Every game we scored 9/10 or higher, plus a personal pick.
Forget your pumpkins and sweets, Nintendo knows that the best way to celebrate the spooky season is with a big old eShop sale.
Hot off the back of the North American ‘Screaming Deals‘ discounts, the ‘Halloween Sale‘ is now live on European eShops, bringing some pretty delightful price cuts to a range of Switch titles — with a few Switch 2 newbies thrown in for good measure. This one will only be sticking around until 2nd November, so make the most while it lasts.
Helldivers 2 developer Arrowhead has released the Into the Unjust: 4.1.0 update, which it said is designed to make the game “feel better to play.”
This much anticipated update overhauls how Arrowhead approaches patching “to better target the pain points you’ve shared with us.” The studio said that means “more focus on stability, balance, and the issues that affect your experience the most.”
Over 200 bugs have been fixed, along with key balance updates and quality-of-life improvements. Arrowhead said that while new features are coming, this patch marks “a big step forward: both in the game itself and in how we work to improve it.” More refinements are already underway, the studio continued.
In terms of balance, the overall effectiveness of primary weapons, sidearms, throwables, and stratagems is increased. SMGs and pistols, for example, have been adjusted to emphasize their role as close-quarters weapons, with increased close-range damage and increased damage falloff.
It’s worth noting changes are made to enemies across the board. The Dragon Roach, for example, has seen its spawn rate decreased, and destruction of the wings now results in instant death. Each wing has a health pool, and the Dragon Roach should be more susceptible to explosions because even if you hit the body you now also hit the wings and do more damage. Overall, there should be fewer Dragon Roaches and they should be easier to take down.
Check out the patch notes, courtesy of the Helldivers 2 Discord, below:
Helldivers 2 Into the Unjust: 4.1.0 patch notes:
Balancing
General changes
Primaries, Sidearms, Throwables, and Stratagems
Improvements have been made to increase the overall effectiveness of primary weapons, sidearms, throwables, and stratagems
Light vs. Medium Penetration Weapons
Light and medium penetration weapons now offer more distinct advantages.
Light penetration weapons generally deal a higher percentage of their total damage against durable enemies, differentiating them more clearly from medium penetration options
SMGs and Pistols
SMGs and pistols have been adjusted to emphasize their role as close-quarters weapons. Close-range damage has been increased, and damage falloff has been increased to reinforce their short-range combat identity
Melee Weapons and Throwables
Melee weapons and throwables have been improved to make each feel more impactful and unique in their function
Resupply Rack
The resupply rack is not climbable anymore
Primary weapons
SG-8P Punisher Plasma
Damage projectile decreased from 100 to 0
Damage explosion increased from 150 to 225
SG-8S Slugger
Damage increased from 280 to 330
Durable damage increased from 75 to 90
AR-23 Liberator
Damage increased from 80 to 90
Durable damage increased from 15 to 22
AR-23A Liberator Carbine
Damage increased from 80 to 90
Durable damage increased from 15 to 22
AR-23P Liberator Penetrator
Damage increased from 60 to 65
AR-23C Liberator Concussive
Damage increased from 65 to 75
Durable damage increased from 30 to 35
AR-61 Tenderizer
Durable damage increased from 22 to 30
AR-32 Pacifier
Damage increased from 50 to 55
Stun value per projectile increased from 1.5 to 2
SMG-37 Defender
Damage increased from 80 to 100
Durable damage increased from 8 to 18
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
MP-98 Knight
Damage increased from 70 to 90
Durable damage increased from 7 to 18
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
SMG-32 Reprimand
Damage increased from 125 to 135
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
SMG-72 Pummeler
Damage increased from 70 to 85
Durable damage increased from 7 to 18
Stun value per projectile increased from 1.5 to 2
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
LAS-16 Sickle
Damage increased from 55 to 60
Durable damage increased from 5 to 6
MA5C Assault Rifle
Damage increased from 80 to 90
M7S SMG
Damage increased from 70 to 80
Durable damage increased from 7 to 16
Drag increased from from 0.6 to 1.2
StA-11 SMG
Damage increased from 70 to 90
Durable damage increased from 7 to 18
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
PLAS-39 Accelerator Rifle
Extra spare magazines increased from 8 to 12
Ergonomics increased from 40 to 60
Sidearm weapons
CQC-2 Saber
Damage increased from 110 to 125
Durable damage increased from 55 to 65
CQC-5 Combat Hatchet
