Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble Review

I’ve spent every evening the past week reuniting with a dear old friend. Super Monkey Ball and I were inseparable back in the GameCube days, but we grew apart when the series traded in its perfect blend of devilish challenges and finely-tuned physics for bland level design and imprecise motion controls aimed at a more casual audience – so you can imagine my apathy when Super Monkey Ball Banana Rumble’s initial announcement focused so heavily on the uncontrolled chaos of its 16-player online battles. But I’ve never been happier to be wrong, as tucked away inside Banana Rumble is the greatest set of traditional Super Monkey Ball levels the series has seen since the GameCube originals, backed up by tight mechanics that give me the complete control I needed to overcome its demanding late-game obstacles. Monkey Ball is finally back, and now all I want to do is roll.

Banana Rumble’s impressive set of 200 courses is divided into 20 cartoony worlds containing 10 stages apiece. In classic Monkey Ball fashion, the setup is delightfully simple: You have 60 seconds to roll your monkey from the start to the goal, but the hurdles between those points change radically across the adventure. The opening stages aren’t too challenging, smartly acquainting you with Banana Rumble’s mechanics so you’re ready to go when it does turn up the heat.

As a certified Super Monkey Ball 2 master, I had no trouble with the first 80 levels or so. But they’re still a joy to roll through, as I had to deal with curves, ramps, rails, switches, and bumps reminiscent of the level design seen in the excellent Super Monkey Ball 1 and 2. Plus, speedrunning is a classic element of the originals, and it was a ton of fun to see how rapidly I could blast through levels that don’t demand too much precision, like stages where you can slam dunk into the goal with a perfect launch right from the start if you know what you’re doing. I realized pretty quickly that Banana Rumble was a return to form for the series, and I had the best time rolling through the early levels while bopping to the wonderful GameCube-inspired soundtrack.

That breezy feeling didn’t last long, though, as Banana Rumble does not hold back in its second half. The 10 EX worlds unlocked after completing the main story delivered on all the Monkey Ball challenge I’ve been begging for the series to bring back. Suddenly, I was dealing with grueling stages that truly tested my monkey mettle, from crazy rotating contraptions to invisible tilting seesaws to the narrowest of walkways you have to carefully tiptoe across, Banana Rumble is constantly introducing new challenges and smart twists on old ones. Some of the final levels took me dozens of attempts, and there’s nothing quite like the feeling when my main monkey AiAi finally breaks through that one elusive goal. In fact, I’ve been so engrossed in completing every stage Banana Rumble has to offer that one night I couldn’t even be bothered to get up to turn the lights on after it got dark outside, so I was sitting in complete darkness rolling my monkey around until well past midnight. Totally worth it.

Chaos, Controlled

That fantastic stage design and variety means nothing unless it feels right, and Super Monkey Ball nails it for the first time in decades. While it may look like you are directly moving your orb through each course, Super Monkey Ball is actually about controlling the stage, not the monkey. At its best, the control stick is aligned 1:1 with the angle of the stage, giving you pinpoint-precise command over how the terrain tilts – and in turn, how your monkey rolls through it.

2021’s Banana Mania (which remade all the levels found in Super Monkey Ball 1, 2, and Deluxe) should have been a home run as it returned to the best stages in series history, but the controls were so sluggish and imprecise that it made them overly frustrating at best and borderline unplayable at worst. Exact controls are a necessity for the toughest levels, and Banana Rumble handles so well that whenever I fell off the stage it almost always felt like my fault, which inspired me to improve on the next run. Banana Rumble even offers extensive control options for both the stage and the camera, so I cranked every possible setting to the max and found that gave me the expert level of control I was seeking. The physics aren’t entirely perfect – sometimes I didn’t get the level of bounce I expected when dropping from a high ledge – but this is still easily the best-feeling Super Monkey Ball since the first two.

This is easily the best-feeling Super Monkey Ball since the first two.

Banana Rumble has also finally ditched the series poorly-implemented jumping mechanic (if I’m tilting the stage and my monkey is trapped in a ball, why would they be able to jump?) in favor of an exciting new spin dash, which takes a page from Sonic the Hedgehog and lets you charge up and release a quick burst of speed. Whereas the jump never amounted to more than a gimmick in past games, the spin dash is a genius evolution of Monkey Ball’s core mechanics. It’s only mandatory in a handful of levels, but almost every single stage has some sort of shortcut or exploit that’s only possible to pull off thanks to this new ability.

