Listen to some of Kirby and the Forgotten Land today.
Nintendo has been regularly updating its Nintendo Music app with different soundtracks but this week it’s slightly different
Following the addition of multiple albums last week, today we’re getting just part of an album. It’s 23 tracks from the recent Switch title Kirby and the Forgotten Land – with the rest of the game’s songs scheduled to arrive on the app “later this year”.
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Everything the light touches.
Updated with Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition. Enjoy!
You see that mountain on the horizon? You can go there! That old gaming chestnut has been around for a very long time now, but for old-school gamers who remember the compartmentalised kingdoms of yore, there’s a special magic still to be derived from being able to trek your way to a distant summit in modern open worlds. Video games, eh? Marvellous.
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Paradox have announced that 4X space strategy game Stellaris‘s next major overhaul will launch on 5th May, alongside the game’s BioGenesis DLC pack. The latter adds living spaceships together with new civics, traits and megastructures, but I’m more interested in the 4.0 update, which they’re branding the “phoenix update” in that it aims to overhaul performance problems caused by the 4X game’s update-bloated systems, while making “guidance and pacing” changes with new players in mind.
It doesn’t sound nearly as exciting on the surface as living spaceships, I’ll grant you, but this is a 4X game, don’t forget – the mythological firebird is in the detail.
♫ Stabbing a man. Stabbing a man. Sometimes in Greece. Sometimes in Japan. Stabbing a man. Sometimes in a meadow. Here is our verdict on Assassin’s Creed Shadows ♫Nic: To kick off this verdict, I have no choice but to ask my most insightful question: how Assassin-y is this Assassin’s Creed Game?
Jeremy: This is the first AssCreed game I’ve engaged with since Assassin’s Creed II, which I watched my roommate play through in university. So my opinion is not especially scientific, but from what I’ve seen it is very Assassin-y. The story – which is serviceable if not anything original – revolves around tackling a group of masked bad guys known as the Onryo (that’s Japanese for ghost), who are introduced with cool chanbara-style music. You’ve got to kill all of them, and sometimes you have to kill other folks who are connected with them, and in general there is a whole lot of assassinating going on, either with Naoe (who slices and dices with the standard hidden blade) or Yasuke (who has a ‘brutal’ assassination where he shoves his katana into someone’s face).
“If it’s beefy enough”.
While its patent lawsuit with Nintendo rages in the background, Palworld developer Pocketpair isn’t willing to completely turn its back on the House of Mario just yet. Namely, the dev would still consider Switch 2 a prime target for a Palworld port down the line, if it’s powerful enough, of course.
That’s according to Pocketpair communications director John ‘Bucky’ Buckley, who recently told IGN that a Switch 2 port is “100% worth considering” if the console is “beefy enough”. He made it clear that the studio has no inside knowledge about the console’s specs for the time being, but hey, we’re all hoping for a power boost.
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Few places hold as much shared history for Helldivers 2 players as Malevelon Creek. Around this time last year, it was the site of a massive Automaton incursion, with divers fighting through a hail of scrap and laser-fire. Now, it seems like we might be heading back to the Creek.
In its most recent update, Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead Studios announced in-game that players had failed the most recent Major Order. The Automaton Incineration Corps, armed with powerful flame weaponry, made significant gains.
“The enemy remains at large,” the notification read. “Reports indicate the enemy’s strategic goal is to seize old industrial assets in the Severin Sector, where the Automatons first emerged.”
#Helldivers2 | #Helldivers2GalacticWar
Major Order | Failure
It seems that the automatons are seeking to reclaim “old industrial assets” in the Severin Sector, the battlefield where some of the bloodiest fights on the automaton front took place, including Malevelon Creek,… pic.twitter.com/6eqnDitM5p
— Helldivers NOW (@Helldivers_NOW) March 24, 2025
The Severin Sector is home to several planets, chiefly Malevelon Creek, where players took the planet back in a last-ditch effort against the Automatons in April 2024. It was a stunning experience for anyone who dropped into it, as players fought to re-take the Creek after initially losing it.
The phrase “Robot Vietnam” was tossed around, thanks to Malevelon Creek’s dense jungle environment. It became so notable that Arrowhead released a cape commemorating the fight to reclaim the planet.
