It seemed inevitable after the Tactics Ogre remaster back in 2022, and so it was. Square Enix are remastering Final Fantasy Tactics, the classic strategy-RPG from 1997. It’ll arrive on September 30th, 2025 and there’s a trailer below.
PlayStation Studios, Arc System Works (Arc), and Marvel Games have joined forces to realize the latest in tag team fighters, MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls! Experience the Marvel Universe like never before with reimagined characters and stages, a heart-pounding soundtrack, intuitive gameplay mechanics, and jaw-dropping visuals that will keep you on the edge of your seat. Whether this is your first fighting game or you are a veteran of the genre, Arc has incorporated gameplay controls and mechanics that are easy to pick up and play, and yet still offer the depth and versatility for high level competition.
“From the beginning, we aimed to make MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls a title that could be enjoyed by a wide variety of players,” explains Game Director and Lead Battle Designer, Kazuto Sekine.
”Generally, a team VS fighting game requires the player to learn multiple characters, but for MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, you only need to master one character in order to play the game. We have designed the mechanics in such a way that you can perform a variety of actions with either traditional fighting game inputs or simple inputs. With the press of a few buttons, multiple characters can appear on screen to provide backup or attack together – creating a new and exciting team VS battle experience.”
“Since day one, our long-time and trusted collaborators at PlayStation and the team at Arc System Works have poured incredible amounts of talent and passion into reimagining the Marvel Universe in a way that only they can,” said Michael Francisco, Senior Product Development Manager, Marvel Games. “MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls demonstrates that they are absolute masters of their craft and are true Marvel fans at heart. Players are in for a wild ride.”
Characters
Enter the fray with iconic Marvel heroes and villains such as Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) – each with Arc’s unique twist on their character designs and gameplay styles.
Arc Producer, Takeshi Yamanaka, states, “There are so many amazing Marvel characters that it was quite a struggle to choose our roster, but we did have some criteria for the selection process. First and foremost, we wanted to include characters who we feel to be the ‘face’ of Marvel. At the same time, we also needed to select characters that would give us a balance of battle types and styles. Lastly, we wanted to sprinkle in a few surprises and leave room for characters who have never been playable in a fighting game before.”
Yamanaka-san continues, “Early on in the project, we experimented with a shader to recreate a more western comic-book visual style, but the Marvel team expressed a desire for us to lean into something more Arc-like. It was then that we switched our approach to the game’s visuals and began to lean more into the Japanimation style Arc is known for.”
Gameplay mechanics
From short-ranged jabs to the cinematic Ultimate Skills, each character features a bespoke set of Normal, Special, and Unique attacks inspired by their abilities and powers in Marvel lore. Arc have gone to great lengths to ensure that gameplay style, movement, and feel of these legendary characters is fresh, new, and wholly unique to MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls.
But it’s not just the individual gameplay of the characters that has been enhanced; significant dedication has gone into reimagining and redefining what it means to be a tag team fighter.
“Team VS fighting games have a long tradition of 2v2 or 3v3 team formats, so this is something we discussed in-depth within the development team. We went back and forth many times, from thinking we might be better off making a 1v1 game or sticking to the established 3v3 format.”
Sekine-san continues, “At its core, we felt that the appeal of team VS fighting games is the intensity of battles with multiple characters on screen at once. Additionally, one of the appeals of Marvel comics is seeing the vast cast of characters coming together to create all kinds of unique team-ups.”
“With these two ideas in mind, we concluded that creating a 4v4 team VS system would be the best way to not only create those over-the-top moments, but to further evolve the tag fighting genre.”
Stages
The stages come to life in MARVEL Tōkon: Fighting Souls, filled with easter eggs for eagle-eyed fans to find. Most stages also feature multiple areas. These transitions between areas are not just action-packed and stunning to witness, but they also play a strategic role. Check out the screenshots from Marvel’s New York City to see what you can find.
More to come
Today’s announcement is just the beginning of our journey. From characters and stages to gameplay modes and the online experience. There’s so much more we can’t wait to share with you!
Arc System Works, the developer of the Guilty Gear series, is making a 4v4 Marvel fighting game called Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls for Sony.
Announced during Sony’s State of Play June 2025, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls is due out on PS5 and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store at some point in 2026.
