Team Ninja will release a Ninja Gaiden 2 Black update in mid February to make “balance adjustments” and add “additional features.”
The update was announced on X/Twitter but little was said about what it includes specifically. Players have already replied to the post with features they’d like to see, including options to tweak camera movement as well as a more traditional new game plus option, but Team Ninja has only said it will address “feedback” received so far. No release date was announced.
“Based on the feedback received, we are preparing a patch aimed for release in mid February with some balance adjustments and additional features,” the studio said.
Ver. 1.0.6.0 Patch Released A patch for the Microsoft Store ver. to fix the issue where super-resolution couldn’t be selected has been released.
Ninja Gaiden 2 Black, which shadow dropped for players on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S last week, also received a smaller update in the form of patch version 1.0.6.0 today. As detailed on its website, it comes with two specific changes: a fix for an issue that removed DLSS and XeSS resolution options for copies bought through the Microsoft Store, and a fix for a “rare” problem that halted progress for players after defeating certain bosses.
The game was revealed alongside word that Team Ninja and PlatinumGames are both hard at work on Ninja Gaiden 4, which is set to launch in fall 2025. The remake of the second Ninja Gaiden game, meanwhile, is here now, and it’s already made quite an impression in the gaming space. We’ve enjoyed it, too, giving it an 8/10 in our review, where we called it a “definite and gorgeous improvement” over the Sigma 2 re-release and “an excellent action game all around.”
I found a lot of joy in Hello Kitty Island Adventure when I first started playing its closed beta for IGN’s guide, way back before it hit Apple Arcade in 2023. Getting to create my own little Sanrio character and run around a tropical island collecting bits and bobs to gift to my new animal friends was pretty relaxing and fun. But day by day, that motivation to complete all my quests, find missing friends, and unlock new regions started to wear off. At a certain point it felt like a chore to log in, spam friends with gifts until I hit obnoxious daily limits, and hope I’d be allowed to progress my friendship levels a little further. Sadly, it’s the same situation on Switch and PC a year and change later: this island is still just as large, colorful, and geographically diverse as it was on my iPad, but it’s as frustratingly gated, repetitive, and stale too.
Don’t get me wrong, there’s plenty to like about Hello Kitty. The crafting, for instance, feels simple and intuitive. There are many different things you can make, from a variety of food items to cute plush pals. But at the end of the day, the main purpose of crafting is to get better gifts for your island friends. The better your gifts, the quicker you’ll advance friendship. That means there is very little incentive to craft things outside of gift giving or unlocking the next step of the very light “story.”
Gifting is what makes the world go ‘round in Hello Kitty Island Adventure. Everything revolves around giving your island residents presents and receiving resources (which you’ll use to make better gifts) in exchange. Progression in the story is largely locked behind different Friendship levels, which can be a slog to get through unless you’re gifting your residents two- or three-heart items – but the catch is that you won’t even be able to craft those higher level items until you’ve hit certain Friendship levels. It feels like a carefully curated maze of roadblocks to keep you from progressing too far too fast.
Although discovering the best order to level your residents while trying to figure out each of their favorite three-star gifts can be a fun challenge, gifting eventually starts to feel more like a tedious chore. You can’t even deliver multiple of the same gift at once to hurry up the process. And since gifting whatever earns you the most Friendship points is the only correct option, there’s nothing creative or rewarding about it – it’s a thinly veiled spreadsheet color-coded in bright, bubblegum pink. Even the dialogue triggered by gifting remains largely the same from friend to friend, only varying depending on the “tier” of the item you give.
The characters are super cute, but talking to them each day feels fruitless.
The characters themselves are super cute, and are sure to spark some nostalgia for longtime Sanrio fans. They have a bit of spunk to them, with the odd moment of humor which livens up otherwise-dull dialogue interactions. Other than that, though, talking to the island residents each day feels fruitless. You don’t really get any new interactions with them as time goes on. You just have to keep plugging along giving gift after gift to unlock their quests if you hope to see anything new or different.