Damage increased from 110 to 160
Durable damage increased from 55 to 80
Attack speed has been slightly reduced
CQC-42 Machete
Damage increased from 170 to 200
Durable damage increased from 80 to 100
P-2 Peacemaker
Damage increased from 85 to 95
Durable damage increased from 25 to 30
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
P-19 Redeemer
Damage increased from 60 to 70
Durable damage increased from 5 to 12
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
P-113 Verdict
Damage increased from 125 to 135
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
M6C/SOCOM
Damage increased from 100 to 110
Drag increased from 0.6 to 1.2
P-92 Warrant
Drag decreased from 0.3 to 0
Gravity multiplier decreased from 1 to 0.3
Throwables
TED-63 Dynamite
Damage increased from 700 to 1000
Armor penetration increased from Medium to Heavy
Demolition strength increased from 30 to 40
Stagger increased from 30 to 40
Uses decreased from 4 to 3
G-7 Pineapple
Shrapnel from main explosion increased from 7 to 18
Demolition strength on the main explosion increased from 20 to 30
Inner radius on shrapnel explosion increased from 1 to 2.5m
Damage on shrapnel explosion increased from 70 to 100
Removed lifetime on the shrapnel
Shrapnel from the shrapnel explosion decreased from 6 to 0
G-50 Seeker
Higher priority for flying enemies
Highest target priority for marked target
Damage increased from 400 to 500
G-6 Frag
Uses increased from 5 to 6
G-3 Smoke
Uses increased from 4 to 5
Throwing knifes
Damage increased from 250 to 300
Durable damage increased from 100 to 150
PLAS-1 Scorcher
Plasma projectiles will now pass through foliage without losing velocity
Stratagems
PLAS-45 Epoch
Duration until explosion increased from 3 to 3.25 sec
Delayed muzzle charge VFX by 0.5 seconds so it now appears when the projectile is overcharged, improving visibility of the charge state
Damage on standard projectiles explosion increased from 400 to 500
Demolition strength on overcharged projectile increased from 10 to 30
M-105 Stalwart
Damage increased from 80 to 90
Durable damage increased from 15 to 22
FLAM-40 Flamethrower
Canister capacity increased from 130 to 150
Starting canisters increased from 2 to 3
Max spare canisters increased from 4 to 5
APW-1 Anti-Materiel Rifle
Durable damage increased from 180 to 225
Starting magazines increased from 4 to 5
Max spare magazines increased from 6 to 8
AC- 8 Autocannon
Damage increased from 260 to 325
GL-52 De-Escalator
Damage increased from 55 to 100
Durable damage increased from 55 to 70
MS-11 Solo Silo
Health increased from 800 to 1500
Enemies will not attack it
Increased demolition strength needed to destroy it
Orbital Railcannon Strike
Cooldown decreased from 210 to 180 sec
EXO-45 Patriot Exosuit
Missile Armor penetration in worse angles increased from 6-6-4-0 to 6-6-5-0
Rotary gun ammo capacity increased from 1000 to 1350
Enemies
The goal is to make light and medium armor-piercing weapons equally effective against certain common enemies by adjusting their durable damage and durable resistance values
Illuminates
Fleshmob
Targeting the faces deals extra damage to its main health, effectively creating weak spots
Main health decreased from 6000 to 5000
Most health zones are slightly more durable
Slightly less vulnerable to fire to balance health decrease
Elevated Overseer
Main health decreased from 600 to 450
Head health increased from 150 to 200
Head zone armor decreased from 3 to 2
Torso health decreased from 600 to 450
Arms health decreased from 300 to 250
Slight increase on how easy it is to set on fire
Leviathan
Now equipped with beam-based weaponry
Leviathans will not show up in missions outside of cities
Terminids
Rupture Strain enemies
Updated textures for all Rupture Strain enemies for better readability
Rupture Warrior
Movement speed when underground has been decreased
Needs to surface more often when moving underground
Its burrow attack is slightly slower and leaves more space to be dodged
Smaller damage boxes when attacking from below
Front legs armor decreased from 3 to 2
Will prefer to emerge before attacking turrets instead of destroying them from below ground
Rupture Spewer
Retuned the timing of how fast it starts to act from when it unburrows
Bile Spewer Variations
Increased size of its mouth weak spot
Brood Commanders
Slightly harder to set on fire
Warriors
Slightly harder to set on fire
Slight durable increase in head and body
Dragon roach
Spawn rate decreased
50% lower on difficulty 5,6
40% lower on difficulty 7,8,9
33% lower on difficulty 10
Destruction of the wings results in instant termination of the Dragon
Wings now have their own health pool of 4000
Increased how much damage wings take from explosion
Bile spewers
Slightly harder to set on fire
Larger body parts are slightly more durable
Hive Lord
Improved performance during Hive Lord encounters.
