Category: IGN

Sucker Punch’s Ghost of Tsushima was released in 2020 and introduced players to the world of samurai and stealth in the 13th Century and after four long years, PlayStation has finally announced a sequel, Ghost of Yotei. Featuring a female protagonist, a new mountainous landscape to traverse, and all set in a new time period 300 years after the events of the first game.

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• When is it coming out?
• Story details
• Setting
• Development

Ghost of Yotei will be released in 2025 on PlayStation 5

The exact release date is still unknown, but Sony has confirmed that Ghost of Yotei will arrive on PlayStation in 2025. Sony tends to favor fall release windows – see God of War, The Last of Us 2, Spider-Man: Miles Morales – and it wouldn’t be a shock for Ghost of Yotei to follow the same pattern. Expect the game to be a PlayStation 5 exclusive at first, but as with big Sony titles like God of War Ragnarok and Horizon Zero Dawn, it will almost certainly get a PC release at some point in the future too.

Ghost of Yotei has a new protagonist

The Ghost of Tsushima sequel will start a new origin story with Atsu, a young woman seeking revenge. Details on her story are few and far between, but the trailer did reveal some interesting clues about the newest warrior to take on the mask of The Ghost.

For a start, Atsu can dual-wield katana, a talent that was never available to Jin Sakai in the first game. It could suggest that Atsu might prefer the direct approach to the stealthy methods that Jin could use to avoid and assassinate enemies. For all you accuracy fans out there, this detail actually lines up with historical records that suggest dual wielding wasn’t a common practice in Japan during the time period in which Jin lived, but in Atsu’s 17th-century world, the swordsman Miyamoto Musashi created the “two heavens as one” niten’ichi technique with two blades.

While some fans reacted with surprise at the gender of Ghost of Yotei’s new samurai, female warriors called Onna-musha appeared in Japanese history as early as 1180. You can read more about on how Ghost of Yotei gets history right here.

There’s a new setting for Ghost of Yotei

The name gives away the new setting for the game, but for those of us that skipped a few geography classes Yotei refers to Mount Yotei – translated somewhat unglamorously as “sheep-hoof mountain” – a volcano located in northern Japan. Specifically on Hokkaido, the second-biggest Japanese island, which would have been called Ezo in Atsu’s time.

“When we started working on a sequel, the first question we asked ourselves is ‘What is the DNA of a Ghost game?’” Creative Director Nate Fox told The New York Times. “It is about transporting the player to the romance and beauty of feudal Japan.” The Sucker Punch team visited a number of locations in Japan for research, including Shiretoko National Park where Fax made recordings of the ambient sounds to take back to the studio.

“Inside the park, you have to watch a video telling you about the dangers of bears,” Fox said. “Being in this incredibly beautiful park with jagged cliffs and water, yet all the time being aware there were dangerous bears, was electrifying. We strive to bring that into the video game — that feeling of danger.”

Ghost of Yotei is set in 1603, according to the PlayStation Blog. That’s 300 years after the events of Ghost of Tsushima and a period when Ezo was home to the indigenous Ainu people and still outside the control of Japan. Perhaps not coincidentally, 1603 is marked the Tokugawa shogunate becoming the government of Japan after the Battle of Sekigahara.

Ghost of Yotei is Sucker Punch’s first game built completely for PS5

Ghost of Tsushima was notable for the way its incredible landscapes looked and felt as you explored the island, and it sounds as if we can expect the same from Ghost of Yotei.

“This is also Sucker Punch’s first game built from the ground up for PlayStation 5, and we’re excited to build on the visual foundation we established in Ghost of Tsushima by making the world feel even more real,” said Andrew Goldfarb, Senior Communications Manager at Sucker Punch Productions in a blog post.

“We have massive sightlines that let you look far across the environment, whole new skies featuring twinkling stars and auroras, even more believable movement from wind on grass and vegetation, and more improvements we’ll share in the future. Our new setting also gives us the opportunity to introduce new mechanics, gameplay improvements, and even new weapons.”

Rachel Weber is IGN’s Managing Editor.

Right now, Amazon is offering Amazon Prime members this Baseus Blade 20,000mAh 100W USB power bank for only $49.79 after you clip a 10% off coupon and also apply promo code “SGH4BTPY” during checkout. This TSA-approved portable battery features a generous 20,000mAH capacity and a powerful 100W charging rate with Power Delivery 3.0 and PPS. It’s the perfect backup for a Steam Deck or Asus ROG Ally. Baseus hasn’t been long around enough to develop the same reputation as Anker, but its power banks have been steadily racking up favorable reviews and recommendations. They’re also a lot less expensive than a comparable Anker power bank.

