Category: IGN

In celebration of IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition, Humble Bundle is releasing a special bundle that, for at least $25, will get you a collection of 8 games and DLC worth $293, including Train Sim World 6, Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader, SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake, and TerraTech.

In addition, your purchase will go a long way in supporting Code for America, a civic tech nonprofit that partners with the U.S. government to build digital tools, change policies, and improve programs.

The IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition Humble Bundle is available right here and will be available for purchase until tktktk. This is just one of the many ways we are celebrating IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition, which streams live on October 15 at 9am PT/12pm ET and will feature dozens of exclusive game trailers, interviews with celebrities, and exclusive clips and reveals across games, TV, and more. This includes Predator: Badlands, Netflix’s The Witcher, Tom Clancy’s Splinter Cell: Deathwatch, IT: Welcome to Derry, The Outer Worlds 2, and much more.

OK, back to the bundle. It can once again can be fully unlocked by donating at least $25 and it includes the following;

• Train Sim World 6 (Main game and DLC Unlocked at $25)
  • MBTA Commuter: Boston – Framingham/Worcester Line Route Add-On
  • MBTA Providence/Stoughton Line HSP46 Add-On
  • Sand Patch Grade Route Add-On
  • Maintalbahn: Aschaffenburg – Miltenberg Route Add-On
• Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader (Unlocked at $25)
• SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake (Unlocked at $15)
• Wandering Sword (Unlocked at $15)
• Koira (Unlocked at $15)
• Invincible Presents: Atom Eve (Unlocked at $10)
• Predator: Hunting Grounds (Unlocked at $10)
• TerraTech (Unlocked at $10)

As you can see in the list above, donating at least a certain amount will allow you to add these games to your gaming library, i.e. donating $10 will get you the bottom three games, $15 will get you the bottom six games, and $25 will get you everything.

Now, let’s get into the games themselves.

Train Sim World 6 was actually just released on September 30 and allows you to navigate and manage different routes across the world. Included in this bundle is the base game and four DLC routes that will give you even more ways to immerse yourself in the fascinating world of trains.

Warhammer 40,000: Rogue Trader is the first classic RPG set in the 41st millennium and it casts you as a Rogue Trader, a “scion of an ancient dynasty of daring privateers that reign over their trade empire and explore the fringes of the Imperium’s frontier.” Read our review here.

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Cosmic Shake was released in 2023 and is actually the prequel to the upcoming game, SpongeBob SquarePants: Titans of the Tide. This first game follows a tale of what happens when a mysterious fortunre teller grants SpongeBob and Patrick their wishes, which causes portals to strange Wishworlds to pop up. Read our review here.

Wandering Sword is a martial arts RPG that features gorgeous 3D pixel art and stars a swordsman who is caught up in a feud that leads him to become a master at martial arts.

Koira had us sold by tasking us with protecting an adorable puppy, and it also features a musical adventure that’s hand-drawn and sends you deep into a magical forest.

To get ready for Invincible VS, this bundle will allow you to jump into Invincible Presents: Atom Eve, where you will play as one of the most powerful superheroes in the Invincible universe and will need to unravel a mystery while also dealing with the challenges of everyday life.

TerraTech is an open-world sandbox adventure and vehicular combat game that puts its focus on design, crafting and discovery, making it perfect for those with a big imagination.

Last by certainly not least, Predator: Hunting Grounds rounds out the IGN Fan Fest 2025: Fall Edition bundle and lets you bring up to four friends with you to not only play as an elite military fireteam, but to also become the Predator yourself and hunt down those who dare oppose you. Oh, and it may just help you get hyped for Predator: Badlands! Read our review here.

Humble Bundle is part of IGN Entertainment, the division of Ziff Davis that includes GamesIndustry.biz, IGN, and MapGenie.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst, Instagram, and TikTok, and listen to his show, Talking Disney Magic.

October’s IGN First continues with even more gameplay from Crimson Desert. This time we’re taking a look at a main story quest, one which brings us face to face with one of the campaign’s most imposing foes: Golden Star, a colossal mechanical dragon.

So far, we’ve shown off a lot of combat. Crimson Desert is an open-world action game, of course, so naturally combat is key to the entire experience. You’ll see plenty more sword-slinging in the video above. But we also wanted to showcase a little more of the story and help contextualize where some of those… stranger elements come from.

