Helldivers 3 is not in any plan developer Arrowhead has right now, the studio’s CEO has confirmed. Instead, it wants Helldivers 2 to keep going for years and years, like veteran MMO RuneScape.
Jagex’s fantasy MMO RuneScape began life as a browser game an incredible 25 years ago. It’s had over 300 million accounts since, and is still going strong today.
So, rather than follow Helldivers 2 with Helldivers 3, as the video game industry would perhaps expect, Arrowhead wants to follow RuneScape’s lead.
As spotted by GamesRadar, Arrowhead CEO Shams Jorjani clarified the studio’s plans in a post on Discord. “We have no plans for HD3,” he said, “just HD2 for as long as it can go. Think RuneScape.”
His latest comment is consistent with prior statements on the studio’s plans. Jorjani has in the past said Arrowhead hopes to build upon Helldivers 2 to such an extent that it basically becomes a Helldivers 3, but that was clearly figuratively speaking.
“Myself and the directors agree we would love this to be a forever game,” Jorjani added in another Discord post. “Assuming we get a grip on the performance and dev practices we can keep expanding it for a long time. PlayStation is super supportive.”
“And it’s almost like, how do we stay true to the Helldivers 2 fantasy, challenging enough that we keep making amazing new features and new systems and all that while we stay true to who we are?” he continued. “And I think it’s something that is so motivating for the years to come.
“The more we figure out how to thrive in a live environment, and we still have a way to go to figure out a lot of things around that, the more we can let creativity loose on new systems that we would’ve never thought about a year ago when we released. I’ve worked on live games before and it’s where you feel like you have something you can figure out: what if I would do this cool thing I’ve seen in other games and adapt it to our sauce, that still makes it true to ourselves? I’m looking forward to this moment.”
So, while Helldivers 3 isn’t happening, more Helldivers stuff very much is. In January, Sony announced that Helldivers 2 was being adapted into a film as part of a collaboration between Sony Productions and Sony Pictures. No other details were offered.
Helldivers 2 is the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game of all time with an incredible 12 million copies sold in just 12 weeks. Check out IGN’s review of Helldivers 2 on Xbox Series X and S to see what we think of the game as it is today.
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.
The now-officially-announced NAMMO is a soulslike boss rush game that, according to developer Guild Studio, is “set during Korea’s Silla Dynasty, which spanned from 57 BC to AD 935 (nearly a millennium). It combines a dark fantasy world with a Soulslike boss-rush experience.”
NAMMO promises “tight 2D combat with brutal, mythology-inspired bosses and precision parries” in which you’ll “use ‘the Eye of Spirit’ to reveal hidden paths, boss weaknesses, and alternate storylines.” And it’s all rendered in handcrafted pixel art. Check out the official announcement trailer below.
The story is described as follows: “Born in an ancient Korean kingdom, Nammo grew up under the warm and loving care of Junjeong, who was like a sister to her. The two became beloved by their people, and blossomed into flower-like beauties. But fate twisted cruelly beneath the moonlight. With nothing but sorrow in her eyes, Junjeong struck, slashing Nammo’s eyes and leaving her blind. After waking up in an unfamiliar cave, Nammo starts on a journey to uncover the truth behind Junjeong’s betrayal.”
You can wishlist NAMMO on Steam if you’re interested.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
Borderlands 4 has been out for two weeks now, which means players have come to understand much about how Gearbox’s looter shooter works. But there’s one quest in particular that I keep seeing cause fans trouble — through no fault of their own.
Warning! Spoilers for Borderlands 4 follow:
The quest in question is called Vend of the Line, which IGN has a helpful walkthrough for if you’re wondering how it all works. In brief, it involves a vending machine that, eventually, lets you pick one from a hefty lineup of Legendary-tier weapons, all priced just $1. You only get to pick one weapon, and once you do, the machine shuts down permanently.
The problem is, players are inadvertently locking themselves out of the legendary item reward by immediately selling all the junk in their inventory out of habit when they interact with the vending machine at the end of the quest. For some reason, the game considers this a transaction and the vending machine shuts down, leaving players who’d soldiered through the quest’s many steps empty handed.
I started noticing players complaining about the quest about a week ago, when threads on subreddits, posts in Discords and on social media expressed frustration and confusion about the situation. “Possibly the dumbest move ever,” declared redditor iwasagummybear. “So, I just finished the legendary vending machine quest for anybody who knows that one, and at the end you get one shot to buy something from it, yes? So what do I do? We’ll, I immediately sell all the junk in my inventory, and since it considers that a transaction the machine shuts down and I get absolutely nothing for my efforts. Please have a good laugh at my expense.”
There are many, many more reports of exactly the same thing happening to other unsuspecting Borderlands 4 players.
For anyone playing Borderlands 4….. Don’t ABSOLUTELY DONT accidently sell your junk to the vending machine at the end of Vend of the Line…… Thank me later….
