Ready to set sail with Adol? Ys: X Nordics is out today on Switch and all platforms in the West, and we thought it was about time we looked back at Ys’ history on Nintendo platforms. And what better way than a ranked list, hey?
Falcom’s long-running action RPG series started waaaay back in 1987 on the PC-8800 series with Ys I: Ancient Ys Vanished, making it older than Final Fantasy. It’s a bit of a trailblazer, and the franchise is beloved for its incredible music and fast-paced combat.
Last week, we asked you to share gaming characters you’d like to dress up as for Halloween using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:
ForgottenJasmin shares a katana-riddled samurai with a basket for a helmet from Ghost of Tsushima: Legends.
sorathluna shares a red-headed witch wearing an owl mask from Hogwarts Legacy.
AkiraAoyama_VP shares the quirky janitor Ahti from Control.
BitarHector shares Aloy striking a pose in one of the Oseram blue and red beaded armors from Horizon Forbidden West.
juniaxe shares Claire Redfield in her classic red leather jacket in Resident Evil 2.
Kirill_Skulkinshares a hulking blue Space Marine armor set from Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2.
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Ghosts and Ghouls SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on October 30, 2024
Next week, we’re ready to get haunted. Share ghastly ghosts and (non-gory) ghouls from the game of your choice using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
War board games are one of, if not the, oldest genres of board games, with some of the earliest examples dating back to the days of the ancient Greeks. Fast forward a few thousand years, and you will find Axis & Allies, one of the modern era’s most prolific and well-regarded war games. Now, under the care of Renegade Studios, comes a re-release of the much sought-after Anniversary Edition of Axis & Allies with the Axis & Allies 40th Anniversary Edition, and at long last, fans and new players alike can once again find this elusive prize.
For those unfamiliar with the Axis & Allies franchise, the game places anywhere from two to six players in the roles of either the Axis Powers (Germany, Italy, Japan) or the Allies (United States, United Kingdom, and Soviet Union) during various conflicts of World War II in the 1940s (with a few exceptions, such as A&A 1914, set in World War I, and G.I. Joe: Battle in the Arctic Circle).
While many modern games of its type may rely on intricate tech trees, special abilities, and other systems, Axis & Allies is one of the purest forms of war board games out there. It’s a game where you move your pieces around a large board, roll dice to win fights, and conquer cities to achieve victory—a game where solid strategy and planning matter most. This experience has helped the series survive for so long. Among the plethora of versions and multiple editions, this Anniversary Edition release is widely regarded by fans as the de facto version. It’s even featured as the game played in Renegade’s Axis & Allies World Championship Tournament at this year’s GenCon, thanks in part to a few unique aspects that make it stand out from its fellow A&A siblings, like A&A 1942, A&A Pacific 1940, or A&A Europe 1940.
Spread across three large boards, Axis & Allies includes both 1941 and 1942 scenarios to choose from, which dictate where players will place their starting units and the order in which each country takes its turn. From there, play alternates between countries placing new units, moving units, rolling dice to resolve attacks, and buying new units, with the end goal being to hold a certain number of special victory cities. Mix in some special rules for land, air, and sea units, and you have everything you need to enjoy one of the longest-running board game franchises of modern times – simple in concept, rich in depth.
For those fortunate enough to have snagged a copy of the 2009 Anniversary Edition release, aside from a few visual adjustments for historical accuracy on the map (Honolulu now points to the correct island, for example), a bigger board, and a new FAQ section in the rulebook, Renegade’s new version is the same. All 672 miniatures retain the same detailed designs and can be easily stored in the returning nation-specific storage boxes, which are adorned with artwork that creates a collage when stored securely in the game’s box. All of the cardboard tokens are thick and sturdy, and the IPCs (the currency used to purchase new units) are still that same Monopoly-style paper. Though I’m not much of a fan of that myself, I opt for just a trusty notepad to keep track.
The components all feel sturdy and honor the previous releases, but there are slight stumbles, and I wish Renegade had gone a bit further with their tweaks beyond just fixing grammatical hiccups. Of particular note, it is far too difficult to distinguish the various naval ships, especially the Destroyers, Transports, and Battleships. A subtle tweak to the sculpts or something similar would have been welcome (as a quick Google search shows, this complaint isn’t new).
