Category: IGN

Code Vein getting a sequel, as announced at Summer Game Fest earlier this year, was a pleasant surprise. The original was good! It was one of those games that necessarily didn’t blow people away, but was fun popcorn for action-RPG fans who like deep character creators, over-the-top plots, and far more weapons and customization choices than any person can reasonably keep track of. But good or not, loads of excellent games in this genre never resurface after their initial debut, so Bandai Namco being willing to return to its twist on vampires and take another crack at perfecting the pitch is some seriously good news. Sure, the developer has disavowed any plot connections to the original, which has some fans worried. But I just got 45 minutes of hands-off time with Code Vein 2, and came out feeling confident that direct sequel or no, this follow-up feels like a far more fully realized vision of the fast-paced, flashy action RPG that Code Vein 1 was always striving to be.

Dress to Impress

I did get a very, very brief stint of hands-on time with Code Vein 2, in that Bandai Namco let me mess around in the c haracter creator before they took over. No huge surprises here, but if you liked the robustness of Code Vein 1’s character creator and can spend hours tweaking eyebrow shapes, I’ve got good news for you. You can choose from preset designs, of course, for folks who don’t want to sit on this screen all day, but you can also adjust minute details like teeth and ear shapes if that’s more your bag. I had a lot of fun picking out a really big, silly hat for my character to wear. One of my favorite elements of the creator is the ability to select an outfit, and then turn on and off certain pieces of it. Love a cute dress but hate the weird garter it makes you wear with it? Just turn it off!

Once I had settled on a cute hat and hairstyle, I handed the controller back over to the devs, and sat back to watch what they had to show me. The mission they elected to demonstrate was one where the player is sent off with a partner (a buddy) named Josée to restore power to a city area. They selected the quest area from a large overworld map and traveled there instantly, though they arrived not in a closed dungeon but in a large, lovely, ruined city with multiple dungeons available to them just by running (or driving a motorcycle) around. I got to watch some gameplay both from an optional dungeon near where we landed, and from the actual objective dungeon itself, a substation where the hero might be able to get the city’s power running again.

Define “Open”

One big question I had going into this preview was whether Code Vein 2 was open world, or open zone, or something else. After chatting with the team, asking about the issue several times, and watching the demo, I’m still not 100% sure how to answer this. The team says it’s not open world, but also kept saying Code Vein 2 had “one single overworld” and that traveling is “a bit more open” than in Code Vein 1. There does seem to be a lot of interconnectivity – I watched the he=ro zoom around the outdoor area on a motorcycle (with Josée adorably sitting cross-legged on the back) and covering some meaningful distance without running into artificial walls, but it’s possible there were some much further along. Director Hiroshi Yoshimura also told me that the overworld is “significantly” bigger, while the dungeon sizes are roughly the same as Code Vein 1. Make of all that what you will for now.

When I asked about the world, director Yoshimura repeatedly pointed out that the focus was less on exploration and more on the various character companions you’ll meet in Code Vein 2. You’ll be traveling to points in the world specifically for missions tied to these characters that will let you get to know them better. Much of Code Vein 2 does indeed seem to be centered around these buddies, or partners as they’re now called, even more so than the first game since the sequel won’t feature co-op.

Friend Circle

In my preview, I got a decent look at some of the partner dynamics between the main character and Josée. Josée’s got a big ol’ sword she swings around, slow but powerful, and at different points I saw her light it on fire for both close-up and long-range attacks. Without actually playing myself it’s hard to say whether or not the AI has improved from Code Vein 1 (where it could be a bit finicky or, at times, suicidal). Though, if you hate dealing with AI partners at all, they can assist you in Code Vein 2 via “assimilation” – effectively removing them from the battlefield, but giving yourself significant stat boosts and powerful new abilities to compensate. One other feature I did appreciate was the ability of partners to revive you when you fall in battle, and vice versa if your partners fall, wisely on a cooldown so it can’t be spammed for immortality.

