Pokémon Pokopia players are speaking out to save others a whole lot of time and bother — because no, you don’t actually need to water every single square of the game’s world.
When you first start playing Pokopia, your character wakes up in an arid wasteland that was once a lush Pokémon utopia. There are no humans anymore, the world is in ruins, and other Pokémon are few and far between.
On top of that, you’ve likely seen screenshots and trailers showing the possibilities in store when you do revive Pokopia’s world — and so when you gain the ability to water the ground and bring back its green hues, many players’ first instinct (including my own) is to do so everywhere. For hours. Every. Last. Square.
Well, it turns out you don’t need to do that. As many players are now taking to social media to point out (and also, very mildly spoil) there will soon come a time when all of this is handled for you. And if you’d prefer not to read more about what happens next, well, take this as your cue to stop reading — but also stop watering, too.
Nobody ask me if Pokopia has a story, I’ve been watering grass for 4 hours before I let myself progress pic.twitter.com/WP6EKIql85
Thank you because that was starting to feel like such a huge task and I haven’t been focusing on the main quests as much because the dry and withered look BOTHERS me 😭
Yes, eventually your world will experience rain, something that will sort out all those areas of dry ground for you, and immediately make the game look a lot more like those screenshots and trailers. Until then, you really only need to water the plants and trees that you need to create habitats or farm resources such as fruit.
How do you kickstart Pokopia’s rain, you may ask? It’s as simple as crafting the Rain Dance Site item and then activating it using a Water-type Pokémon. This is something that you’ll complete as part of the game’s main storyline when rebuilding the Pokémon Center in Pokopia’s starting area, so you can’t miss it. And for a more detailed walkthrough on increasing your world’s humidity, IGN has you covered.
For now, though, relax and put away your Water Gun. Rain’s comin’.
IGN’s Pokémon Pokopia review returned a 9/10 score, and dubbed the game as “an enjoyable building and town simulator that capitalizes on the charming personalities of its monsters in a way that appeals to both the creative and collector alike.”
Since the earliest cave paintings, human beings have used art to recreate the world around us. But while the painter’s limit is imagination, the photographer can only capture what actually exists. They can use their tools to increase exposure, change framing, or apply filters, but they cannot create something entirely new; only preserve a moment in time. It’s telling that Fatal Frame II: Crimson Butterfly is getting its moment now. A game about twin sisters haunted by the past with a camera as their only salvation, Crimson Butterfly Remake is similarly bound to its predecessor while also being charged with modernizing it. In many ways, it succeeds. I cannot deny that I enjoyed revisiting Minakami Village, but I also fear that constantly bending a knee to the modern and adding more complex mechanics has added an artificiality that is at odds with the captivating story it tells. By the time I reached the end of my 20-hour journey, I was deeply satisfied with and impressed by this remake, as well as incredibly conflicted about that feeling.
Before I continue, let me say this: I consider the original Crimson Butterfly – not Silent Hill 2, not Eternal Darkness, not pick-your-Resident-Evil, not any modern horror game – to be both the greatest and most terrifying horror game ever made. But any artist, no matter how skilled, risks tarnishing a great work by revisiting it. This is especially true in video games, where remakes seek to supplant and replace the original, trading increased visual fidelity and “modern” (read: Better. Always better. No one has ever used this term when speaking about a game and meant “worse”) design tropes for a piece of the original’s soul. We’ve seen this story countless times, from a Mass Effect remaster that dilutes the impact of Sovereign’s arrival on Eden Prime to a remake of Demon’s Souls that is visually remarkable but butchers the atmosphere of the original. I would like to tell you that Crimson Butterfly Remake does not fall prey to these traps, that it skirts them effortlessly. But I can’t – though that doesn’t mean what’s here isn’t an admirable attempt.
Crimson Butterfly Remake follows the same setup as the original. Twin sisters Mio and Mayu are visiting a stream where they used to play as children because the entire area will soon be flooded by the construction of a dam. As they reminisce, Mayu catches sight of a crimson butterfly that draws her deeper into the forest. Mio pursues, quickly gets lost, and the two eventually reunite on a hill overlooking a lost village said to have disappeared during a festival. The path they took is gone. There is no way back. With no other options, they descend into a village where the ghosts of the past still linger. Mio and Mayu’s only defense is a strange camera – the Camera Obscura – that seems to be able to exorcise them. Their goal is simple: escape. But that will mean learning Minakami Village’s secrets, and why they were called here to begin with.
