Category: IGN

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).

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.

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.

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:

For more, check out everything Sony announced at the State of Play event.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.

For those looking to add some games to their PC library as the chilly fall weather starts to roll in, September’s Humble Choice is a great, affordable bundle to consider purchasing this month. This month’s bundle includes a wide variety of games, including WWE 2K25, Destiny 2: Legacy Collection, The Plucky Squire, and five other games you can stock up on for just $14.99 if you sign up for a Humble Choice membership. On top of those games, this month also comes with one month of IGN Plus for free, which allows you to turn off ads across the site, get free games, and more perks. Get it while it lasts.

Humble Choice September 2025 Lineup

The 20th anniversary of God of War is here, and Sony made sure to celebrate the milestone at its September 2025 State of Play by revealing something special for longtime fans: a new controller.

The PlayStation-maker revealed its Kratos-themed PS5 DualSense controller toward the end of its presentation today, showing off its ash-white color and blood-red mark. It’s not quite the new God of War game announcement many may have been hoping to see, but it does come with confirmation that it will launch in October for $84.99, with pre-orders opening October 3 at 10am local time.

The original God of War launched for the PlayStation 2 in 2005 and quickly catapulted Kratos into becoming a PlayStation icon. The 2018 soft reboot helped the god-killer reclaim his fame while introducing fans to a new Norse setting, with its sequel, God of War Ragnarok, then arriving in 2022.

The latter has received new content in the years since, with its Valhalla roguelike mode arriving as a free story update in late 2023. Outside of this, though, fans have been left waiting for any news from developer Santa Monica Studio, as the next chapter of Kratos’ journey remains a mystery.

“When we were deciding how best to embody the series, we immediately thought the form of the controller lent itself perfectly to Kratos’ omega tattoo,” Santa Monica Studio associate art director Dela Longfish explained in a PlayStation.Blog post. “No matter which God of War game you’re playing, the shape of his red ink against the gray of his ash-covered skin is one of the most iconic elements of Kratos’ look across both Greek and Norse sagas. Our team made sure to represent both of these key tones in the color selection for the controller to make every aspect an authentic homage to the design that has defined Kratos for over two decades.”

The God of War 20th anniversary Kratos controller is far from the first limited-edition accessory Sony has created. Past PS5 DualSense highlights include the PlayStation 30th anniversary controller, a The Last of Us controller, and a Death Stranding 2: On the Beach controller. Sony even loves Astro Bot so much that the mascot got not one but two limited edition controllers for collectors.

For more, you can check out everything announced at the September 2025 State of Play.

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).

Sony has finally pulled back the curtain on its hotly anticipated PlayStation 5-exclusive Wolverine video game during its State of Play September 2025 showcase.

From Insomniac, the developer of the hugely popular Spider-Man video games, Marvel’s Wolverine is a gorier affair in keeping with the veteran X–Men superhero. It’s due out fall 2026.

The trailer shows characters Omega Red and Mystique, as well as a face-off against a Sentinel.

We’d heard nothing official on Wolverine since its reveal in 2021, save a shift in leadership reported in October 2024. Previous creative director Brian Horton jumped ship to Xbox as the new creative director for Perfect Dark, which was being co-developed by The Initiative and Crystal Dynamics before Microsoft canceled the game.

Unofficially, early Wolverine footage and information emerged from data stolen from Insomniac in December 2023.

Be sure to check out everything announced during State of Play September 2025 to find out what else is coming to PlayStation 5.

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.

Sony’s next State of Play is happening later today, September 24, and it promises more than 35 minutes of reveals and news from developers around the world, including an extended look at Housemarque’s Saros.

While we don’t know what other surprises this State of Play has in store for us, we will be here covering all the biggest announcements right here, live as they happen. So, be sure to keep checking back to ensure you don’t miss a thing!