But first, the basics. You play as Kliff, leader of the Greymanes free sword company. Not that he’s doing much leading right now. Crimson Desert’s prologue sees the Greymanes attacked by their sworn rivals, the Black Bears, and the assault leaves the company wounded and scattered (a bloody opening you can see in action here). Alone, Kliff sets out on a mission to seek out his lost allies, rebuild the Greymanes, and exact vengeance on the enemies who tore the company apart.

That mission takes Kliff on a journey across Pywel, a massive continent made up of numerous regions, including the titular Crimson Desert. As he explores, he learns of a number of powerful artefacts that grant immense power – a power that some are using to wreak destructive havoc rather than enact good deeds. Kliff takes it upon himself to get involved and finds himself falling down a rabbit hole that leads to a grander destiny.

In the quest we’re showcasing today, “Master of the Forgotten Lands”, Kliff has found himself wound up in the affairs of Marni, a scientific genius. Fans of Black Desert Online, developer Pearl Abyss’ previous game, may recognise the name Marni, and while Kliff’s new acquaintance is not the same character, they are somewhat mirror images of each other – both incredibly intelligent scientists who make the impossible possible via unorthodox methods. In Marni’s secret cliff base, you can see one of the origin points of Crimson Desert’s steampunk aesthetic. His array of strange devices suggest he’s much more advanced than Pywel’s wider Medieval-like society.

This quest takes Kliff on a journey along the Great Ocean of Pywel’s coast, up Mount Benus, and into Marni’s Masterium, where an army of unexpected foes await. And then, at the castle’s summit, Kliff must hold his own against the colossal Golden Star. Will he succeed? You’ll have to watch our brand new gameplay video to find out.

Stick with IGN throughout this month for even more from Crimson Desert. Later this week we’ll be revealing how Pearl Abyss created Golden Star, taking you behind the scenes to see how sound, vision, and gameplay mechanics combine to create a striking boss battle.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s Executive Editor of Features.

Marvel’s Spider-Man set for Magic: The Gathering has finally swung into stores (after its recent prerelease), and the unique combination of comic book icons and fun new play designs is making it pretty popular so far.

So popular, in fact, that one rare card has already sold for $10,000 (and is even now getting listings for over $30,000) while others are also making a strong case for collectors themselves, tallying in the hundreds for market value.

If you’re looking to hunt any of these rare cards down, your best bet is picking up a Collector Booster set from Amazon right now, but be prepared to pay around $480 for just 12 packs.

Otherwise, buying cards standalone is perfectly legit as well, especially for some of the less pricey picks from the latest Universes Beyond set. For now, these are the most expensive Spidey cards to look out for when cracking packs, courtesy of data from our friends at TCGPlayer.

10. Cosmic Spider-Man (Extended Art)

Code Vein getting a sequel, as announced at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, was a pleasant surprise. The original was good! It was one of those games that necessarily didn’t blow people away, but was fun popcorn for action-RPG fans who like deep character creators, over-the-top plots, and far more weapons and customization choices than any person can reasonably keep track of. But good or not, loads of excellent games in this genre never resurface after their initial debut, so Bandai Namco being willing to return to its twist on vampires and take another crack at perfecting the pitch is some seriously good news. Sure, the developer has disavowed any plot connections to the original, which has some fans worried. But I just got 45 minutes of hands-off time with Code Vein 2, and came out feeling confident that direct sequel or no, this follow-up feels like a far more fully realized vision of the fast-paced, flashy action RPG that Code Vein 1 was always striving to be.

Dress to Impress

I did get a very, very brief stint of hands-on time with Code Vein 2, in that Bandai Namco let me mess around in the c haracter creator before they took over. No huge surprises here, but if you liked the robustness of Code Vein 1’s character creator and can spend hours tweaking eyebrow shapes, I’ve got good news for you. You can choose from preset designs, of course, for folks who don’t want to sit on this screen all day, but you can also adjust minute details like teeth and ear shapes if that’s more your bag. I had a lot of fun picking out a really big, silly hat for my character to wear. One of my favorite elements of the creator is the ability to select an outfit, and then turn on and off certain pieces of it. Love a cute dress but hate the weird garter it makes you wear with it? Just turn it off!

Once I had settled on a cute hat and hairstyle, I handed the controller back over to the devs, and sat back to watch what they had to show me. The mission they elected to demonstrate was one where the player is sent off with a partner (a buddy) named Josée to restore power to a city area. They selected the quest area from a large overworld map and traveled there instantly, though they arrived not in a closed dungeon but in a large, lovely, ruined city with multiple dungeons available to them just by running (or driving a motorcycle) around. I got to watch some gameplay both from an optional dungeon near where we landed, and from the actual objective dungeon itself, a substation where the hero might be able to get the city’s power running again.

