is that “slow”? I have a hard enough time keeping up with one life in the amateurishly designed role-playing game we call reality, with its saddening shortage of rideable dragons.
Ah, but of course developers Level-5 are merely being cute with their framing. By “lives” they really mean classes or character jobs. In this blend of open world boglin basher and island town-builder, you will switch lives like you’re, well, exactly like you’re putting on different coats and hats, going by the trailer. Those 14 lives are split between three self-explanatory categories: under Gathering Lives we find farming and fishing, while Crafting Lives include blacksmithing, alchemy and such, and Combat Lives are all about ending them.
The Nintendo Switch 2 is finally (almost) here, and a new console means a whole new slate of exciting video games. Nintendo’s next generation of hardware is coming out of the gate strong with an incredible 23 launch games, among which includes long-awaited ports such as Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition and Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut, alongside the titanic Nintendo first-party launch game in Mario Kart World.
Beyond that, there’s plenty of juicy games coming to the Switch 2, including Donkey Kong’s big, brand new game, a new Hyrule Warriors game, and a FromSoftware exclusive in 2026. And we’re sure Nintendo has more and more to announce as we go through the year — so we’ll be keeping this list as up to date as possible
Fortnite’s Star Wars season has just dropped its biggest new skin yet from a galaxy far, far away — and stunned fans by locking it behind a 1.28 million XP grind.
Darth Jar Jar became available to buy from Fortnite’s Shop over the weekend, but only after you earn the ability to do so. And even then, after accruing that 1.28 million XP, Darth Jar Jar still costs 1500 V-Bucks (around $13).
Fortnite has locked skins behind an XP requirement before, but only done so once in recent years and not with a skin that had been anticipated as one of the key cosmetic releases of this shortened Star Wars season.
Several weeks in, there’s now less time for players to get the XP needed to nab Darth Jar Jar (Fortnite’s Star Wars season ends on June 7), and anyone who had managed to finish their battle pass already now has a fresh chunk of level grinding to go.
“I was so hyped for this skin and was fine with it being behind a pay wall, after all it is just another skin,” wrote one fan on reddit, in a long thread dedicated to Darth Jar Jar’s release. “But this whole locked behind an XP wall is ridiculous. You want me to earn the right to give you money? I immediately closed the game.”
Another common complaint is the fact that Darth Jar Jar has been released alongside a regular Jar Jar Binks skin, which does not have an XP requirement but still costs a separate 1500 V-Bucks.
Together with the various accessories for both Sith and Gungan variants of this skin, you could choose to pay 6,500 V-Bucks for everything Jar Jar Binks. Which is a lot.
“Regular Jar Jar alone is 20 dollars,” another fan wrote. “If you want both that s**t is 52 entire ass dollars for something that ought to have just been 1 skin with 3 styles.”
Others, meanwhile, have countered to say that Jar Jar is simply a cosmetic option — and there’s no need to buy him at all if you don’t want to. Ignore him, and your Fortnite locker will be as free of the character as George Lucas wanted to be after the backlash to Phantom Menace hit.
“It wasn’t that hard to earn the XP took me around 8/9 hrs,” wrote a third fan. “I had no plans on Saturday. I did it in 3 sittings, but all in one day. I played Rocket Racing and Ranked and did Alignment Challenges to farm as much XP as possible.
“Nothing is making anyone get every item in the Shop you can just pick and choose, and the fact he was just 1500 V-Bucks when Deathstroke was 1,800 V-Bucks I wasn’t bothered at all by the price. I was pissed off at first than I realised after a couple hrs that I had over 300,000 XP already.”
Fortnite’s Star Wars season continues this week with a focus on Mandalorian warriors, and the highly-anticipated release of a new customisable Mandalorian skin in the game’s Shop next.
Epic Games’ battle royale will conclude its time in the Star Wars galaxy with a live narrative event on June 7 — which fans believe will see them boarding the Death Star that has been hovering ominously over the game’s Island since the start of the season.
Sending my trading vessel to sail the seas of Anno 117: Pax Romana offers up a cornucopia of dangers and discoveries. Dastardly pirates. Lush islands. New leaders to barter and play diplomacy with. Most of all though, it allows me to discover hitherto unknown depths of petty jealously, as I realise how much nicer everyone else’s city layout is compared to mine. Time to go demolish several family’s houses and rearrange them in a slightly more aesthetically pleasing manner it is, then.