From what I could see, Code Vein veterans will be perfectly happy with the sequel’s bursting larder of combat abilities and character customization. Code Vein 2 wants you to get really comfortable cycling through different types of skills, and boy, you better keep track of all those Proper Nouns. But here’s the jist: you’ll attack with your weapon to start building up bleeds on an enemy, then use your equipped auxiliary “Jail” weapon to gain a resource called Ichor. Ichor can then be spent on far more powerful abilities, such as “bequeathed formae”, special, powerful weapons like a huge bow and arrow or a powerful shield. Or, you can activate your Jails for huge finisher moves, like swinging an enormous scythe or briefly gaining big, vampiric wings.

I don’t mean to spend this whole preview lamenting that this was a hands-off demo, but man, I wish I could have gotten ahold of a controller just to muck around in the menus! Code Vein 2, like its predecessor, seems to benefit from just trying stuff out and seeing what’s fun and effective, and even with just the options I saw in the demo I feel like I could waste a lot of time wildly flailing around with different combinations until I was happy with my particular expression of it.

When This Baby Hits 88mph…

I unfortunately didn’t get a chance to see anything from one of Code Vein 2’s most intriguing key features: time travel. It takes place in a present day where a horrible calamity has taken place in the past, and you and your companions are given the ability to travel back in time and change history. Though you’re strongly urged not to meddle with the past, obviously, you do anyway. I’m told you’re allowed to freely travel between past and present most of the time (occasionally you’ll be locked out of doing so), and things you do in the past can influence what’s going on in the present, even to the point of making it impossible to return to the present. But I wasn’t able to see any of that in action during my preview, so it’s hard for me to say how extensive or interesting this element actually is.

One other, somewhat fangirly note – hey, I love Go Shiina’s music? Shiina returns as composer for Code Vein 2 after working on Code Vein 1, and he’s also composed for my two favorite Tales games (don’t laugh at me for this): Tales of Legendia and Tales of Zestiria. His excellence was on full display both in my preview and in the story trailer I watched ahead of time, with soaring strings and chaotic vocals backing Code Vein 2’s intense battles. Sign me up for another banger Shiina soundtrack, thanks!

While Bandai Namco has confirmed that Code Vein 2 is a complete departure from the story and universe of the first game, it’s familiar enough in gameplay and style that I came away feeling pretty happy with the direction. I’ve seen fans calling it a “soft reboot” and I think that’s an accurate summation: it’s true to the philosophy of Code Vein without being beholden to its lore Wiki. Nothing I’ve seen has shocked me so far, but I don’t think it needs to: everything good about Code Vein 1 is here, just bigger, shinier, and slash-slash-slashier. Now just let me tinker around in the character creator for just a few more minutes…

A French retailer has all but confirmed Assassin’s Creed Shadows is indeed coming to Nintendo Switch 2, and it looks like it’ll be another controversial Game-Key Card game.

While rumors of the port have been swirling around ever since PEGI rated the adventure game for its console back in April, this is the first time we’ve seen a retailer share Assassin’s Creed Shadow box art, and news players will be able to “experience Assassin’s Creed Shadows in a whole new way with Nintendo Switch 2.”

As noted by the eagle-eyed members of the GamingLeaksAndRumours subreddit, however, the key art used in the new retail listing also suggests the game will come as a Game-Key Card. This means that unlike, say, Cyberpunk 2077, which is fully contained on a 64GB cartridge on Switch 2, players will instead have to download part or all of a game before they can play.

It’ll likely divide fans who continue to debate the practice of publishers providing Game-Key Cards in Switch 2 boxed games instead of a physical cartridge. It’s proven to be a divisive practice among some, not least because while it allows collectors to have a game’s box on their shelf, they’re essentially useless unless your console is connected to the internet.

Nintendo recently launched a survey designed to poll the Switch 2 userbase on its thoughts surrounding digital and physical games, with questions designed to probe the reasons you might consider one option over another. Nintendo’s also interested in finding out if your attitude to digital downloads has shifted over time.