Define “Open”

One big question I had going into this preview was whether Code Vein 2 was open world, or open zone, or something else. After chatting with the team, asking about the issue several times, and watching the demo, I’m still not 100% sure how to answer this. The team says it’s not open world, but also kept saying Code Vein 2 had “one single overworld” and that traveling is “a bit more open” than in Code Vein 1. There does seem to be a lot of interconnectivity – I watched the he=ro zoom around the outdoor area on a motorcycle (with Josée adorably sitting cross-legged on the back) and covering some meaningful distance without running into artificial walls, but it’s possible there were some much further along. Director Hiroshi Yoshimura also told me that the overworld is “significantly” bigger, while the dungeon sizes are roughly the same as Code Vein 1. Make of all that what you will for now.

When I asked about the world, director Yoshimura repeatedly pointed out that the focus was less on exploration and more on the various character companions you’ll meet in Code Vein 2. You’ll be traveling to points in the world specifically for missions tied to these characters that will let you get to know them better. Much of Code Vein 2 does indeed seem to be centered around these buddies, or partners as they’re now called, even more so than the first game since the sequel won’t feature co-op.

Friend Circle

In my preview, I got a decent look at some of the partner dynamics between the main character and Josée. Josée’s got a big ol’ sword she swings around, slow but powerful, and at different points I saw her light it on fire for both close-up and long-range attacks. Without actually playing myself it’s hard to say whether or not the AI has improved from Code Vein 1 (where it could be a bit finicky or, at times, suicidal). Though, if you hate dealing with AI partners at all, they can assist you in Code Vein 2 via “assimilation” – effectively removing them from the battlefield, but giving yourself significant stat boosts and powerful new abilities to compensate. One other feature I did appreciate was the ability of partners to revive you when you fall in battle, and vice versa if your partners fall, wisely on a cooldown so it can’t be spammed for immortality.

From what I could see, Code Vein veterans will be perfectly happy with the sequel’s bursting larder of combat abilities and character customization. Code Vein 2 wants you to get really comfortable cycling through different types of skills, and boy, you better keep track of all those Proper Nouns. But here’s the jist: you’ll attack with your weapon to start building up bleeds on an enemy, then use your equipped auxiliary “Jail” weapon to gain a resource called Ichor. Ichor can then be spent on far more powerful abilities, such as “bequeathed formae”, special, powerful weapons like a huge bow and arrow or a powerful shield. Or, you can activate your Jails for huge finisher moves, like swinging an enormous scythe or briefly gaining big, vampiric wings.

I don’t mean to spend this whole preview lamenting that this was a hands-off demo, but man, I wish I could have gotten ahold of a controller just to muck around in the menus! Code Vein 2, like its predecessor, seems to benefit from just trying stuff out and seeing what’s fun and effective, and even with just the options I saw in the demo I feel like I could waste a lot of time wildly flailing around with different combinations until I was happy with my particular expression of it.

When This Baby Hits 88mph…

I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see anything from one of Code Vein 2’s most intriguing key features: time travel. It takes place in a present day where a horrible calamity has taken place in the past, and you and your companions are given the ability to travel back in time and change history. Though you’re strongly urged not to meddle with the past, obviously, you do anyway. I’m told you’re allowed to freely travel between past and present most of the time (occasionally you’ll be locked out of doing so), and things you do in the past can influence what’s going on in the present, even to the point of making it impossible to return to the present. But I wasn’t able to see any of that in action during my preview, so it’s hard for me to say how extensive or interesting this element actually is.

One other, somewhat fangirly note – hey, I love Go Shiina’s music? Shiina returns as composer for Code Vein 2 after working on Code Vein 1, and he’s also composed for my two favorite Tales games (don’t laugh at me for this): Tales of Legendia and Tales of Zestiria. His excellence was on full display both in my preview and in the story trailer I watched ahead of time, with soaring strings and chaotic vocals backing Code Vein 2’s intense battles. Sign me up for another banger Shiina soundtrack, thanks!