I don’t want to say more because Crimson Butterfly’s story is remarkable, and developer Team Ninja has done an excellent job of expanding it. As you venture deeper into the village, you learn about the dark nature of the festival and the unique role twins, often twin girls, played in it. Crimson Butterfly is, to its credit, a quiet game. Cutscenes are fairly rare and Mio does not incessantly chatter about what’s happening to her or about the items she picks up. Instead, you’ll learn about the story through diaries, watching ghosts follow the paths they traveled in life, and by listening to their voices, preserved in the stones their spirits left behind. You’ll learn about the people who lived here, what happened during that festival, and the fates that befell those who, like Mio and Mayu, were called to Minakami Village. Most of the expansion comes in the form of new locations and side stories that trace the paths of supporting characters, and it’s all integrated seamlessly. If I didn’t know these things weren’t in the original, I would not have guessed, and they add a great deal to Crimson Butterfly’s story.
Minakami Village is a marvel of design, dripping with atmosphere
Minakami Village itself is a marvel of design, dripping with atmosphere. It’s a small place with few roads and fewer houses. But it’s dense, and it changes. You’ll revisit these roads, these houses, and each time, the experience will be different. When I first entered Osaka House, I was afraid and wary; later, it was like seeing an old friend. I became intimately familiar with those rooms, but I could never let my guard down while walking them. Kurosawa House, on the other hand, was terrifying no matter how many times I walked its sprawling halls. Whenever I passed through its doors, I felt myself tense up.
What I admire most about Crimson Butterfly Remake is how little it holds your hand. While there are objective markers to guide you around the village between story beats and crimson butterflies sometimes light the way forward, once you enter a house, all bets are off. If you need to go to a room with an altar, for instance, it is up to you to find that room. If you’re following a specter, you must use the camera to trace their path. If you are completing a side story, it is up to you to read the diary left behind and figure out where to go next. Crimson Butterfly Remake will give you the clues you need, but you’ll still have to make the journey yourself.
The Fatal Frame series is terrifying, but its horror is subtle – less an exercise in jump scares, and more one in unrelenting tension. When you pick up an item, Mio will crouch and extend her hand slowly. Oftentimes, nothing will happen. But sometimes, a ghost will appear and grab you. Each time she slides open a door, an angry spirit might be on the other side. Walk down a road, and you might stumble across a ghost or run into a roving patrol searching for twins who escaped on the night of the ritual. Sometimes, the spirits will be there, visible. Sometimes, they will simply appear.
Combat in Crimson Butterfly Remake isn’t rare, per se, but it’s also not frequent. You’ll spend much of your time exploring the village, navigating houses, snapping photos of lingering spirits and twin dolls scattered throughout the village, and solving puzzles. But every time you open a door or reach for an item, you are vulnerable. You may pull your hand away or slam a door shut in time, but they will still be there, and it won’t ease how you feel the next time. Often, those spirits are specters, condemned to retrace the paths they walked in life, only visible long enough to snap a picture if you’re quick and ready. (Change film, and you might miss them.) But sometimes, they are hostile. In the village, you can often avoid ghosts by crouching, hiding, or simply running away, which is useful against groups or when you’re not looking for a fight. But when you’re locked in a house and the doors are sealed shut, you’ll have to defend yourself with the Camera Obscura.
Your camera can exorcise ghosts. The better the picture, the more damage the shot will do. A shot that is in focus and captures a spirit’s face will be far more effective than one that captures its back. But the most effective shots are Fatal Frames, which require you to wait until a spirit attacks and the light atop the Camera Obscure flashes red. Time it right, and you’ll stagger the wraith, deal heavy damage, and replenish Mio’s Willpower, a new addition that allows her to use Special Shots (some stun, some slow, and so on) and is lost when Mio runs or a ghost strikes her. Lose all of it and Mio will be knocked to the ground and vulnerable. If a ghost attacks you while you’re down, you’ll have to use the camera to get it off. Miss your shot, and you’ll take a large amount of damage. I’m mixed on Willpower as a concept – I didn’t use Special Shots often, instead saving Willpower for when I needed to sprint – but I did appreciate it as an additional obstacle to navigate during combat.
Then there are Shutter Chances, which occur when a wraith’s health is depleted past a certain point. Snap a picture during one, and a ghost will be left defenseless for a single, high damage shot. Time a Fatal Frame with a Shutter Chance, and you’ll enter Fatal Time, allowing you to take multiple shots at once. Better pictures also reward you with points that can be spent on items and charms at save points, so there’s an additional reason to aim well.
When it clicks, Crimson Butterfly’s combat is compelling.