Baseus Blade 20,000mAh 100W Power Bank for $49.79

Amazon Prime member exclusive

The Baseus Blade features a slim and lightweight form factor that measures only 0.7 inches thin and weighs in at 17 ounces. It has four ports: two USB Type-C ports and two USB Type-A ports. The USB Type-C ports deliver a combined total of 100W of power output (charging your devices) and 65W of power input (charging your power bank). The USB Type-A ports deliver up to 18W. The power bank can be brought onto airplaines since it is well below TSA’s 27,000mAh threshold. Despite the thin profile, the Baseus Blade is able to pack in a digital readout that displays a lot of useful real-time information like remaining battery capacity, power input, and power output from each port.

The Baseus Blade can fast charge a Steam Deck or ROG Ally

This is a great charger for gaming handhelds like the Steam Deck, ROG Ally, and Switch. Both the ROG Ally and Steam Deck suffer from a short battery life when gaming on the go. During our Steam Deck review, we found games like God of War or Spider-Man would tap out in under two hours. At the end of the day, you’ll never get the full potential out of your Steam Deck or ROG Ally if you’re not equipped with a decent portable charger. The Baseus Blade can fast charge all three at their maximum rate. It supports up to 100W of charging over USB-C, which is more than enough for the Steam Deck’s charging rate of 38W, the Rog Ally’s charging rate of 65W, and the Nintendo Switch’s charging rate of 18W.

The Baseus Blade can fully charge a Steam Deck or ROG Ally

The ROG Ally and Steam Deck both consume about 40Whr going from full to empty. The Baseus Blade has a 20,000mAh capacity or 74Whr battery. If you factor in 80% power efficiency, then you should expect the Baseus Blade to charge either gaming handheld about 1.5 times. That’s why it’s better to get a larger capacity like this than a 10,000mAh power bank, which cannot charge these handhelds from empty to full even once.

Looking for more deals?

This is easily one of the best Steam Deck deals and Nintendo Switch deals available right now, and absolutely worth considering if you find yourself short on power all too often. If you want to compare other options before making the plunge, check out the best power banks of 2024.

Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.

In one of his final videos as part of the “Masahiro Sakurai on Creating Games” YouTube series, Smash Bros. Masahiro creator offered a touching tribute to his friend and former boss Satoru Iwata, who served as Nintendo president from 2002 until his death in 2015.

“It wouldn’t be right to end this channel without touching on this topic,” Sakurai wrote on X/Twitter.

Sakurai, who opened the channel to talk about his experiences developing games, worked with Iwata at HAL Laboratory before the latter moved to Nintendo in 2000 as the head of corporate planning. Sakurai shares several touching memories over the course of the 10 minute video, including their first job interview, how Iwata helped come up with the title of Super Smash Bros., and the last time they saw one another.

https://t.co/QIfswhDk4h
[Mr. Iwata]
It wouldn’t be right to end this channel without touching on this topic.

By the way, this is the 31st and final video in the Grab Bag category! pic.twitter.com/clT4XBYm9Q

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) October 11, 2024

While Iwata’s management role typically kept him far away from development, he nevertheless played a key role in Smash Bros. Melee’s development by contributing his expertise as a programmer and solving numerous bugs. Sakurai also remembers how Iwata came up with the “brothers” part of Super Smash Bros., which was meant to convey that the characters weren’t actually fighting, but friends solving a little disagreement.

Sakurai goes on to recall his shock at Iwata succeeding Hiroshi Yamauchi as Nintendo president, calling it “frankly unimaginable” that a comparative outsider should take over what had been a family-owned business for generations after just two years with the company. Nevertheless, he said, Iwata proved to be a major force at Nintendo, contributing numerous ideas such as the Iwata Asks series, the concept of the Nintendo Direct, and more.

Sakurai finishes by remembering their final drive together, and how they had planned to meet again later that year before Iwata suddenly passed away in July.

Cardy, Jesse and Mat celebrate one of the best games of the year, one of the best shows of the year, and one of the most disapointing second episodes of an anime ever made in this latest podcast. We’re chatting Metaphor ReFantazio, It’s What’s Inside, Uzumaki, Industry and finding a little extra time with Nintendo’s Alarmo.

Remember to send us your thoughts about all the new games, TV shows, and films you’re enjoying or looking forward to: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 769: They Pasteurise Mayonnaise, Don’t They?

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Three more Tomb Raider games are getting remastered courtesy of Crystal Dynamics and Aspyr, bringing fans back to the time when the hallowed series was starting to be considered a little long in the tooth.

The Tomb Raider IV-IV Remastered features updated version of Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation, Tomb Raider: Chronicles, and Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness. The first two were originally released for the PlayStation 1 and Dreamcast, while the third one came out on PlayStation 2. All three are considered lesser entries by many fans, with Angel of Darkness in particular being known for being buggy and unfinished.

Here are the official descriptions of all three games.

