The timing…
Hello Kitty Island Adventure made its debut on the Switch 2 earlier this year, and if you’ve been hanging out for a Switch 2 Edition, it seems you might be in luck.
A new classification for Hello Kitty Island Adventure Nintendo Switch 2 Edition has been recently spotted on the Entertainment Software Rating Board. It’s received ‘E’ for ‘Everyone’ and comes with the attached rating summary:
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Pokemon Legends: Z-A is getting an update that will make rewards from Ranked Battles, specifically a desirable set of Mega Stones, much easier to obtain.
In an official news post, The Pokemon Company revealed that at the start of Season 2 of its online Ranked Battle mode, players will be able to receive Greninjite at Rank Y, and Delphoxite at Rank S. Previously, in Season 1, players had to achieve Rank K to receive Greninjite (Delphoxite was not yet available).
This is a pretty big deal, as the difficulty of obtaining these Mega Stones has been a point of criticism from the community ever since they were first announced as rewards. The trio of original Kalos starter Pokemon: Fennekin, Froakie, and Chespin, are available fairly early on in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and all three of them have new Mega Evolutions. However, those Mega Evolutions can only be unlocked via the items obtained as rewards from online Ranked Battles, and aren’t available in the story campaign at all. This was frustrating for many players, as plenty of people don’t touch online play at all and would rather just play through the story only.
This update doesn’t make it possible to obtain the rewards without engaging in the online component of Z-A, but it does make them much easier to obtain. With Season 2, you’ll basically be able to get a Greninjite with a single Ranked Battle, even if you lose, as you can get rank points for actions taken in battle as well as actually winning. And you can move up multiple ranks in one go if you play well enough, making it pretty fast to go from Z to S for that Delphoxite. And it looks like Game Freak is updating how points are distributed to make it even easier to gain ranks.
Additionally, if trends continue this way, it sounds like the Season 3 update will introduce Chesnaughtite at a similar rank to Rank S, and lower the rank requirement for Delphoxite to something even easier as well. Per the announcement, “Mega Stones will continue to be reissued frequently in future seasons.”
Overall, this is a pretty good change for folks wanting to collect all the Mega Stones. A couple of Ranked Battles in Season 2 and 3 will net you all three stones with very little effort, and then if you prefer you never have to play Ranked again.
Pokemon Legends: Z-A’s Season 2 starts on Wednesday, November 5.
I reviewed Pokemon Legends: Z-A and gave it an 8/10, saying that it “finally feels like Game Freak hitting its stride in Pokemon’s 3D era, with a fun setting to explore, a well-written story, and a total battle system overhaul that works surprisingly well.” The game sold almost six million copies in its opening week.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Back in 2020, Blaze Entertainment made a splash in the retro gaming market with the introduction of the cartridge-based Evercade platform. Ever since, the platform has grown to include a variety of handhelds, consoles, and bartop arcades, along with more than 650 games across 78 – and counting – cartridges.
In late 2023, the company created the new brand HyperMegaTech to release a series of simpler GameBoy-like handhelds with built-in games, which also happen to accept Evercade cartridges. As with the growing number of other Evercade-compatible devices and cartridges, the Super Pocket series is already up to a half-dozen variations. Although the Super Pocket series may not have the best screen size and resolution, or the most ideal controls for every game, it’s still a value-packed portable companion, filling a completely different market than a handheld gaming PC. However, depending upon your gaming preferences, certain models may prove better values than others.
Other than aesthetic themes and associated colorways, every Super Pocket edition features exactly the same hardware. The only other differentiator between models is the types and number of built-in games, which are themed to a specific publisher like Taito, Capcom, Atari, Technos, NeoGeo (SNK), or Data East. Sometimes limited editions will feature an additional cosmetic variation, like with the Atari Edition or NeoGeo Edition, with a woodgrain look for the former and MVS styling for the latter.
As a plug-and-play device, each Super Pocket package comes with the handheld, USB-C to USB-A charging cable, and quick start guide. You just need to charge, then power on.