So if Friendship and gifting are simply the keys, surely the questing door they open is where more interesting or engaging experiences must be hidden… right? Unfortunately, all that awaits you is even more flavors of busy work. From quests unlocked by reaching new levels of Friendship, to the story quests which reveal the “mystery” of the island, these objectives are another never-ending list of to-dos, with very little variety in the simple puzzles, object fetching, crafting, and more they ask of you.
That means quest tasks get repetitive fast, and I had very little motivation to complete them outside of unlocking more of the story (which itself is full of dialogue that often falls flat) because rewards felt either minimal or inconsequential. We’re talking about a crafting material here, a “spooky” furniture item there – nothing that changed anything about the way the next task would unfold.
That’s because furniture and decorating are just as underwhelming as the crafting and collecting that precede them. You can decorate your own island home, plus the other homes you unlock to attract new Visitors, using the friendship and quest rewards. If you’re lucky, you might find something in a random chest hidden around the island. It’s a while, though, before you’re able to craft your own furniture.
Once you’ve unlocked some variety, the options are… okay. While you could mix and match, the decor isn’t very versatile, leaving little room to get creative and design your own style outside of the “themes” each furniture set comes in because they just don’t play well together. What am I supposed to do with a Hello Kitty bookcase, a Spooky Candelabra, and a Pirate chair? I can’t make my house look like a bookstore, or a cafe, or even redecorate for an upcoming holiday with such limited options. Heck, you can’t even rotate furniture at quarter turns or place objects on tables! Overall, unless you like decorating your houses in full-on Kawaii styles, you’re out of luck.
One of the areas where Hello Kitty Island Adventure’s customization is more successful is its character creator. I love that you get to build your own little Sanrio character, rather than the Animal Crossing approach of you being the only human on an island full of sentient, talking creatures. There’s a nice variety of different animals to choose from, including birds, bunnies, and even sheep (though I am bewildered that it doesn’t have frogs as an option). As you play more and level up your Friendship, you unlock even more “avatar” color options to choose from.
A lack of interesting hooks is why my motivation started to wane.
Tuxedosam has some cute clothes available to purchase at his island shop, and you’ll get the odd outfit from a chest or quest. However, much like the decor, there isn’t enough variety to inspire my creativity or make me want to dress up every day (or even very often) like I usually enjoy doing in games like this. I found one outfit I kind of liked and it became my “uniform.”
This lack of interesting hooks is a big reason why my motivation to continue playing started to wane once I reached a certain point. Sure, there are lots of things to collect in Hello Kitty Island Adventure, including furniture, clothes, critters, fish, and more, but there is very little incentive to do so other than simply for the sake of keeping you busy.
There is at least the Nature Preserve to fill up with critters, as well as the Fwishing Well to give fish to, both of which would normally satisfy someone like me who enjoys “catching ‘em all” and hitting collection goals. But, once again, the rewards for adding these places are so minimal they might as well be nonexistent. You’re telling me that for donating all the critters that can be found in the bog area of the island I get… 10 mushrooms? I could gather those myself in a single day!
It does help that the designs for the critters themselves are unbearably adorable, branching off beyond bugs to also include frogs, chickens, and even turtles. But that’s not enough to change the fact that bug catching itself is overly simplistic, and doesn’t offer much to make certain bugs more of a challenge than others besides having them vanish quicker. Of course, you can enlist Kerropi’s help to get a buff that makes the bugs stick around longer – but, as you might have guessed, this too is locked behind their Friendship level.
In comparison, I really like the fishing minigame, which puts a small spin on the typical “keep the fish in the colored bar” mechanic by turning the bar on its side and testing your reaction time to keep an arrow balanced in the center. However, there isn’t much more to fishing beyond this. There are no upgrades to get and no fishing collection challenges that I could find, other than hitting certain milestones by giving gifts… sorry, I mean making donations to the Fwishing Well. That’s a shame, because the designs of the fish are really cute, colorful, and match the unique vibe of the regions they are found in perfectly.