Some issues, such as units feeling cramped on their respective spaces on the map, can be alleviated somewhat by the deluxe neoprene map that is 20% larger, though it comes at an additional cost. All in all, though, for its $100+ price tag, the base Anniversary Edition is still a wonderfully produced board game.
Playing through a game of the Anniversary Edition is an event unto itself that will easily take a day or more to complete, especially if you are a newcomer to the series. To put it into perspective, the games during the world tournament, featuring teams of some of the best players out there, were limited to six hours. While this may sound daunting, there is something truly magical about having a game that turns into a weekend-long event with your friends.
In terms of length, the 40th Anniversary Edition finds itself in the middle range of the pack, with options like 1941 offering much of the same mechanics in a game that will only last a couple of hours. Alternatively, you can combine Europe and Pacific to create the utterly epic Axis & Allies Global, which will take even the most experienced players months of weekends to complete (a dream of mine to do one day). Thanks to Renegade’s efforts in reprinting the series, it’s fairly easy to snag a copy of whichever version you prefer.
The precision-platformer is a torturous genre at the best of times, and now developers Brlka and publishers Ysbryd Games have seen fit to combine it with Silent Hill. Their forthcoming Love Eternal is the story of Maya, a girl whisked off to a “castle built of bitter memories” by a weird, lonely god, and obliged to make her way “through over 100 screens filled with spikes, lasers, switches, and traps”.
When not getting spiked or lasered, Maya appears to spend her days in a kind of metaphorical suburban household. Here, she will contend with things like people crawling on the ceiling and coming over all John Carpenter’s The Thing. Maya does have one thing going for her: the ability to reverse gravity. Here’s a brand new trailer.
Rock Paper Shotgun has a fuzzy conception of “news”, in that we regard the “new” element of news as sorely overrated, more of a guideline than an obligation. The trick to selling this mindset gracefully is to overclock your obnoxious narcissism until it levels up into stylish solipsism. “It’s news to me,” I sternly insist, while announcing a game you might pedantically observe was actually announced in 2019. “I can obtain no reliable empirical evidence that this existed prior to my noticing it,” I declare, writing about my discovery that Call Of Duty: Black Ops 6 requires a permanent internet connection, even when you’re playing the campaign.
The CEO of Microsoft, Satya Nadella, is getting a pay raise. A $30 million one.
According to a proxy filing published earlier this week and spotted by NBC, Nadella’s compensation for the fiscal year 2024 totaled $79,106,183. $2.5 million of this was his base salary, $71.24 million was stock awards, $5.2 million was non-equity incentive plan compensation, and the rest was a mixture of other types of compensation.
This is significantly higher than last year, when Nadella’s compensation totaled $48.5 million. While Nadella’s base salary remained flat between years, he saw a massive jump in the past fiscal year in stock awards, going from $39.24 million last year to $71.24 million this year.
Per the filing, the ratio of total annual compensation of Nadella to the median employee at Microsoft was 408 to 1.
Notably, the filing points out that this number actually incorporates Nadella taking a pay cut. The “cash incentive” portion of his pay was reduced at Nadella’s own request due to a security breach in 2023 where a Chinese espionage group hacked government email accounts through Microsoft. Per the filing, without this reduction, Nadella’s non-equity incentive plan compensation would have totaled $10.66 million instead of $5.2 million.
“Since the Board of Directors appointed Mr. Nadella as the third Chief Executive Officer in its history in 2014, Microsoft has nearly tripled revenue to $245.1 billion, nearly quadrupled net income to $88.1 billion, and more than quadrupled diluted earnings per share to $11.80,” the filing reads. “In addition to another year of consistently strong financial performance, Mr. Nadella and his leadership team have positioned Microsoft to continue to drive performance for years to come.”