A properly-aimed spin dash can catapult your poor monkey across the map in the blink of an eye, and it’s a speedrunner’s dream to uncover all the ways to take advantage of this smart addition. Banana Rumble rewards players who understand the mechanics and level design with optional routes hiding in plain sight that require expert skill to reach, and it adds a lot of replay value to an already packed adventure.

Banana Split-Screen

Multiplayer has been welcomed back to the main game, which was shockingly missing from the last two entries. You can tackle all 200 stages with up to three other players in split-screen local multiplayer or online co-op. Playing with others online is pretty seamless – I played through the entire campaign online with a friend and we never had a disconnect. Banana Rumble also runs at a very smooth 60 FPS when playing alone on Nintendo Switch, and it maintains that level of performance when you add online play into the mix. The frame rate takes a slight hit in split-screen, but not to the point where it feels unplayable.

Playing with others turns Banana Rumble into a surprisingly strategic cooperative experience. Everyone begins the stage at the same time, and only one player has to complete it in order for the group to move on. This also makes each level’s optional missions easier to complete: Every stage tasks you with collecting a certain number of bananas, completing it in under a certain number of seconds, and finding the hidden golden banana which often requires a high-level technique to snag. Assigning one person to get to the goal as fast as possible while the rest seek out bananas adds a fun layer of planning to the whole experience. I even had fun tackling levels online with random players, as I helped some Monkey Ball rookies clear some easier worlds and worked with others to grab some tricky golden bananas in later stages, using encouraging emotes and phrases to cheer my teammates on. I only wish Banana Rumble also included a more traditional Challenge Mode where you take turns and work through all of the levels individually at your own pace.

One issue with online multiplayer is that it kicks all of you out of a party after you complete a world, so I would have to share a new lobby code with my friend every single time we wanted to keep playing. Additionally, when working through the adventure mode online, Banana Rumble doesn’t show you the story cutscenes, meaning if you want to know what’s going on with AiAi, MeeMee, Baby, GonGon, and their new friend Palette, you’ll have to either play locally or catch up on all the cutscenes in the gallery after the fact. I don’t play Monkey Ball for the story – and the story here is extremely basic and barebones anyways – so I actually preferred not seeing the cutscenes so we could get straight to the stages, but it does feel like a strange omission.

Banana Rumble’s biggest monkey’s paw wish is its aforementioned battle mode. Longtime Super Monkey Ball fans know how iconic legacy party games like Monkey Target and Monkey Bowling are, but there’s nothing here that held my attention for more than a couple minutes. The five modes all feel extremely shallow and uninspired, with so few maps in rotation that I felt like I’d seen everything they had to offer after less than an hour. There’s generic racing, banana gathering, and bomb passing that feel like cheap knockoffs of Mario Kart 8 Deluxe’s battle mode. I’m guessing others feel the same way, as it took me several minutes to find a match with a full 16 players just a few days after launch. The performance also takes a serious hit in battle mode, reducing the smooth 60 FPS of the adventure mode to a choppy slideshow at times. Local multiplayer comes with its own set of limitations, as you can’t play battle mode online with two people on the same system, and three-to-four player battles aren’t even an option locally.

The five battle modes all feel extremely shallow and uninspired.

But even if you completely ignore Banana Rumble’s undercooked battle mode, there’s still so much to do here. I’ve already completed all 200 stages, but I’m nowhere close to finishing all of the stage missions – some of which I’m still scratching my head at as I try to figure out how I’m supposed to grab dozens of bananas and make it to the goal in time. There are hundreds of cosmetic items to buy with in-game points to style your monkey, too. I’m a simple man, so I bought AiAi’s classic orange T-shirt from the original games and called it good, but it’s cool how many outfits and accessories are available for Banana Rumble’s 12 playable characters (or more, if you get the optional SEGA Pass that adds Sonic the Hedgehog and friends to the mix).

Tekken’s Katsuhiro Harada Says the Developers Actually Love Anna, Despite What Fans Think

Tekken 8 director Katsuhiro Harada’s official X/Twitter account has quickly become the fighting game community town square thanks in part to his extra long behind-the-scenes trivia posts and occasional Waffle House asides. Harada’s latest bit of Tekken lore dump put to bed a long-running fandom perception that Tekken devs have always hated Anna Williams.

In an impromptu Q&A X/Twitter post, Harada responded to a fan’s question about the relationship dynamic between Nina and Anna. In his 1,317-word response — which was written during his lunch break — Harada also addressed the community rumor about Tekken devs hating Anna by stating the exact opposite.