It’s a lot to remember, but when it clicks, Crimson Butterfly’s combat is compelling. Often, you’ll only fight one wraith at a time, but even that is challenging. Success is a matter of sidestepping attacks, managing your health and Willpower, and waiting for a ghost to attack so Mio can capture that elusive Fatal Frame. Choosing the right film matters, too. Will you stick with the infinite but weak and slow-to-reload Type-07 or upgrade to the slightly stronger but still slow and limited Type-14? The Type-61 is powerful, but reloading film still takes a while and you can’t carry much of it, while the rarer Type-90 is fast, powerful, and can be carried in bulk. And then there is the incredibly slow, but powerful, Type-00, which deals massive damage even to the most frightening wraiths. There just isn’t much of it. Crimson Butterfly Remake’s combat is about timing and choice, and unlike most horror games, requires you to leave yourself open and literally face your fears to succeed. You are always vulnerable; Mio always has reason to be afraid.
Each ghost presents its own challenges. You might be tempted to use Type-07 film for more standard spirits, but others will quickly push you into loading more precious film into your camera, and each time you miss a shot with a more valuable film, it hurts. You will never forget the first time you encounter the woman in the box, nor the first time you’re locked in a room fighting two ghosts at once. My favorite encounter was against a drowned woman on a bridge who moved through the air like she was floating in water, and who seemed to transport Mio underwater as the fight progressed. Even though you’ll fight most ghosts multiple times, they never get old. Even protecting Mayu from ghosts, something you’ll have to do off and on as the sisters are separated and reunited over the course of the story, is less frustrating and simply an additional challenge.
It’s here that I must talk about Crimson Butterfly Remake’s status as a remake. In many ways, it is an unqualified success. It is visually stunning while capturing and thoughtfully updating the character designs, environments, art, and sound of the 2003 original, and there are images here that will stay with me forever. The change from fixed camera angles to the over-the-shoulder view popularized by Resident Evil 4 is admittedly mixed; it dilutes some of the horror and unease, but it means Crimson Butterfly plays better and is more responsive than any other Fatal Frame. The additions Team Ninja made to the village and the new side stories are wonderful. Even smaller choices, like the ability to hold Mayu’s hand and guide her through the village, which restores both Willpower and both sisters’ health at the expense of slower movement, is a thoughtful change that emphasizes their bond through gameplay. I also appreciate that Crimson Butterfly Remake doesn’t force you to fight everything. Sometimes, sneaking past or running away is the best (or only) option.
What bothers me are the additions to the Camera Obscura. As in the original, you can still equip charms to boost your damage, reduce the health or Willpower you lose when a wraith hits you, and so on. That’s fine. Finding prayer beads in the village enables you to increase how quickly the camera focuses, to focus it or zoom in and out manually, and so on, which were not options before or were unlocked after completing the original game. These are good changes. I largely relied on the automatic focus so I could concentrate on keeping wraiths in frame as I moved around, but made liberal use of the zoom feature.
Where Crimson Butterfly Remake fails is in the addition of filters that you can switch between, each of which comes with its own Special Shot ability, many of which recall the original’s various lenses. The Standard filter is an all-arounder that recovers more willpower with each snap and a Special Shot that can stun; the Paraceptual Filter allows you to see ghosts through walls, has additional range, and it’s Special Shot blinds; the Exposure filter is great for dealing with aggravated wraiths, and the Radiant filter is short ranged but deals absolutely massive damage. Each has additional uses outside of combat: the Paraceptual filter allows you to track traces of spirits, the Exposure filter can reveal hidden areas and ghosts, and the Radiant filter can open doors and objects sealed by blood. In combat, however, they become one note.
It is visually stunning while capturing and thoughtfully updating the original.
Part of this is because of the aggravated wraiths. Each time you snap a picture of a wraith, you risk aggravating it. Basically, they turn red, recover health, take much less damage, attack more frequently, and hit harder. Initially, this is incredibly frustrating, especially if you’ve been using higher quality film or if you’re fighting multiple ghosts at once in a small room. The Exposure filter is great for dealing with aggravated wraiths, though you only get it after you’ve started seeing wraiths get real mad, and you’ll have to spend high quality film to return them to normal via a Shutter Chance (which also automatically triggers Fatal Time). The issue isn’t that there isn’t an answer, it’s that there’s only one answer, at least for a while: Exposure filter and good film. It becomes a grating game of Simon Says, and I often used better film against weaker ghosts to try to end their afterlife before they became aggravated, which works great until it doesn’t.
This problem carries over to the other filters, with options like the Paraceptual filter becoming my go-to for all far away ghosts. But the Radiant filter is what really breaks Crimson Butterfly Remake, especially if you upgrade the charms that boost it. Yes, the shorter range means it’s harder to hit things, but if you upgrade it, you’ll do so much damage (especially if you’re using anything other than Type-07 film) that it trivializes everything, even aggravated wraiths and boss fights. By the end, I wasn’t locked in rooms with the ghosts of Minakami Village: They were locked in rooms with me. Well, me, my fully upgraded Radiant filter, and my fully upgraded Radiant filter charm. Combine that with any decent film and they had no chance.