Nintendo has confirmed it will return to Gamescom to showcase Switch 2 this year, after skipping 2024’s event.
Gamescom, the biggest games show by attendance in the world, will this year run from August 21 to August 24 at its usual home in Cologne, Germany.
A post by Nintendo on its German-language social media account has confirmed the company will be back on the show floor at the event. But does this mean we’ll get a new Nintendo Direct for Switch 2 at the same time?
Nintendo has not yet said what it plans to showcase at Gamescom 2025, but it’s worth bearing in mind that its two main titles for the Switch 2 launch window — Mario Kart World and Donkey Kong Bananza — will have been out for some time by that point.
What could Nintendo focus on next? Well, Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 shooter Metroid Prime 4: Beyond currently still sits with a vague “2025” launch date, and seems likely to arrive this fall. We may see more of that, and a longer demo than the one previously shown to the public at the Nintendo Switch 2 Tour events made available.
There’s also Pokémon Legends Z-A, another title set to arrive for both Switch and Switch 2, which is down for a “late 2025” launch.
And while Nintendo could sail through the second half of 2025 with those two games, it seems possible the Mario maker may also have something else for this year still tucked up its sleeve.
Last year, Nintendo raised eyebrows by skipping Gamescom’s 2024 event — an ususual move that many saw as indication its aging Switch hardware was running out of steam, and the company did not have much else to show.
Gamescom is one of the key dates on the gaming calendar, with its in-person event regularly attracting more than 300,000 attendees. Online, the show is now accompanied by the Geoff Keighley-fronted Gamescom Opening Night Live, which in 2024 included looks at Borderlands 4, Monster Hunter Wilds and Dune: Awakening.
Last week, WizKids’ Baldur’s Gate 3 miniatures arrived, and they didn’t exactly garner rave reviews. The public response seems to have been heard, and now WizKids is offering refunds to anyone who feels dissatisfied with their minifig boxes.
“As a company, WizKids seeks to create products that enhance and add to the enjoyment of game play,” the company said in an announcement. “We want our customers to build long-lasting, fond memories around game nights with friends and family using our products.
“Unfortunately, we missed the mark on this goal with the D&D Icons of the Realms: Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Boxed Set. If you purchased this set through our online stores, we will be offering a full refund to those who are unsatisfied with their set.”
WizKids went on to say it’s aware of the reports, and its team is investigating the issues and taking action to both “make this right” and to ensure issues do not pop up again in future products.
The $49.99 pre-painted D&D Icons of the Realms: Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Boxed Set started rolling out to buyers last week, and the results surprised more than a few. Opening the box to strange paint jobs, off details, and a seemingly melting Withers left purchasers feeling frustrated.
WizKids is offering refunds through two options. If you bought the set online, you can contact customerservice@wizkids.com to start a request. If you went through a local retailer, you can return it at the point of purchase for a full refund. The company is also offering a product replacement through its replacement site, where WizKids says it will work to provide a replacement that “meets the standards expected.”
It’s not exactly the happiest ending for those hoping for a nice new set of Baldur’s Gate 3 miniatures, but it’s at least something for those disappointed with the outcome of their box of minis. Hopefully those affected can find some other figure-makers to fill the miniature-shaped hole in their hearts.
In classic me fashion, I swanned off for a few days just as another graphics card fracas has spilled out into public view. At the centre this time is the previously unassuming RTX 5060, which you may have noticed is due for launch today yet only has a handful of “hands-on previews” to tell you how big of a graphics it does. Allegedly, that’s because Nvidia have been keeping hold of the drivers needed for full reviews, only providing them at the eleventh hour to press outlets that have previously run these previews. No preview? No review, at least until the drivers release publicly later today, and what’s more, the same reports say that these previews were only offered under strict testing provisos set by Nvidia themselves.
If you have ever lost one of your Switch 1 Joy-Con, there’s every chance that you will have seen the ‘Search for Controllers’ feature in action. This menu in the ‘Controller’ settings lets you select any paired controller that you know is in the room somewhere, and make it vibrate, so you can track it down in a pocket, down the back of the sofa, or accidentally left in the fridge when you got up to grab a mid-game snack.