“By the way, there is a small group of people who believe that Anna is not loved by the development team and they even say that Anna is hated [by the] dev team,” Harada wrote. “Well, it doesn’t matter, Because it’s NOT true at all, but the Anna portrayed in the story of TEKKEN is filled with a lot of thoughts and feelings from me and the animation staff.”

For those unversed in the melodramatic soap opera that is fighting game story modes, Tekken’s long-running narrative can be boiled down as a family drama playing out in a series of high-stakes martial arts tournaments. While the epicenter of the series’ familial beef involves the Mishima family’s ever-increasing family tree, Anna and Nina Williams serve as Tekken’s tertiary rivalry. Some FGC players have felt Tekken developers heavily favor Nina as the series’ golden child in that rivalry and view Anna as its black sheep.

Much of the Tekken fandom’s perception of Anna being disliked by its developers was instilled by the number of times Nina would trounce Anna in a myriad of cutscenes and win quotes throughout the series. This perception also wasn’t helped by the fact that Nina Williams is more often than not guaranteed as a launch character in Tekken game rosters, including Tekken 8. In contrast, Anna was allocated as a DLC character in Tekken 7 and has yet to be announced in Tekken 8.

In the post, Harada revealed that he mainly worked on the development of Anna in Tekken 3 and that he personally created the names of her moves.

“Originally, Nina was very popular with players since the beginning of Tekken. There is a yin and yang to things, and Anna’s popularity was often contrasted with Nina’s,” Harada said. “Back in Tekken 1 and 2, many mid-boss characters were ‘convertible character’ to other characters, but we wanted to make Anna from Tekken 3 as unique as possible to gain popularity.”

Harada also acknowledged the gap in the sister’s popularity throughout the years and took the position that even when Nina outshines Anna like a one-sided episode of Tom and Jerry, the team made sure Anna’s charms shone through for players.

“For this reason, Anna’s settings in the game reflect the feelings of the people in charge of Anna on our development team. For example, Anna’s settings include the following: “Anna is tired of losing not only the battle with Nina, but also the popularity ranking in the Iron Fist Tournament. I believe that was the very sentiment of those of us in charge of Anna (myself, the animation team, and the modeling team),” Harada added.

Harada concluded his huge Anna and Nina Williams lore dump with a list of triva about their relationship that basically doubled down agaisnt the miconception that Anna is completely washed in compasioson to her sister. Here are some of the notable bits of pro-Anna trivia:

  • Anna is a better cook than Nina
  • Anna is better at darts
  • Anna is better with heavy weaponry like an anti-tank rocket launcher
  • Nina only assassinated Anna’s fiance in Tekken 7 (and stole her wedding dress) because her would-be hubby had a “very dark side” that Anna wasn’t aware of. Nina is also awaiting a thank you from Nina for the trouble.

In our review of Tekken 8, we gave the game a 9/10, saying, “Tekken 8 is an incredible evolution for the series, with tons of single player content, an excellent suite of training tools, a great online experience, and exciting new mechanics that make Tekken more dynamic than ever.”

Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.

The Elden Ring Community Loves Shadow of the Erdtree’s New Thrusting Shields

Is the new Elden Ring DLC, Shadow of the Erdtree, too difficult? Opinions are mixed, but fortunately, there are many options to make the DLC more doable if you’re struggling. One of them that’s particularly beloved by the community right now is one of the new weapons introduced in said DLC: thrusting shields.

The Elden Ring community has reached a consensus: these shields are good. Real good. There are dozens of threads on the Elden Ring subreddit praising them over the last few weeks, with one thread in particular shooting to the top of the subreddit in recent days with the following subject: “New Thrusting shields are the strongest weapons in the entire game and it’s not even close. NG+ DLC was absolutely obliterated. Thrusting shields can be enchanted with any affinity/damage type that makes them extremely versatile. And it’s just so much fun to slap the grace out of every single boss!”

Based on all the upvotes and comments, the community agrees. Some people are even suggesting the shields are too good, and that they’re bugged, though other players insist their excellence is intended behavior.