In September, a Ubisoft developer who worked on the Nintendo port of Star Wars Outlaws defended the use of Game-Key Cards, saying the real reason why the Switch 2 version of Star Wars Outlaws uses a Game-Key Card was due to the Switch 2’s data speeds, and how quickly the hardware can read information from its bespoke cartridges, versus games downloaded to the console’s internal memory.

Later in September, Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi implied that developers are choosing Game-Key Cards not necessarily from a cost perspective, but a performance one, as the format enables them to bring smoother-running games to the Switch 2.

If you missed Assassin’s Creed Shadows the first time around, now may be a good time to try it out. Released back in March, it returned 8/10 in the IGN review.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Ghost of Yotei gives its revenge-seeking protagonist Atsu a wide range of traditional Japanese weapons to wield, including bows, swords and spears. Last week, however, a Japanese-speaking user on X questioned whether it was realistic or even possible for Atsu to draw a very long sword from her back, prompting a flood of video comments from traditional Japanese martial arts practitioners.

In Ghost of Yotei, you’ll pick up the Odachi (literally ‘big sword’) in The Way of the Odachi quest (check out our walkthrough here). It is a useful addition to Atsu’s arsenal, especially when facing off against larger enemies (brutes). It allows her to block heavy attacks and then push back against the opponent, opening them up for a devastating slice.

As she already has two swords at her hip, Atsu opts to sheath the Odachi on her back, however X user ikazombie questioned how on earth you’d pull this off without dislocating something. Upon slowing the clip down, they realised that you could theoretically draw and sheath it from over your left shoulder, but seemed unconvinced about how this would be accomplished in real life.

大太刀、あんなデカい刀を背負ってどうやって抜刀すんねん関節外れるぞと思ってたんだけど、予想外のモーションで ” 理 論 上 は ” 問題なく抜刀/納刀できてたの笑う#GhostofYotei #ゴーストオブヨウテイ pic.twitter.com/j31VjGpgDk

— ジェット・リョー (@ikazombie) October 5, 2025

Japanese martial arts practitioners commented with videos. User Harima_mekkai (a member of the Tenshinryu school) decided to try out Atsu’s way of wearing and drawing an Odachi. She posted a video of herself successfully unsheathing a 1m long sword weighing 1.5kg from over her left shoulder. This shows that the drawing part of Atsu’s Odachi technique is actually doable, albeit it takes effort and training to pull it off that smoothly.

ゴーストオブヨウテイの大太刀の背負い抜きやってみました。

刃渡り三尺、重さ約1.5kgの刀です。#ゴーストオブヨウテイ pic.twitter.com/9j46eq80G7

— まーこ　11月29日生誕祭🎂 (@harima_mekkai) October 7, 2025

Another user by the name of Lornplum replied with a video of himself drawing and sheathing a back-mounted sword and described the way Atsu deals with the length by holding the blade as she draws it as a “brilliant touch of realism.”

刀身持って長さを稼ぐやり方としては絶妙なリアリティ
現実でやるならこういうかんじhttps://t.co/X3PqwBcMOq

— lornplum (@lornplum) October 5, 2025

Sucker Punch did get members of the Tenshinryu school to do motion capture for the sword fights and stances in Ghost of Yotei. Tenshinryu is a traditional Japanese martial art which dates from the 1600s and covers the art of a wide variety of weapons, including spears, swords and chain sickles. PlayStation Japan recently posted a side-by-side video of Ghost of Yotei footage and Tenshinryu members enacting the fight scene.

殺陣師に『Ghost of Yōtei』の戦闘シーンを実写再現してもらいました⚔️

演じてくれるのは、本作で殺陣のモーションキャプチャーにもご協力いただいた天心流兵法（@tenshinryu）の皆さま。

出演・天心流兵法
吉村 連彩
井出 柳雪
（監修・鍬海 政雲）#GhostofYotei #ゴーストオブヨウテイ pic.twitter.com/RnfU4pXa4N

— プレイステーション公式 (@PlayStation_jp) October 9, 2025

However, there is still a bit of video game coolness trumping realism here. The clips of real-life pros show them moving the sheath up and over their shoulder more (or even around their body) to make it easier to draw and sheath the weapon. This is especially apparent when sheathing the sword. It seems that the amount of movement in Atsu’s Odaichi sheathing was reduced, likely to make whipping out and holstering the weapon smoother and more responsive for players.