Tomb Raider: The Last Revelation (1999)

Lara Croft uncovers the lost tomb of the Egyptian God Set, unwittingly unleashing him and fulfilling an ancient prophecy—one that plunges mankind into darkness. Pursued at every turn by her arch-rival, the unscrupulous archaeologist Werner Von Croy, Lara embarks on a journeyof discovery across Egypt, where she must overcome the most ingenious puzzles and infernal traps ever devised while facing terrifying evil from beyond the grave.

Tomb Raider: Chronicles (2000)

Following the events of The Last Revelation, Lara Croft is buried in an Egyptian tomb and presumed dead. At her memorial, those closest to her reminisce about secrets from her past. Travel back and experience Lara’s untold adventures, introducing new gameplay mechanics like stealth and tightrope balancing!

Tomb Raider: The Angel of Darkness (2003)

Accused of murder, Lara becomes a fugitive on the run, uncovering a sinister conspiracy involving alchemical experiments and the search for ancient artifacts. It’s up to Lara to stop this unholy alliance from unleashing its incredible powers on the world.

Aspyr’s collection will seek to spruce all of these games up a bit with improved visuals, modern control options, trophies, achievements, and of course, a Photo Mode. They follow in the footsteps of the Tomb Raider I – III Remastered Collection released earlier this year, which were developed in part by a fan who had previously been working on remakes of the original games.

We wrote in our tech review, “The very small and largely independent team that built Tomb Raider I-III Remastered have clear passion and skills for the legacy of Lara Croft. The enhancements offered are great and much better than, for example, the recent Konami Metal Gear Solid Collection. High frame rates, dual new and old modes, all of the expansion packs, improved graphics and controls alongside fast swapping across all 3 titles and DLC from the main menu are welcome.”

Atlus’ Metaphor: ReFantazio has sold over one million copies as of its official release date, publisher Sega has announced.

That’s enough to make Metaphor: ReFantazio the fastest-selling Atlus game of all time, breaking Persona 3 Reload’s record of hitting one million in a week.

Metaphor: ReFantazio’s October 11 global release date has already seen the Persona-style game shoot up Steam’s most-played game list, with 42,992 concurrent players at the time of this article’s publication. That figure will no-doubt rise as we head into the weekend and fans in other regions get the chance to play.

The game also launched across PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S, but neither Sony nor Microsoft makes player numbers publicly available. It seems likely that one million sales figure will swell to two million sooner rather than later.

Atlus made the announcement alongside the release of an illustration from character designer Shigenori Soejima, below.

アトラス完全新作ファンタジーRPG『メタファー：リファンタジオ』 全世界累計販売本数100万本を突破！

“Metaphor: ReFantazio” has surpassed 1 million copies sold worldwide!

MetacriticによるメタスコアではPlayStation®5版:93点をはじめ各プラットフォームで高得点を獲得しました。 #メタファー pic.twitter.com/ruL9vpNxOT

— セガ公式アカウント🦔 (@SEGA_OFFICIAL) October 11, 2024

Metaphor: ReFantazio, from the creators of the hugely popular Persona 3, 4, and 5, is a role-playing game set in the United Kingdom of Euchronia, a medieval fantasy realm that mirrors the real world. You play an orphaned boy who journeys across the kingdom as part of a bid for the throne.

It has enjoyed pretty much universal acclaim, with IGN’s Metaphor: ReFantazio review returning a 9/10. We said: “Refining the Atlus RPG formula of weaving tough turn-based combat into compelling social sim mechanics, Metaphor: ReFantazio doesn’t just send a powerful message across its political drama, it becomes a beautiful expression of the real impact storytelling can have on all of us.”

As part of its promotion for the game’s launch, Sega gave UK fans the chance to become a member of the royal family of the world’s smallest (but unofficially recognized) country: Sealand.

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.

On Disco Elysium’s five-year anniversary, two separate studios each made up of people who used to work at developer ZA/UM have announced they’re both making a spiritual successor of their own.

Disco Elysium is a 2019 narrative role-playing game developed and published by controversial studio ZA/UM. Gameplay revolves around navigating dialogue trees rather than combat, with each of the 24 skills representing a different aspect of the amnesiac detective protagonist’s abilities and thoughts. The player is free to support or suppress his ideologies as they work through the story. Disco Elysium is considered by some among the greatest video games ever made.

It went on to enjoy enormous success, winning numerous game of the year awards and selling millions of copies. A TV series adaptation deal followed, as did the release of an expanded version of the game featuring full voice acting and new content subtitled The Final Cut. A follow-up seemed all but guaranteed, but after high-profile staff exits and subsequent messy legal tussles brought ZA/UM to its knees, what might have turned out to be a Disco Elysium sequel was canceled.

Now, two new London-based studios have emerged from the chaos: Dark Math Games and Longdue Games. Each has drawn a line back to both Disco Elysium and ZA/UM in the announcement of not just their existence, but their upcoming games.