If you’re not familiar with thrusting shields, this new weapon type was added in the Shadow of the Erdtree DLC along with other weapons like perfume bottles, hand-to-hand arts, and throwing blades. Unfortunately, there are only two of these shields in the entire game: the Dueling Shield and the Carian Thrusting Shield. These shields allow players to both attack and defend at once, and two-handed thrusting shield builds are especially powerful, allowing players to perform lunging stabs that deal major damage, all while still guarding from enemy attacks. And when you throw certain talisman or flask benefits on top of that (such as the Two-Handed Sword Talisman or the Deflecting Hardtear), the build becomes even more powerful.

Thrusting shields are so good, they enabled one player to beat Messmer…using a saxophone as a controller.

Regardless of how you feel about the thrusting shield build, it was inevitable that with time and practice people would find ridiculous new build combos in Shadow of the Erdtree that allow for “cheese” boss strats. Brutal as the expansion can be, tricks like this can help players push through its most challenging fights. That, or just finding enough Scadutree Fragments like everyone keeps telling them to.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Goddess of Victory: Nikke Announces Collaboration Event with Dave the Diver

The third-person sci-fi shooter Goddess of Victory: Nikke is teaming up with Dave the Diver for a collaborative event. The event launches with the summer update on July 4, and perfect for summertime, it adds a brand-new minigame set underwater that combines the gameplay of Dave the Diver with the characters of Nikke.

If you haven’t had the chance to check out Goddess of Victory: Nikke yet, it’s a free-to-play RPG available on iOS, Android, and PC. You play as a commander leading a squad of soldiers called Nikkes into battle against alien invaders. You can switch between Nikkes to fire their respective guns or use their unique abilities to complete missions in an effort to take back Earth.

Nikke’s latest collab is with Dave the Diver, an action-adventure game that has you spend your days diving into an ever-changing body of water and using a harpoon gun to catch fish of varying types and sizes. You then spend your nights working at a local sushi restaurant, where you determine the menu based on what fish you caught.

To celebrate their new collaboration, Yoo HyungSuk — Director of Goddess of Victory: Nikke — and Jaeho Hwang — Director of Dave The Diver — answered some questions about what brought them together, their plans for the future, and more.

Can you share the story behind Nikke’s collaboration with Dave the Diver? How did this opportunity arise?

Yoo HyungSuk: Nikke and Dave the Diver are both games developed in Korea. We happened to discuss a collaboration because our Nikke team generally loves creative games, and naturally, we also enjoyed playing Dave the Diver. Additionally, Dave the Diver combines casual management gameplay with its diving mechanics, making it an excellent fusion of different gameplay styles. Nikke has also continuously tried to bring new experiences to players through various types of casual minigames in different versions, including a survival minigame for its first anniversary and a tower defense minigame for its 1.5-year anniversary. We hope to bring players different experiences by collaborating with Dave the Diver and learning from their expertise. So we’re honored to have this collaboration project.

Were your team members familiar with Nikke before the collaboration?

Jaeho Hwang: Many of us in the team are players of Nikke, so when we received the collaboration proposal, it’s fair to say we felt both anticipation and concern. This is because the platforms and art styles of the two games are quite different. Previously, Nikke collaborations have mainly focused on storytelling and characters, but we were curious about how this collaboration could integrate Dave’s gameplay into Nikke.

However, after receiving the test build, we saw that the Nikke development team had blended Dave and Nikke very well, creating a wonderful synergy between the two games. We are deeply grateful for this and are even more excited about this collaboration event.

What is the idea behind each collaboration with Nikke?

Yoo HyungSuk: Our goal is to maximize the enjoyment of the collaborative IP as much as possible. While we are creators of these games and cultural content, we are first and foremost users of games and cultural content. We respect the works we collaborate with and hope that through Nikke, you can once again experience the intentions and fun of the original work. We look forward to more diverse and exciting collaboration opportunities in the future.

Will there be any special events or activities in Dave the Diver to complement this collaboration?

Jaeho Hwang: Of course, we plan to bring Nikke-themed boat skin into Dave The Diver. Please look forward to it!

What gameplay or characteristic elements are expected to be included that can bring players a new experience?

Yoo HyungSuk: Since it is a collaboration between the two games, you’ll be able to see scenes featuring both Dave the Diver and the Nikke characters together. Additionally, diving as a Nikke character instead of Dave will offer a different kind of fun. We incorporated the fishing and sushi restaurant operation gameplay of Dave the Diver into Nikke, designing a brand-new minigame that combines the characteristics of Nikke characters and weapons. We hope this will surprise and delight players.

How would you evaluate the special edition Diver Nikke (Mast, Anchor, Helm) released by Nikke?