Automatons
Base Alarming
Automaton troopers in bases will require better visual confirmation before calling in reinforcements, instead of calling them in immediately
Devastators
Slightly harder to be put on fire
Large body parts are slightly more durable
Command Bunker Turret
Removed ragdolling from its projectiles explosion
Factory Strider
Slightly less vulnerable to fire
War Strider
Shoots 2 fewer grenades per salvo
Shoots grenades less often
Removed ragdolling from its projectiles explosions
Added weak spots aim for the eyes and the vents on the back
Scout Striders
Armored top shield is more durable
Fixes
Stratagems
Fixed an issue where Helldivers were unable to call down stratagems in the objective area of the “Nuke Nursery” cave mission
Fixed an issue with the B-100 Portable Hellbomb stratagem sometimes falling on Cave roofs in the “Destroy Spore Lung” mission
Fixed an issue with the drill objective stratagem sometimes landing in unintended places such as on top of caves, in Nuke Nursery Hive World missions
Players can now stay aiming down sights when activating the LIFT-860 Hover Pack
Crashes
Fixed a rare crash occurring when fighting Illuminates
Fixed a crash when hotjoining and readying up before other hotjoiners
Fixed a crash occurring when a player would re-join multiple times
Fixed a rare crash caused by Eagle-1
Fixed a rare bug where the Eagle-1 would never be removed from the game session and eventually cause crashes
Fixed rare crash bug that could happen when spawning in groups of enemies
Fixed crash affecting Helldivers trying to lean out from a vehicle
Fixed a crash that could happen when scrolling through the weapon customization menu
Fixed a crash that could happen during game shutdown
Weapons
Fixed armor penetration values in the Stats Menu for CQC-5 Combat Hatchet, CQC-30 Stun Baton,CQC-19 Stun Lance, CQC-2 Saber, CQC-1 One True Flag and the G-7 Pineapple grenade; the armor penetration value displayed as Medium instead of Light
Improved initial bullet alignment while strafing and riding in vehicles
Moved the first person camera further away from the MS-11 Solo Silo’s Target Designator scope
Fixed the weapon reload animations desyncing when wielding armor passives that give increased reload speed
The FAF-14 Spear can now lock onto Automaton AA turrets
Fixed projectiles hitting direct center of sights when extremely close to objects
Haptics feedback is now present throughout the firing of the FLAM-40 Flamethrower stratagem
Miscellaneous
Fixed a bug where Hive Lord body parts would not spawn properly
Fixed an instance where the Helldiver couldn’t re-join their previous host, if said host left a joined game in progress from the loadout
Fixed a bug where the LIFT-182 Warp Pack would sometimes get stuck suspended in the air or crash
Fixed disconnection issues when joining a solo player with 3 cross-platform players
Fixed mesh clipping for the arms on some animations
Reduced the chance of the Extraction Shuttle clipping through terrain
Fixed a flickering bug on the avatar when the Helldiver gets affected by mud or snow
Fixed a bug hole covered by terrain in one of the CR10 Mega Nests
Rupture Warriors can no longer destroy deployable turrets while still underground
Fixed an issue where the front door of the GATER could become inaccessible
Fixed a rare issue where the player could be disconnected when they are a part of a mixed platform, 3 person lobby that joins a solo player under poor network conditions
Fixed an issue with Illuminate dropships not taking correct damage during the “Repel Invasion Fleet” missions
The currency symbol for Saudi riyal is now displayed correctly in the in game shop
The Oil Rigs reverse audio will no longer continuously play if the player attempts to reverse during oil extraction
Fixed Helldivers going through the floor in the tutorial mission, when diving near the barbed wires