When first powering on, you are prompted to answer a few questions, including your language and preferred difficulty (Easy or Normal) across all included games. Naturally, these and other settings are available to change after the fact by pressing the Game Menu button and choosing Settings.
At 3.07 x 4.92 x 0.98 inches and 0.36lbs, the Super Pocket is slightly smaller and lighter than the original Game Boy that clocked in at 3.5 x 5.8 x 1.3 inches. The sleeker body does support a slightly larger display at 2.8 inches (2cm larger than the Game Boy’s), although that’s still rather small for modern handhelds.
The IPS screen has a resolution of 320×240, a 4:3 aspect ratio. Overall, the display is colorful with good brightness and viewing angles, although the small screen size and low resolution do mean loss of detail in some places, particularly with text or games that don’t have a native 4:3 aspect ratio. While good close-up vision always helps when it comes to handheld displays, just keep in mind that certain games on the Super Pocket will not have an optimized viewing experience.
Display options include Original, Pixel Perfect, or Full Screen aspect ratios, as well as Shaders/Scanlines. Original aspect ratio ensures the original game’s graphics are not stretched or distorted, but may result in black bars on the sides or top of the screen. Pixel Perfect aspect ratio maps the original pixels to a “perfect” square of pixels, but may result in an even smaller active display than Original. Full Screen aspect ratio stretches a game’s image to fit the entire screen, which eliminates any black bars or dead space on the display, but also stretches or distorts in-game objects. Shaders/Scanlines include None, Subtle, or Strong, the latter two of which are meant to mimic how classic CRT displays processed pixel graphics. Subtle adds thin scanlines with minimal screen darkening, while Strong adds thick scanlines with more prominent screen darkening.
Below the display is the Game Menu button, direction pad, front speaker, Select/Insert Credit button, Start Game button, and the A, B, X, and Y face buttons. Both the direction pad and face buttons use standard membranes, so they have a softer feel and no real click but are still responsive enough for most games.
Each Super Pocket comes with a blank dummy cartridge to protect the rear slot. Also on the rear of the unit is a volume control, and R1, L1, R2, and L2 buttons, the latter two of which are used to fast scroll in menus. Below the buttons is a rear speaker, which provides clear, distortion-free sound output even at maximum volume when combined with the front speaker, although you’ll still want to use a good pair of wired headphones for the best possible audio. (Like other Evercade-compatible hardware, Bluetooth audio isn’t supported.
At the bottom of the Super Pocket is the USB-C charging port, power switch next to an indicator light that’s blue when on, and 3.5mm headphone jack. Between the power switch and charging port is a charging indicator light, which shows red when charging and green when fully charged.
With its modest 3000mAh battery, you’ll only get up to four hours or so of run time depending on play volume and game type. On the plus side, the battery does a tremendous job of holding a charge. I’ve gone many months without using some of my charged Super Pockets and they’re still ready to play with 100% capacity when I do grab them again.
Blaze has a history of working around certain licensing restrictions on how certain games can be sold by building them into both their Evercade and HyperMegaTech hardware. While some of these restrictions have loosened of late – meaning, you’re starting to see some previously built-in only games coming to cartridge – a product like the Super Pocket is still one of the more reliable ways to guarantee access to games not yet, or may never be, on an Evercade cartridge. You can read the full lineup that comes preloaded on each edition in this sheet.
Each Super Pocket features the original games from their original platforms, so they’re not scaled to or optimized for the display. This is not an issue for many of the games, but for some – especially arcade games with a vertical/portrait (aka TATE) display – the active area can be quite small unless you choose to purposely distort the image with the Full Screen aspect ratio option. Examples of portrait display arcade games include Kiki Kaikai on the Taito Edition Super Pocket and BurgerTime on the Data East Edition Super Pocket, the latter of which highlights how difficult it can also sometimes be to make out text. In general, though, there are always enough games, even on the 12-game Capcom Edition, that work just fine within the display’s constraints.