Jaeho Hwang: Dave the Diver doesn’t have many female characters, so we’re delighted to see the charming female diver characters in Nikke. In particular, the team responded very well to Mast’s outfit. It turns out that a wetsuit can be both cute and sexy! Who knows, maybe Duff will end up liking Nikke’s characters more than Leahs!

What were some of the biggest challenges you encountered during the game’s development, particularly with the Dave the Diver crossover?

Yoo HyungSuk: We put in a lot of effort to present Dave the Diver in the world of Nikke faithfully. Nikke is available on both PC and mobile platforms, so it was challenging and rewarding at the same time to produce an enjoyable Dave the Diver experience on mobile platforms as well.

Given the distinct styles of Nikke and Dave the Diver, how did you manage to merge them seamlessly?

Yoo HyungSuk: The gameplay of Nikke and Dave the Diver may seem significantly different from each other, but they are in fact similar in some ways. For example, both games feature shooting elements to some extent. This time, we have combined Dave’s underwater weapons with the unique characteristics of Nikke characters’ weapons, allowing players to experience a differentiated diving and fishing experience by operating different Nikkes. In terms of art style, we retained the original style of Dave the Diver, aiming to provide a visual experience that is different from Nikke.

Can you talk about your design ideas for the minigame of this collaboration?

Yoo HyungSuk: Dave’s game content is vast and rich, while Nikke’s minigames lean toward providing a lightweight experience. Therefore, the challenge in the design process was how to simplify the framework while retaining the essence of the original gameplay, and at the same time, incorporate Nikke’s unique elements. We hope the outcome can bring you enjoyment and a different gaming experience from before.

What else can Nikke players expect from this collaboration?

Yoo HyungSuk: In the collaborative minigame, you can catch various kinds of fish. Separately, you can enjoy a fishing minigame in the Nikke event field. We believe many of you may find it fun to compare the types of fish you can catch in each minigame.

What considerations led to incorporating the new minigame into Nikke?

Yoo HyungSuk: Although Goddess of Victory: Nikke is based on arcade shooting gameplay, we’ve always strived to offer various fun elements beyond that, including storylines, character collection and growth, decoration, puzzle games, explorations, and co-op mode. Therefore, we have developed many different types of minigames to provide all Commanders with a richer and more diversified experience.

How does this collaboration and minigame compare to what you’ve done in the past?

Yoo HyungSuk: The minigames we have developed so far have been fast-paced, light-weighted ones (e.g. grilling skewers), while Dave the Diver is actually a larger-scale game with more comprehensive gameplay. In this collaboration, we have integrated the settings of both games so that you can fully enjoy the fun of Dave the Diver in Nikke. Besides, we will strive to cover more diverse and exciting genres in the Nikke minigames.

What are your thoughts on how this collaboration aligns with the summer event’s theme?

Yoo HyungSuk: While collaborating with Dave the Diver, we will also launch Nikke’s summer event — Beauty Full Shot. The event’s storyline revolves around the player (commander) and several Nikkes spending their vacation at the seaside. We’ve prepared a variety of activities that allow you to fully enjoy your summer vacation both at the seaside and underwater. We hope everyone can have a refreshing summer together with Dave the Diver and Nikke.

What kind of collaborations do you foresee in the future?

Yoo HyungSuk: Nikke has already engaged in various forms of collaborations and will continue to do so in the future. Especially, there is an unannounced collaboration plan for this year. Stay tuned for more updates!

Dave the Diver recently celebrated its anniversary. Could you tell us about the key activities and significant plans you have for the future of Dave the Diver?

Jaeho Hwang: The new story of Dave the Diver will be released in the form of a DLC. We are working hard to develop it and will strive to release relevant information as soon as possible. Additionally, because many players like the characters in Dave, we are internally discussing the possibility of showing more of the stories of each character in the game. Please stay tuned!

The Goddess of Victory: Nikke and Dave the Diver collaboration will run in July and features a new story and new art for your favorite characters. You can download Nikke on the official site, on the App Store, or Google Play. If you need help settling in, join Nikke’s active Discord, check the Twitter account, and get tons of info from the game’s YouTube channel.

Nintendo 3DS StreetPass’ Puzzle Swap Has Been ‘Beaten’ After 13 Years

A community of dedicated Nintendo 3DS Street Pass fans has finally found the rarest puzzle in Puzzle Swap, ANAでDS, after weeks of searching. This means StreetPass Mii Plaza: Puzzle Swap has officially been 100% completed for the first time since its release 13 years ago.