Fixed a rare soft-lock in tutorial
Helldiver is now killed when driving into drill holes during Nuke Nursery missions
Fixed an issue where Helldivers could enter a vehicle even though the seat got claimed by someone else first
Fixed controller vibrations behaving incorrectly when connecting or disconnecting controllers on PC
Fixed miscellaneous threading issues in the audio system
Fixed minor texture clipping issues on the floor between hellpod launchers on the ship
Fixed an issue where voice chat could sometimes change volume unexpectedly – particularly when entering caves
Optimizations
Optimized status effects
Optimized physics by only enabling powered ragdolls when needed
Optimized physics body handling for damage calculations
Optimized Automaton units and NPC eyes, by changing them from particle effects to shaders
Optimized AI behaviors by analyzing and stripping out redundant code
Reduced stuttering during drop-in sequence for missions on Hive Worlds
Improved audio IO performance
Snow distribution and overall look has been reworked
Improved performance by tweaking LOD settings for characters
Optimized asset distribution for several planets types
Optimized scattered assets such as grass on various planet types
Optimized asset distribution in Hiveworlds and Terminid caves
Optimized asset setup and geometry for assets used in Hiveworlds and Terminid caves
Optimized status effect physics and particle systems while maintaining visual feedback and fidelity
Optimized various Automaton explosion VFX
Optimized Acid Rain effects during Acid Storms
Optimized Dragonroach fire attack VFX
Made various optimizations to the fire system, including particle and light optimization.
Improved performance by optimizing the rendering of several shaders
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Paradox have outlined some workarounds for a number of “high priority” issues which have been draining folks’ ability to get sucked into Vampire: The Masquerade – Bloodlines 2 now the gates to Seattle are open. Proper fixes for these and other known issues are also in the works, as is planning for post-release additions.
The trouble is, there’s always been a discrepancy in price, with the Final Fantasy 6 deck ‘Revival Trance’ going for much less, Final Fantasy 7’s ‘Limit Break’ going for much more, and the other two falling somewhere in between.
Best Buy’s answer? Discounting them all to the same price.
Best Buy Has Every Final Fantasy Magic Deck Under MSRP
On the positive side, this means you can get Limit Break, a deck that regularly sells for much more than its MSRP, for $48.99.
It’s a very fun deck that’s themed around equipment and dealing combat damage, and will no doubt be an easy pickup for anyone who waited for a discount.
On the downside, that means Revival Trance is also $48.99. It’s under MSRP, sure, but this deck’s messy game plan and lack of big reprints mean you can snap it up for around $35 elsewhere if you keep an eye out.
Rounding out the quartet, I’ve been having more fun with Scions and Spellcraft recently, the Final Fantasy 14 deck helmed by Y’Shtola. It’s all about pinging opponents around the table for damage, which isn’t something you often get in a blue/white/black deck. It’s $48.99 now.
Finally, arguably the best deck from the set, Counter Blitz is helmed by Final Fantasy X’s Tidus and Yuna, and lets you manipulate counters to deal big damage or keep Summons around longer. And, guess what? It’s $48.99 now, too.
Each deck also comes with a ‘Collector Booster Sample Pack’ which includes two cards in foil or borderless treatment, too.
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
Two new unlisted Switch 2 lifestyle commercials for Metroid Prime 4: Beyond have been spotted on Nintendo’s official YouTube page. They’re titled “Power Up Your Holidays”, so we’ll seemingly be seeing them in the lead up to the Christmas season.