Yes, blasting through ghosts that I previously feared was a thrill, even if I wasn’t taking Pulitzer-worthy shots to do it (though I was still rewarded for quality), and I was never truly unafraid because Mio was still vulnerable. But as I traipsed around the village gathering prayer beads, upgrading my camera, photographing twin dolls, and checking off side stories, I realized how “gamey” some of these new additions were. I was supposed to be figuring out how to escape a haunted village, and while I could argue that completing the side stories gave me a better understanding of what happened here, what I was hoping to accomplish, and what I was up against, the rest felt… artificial. Pick up this film so I always have enough. Photograph those dolls because they’re there and doing so unlocks more things at the save point. Grab that prayer bead to get a step closer to another upgrade. Pieces of candy scattered along the ground, and I acquired them because this is a video game and that’s what you do, whether they are out of place or not. Does the removal of the fixed camera angles really help, or does it just ease a little friction? Is it a good design choice, or simply the modern one that will make me more comfortable? Removing film grain makes an image clearer, but it removes detail, too.
Once you start seeing these things, you can’t stop. Case in point: the filters. An inventor making a camera that exorcises ghosts is cool and makes sense in the context of Crimson Butterfly’s story. Filters that do more damage to ghosts, or let you see through walls, or open doors sealed by bloody handprints, on the other hand, only exist to solve gameplay problems. They feel less appropriate for Crimson Butterfly’s world and undermine its otherwise very effective horrors. I went from saying things like “man, I hope there’s not a ghost in that well” to “Get out here, lady. I dare you. I double-dog dare you. I have a Radiant filter and enough Type-90 film to make you wish you’d stayed down there.”
That’s fun as a video game power fantasy, as a way to make my dopamine-seeking lizard brain go brrrr. It’s stuff that would make a lot of sense in Resident Evil, but it goes against what Fatal Frame is. The strength of Crimson Butterfly is that Mio and Mayu are ordinary girls thrust into a terrifying, supernatural situation. As powerful as the Camera Obscura is, Mio is always vulnerable while using it. She always has to look the things that haunt her in the eye, to open herself to harm and not blink. It makes sense that she is afraid when she enters the Kurosawa House and her flashlight fails, or for her to hide from large numbers of ghosts, and Crimson Butterfly is most effective when you share her fear.
Some of the new stuff would make sense in Resident Evil, but goes against what Fatal Frame is.
Mio’s not a grizzled combat veteran or a superhero masquerading as a civilian the way most video game characters are. She’s a young woman trapped in a haunted village; she’s trying to survive and protect her sister, and she’s scared out of her mind. Her weapon is a camera, not a gun. She cannot physically overpower what threatens her. These are things she can barely comprehend, much less fight. But she continues in spite of that. She keeps raising that camera, facing her fears, and that’s what makes her brave. In creating a more seamless version of Crimson Butterfly that offers plentiful combat options, and allows you to be more powerful as a result, Team Ninja has unintentionally diluted it thematically.
It’s one of my only significant complaints about a remake that otherwise both respects and enhances the art it’s attempting to recreate, a smudge on an otherwise immaculately restored photograph, and something that I have been grappling with the impact of as I’ve thought about this review. I don’t think that this disharmony between thematic intent and modern convenience ruins Crimson Butterfly Remake, or even deeply damages it, and I doubt most people will even care. But it does make Crimson Butterfly feel more like an action game that you can optimize much of the horror out of if you wish to, and I think that does diminish it somewhat as a result.
A major shakeup to how shiny odds are handled in Pokémon Go has quietly made many species’ coveted shiny versions harder to find.
That’s according to fans who have been keeping a keen eye on the shiny chances for the nearly 1000 Pokémon species now available in Pokémon Go, using reliable crowd-sourced information gathered en masse from bot accounts to see the hidden impact of recent changes by developer Niantic.
Approached by IGN for comment on the changes, a spokesperson for Niantic said it did not discuss exact shiny odds as a matter of standard policy, despite the hunt for shiny Pokémon being a core reason that many players engage with the game.
Additionally, Niantic said it was permanently boosting the shiny chance of all Pokémon found in eggs and in raids, meaning that players who regularly hatch creatures or raid (and who pay to do so more frequently) would also likely be rewarded with more shiny creatures.