We covered the group’s hunt last week, as for months a small community of Puzzle Swap-lovers has been hunting down every puzzle ever made available for the Street Pass app. That includes several time and region limited puzzles that over the years have become quite rare.

As of June they had found every single puzzle bar one: a rare airplane-themed puzzle that was only available at select airports in Japan for a few months. The group was exhausting every connection they could to find just one person who obtained the puzzle back in the day, at which point a simple file upload would allow the group to share it with the world.

Yesterday, July 3, 2024, someone finally came through. Community leader Benny received an email from an individual containing a friend code and a zip file with the text, “I hope the following information is exactly what you’re looking for.” The community immediately got to work. While the file itself looked promising, they needed the person who sent it to accept a friend request first for the transfer to work. The data also needed to be decrypted and put into a usable format, a process which multiple Discord community members helped with.

Then, at 4:45pm Pacific time, a post:

And moments later:

The Discord erupted. The stranger who had reached out with their puzzle had come through, and at last all 63 Puzzle Swap puzzles had been found and archived. In the following hours, the group worked together to share the puzzle with everyone in the Discord who wanted it, before discussing plans to bundle all 63 puzzles together in one file so that anyone in the future who wants access to them can enjoy.

Here it is, in all its glory:

If you yourself want all the puzzles, you do have to be willing to mod your 3DS. For help with that, we recommend tracking down the community behind the hunt, which has a Twitter, email, and Discord all right here and can help out. But even if accessing the puzzle is only doable via modding, this remains a triumph for game preservation and archiving. It is, to the group’s knowledge, the first time all 63 Puzzle Swap puzzles have been assembled in one place.

So what’s next? It’s tough to say. The community first wants to ensure that all puzzles are readily available to anyone who wants to put in the modding work to obtain them. After that, there’s been some discussion in the group about finding ways to add custom puzzles to Puzzle Swap, or try other modding feats with what the group has learned. But many are content just to have finished the puzzle hunt at all.

“I just want to thank the team for their hard work and everyone else who shared and promoted the search!” Benny said when I asked him for comment. “We are grateful for everyone’s support.”

IGN reached out to the kind stranger who sent Benny the ANA file to try and learn the story behind them picking up the puzzle and finding the hunt years later, but we haven’t heard anything back yet. Thanks, mysterious stranger, whoever you are.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable Hits Early Access This Month, First Gameplay Revealed

Fans of the Attack on Titan anime and virtual reality can finally get their hands on Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable when it hits Early Access on July 23, 2024.

Alongside the release date reveal came the first look at gameplay for the titan slashing game, and given how much players swing around the city at high speeds, it’s likely not one for VR newbies.

“Attack on Titan VR: Unbreakable is a 3D VR action-adventure platforming game based on the manga/anime Attack on Titan,” the official synopsis reads.

“Players will join the Scout Regiment and help defend the human race from the onslaught of Titans that have broken through Wall Maria.

Complete timed objectives including outpost defense, securing supply drops to aid fellow soldiers in combat, and slashing towering Titans as they increase in difficulty.”

The gameplay trailer shows a lot of that, but doesn’t show much of the story or drama which fans of the anime or manga may be looking for. The game is launching in Early Access, of course, so improvements are likely to be made in the future. It launches onto Meta Quest 2, Meta Quest 3, and Meta Quest Pro via the Meta Quest story.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

The First Descendant Dev Offers Solution for Frame-Rate Drops: Delete and Reinstall the Game

The First Descendant’s rough launch continues, with players reporting significant frame-rate drops across PC and console.

Nexon’s free-to-download looter shooter launched big this week with a high concurrent player count on Steam, but user reviews are ‘mixed’ in response to what some are calling “microtransaction hell” as well as various performance problems and rewards issues. Check out IGN’s The First Descendant review in progress to find out what we think of the game so far.

The main performance issue revolves around frame-rate drops across all platforms, which for an action game can cause gameplay problems. Nexon has acknowledged this and suggested a workaround.

The developer is linking these frame-rate issues to those who pre-downloaded The First Descendant, and suggested that if you run into the problem you delete the game and reinstall it “as a temporary solution.” Meanwhile, Nexon said it is investigating further.

Players report mixed results using this temporary solution, with some saying it helps improve the frame-rate on PC, but those on console appear to still be having trouble.