At this point, you’ll probably be making comparisons to another cozy tropical island game. Allow me to be the bearer of bad news: No, Hello Kitty Island Adventure is not really comparable to Animal Crossing: New Horizons. While these two games might seem very similar on the surface (you are stuck on an island with some cute animal companions, tasked with sprucing the place up), they couldn’t be more different once you actually jump in.
Animal Crossing is all about collecting and crafting as you shape your own personal dream island, essentially a sandbox decorating game full of fun little guys who live alongside you. Hello Kitty, on the other hand, is all about transforming an abandoned island amusement park into the best (read, predetermined) version of itself along a linear path. The lack of customization for not only the island itself, but also your own house and visitor’s houses, means it feels less like your dream island, and more like a dream of Hello Kitty’s that you’re just visiting.
That makes it feel like Hello Kitty Island Adventure is asking nothing of me except for my time. While a game coming to more platforms is never a bad thing on its own, I fear this one was better off played on a phone – something to open up and fill the dull moments on long commutes or in waiting rooms. Despite the disdain mobile games often unjustly draw, there is no shame in wanting something that serves as a casual distraction for short spurts at a time. (That isn’t even to touch on the fact that many mobile games are so much more than that.) But even in that context, this isn’t one I want to spend my spare time on, and it makes me sad to think it could be what some people now think all cozy mobile games are: colorful, cutesy, and totally mindless.
Sony has issued an update on the classic PlayStation, PS2, PS3, and PS4 limited-time console themes for PS5, as well as the prospect of more themes coming to the console.
In a tweet, Sony confirmed that the much-loved classic themes leave tomorrow, January 31, 2025. However, it also confirmed that they will return at some point, which is certainly good news for PS5 users who’ve enjoyed those nostalgia-fueled boot-up sounds whenever they turn their consoles on.
“Thank you for the fantastic response to the classic PlayStation, PS2, PS3, and PS4 limited-time console themes, which will be leaving tomorrow,” Sony said. “Due to the positive response on these 4 themes, we’re doing some work behind the scenes to bring these special designs back in the months ahead.”
Your PS5 now has themes that use imagery and sound from previous PlayStation consoles! pic.twitter.com/5UAwEplcwX
That’s the good news. Now for the bad news. In a follow-up tweet, Sony said it has no plans to release more themes in the future. Here’s the statement:
“While there aren’t plans to create additional themes in the future, we’re excited to keep celebrating legacy PlayStation hardware with you all.”
Fans were quick to express their disappointment at the news. Sony has yet to add themes to the PS5 despite it being a feature of previous consoles, and based on this statement, it’s not happening at lease with this console generation.
The nostalgia themes let PS5 users style their home screen and menus after the PSOne, PS2, PS3, and PS4 in celebration of the 30th anniversary of PlayStation on December 3, 2024. The PSOne theme adds the classic console to the home screen background, the PS2 theme adds its menu shapes, the PS3 theme adds its wave background, and the PS4 theme similarly adds the wave patterns seen in the background of the previous generation of PlayStation. All themes also add each console’s sound effects.
Image credit: Sony Interactive Entertainment.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
General manager Gary McKay said the studio is “taking this opportunity between full development cycles to reimagine how we work.”
“Given this stage of development, we don’t require support from the full studio,” McKay continued. “We have incredible talent here at BioWare, and so we have worked diligently over the past few months to match many of our colleagues with other teams at EA that had open roles that were a strong fit.”
IGN understands that EA has already placed an unknown number of developers from BioWare into other, equivalent roles within the company. But a smaller number of Dragon Age team members are also seeing their roles terminated, and are being offered time to apply to other roles within the company if they so choose.
Following the announcement, a number of BioWare developers took to social media to say they were now leaving the studio. Editor Karin West-Weekes, narrative designer and lead writer on Dragon Age: The Veilguard Trick Weekes, and editor Ryan Cormier all said they were looking for work, with producer Jen Cheverie and senior systems designer Michelle Flamm also confirming their exit.
IGN asked EA for specifics on how many individuals at BioWare were being impacted by this latest change, how many face potential layoffs, and how many remain at the studio, but EA’s response was vague:
“The studio’s priority was Dragon Age. During this time there were people continuing to build the vision for the next Mass Effect. Now that The Veilguard has shipped, the studio’s full focus is Mass Effect.