But what Niantic did not mention was that, seemingly, it had balanced these changes against a general flattening of existing shiny odds which had long given a boost to rarer species. Within Pokémon Go, fans are aware that the game’s base shiny rate is 1/512, though certain species have had a longstanding “permaboost” to 1/64. This includes uncommon species such as Chansey and Onix, as well as those which debuted via eggs or raids such as Rockruff, Sandile and Mawile.
In the past, the trade-off here has been that some species which are harder to find (or which don’t typically spawn in the wild at all outside of certain in-game events) were more likely to be found shiny, as the chance of finding them at all was more remote. This was also the case with evolved Pokémon that could be featured in Mega Raids (the only main exceptions to the game’s previous lack of shiny evolved Pokémon in the wild).
Now, according to player-sourced data, almost every Pokémon found in the wild has that same base rate of 1/512, whether it’s a common Pidgey, an uncommon Charizard, or a member of the Legendary Lake Trio. The only exceptions look to be leftover errors on Niantic’s part, rather than any general rule.
In a vast thread on the changes posted to top Pokémon Go fan reddit The Silph Road by user ch33psh33p, the move away from tying shiny odds to specific species is suggested to really only benefit “junk Pokémon in eggs and raids” that previously would have been set as 1/512. This is because many desirable creatures here (Drampa, Duraludon, Honedge, etc.) were already boosted, meaning that change has mostly acted as a nerf to those rare species’ previously boosted odds in the wild.
With shiny odds officially kept opaque, and more than a little uncertainty over how specific species are actually meant to be handled, fans are once again calling for more clarity from Niantic, particularly when it comes to spawns of the ultra rare Lake Trio and Galar Legendary Birds, which appear to have had their shiny rates flattened alongside everything else.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
If you’re hoping to stock up on some new board games for your collection this year, it’s worth having a look at Amazon. Right now, and for a limited time, the retailer has an excellent offer going on where you can get a $10 Amazon credit after spending $50 on select board games.
That’s certainly a nice bonus on top of picking up some new games. There’s some great picks to choose from in Amazon’s selection as well, including Pandemic, Azul Summer Pavilion, and quite a few more. Below we’ve gathered up just a few of our favorites included in this offer, but if you’re curious to see everything that’s available, check out Amazon’s sale page here.
Get $10 Amazon Credit When You Spend $50 on Select Board Games
If you’re curious how and when this promo credit will pop up in your account, Amazon notes that it will be automatically added to your account 30 days after your chosen board game (or games) have shipped. An email will notify you when it’s available, so make sure to keep an eye out for it.
As for some of the games included in this offer, there’s quite a few we think very highly of. Both Pandemic and Azul landed on our lists of the best beginner board games, which is good news if you’re just starting a collection at home, and the best classic board games. If you’re looking for a game that you and your partner can play together, 7 Wonders Duel even earned a spot in our list of the best board games for couples.
If any of these have caught your eye, this is a great opportunity to pick up some new board games to play this year while getting a little extra spending cash for Amazon. You can even put that credit towards more board games, if you want. What’s better than that?
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelancer who writes with the guides and commerce teams here at IGN.
EA has laid off an unknown number of individuals from across its Battlefield teams, including workers at Criterion, Dice, Ripple Effect, and Motive Studios, IGN understands.
Individuals are being informed that the layoffs are taking place as part of a “realignment” across the Battlefield studios, as the team continues its ongoing, live service support for Battlefield 6 following launch. All four studios will remain operational, though the layoffs seem to be impacting a variety of teams across multiple studios and offices. IGN has reached out to EA for comment on total number and types of roles impacted, as well as for the specific reasons for the layoffs.
However, the months since Battlefield 6’s launch have seen the game begin to struggle from patch to patch. Fans have criticized a number of updates due to reasons ranging from cosmetics to movement, and three months in, Steam reviews have fallen to “Mixed” from a “Mostly Positive” start. Major issues reported include criticism of heavy monetization, use of generative AI for in-game cosmetics, and fewer content updates than expected. The criticism was heavy enough that the teams delayed the start of Season 2 to allow more time to implement community feedback. EA recently published a three-month roadmap for its expected updates.
Steam concurrents have also dropped significantly following Battlefield 6’s big launch, when it hit a huge 747,440 peak. Steam concurrents are now, typically, in the tens of thousands. For example, Battlefield 6 hit 67,000 peak concurrent players on Valve’s platform yesterday. Of course, Steam numbers do not paint the whole picture of a game’s popularity or success, given Battlefield 6 is also available on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S. But they do give us a sense of where a game is at, and in Battlefield 6’s case the drop-off may have been more dramatic than EA had expected. Meanwhile, the free-to-play Battlefield battle royale, Redsec, has had problems of its own, with a ‘Mostly Negative’ Steam user review rating for recent posts.