In a post on PlayStation Blog, Reed Baird, Senior Producer, XDEV, PlayStation Studios, confirmed the inclusion of iconic Marvel heroes and villains such as Captain America, Iron Man, Spider-Man, Doctor Doom, Storm, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, and Ghost Rider (Robbie Reyes) – each with Arc’s unique twist on their character designs and gameplay styles.
A 4v4 tag fighting game sounds overwhelming, but Game Director and Lead Battle Designer, Kazuto Sekine, insisted that wouldn’t be the case.
“Generally, a team VS fighting game requires the player to learn multiple characters, but for Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls, you only need to master one character in order to play the game,” Sekine said.
“We have designed the mechanics in such a way that you can perform a variety of actions with either traditional fighting game inputs or simple inputs. With the press of a few buttons, multiple characters can appear on screen to provide backup or attack together – creating a new and exciting team VS battle experience.”
Visually, Marvel Tokon: Fighting Souls has the Japanimation style Arc system Works is known for. As for gameplay mechanics, each character has a bespoke set of Normal, Special, and Unique attacks inspired by their abilities and powers in Marvel lore. And of course there are cinematic Ultimate Skills.
“Team VS fighting games have a long tradition of 2v2 or 3v3 team formats, so this is something we discussed in-depth within the development team,” Sekine added. “We went back and forth many times, from thinking we might be better off making a 1v1 game or sticking to the established 3v3 format.
“At its core, we felt that the appeal of team VS fighting games is the intensity of battles with multiple characters on screen at once. Additionally, one of the appeals of Marvel comics is seeing the vast cast of characters coming together to create all kinds of unique team-ups.
“With these two ideas in mind, we concluded that creating a 4v4 team VS system would be the best way to not only create those over-the-top moments, but to further evolve the tag fighting genre.”
Most stages also feature multiple areas, with transitions that play a “strategic role.” Sony suggested fans check out the screenshots from Marvel’s New York City to see what you can find.
In case you missed it, here’s everything announced at Sony’s State of Play June 2025 showcase.
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.
Sci-fi action game Pragmata will be coming out 2026, say developers Capcom during this evening’s PlayStation showcase. The trailer seemingly contains a stark warning for those using generative AI: keep doing so and eventually you’ll have to befriend a creepy cyborg little girl in order to fight back against a horde of futurebots that want to murder you for some reason. Think about it, next time you’re using ChatGPT to do your homework.
You’ll find the new trailer below.
In a haunting new trailer at today’s Sony State of Play, we learned that Silent Hill f’s fog of fresh horrors is imminent: it’s coming out on September 25, 2025.
In a deeply upsetting new trailer today, we saw a longer, darker look at what’s in store for us in Silent Hill f. We saw the main character, Hinako Shimizu, and her friends in Ebisugaoka living normal, peaceful lives, just before a mysterious fog envelopes the town and makes everything real weird.
Creepy red flowers bloom. Heinous, jerky dolls start chasing Hinako around and trying to rip her apart. Her friends don’t seem to be doing so hot, either. There’s gore, there’s violence, lots of paranormal, and Hinako proving remarkably efficient with a crowbar.
Silent Hill f was first announced in 2022. It’s set in 1960s Japan and is intended to juxapose horror with beauty in a story written by acclaimed Japanese writer Ryukishi07. We’ve since learned that it’s standalone from the other Silent Hill games, and that it’s Japan’s first M-rated Silent Hill game, with truly gruesome warnings about impalement, faces being ripped apart, a character being burned alive in a cage, entrails on serving platters, and lots more. Yikes!
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.
Wakey wakey.
We’ve been keeping an eye out for updates on Little Nemo and the Guardians of Slumberland ever since we first noticed it in 2023’s Wholesome Direct. Well, not only do we now have a new trailer, we also have a release window! This adorable-looking metroidvania will be getting sleepy on Switch at some point in 2026.
For those who haven’t stumbled across this one before, this is one of a handful of ‘Little Nemo’ projects currently in development inspired by the early 20th-century comics by Winsor McCay — and no, it’s not related to the 1990 NES Capcom title in any way other than its source material. This is a cute metroidvania, where you’ll hop into the dreams of the titular Nemo, and keep Slumberland safe from all kinds of nasties that have taken it over.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Drivers, ready your A buttons, because Mario Kart World’s countdown clock is finally about to tick down! Unfortunately, Nintendo opted not to send out the Switch 2 for any early coverage, so my review is still in the garage getting tuned up. The good news, however, is that I’ve already gone hands-on with Mario Kart World twice, and when this article is published, I’ll probably already be standing in line to pick up my copy so I can jump right back in. (Sorry, Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour, but you’ll have to wait a bit longer to get my 10 bucks.)