The State of Play kicks off at 2pm PT/5pm ET/11pm CEST, and Sony did note we will also be getting a look at third-party and indie titles, as well as updates from “some of our teams at PlayStation Studios,” meaning there may be more than just Saros to look forward to.

This particular show takes place during the week of Tokyo Game Show, and it’s also just a few days before the much-anticipated launch of Ghost of Yotei on October 2, so the Ghost of Tsushima sequel will most likely show up. Could we also get a glimpse of Marvel’s Wolverine from Insomniac? Or perhaps Naughty Dog’s Intergalactic: The Heretic Prophet?

Either way, we don’t have much longer to wait to find out!

How to Watch Today’s PlayStation State of Play

If you want to watch today’s PlayStation State of Play with us, you can watch with us at any of the links below or atop the page right here! We will also have a Podcast Beyond post-show following the State of Play, where our PlayStation experts will break down all the greatest and not-so-great moments from the show!

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If you picked up the non-bundle edition of the Nintendo Switch 2 console but you changed your mind and now want Mario Kart World Tour, there’s a way you can get it for close to the bundled price. The eBay seller “Pezz’s INC” has listed a “like new” (new but opened) copy of Mario Kart World for just $54.25 with free shipping. This game normally costs $79 new. This is the best price I’ve seen for a domestic (non-imported) version of the game. The seller seems to be legitimate with 300,000 feedback and a 99.9% rating. There are also positive reviews from people who bought the game from this listing.

Mario Kart World for $54.25

Mega Evolution is making a major comeback in Pokémon Legends: Z-A, and as IGN learned in a recent hands-on with the new action-forward title, there’s more than one new spin on the years-old mechanic: you can trigger Mega Evolution multiple times in a single battle.

In the core Pokémon games, like in X and Y where Mega Evolution was introduced, you can only Mega Evolve one Pokémon per battle, even if your first Mega Evolution Pokémon faints.

Unexpectedly, that wasn’t the case during IGN’s battle against a Rouge Mega-Evolved Victreebell in Legends: Z-A–they were able to Mega Evolve all three Pokémon on their team capable of Mega Evolution, as long as they gathered the required Mega Power.

In Pokémon Legends: Z-A, the Mega Ring icon in the bottom right of the screen displays how much Mega Power you currently have. Each attack builds up Mega Power, but you can also charge it up by collecting Mega Power orbs in Rogue Mega-Evolved Pokémon battles, and by breaking certain crystals in the city.

We didn’t get to test if you can Mega Evolve multiple times in trainer battles, but were told by a public relations representative that you’re not limited to a single Mega Evolution per battle–as long as you have the Mega Stone and Mega Power to support it. It’s also been confirmed you can Mega Evolve the same Pokemon multiple times, as the Mega Evolution is retained only as long as you have the Mega Power to sustain it.

Read more about Mega Evolution, and how Mega Power can be used besides Mega Evolution, in Pokemon: Legends Z-A in IGN’s final preview, plus check out every new Pokemon in Legends: Z-A revealed so far.

Casey DeFreitas is a deputy editor on the guides team at IGN and has been catching Pokemon since the very beginning. Catch her on socials @ShinyCaseyD.

Marvel’s Spider-Man set for Magic: The Gathering arrived in prerelease form last week, and if you cracked open some packs early, then you could be about to be happier than Eddie Brock on Emo Night.

That’s because, aside from the Infinity Stone debut for the new set, one card is already up for a market price of $1,250 on TCGPlayer. Here’s what you should be looking out for.

For this new set, Wizards of the Coast has released a series of Spectacular Spider-Man cards with a textured foil finish. There are five different versions going for a lot of money right now, and while it’ll be tough to find them unless you’re looking in the horrendously overpriced Collector Boosters, one is reaching new heights of market value.

The Bombastic Bag-Man Suit, pictured above, is up for $1,250 on TCGPlayer, meaning its market value is actually higher than The Soul Stone right now. The thrown-together suit, which includes a Fantastic Four hand-me-down and a literal paper bag, is clearly well worth it for collectors.