These layoffs come just months after the unexpected death of Battlefield franchise head Vince Zampella in a car accident. They also come as EA is preparing to be acquired by an investor group composed of Saudi Arabia’s Public Investment Fund, Silver Lake, and Affinity Partners for approximately $55 billion. However, the acquisition has not yet closed (it’s expected to close in the first quarter of the 2027 financial year, or April, May, and June of this year). IGN understands internally, EA is stating that the layoffs are unrelated to the acquisition.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Fortnite has confirmed that The Foundation, its heroic character voiced by Dwayne “The Rock” Johnson, will return next season – and begun an Avengers: Doomsday-style countdown for his reappearance.
A cinematic teaser trailer released today shows The Foundation currently frozen in ice, captured by The Ice King (another important character in Fortnite lore). Still, players expect they’ll be able to break out The Rock’s character in the battle royale mode’s next season, which begins in shortly over a week’s time.
Indeed, today’s teaser reveals the official name for Epic Games’ next slice of Fortnite, and riffs on the wording seen in recent Avengers: Doomsday teasers (not that they’re actually teasers, apparently) to confirm the return of several key characters.
“The Foundation and The Ice King will return in Fortnite: Showdown,” the teaser states, before the words shift into a date (March 19, 2026) and then a countdown clock revealing the weeks, days, hours, minutes and seconds left to go until the update drops.
The teaser itself reveals a new in-game location, which looks to be a fresh and more detailed version of The Ice King’s classic Polar Peak fortress. Previous in-game imagery had teased this wintry palace, and suggested it was home to one of the game’s current Zero Point shard macguffins.
The suggestion here is that this new Ice King is working with Fortnite’s current baddie, The Dark Voyager, to reunite the Zero Point’s broken shards for nefarious means. But previous Fortnite lore, doled out through graphic novels, painted the original Ice King as something of a more noble figure, who freezes beings he has deemed a threat to reality. Fans have suggested the Dark Voyager is capable of corrupting previous Fortnite characters (such as Lynx) to do his bidding. Or maybe the Ice King really has just broken bad?
The original Ice King was a mysterious character who kept a prisoner in his dungeon back in Fortnite’s first chapter (something recently glimpsed again via the Fortnite OG mode, which retells the game’s original storyline). In today’s teaser, however, the new Ice King is shown to have several other captives, too, including golden skeleton lady Orelia and Marvel’s own Steve Rogers (though his may just be yet another nod to Doomsday).
The teaser concludes with The Ice King sidling up to The Foundation, frozen mid-punch. How he’ll escape remains to be seen, though one things for certain: with newly-tweaked designs for The Foundation and The Ice King on show here, fans will have several must-have new skins to obtain next season.
Recent weeks have seen several surviving members of Fortnite’s heroic Seven faction return in game, including a new version of The Visitor voiced by a very familiar-sounding actor. Fortnite is yet to officially confirm the return of Dwayne Johnson to his own role, though fans seemingly won’t have long to wait until The Foundation speaks once more.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
If the absurd silliness of 2019’s Untitled Goose Game is the type of thing that floats your boat, then the upcoming multiplayer puzzle game Big Walk by the same developer should rank pretty high on your list for 2026. This wacky adventure occupies the growing number of games lovingly dubbed “friendslop,” in the same vein as Lethal Company, R.E.P.O., and most applicable here, Peak, making use of proximity chat and goofy gameplay to create memorable times with friends. And if the opening hour is any indication, then Big Walk stands a strong chance of capturing the attention of those, like myself, who will happily jump online to joke around with their buds during some low-stress shenanigans.
Big Walk is a cooperative puzzle game meant to be played with friends that emphasizes creativity, silly scenarios, and limited communication options as a core game mechanic. Unlike many games in this genre, you’re not stuck in a survival horror scenario, but instead solving a series of increasingly challenging puzzles that require your team to work as a group. Playing as weird, birdlike creatures, you’ll run around searching for oblong key items hidden throughout the island, tackling puzzles that have you doing things like describing hieroglyphs to your friends while they enter them into a codepad, or stacking up on top of one another like a circus troupe in order to get to areas unreachable on one’s own. The goofy and low-stakes nature of these obstacles means that, if you’re anything like my group, you’ll spend most of your time messing around and making very little progress while you crack jokes and come up with lore for the completely unexplained and odd world you find yourself in.