You can read my most recent thoughts on World from a preview earlier this week, but I also wanted to take a moment to briefly share who I am and why I’m assigned to this review. (Those who have been watching our video reviews to the end may have seen us sharing some context about our reviewer’s tastes and history there as well.) Earlier this year I took over hosting duties for IGN’s Nintendo Voice Chat podcast, and I’ve been excitedly reporting on Nintendo for roughly a decade. I’ve also been doing more and more Nintendo reviews for IGN, including both Super Mario Party Jamboree and Paper Mario: The Thousand-Year Door last year.
I’m also an enormous Mario Kart fan. I’m not sure there’s a video game franchise I’ve spent more total hours playing than this one. Mario Kart 8 Deluxe is my favorite entry – and in my top 10 favorite games of all time – and I’ve logged over 500 hours of track time there alone. That’s not even counting the base Mario Kart 8 on Wii U, which I proudly picked up at launch back in 2014 as one of the few Wii U owners out there at the time. (There were dozens of us!) With its gorgeous art direction, amazing track design, and impressive amount of content (including the return of F-Zero!), Mario Kart 8 Deluxe felt like the franchise reaching the finish line of the more-or-less linear Mario Kart formula that began on Super Nintendo, so I’m very excited that World is tackling something entirely new to this series rather than simply iterating on what came before.
Beyond that one, my favorites are Mario Kart: Double Dash!! and Mario Kart 64, which are the two I spent the most time playing with friends and family growing up. Double Dash’s two-character mechanic is such a blast and 64 is an undeniable classic, but I’ll also shout out the 3DS’s Mario Kart 7, which I believe is the most underrated entry in the series. I’ve always loved just playing as Mario in Mario Kart – which leads some of my friends to call me crazy – but I am looking forward to racing as the new-look Donkey Kong in World.
As I mentioned, I do have a bit of a head start here because I’ve already played a healthy amount of Mario Kart World at a pair of Nintendo preview events. I went hands-on with the Switch 2 and Mario Kart on the same day as their reveal Direct, and I was intrigued by what I saw from the new Knockout Tour mode – even though that initial demo was fairly limited. But earlier this week, we published my impressions from a more robust Mario Kart World preview event where I got unmitigated access to the launch version. You can check out my final preview while you wait for the full review, but there I said, “I’m confident Mario Kart World’s thrilling racing will kick off Nintendo’s eighth generation with a rocket start, even if I’m still not completely sold on its open-world exploration.” The combination of that hands-on time means I’m going into launch with roughly eight hours of gameplay already logged, so I can hit the metaphorical A button right after the “2” flashes to have a good boost off the line. I’m hoping to get our final, scored review published before the end of next week.
I’ll even be working on my review from the floor of IGN Live 2025, which is happening in downtown Los Angeles at The Magic Box this weekend, June 7-8. There’s a ton happening at the show, and you can come on down to IGN Live yourself for a chance to be part of the review process by playing against me. We’ll have an official “Game with IGN” setup featuring Mario Kart World where you can play against IGN editors like myself, our co-founder Peer Schneider, and many others – and if you see me on the show floor, you can channel your inner Pokémon trainer and challenge me to a race. (You can’t back out of a trainer battle once a stranger locks eyes with you, that’s just how it works.) Last year at IGN Live 2024, I had a great time playing Mario Kart 8 Deluxe against fans that came out to the show, and I can’t wait to do it again – this time with a brand-new Mario Kart.
You can look forward to some updated thoughts on Mario Kart World in the coming days – and, if you managed to secure a Nintendo Switch 2 at launch, then I’ll see you on the open roads!
Magic: The Gathering (MTG), the world’s premier trading card game, is as popular as it’s ever been. Aside from the cards themselves, longtime Magic players (like me!) know that there are countless accessories and other goodies to enhance your experience.
With Father’s Day coming up soon (June 15), I’ve compiled a list of great MTG gifts, from playmats and card sleeves to dice and merch, for that special Magic player in your life.