“While we’re not sharing numbers, the studio has the right number of people in the right roles to work on Mass Effect at this stage of development.”
BioWare’s work on Dragon Age: The Veilguard was brought to an end last week with what sounded like its last major update.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard was the first new game in the fantasy RPG series in 10 years, but it came and went not with a bang but a whimper. Amid the launch BioWare confirmed Dragon Age: The Veilguard wouldn’t get any post-launch DLC, shocking fans who had hoped for expansions as previous Dragon Age games had received.
As for Mass Effect, EA said a “core team” at BioWare is developing the next Mass Effect game under the leadership of veterans from the original trilogy, including Mike Gamble, Preston Watamaniuk, Derek Watts, Parrish Ley, and others.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Pokémon Trading Card Game Pocket has today received its next major update and first full set since launch as the Pokémon Diamond and Pearl-themed Space Time Smackdown expansion is now available.
This set, which comes in two booster packs themed after Dialga and Palkia, includes a total of 207 cards and is therefore significantly smaller than Genetic Apex’s 286. That being said, 52 of these are the alternate art, Star and Crown rarity cards, and as Genetic Apex had 60 of these, there is a higher percentage of rare pieces to collect.
Space Time Smackdown’s official card count therefore comes to 155, as alternate arts aren’t included in the overall collection number. Included in this count are 10 ex Pokémon: Yanmega, Infernape, Palkia, Pacharisu, Mismagius, Gallade, Weavile, Darkrai, Dialga, and Lickilicky.
Every Pokémon type therefore has a new ex Pokémon with the exception of Dragon, and the Darkness type gained two.
Space Time Smackdown’s biggest addition is perhaps in the introduction of Pokémon Tool cards, however. These are items which can be attached to the active Pokémon to give it extra benefits in battle, and three have arrived in the new set.
These include Giant Cape, which gives the Pokémon an extra 20 Hit Points; the Rocky Helmet, which does 20 HP to the opponent’s Pokémon whenever the active trainer takes damage; and the Lum Berry, which removes conditions such as Poison from the Pokémon.
Battles
As is the case with every new set release, the addition of Space Time Smackdown has brought new Solo Battles to Pokémon TCG Pocket. Eight new battles are available in the Intermediate tier, nine are available in the Advanced tier, and eight are available in the Expert tier, though none have been added to the simplest Beginner tier.
These focus on Pokémon introduced in the set such as Dialga ex and Palkia ex but also the likes of Togekiss, Bastiodon, Glacion, Magmortar, Magnezone, Rampardos, Tortrerra, and more.
As for multiplayer, it’s too early to tell exactly what will shake up the meta but many of the Space Time Smackdown cards have great potential to. Infernape ex, for example, can do 140 damage for just two Fire Energy, and while it discards both of these on impact, this is still an incredibly powerful and quick move that can one hit knock out all but the strongest ex Pokémon.
Palkia ex also poses a threat given its resemblance to Mewtwo ex. It similarly does 150 damage for four Energy, though also does 20 damage to each benched Pokémon at the cost of losing 3 total Energy. Weavile ex, meanwhile, has a single one Energy attack that does 30 damage or 70 if the defending Pokémon has damage. Perhaps the biggest boost will come to Steel type decks though, as Dialga ex and a wealth of other cards join the likes of Melmetal and Bisharp which are already available.
Missions and Rewards
Myriad new missions have joined Pokémon TCG Pocket alongside Space Time Smackdown too, though these are relatively similar in structure to what players are used to. Collecting signature cards will unlock rental decks as usual, for example, while piecing together the entire set slowly but surely will unlock Dialga and Palkia icons.
Museum missions have returned too, including two for collecting each 1 Star card and another two for collecting each full art 2 Star card. The final secret mission is called Champion of the Sinnoh Region and is awarded for collecting the full art Cynthia card alongside 1 Star cards of her four key Pokémon: Gastrodon, Lucario, Spiritomb, and Garchomp.