Kojima Productions’ recent Beyond the Strand livestream gave us our first proper look at OD, the developer’s horror game that’s being produced in collaboration with Xbox Game Studios. While the project’s first trailer features barely more than a couple of minutes of gameplay and is set entirely in a single room, it’s already creating quite a buzz. That’s because it’s distinctly reminiscent of P.T., Hideo Kojima’s famous 2014 “playable teaser” for a Silent Hill game that never was. P.T. went on to influence an entire wave of dread-fuelled horror games, but it seems like Kojima is finally returning to those ideas himself for OD.

While there’s no suggestion that OD and P.T. are directly related, it’s already clear that this new Xbox exclusive horror is reusing and reinterpreting many of the themes, motifs, and designs that were established in the Silent Hills teaser. From ominous knocking to terrifying babies, let’s explore the significant connecting threads between these two projects.

Suburban Terror

Perhaps the most clear link between OD and P.T. is their perspectives and settings. P.T. is played from the first-person perspective and takes place in what (at least initially) seems to be a mundane and unremarkable suburban home. OD appears to be following that approach, at least with the sequence we see in the trailer. The area in which the terror unfolds could be a room in anyone’s house – the dull walls, herringbone flooring, and miserable weather outside suggest another boring day in suburbia. But, like P.T., there are unnerving elements that pierce through the mundanity. For one, why is the room only furnished with two armchairs, both of which are oddly positioned? Secondly, and most importantly, why is there a shrine of burning candles?

Cryptic Puzzles

P.T. earned widespread acclaim because it approached horror in a way largely unseen in video games prior. While its first-person perspective and complete lack of combat may well have been influenced by 2010’s Amnesia: The Dark Descent, P.T. went several steps further and avoided any sense of traditional video game enemies. Instead, your foe was the environment itself: an endlessly looping corridor that holds you hostage until you can solve its many mysteries. With no tools provided aside from a simple flashlight, these puzzles were cracked through the use of simple observation. Find the right clues, and the house would morph on your next loop, slowly revealing the disturbing components that pieced together to tell the story of a murdered family.

While there’s no suggestion that OD will feature any kind of looping hallway, it does appear to take a similar approach when it comes to puzzles. The trailer opens with the protagonist, played by Sophia Lillis of It and Dungeons & Dragons: Honor Among Thieves, being told to “Light the fires to celebrate their [redacted]”. She then proceeds to light a number of candles using a box of matches, with each new flame causing changes in the environment.

Hush, Little Baby

Perhaps the most obvious and immediately scary element of this puzzle is its use of crying infants. As Lillis lights a baby-shaped candle, the shrieks of a crying newborn immediately fill the room, causing her to flinch and drop the match.

Kojima, of course, has a famous connection to babies via Death Stranding, in which “Bridge Babies” are used to detect spirits. However, P.T. also prominently featured crying babies, as well as the more horrifying image of a mutated, bloody fetus lying in a bathroom washbasin. The trailer does nothing to explain how babies are related to OD’s story, but it’s clear that Kojima is once again turning to the chilling sound of a distressed infant to give you goosebumps.

Who’s There?

While the baby’s cries are certainly disturbing, the more ominous noise is the constant knocking that becomes increasingly louder and more frantic as the trailer progresses. This will clearly be a significant element – as revealed as part of the Beyond the Strand livestream, OD is subtitled “Knock”.

“I really am afraid of big knock sounds,” explained Kojima. And, once again, we can see that expressed in P.T.. Since the entire game takes place in a corridor, the environment is naturally filled with doors, and creepy knocking echoes through the hallway as you complete loop after loop.

Of course, it’s not the knocking itself that’s frightening, but what it signifies: someone (or something) that wants to get inside. It’s a warning that your safety is about to be breached. And considering that you have no weapons in P.T., that’s a terrifying prospect. The same seems to be true of OD – Sophia Lillis’ character has no ability to defend herself from whatever is trying to get through that door.