@GearboxOfficial BL4, Vend of the line.. Zane says you can only buy one item before the legendary vending machine shuts down forever…. however, it also shuts down forever if you sell an item!! Fix it Gearbox, give me the vending machine back 😭😭🤮
“PSA: Don’t press the ‘sell loot’ button on the legendary vending machine at the end of the Vend of the Line quest,” warned another player. “Doing so counts as your one use, and the machine will shut down, ending the quest. I definitely didn’t do that on instinct, and I absolutely did it for the sake of testing so that nobody will make a stupid mistake like that……..”
You can’t rollback saves in Borderlands 4, of course, so if you mess this one up there’s no going back. And making matters worse, Vend of the Line is a non-replayable mission. And, it’s worth noting that completing Vend of the Line in co-op will only allow one player to claim a legendary, and since the mission is non-replayable, the player who does not receive the weapon will be locked out of the quest entirely. Bummer!
Honestly, the “vend of the line” quest in @Borderlands#borderlands4 pissed me off so much, I had to take a break. Playing in coop, other person sells to vending machine, it closes for both of us. Can’t get a lego. Quest says you can only BUY once. All that work to get boned. Thx
@GearboxOfficial at least put a fucking warning pop up for players playing vend of the line in a coop session that the mission needs to be completed solo fucking insane that this needs to be said
The question is whether this is intended by Gearbox or a bug, and, if it’s the latter, whether it will be tweaked. Gearbox has said it’s keeping an eye on feedback so you’d like to think it’s aware of the situation with this quest in particular, and we know patches are on the way.
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.
Sequels are opportunities to either build upon a predecessor and push boundaries, or refine what was already great and deliver that again with a stronger focus. With Ghost of Yotei, developer Sucker Punch leaned heavily into the latter approach, and the result is more captivating open-world action and unbelievably striking visuals at every turn. It doesn’t try to revolutionize things, sticking pretty close to 2020’s Ghost of Tsushima in general, but I don’t necessarily mind when that means it can expand in aspects that matter and offer a tighter distillation of the samurai fantasy that was originally promised. Not many games in recent memory can hang their hat on having combat as fluid and satisfying as this, and it’s packed into a revenge tale that makes for a more human story.
Coming off of Tsushima, the novelty of imitating filmmaker Akira Kurosawa may have worn off a bit, but the cinematic stylings of his samurai classics still effectively seep into Ghost of Yotei’s look and vibe. Whether it be the cinematography of cutscenes, the standoff before a duel, or the letterboxed framing of riding horseback across the gorgeous fields of Ezo (which is modern-day Hokkaido, home of Mount Yotei), it had me mashing the screenshot button and frequently pulling up photo mode (conveniently mapped to the D-pad). We’ve seen technically impressive worlds across Sony’s other PS4 and PS5 games in recent years, but it’s the artistic flourishes and intentional environmental effects that elevate Ezo’s lush plains, snow-covered mountains, and vibrant forests – it’s a sort of biodiversity Tsushima didn’t entirely have.
The picturesque vistas and dense flower fields lend Yotei its own identity, but it’s the new lead character, Atsu, who gives the wandering samurai tale a more enticing edge as well. It’s a story far less concerned about the romanticized idea of the samurai and instead focuses on the lengths one would go to exact their justice. Tsushima’s protagonist, Jin, was just fine for the purpose of its story, yet he wasn’t a particularly interesting lead on his own. Moving to Atsu who’s fiery and brash gives Yotei the kind of personality it needs. Actor Erika Ishii lends their likeness and voice (if you play with English audio) to Atsu and brings something that’s more rough around the edges for a more believable character. She’s stubborn and has trouble seeing beyond bloodlust, sometimes frustratingly so, and the ways the world and people around her push back on her kept me curious enough to see things through.
All of this revolves around a fairly by-the-numbers revenge plot, where Atsu seeks to take down the Yotei Six led by an equally vengeful villain, Lord Saito. They’re a group of outlaw samurai who killed her family when she was young along their path to becoming the de facto leaders of Ezo by force. (If you played Assassin’s Creed Shadows from earlier this year, you may notice Yotei closely mirrors the story of Naoe, one of its two protagonists.) While they don’t have much screentime and aren’t really nuanced characters, they’re easy to hate, making vengeance pretty sweet. In its roughly 30-hour journey, a large majority of the story unfolds in predictable fashion, and gives you the runaround more often than I’d like. Multiple times events build up to a big moment, only for the target to conveniently escape in a cutscene without much of the plot moving forward or evolving.
It’s a story far less concerned about the romanticized idea of the samurai.