You also have to consider that the direction pad and four face buttons are not the best way to control every game. For example, Operation Wolf included on the Taito Edition is a light gun game in the arcade, so using the direction pad to drag the targeting cursor across the screen is less than ideal. Similarly, a game like Street Fighter II: Hyper Fighting on the Capcom Edition is controlled with six buttons. Normally, this wouldn’t be an issue, but the rear buttons on the Super Pocket are not ideally positioned to both hold the handheld and easily and consistently press those buttons, particularly in the heat of battle. Games that need four or fewer buttons, which is admittedly most of what’s included, are not a problem.
On the plus side, when you’re in any game, you can press the Game Menu button to Save or Load your place in one of six slots, as well as reference the controls. You can also change the Display settings, reset the game, or quit back to the main menu.
Between the six current editions, the Atari Edition features the most games at 50, and also the most games from (five!) different platforms. While some of the arcade games like Super Breakout or Crystal Castles have portrait displays or native controls that don’t map well to a digital direction pad, for the most part, the other games work quite well on the Super Pocket thanks to the modest controls and resolutions of the original consoles and handheld. Of course, older arcade and 8-bit console games may have less appeal to some people than what’s featured on something like the Capcom Edition Super Pocket, even with just 12 games.
If you want a slightly newer mix of arcade and console games, the Technos Edition might be more for you, though it only features 15 games with a good amount of overlap. For a little better variety, the 18-game Data East Edition might be more desirable, although that also features a few games not particularly optimized for the display. Finally, there’s the NeoGeo Edition with 14 games, but each are well-optimized for both the controls and display as the Super Pocket’s setup closely matches what the MVS arcade machine offered, making it arguably the best choice if you can choose only one.
The HyperMegaTech Super Pocket’s ace in the hole is its cartridge slot, which provides access to hundreds of additional games from nearly every genre across dozens of cartridges. There’s some overlap, like with Taito Arcade 1, but in general, these games are only found outside of what’s built into any of Blaze’s hardware.
Every cartridge is compatible, but not every game included on them is optimized for the Super Pocket’s display or controls. They are, however, tuned or tunable for the mainline Evercade hardware; the Evercade EXP-R handheld, for example, has an 800×400 resolution 4.3-inch IPS screen, and can also enter TATE mode to better display portrait-oriented arcade titles. The two pairs of shoulder buttons are also far easier to reach and press in the heat of action.
The other functionality missing from the Super Pocket that the mainline Evercade hardware gets is online connectivity. That means that the Super Pockets don’t get access to firmware updates or free games of the month, nor can they apply any updates to cartridges. On the rare chance a cartridge needs an update to run properly, it needs to be done on a mainline Evercade console, handheld, or bartop before it can be used in a Super Pocket.
In general, if you want the full Evercade experience, you’re better off with the EXP-R handheld, the VS-R console, or the Alpha bartop. Fortunately, this is not a zero-sum game as the Evercade platform is designed to expand as your wants and needs evolve. To put it another way, investing in one or more cartridges (and one or more pieces of hardware) allows you to play a particular game or games however you want. The Super Pocket, in mimicking the general Game Boy design, certainly has its appeal, as does its ability to simultaneously host both its internal games and a cartridge that can nearly double its available content on the go.
A new Pokémon TCG deal as appeared in the wild, this time it’s the Mega Evolution-themed Mega Latias ex Box at market via Amazon. That means $37.30 for two Mega Evolution, one Destined Rivals and One Journey Together boosters alongside a very playable promo Mega Latias ex card and not-so playable jumbo card.