That’s not the only issue affecting The First Descendant at the moment. Nexon has offered compensation to players for launch troubles that have seen promised rewards fail to turn up. Some players say they haven’t received the premium currency they’ve paid real-world money for, either.

Per Nexon, here’s a list of all current The first Descendant issues the developer is working to fix:

[July 3rd (Wed) ]

■ (Additional) Issue with the Partial Distribution of Beta Test Rewards

– It has been identified that some rewards for participating in the 2022 Steam Beta Test and the 2023 Cross-Play Open Beta Test have not been distributed.

– We are currently verifying the information regarding the undelivered rewards and will redistribute them as soon as possible.

[July 2nd(Tue) ]

■ (Additional) Frame drop issues for pre-download

– We have received reports from some Descendants who pre-downloaded the game are experiencing frame drops.

– We are currently investigating this issue. In the meantime, if you encounter this problem, please delete and reinstall the game as a temporary solution.

■ (Additional) Issue where players are immediately moved after starting mission in Special Operations

– Found issue where players are immediately moved to Albion after starting the mission when entering special operations. Partial fixes have been implemented, and a complete fix is currently in progress.

■ (Additional) Issue of Players being occasionally placed into servers without other players during field transfers

– Found when transferring fields solo, players are occasionally placed on a server with no other players existing.

– Void Intercept battle, Infiltration Operations, and Special Operations matching works fine, also transferring fields as a party, all party members are placed on the same server as normal.

■ Temporary solutions for client termination issues with certain antivirus Programs

– We have requested for exceptions for The First Descendant to antivirus programs, but some have not been implemented. Below are temporary solutions for this problem.

(1) ‘Bitdefender’ Temporary Solution [FAQ]

– Go to System Protection > Advanced Threat Detection (ATD) > Manage Exclusions menu, select the file or folder for The First Descendant, and save.

(2) ‘McAfee Agent’ Temporary Solution [FAQ]

– Go to McAfee Security > Navigation > Quarantined and Trusted Items, select TheFirstDescendant.exe from the quarantined programs list, and restore it.

■ Solutions for ‘Easy Anti-Cheat’ not functioning correctly

– If Easy Anti-Cheat malfunctions, refer to the FAQ for solutions. If the issue persists, please contact customer support with relevant screenshots.

– Customer Support Access: Official Website > Customer Support > FAQ > Contact Us

■ Delay when purchasing items through baskets on PlayStation Store.

– When purchasing multiple items through the basket from the PlayStation Store, there may be a delay of the items to be delivered to your inventory.

■ Case for ‘Lethal Infection’ module. After enhancing ‘Lethal Infection’ module to level 5 we found that ‘Skill Power Modifier’ does not fully function.

– An issue where the ‘Skill Power Modifier’ does not increase correctly after enhancing ‘Lethal Infection’ module from level 4 to level 5 has been identified.

■ Unused items appearing in Access Info

– Some consumable items that have not been used are appearing in the information browsing list.

■ Sharen’s ‘Active Camouflage’ skill issue

– When using Sharen’s ‘Active Camouflage’ skill, it untargets the named monsters, switching their condition to non-combat mode, causing their HP to recover rapidly.

■ Ultimate Weapon’s kill not being counted for quests that require ‘Kill with Specific Weapon’.

– Monsters killed using the unique ability of an ultimate weapon are not being counted correctly for quests (e.g., Battle Pass challenges, Awards) that require kills with a specific weapon.

■ Weapon Module Enhancement display issue

– On Weapon Module Enhancing screen, the reduction effect of module capacity, due to socket type assignment is not being displayed correctly. Although the display of each individual module capacity reduction effect is not shown correctly, the summed amount of module capacity is displayed correctly.

■ Incorrect item drops in certain regions during Infiltration Operations

– During Infiltration Operations, destructible objects in regions other than Kingston and the Fortress area are dropping common items from the Kingston region.

■ Incorrect display of Hagios Region Dominique NPC name and description

– The name and description of the Dominique NPC in the Hagios region is mis-displayed.

■ Monster Errors in White-night Gulch

– In the Infiltration Operation ‘Bio-Lab’ in White-night Gulch, monsters sometimes get stuck in the terrain.

– In the hatchery within the White-night Gulch region, monsters occasionally do not appear when progressing with void shard activities

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.

Man Sentenced to Four Months in Prison for Carrying a 6-Inch Master Sword in Public

A man was sentenced to four months in prison for carrying a six-inch Master Sword in public.