Let’s start with Dark Math Games. Founded in 2023, Dark Math describes itself as a “breakaway group” from the original development team of Disco Elysium. It is a group of 20 people, about half of whom “contributed” to “bringing the critically acclaimed hit Disco Elysium and Disco Elysium – The Final Cut to life.”

Dark Math’s game is called XXX NIGHTSHIFT and, like Disco Elysium, is described as a ‘true detective RPG.’ Here’s the official blurb:

Set 2086, you play a Patrol Op, Dinorah Katz, who is stranded at a luxury Ski resort in Antarctica. This original science-fiction setting lands you in a resort that shouldn’t exist with people that you shouldn’t know with the endless polar night covering a multitude of sins.

XXX NIGHTSHIFT will deliver a deep single-player role-playing experience with many tools and layers of gameplay. A unique companion dynamic adds more fun and offers different paths to solve cases. The innovative and powerful role-playing system respects your time and trusts your intelligence with seismic choices. It’s up to you to decide how your story unfolds — and how it ends.

Based on its announcement trailer and screenshots, XXX NIGHTSHIFT looks remarkably similar to Disco Elysium, even down to the isometric perspective and dialogue text that moves up the right-hand side of the screen as the player makes choices and hears voice actors bring a narrator and the protagonist’s internal monologue to life.

One of the four Dark Math founders is art director Timo Albert, who was a motion graphic designer at ZA/UM from 2018 to October 2022. Albert commented: “Additionally to innovating the traditional RPG mechanics, we’ll bring something fresh to the table. You will see. And of course, a few less words. And a few more bullets, perhaps. In total: lot more fun.”

According to filings on Companies House, Dark Math’s active directors include Heiti Kender, with his brother, Kaur Kender, listed as a resigned director. Kaur Kender was an early investor in ZA/UM and executive producer of Disco Elysium. In March 2023, a bitter legal dispute between Kender and ZA/UM over ownership of the coveted Disco Elysium IP was resolved, with a court ordering Kender to repay ZA/UM CEO Ilmar Kompus for legal fees.

Now, let’s move on to Longdue Games. It said it’s making a “new psychological RPG… set in a game world conceived by the leads of the now canceled Disco Elysium sequel.” Others working on this untitled Disco Elysium spiritual successor worked at the likes of Bungie, Rockstar, and Yes, Your Graces developer Brave At Night.

Longdue, backed by tech investor Riaz Moola, said it has a “focus on creating psychologically deep, narrative-first experiences” and wants to become “a meaningful and consistent voice in the isometric cRPG space.”

“With the fifth anniversary of Disco Elysium on the horizon, Longdue is proud to announce its formation as a new independent studio that has raised seed investment to create an RPG that will continue Disco Elysium’s award-winning legacy and represent a bold new artistic endeavor that aims to trailblaze in the narrative-first cRPG space,” Longdue said in its note to press.

Longdue didn’t name its game (all we have for now is a solitary piece of concept art, below), but it did say it features what it calls a “psychogeographic” RPG mechanic “where every decision reshapes both the world and the characters that inhabit it.” “In this experience,” Longdue explained, “the lines between the mind and the environment blur, colliding and transforming with each choice, leading players through an ever-evolving narrative landscape.”

Microsoft has responded to claims that the company will soon stop selling Xbox consoles in Saudi Arabia, suggesting that no major changes are on the way.

Rumors that the gaming giant would soon pull out of the area began to swirl earlier today following information shared by TrueGaming co-founder Mohammed Albsimi. In a post on X/Twitter, he said that Microsoft had already made retailers aware that it would soon stop selling Xbox devices in Saudi Arabia. The move would have seen distributors without access to Xbox consoles, signaling a potentially huge shift for the company.

Pre-orders went live today for the highly anticipated PC port of Red Dead Redemption, finally revealing the cost: $49.99.

That’s the price listed across Steam, the Epic Games Store, and Rockstar’s own website on Thursday. That $50 will get you the complete single-player experiences of Red Dead Redemption and the Undead Nightmare expansion, as well as bonus content from the Game of the Year Edition (it does not, however, include multiplayer).

Activision has delivered a report on the work it’s done to combat toxicity in Call of Duty, insisting it’s already made a huge impact ahead of the launch of Black Ops 6.

Call of Duty was for years associated with toxic player behavior, both in voice chat and over text message. But Activision has worked to reverse the franchise’s thorny reputation, launching 2023’s Modern Warfare 3 with in-game voice chat moderation powered by AI.

Activision is using ToxMod from Modulate, which uses AI to identify in real-time and enforce against toxic speech including hate speech, discriminatory language, and harassment.

Addressing privacy concerns from the Call of Duty community, Activision has insisted voice chat is only monitored and recorded “for the express purpose of moderation,” and “is focused on detecting harm within voice chat versus specific keywords.”