Missions, as usual, award Pack Hourglasses, Wonder Hourglasses, Emblem Tickets for the shop, and more, though notably none of the controversial Trading Tokens. Developer Creatures Inc. did give players a free 500 of these to celebrate trading’s addition to the game though.
Rewards can be used to unlock some new items in the shop too, including Dialga and Palkia album covers and the Lovely Hearts backdrop. A new Poké Gold bundle has replaced the previous Gardevoir one too, this time focusing on Cynthia.
Trading
Creatures Inc. still hasn’t commented on the controversial trading update since its release yesterday, with its social media accounts and the game itself only really focusing on Space Time Smackdown. The aforementioned “Trade Feature Celebration Gift” did arrive with 500 Trade Tokens and 120 Trade Hourglasses (the former of which is enough to trade a single ex Pokémon), but the developer has otherwise remained quiet on fan complaints.
Trade Tokens are at the centre of the controversy, as these are required for trading any card at 3 Diamonds or higher. 120 Trade Tokens are required to trade a 3 Diamond card, 400 are required to trade a 1 Star card, and 500 are required to trade a 4 Diamond card, meaning an ex Pokémon.
They can only be obtained by essentially selling cards. Players can delete from their collection a 3 Diamond card for 25 Trade Tokens, a 1 Star card for 100, a 4 Diamond card for 125, a 2 Star card for 300, a 3 Star immersive card for 300, and a Crown gold card for 1500. Cards of lower rarities are worthless, though require no Trade Tokens to trade either.
This means players must sell, for example, five ex Pokémon before they can trade one ex Pokémon, or five 1 Star card (the rarest available to trade) before they can trade one 1 Star card. What’s more, selling one Crown rarity card, which are the rarest in the game and may not be obtained even after months of playing, will only net players enough tokens to trade three ex Pokémon.
Fans have called it “hilariously toxic” and a “monumental failure,” and lamented that a “safe way for the community to connect more” was sacrificed for something “so laborious.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
The developer of the Path of Exile games has apologized to fans of the first game after putting a new update on hold until a crucial update for Path of Exile 2 is out the door.
Grinding Gear Games had promised fans that it would continue to update action RPG Path of Exile 1, which has been running for over 10 years now, through the release of Path of Exile 2 in early access and beyond.
However, Path of Exile 1’s 3.26 update, which was originally planned for release late October before the Path of Exile 2 launch, then planned for mid-February this year, is now delayed further, with all hands on deck sorting out Path of Exile 2’s problems. Path of Exile 1’s last league release was Settlers of Kalguur in July 2024.
In a video message, Path of Exile 2 game director and GGG co-founder Jonathan Rogers explained that the studio brought the Path of Exile 1 team across to help get Path of Exile 2’s endgame into shape ahead of the December launch, but thought that they would be able to return to get 3.26 ready for its mid-February launch.
It turned out that was impossible, given the myriad problems Path of Exile 2 has. “We were fooling ourselves,” Rogers admitted. Not only was Path of Exile 2 itself delayed a few weeks, but it suffered from crashes and balance problems that needed to be addressed immediately.
“How could I justify taking some of the most experienced developers we have off PoE2 when it’s on fire?” Rogers said.
The upshot is the Path of Exile 1 team is still working on Path of Exile 2, and will continue until Path of Exile 2 0.2.0 has shipped and probably a couple of weeks after that. “Unfortunately, I just can’t promise a date right now,” Rogers added. Path of Exile 2 is currently at 0.1.1.
“I’m really sorry for how this went down,” he continued. “Honestly, I should have predicted the fact that taking the Path of Exile 1 team off Path of Exile 1 would lead to this outcome, and I probably should have resisted doing it. But at every stage I just kept thinking, we still have time, we still have time. And then we didn’t have time any more.
“We still have a lot to learn about how to run two games simultaneously. We were overconfident. We still need to work out how to structure our studio to make this possible. But we do have a solid plan for what we want to do with 3.26.”