It’s really awesome to think about the chase cards you have a chance of pulling in this ex box, but that chance is usually quite slim. If I have a chase card I’m after and I don’t have packs to rip off-hand, I usually check out TCGPlayer for the best price and sort myself out that way. Considering booster boxes for any set are going near or over $200 right now, you’d be suprised at how much money you’ll save over opening booster packs. Here’s the top ten Pokémon card you can pull right now from mega Evolution, Destined Rivals and Journey Together, their values and where to buy them:
Mega Gardevoir ex – 187/132 (Mega Evolution)
Near Mint Holofoil: $490
Market price: $541.61
Most recent sale: $420
Mega Lucario ex – 188/132 (Mega Evolution)
Near Mint Holofoil: $499.98
Market price: $542.29
Most recent sale: $525.50
Team Rocket’s Mewtwo ex – 231/182 (Destined Rivals)
Near Mint Holofoil: $495.99
Market price: $581.93
Most recent sale: $504.66
Cynthia’s Garchomp ex – 232/182 (Destined Rivals)
Near Mint Holofoil: $289.99
Market price: $296
Most recent sale: $291.01
Mega Gardevoir ex – 178/132 (Mega Evolution)
Near Mint Holofoil: $257.99
Market price: $265.01
Most recent sale: $255
Mega Lucario ex – 179/132 (Mega Evolution)
Near Mint Holofoil: $273.50
Market price: $281.51
Most recent sale: $275
Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex – 230/182 (Destined Rivals)
Near Mint Holofoil: $220.03
Market price: $242.87
Most recent sale: $221.30
Mega Venusaur ex – 177/132 (Mega Evolution)
Near Mint Holofoil: $190.01
Market price: $194.58
Most recent sale: $191.30
Lillie’s Clefairy ex – 184/159 (Journey Together)
Near Mint Holofoil: $190.01
Market price: $194.58
Most recent sale: $191.30
Team Rocket’s Moltres ex – 229/182 (Destined Rivals)
Near Mint Holofoil: $145.93
Market price: $153.59
Most recent sale: $149.84
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.
Out today on Switch and Switch 2.
Square Enix has dropped a day one patch for Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, which is out now on Switch and Switch 2.
The patch is a pretty small one, admittedly, but it does make a few small tweaks — adding in a few more voice lines, adjusting enemy AI behaviour, and the usual “bug fixes”. It’s available to download now on all platforms, so make sure you grab it ASAP.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
The third anniversary of Goddess of Victory: Nikke arrives in November, and today it launched its biggest in-game event yet that includes the culmination of the main “Rapture Queen” storyline and the largest-scale battles the game has seen.
If you don’t know about Goddess of Victory: Nikke, it’s a free-to-play third-person idle shooter from Korean developer Shift Up that’s available on Android, iOS, and PC. Downloaded more than 45 million times since its launch in November 2022, it has a roster of more than 160 “Nikke,” android soldiers who you take into battle in an effort to reclaim the overworld from a vicious race of aliens called Raptures who forced humanity to flee underground.
That conflict comes to a head in this new story event, which will see players face off in a final battle against the evil Rapture Queen. But that’s just scratching the surface of what’s coming in the anniversary update. The other big addition is the new Surface Beta mode, which features large-scale simulation-style battles where you assemble Nikke squads, fight Raptures, collect resources, and capture strongholds.
And, of course, it wouldn’t be a major update without new recruitable characters. New SSR characters Nayuta and Liberalio will be recruitable through the normal gacha system, while SSR Chime will be a free anniversary event character. Nayuta and Liberalio will take center stage in the new story content, with Nayuta rallying her Pioneer Squad against the Rapture Queen, who Liberalio reveres as a mother figure.
The anniversary event adds a new gacha costume for Red Hood and pass costumes for Crown and Siren. Plus, it’s bringing back a re-run of the powerful Pilgrim characters, letting you choose one of Modernia, Dorothy, or Red Hood as your exclusive event pull. And there will be limited-time challenges like new boss fights, a new Union Raid, Solo Raid, and multiple minigames and events.
With the third anniversary fast approaching, we chatted with game director Yoo HyungSuk. He’s a 15-year veteran of the Korean gaming industry who started his career as a combat planner on MMORPGs. His previous work also includes being the director/planning director for games like Overhit and Lost Ark. He joined Shift Up in 2020, when he was named game director of Goddess of Victory: Nikke. We talked to him about the game’s successful three-year run, how the dev team approached the new anniversary content, their plans for the future, and more.
Yoo HyungSuk: Since launch, Nikke has had a considerable number of stories that are spread in all directions. We realized the need to slowly gather the stories that have branched out over the past three years into a single storyline, and the third anniversary is the starting point of this plan.