Now, with the prospect of Automatons returning the sector to take territory, potentially armed with flame weaponry, Helldivers are gearing up for a scrap.
“A part of me is in fear as I was there but another part of me WANTS to go back,” one Reddit user wrote, in response to a post about the Major Order update. “… a part of me never left,” another responded.
Some expressed terror at returning, while others are ready to hold out again. “I fought hard for that planet once, and I’m prepared to do so a second time,” one user responded.
The Major Order failure has raised another point of concern for Helldivers 2 players, though. As one post outlined, some Major Orders can feel frustrating to accomplish, organize around, or not feel incentivized. As responders note, the active player base can also vary, which can make quantity-driven Orders difficult if they’re not based around the current average.
One player puts it succinctly: “Stop giving us kill quantity MOs when the player base can vary by up to 70k over the course of a single week.” Further replies suggest percentage-based scaling.
Failure can make for interesting storytelling, as proven by the initial fight at Malevelon Creek. Heading into what feels like a major moment for Helldivers 2 though, it’ll be interesting to see how Arrowhead handles it all. Alongside teasing a return to one of its most infamous battle sites, the team has also sent a black hole directly towards Super Earth. There’s no shortage of threats for the Helldivers these days.
Eric is a freelance writer for IGN.
Open world sci-fi RPG Beta Decay is being delightfully greedy. The game’s retro PS1-inspired art style hides some furious ambitions. It will be a “dystopian RPG where you can build spaceships, join factions, and fight for territory in a newly discovered star system,” according to the Steam blurb. The game’s previous trailer showed some swish (if somewhat prototypey) cover shooter combat. But the game now plans to launch into early access this year, developers Rotoscope Studios have announced. And this time they’ve brought the big guns, literally. Mech some time for the trailer below.
Pokémon TCG’s next big release, Destined Rivals, is almost here, and I’m already prepping my shelf space and emotionally budgeting like I won’t blow it all on an Elite Trainer Box I absolutely do not need. This set brings back Trainer’s Pokémon, reintroduces Team Rocket for another round of villainous fun, and includes some of the best card art we’ve seen in ages. If you’re into flashy collectibles or just enjoy the feeling of cardboard power coursing through your veins, this one’s for you.
The Pokémon Center website has already gone through some mysterious “maintenance” and has since put up preorders. If that route doesn’t pan out (shockingly), expect listings to go live any moment now at Amazon, Target, Best Buy, and more. That means refreshing like it’s Black Friday for battle decks. Here’s everything you need to know to lock in your preorder this week.
The full release is scheduled for May 30, 2025. That’s when all the sealed products will ship and hit shelves, assuming there’s any left. Between May 17 and 25, select stores will host pre-release events featuring Build & Battle boxes and early access tournaments. You should check with your local league store now if you want in. And by “check,” I mean probably bribe them with snacks.
I want to say I’ll just buy one item and be done. I also want to say I’ll go to the gym three times a week. We’re all lying to ourselves, and that’s fine.
Here’s what will be available when Destined Rivals launches:
It’s also likely we’ll see special collection boxes with alternate art promos, especially featuring characters like Cynthia, Misty, Ethan, or Marnie. You don’t need them, but you will absolutely convince yourself you do.
Here’s the full expected card list by Japanese set origin.
Heat Wave Arena
The Glory of Team Rocket
Steven’s Starter Deck
Marnie’s Starter Deck
There’s a good chance I’ll end up with multiple binders full of these, but a few cards have already secured a permanent place in my mental wishlist.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
When Lords of the Fallen came out in 2014, it was interesting to see another developer daring to mimic From Software’s Souls formula. But now that it’s a whole genre, seeing another big-budget soulslike just doesn’t feel special anymore – even Star Wars has had a crack at it. So what’s The First Berserker: Khazan bringing to the table? What fresh twist or novel setting makes this soulslike stand out? To be frank, I can’t see one. If I were to be as reductive as possible, I’d say it simply takes some core ideas from Nioh, and slaps Sekiro‘s parry on top.
Some of you might read that and think this anime-eyed action RPG sounds derivative. Others will probably salivate with glee. Well, both reactions make sense. There’s absolutely nothing original about The First Berserker: Khazan. It might also be the most fun I’ve had playing a soulslike in years.