Switch 2 boasts a similar feature, but, with the introduction of HD Rumble 2, it makes the controllers even easier to track down. That’s because the new Joy-Con can now output sound at a pretty impressive volume, all through the magic of vibrations.
Market Price on the Play Booster Set seems to have surged, as on May 14, 2025, you could pick it up for$164.99 from TCGPlayer; it’s now $185.59, a $20+ spike. Amazon had also restocked at $189, and still managed to promptly sell out as well.
So, what is “Market Price”? Those collecting Pokémon TCG will be wildly familiar with the concept, but it’s where retailers will take liberties with the “recommended” part of an MSRP, and list it for what they think folk will pay. Capitalism at its finest, I know, and for Final Fantasy MTG, “Market Price” is currently around $20-40 over MSRP, depending on what you’re buying.
If you can stomach the cost, with the rest of the sets sold out and some singles already going for over $500, you’ll want to lock in your preorders before everything vanishes faster than you can say Chocobo.
TCG Player is good spot for a wide collection of single cards you can purchase and add to your deck without having to hope for a good pull.
It’s also a good resource for figuring out how much your cards are worth once the new set is out, so if you pull any Surge Foil cards in your booster pack preorders, you might suddenly find yourself with quite the nest egg. But, it’s also worth noting that prices change all the time, so some cards may change in value closer to release.
Other highlights to look out for when opening boosters, or to consider buying standalone, include the Cloud, Ex-Soldier Commander card, which costs $45.99 at the time of writing. That’s not surprising, given how easy it makes it for equipping other creatures you might have in play on the field.
Then there’s also the full-art version of the Yuffie Kisaragi – Yuriko, the Tiger’s Shadow, currently just under $100. That’s due to both the card’s use as a Commander and its rarity, especially in that classic late 90’s FF7 art style.
It’s when you get to some of the special cards where things get extra expensive, though. Alongside that eye watering $599 Cloud card, the borderless version of the Traveling Chocobo card, costs $169.98, while the standard version stands at a cheaper, but still expensive $114.97.
Moreover, TCG Player is also hosting preorders for select Final Fantasy booster sets, albeit at over MSRP, but at current market price.
But, for those just preordering the Starter Kit today, it is also worth noting that each deck in the set is preconstructed, and doesn’t feature boosters to open (so no surprise $600 cards).
Instead, it includes one traditional foil legendary creature, five brand-new non-foil cards debuting in Magic, and 54 cards from the main set.
The kit also comes with four non-foil double-sided tokens, two MTG Arena code cards (one per deck), and two deck boxes. That’s a lot of value packed into a $20 price tag.
For new Magic: The Gathering players, the Arena code cards are especially useful. You can redeem both decks to play online, giving you a chance to learn the game at your own pace through AI matches or competitive play.
More MTG Preorders and Restocks at Amazon
Looking for more? There’s also plenty of other Magic: The Gathering products to buy now or preorder, such as the highly anticipated Edge of Eternities set.
The rest are a mixed bag, with older products going for an absolute fortune, such as the $749 Theros Beyond Death booster to the pricey Lord of the Rings sample bundles.
Ben Williams – IGN freelance contributor with over 10 years of experience covering gaming, tech, film, TV, and anime. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenLevelTen.
The following article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 6.
Season 2 of The Last of Us has thus far presented events in chronological order, a departure from the game’s frequent dips into non-linearity. That means there are several important flashbacks it has skipped over – fan favourites like Ellie’s birthday at the Wyoming museum and Joel singing Future Days. Thankfully they were not consigned to the cutting room floor: we got a whole bunch of them in episode six, grouped together for an hour-long look at Ellie’s past.
Three key flashback sequences from the original game were adapted for this episode. Here we’ve compared them against the original source material, analysing what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. You can see both versions in the video above, or read on below for our written explanations.
Prologue
Episode six takes us back a few years to one of Ellie’s birthday’s. Now living in Jackson, she’s treated to a birthday cake and a present from Joel: the musical instrument that some folks call a gee-tar.
This is an adaptation of The Last of Us Part 2’s second scene, and so arrives much later in the story than it did in the game. The framing of the scene has been changed significantly, as in the game it was not Ellie’s birthday, rather just a random late night. After having spoken to Tommy about what he did at the end of the first game, Joel visits Ellie to bring her the guitar. The shift in framing means the environment is much darker and more somber in the game, but otherwise the events of this scene are largely identical.