As a competitive player of 10+ years, these are products I’ve had and would buy for my personal use, so rest easy knowing that these suggestions aren’t without extensive trial and error.
Magic has been around for over 30 years, but thanks to the recent crossover sets with other IPs, what Wizards of the Coast (WoTC) has dubbed Universes Beyond, its audience has grown monumentally.
Properties like The Lord of the Rings, Fallout, Assassin’s Creed, and more have all received the MTG treatment, with Final Fantasy being the next crossover in June.
There’s even a full Spider-Man set coming later this year. So there’s plenty of great sets to choose from now, and incoming in the near future as well.
Magic: The Gathering sets are released every few months, and with them come various sealed products to help supplement your collection.
You have booster boxes, collector boosters, starter kits, commander decks, the list goes on. I recommend starting with bundles of the most recently released sets, or looking ahead to expansions like Edge of Eternities.
They make great gifts, as they include nine booster packs, an alternate-art promotional card, extra land cards, a spindown life counter, and the box itself is a great storage solution for extra cards.
You have all these fancy new cards, what are you supposed to put them in? Card sleeves are the perfect solution not only for protection but for easily shuffling.
Ultimate Guard and Ultra PRO are some of the best MTG accessories brands around, but Dragon Shield sleeves are my go-to recommendation as a gift for dad.
The Ultimate Guard Katana sleeves are great, too. The matte sleeves are crisp and feel great in your hands. No matter what you pick, make sure you get standard size sleeves, not Japanese card size — Yu-Gi-Oh! cards are much smaller than Magic cards!
Your cards are now sleeved up and ready for battle. Now you need a reliable deck box. Here, you can’t go wrong with Ultimate Guard’s sturdy options.
I’m a big fan of the Flip ‘n’ Tray myself, as it can hold a fully sleeved deck, sideboard, and tokens, along with a built-in dice compartment.
For larger storage solutions, there are massive boxes that can hold up to 500 loose cards. All Ultimate Guard options come in a handful of different colors, and the Ultra PRO boxes sport some great official MTG art.
Playmats are a must-have for any Magic player, since playing without one can make it hard to pick your cards up off the kitchen table.
Usually made of the same material as a standard mousepad, many people (myself included) like to use mats featuring art of their favorite cards or of their proudest Magic accomplishments.
You can even buy blank white playmats if you find yourself at a Magic Con and want to commission your favorite artist to make it look snazzy!
Keeping track of Planeswalker loyalty, +1/+1 counters, or Finality counters are a massive headache without an efficient way of doing so. Luckily, a set of D6 will set you right.
Some more unique cards, like Qarsi Revenant, give other creatures ability counters that are hard to keep track of, so I highly recommend a set of ability counters to go along with your accessories arsenal.
If you have rare or valuable cards you don’t want to store in a bulk storage box, binders are the way to go to keep them nice and pristine.
You can get various sizes and colors from both Ultimate Guard and Ultra PRO, but the Zipfolio from Ultimate Guard is my go-to for expensive singles. These fit great in your backpack for when you’re heading out to your local Friday Night Magic
These suggestions are just scratching the surface of what these accessory makers have to offer. There are countless other sleeves, boxes, and mats to pick from, so pick your favorite Magic player’s favorite for a great gift.
Other accessories I recommend are lifepads; some Magic player prefer to write their life totals down and take notes instead of using the MTG Companion app or a spindown counter.
Dry erase tokens are great for cards with copy abilities. A playmat tube is a great storage solution to keep your mats dry and safe, and the Ultra PRO land station is a good way to sort your basic lands or have lands ready for your booster draft night.
Did you know that the IGN store has some awesome Magic: The Gathering merch? We have a handful of t-shirts, a crewneck sweater, and even a 17oz stainless steel water bottle for sale.
These make great gifts if you aren’t quite sure what cards, sets, or formats your favorite Magic player enjoys!
Myles Obenza is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Bluesky @mylesobenza.bsky.social.
Even crime lords need to unwind.
Sega has released a new trailer for Yakuza 0: Director’s Cut in Japan and it’s an absolute doozy.
Rather than just showcase the game and be done with it, the trailer instead features actual actors from Yakuza 0; specifically the three lieutenants from the Dojima Family – Hitoshi Ozawa (Daisaku Kuze), Riki Takeuchi (Hiroki Awano), and Hideo Nakano (Keiji Shibusawa).