The long wait for the Path of Exile 2 early access launch finally came to an end when it released on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S on December 6, 2024. It saw massive success, securing its place as the 15th most-played game Steam game ever.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Assetto Corsa Evo is easily one of the most exciting racing games of 2025. The huge open-world map of German countryside surrounding the famous Nürburgring Nordschleife that developer Kunos Simulazioni is currently crafting for it should make it one of the biggest in the genre. Literally, that is. The map is going to be 1,600 square kilometres in size. That’s about 15 Forza Horizon 5s. However, we’ll need to be patient for that, as the first chunk of it isn’t set to arrive in Evo’s evolving early access version until mid-year, and then grow from there. For now, at least, we get five tracks and 20 cars to noodle around in. The good news is that the driving feel is unsurprisingly fabulous, right out of the gate. At this point, however, that’s… essentially it. It’s hard to argue Evo makes a strong case as an immediately crucial purchase in this early state if you’re not especially keen on taking some warm-up laps before the main event kicks off.
It’d be unfair to haul Assetto Corsa Evo over the coals too severely for its current technical blemishes. Yes, I’ve had it hitch up and drop frames occasionally and, yes, it’s crashed or frozen on me several times following its launch – although I’ve certainly had lengthy stints on-track where it’s been entirely cooperative on my current high-powered PC setup (RTX 4080, Intel Core Ultra 9 185H). Overall, it’s admittedly not running on all cylinders right now, but that’s the nature of ‘Early Access’ as a concept. We obviously need to be prepared for it to be a little more Alpha Romeo than Alfa Romeo at this point.
And while five circuits and 20 available cars is modest, it does make for a decent amount of combinations to experiment with – and that’s without factoring in the adjustable wet weather options that obviously have very real effects on handling. If you think you’ll be happy to simply hotlap solo around the initial tracks (which include Mount Panorama, Brands Hatch, Imola, Laguna Seca, and Suzuka), Evo’s early access version may keep you busy for at least a few days. It’s certainly worth remembering the early access program for Evo’s immediate predecessor, Assetto Corsa Competizione, launched with just a single car and a single track – the Lamborghini Huracan GT3 race car and the Nürburgring GP circuit. By comparison, Evo’s launch is at least a considerably chunkier one.
The first salvo of circuits includes a track from the US, Japan, the UK, continental Europe, and Australia.
Moreover, it’s a well-curated one. Notice, for instance, the first salvo of circuits includes a track from the US, Japan, the UK, continental Europe, and Australia. That’s a thoughtful mix that I don’t doubt was deliberate. Similarly, the short but sweet car list includes a spectrum of vehicles, ranging from front-wheel drive hatches to purpose-built race models. The feel of the cars I’ve tested so far has been top notch. I won’t pretend to be able to gauge the accuracy of the tyre model with the kind of insight you might glean from a professional racing driver, because I’m not one; I’m a car nerd journalist with a handful of trackdays in my past that I’m skeptical I’ll ever be able to afford to repeat. What I can say is the sensation of grip is excellent and I was instantly confident to push hard across the top of the mountain at Bathurst. Things always get a little murky when I’m comparing experiences gleaned many years ago using totally different racing setups (I personally migrated from a Thrustmaster TS-XW racing wheel to a direct drive Moza R12 some years ago), but Evo already seems to have nailed that feeling of being able to overdrive a car but still snap it back under control, because the grip will return as long as you wrestle it back into the window. That always suits me, as I’m a bit more of a butcher than a surgeon when it comes to racing sims these days. Forget the whole world turning into ice the second you slip into a slide; Evo is wonderfully intuitive.
Compared to ACC, race cars also feel a little less punishingly stiff and cling to the track more tenaciously, even while clattering over bumps or kerbs. In ACC, I generally felt like I was going as fast as I could without losing control. In Evo, I’ve found I feel like I could probably push faster. If I had the skill, that is.
There’s also a really great feeling of balance, especially as cars squirm under braking, and the feel of the front end becoming lighter and heavier based on elevation changes is nice and pronounced.