Yoo HyungSuk: All members of the Pioneer squad are based on classic JRPG parties. Snow White is the heavily armored knight and tanker. Scarlet is the agile swordswoman and DPS. Rapunzel is the priest who heals. That’s how it works.
Nayuta is the fourth member, so she was designated as the monk who supports. We didn’t want her to be stronger than the other three members in combat, so we developed her to focus on utility, which led to the abilities she has now. Her main ability is using her clones to learn massive amounts of information. As a former D.E.E.P. member, she’s also familiar with over-technology.
Yoo HyungSuk: As its name suggests, the Surface Beta content allows players to explore the biggest world in Nikke. To make the experience more immersive, we decided to adopt a simulation-style battle system instead of the existing shooting battle format. We incorporated fun elements across the expansive field, such as uncovering hidden areas and solving puzzles. Mainly, we want players to experience the battles against Lord-class Raptures. As Raptures have basic gimmick patterns based on the surface, it is important to choose the squads’ locations wisely. We will also introduce even stronger bosses in the future, so stay tuned for more!
Yoo HyungSuk: In major events like this anniversary, minigames are not mini. Given how important this update is, we put more effort into the game mode, with this one featuring a never-before-seen genre with unique visuals and an impressive scale. It’s a management simulation-style game where you restore Eden, which was destroyed for a mysterious reason.
Yoo HyungSuk: We think our Commanders enjoy unique content and stories that are different from other games. In this age of content overload, providing gameplay, visuals, and stories similar to other titles would be nothing short of boring.
Fans of our game have a deep understanding of our content and stories. Since we have to keep delivering excellent content and narratives without disappointing them, we really try to emphasize to the whole development team that they should truly love the game and then it’s not just work. We will continue keeping this in mind and work harder to make our game better, so please stay tuned.
Yoo HyungSuk: In the past three years, our biggest problem has been figuring out how to adapt to this fast-changing era and deciding what content and stories we should deliver to bring players for maximum fun. This issue has persisted for three years and will continue into the future. We are game developers, and fun is the core value of any game, so it’s only right that we face this challenge and keep bringing more fun and new content to our players. So it’s both a joyful and difficult journey.
Yoo HyungSuk: Yes, when we set endless goals it’s indeed possible to encounter problems like job burnout. Like boxers, we need to constantly compete, prove our ability, and have strong mental resilience.
This is why, from the very beginning, we’ve emphasized to the development team that, rather than aiming for zero mistakes, what matters more is learning from the mistakes and growing. After adopting this mindset, we noticed that continuously setting goals actually helps improve the team’s focus.
Yoo HyungSuk: Collaborations are decided through various discussions, but recently, we’ve focused on finding IPs that players who like Nikke will enjoy, even if they’re not familiar with it. We designed the Resident Evil minigame with this perspective in mind, and we hope players are having fun with it.
Yoo HyungSuk: Of course! Bringing multifaceted enjoyment that goes beyond the game to our Commanders makes us happy. In particular, seeing Rapi throw the first pitch at Petco Park in San Diego was especially an honor for us. We’ll continue to do our best, so please keep watching us.
Yoo HyungSuk: In 2026, we will continue to work hard to give you fun experiences, both in-game and beyond. We’re preparing various events and updates to surprise you, and we’re ready to bring more special surprises for the 3.5 and fourth anniversaries. I’m already excited now. In 2026, we also plan to improve the quality of our operations to provide a more stable experience. Hope you all enjoy the game.
Yoo HyungSuk: We hope in 2026 our story could move on to the next stage. We plan to gather the countless stories we’ve told so far, converge them into one culminating point, and then move forward.
Yoo HyungSuk: This year, we participated in the LA Anime Expo with Cosmograph and had the opportunity to talk to American players in person. Many of them expressed their gratitude, and some even shed tears of excitement upon meeting us. This left a lasting memory in my heart.
For those of us who spend all day in the office, this opportunity to meet players in person is extremely invaluable. Being able to personally feel the love from fans is truly blissful. Although developing the game and providing live service is sometimes hard and exhausting, the support from players pushes us to overcome difficulties and pick ourselves back up over and over again, and come up with more exciting and fun events.