Talk About It
Like other multiplayer-focused indies of its kind, you’ll be limited strictly to proximity chat and won’t be able to hear your co-op partners if they’re standing more than a few feet away, so will have to make use of signs, hand signals, and other non-verbal forms of communication. This creates some unique hurdles, especially when players are required to split up to solve a puzzle. For example, in one scenario where one player had to hold down a button while I ran a long distance away to grab an item that was only accessible while said button was being held, my teammates had to keep an eye on me with binoculars so they could verify that I’d recovered the item.
To help ease the communication limitations, a whole bunch of the controls are dedicated to your character moving their arms about, including raising them in the air, holding them out at your sides, or pointing directly forward, and individual buttons are assigned to your left and right arm as well, allowing you to get quite specific with the different combinations. All of the puzzles placed before us in this demo were simple enough that we weren’t really required to get fancy with hand signals, but I could see the building blocks there that could lead to more complicated scenarios.
Stick Together
It’s also notable that in my time with Big Walk I encountered no puzzles that could be solved without the assistance of my companions, which I learned early on after becoming separated from the rest of the group and stumbled upon a puzzle and tried to solve it myself, only to quickly discover that I needed at least two players to complete it. Not only is solving puzzles with friends just fun to begin with, but I think it’s a good decision to make it so your friends can’t take off in different directions and make progress on their own, since it meant I never had to worry about missing out on any of the puzzle solving if I got lost or stopped to smell the roses while the others forged ahead.
In fact, puzzles actually change dynamically to fit the number of players in your party, from 2-4. For example, one puzzle requires everyone to stack on one another to reach a button located high up, and the height of that button is adjusted relative to the number of teammates you have. In another area, our prize could only be acquired when all four of us hit four buttons at the same time, and the number of buttons that had to be pushed simultaneously was determined by our player count. These examples are obviously quite simple since I effectively only played through the tutorial area, but I really like the idea that the participation of everyone on the team is required to make progress, and could see them coming up with some really devious challenges that require everyone taking on a vital role, overcoming communication obstacles along the way.
Low Stakes
Aside from solving puzzles, you’ll also find things in the world that seem intended purely to waste your time, like one area where we found a paintbrush that allowed us to change the color of various parts of our weird bird characters’ bodies, and another where we found an odd rest stop of sorts, which had no puzzle to speak of, but played some chill jams and provided a nice view to admire. In a game that relies so heavily on creating silly memories with your friends, it’s great to see how apt Big Walk is when it comes to knowing when to slow things down and give players an opportunity to be childish dorks. We definitely took the developer up on every chance they gave us to do just that, and much of the joy from our demo came not from any novel game mechanic, but from us finding our own fun within their bizarre sandbox. At least in this short demo, they did a really great job at making room for this kind of fun, and it was surprising just how quick all four of us fell into a comfortable state of juvenile behavior. It’s the kind of pure, good-time nonsense vibes that we just don’t see enough of these days.
The premise of Big Walk might seem like it won’t have staying power, and that’s because it probably won’t. The whole thing is roughly 10 hours long according to developer House House Games, and none of the puzzles change aside from adjusting to your player count. But a lack of longevity or replayability isn’t such a bad thing with games like these, where a few amusing nights with your friends is well worth the time invested. I think of it a bit like doing an escape room – you likely won’t have a reason to return to the same collection of puzzles more than once, but it’s the kind of unique experience you’re unlikely to find elsewhere. In an era where more and more games are asking for absolutely every minute of our time for years and decades to come, I really relish the opportunity to play these bite-sized adventures that leave a lasting impression and then let me move on with my life (Don’t worry, GTA V. I still love you, baby).
In an era where more and more games are asking for absolutely every minute of our time for years and decades to come, I really relish the opportunity to play these bite-sized adventures that leave a lasting impression and then let me move on with my life.
I should also mention that the build of Big Walk I played was running on a (wait for it) Mac Mini. That’s right – A. Mac. Mini. Look, it’s not like this goofy co-op game could be even remotely demanding on hardware, since you’re mostly just hopping around and stacking on top of one another, but it’s still pretty impressive just how approachable this game seems to be, not just in terms of gameplay, but by the low barrier of entry in terms of the hardware you play on. For that reason, this might even be a good option if you’re looking to play with friends and family who aren’t normally into video games. After all, goofing around as a weird bird creature seems like a pretty universal kind of experience.
After a very memorable first hour, I’m absolutely sold on this as the next friendslop for my crew and I to jump in on. If it managed to be this enjoyable when all the puzzles were super simple, I can only imagine how ridiculous and memorable it’ll be when they introduce more complicated scenarios.
Slay the Spire 2 has enjoyed an enormous early access launch on Steam, breaking into the top 20 most-played games of all time on Valve’s platform.