Microsoft’s 2024 fiscal year took place from July of 2023 to June of 2024. During that period, the company acquired Activision Blizzard for $69 billion, a point that’s celebrated in the Microsoft filing. However, the company also laid off 1,900 staff from its gaming workforce in early January. A few months later, it closed Redfall developer Arkane Austin, Hi-Fi Rush developer Tango Gameworks, and laid off others within Bethesda. And already this quarter, Microsoft has laid off another 650 gaming staff in a move which Xbox head Phil Spencer attributed directly to the acquisition.
Microsoft’s first quarter earnings call for fiscal 2025 will take place next week, providing an update on the company as a whole as well as the gaming division. Microsoft has been doing well on the strength of Azure, Cloud, Office, and its other divisions, and the Activision Blizzard acquisition has provided it with a significant boost to gaming revenue. However, hardware sales have been dipping over the last year (a problem also faced by Xbox’s rivals) and non-Activision Blizzard content sales have been relatively flat over the last year.
Photo by Dimas Ardian/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
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.
When it was announced back in 2010, Shadows Of The Damned seemed too good to be true. A supergroup of creators teaming up to make a game in the genre they helped define. Shinji Mikami, father of the Resident Evil franchise, joining Suda51, one of Japanese game development’s most unique voices. Akira Yamaoka, beloved composer of the Silent Hill series, was also on board. How could this possibly not be another survival horror masterpiece?
Unfortunately, publisher demands twisted their collaboration into something more commercially viable. Starting as a traditional horror experience called Kurayami, Grasshopper Manufacture’s anticipated title ended up being a gonzo shooter in which Mikami and Suda’s signature was diluted. A flawed yet enjoyable experience that has since garnered a cult following, Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered joins Suda 51’s Lollipop Chainsaw RePop as a flawed yet enjoyable Switch remaster.
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!
As an employee of a mysterious organization, your job is to monitor live surveillance camera footage and report other-worldly anomalies using your sharp eyes and good memory. Can you survive the entire night shift, or will you succumb to paranoia?
Pick your fighter: The robot, Golem. The brawler, Candy. The mad scientist, Loony. And adventure from the Last Woods to the desolate Wastelands and to the mean streets of the Megalopolis and beyond! Play solo or with a friend as you battle a strange array of enemies, aliens, monsters, and thugs. Collect secrets, increase your score, and challenge yourself across increased difficulty in this original NeoGeo title.
A horror survival game where you play as a researcher tasked to find anomalies inside the horrifying alternate dimension known as The Backrooms. Scavenge for water and other supplies from dead bodies stuck in The Backrooms as you try to escape sharing their fate. Hide in lockers, scan for targets, use a flashlight, and detect creatures using the Anomaly Scanner.
Translated and released outside of Japan for the first time, Clock Tower: Rewind is a revival of the terror-inducing 16-bit classic that dares you to explore the haunting confines of the Barrows family manor. As teenage orphan Jennifer, you must search every disturbing corner to find items, reveal secrets, and discover ways to evade Scissorman, a murderous, unstoppable, shears-wielding psychopath.
Max Caulfield, photographer-in-residence at the prestigious Caledon University, discovers her closest new friend, Safi, dead in the snow. To save her, Max tries to Rewind time – a power she’s not used in years… instead, Max opens the way to a parallel timeline where Safi is still alive, and still in danger!
It’s your first day at Monster High, where all monsters are welcome… but some strange events are happening. Can you uncover the mystery of the doors and ancient keys and bring the school back to its authentic, spooky self? Play and discover its skulltimate secrets.
Grow a previously defunct gaming studio to success. Building it requires strong developers, cutting-edge video games, and the expansion of your market. Choose wisely and become the biggest game studio of the year!
Paranormal activity is on the rise and it’s up to you and your team to use all the ghost-hunting equipment at your disposal to gather as much evidence as you can.
Post Trauma is a modern interpretation of genre-defining survival horror classics. As you venture deeper into the unknown, you’ll strive to solve the mysteries of your unfamiliar surroundings, hoping to discover hidden truths while trying to stay alive.
Save a sci-fi world from the dangerous Chaga virus in Cell Scientists: Beyond, an exciting puzzle game with 50 levels story mode and easy to pick gameplay mechanics. Embark on an adventure to destroy viruses using futuristics nano ships and help the patients. Save the day using your puzzle-solving skills!