If you haven’t been keeping a close eye on the Tales Of series, Bandai Namco is reviving Tales of Xillia as a remaster next week. So, what about Tales of Xillia 2?
Update: Game surpasses one million sales as Joker arrives.
Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds has already got a huge cast of characters and apparently Sega might not be done just yet.
Speaking to Polygon at the Brasil Game Show recently, the series producer Takashi Iizuka mentioned how DLC could potentially stretch beyond a year. It all depends on how much attention the game is getting from fans and the feedback the team is receiving.
It’s really quite interesting how, in a time where big budget live service games are doing anything they can to get you to continue playing (and importantly spend money on) them, the sort of spiritual opposite of this to rise out of this are games where you just hang out with a few buds doing silly nonsense that don’t cost very much. Lethal Company, Peak, you know the kinds of games I mean, and yesterday a new one I quite like the look of arrived: RV There Yet?
There’s been quite a lot of talk recently about the lack of voiceover work in Pokemon Legends: Z-A, and I can understand why. Game Freak has made some pretty decent strides with its cutscenes, depicting characters that animate realistically right down to their facial expressions and mouth movements. Yet they don’t actually talk. It’s weird in practice to see such well-constructed scenes play out in near total silence, but that’s actually not my biggest gripe with the residents of Lumiose City.
If you go into a real-life busy city centre in the middle of the day, one thing you’ll notice is that most people will probably be walking somewhere. Whether they’re darting from shop to shop, slowly ambling along in chattering groups, or even taking a few steps backwards to pick up the sausage that’s slipped out of their hotdog bun, everybody’s moving. Heck, it’s the reason why cities are often described as ‘bustling’ – it literally means ‘full of activity’.
Fresh off the launch of Ghost of Yotei, we caught up with Jason Connell, Creative Director at Sucker Punch, along with Wizards of the Coast’s Jacob Covey, Steve Sunu, and Annie Sardelis, to learn how Jin Sakai’s world was reimagined in card form.
They shared how brushstroke met blade, and how Sucker Punch’s involvement went far beyond a simple seal of approval. And even more excitingly, IGN has also got an exclusive first look at Ghost of Yotei’s Atsu card, joining the upcoming PlayStation superdrop.
“Once we had the basics set up, it was a super collaborative process” – Jason Connell, Sucker Punch
A Cardboard Ghost
“Part of the fun of working with game studios is the mutual fandom between us—there’s usually a Magic fan or three on their side and a group of fans for their game on our team,” WOTC Art Director, Jacob Covey, explains.
When it comes to Sucker Punch, there are even a few tournament games being played within the development team.
“It’s about 10-12 folks who play monthly, mostly Commander format,” Jason Connell explains. “A few people who regularly come into the office have decks at their desks just in case the mood ever strikes.”
As for making it happen, the conversation began a while ago, and it was Wizards who wanted to work on a PlayStation collaboration.
“Ben Jafari [a manager at WOTC] worked hard to not only make this happen between many different studios at once, but to do it on the same timeline,” Covey reveals.
“We knew we wanted to work with these iconic PlayStation properties, so it was difficult to narrow it down to just a handful.”
That initial discussion then fed down to the team at Sucker Punch, Connell said, and it was clear that the two Ghost titles would make for ideal fits.
“Across both the Sucker Punch and PlayStation side, it was pretty clear that Ghost could be a really great fit as one of the featured franchises, though, so it came together pretty naturally once they reached out. We were definitely excited by the idea.”
The rub? Ghost of Yotei hadn’t been revealed to the public yet.
Landing a Sucker Punch
“Our conversations with Wizards of the Coast began before Yotei had been announced, which we admit was probably frustrating from the Wizards’ side since we had to be so cryptic,” he recalls.
“We just kept saying we had a great idea for a secret card, but then saying we couldn’t elaborate yet, and thankfully, they were such great partners that they rebuilt the schedule to accommodate us delivering the information and art for Atsu after we announced the game last year, even though the rest of the cards had been locked in by that point.”
“We knew the drop would be coming right around Yotei’s launch, so it felt like a perfect fit to try to get her included, and we’re grateful it worked out.