Don’t Look Back

If it wasn’t already obvious from the oppressive atmosphere and screaming babies, it’s generally considered a bad idea to conduct a ritual about which you know nothing. Sophia’s candle lighting seems to summon something – we never see it, but after all that knocking, we hear that it opens the door and slowly, dramatically approaches. While neither we nor Sophia can see this foe, something else does: an image of an eye stuck to the window. As the man (or monster?) closes in, we see the image change – the eye opening wide in horror at what it observes.

Once again, there’s a link to P.T. here. During one of the loops, all the pictures mounted on the corridor’s walls are replaced with images of eyes that move and change as you walk through the house, as if they are observing you.

P.T. also preyed on the idea of a malevolent figure lurking behind you. The house is haunted by a spectral woman known as Lisa, who appears in a variety of frightening sequences. But beyond those scripted moments, there’s always the unsettling feeling that Lisa is close by – flickering shadows and eerie sound effects make it seem as if she’s just beyond your peripheral vision. And that’s because she quite literally is: her character model is tethered to you, constantly following behind you as you explore the house. While we have essentially no information on how OD will play, the final moments of the trailer do suggest that the fear of someone being right behind you will be explored, just as it was in P.T..

The Hills are Silent

As the unseen enemy approaches Lillis, you can hear the increasingly erratic sound of a Geiger counter. It seems to act as some kind of proximity sensor, akin to the motion detector used in Aliens. Or, perhaps more appropriately, the screeching static of Silent Hill’s radio.

P.T., of course, was both a “playable teaser” and reveal for Silent Hills, a collaboration between Hideo Kojima and Guillermo del Toro that would have been the next, potentially revolutionary chapter in Konami’s Silent Hill series. And while there’s absolutely no chance that OD is a secret Silent Hill game – Konami is not involved at all – there do appear to be a few nods to the series throughout this trailer.

Aside from the Geiger counter replicating the function of Silent Hill’s enemy-alerting radio static, there’s also the fact that the message that begins the trailer’s ordeal is delivered on a card through a gap in the door. This is reminiscent of Silent Hill 4: The Room, in which cryptic messages are slipped under the locked door of protagonist Henry Townshend’s apartment.

The door through which OD’s mysterious message is delivered may also be hiding a small nod to Silent Hill – the design features nine red panels arranged in a three-by-three grid. This resembles the same three-by-three grid of red squares seen in Silent Hill 2, which featured on the game’s Japanese box art and can be found in-game as the story’s final save point.

It wouldn’t be surprising to see a number of other subtle references to Silent Hill in OD, but once again, this certainly isn’t Kojima finally making Silent Hills. And so while there are clear parallels between OD and P.T., the two are not canonically connected. It seems more likely that OD will relate to P.T. in the same way that Death Stranding – particularly its sequel, On The Beach – relates to Metal Gear Solid. DS2 features a refreshed approach to combat that echoes the stealth sandbox of MGS 5, and one of its central characters, Neil Vana, is a clear nod to Kojima’s most enduring hero, Solid Snake. While Kojima no longer has any official ties to his former workplace at Konami, it’s clear that he still enjoys making connections with his past projects, and so it’s only logical that OD – his first horror project since Silent Hills – will echo P.T. in a number of ways.

But it’s not how OD replicates P.T. that’s the interesting thing – the more exciting prospect is how it will build on P.T.’s successes. And so now we look forward to learning much more about this project. After all, we know so little about it. We do know that Get Out and Nope director Jordan Peele is involved, but that he’s working on a separate OD experience, one that will replace the “Knock” subtitle with a different kind of fear. So is this an anthology of games, each one exploring unique phobias? Or will OD be a collection of different media, breaking boundaries between games and films? P.T. reimagined the shape of horror over a decade ago, of course, so we’re more than ready to see Kojima do it all over again.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s Executive Editor of Features.