An exhilarating local co-op game that plunges players into the depths of the Mariana Trench for a secretive military operation. With immersive gameplay and breathtaking visuals, players must work together to navigate treacherous underwater terrain, uncovering hidden mysteries and face unexpected dangers along the way.
You are an adventurer, the last of the Seekers of Cats, and you are tasked with an important job. Scattered on those islands are little cats, some of them are cold and hungry and yet still hoping someone will find them. Others don’t really care about you or your quest but meow insistently anyway so you should probably stop for a moment and pet them too.
Dead Complex is a 2D top down, survival horror game. Sneak, loot, and fight your way out of an infested apartment complex and begin your final escape from the city.
A base building simulator and survival game unlike any other. Rather than fight your way to prosperity, you’ll be living off the land in balance with nature. Three vast biomes await you. Explore, forage, hunt, craft, build, and meditate as you unlock the secrets of Enen and build the retreat of your dreams. Unlock and gather over 160 unique items as you explore.
Skater’s Solstice is a top-down brainteasing game with a wintry theme and crisp HD visuals where you’ll need to overcome 50 stages of gradually increasing complexity to achieve ice skating mastery. Each stage contains 3 stars and a glimmering exit. Can you put it all together and gather all the stars?
Shoot, stack, and slay! Vampire Hunters is a rogue lite survivors FPS where the toughest Transylvanians stack guns to mow down monsters with extreme firepower. Collect new weapons, upgrade, and dominate as you explore new levels in this retro-inspired bullet heaven FPS.
Black Iron, a state-of-the-art penitentiary located on Jupiter’s icy moon Callisto, is overrun with hordes of infected inmates. As a modest prison guard your job is simple – get to the last escape pod and get out alive.
Enter the world of Thedas, a vibrant land of rugged wilderness, treacherous labyrinths, and glittering cities – steeped in conflict and secret magics. Now, a pair of corrupt ancient gods have broken free from centuries of darkness and are hellbent on destroying the world. Rise as Rook, Dragon Age’s newest hero. Be who you want to be and play how you want to play as you fight to stop the gods from blighting the world.
Explore the forgotten levels of Banban’s Kindergarten. Survive the new terrors that reside below. Uncover the truth behind the place and find the whereabouts of your missing child.
After Hannah’s doll gets stolen by a mysterious force, you must help her face multiple challenges that have taken shape by her childhood memories and wounds. Set in a retro surrealist world inspired by the 80’s, the player can choose between different paths that will take them down multiple endings.
Restore the broken porcelain and reveal hidden magic in Magic Cats Pots puzzles! Step into the magical world of Magic Cats Pots and breathe new life into old treasures! Visitors can come to the shop with their broken treasures, and with a touch of magic, these items can be brought back to life. But this isn’t just any life – these objects are home to divine creatures: cats.
You have come to the right place pilgrim… Rumours from Elsewhere is a 2.5D action platformer with RPG and roguelite elements. Battle alone or with a friend through an ancient fantasy world, filled with loot and danger… welcome to the gauntlet of greed.
A first-person survival horror game in the original setting of Slavic fairy tales. You will face unique monsters like Kolobok, Leshy, Boggart, Lapot and other creepy creatures. Explore, hide or run. Just don’t get devoured by them.
Kick some demon tail as Garcia Hotspur on one devil of a ride. The flames of hell will feel frigid compared to the hot-blooded Garcia on his quest to get his girl back from the Lord of the Underworld in this hot-blooded, hellishly twisted, feverishly filthy, love and hate-filled road trip.
The dazzling trio from Beverly Hills—Sam, Clover, and Alex— is back and they are ready to light up the vibrant streets of Singapore with their spy skills! From the bustling streets to Aiya University, embark on an action-packed adventure as you explore all the futuristic spots of the town.
The 2002 remake of Aero the Acro-Bat is back and better than ever with improved sprites, modified stages and skills, as well as a whole new comic-style introduction scene. It’s up to Aero the Acro-Bat, the circus’s star performer, to rescue his friends and girlfriend Ariel, and put a stop to Edgar Ektor’s mad plans so everyone can enjoy the show again!