Mega Crit’s sequel had already become the most-played roguelike ever on Steam after it launched last week, but now, after hitting an astonishing 574,638 peak concurrent players over the weekend, it’s joined the special top 20 club — and there are some big hitters within its sights.
Chief among them in the indie space is Team Cherry’s Hollow Knight: Silksong, which hit a peak of 587,150. And it’s that game the developers at MegaCrit cheekily pointed out as its target in a social media post celebrating their success.
“Our team is TOTALLY blown away by the amount of people who have been playing and sharing their love for the game we’ve been working on for the past half decade,” MegaCrit tweeted. “We’re excited to continue to make StS2 the best that it can be!! Also obligatory joke: we’ll getcha one day Silksong.”
Mega Crit had already playfully took aim at Bungie’s Marathon, which came out the same day as Slay the Spire 2, in a tweet they eventually admitted came off meaner than intended. But the truth is Slay the Spire 2 is the hottest video game on Steam right now, and is behind only the eternally popular PUBG, Dota 2, and Counter-Strike 2 in terms of current popularity.
You might be wondering what MegaCrit will do to capitalize on its success. Many developers would go hard on microtransactions, but it doesn’t sound like they’re coming to Slay the Spire 2. “We’re microtransaction haters,” Casey Yano, MegaCrit co-founder, told Destructoid, despite the fact that “a lot of our players threaten to buy all and any cosmetics we may ever release.”
Not only are a huge number of people playing Slay the Spire 2, but the vast majority are loving it. On Steam it enjoys a user review rating of ‘overwhelmingly positive,’ with nearly 14,000 user reviews already online. Check out IGN’s Slay the Spire 2 Early Access Review So Far to find out what we think.
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.
Amazon has unofficially made Pokémon Pokopia an $80 Nintendo Switch 2 game, after the retailer suddenly increased the price for the new life sim’s physical edition amid supply constraints.
Numerous retailers have completely run out of Pokémon Pokopia boxed copies, though Amazon still has availability in the U.S., albeit now at the higher price of $80.
It’s the second time in as many months that Amazon has jacked up the price of a physical Switch 2 game while demand is high. A couple of weeks ago, the retailer was selling Resident Evil Requiem on Switch 2 for $76.84, almost $7 more than its recommended retail price.
Pokémon Pokopia has an RRP of $70, which Amazon has maintained if you just wish to buy a digital download code. But, right now, a boxed copy of the game will cost you $79.99, up $10 for seemingly no reason other than the fact its stock is hard to find.
Physical copies of Pokémon Pokopia appear limited outside the U.S., too. This morning, The Game Business chief Chris Dring wrote on social media that the game was “seriously undersupplied at UK retail,” which has resulted in less than half the Switch 2 physical launch sales of last year’s Pokémon Legends: Z-A.
So, what’s going on here? Has Nintendo intentionally kept physical stock low? Pokémon Pokopia’s physical edition is just a Game-Key Card launch, something the company may have expected would push more people towards its digital version. The game’s Animal Crossing-esque life sim genre may also have been considered more likely to attract digital sales, so that the game is always available as people continue to play for weeks and months to come.
Officially, Nintendo has only marked Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World as an $80 game, though the full price of several Switch 2 Edition re-releases of existing Switch 1 games have also hit the same high price point (such as The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Super Mario Party Jamboree – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV). Previously, Nintendo has said it will experiment with variable pricing for games on its latest console, while retailers are of course able to charge whatever they like.
IGN’s Pokémon Pokopia review returned a 9/10 score, and dubbed the game as “an enjoyable building and town simulator that capitalizes on the charming personalities of its monsters in a way that appeals to both the creative and collector alike.”
Today brings an ultra rare Pokémon card from the upcoming Mega Evolution — Perfect Order expansion, and it’s the first time this Mega Evolved ex creature has appeared in the Pokémon trading card game.
Mega Skarmory ex sees the recently-revealed Mega Pokémon appear in powerful form, with 260 HP and a punishing special attack.
Sonic Ripper will require two Steel energy and one Colorless energy to pull off, and comes with the requirement that you shuffle all energy attached to the creature into your deck. In return, though, you’ll be able to damage any one of your opponent’s Pokémon, including those that are Benched.
The move lands a chunky 220 damage, and without Weakness or Resistance for Benched creatures. As a Steel type, Mega Skarmory itself meanwhile is double weak to Electric, and comes with a -30 resistance to Fighting.
Mega Evolution — Perfect Order expansion is the first TCG expansion based around last year’s Mega Pokémon introduced to the franchise in Pokémon Legends: Z-A. Alongside other cards based on Mega Clefable and Mega Zygarde, this card will arrive as part of the set when it lands on March 27.