That’s not to say it doesn’t have its moments, however. A couple of clever twists in a middle chapter show signs of brilliance, and some bittersweet scenes throughout had me emotionally invested in ways I didn’t expect. Atsu has a few companions on her journey, like Oyuki who is one of the standouts and adds a little depth with her wisdom and contrasting perspective on the revenge motif. So is Atsu’s mom, who brings texture to Yotei’s themes of music and family being tied together, as you see through childhood flashbacks that flesh out their past. But when it came time for Atsu to square up against one of her targets, I couldn’t help but grin, sit forward for the fight, and sense that intensity of dealing a final blow. Although I wish it took more creative swings with its storytelling, it is a strong-enough vehicle to carry you through what it does best.
And what Ghost of Yotei does best is combat – very few open-world games compel me to clear out optional content across the map just for the sake of starting fights. Movement has an unmistakable fluidity, as does the flow of each attack, ability, and parry, yet each weapon carries a certain weight that makes landing hits and those impact frames so satisfying. Without a lock-on mechanic, encounters feel natural at the expense of frustrating mishaps with the targeting system. But because you’re given so many tools, being able to weave them into your rotation or use them at opportune times keeps each fight consistently exciting.
Whereas Jin had stances with his katana in Tsushima to counteract the different enemy types, Atsu carries multiple weapon-types of her own. She’s skilled with the sword, but relies on a chained sickle, spear, and dual-katana setup, as well as a hulking odachi blade for heavy units. This creates a rock-paper-scissors dynamic against enemies – with the right weapon, you can inflict more stagger or bypass some of their defensive techniques, letting you cut through them with greater efficiency. All of these weapons control distinctly, especially with the kusarigama being a highlight since it lets you break shields, swing it around for crowd control, and even assassinate enemies from a distance by yanking them towards you like Scorpion from Mortal Kombat. Weapon-switching is smooth and fast so it’s not as much of a pain as it may sound, and mastering the cadence of combat makes me feel (and Atsu look) like a badass.
The role of projectiles has also expanded with the advent of firearms during this time period (Yotei takes place X years after Tsushima). So, not only does Atsu not give a damn about honor, she also has no qualms about letting her chopper sing (well, musket or flintlock pistol). Sure, the musket takes forever to reload, but landing a shot comes with an emphatic punch that pierces through armored foes, and the flintlock pistol is handy for staggering or finishing off enemies at point blank; man does it make me miss Bloodborne. Then there’s smoke bombs and metsubushi dust to obscure enemy vision, and a flame attachment that temporarily sets your blades ablaze, all of which are effective in their own right. This is all to say that you have a lot to juggle and no shortage of options for overcoming Yotei’s challenges whether it be an entire camp’s battalion or a high-stakes one-on-one.
Few games in recent memory have combat as fluid and satisfying as this.
Stealth is still a prominent part of the mix, but largely relies on basic mechanics we’ve seen time and again in these kinds of action games. Tall grass and enemies with their backs conveniently turned and no vertical vision; we know the deal. I won’t deny that an aerial assassination or triple-kill chain feels great in the moment, though, and let me shout out the kusarigama ranged assassination one more time. Broadly speaking, there’s seemingly a lighter emphasis on stealth than we saw in Tsushima, and Yotei never really pushes you hard in that direction – if you get caught, then you just fight, like…oh no, I have to engage in combat, the best part of this game! What a shame! I found that teeing up as many stealth kills as possible before going loud to be the most enjoyable way to play, and it seems like Sucker Punch understood how to make that approach work well.
Yotei’s main questline does hit you with a handful of large-scale battles to drive a sense of scale, but feature plenty of duels are spread throughout its world, packaged as deadly boss fights where you’re chipping away at their stagger meter and health. Here, mastering the timing of parrying and dodging is of utmost importance, and even though they play out quite similarly, I still got a kick out of connecting on multiple parries in succession (lest I get one-tapped myself). Parrying and countering is one of the great joys in games, and Yotei delivers wonderfully – I see that blue glint, I lock in. So much so that I almost exclusively played with the Bounty Master armor equipped, which disables normal parries to slightly increase the perfect parry timing window. And it was worth the high-risk and high reward because nothing is cooler in this series than flawlessly deflecting an attack and slicing an enemy Bushido Blade-style. Standoffs are back, letting you go mano-a-mano to kill an enemy (or two or three) in a timing-based Iai sword swipe before going all-out on the rest of your foes; it’s another way Yotei (like Tsushima before it) adds a satisfying variety to combat.
It was smart for both entries in this series to do away with level-based experience points and relegating progression, relying more heavily on teaching us to improve our own skills and understanding of our toolset. Progress in Atsu’s skill trees is tied to finding shrines, many of which are optional, making its open-world activities more meaningful. Unlocking charms for genuinely effective perks, getting new armor sets that emphasize specific gameplay mechanics, collecting cosmetics, and improving weapon efficacy are mostly woven into sidequests, and thankfully they often don’t feel like throwaway objectives to check off of a list. Some of Yotei’s more interesting skills and techniques are found deeper in these skill trees, and it’s a bit of a double-edged sword – part of me was somewhat irked at how much Yotei relies on optional quests for progression, but ultimately, it’s a smart move.