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
“Football is a relatively simple game. It’s one of the reasons it’s such a beautiful sport. But within that there’s a lot of depth to be found.”
With these words, spoken by Pierre Tarno, CEO of Sloclap and Rematch’s creative director, it’s easy to see the ethos behind the studio’s spectacular new football game, even before I boot up the final beta.
At first glance Rematch appears to be an arcade styled kickabout, sprinting past the typically super realistic examples of the genre. It’s fast, doesn’t require you to learn particularly complex controls, and pairs down the pitch to 3v3, 4v4 and 5v5 matches. Even the rules are more akin to ‘jumpers for goalposts’ fun, with no fixed positions, fouls, offsides, or breaks except for after goal replays.
And yet, nestled within Rematch’s action-packed gloss is a depth that football fans will not only appreciate, but keep coming back to.
“I liked the idea of performing a body kick in third-person,” explains Pierre, when asked about Rematch’s origins. “I think body actions are some of the most beautiful and interesting actions in football, because that’s when the ball circulates the fastest. After that notion, we dug deeper to establish the experience we wanted for the game: to feel like an amazing player, feel part of a team and feel the pressure.”
All three of those things were definitely present during my time with the beta. Getting stuck into the tutorial and practice mode, the controls seemed easy enough, with the expected sprint, block and slide tackle buttons, but beyond that I encountered some interesting differences to other football titles. There’s no dedicated cross button, so the unusual R2 shoot config is also used for whipping the ball into the box. Similarly, the square button’s passes aren’t automatically guided, meaning you have to carefully aim using the left analog stick.
With a combination of button presses it’s easy to perform skilful moves like a rainbow kick, but many of your more dazzling shots specifically depend on your player’s inertia, position, and ball placement, resulting in amazing volleys and even more impressive goals. With one important nuance to factor in – your shots are aimed via an on-screen crosshair, which is determined by the right analog stick’s camera control. So simply pressing R2 won’t get the job done. Similar to passing, you need to be more discerning with your aim, otherwise you’ll be slamming the ball off the invisible walls that surround the pitch instead of scoring screamers.
All of these subtleties and freedoms are what give Rematch its depth. With no player stats, the onus is entirely on you to bring the goods, and that pressure to perform within a team is very, very real. Using the camera to aim shots while also utilising after-touch for curving the ball (Rematch calls it a Magus Shot, suggesting Sloclap are fans of the sports manga Blue Lock) is a skill requiring practice, especially within the manic environment of a match.
I found the 4v4 and 5v5 games easier to get to grips with the intensity of Rematch, due to how quickly mistakes can be punished in a 3v3. Given the naturally fun chaos of players not having to stay in any one position, the ever-changing environment was easier to learn with more players, although it required a greater awareness of my positioning and tactics. The on-screen radar was essential to understanding the flow of the match and ensuring I worked with my teammates, as everyone chasing the ball only led to easy goals for the opposition.
With no single-player mode, Sloclap intends to add bots later into development to let you learn the ropes in something a bit closer to a match without the human pressure. But for now it’s all about playing live and gaining experience, both in-game and figuratively.
This learning curve is very much an intentional part of Rematch’s design. “Incentivising team play was the biggest objective and challenge,” says Pierre. “So you’re more vulnerable when you’re in possession, and defenders can quickly hone in on you, which creates pressure to pass. Passing quickly to teammates is the best way to put pressure on your opponents.
“Checking your radar to know where other players are is also important. You see that with the best players in real life football, like Messi – they’re looking around them all the time before they receive the ball, developing their vision and positioning. That’s vital in Rematch.”
It’s this focus on dynamics and tactics which makes Rematch so rewarding. Sure, it’s not as easy as some of the highly skilled players make it look, but at its athletic heart Sloclap hasn’t forgotten that all we want to do is score incredible goals that make us run around our living room with our t-shirts pulled over our faces.
Appropriately, Benjamin Pavard’s classic goal for France against Argentina in the 2018 FIFA World Cup was a big touchstone for Rematch. “It was one of the most amazing body kicks ever,” says Pierre. Look it up, it’s hard to disagree – and those are the sorts of goals you’ll be scoring when Rematch laces up its boots for its big June 19 match on PlayStation 5.