So yes, in the tradition of the original Assetto Corsa and ACC before it, Evo is already a genuinely terrific driving experience. But does that make this first taste a must-play?
Right now, no. Not really. If you get it today you’re essentially just pre-ordering the final game at a slightly discounted price. That alone could be reason enough for you to grab it, and it’s a totally fair argument. However, other than confirming it feels good, there’s just not really much more joy to extract from Evo for the time being. As a man who peeled countless demo discs from the front of magazines back in ’90s, I’ve certainly got nothing against what’s essentially a hefty demo, but it’s not one I really want to keep playing anymore after seeing all of its tracks. But I’ll definitely be back for more when it’s available and some of the more annoying aspects have been resolved.
Simply put, the racing itself just isn’t that robust at the moment, and it’s tedious being punted off track by computer-controlled opponents who simply try to drive through you around corners. I don’t know what the answer is, but the AI certainly still needs work. There have definitely been times when other cars seemed to be deliberately giving me racing room, and others where they’ve made unscripted mistakes. That’s good, because it creates the illusion they’re not just machines. It’s also true that getting speared into from behind is an unfortunate reality in real racing. Incidents happen, sure. But it’d be something that would happen to you quite irregularly in reality, whereas it’s far too common in Evo for racing to remain fun. If I wanted to get rear-ended for kicks, I’d brake-check Lance Stroll in a drive-thru.
If I wanted to get rear-ended for kicks, I’d brake-check Lance Stroll in a drive-thru.
That’s a pretty big problem when these races are largely all Evo offers in its current condition. There were supposed to be some other modes available, based on what was announced when the early access version launched, but ever since I started playing Evo has been stuck in ‘Offline’ mode. Evo’s Driving Academy mode and Special Events are currently inaccessible to me. All I can do is generate custom practice or race sessions. Tying functionality to an always-online caveat is very concerning, and I cannot fathom why it’s necessary for single-player content. Fortunately, there’s still plenty of time for Kunos to tweak that on the road map ahead.
During today’s Q2 investors call, Microsoft CEO Satya Nadella revealed that Indiana Jones and The Great Circle has reached 4 million players.
In an otherwise ho-hum earnings report for its gaming division, a bright spot appears to be MachineGames’ newest release which has garnered critical acclaim, multiple awards, and now millions of players. While sales numbers are hard to pin down given its availability on Xbox Game Pass, 4 million is still an impressive number of players considering not many people knew exactly what to expect in a modern, AAA Indiana Jones game.
We loved it ourselves, calling it an “irrestistable and immersive global treasure hunt,” along with nominations for Game of the Year and Best Xbox game. You can read our full review here.
Elsewhere in Xbox land, Microsoft confirmed that Game Pass PC grew 30% last quarter and set a new quarterly revenue record. On the cloud gaming side, 140 million hours of streaming has been logged. All this helped Xbox content and service revenue grow 2%.
There’s still work to be done however. While the Game Pass figures were stronger than expected, overall gaming revenue declined 7% and Xbox hardware revenue declined 29%.
What does this all mean? Well, Microsoft still has ground to make up in the console and hardware space, but its continued investment into Game Pass appears to be paying off. Game Pass growth on PC makes sense given Xbox had a slate of big game releases last quarter that includes Indiana Jones but also Call of Duty: Black Ops 6 and Microsoft Flight Simulator. All of which were available on Game Pass day one for Ultimate subscribers.
If you ask players what gets them excited about the Monster Hunter series, some will surely bring up making new equipment utilizing materials gathered on their hunts. Just about every hunter has felt the joy of completing a head-to-toe armor set with a matching weapon after hunting the same monster again and again.
Equipment in the Monster Hunter series has followed a certain concept ever since its earliest games: Beat the monsters and take on their power through equipment crafted from their remains. Players rely on their own strength to slay powerful monsters, then make those monsters’ abilities their own to grow even stronger.