“We aim to be authentically rooted in the Ghost universe while giving it our unique spin” – Jacob Covey, WOTC
As for card designs, the Sucker Punch part of the Secret Lair drop incorporates Jin Sakai and Atsu, the two protagonists of both games.
“On the art side, Sucker Punch was very trusting and also involved in helping us remain true to their carefully constructed universe, full of its own untold stories,” said Covey.
“We aim to be authentically rooted in the Ghost universe while giving it our unique spin, focusing on how the characters and settings relate to the Magic ecosystem and gameplay.”
“We had some great early conversations with the Wizards team, including an initial kickoff where we just explained the key points of Ghost of Tsushima and sent over some materials from the game,” Connell adds.
“We explained what we felt was important to capture, even discussed some specific artist names and our overall style. It was really interesting getting a glimpse into their process, meeting artists and writers and directors who oversaw all of the different pieces that go into making a card.
“Once we had the basics set up, it was a super collaborative process. While the actual writing and artist selection happened on the Wizards side, we had a ton of input and chances to provide feedback and went through multiple rounds making sure everyone was happy with the overall look and mechanics for the cards.”
One of the ways Wizards and Sucker Punch helped bring Jin Sakai to Magic: The Gathering was to lean into the duality of his fighting styles in Ghost of Tsushima, where he’s torn between samurai combat and the stealthier ‘Ghost’ path.
“Jin Sakai is about a warrior torn between two identities — the honorable samurai and the shadowy Ghost,” Connell explains.
“From the start, I wanted to capture two ways of approaching encounters in Ghost of Tsushima…” – Annie Sardelis, WOTC
“Wizards of the Coast did a great job capturing this in the card with the Standoff ability, which represents his swordsmanship, while Ghost highlights his stealth and ability to strike fear into his opponents. The rest of the Secret Lair cards that Wizards of The Coast curated for this drop helped show his journey to support that theme: tools of conflict, sacrifice, and shifting control that echo Jin’s struggle between tradition and survival.”
“From the start, I wanted to capture two ways of approaching encounters in Ghost of Tsushima,” explains WOTC Senior Game Designer, Annie Sardelis.
“I combined elements of how Magic has classically expressed a lone fighter’s skills by only giving that bonus to a single attacker. Since double strike and “can’t be blocked” are phrases we’ve seen time and again on Magic cards, I added the words to help my coworkers become familiar with what I was going for. Flavor words, like flavor text, can help give creative definition to rules text, and we ended up keeping them.”
A PlayStation Pantheon
Aside from Ghost of Tsushima and Yotei, there are sets focused on God of War’s Greek and Norse tales, as well as Horizon Forbidden West and two sets for The Last of Us.
Despite the mix of gods and robot dinosaurs, however, it was the gritty post-apocalyptic tale from Naughty Dog that gave Sardelis the biggest challenge.
“The hardest challenge I signed myself up for are the four “Survivors” Partners from The Last of Us series,” she explains.
“I thought it was important to represent all the playable characters in the story, but I also wanted your Commander games to feature the infected. It was tricky to find out how to generate the Fungus Zombie tokens on characters that canonically fight against them!”
“Any player can make infected tokens with Ellie, Brick Master and Abby, Merciless Soldier riffs on cards like “Hunted Dragon” to create an increasing number of tokens. Once that was figured out, the rest of the pieces were designed to complement a token/sacrifice strategy- hopefully in a way that inspires mixing and matching between the two drops!”
As for Commander, it’s Magic’s most popular format, and I wanted to know which of the new PlayStation cards would make an ideal choice to helm a 100-card deck.
“If you’re sitting across from me, I think you can expect me to have an Aloy, Savior of Meridian deck or Jin Sakai, Ghost of Tsushima deck somewhere on me,” WOTC Senior Product Designer, Steve Sunu, says.
“Annie Sardelis really hit it out of the park for all these designs, Aloy and Jin specifically feel like the designs were created just for a player like me. Annie’s an incredible designer, and we were so lucky to have her lend her talent to these new-to-Magic designs.”
Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.
This article also includes contributions from Robert Anderson, Senior Commerce Editor for IGN.