A few surprising turns in these quests thrust you into tough duels and chaotic battles, ushering you through more of the map than you probably would have seen otherwise. While this works mostly because Yotei’s fundamentals are solid, there are also enjoyable little stories along the way, like supernatural mysteries to solve, elusive outlaws to chase, and even a superboss that took me well over an hour and countless retries to defeat. A few cultural nods that show a bit more appreciation for the region and its history. With the latter, I’m talking specifically about the inclusion of the indigenous Ainu people who are from what is now known as Hokkaido. Some of their traditions are celebrated in a way that is a natural extension of what Yotei does in certain parts of its story.
Like Tsushima, Yotei’s map is built with a veneer of discoverability, finding ways to nudge you in certain directions without plastering waypoints or markers on screen. The wind navigation mechanic is back where swiping up on the touch pad visualizes a wind gust toward your active objective. I also appreciate how songs Atsu learns on the shamisen, that you can play at any moment to guide you to finding collectibles or hot springs to boost health, create a little extra thematic coherence through music as well as a way for completionists to do their thing. Although the activities themselves may still feel formulaic after a while, especially ones where you’re exclusively doing Uncharted-style platforming and rockclimbing, at least there has been an effort to dress them up organically as the map expands.
As someone generally burnt out on traditionally structured open world games, I appreciate the way Yotei expresses just enough restraint with its separate zones while maintaining the impression of a gigantic map. And letting the vibe carry you from one thing to the next doesn’t feel at odds as this is Atsu’s path of vengeance that mostly works on her terms. With aesthetic options like the returning Kurosawa mode that turns everything black and white with Japanese audio, or new modes like the Takashi Miike option that ups the blood and gore by 1000% and the Samurai Champloo-esque Watanabe mode that turns on the lo-fi beats, Ghost of Yotei has several nice touches atop its penchant for spectacle.
Agent 47 is teaming up with kung-fu legend Bruce Lee in the new Hitman World of Assassination The Infiltrator Elusive Target mission — and it’s out today.
Developer IO Interactive announced the latest content update for its long-running stealth series at the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 presentation on September 25. Along with the news that it’s now available for players across PC, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S, the studio confirmed Hitman World of Assassination is also out for PCVR players as part of a free update.
Players will once again step into the sneaky shoes of Hitman assassin Agent 47 to work with Agent Lee to take out any threats.
“Bruce Lee stars as Agent Lee, an operative aiming to infiltrate the Concord Union, a powerful criminal syndicate based in Hong Kong,” an official description from IO Interactive says. “The organisation hosts a secretive martial arts tournament, which takes place this time at the Himmapan Hotel in Bangkok. For this occasion, Agent Lee, a legendary martial artist, is back in action and invited to compete. His mission: win the tournament and uncover the identity of the Concord Union’s supreme leader.”
The Hitman World of Assassination Elusive Target mission allows players to team up with Lee for free from September 25 to November 20. Players can gain permanent access to the content with The Bruce Lee Pack DLC, which comes with The Yellow Tracksuit, The Kali Sticks, The Jade Dagger, and more, for $4.99.
Launching alongside the Hitman World of Assassination The Infiltrator content today is what IO is calling the Season of the Dragon. This seasonal run of content includes additional Elusive Targets and challenges through November, as well as the Halloween-themed Mills Reverie event.
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Ever since their announcement, Switch 2 Game-Key Cards have kindled much discussion and provoked strong opinions from gamers and developers alike. Latest to weigh in on Nintendo’s controversial format is Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi. He 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.
Although Switch 2 Game-key cards are physical, they only contain a key, which requires the user to download the actual game from Nintendo’s online store. As Morningstar analyst Kazunori Ito recently summed up to Bloomberg: “The key card feels rather half-baked as it combines the drawbacks of both the physical and digital versions.”
Despite also attracting criticism from a game preservation standpoint (see Nightdive CEO Stephen Kick’s comments, for example), some developers have recently spoken out in favor of the Game-Key Card format, the latest being Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi.
Speaking through an interpreter during a recent interview with German news site JP Games, Hamaguchi said that he understood why the Switch 2 Game-Key Card format is disliked. “I really get where people are coming from in terms of their negativity towards it, and there are good reasons,” he said. However, discussion between developers on the topic is “perhaps a bit different to what the fans maybe expect.”
Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade will make its Switch 2 debut on January 22, 2026. However, the game will only be released on a Game-key card, and there are reasons for this.
Hamaguchi explained that the major issues for those who want to release high-end, demanding games like Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade on the Switch 2 is the limited memory of the cards and their slower loading speed (in comparison to consoles with disc-based games, like PS5 and Xbox Series X and S). The smaller memory size of the cards is something that “developers can’t ignore (…) we have to work around that.”