As Lornplum commented on Harima_Mekkai’s demonstration of drawing a Odaichi Atsu-style: “As you can see, with some effort anyone can manage to draw it, however sheathing it (like Atsu does) is pretty much impossible.”

While they look cool in games, it goes without saying that having a sword on your back in real life makes it much more awkward to access than if it was at your hip. Last year, a Link cosplayer found it impossible to unsheath their back-mounted sword Breath of the Wild-style. However, they received a bit of unexpected advice from none other than Super Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai, who explained that they made Link’s sword skills a little more realistic for Smash Bros. Ultimate by having him move the scabbard.

IGN’s Ghost of Yotei review returned an 8/10. We said: “A predictable but well-executed story takes you through Ghost of Yotei’s gorgeous landscapes and satisfying, fluid action – it may not be revolutionizing open world games, but it’s a great distillation of the samurai fantasy.”

Ready to master Ghost of Yotei? Check out our comprehensive guides, which cover everything from things to do first, best skills to unlock, advanced combat tips, getting the best early-game armor set, and uncovering every Altar of Reflection location. Our Walkthrough also provides essential tips and strategies for defeating every boss, and our secrets and easter eggs guide ensures you never miss another hidden reference again.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

A new Dissidia Final Fantasy game is on the way.

Dissidia Final Fantasy brings together the largest collection of Final Fantasy characters ever in a fighting game where players can choose their allegiance between good and evil. The first such game was released in 2008, and it returned a Great 8.9/10. From what we can tell from the new teaser site set up by publisher Square Enix, though, this is a “Team Boss Battle Arena” that will only be coming to iOS and Android mobile devices.

While Square Enix plans to tell us more on October 14, fans have already been scouring the mini-site, which one suggesting the silhouetted roster teaser image could include key Final Fantasy characters like Edward or Kain, Terra, Warrior of Light, Lightning, Tinoa, Cloud, and more, all “redesigned characters with modern outfits.”

We also can see five images of the game’s gorgeous environment art on the website, which we’ve embedded below for you:

Reaction is mixed. For instance, in a Reddit thread dedicated to the new game, one unimpressed player advised: “no one join. Let this game burn in the hell of EoS after one month.” Another thread called “Excited about new Dissidia news just to see it’s more mobile game nonsense” says: “Please Square even just a modern port of Duodecim so that I don’t have to see another live service slop you keep insisting just so you can shut down its servers again for the nth time.”

Not everyone’s so pessimistic, though — “if it is half as good as Dissidia Opera Omnia, I’m ready to open the wallet,” wrote this fan.

Whatever it is, we don’t have to wait long to hear more: Square Enix said we’ll find out more at 3am PT/6am ET on October 14 — you’ll be able to watch the reveal on YouTube.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

We’ve rounded up the best deals for Sunday, October 12, below, so don’t miss out on these limited-time offers.

Wuchang: Fallen Feathers for $39.99

We’ve rounded up the best deals for Saturday, October 11, below, so don’t miss out on these limited-time offers.

Death Stranding 2: On The Beach for $49.99

Are you ready to catch — then Mega Evolve — ’em all over again? Pokémon Legends: Z-A is finally almost upon us, with its launch set for October 16, priced at $59.99 for Nintendo Switch or $69.99 for Switch 2.

If you don’t have a Switch 2 yet but think you might upgrade in future (perhaps you’re waiting until the holidays for a new console?) you can pick up Pokémon Legends Z-A’s Switch 1 version now and then grab the game’s $9.99 Switch 2 Upgrade Pack when you’re ready.

Last but not least, you can already buy Pokémon Legends: Z-A: Mega Dimension, a paid DLC which will add two new Mega Evolutions for Raichu and fresh story content. The bulk of this won’t come until after the game’s launch, though buying it now will unlock extra costume items immediately.

You can already pre-load Pokémon Legends: Z-A now via the Nintendo eShop, including the game’s day one update. You’ll need 4.1GB of free space on Nintendo Switch, or 7.7GB of free space on Switch 2.

In the run-up to the game’s launch, it’s worth being wary of spoilers — datamining work has already begun on the game after physical copies were spotted in the wild. Indeed, IGN has seen word of some of the all-new Mega Pokémon included in the game — though we won’t spoil them here.

Set in Kalos, home of the Mega Pokémon mechanic, Pokémon Legends: Z-A adds the first new batch of superpowered creatures to the franchise’s Mega Pokédex in over a decade, although no all-new Pokémon species are expected. To date, The Pokémon Company has revealed just a handful of the new Mega Pokémon expected to make up the game’s final roster of fresh Mega species. How many will feature in the final game? You’ll just have to play and find out.

As with other Nintendo game launches, digital copies of Pokémon Legends: Z-A are expected to unlock within your local region as soon as it hits 12am (midnight) on Thursday, October 16.

But in the U.S., previous Nintendo game launches have treated the whole country as a singular region, meaning those in timezones behind Eastern (i.e. Central, Mountain and Pacific time) all get to play late on Wednesday, October 15.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A global release times:

Wednesday, October 15, 2025

PDT (San Francisco):

• 9pm

CST (Mexico City):

• 11pm

Thursday, October 16, 2025

EDT (New York):

• 12am midnight

BRT (Sao Paulo):

• 12am midnight

BST (London):

• 12am midnight

CEST (Paris, Rome, Berlin):

• 12am midnight

EEST (Turkey):

• 12am midnight

UTC (New Delhi):

• 12am midnight

ICT (Hanoi):

• 12am midnight

HKT (Hong Kong):

• 12am midnight

CST (Beijing):

• 12am midnight

JST (Tokyo):

• 12am midnight

AEST (Sydney):

• 12am midnight

Ready to get started? IGN has guides to Pokémon Legends: Z-A’s Characters and Starter Pokemon, its Mega Dimension DLC, all the New Mega Pokemon in Legends Z-A and also a full Pokedex (List of Pokemon) so you can plan which creatures to go catch first.

Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Mega Evolution has kicked off with a bang thanks to its base set releasing in the US recently, and it’s single card market is doing some strange things right now. One things for sure, the majority of the top chase cards in this set are getting more affordable by the day. It seems that day one stock is getting better across the board, with The Pokémon Company seemingly printing newer sets into oblivion. The long term effects remain to be seen, but more cards being printed means less damage to your pocket.

TL:DR; Mega Evolution Crashers and Climbers This Week

Gold Hyper Rare cards are the highest value cards in this set, with Mega Gardevoir ex (187/132) doubling in price compared to market value and Mega Lucario ex (188/132) kicking off high and currently settling at an insane $650 for the time being. There’s some supprising Illustration Rare price rises in Mega Evolution too, with Helioptile (143/132) rising by 33.6% recently thanks to it’s gorgeous artwork.
One thing is clear with Mega Evolution, Pokémon trainers and collectors aren’t giving in to FOMO. Being able to wait for sealed product and chase cards vs. buying it straight at launch can be a money burner, and it looks like this sentiment is finally sinking in at this point in Pokémania 2025. Let’s get into it:

Pokémon Card Crashers

Battlefield 6 launched mere hours ago, and someone has already managed to recreate the iconic Call of Duty 4: Modern Warfare map, Shipment, in its Portal mode.

After years of waiting, leaks, and hype, EA and Battlefield Studios launched Battlefield 6 for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S today, October 10. Its promise of a back-to-basics approach for the series has attracted a lot of attention, especially in the Call of Duty community.

During its panel at New York Comic Con, Playground Productions not only looked back on the return and relaunch of the beloved Backyard Sports video games, but it also announced it will be completing its Backyard Sports retro collection with Backyard Basketball ’01 and Backyard Hockey ’02 in mid-November, that there are high scores and events coming to Backyard Baseball ’92, and it shared a few new details for the series’ upcoming animated special.

To learn more, IGN had the chance to speak to Playground Productions CEO Linday Barnett and Chief Product Officer Chris Waters about the past and future of this fan-favorite franchise, and we began by chatting about what makes these games so special.

“We think it works because the games have always been character-first, comedy-forward, and accessible,” Waters said. “These games weren’t, ‘Hey, let’s make the most incredibly realistic simulation,’ they were, ‘let’s recreate the experience of what it felt like to go out and pick up a bat and a ball, grab whatever friends you had around whether they’re athletic or not, and go out and play baseball and see what madness ensues.’ That madness transcends time and transcends technology.”

Backyard Sports’ Retro Library Will Be Complete in Mid-November, New Features Headed to Backyard Baseball ’97

Whether you are new to the franchise or returning to it, you’ll be happy to know that the Backyard Sports retro library will be complete when Backyard Basketball ’02 and Backyard Hockey ’02 are released on Steam in mid-November. Oh, and did we mention both will be free to download and keep?

These games, alongside Baseball ’97, Baseball ’01, Football ’99, Soccer ’98, will also be part of the Backyard Sports Retro Bundle, which will be available for $26 – a 40% savings from buying all the games individually. Players will even be able to ‘Complete the Set’ and only pay for the games you don’t have yet at the cheaper price.

Furthermore, the Backyard Soccer ’98 and Backyard Basketball ’02 mobile versions will be free on iOS and Android when that Steam retro bundle goes live later next month.

Speaking of mobile, Backyard Baseball ’97 is getting a new gamification feature in collaboration with Lucra. Fans can now compete against each other in week-long and month-long events like Home Run Competitions or Most Strikeouts.

Global high scores will be tracked in real-time, and the new feature will be free for fans and even includes a chance to win tickets to the 2025 World Series, a Pablo Sanchez trading card, and more. This feature will begin on iOS to start, and players will need to opt-iin and provide some personal information.

“What we want to do is allow that community to grow and for players to be able to engage with each other,” Waters said of the new gamification features. “And again, without the source code, we can’t make these games, but by adding a tournament layer onto them, we’re sort of creating a backdoor co-op mode.”

Fun fact, Playground Productions did not get the source code for most of these games when they acquired the rights, so the team had to hack the old CD-ROMs and rebuilt the games themselves.

“We thought those games were just dead,” Barrnett told us. “And it was an incredible feat that Mega Kat Studios was able to do, which is reverse engineer and hack the CD-ROMs to make them playable. The thing that we didn’t know in all of this, however, was that we’d be able to make the games even better and we were able to remove certain bugs that existed in the original games and add leaderboards and add competitions and just make them playable on systems that didn’t even exist back then, like Nintendo Switch.”

The Future of Backyard Sports Includes an Animated Special That Just Finished Production

We then shifted our talk to the future. While the team wasn’t ready to reveal anything about future games, they did confirm that Backyard Sports officially wrapped production on their new animated special that builds upon the brand’s beloved IP and characters.

This special is being produced by Lighthouse Studios, which is known for its work on Bob’s Burgers and Rick & Morty, and it will feature an “all-star cast” that will be announced in early November. As for when you can see it, the special will be released at Dave & Buster’s in early 2026 and direct to consumer shortly after.

“What makes Backyard Sports special is the characters,” Waters said. “For us, the opportunity to take your favorite characters and bring them to life in a new way was a no-brainer as we’ve already said this is a multi-platform franchise we want to go beyond games. We all loved how beautiful the animation was in the games and how much love and care they put in, and it made you love and understand the characters and made you want to pick a certain character. So, we are really, really humbled to be able to extend that into more animation.

“This special was our way of establishing a tone, establishing a look, and really putting our flag down to say, Backyard is a multi-platform franchise. You’re going to be able to experience it in lots of different ways. I can’t wait until we can say more, but I can promise you that I’ve got a 20-year history in animation and we have pulled out all the stops to make something that captures the tone and magic and comedy of this world.”