Goddess of Victory: Nikke is available to download for free on the game’s official website, or on the App Store or Google Play. You can also join the game’s community on Discord, Twitter, Facebook, or YouTube.
Onion Games have released the English language version of Stray Children, a “bittersweet, fairytale RPG” I hadn’t heard of till Oisin wrote it up in June, and then became very excited about.
Created by Onion Games, the developers of Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, Stray Children takes place in a world of kids besieged by monstrous adults. The kids live in a stronghold, while the adults, aka Olders, roam the landscapes beyond, each “carrying the heavy load of their own inadequacies, self-doubt, and all of the grievances that grown-ups gather”.
Nook and see.
Animal Crossing: New Horizons – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition and the accompanying Ver. 3.0 update arrive on 15th January 2026, and there’s a lot packed into them.
Below, we’ve listed everything included in the ACNH 3.0 update — which is coming to the base Switch 1 game too — and outlined all of the Switch 2 Edition additions (heh), so you can see all of the new stuff at a glance.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Ready? Go! Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage officially launches today for Xbox Series X|S, marking its triumphant return to the Xbox platform after an almost 20-year absence. A lot has happened with Virtua Fighter over those many years, and the timing couldn’t be more perfect for Xbox players to get back into the ring to compete in what we feel is the most refined Virtua Fighterentry yet.
Not only did we add some long-awaited features that fighting game fans have been asking us for, such as cross-play support, rollback netcode, an expanded training mode, and the return of series antagonist Dural as a downloadable character. But we are also adding a brand-new single-player mode to the game – World Stage!
On that topic, we have asked the Legacy Virtua Fighter Project producer, Seiji Aoki, to talk more about World Stage mode and what it adds to Virtua Fighter 5’s enduring legacy.
“When we originally released Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. earlier this year, a lot of fans who bought the game really wanted to see single-player content get added to the game. The new World Stage mode was created in response to this. In a way, we wanted to prove to fans that we are always listening to them, and to that end, we wanted to make this new release the best Virtua Fighter yet.
“Perhaps the older Virtua Fighter fans may remember that in Virtua Fighter 4 Evolution, a game I worked on, there was this feature called Quest Mode which quickly became a fan favorite. There, you had to fight your way through these arcades inside this city. From there, you would then start to make a name for yourself by competing in local tournaments. The CPU players you faced were based on real-life player data taken from Japanese game centers (or arcades).
“World Stage mode was directly inspired by Quest Mode. Here, you will participate in this huge tournament where you can name your opponents and play against CPUs based on real-life professionals, with real names you may recognize!
“On top of that, the team spent a lot of time packing this new mode with plenty of content so they can stay engaged for a very long time. For example, there is a list of challenges featured in this mode that includes objectives such as climbing through the many ranks, that will unlock in-game items that players will be able to customize their characters with. There are also side tournaments that will feature their own unique rivals you can compete to win exclusive titles you can use online.
“In our eyes, this mode is an easy recommendation both for those new to the franchise and those returning to the game, so the team is really excited to see how players will react to it.
“Features like the World Stage mode and multi-platform cross-play support (a first for the Virtua Fighter franchise) are all thanks to our amazing community which has been supporting us all this time, giving us all this great feedback and comments that allow us to improve upon the game. We would love it if they kept sharing us their thoughts, and we will continue to appreciate their support as always.”
SEGA
30th Anniversary Edition contains:
“Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage” Base Game
VF 30th Anniversary Swimsuit Costume Set
VF 30th Anniversary Soundtrack Collection
VF Pre-Production Artwork
DLC: Legendary Pack & Yakuza Series Collaboration Pack
VF 30th Anniversary Ranking Titles
The pioneer 3D fighting series continues to evolve as Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage arrives on Xbox Series X|S.
Virtua Fighter 5 R.E.V.O. World Stage takes the gameplay of Virtua Fighter 5 to new heights:
Rollback Netcode and Cross-play support let you take on any challenger, anywhere, across the globe in the most intense battles yet.
A brand-new single-player mode, “World Stage”: Challenge powerful rivals on a solo quest to become the ultimate fighter
Enhanced replay functionality and improved training tools.