The Switch 2 Game-Key Card, however, helps developers to circumnavigate around these restrictions. Hamaguchi added that Game-Key Cards can make it possible for developers to do “a semi-download version of the game,” utilizing the Switch 2’s internal storage, which can load games faster than if they were being loaded completely from the card.
In defense of the format, Hamaguchi said that he’d like for “Nintendo fans to understand the Game-Key cards and maybe come to accept them as part of the culture of gaming on Switch. (…) From a developer’s perspective, it allows us to bring more high-end experiences to Switch players, and I think that’s a good thing (…) (it lets) us do things that maybe we wouldn’t otherwise.”
This echoes previous remarks from Nintendo of America CEO Doug Bowser, who suggested that Game-Key cards help third party publishers to release bigger and more ambitious games on the Switch 2: “Game-Key Cards are a way that our publishing partners are able to bring more content onto the platform- deeper and larger, more immersive content.”
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.
Gemma Chan, star of Marvel’s Eternals and Crazy Rich Asians, is part of the 007 First Light cast.
Chan will play Selina Tan, an original character created for Hitman developer IO Interactive’s upcoming James Bond adventure.
As revealed today during the Xbox Tokyo Game Show broadcast, Chan will work alongside MI6’s Q-Branch as Head of Tactical Simulation. It’s the first time Chan has lent both her voice and likeness to a video game.
“Selina Tan is a senior MI6 figure who oversees the agency’s Tactical Simulations division, a program designed to test and refine the skills of Britain’s most promising recruits,” reads a press release today.
“Once a rising star in academia with a background in psychology and strategy, she later made her mark in the private sector, leading advanced research in immersive technologies, before joining MI6 to spearhead the Tactical Simulation Division. Leveraging both scientific rigor and strategic vision, she is a unique asset amongst British Intelligence.”
Chan joins a starry cast for 007 First Light, which is led by Dexter: Original Sin’s Patrick Gibson as a new, young James Bond. Fear the Walking Dead’s Lennie James co-stars as Bond’s mentor John Greenway. Previous announcements have also confirmed Priyanga Burford as M, Alastair Mackenzie as Q, Kiera Lester as Moneypenny, and Noémie Nakai as Miss Roth.
“Joining the world of James Bond in video games has been such an exciting experience,” Chan said in a statement today. “Selina Tan is a fascinating character, and I can’t wait for players to meet her. Bringing Selina to life in 007 First Light has been an absolute privilege.”
007 First Light has set a release date of March 27, 2026, for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2.
Xbox is once again hosting a Tokyo Game Show broadcast in 2025, and this time it’s happening today, September 25, at 3am PT/6am ET/11am BST/7pm JST. While we don’t know exactly what will be featured in the show, Microsoft did share that it will “feature titles from our creative teams, alongside exciting updates from our partners in Japan, across Asia and around the world.”
No matter what they announce, we will be right here covering all the biggest moments live, so we encourage you to keep checking back to ensure you don’t miss any of the reveals, trailers, gameplay, and more.
As for what may be in the show, Microsoft did share that Ninja Gaiden 4 will be getting its first-ever public demo in Asia at TGS’ Koei Tecmo booth and that attendees will be able to get hands-on with the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X at the Republic of Gamers booth, so there is a good chance those will show up!
Bethesda is also co-hosting a merchandise booth with Infolens Geek Shop, so it’s always possible Fallout, Starfield, Doom, or The Elder Scrolls may get some time to shine.
Outside of these, could a reveal of Forza Horizon 6 be in the cards? After all, there was a leak that hinted the next location may be Japan, so TGS would be an ideal place to reveal it. Oh, and the art for Xbox’s show does look like a city street!
Either way, IGN will be here to gather all the news, trailers, gameplay, and big surprises right here. What are you most looking forward to hopefully seeing? Let us know below!
How to Watch Today’s Xbox Tokyo Game Show Broadcast
If you want to watch today’s Xbox Tokyo Game Show Broadcast, you can watch with us at any of the links below or atop the page right here!
2020’s Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity gave us an expanded look on a time in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild’s history only whispered about in a few flashback cutscenes. The new Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment seems to be following this trend by taking us even further back in time to the founding of Hyrule and the imprisoning of Ganondorf, of which only fragments were shown in Tears of the Kingdom. Just as Tears expanded on everything Breath of the Wild had to offer, Age of Imprisonment seems to be equally upping the stakes, both in taking advantage of the Switch 2’s increased horsepower and showing off some new and welcome features to the hack ‘n slash spinoff series.