In an interview with IGN, Monster Hunter Wilds Executive Director and Art Director Kaname Fujioka explains the concept behind Monster Hunter’s equipment. “While the range of our designs has now grown broader, we used to be very conscious of the kind of idea that if you’re wearing Rathalos’ equipment, you’ll look like Rathalos.” This new title sees new monsters as well, each bringing its own colorful equipment. For example, Rompopolo, a monster whose design is meant to evoke a mad scientist, has a unique piece of head armor that looks like a plague doctor’s mask. You can see the armor set in the hunt video below.
But among all of these distinctive sets of monster equipment, the developers say they want players to pay special attention to the various pieces of starting equipment that your hunter begins the game wearing.
“I designed the starting weapons for all 14 weapon types from scratch,” says Fujioka. “That’s the first time I’ve done this, as far as I can remember. Until now, players would begin the game as a new hunter, and so they would tend to start with truly primitive and simple weapons. But as the protagonist is a chosen hunter in this game, it actually wouldn’t feel right for them to be carrying a plain weapon. I wanted to make it feel like you’re a bit of a star, even when you’re only carrying starting equipment.”
Monster Hunter Wilds Director Yuya Tokuda adds, “Incidentally, weapon designs in Monster Hunter: World generally retained a certain form, but they featured a customized appearance based on which monster materials were used. However, in Wilds, each weapon has its own unique design.”
These starting weapons are designed in order to reflect the story that you are an experienced hunter, selected to investigate the Forbidden Lands. Tokuda adds that the starting armor is also full of attention to detail on the part of the creators so that it matches the story.
“The starting armor for this game is called the Hope series,” he says. “The design looks incredibly cool, to the point where I think you could even use it until the very end and it wouldn’t feel out of place.”
With its deep emerald green base color, the Hope set turns into an outfit with a hooded long coat once completed. Fujioka explains that constructing the set wasn’t simple, with each part standing alone while also coming together to create a full ensemble.
“We’ve actually given more attention to the Hope series than any other equipment in this game,” he says. “Previous games in the series have had separate upper-body and lower-body armor, and we couldn’t actually depict them coming together to create something like a coat. We just had to make each piece its own part due to gameplay design and how the game managed it, but I wanted to see if we could make a single flowing hooded coat. We made that happen in this game by investing a lot of in-game resources into it. Of course, players will find lots of different pieces of equipment as they proceed through the game, and we do also want them to keep trying out one new weapon after the next. That’s why we attempted to make the Hope series one that doesn’t stand out too much but still has a sense of elegant coolness.”
It’s quite a luxury to be able to start a game with equipment that creators have put so much effort and thought into. These 14 starting weapons and the Hope series have been carefully made to look like the kind of equipment that an impressive star hunter would wear. We’re excited to take a close look at all their detail in the finished game.
Monster Hunter Wilds is scheduled for release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S and PC on February 28. Don’t miss all the other exclusive Monster Hunter Wilds content found in January’s IGN First.
It’s well known that fans weren’t particularly enthused about the weapon designs in Monster Hunter: World, leading them to wonder if Monster Hunter Wilds will follow suit or not. Though we’ve seen a handful of weapons from Wilds, we haven’t seen quite enough to make a determinative verdict on our own about their general design philosophy–but now, Monster Hunter Wilds Director Yuya Tokuda has cleared up this question.
When speaking about the Hope series armor and weapons, Tokuda told us: “Incidentally, weapon designs in Monster Hunter: World generally retained a certain form, but they featured a customized appearance based on which monster materials were used. However, in Wilds, each weapon has its own unique design.”
The direct comparison to how weapon designs were in Monster Hunter: World answers the question clearly–we don’t have to worry about weapons looking too similar to each other in Monster Hunter Wilds. And though some weapons in Monster Hunter: World eventually upgraded to the point of being entirely unique, many lines weren’t so lucky. You can see in the image below just how similar the final aqua line Sword and Shield is to the final Pukei-Pukei sword and shield, and how similar the final bone line long sword is to the final Jyuratodus long sword, for example. These were the most upgraded versions of these weapons when Monster Hunter: World first released.
Compare those to the designs we’ve seen in Monster Hunter Wilds so far in the slideshow below. All are, without a doubt, entirely unique.