The post Setting the World Stage for Virtua Fighter’s Return to Xbox appeared first on Xbox Wire.
Since first launching in 1998, the Thief series of stealth games helped define the genre, maintaining notoriety across several games spanning nearly three decades. Steven Gallagher (Creative Director at Eidos-Montréal) and I are here to give PlayStation Blog readers the first glimpse into the next iteration of the franchise, Thief VR: Legacy of Shadow.
Thief VR is coming to PlayStation VR 2 on PlayStation 5 on December 4, available for pre-order on the PlayStation Store now. We’re also sharing the latest gameplay trailer captured on PS VR2. This trailer demonstrates how Thief VR is an opportunity to step into the boots of a Master Thief and embody what makes the franchise unique in a compelling new take by developer Maze Theory and publisher Vertigo Games, aided by the OG Thief creators at Eidos-Montréal.
Every great Thief game includes an array of tools and challenges that naturally encourage avoiding combat using stealth, numerous solutions to any problem, and requiring close attention to your surroundings using all senses. It can be challenging at first, but taking your time can make it feel incredibly rewarding. Levels are fairly open and non-linear to support player agency—a trademark of the immersive sim genre. Allowing players to do what they want, not what they’re told, says Steven, is a staple in allowing their own unique narrative to emerge.
Utilizing dark shadows to progress through darker plots, powerful, oppressive atmospheres, plus a bit of dry wit are all signature elements of Thief storytelling—and each aligns with the immersive simulation of VR. “The sense of presence VR provides makes the experience all the more intense and engaging,” says Steven. “The immediacy of being able to naturally use your head to watch your back as your hands pick locks with the help of haptic feedback, is as real as it gets to being in the City.”
Darkness is a solo thief’s only ally. PS VR2 OLED lenses have a stronger, more natural contrast, giving a competitive advantage in the shadows. Next-gen sound integration helps players listen closely for danger. There’s a sense of tangible anticipation and intimacy created by sneaking around in the dark in VR —peeking around corners —before slipping in through a window with your actual head and hands.
Thief VR blends classic stealth gameplay with next-generation immersion. Players embody an up-and-coming thief named Magpie through the dystopian fantasy steampunk world known as the City. As Magpie, they will be encouraged to use their variety of tools, keen observation, and creativity to stealthily remain unseen from guard patrols as they infiltrate noble manors to steal ancient artifacts (and more?), while under the watchful eye of a familiar thief called Garret.
Thief VR is made by fans for fans. Familiar ears will recognize the iconic Stephen Russell as Garrett, but there are plenty of other connections as well. For example, from a gameplay perspective, the stealth mechanics and engaging gameplay of Thief: The Dark Project (1998) and Thief II: The Metal Age (2000) were the main inspirations for the gameplay pillars of Thief VR.
Together with Steven, we’re connecting Thief titles across time and console generations. Since joining Eidos-Montréal in 2008, his experience working on animation, cinematics, and, eventually, narrative design for Thief (2014) has been invaluable as the brand consultant for Vertigo and Maze Theory. He’s also kept a secret locked away in Thief’s VR history.
“Towards the end of Thief (2014), Eidos-Montréal tried creating their own playable VR demo as part of Sony’s Project Morpheus, the first iteration of PlayStation VR”, Steven reveals. “Unfortunately, we weren’t particularly experienced in making VR back then, so the overall product ended up being a bit hard to play.”
Since a great video game narrative is the result of the player and the protagonist feeling like one, VR has been and continues to be a natural choice for the franchise. We’re especially thrilled to have his help bringing Thief VR finally into the light of day, using the latest technology on PlayStation VR2.
Previous experience as a Thief isn’t necessary to feel like one yourself when playing Thief VR. Everyone is invited to become their own fully present Master Thief in a world created nearly 30 years ago. VR has unlocked a new level of the palpable tension that Thief games are known for. We’re looking forward to seeing how PS VR2 players get themselves in and out of suspenseful situations without getting caught starting December 4.
Pre-orders are live now, and for a limited time, a 10% discount will be available.