We see Joel play Pearl Jam’s Future Days in both versions of the scene, and both Troy Baker and Pedro Pascal perform the song in a similar fashion. In the show Ellie urges Joel to play, while in the game Joel offers himself. The show’s version of Ellie is more animated as she listens, while the game version is more reserved and stoic. But the differences are minute; this is very clearly the same sequence. Both versions of the song end with Ellie saying “Well, that didn’t suck.”
In the game, Joel then gives Ellie the guitar and promises to teach her how to play. In the game the gift is already made obvious; this is Ellie’s birthday, after all.
The Birthday Gift
Originally taking place at the end of Seattle Day 1 in the game, The Birthday Gift flashback that takes up the middle portion of this episode is a fan favourite. It sees Joel take Ellie to the Wyoming Museum of Science and History for her birthday, where she has a close encounter with a T-Rex and blasts off into outer-space (sort of). Of all the recreated flashbacks in this episode, The Birthday Gift is the most lovingly replicated. This is pretty much a 1:1 clone of what we played in the game. I do wish they’d done the pulling faces in the mirror, though.
The scene begins outside, with Ellie discovering the overgrown Tyrannosaurus rex statue and climbing up onto its head. The dialogue here is nearly line-for-line the same as in the game, and the clothing and backpacks used by both Joel and Ellie are very close matches.
The scene skips slightly ahead of the game to take Joel and Ellie to the museum’s space exhibition, which opens on a perfect recreation of the game’s orrey room. This mechanical model of the solar system functions exactly as it does in the game, with the sun orb lighting up and the planets moving through their orbits when Ellie turns the crank.
Of course, it’s the next room where the important stuff happens. There we find a great recreation of the overgrown rocket shuttle cockpit from the game. Ellie acquires her helmet in a very slightly different fashion – in the game she simply picks it up from a display, where in the show she breaks a glass cabinet to get one – but both versions remark that the helmet smells “like space and dust”.
Inside the shuttle, Joel gives Ellie the tape that contains the lift-off recording. He does so with exactly the same dialogue: “This is something that took a mighty effort to find.” The scene then proceeds into a near identical recreation of the “launch”, with the camera focused on Ellie’s face as the lighting replicates that of a space mission. The only real difference is that where the game’s camera is locked directly on Ellie’s face for the full duration of the sequence, the show sometimes uses a side angle to show the shuttle’s window and the bright light pouring in.
Epilogue
The final sequence of this episode recreates The Last of Us Part 2’s epilogue, and so arrives much earlier in the show than it did in the game. A flashback to the night of Ellie’s kiss with Dina and Joel’s subsequent attack on Seth, this scene sees Joel and Ellie hash out their issues and finally arrive at some kind of resolution. In the game it’s a powerful end point – a reveal that Ellie and Joel didn’t part on a bad note. It’s interesting to see that brought forward to an earlier moment in the story, where it now feels more like season 2’s farewell to Joel.
Despite the relocation, the scene remains largely the same. Ellie arrives at Joel’s porch to find him drinking coffee. The dialogue here is practically identical to the game’s script, with Joel explaining that he’s “a little embarrassed” about what he traded for the coffee. The duo proceed to discuss the same topics as they did in the game; Ellie’s complaints about Joel’s behaviour at the dance, Joel quizzing Ellie on Dina’s intentions. This all leads to the real topic at hand: what Joel did at the end of the first game/season.
While the script is broadly similar for this part of the conversation, the characters are notably more distressed in the show. The game’s tone has always been very subtle, its characters very reserved and stoic. In the show, there’s tears and broken voices from both sides. When Joel explains that, if given the chance, he’d make the same decision again, in the show he expands on those thoughts, saying that Ellie will never understand the way he loves her. He ends by saying he hopes that she’ll do better than he did, should she ever have a child of her own.
Both in the game and show, Ellie concludes their conversation by saying that she can never forgive Joel, but that she would like to try. The scene then cuts to black in the show, but there’s a little extra in the game, as Joel responds that he’d “like that”. It’s a line that actually makes the whole sequence feel a little more uplifting – a hope that things may return to “normal”, or something resembling it.
For more from The Last of Us, check out our spoiler-free season two review and our spoiler-filled review of the sixth episode.