The demo I played (which is now also available to attendees of the Tokyo Game Show) comprised a 10-minute chunk of an early mission that also sought to capitalize on Tears of the Kingdom’s new discoveries: exploring The Depths. Given that this creepy underground area effectively doubled the size of Hyrule, I’m excited to see where these types of missions can lead, and what horrors we’ll find lurking in the dark (I can’t be the only one hoping we get some acknowledgement of the creepy giant statues). This iteration of Hyrule Warriors seemed to run a lot smoother on the Switch 2 and I couldn’t spot any dips in the framerate while wading into combat, but being in an early enclosed area it’s hard to say if Nintendo’s new console was truly being put through its paces.
I began the mission as Zelda, still adjusting to being thrown backwards in time during the events of Tears of the Kingdom, with the ancient Zonai beings Rauru and Minera escorting her toward sacred sites of power hidden away in the Depths. After equipping myself with a few Zonai devices to use in battle, it wasn’t long before I was mowing through enemies in true Dynasty Warriors “musou” style. This time around, Zelda has put down the sheikah slate in favor of a lightsaber, mixing in more straightforward sword slashes with the ability to shoot light arrows from afar, or recall her sword as it dances around to cut swaths through enemies. It’s a great way to make her less of a technical fighter and more of an easy to pick up all-rounder stand-in for Link (who couldn’t make it on account of the whole time travel thing).
Zelda has put down the sheikah slate in favor of a lightsaber. It’s a great way to make her less of a technical fighter and more of an easy to pick up all-rounder stand-in for Link.
Even though I was only able to play as three different characters during the demo, I have to hand it to Mineru for stealing the show. Her ability to pull out random complex Zonai death contraptions was something I never got tired of. Whether it was driving a giant spiky four-wheeler of destruction through enemies, or simply hopping onto a giant tire to ride side-saddle instead of running, Mineru has so far proven to be the Green Lantern of this universe with her ability to pull out the wildest creations out of nowhere. Many of her crazier constructs – like summoning a spinning paddle to whack giant orbs into enemies like a bowling ball – had me itching to go back to Tears of the Kingdom to see if I could recreate these death traps myself.
Though only Mineru got to summon complex machines, each character was able to gather singular Zonai devices to be used in battle as consumable items, and deployed in a few ways. At first I was whipping out my flame emitter to mow down groups of little Frox enemies, but later I was able to set one down to continuously burn a Construct Captain while I flanked from the side with more direct attacks, making it an effective 1-2 punch combo. All devices will drain your battery, making their deployment a tactical choice unless you’ve stockpiled battery rechargers. I was only able to mess around with a few, but with different characters using devices in various manners, there’s a lot of room to find great times to deploy them – especially on boss fights.
Along with deploying devices, holding R also allows you to activate special unique skills in combat that cover wide areas and blast through the opposition with some bombastic attacks. Each character I got to play had two different abilities, and I was also able to map them alongside Zonai devices for easy use. While they can be used to mow through hordes of grunts, they really shine when facing tougher bosses and captains that stand between you and your objectives. Even the most generic of construct captains can employ strong unblockable attacks that can cover a wide area and do heavy damage, signified by a glowing aura that spreads out from them. Koei Tecmo has seemingly taken a page from another of its action series, Nioh, in presenting the best way to stop an unblockable strike is to overpower it with one of your own. Being able to anticipate, react, and shut down a deadly foe with a trick of my own was immensely satisfying and rewarding (and at least this early on, I was given a pretty generous reaction time before their attack would unleash).
I also appreciate the steps Age of Imprisonment has taken to make your allies feel more tangible, as they are now able to assist you in battle with bigger attacks when you’re running out of skills to deploy. In one instance, a boss readied its charge attack, while both of Zelda’s skills were still on cooldown. Suddenly I was given the option to swap to Rauru waiting on the other side of the arena, and I was able to deploy his unique skill to intercept the boss and save Zelda in a moment that felt truly cinematic.
An even bigger upgrade to making more use of your allies is a new ability – a sync strike that can be triggered when you and your ally have dealt enough damage to fill a meter. This lit up their portraits on the side, and also helpfully showed when I was in range of a character to perform the strike with by highlighting the ground to the person in range. Not only are these moves as dramatic as they are powerful, but they’re also unique to the two characters you sync up, opening up the floor for a lot of possibilities and tactics. Pairing up Zelda and Rauru allowed me to shoot out twin beams of light that I could aim independently with each control stick to focus on two bosses at once, while having Zelda synch up with Mineru for a strike let her ride on the back of the Zonai’s mech to wade into battle alternating powerful slams and magic explosions. Given the nature of some of these attacks, I’m really hoping that co-op play will allow each player to direct their own attacks during these sync strikes, though nothing has been confirmed yet.
Even though my time with the demo was criminally short, I’m already looking forward to seeing how more of its characters fight in sync – especially the tiny korok musketeer and enigmatic looking Zonai construct that looks very similar to a notably absent hero. Luckily I’ll only have just over a month to wait until Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment arrives on November 6th.