Albatroz is a backpacking adventure RPG that will take you through majestic landscapes in search of your lost sibling. A tale about knowing when to let go and start over. Follow Isla’s journey through the Forbidden Lands, a breathtaking, otherworldly realm where two worlds converge.
While attempting to skip out on a homework assignment and meet up with his friends at the arcade, a teenager by the name of Yusis is suddenly enveloped in a blinding light and transported to Kreisia — a world where fantasy meets reality.
Sainthood is a cozy strategy game about serving your community. Explore a miniature world and help the townsfolk by constructing buildings, delivering resources, and volunteering. Pray and attend other spiritual activities as you rise to become a Saint!
This new collection of crime episodes is full of terrifying and bone-chilling murders, break-ins, and robberies. We believe you are the only one who can stop the perpetrators, but just in case, we’ve sent Paul to you for backup. Your faithful partner will be there to assist you or even bring you a new case. Make complicated moral choices that will determine the future of both perpetrator and victim. Danger and treachery lay around every corner… so be careful!
Gather your friends, grab your EMF Reader and prepare for spine-chilling ghost hunts because Phasmophobia is finally coming to PS5 and PS VR2 on October 29, 2024. Just in time for Halloween! Whether you’re an experienced ghost hunter or a new recruit eager to join the supernatural fray, we can’t wait to welcome everyone on PS5 and PS VR2, especially the latter. If you’re up to the task, ghost hunter, you’ll find a genuinely haunting and immersive experience waiting for you in virtual reality. Here’s a look at some of the standout features you can expect when you put on your PS VR2 headset.
Foveated Rendering: Frights with performance in mind
One of the key advantages of Phasmophobia on PS VR2 is the inclusion of foveated rendering. This innovative technology allows the game to deliver a higher, more stable framerate, ensuring that the intense moments of supernatural suspense stay smooth and immersive. How does it work? The PS VR2’s eye-tracking system detects exactly where you’re looking and focuses its processing power on rendering that area in full resolution. Everything in your direct line of sight is sharp and clear. This strategic allocation of resources leads to a significant boost in performance, meaning you can enjoy fluid, responsive gameplay even during the tensest ghost encounters.
Crystal clear visuals at native PS VR2 resolution
In addition to the performance boost from foveated rendering, Phasmophobia on PS VR2 benefits from the headset’s native resolution of 2000 x 2040 pixels per eye. That’s a lot of pixels packed into your ghost-hunting goggles! The game also runs at a 60Hz refresh rate with 120Hz reprojection, ensuring smooth visuals as you explore every eerie hallway, attic, and basement in search of evidence. Whether you’re identifying ghosts from EMF spikes, deciphering spirit box responses, or watching for ghostly apparitions, the added sharpness and clarity help bring each investigation to life in terrifying detail.
A tool belt designed for ghost hunting
One of the features exclusive to the PS VR2 version on the console version of Phasmophobia is the tool belt, which is designed to make ghost hunting more intuitive and streamlined in VR. Managing equipment is crucial to success, and with the tool belt, you’ll have access to up to three pieces of gear at a time. Need to swap out your EMF reader for a camera while holding on to a crucifix for protection? No problem. With the tool belt, swapping gear is as simple as reaching down, grabbing what you need, and staying focused on the paranormal activity around you.
Cross-play with PS5 Players
Ghost hunting is always better with friends, and Phasmophobia on PS VR2 makes sure you won’t be ghostbusting alone. PS VR2 players can team up with those on PS5 or PS5 Pro, creating a seamless cross-play experience for console gamers. Whether you’re diving into the investigation in VR or playing on a flat screen, you’ll be able to coordinate with your team, track evidence, and outwit dangerous ghosts together. The ability to play with friends across different PlayStation systems ensures that no one has to miss out on terrifying ghost hunts.
Coming October 29, 2024
Mark your calendars, because Phasmophobia is bringing its blend of cooperative ghost hunting and hair-raising horror to PS5 and PS VR2 on October 29, 2024. Gather your friends, prepare your equipment, and get ready for the fright of your life! Add Phasmophobia to your wishlist today.
Skulltimate Secrets
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