While Bandai Namco has confirmed that Code Vein 2 is a complete departure from the story and universe of the first game, it’s familiar enough in gameplay and style that I came away feeling pretty happy with the direction. I’ve seen fans calling it a “soft reboot” and I think that’s an accurate summation: it’s true to the philosophy of Code Vein without being beholden to its lore Wiki. Nothing I’ve seen has shocked me so far, but I don’t think it needs to: everything good about Code Vein 1 is here, just bigger, shinier, and slash-slash-slashier. Now just let me tinker around in the character creator for just a few more minutes…

A French retailer has all but confirmed Assassin’s Creed Shadows is indeed coming to Nintendo Switch 2, and it looks like it’ll be another controversial Game-Key Card game.

While rumors of the port have been swirling around ever since PEGI rated the adventure game for its console back in April, this is the first time we’ve seen a retailer share Assassin’s Creed Shadow box art, and news players will be able to “experience Assassin’s Creed Shadows in a whole new way with Nintendo Switch 2.”

As noted by the eagle-eyed members of the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, however, the key art used in the new retail listing also suggests the game will come as a Game-Key Card. This means that unlike, say, Cyberpunk 2077, which is fully contained on a 64GB cartridge on Switch 2, players will instead have to download part or all of a game before they can play.

It’ll likely divide fans who continue to debate the practice of publishers providing Game-Key Cards in Switch 2 boxed games instead of a physical cartridge. It’s proven to be a divisive practice among some, not least because while it allows collectors to have a game’s box on their shelf, they’re essentially useless unless your console is connected to the internet.

Nintendo recently launched a survey designed to poll the Switch 2 userbase on its thoughts surrounding digital and physical games, with questions designed to probe the reasons you might consider one option over another. Nintendo’s also interested in finding out if your attitude to digital downloads has shifted over time.

In September, a Ubisoft developer who worked on the Nintendo port of Star Wars Outlaws defended the use of Game-Key Cards, saying the real reason why the Switch 2 version of Star Wars Outlaws uses a Game-Key Card was due to the Switch 2’s data speeds, and how quickly the hardware can read information from its bespoke cartridges, versus games downloaded to the console’s internal memory.

Later in September, Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi implied that developers are choosing Game-Key Cards not necessarily from a cost perspective, but a performance one, as the format enables them to bring smoother-running games to the Switch 2.

If you missed Assassin’s Creed Shadows the first time around, now may be a good time to try it out. Released back in March, it returned 8/10 in the IGN review.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Ghost of Yotei gives its revenge-seeking protagonist Atsu a wide range of traditional Japanese weapons to wield, including bows, swords and spears. Last week, however, a Japanese-speaking user on X questioned whether it was realistic or even possible for Atsu to draw a very long sword from her back, prompting a flood of video comments from traditional Japanese martial arts practitioners.

In Ghost of Yotei, you’ll pick up the Odachi (literally ‘big sword’) in The Way of the Odachi quest (check out our walkthrough here). It is a useful addition to Atsu’s arsenal, especially when facing off against larger enemies (brutes). It allows her to block heavy attacks and then push back against the opponent, opening them up for a devastating slice.

As she already has two swords at her hip, Atsu opts to sheath the Odachi on her back, however X user ikazombie questioned how on earth you’d pull this off without dislocating something. Upon slowing the clip down, they realised that you could theoretically draw and sheath it from over your left shoulder, but seemed unconvinced about how this would be accomplished in real life.

大太刀、あんなデカい刀を背負ってどうやって抜刀すんねん関節外れるぞと思ってたんだけど、予想外のモーションで ” 理 論 上 は ” 問題なく抜刀/納刀できてたの笑う#GhostofYotei #ゴーストオブヨウテイ pic.twitter.com/j31VjGpgDk

— ジェット・リョー (@ikazombie) October 5, 2025

Japanese martial arts practitioners commented with videos. User Harima_mekkai (a member of the Tenshinryu school) decided to try out Atsu’s way of wearing and drawing an Odachi. She posted a video of herself successfully unsheathing a 1m long sword weighing 1.5kg from over her left shoulder. This shows that the drawing part of Atsu’s Odachi technique is actually doable, albeit it takes effort and training to pull it off that smoothly.

ゴーストオブヨウテイの大太刀の背負い抜きやってみました。

刃渡り三尺、重さ約1.5kgの刀です。#ゴーストオブヨウテイ pic.twitter.com/9j46eq80G7

— まーこ　11月29日生誕祭🎂 (@harima_mekkai) October 7, 2025

Another user by the name of Lornplum replied with a video of himself drawing and sheathing a back-mounted sword and described the way Atsu deals with the length by holding the blade as she draws it as a “brilliant touch of realism.”

刀身持って長さを稼ぐやり方としては絶妙なリアリティ
現実でやるならこういうかんじhttps://t.co/X3PqwBcMOq

— lornplum (@lornplum) October 5, 2025

Sucker Punch did get members of the Tenshinryu school to do motion capture for the sword fights and stances in Ghost of Yotei. Tenshinryu is a traditional Japanese martial art which dates from the 1600s and covers the art of a wide variety of weapons, including spears, swords and chain sickles. PlayStation Japan recently posted a side-by-side video of Ghost of Yotei footage and Tenshinryu members enacting the fight scene.

殺陣師に『Ghost of Yōtei』の戦闘シーンを実写再現してもらいました⚔️

演じてくれるのは、本作で殺陣のモーションキャプチャーにもご協力いただいた天心流兵法（@tenshinryu）の皆さま。

出演・天心流兵法
吉村 連彩
井出 柳雪
（監修・鍬海 政雲）#GhostofYotei #ゴーストオブヨウテイ pic.twitter.com/RnfU4pXa4N

— プレイステーション公式 (@PlayStation_jp) October 9, 2025

However, there is still a bit of video game coolness trumping realism here. The clips of real-life pros show them moving the sheath up and over their shoulder more (or even around their body) to make it easier to draw and sheath the weapon. This is especially apparent when sheathing the sword. It seems that the amount of movement in Atsu’s Odaichi sheathing was reduced, likely to make whipping out and holstering the weapon smoother and more responsive for players.

As Lornplum commented on Harima_Mekkai’s demonstration of drawing a Odaichi Atsu-style: “As you can see, with some effort anyone can manage to draw it, however sheathing it (like Atsu does) is pretty much impossible.”

While they look cool in games, it goes without saying that having a sword on your back in real life makes it much more awkward to access than if it was at your hip. Last year, a Link cosplayer found it impossible to unsheath their back-mounted sword Breath of the Wild-style. However, they received a bit of unexpected advice from none other than Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, who explained that they made Link’s sword skills a little more realistic for Smash Bros. Ultimate by having him move the scabbard.

IGN’s Ghost of Yotei review returned an 8/10. We said: “A predictable but well-executed story takes you through Ghost of Yotei’s gorgeous landscapes and satisfying, fluid action – it may not be revolutionizing open world games, but it’s a great distillation of the samurai fantasy.”

Ready to master Ghost of Yotei? Check out our comprehensive guides, which cover everything from things to do first, best skills to unlock, advanced combat tips, getting the best early-game armor set, and uncovering every Altar of Reflection location. Our Walkthrough also provides essential tips and strategies for defeating every boss, and our secrets and easter eggs guide ensures you never miss another hidden reference again.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

A new Dissidia Final Fantasy game is on the way.

Dissidia Final Fantasy brings together the largest collection of Final Fantasy characters ever in a fighting game where players can choose their allegiance between good and evil. The first such game was released in 2008, and it returned a Great 8.9/10. From what we can tell from the new teaser site set up by publisher Square Enix, though, this is a “Team Boss Battle Arena” that will only be coming to iOS and Android mobile devices.

While Square Enix plans to tell us more on October 14, fans have already been scouring the mini-site, which one suggesting the silhouetted roster teaser image could include key Final Fantasy characters like Edward or Kain, Terra, Warrior of Light, Lightning, Tinoa, Cloud, and more, all “redesigned characters with modern outfits.”

We also can see five images of the game’s gorgeous environment art on the website, which we’ve embedded below for you:

Reaction is mixed. For instance, in a Reddit thread dedicated to the new game, one unimpressed player advised: “no one join. Let this game burn in the hell of EoS after one month.” Another thread called “Excited about new Dissidia news just to see it’s more mobile game nonsense” says: “Please Square even just a modern port of Duodecim so that I don’t have to see another live service slop you keep insisting just so you can shut down its servers again for the nth time.”

Not everyone’s so pessimistic, though — “if it is half as good as Dissidia Opera Omnia, I’m ready to open the wallet,” wrote this fan.

Whatever it is, we don’t have to wait long to hear more: Square Enix said we’ll find out more at 3am PT/6am ET on October 14 — you’ll be able to watch the reveal on YouTube.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

We’ve rounded up the best deals for Sunday, October 12, below, so don’t miss out on these limited-time offers.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers for $39.99

We’ve rounded up the best deals for Saturday, October 11, below, so don’t miss out on these limited-time offers.

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach for $49.99