It only took four years of waiting, but Insomniac finally followed up on their original Wolverine teaser with a proper gameplay trailer during Sony’s State of Play event. Finally, we get to hear Liam McIntyre’s Logan and see the beloved X-Man in action. And boy, is there ever some action in this new footage.
While we wait one final year until the game finally drops on the PS5, let’s break down the big Marvel Easter eggs and cameos in this trailer. From major villains like Omega Red and Mystique to a new take on one of Wolverine’s most iconic costumes, here’s what truly stood out.
The Costumes
If Insomniac’s Spider-Man games are any indication, fans can probably expect a wide array of costumes in Wolverine, many taken directly from the X-Men comics and movies of years past. But also like Spider-Man, there’s sure to be a main costume – the default look Logan will be sporting throughout much of the game. Thanks to the new trailer, we finally know what that costume will be.
Wolverine’s primary costume looks to be very heavily inspired by the John Cassaday-designed suit that debuted back in 2004’s Astonishing X-Men. It’s an updated take on the classic blue and yellow costume from the ‘70s and ‘90s X-books. It’s not at all surprising to see Insomniac go that route. The Astonishing costume became Wolverine’s default look for a full ten years (until he was temporarily killed off in 2014’s Death of Wolverine). It’s a beloved costume for a reason, as it combines the best of Wolverine’s classic look with more modern sensibilities. And where Insomniac embellished its Spider-Man design with some extra white elements to make the character their own, they seem content to stick closer to the source material in this case.
It’s worth pointing out that this is also the costume Marvel Studios relied on when it came time to finally put Hugh Jackman in the yellow and blue spandex. We see a lot of similarities between Insomniac’s Wolverine design and the one from Deadpool & Wolverine. In both cases, this isn’t form-fitting spandex, but a slightly more tactical and rugged take on the Astonishing suit. The big difference is that Insomniac is going that extra mile in terms of comic book accuracy. This Wolverine has shoulder pads with no sleeves, whereas Hugh Jackman’s Wolverine never rocked that exact look in the movie.
The trailer makes it clear that Logan won’t always be dressed in his X-Men uniform, however. Given the circles he runs in, there are some places where it doesn’t pay to dress like a primary colored superhero.
We see two different civilian outfits in the trailer. One is the familiar red plaid shirt, jeans, and cowboy hat look from the original teaser. We see Logan wearing this more low-key outfit when he enters the Princess Bar in Madripoor. It’s a pretty classic take on Wolverine’s civilian attire, one that hearkens back to major Uncanny X-Men artists like John Byrne.
The other outfit sees Logan donning a brown bomber jacket. This appears to be a nod to X-Men: The Animated Series. In that show, if we didn’t see Logan in his standard yellow costume, he was probably rocking the brown jacket.
If anyone in the Marvel Universe has a closet deep enough to rival that of Peter Parker, it’s Wolverine.
But, again, we suspect there will be no shortage of alternate costume options in the game, including unlockable suits, preorder bonuses, and DLC costumes. If anyone in the Marvel Universe has a closet deep enough to rival that of Peter Parker, it’s Wolverine.
Some costumes are pretty much a given. There’s no way we don’t get a more traditional blue and yellow costume, as well as some version of Wolverine’s equally iconic brown costume from the ‘80s. The same goes for his black and gray X-Force costume. We’ll definitely get a Weapon X Wolverine, complete with VR helmet and black Speedo. Wolverine’s blue and red costume from the Age of Apocalypse crossover seems like another safe bet. And, of course, there are all the obligatory suits from Fox movies like the original X-Men trilogy, Days of Future Past, and Logan.
But even that barely scratches the surface of what’s out there. Could we see Logan’s Patch disguise, given that some of the game takes place in Madripoor? What about his House of X costume? His black leather New X-Men costume? His Team X costume? The game really has the opportunity to dig deep and mine Wolverine’s extensive back catalog for all its worth. Be sure to let us know in the comments which costume you most want to see in the game.
The Locations
Wolverine is nothing if not a globe-trotting hero, with his solo adventures frequently taking him away from Xavier’s School for Gifted Youngsters and to international locations like Canada, Japan, and Madripoor. It appears that all three countries will be featured in the game, and we have to assume Logan’s travels won’t end there. If we don’t get a section of the game allowing Wolverine to wreak havoc on dinosaurs in the Savage Land, we’ll be sorely disappointed.
The trailer shows us several scenes set in Madripoor, a seedy island nation that’s basically Marvel’s version of Singapore. Madripoor also made its MCU debut in 2021’s The Falcon and the Winter Soldier, though, sadly, Wolverine was nowhere to be found there. Madripoor is where Logan usually goes to chill out, get drunk, gamble, and get into other kinds of mischief. The game seems poised to offer plenty of mischief, and we get confirmation that Logan will be visiting his favorite watering hole, the Princess Bar.