As reported by Eurogamer, 48-year-old Anthony Bray, of Nuneaton in Warwickshire, England, was spotted carrying a replica of the iconic weapon from Nintendo’s The Legend of Zelda series openly in the local town centre.

Warwickshire Police spotted Bray on June 8 via CCTV walking down the street with something in his hand. Bray was said to have approached officers with the item visible in his hand, at which point he was arrested as he was carrying a bladed article.

Bray subsequently claimed the Master Sword was a “fidget” — something to keep his hands busy — that he had bought online. But police said that because it was a sharply pointed item, it could be used as a weapon, and “put others in fear of it being used against them.” The police said the Master Sword was inside a sheath and could be released with the press of a button.

Despite admitting that the Master Sword could be perceived as threatening if someone else saw it, Bray insisted during his interview that he would not have used it as a weapon, the police said.

Bray was sentenced on June 28 and given a four month prison sentence as well as an order to pay a victims’ surcharge of £154 (approx $195).

It is possible to find fidget toys that aren’t six-inch blades.

Sergeant Spellman of the Patrol Investigations Unit commented: “We take a zero tolerance to bladed articles in public, and Bray has fallen afoul of this.

“It is possible to find fidget toys that aren’t six-inch blades. It is possible not to walk down the street holding them out in front of you. With a bit more self-awareness, Bray could have avoided contact with us completely.”

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.

Battlefield 3, 4, and Hardline Being Delisted This Month on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3

EA is delisting Battlefield 3, Battlefield 4, and Battlefield: Hardline from the Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 digital stores on July 31, 2024.

Announced on X/Twitter, the delisting comes ahead of Xbox 360 and PS3 servers for all three games being shut down on November 7, 2024. Thus marks the end of an era for some of the most popular multiplayer shooters of all time.

Players who own the games either physically or digitally will still be able to play their single player portions but all multiplayer modes will cease to be playable. All DLC will similarly be removed from sale on July 31.

Servers for the PC version of Battlefield 3 will be unaffected by the sunsetting, EA clarified, as will Battlefield 4 and Battlefield: Hardline servers on Xbox One, PlayStation 4, and PC.

Battlefield 3 is perhaps the most beloved of the three and will celebrate its 13th birthday just two weeks ahead of the servers going offline. “Battlefield 3 offers an unforgettable, world-class multiplayer suite so fun that it more than makes up for the package’s shortcomings,” IGN said in our 9/10 review.

Battlefield 4 arrived as the first entry on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One and earned an 8/10 review from IGN, while Battlefield: Hardline arrived later with a cops and robbers theme.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster Has Classic Frank and Even Chuck Skins, but Only if You Preorder

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster completely refreshes the original game but fans who don’t love the revised character design of protagonist Frank West can switch back to the original — as long as they preorder.

The wholly single player game, which arrives September 19, 2024 at $50 or $60 for the Digital Deluxe Edition, comes with preorder bonuses too, publisher Capcom revealed in an X/Twitter post. Players gain access to the Frank West 2006 skin, the Chuck Greene Skin (from Dead Rising 2), and the Willamette Parkview Mall Bee skin alongside three music tracks.

This bonus content isn’t included in the Digital Deluxe Edition content by default either despite it including myriad skin packs including ones from Resident Evil and Mega Man. Capcom hasn’t announced post launch pricings for additional content but the original Frank West and other skins will likely be available for an additional cost.

While this is fairly standard for a 2024 video game, many fans have already expressed dislike for the updated Frank West model so will likely be frustrated to hear they can only mitigate that grievance by committing to buy the game early (or perhaps paying extra later).

“2024 Frank West looks like 2006 Frank West in 2024,” one fan commented on Reddit. “This Frank West 2006 outfit genuinely fixes the main issue I have with the remaster changes, so it’s a bit mad to hide that behind a preorder bonus,” X/Twitter user @Toadsanime said. “But at least it’s here.”

The look isn’t the only thing changing, however, as original Frank West voice actor Terence J. Rotolo isn’t returning for the remaster. “I simply wasn’t called for this mission,” he said.

Dead Rising Deluxe Remaster launches with 4k graphics and 60 frames per second support and running in the RE Engine. Capcom has made quality of live improvements too, “fine tuned” the interface, added autosave functionality, and more.

In our 8/10 review of the original Dead Rising, IGN said: “Though Dead Rising may seem like a simple, mindless game when you first pick it up, it eventually reveals itself as a deeper experience.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.