Portions of the game will also be set in Japan, a country Wolverine has had deep ties to ever since his very first solo comic book series in 1982. Japan is where Wolverine fell in love with the fair lady Mariko Yashida, battled her cruel father Lord Shingen, and befriended the plucky ninja Yukio. It remains to be seen how much, if at all, the game will delve into those characters and their ties to Logan, but we’re definitely expecting to see the game explore his samurai side.
Several scenes in the trailer are also clearly taking place in the Canadian wilderness. No big surprise there. Wolverine was born in Canada, after all, and he always seems to get drawn back north for one reason or another. Sometimes, he just goes to be alone and enjoy the great outdoors for a while. Other times, he’s dealing with pesky organizations like Weapon X or Department H. If we had to guess, we’d say the game is probably dealing with the deep-seated rivalry between Wolverine and Weapon X, the agency that coated his bones in unbreakable metal so many years ago.
Interestingly, this globetrotting approach seems to indicate a change in formula compared to the Spider-Man games. Marvel’s Wolverine won’t be set in a single city like New York, but several different regions, both urban and rural. The trailer footage makes it look as though there’s less of a focus on open-world traversal. It makes sense, as Wolverine doesn’t really have the ability to dart around open areas with the same speed and grace as Spidey. Compared to Marvel’s Spider-Man and its sequels, Marvel’s Wolverine may be geared toward smaller, more linear levels. But we’ll find out for sure when Insomniac shows off more of the game in Spring 2026.
The Villains
Despite the fact that he’s not above stabbing, slicing, and killing anyone who gets in his way, Wolverine has built up one of the largest and most recognizable rogues galleries in the Marvel Universe. It takes a special kind of villain to square off with someone as dangerous as James “Logan” Howlett and return for another round. And if there’s any takeaway from the new trailer, it’s that we’re going to see several of those villains over the course of the game.
One shot shows Wolverine battling Omega Red, a Russian mutant with energy-draining tentacles. Omega Red is particularly dangerous, not just because of his enhanced strength and durability, but because he can emit “Death Spores” that can kill ordinary humans at the drop of a hat. His tentacles are forged from carbonadium, essentially an adamantium knockoff that’s nearly as good as the real deal. However, that same carbonadium also poisons his body, forcing Omega Red to drain the lifeforce of others like a vampire.
Wolverine and Omega Red’s rivalry goes back to Logan’s pre-X-Men days, when he was a member of the strike force known as Team X. Both men are examples of the ongoing quest to create better and stronger super-soldiers, and there’s no love lost between them.
We also see the shape-shifting Mystique in the trailer. Mystique is not only an expert martial artist, she can impersonate just about anybody. She can’t fool Logan’s enhanced senses, however.
Because Raven, like Logan, is functionally immortal, they’ve been butting heads since the early 20th Century.
It remains to be seen just how antagonistic a role Mystique is playing in the game. While frequently an enemy of the X-Men, Mystique isn’t a villain so much as extremely self-serving. She’ll do whatever she has to protect herself and her family. She and Wolverine have frequently been at odds over the years. Because Raven, like Logan, is functionally immortal, they’ve been butting heads since the early 20th Century. We imagine the game will dig deeper into that long, sordid shared history between them.
Late in the trailer, we also glimpse a Sentinel activating itself and rising up to battle Wolverine. The Sentinels are enormous robots expressly designed for one purpose – hunting and killing mutants. One Sentinel can easily take on several X-Men at a time, and they rarely hunt alone. Even Wolverine’s adamantium claws are hard-pressed to make scrap metal out of Sentinels.
We wouldn’t be at all surprised to see the game deliver an extended battle between Wolverine and a Sentinel akin to the one in 2009’s X-Men Origins: Wolverine game. The entire reason Logan is in Canada may even involve infiltrating a Sentinel factory. It’s also possible we’ll see smaller Sentinel variants, so Wolverine has more enemies to slash outside of the boss battles.
Finally, the trailer shows several scenes of Wolverine chopping up cybernetic soldiers. We’d guess these are meant to be Reavers, cybernetically enhanced mercenaries who have frequently targeted Logan in the comics. Just as Insomniac’s Spider-Man games feature multiple factions of enemies like the Inner Demons and Kraven’s mercenaries, we imagine the Reavers are one faction Wolverine will repeatedly battle over the course of the game.
They surely won’t be the only enemy faction in the game. Other options include Weapon X soldiers, Hand ninjas, and Hydra agents. We also highly doubt Omega Red and Mystique are the only major villains in the game. Can Insomniac make a Wolverine game without including Sabretooth? What about Silver Samurai and Lady Deathstrike? Logan has a lot of enemies, and we’re hoping to get the chance to stab them all when the game finally releases in Fall 2026.
What villains do you most want to fight in Marvel’s Wolverine? Vote in our poll and let us know in the comments below:
