The creative director of Helldivers 2 has said he’s impressed by the “willpower” of fans after their feedback caused Sony to reverse its decision regarding PlayStation Network accounts being required by all players.
In a post on X/Twitter, Helldivers 2 creative director and CEO of developer Arrowhead Game Studios Johan Pilestedt thanked Sony for “quickly and effectively” addressing the community’s concern and suggested this sort of feedback loop should be the “new standard” for live service games.
“Firstly, I am impressed by the willpower of the Helldivers 2 community and your ability to collaborate,” Pilestedt said.
“Secondly I want to thank our partners and friends at PlayStation for quickly and effectively making the decision to leave PSN linking optional. We together want to set a new standard for what a live game is and how developers and community can support each other to create the best game experiences.”
I am impressed by the willpower of the Helldivers 2 community.
The entire saga barely lasted three days but it was enough to swing Helldivers 2’s Steam reviews down to “mixed” after being “mostly positive” for its first three months on the market, with most of its recent reviews being “mostly negative”.
The uptick has begun again following the reversed PSN plans, however, with many fans sharing a familiar message of the game online. “Democracy has prevailed,” wrote one Steam user. “Major order complete. We dive together or not at all,” said another.
A Reddit post revealing Sony’s backtrack has more than 72,000 likes too, with over 5,000 comments from players celebrating the change. “Threat eliminated. Congrats for all helldivers,” wrote JV_TBZ. “Wait… They really listened?,” asked Pixel_Block_2077. “Companies don’t usually do that. Guess democracy actually did win this one.”
Others encouraged those who left negative reviews to change them back, and to try to see the whole fiasco as a good thing instead of instead of bad. “Reminder that this whole thing was like a two day affair over the weekend and was never implemented in the first place,” said ControlWurst. “That’s at least a good turnaround to feedback.”
PlayStation has reversed course on the Helldivers 2 PSN account requirement, walking back the unpopular policy after a weekend long backlash that included tens of thousands of negative reviews, some of which spread to Sony’s other Steam games.
Helldivers fans — we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward.
“Helldivers fans — we’ve heard your feedback on the Helldivers 2 account linking update. The May 6 update, which would have required Steam and PlayStation Network account linking for new players and for current players beginning May 30, will not be moving forward,” PlayStation wrote on its official account.
“We’re still learning what is best for PC players and your feedback has been invaluable. Thanks again for your continued support of Helldivers 2 and we’ll keep you updated on future plans.”
PlayStation’s decision means that Helldivers 2 players on Steam won’t have to link a PSN account in order to play. The unpopular policy, which would have seen new players confronted with a mandatory login beginning this week, resulted in Helldivers 2 being delisted in around 177 countries. At one point, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt, clearly frustrated over the controversy, posted, “Waking up to the sunshine of yesterday replaced with a dreary drizzle and shivering winds makes me reflect on how I spent my time those rare few moments when all was perfect.”
Pilestedt said Sunday that Arrowhead was “talking solutions” with PlayStation, which apparently led to the decision to not move forward with the policy. Pilestedt also shed more light on the decision-making behind the scenes, admitting that it was his decision to disable account linking at launch so that players could play the game.
I do have a part to play. I am not blameless in all of this – it was my decision to disable account linking at launch so that players could play the game. I did not ensure players were aware of the requirement and we didn’t talk about it enough.
“I did not ensure players were aware of the requirement and we didn’t talk about it enough,” he wrote, saying that he was “not blameless” in the countroversy. “We knew for about 6 months before launch that it would be mandatory for online PS titles.”
As he has been throughout Helldivers 2’s release, Pilestedt was a vocal presence on social media, at various points apologizing to fans and say he “just wants to make a good game.” Helldivers 2’s recent reviews on Steam currently sit at “Overwhelmingly Negative,” dropping it to Mixed overall after a wave of review bombing that included more than 200,000 negative reviews.
Following PlayStation’s announcement, fans expressed hope that future games would not include the requirement. Others urged players to not take out their anger on Arrowhead.
“They ended up in the crossfire for this and it wasn’t fair to them as they were doing what they were contractually obligated to do,” one fan wrote.
PlayStation’s decision means that the focus can begin to return to the game itself, which up until now has been one of the most popular games of 2024 thanks to its unique approach to live service storytelling. Its breakthrough success has led to it selling an estimated 8 million units as of March 2024.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
As Helldiver 2’s reviews continue to collapse on Steam, Arrowhead’s best-selling action game has been pulled from around 177 countries in the wake of the new PSN account linking requirement that has turned its fanbase upside down.
Egypt, Georgia, Jamaica, and Morocco are some of the notable countries where Helldivers 2 can no longer be purchased due PSN not being available, sparking confusion among fans. Japan is also among the countries listed, but according to SteamDB it has a separate package and is still available, though users can’t buy the “global version.”
Helldivers 2 is no longer purchasable in 177 countries where PSN is not available (but some are still available like Baltics).
In the meantime, Helldivers 2’s recent reviews on Steam are now “Overwhelmingly Negative” amid continued review bombing by fans. On Friday, Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilstedt apologized for the requirement in a statement posted to X/Twitter, writing, “Ouch, right in the review score. Well, I guess it’s warranted. Sorry everyone for how this all transpired. I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience. I just want to make great games!”
The controversy kicked off on Friday when Sony Interactive Entertainment announced that the “grace period” in which Helldivers 2 did not need to be connected to a PSN account was ending. Starting May 6, all new Helldivers 2 players on Steam will be required to connect their Steam account to PSN. Existing Steam players will begin seeing a mandatory login on May 30.
The requirement has sparked a massive online backlash against SIE that has continued throughout the weekend.
“What a clusterf*ck,” wrote independent developer Rami Ismail on X/Twitter. “For all my criticism of Steam — its incredible that they’re choosing to take the hit for Sony’s nonsense to ensure nobody ends up with a unusable game because of Playstation’s super limited accessibility globally. Absolutely terrible decision-making by Sony.”
PlayStation has yet to respond to the account linking controversy.
Arrowhead is “talking solutions” with PlayStation
Up until Friday, Helldivers 2 was a notable win for SIE, earning Game of the Year notice for its excellent community engagement. It’s been one of the best-selling games of 2024 to this point, with an estimated 8 million copies sold as of March 2024. Now its future may be in doubt as fans abruptly turn on the sensationally popular game.
Is this the moment to tweet “What? You guys don’t have phones?” 😵💫
On serious note: We are talking solutions with PlayStation, especially for non-PSN countries. Your voice has been heard, and I am doing everything I can to speak for the community – but I don’t have the final…
Amid the anger, Pilestedt said that Arrowhead is working on a solution, but that the studio doesn’t have the final say.
“Is this the moment to tweet ‘What? You guys don’t have phones?'” Pilestedt asked on X/Twitter, referencing Diablo Immortal’s infamous reveal. “On serious note: We are talking solutions with PlayStation, especially for non-PSN countries. Your voice has been heard, and I am doing everything I can to speak for the community — but I don’t have the final say.”
The Arrowhead CEO, who has been actively engaging with fans since Helldivers 2’s launch, has been morose and even a bit poetic since the controversy began. “Waking up to the sunshine of yesterday replaced with a dreary drizzle and shivering winds makes me reflect on how I spent my time those rare few moments when all was perfect.”
“Yet rain is essential to growth and is what changes spring into summer. I will just have to wait for sunshine to return.”
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Even though the PlayStation 5 Slim launch is still fairly close in the rearview mirror, many are already wondering about a potential PlayStation 5 Pro. It makes sense – platform holders like Sony have a history of releasing souped-up revisions of their flagship consoles to provide new visual and quality-of-life improvements in the middle of console generations.
Sony has not officially confirmed any details about a rumored ‘Pro’ version of the PS5. Nevertheless, we’re collecting all of the information and reporting we can find on this anticipated upgrade to keep you in the loop until an official announcement is made.
Potential PS5 Pro Release Window
In February 2024, analysts reported to CNBC that they anticipate Sony will release a ‘Pro’ variant of the PS5 in the latter half of 2024. Elsewhere, Insider Gaming has also reported that the PS5 Pro is “aiming for a tentative holiday 2024 release.” Unfortunately, there’s been no official word from Sony on this front, so it’s hard to say whether the alleged console variant will surface later this year.
A late 2024 release window for the PS5 Pro would come ahead of the planned 2025 launch of Grand Theft Auto 6, easily one of the most anticipated console games on the horizon. If the first trailer is anything to go off, GTA 6 looks like a graphically intense AAA blockbuster that would likely benefit from the upgraded hardware a ‘Pro’ PS5 could offer.
Considering the PS4 Pro launched in the latter days of the previous-gen console, it’s fair to assume the Pro model of the PS5 could follow suit. In February 2024, Bloomberg reported on Sony’s fiscal plans, quoting the brand’s senior vice president, Naomi Matsuoka. In the article, Matsuoka said, ‘Looking ahead, PS5 will enter the latter stage of its life cycle. As such, we will put more emphasis on the balance between profitability and sales. For this reason, we expect the annual sales pace of PS5 hardware will start falling from the next fiscal year.’ which runs from April 2024 to April 2025.
After years of PS5 shortages, 2023 and 2024 saw the console resume regular stocking and availability across much of the world—a relief to parents everywhere. Considering the PS6 is likely still a few years off, it would also be a fortuitous time for a new and improved PS5 to drop. It’s best not to take this information as gospel without a press release from Sony, though.
PS5 Pro Price & Models
Sony’s most recent console revision, the PlayStation 5 Slim, launched in December 2023. Like the PlayStation 5, it has a digital and disc version, with the digital version shipping at a lower price. While models haven’t been confirmed for the rumored PS5 Pro console, it wouldn’t be surprising if Sony repeated this pattern and released a digital and disc-based variant.
Without any official word about a new console revision, we can only speculate how Sony will price an upgraded variant of the PS5 at launch. Even so, the rumored ‘Pro’ tag may ensure a higher price point from the PS5 Slim model, especially if it is a more powerful piece of hardware.
Here are the prices for the PlayStation 5 Slim models for reference:
U.S.
PS5 Slim with disc drive – $500
PS5 Slim Digital Edition – $450
Europe
PS5 Slim with disc drive – €550
PS5 Slim Digital Edition – €450
U.K.
PS5 Slim with disc drive – £480
PS5 Slim Digital Edition – £390
Japan
PS5 Slim with disc drive – 66,980 JPY (includes tax)
PS5 Slim Digital Edition – 59,980 JPY (includes tax)
Despite a lack of official statements, there’s been plenty of reporting about the specifications of the rumored PlayStation 5 Pro. Alongside providing a possible launch date for the console, the leak from Moore’s Law is Dead, initially reported on by Insider Gaming and further corroborated by The Verge, featured a list of specifications to unpack.
Sources told The Verge that developers are being asked to optimize their games for the new console and that improved raytracing is a significant focus for the alleged PlayStation 5 Pro. According to The Verge’s sources, developers who “provide significant enhancements” will be able to add the ‘Trinity Enhanced’ label to their games, a reference to the console’s reported codename, Trinity. The reported specifications suggest that the PlayStation 5 Pro will feature GPU and CPU upgrades, with GPU rendering “45 percent faster than standard PlayStation 5,” according to The Verge’s reporting. The PlayStation 5 Pro’s CPU will reportedly be the same as the standard model but feature a higher-frequency mode that will afford developers more power to play with, as well as benefiting from upgrades to system memory.
Finally, The Verge’s report mentions “PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution,” a new Sony technology that apparently functions similarly to Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling and image enhancement tech. When paired with an RTX graphics card, DLSS stabilizes frame rates and boosts fidelity in PC games, and PSSR reportedly seeks to provide the same sort of solution on the rumored console revision.
Aside from the reported internal specification upgrades, little has been said about the Playstation 5 Pro’s potential design and outer casing. Considering Sony has iterated but kept the original style with the PlayStation 5 Slim, it’s fair to say we may see a similar outer shell here, too – though only time will tell.
May 4th is here, which means it is officially Star Wars Day! To celebrate, all kinds of Star Wars games, toys, and products are available on sale today! The best deals for Saturday, May 4, include Star Wars Outlaws, Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, Nintendo Switch OLED, LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, and more.
Get a $15 Gift Card with a Star Wars Outlaws Pre-Order
To celebrate Star Wars Day, Best Buy is offering a $15 gift card with the pre-order of Star Wars Outlaws. This applies to all versions of the game across platforms. The game is set to release on August 30, so be sure to get your pre-order in now for a free gift card!
Star Wars Jedi: Survivor for $25
What better way to celebrate Star Wars Day than to pick up Star Wars Jedi: Survivor at a discount? Right now, Amazon has the title available for just $25, which is the lowest we’ve seen it so far. Set after the events of Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Cal Kestis has become a powerful Jedi, traveling through the galaxy to maintain peace. With new force abilities, lightsabers, and melee combat options, Survivor is an excellent sequel and a title any Star Wars fan should try out.
Nintendo Switch OLED for $314.99
Woot currently has the White Joy-Con Nintendo Switch OLED Model for $314.99. If you’ve yet to pick up a Switch console, the OLED Model is the one you should aim to buy. With a gorgeous OLED screen, games on Switch pop and look vibrant. Additionally, the new reworked kickstand makes this device much easier to play in tabletop mode.
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga for $19.99
LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga recreates all nine films into one incredible LEGO experience! Hundreds of characters are playable, with massive planets to explore and complete quests across. If you were a fan of the Complete Saga game, the Skywalker Saga makes everything grander.
Star Wars The Black Series Axe Woves Premium Electronic Helmet for $86.99
If you enjoy cosplaying or even buying replicas for your home, Amazon has an amazing deal on the Star Wars The Black Series Axe Woves helmet. Modeled after its appearance on The Mandalorian, this helmet features an illuminated heads-up display, an adjustable headband, and plenty more.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition for $20
Walmart has The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition for $20 right now. This title is the expanded and ultimate version of the massive RPG, with improved visuals, load times, and textures for Xbox Series X. The game even includes items inspired by the hit Netflix series, so you can experience the ultimate version of this beloved title.
Save 31% Off LEGO Star Wars The Child
For Star Wars Day, this LEGO Star Wars The Child set is on sale! The Child, known as Grogu, is a prominent character in The Mandalorian series. Joined by Din Djarin, the two set out across many missions throughout the galaxy. This LEGO set even includes a tiny minifigure of Grogu!
It’s Star Wars Day, everyone! In honor of May the 4th, this most auspicious day, let’s take some time to celebrate and honor one of the galaxy’s greatest heroes: no, not Luke, not Leia, not Rey or any of them. I’m talking about Lugubrious Mote.
You know, the flea that saved Luke’s butt from Jabba the Hut? That flea??? Come on.
This comes from 2020’s The Legends of Luke Skywalker: The Manga, and more specifically, the chapter titled The Tale of Lugubrious Mote. The story follows Luke and Leia’s rescue of a carbonite-frozen Han Solo from Jabba the Hutt on Tatooine, but presents a strange twist on what we know from Return of the Jedi. It introduces Lugubrious Mote, a mole-flea living on the back of Salacious B. Crumb, Jabba’s palace clown. Mote is intrigued initially by Luke’s recorded message to Jabba played by R2, and later by the appearance of Leia when she’s captured by Jabba.
(You can see the lil guy in the photo below – excuse the Android photo.)
Late at night, Mote makes herself known to Leia, and the two form a fast friendship. They stay up all night chatting, during which time Leia encourages Mote to put her faith in Luke. The next day, when Luke shows up to negotiate with Jabba in person, Mote is impressed with his heart, if not his overconfidence. She follows him down into the rancor pit, where Pateesa emerges.
In the film, this is the bit where Luke grabs a bone, shoves it in Pateesa’s mouth, and runs around a bit before shutting a closing gate on Pateesa’s neck, killing it. That’s still how the story plays out, but in The Tale of Lugubrious Mote, we learn this wasn’t Luke’s genius idea. Mote whispers to Luke as he runs around in a panic, and Luke hilariously mistakes the mole-flea for a Jedi Spirit guiding him. Mote steers him, Ratatouille-style, by nibbling on his head, letting Luke think the itchy scalp he has from a literal flea is Force tingles, and Mote’s instructions are just a Jedi Ghost. Every brilliant idea Luke has in that scene – every dodge, every clever use of a bone – is fed to him by Lugubrious Mote.
Ultimately, Mote feels fulfilled by the encounter, as she’s inspired by Luke’s hope, optimism, and confidence. But at the end, she asks Leia not to tell Luke about her, preferring to allow Luke to think he tapped into the Force during his encounter with Jabba and Pateesa. It’s not like Luke hasn’t used the Force before this point or anything, so it’s a little weird he doesn’t recognize the difference – but sure, whatever. In the end, Mote joins the circus, despite Leia’s seeming promise of an advisory position in her government nestled safely in Chewbacca’s fur.
Side stories like that of Lugubrious Mote are meant to be more fun than serious. The Star Wars universe is full of fun little tales about goofy characters doing silly things that often intersect in unusual ways with the main heroes of the films. It’s a big galaxy, after all – big enough for Jizz music, IG-88, the Max Rebo Band, and whatever Glup Shitto is.
Happy May the 4th, everyone! Justice for Lugubrious Mote!
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Forgotten Gems is a regular column about notable games that have moved out of the public eye and may not be easily accessible anymore. To see all the other games I’ve covered so far, be sure to check out the 11 previous issues of Forgotten Gems in our Columns section.
I can’t look at the box art for Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen without “hearing” Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen. From its iconic main theme to the cheers and jeers sounds when liberating towns, and the muffled “fight it out” and “thank you!” voice samples – it all comes right back. I haven’t played this – now sadly obscure – SNES strategy RPG in three decades, but booting up the dusty Japanese cartridge on my Super Nt instantly reminds me why I skipped pesky, non-essential things like sleep when I first brought it home.
Like so many things, my love affair with the Ogre Battle series started in 1993 during my college years in Japan. I had devoured Final Fantasy IV and V, and with the next installment in my favorite RPG series still a year off, I was looking for anything to fill the void. Ogre Battle’s cover art immediately called to me. No surprise, really – it’s the early work of a future master of character design: Akihiko Yoshida. You may not know his name, but you probably know Vaan and Ashe from Final Fantasy XII and have no doubt seen Yoshida’s art style in everything from Vagrant Story and Bravely Default, to Nier Automata.
Developed and published by Tokyo-based Quest, with support from Nintendo, Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen faced some tough odds: namely, a vibrant and crowded RPG scene dominated by Square and Enix (still two separate companies at the time). Yet somehow, this virtually unknown studio landed a critical and financial hit that instantly turned heads – and eventually led to Enix itself bringing the game to the US.
Is This the World We Created…?
If I had written this column a few months ago, as planned, I would’ve told you that Ogre Battle was both the start and the end of a sub-genre branch on the evolutionary tree of roleplaying games. Players don’t control a character or a party on an overworld map, they control multiple teams in real time. There aren’t any random battles. Instead, enemies move across the world in plain view, just like the player’s units. And when two groups bump into each other, the screen switches to an isometric display with the individual units duking it out in turn-based combat. But you’re not actually in direct control – battles are largely automatic, with the placement and classes of the characters determining their attacks and defensive moves. Instead, you assume the role of an omnipotent strategist, intervening with tactics changes and by playing magical tarot cards that you collect during the exploration phase.
It’s a bold departure from Nintendo’s slower-paced, turn-based gameplay in Fire Emblem and Square’s influential active-time battle system that was affecting the design of every other RPG in development. Although you can pause the action during both overworld exploration and battle screens, Ogre Battle feels fast and relentless by comparison, driving you to make choices and adjust your strategy on the fly like in a modern real-time strategy game.
On top of the combat and exploration elements, there is an economic element – freed towns earn you money that you need to finance additional unit deployments – as well as the clever, but sometimes hard-to-understand interconnected reputation and alignment systems. You can be more lawful and raise a character’s alignment by attacking enemies of higher level or of lower alignment, or descend towards chaos by picking on those of lower level or more lawful than you. Take too much time during your conquests and your reputation – known in the Japanese version of Ogre Battle by the awesomely flowery name “Chaos Frame” (later adopted by the localized sequels, too) – will drop by the day. Meanwhile, liberating or capturing towns with characters of high or low alignment will similarly influence your reputation in the world of Ogre Battle, which ultimately impacts what characters you can recruit and what ending you’ll get.
Despite the fact that you never directly control a singular character, each warrior has a detailed set of stats, including RPG staples like Strength, Agility, Intelligence, Charisma, Luck, and hitpoints, in addition to the aforementioned alignment. Plus, there are many different character classes – including powerful monsters that cause a lot of damage but cannot lead a party. It’s a surprisingly deep system, given that its main gameplay loop unfolds in real time. Well, accelerated real-time with different speed settings – and there’s even a day/night cycle that affects certain units. Have a vampire on your team? During the daytime, you don’t! You just have someone snoozing in a coffin who can’t attack. If that sounds daunting, know that it does take a bit of time to get into and understand it all, with even expert players trying to puzzle out all the nuances over multiple playthroughs on how to master the reputation system and get the best ending.
Sounds like the beginning of a new, lasting series that would surely be around forever, right? This is Forgotten Gems, remember?
Breakthru
Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen sold more than half a million copies – a fifth of that via a PlayStation limited edition re-release some three years after its Super NES debut in 1993. But creator Yasumi Matsuno had big plans for his new roleplaying saga, even before it emerged as a surprise hit. March of the Black Queen is subtitled Episode V and was meant to be the first story in a seven story saga, with chapters I-IV acting as prequels.
As a newly-minted fan, I didn’t know all that and searched in vain for the previous games – there was no internet in the early ‘90s to tell me “five really means first”. But I also didn’t have to wait long for a sequel to Ogre Battle to be announced. But instead of a direct sequel and a sixth or a prequel episode, the next Ogre Battle game would be Tactics Ogre: Episode VII.
If you’ve played Tactics Ogre, you know it’s a huge departure from the original Ogre Battle in everything from the story focus on politics over high fantasy to its slower-paced, chess-like gameplay. Which may relate to a character trait of Matsuno’s that he himself has highlighted in interviews with the Japanese press over the years: he tends to get bored with his creations, even if players don’t.
Someone will make something better, so I’ll make something different.” — Yasumi Matsuno
Inspired by games like Solstice and Landstalker while finishing up development of Ogre Battle, Matsuno fell in love with the idea of making an isometric action game. That game idea morphed into a full-fledged pitch for an Ogre Battle Saga game called Lancelot: Somebody to Love, which would eventually turn into Tactics Ogre: The Bequest of King Dorghalla, before settling on the final, once again Queen-inspired, subtitle: Let us Cling Together.
Under Pressure
“Someone will make something better, so I’ll make something different”, Matsuno said in a 2018 interview with DenFamiNicoGamer when asked about the change from Battle to Tactics. “It may be a strange analogy, but the first Alien, which was made by Ridley Scott, and the second film, which was made by James Cameron, have completely different ‘tastes’, right? It changed from being a sci-fi horror movie set in space to an action and war movie. I really like that transition.”
“When making a sequel to Ogre Battle, I intentionally aimed to create a completely different style of game rather than a ‘2’. I didn’t have any particular proof, but I was convinced that hardcore fans would probably be more happy with that.”
Unfortunately, nobody really stepped up to make a “better Ogre Battle”. I was initially disappointed in the new direction the Ogre Battle series took by abandoning its real-time roots, but grew to appreciate it and the many games like it that have followed over the years (Final Fantasy Tactics, Octopath Traveler, and Triangle Strategy, to name just a few). Matsuno left Quest after Tactics Ogre shipped and joined the company he was initially competing with: Square. At Square, he would go on to make Final Fantasy Tactics and Vagrant Story, before moving on again to, erm, redder pastures, such as working on slash-fest MadWorld from PlatinumGames.
Don’t Stop Me Now
But despite its creator’s departure, the core Ogre series wasn’t over yet. Quest programmer Tatsuya Azeyagi replaced Matsuno in the director’s chair and led a team with Megami Tensei Gaiden designer Koji Takino to fill the gap between Ogre Battle and Tactics Ogre. The game: Ogre Battle 64: Person of Lordly Caliber, the sixth chapter in the saga. Published by Atlus and Nintendo, the excellent and ambitious sequel featured polygonal maps and 3D-modeled, pre-rendered character sprites a la Donkey Kong Country and clocked in on the second-biggest N64 cartridge with 40MB/320 megabits, second only to Resident Evil 2’s 64MB cart.
If you’re up-to-date on Nintendo 64 history, the bigger the cartridge size, the bigger the risk for the publisher because cartridges had to be manufactured – and paid for – way in advance. That requires advance cash and can mean betting the studio’s future on a single game’s success. The result was that Ogre Battle 64 was impossible to find upon launch. It sold a more modest 200,000 units, but given the positive reviews and word of mouth, its fate was no doubt caused less by gamers not being interested and more by it not being available to purchase. I vividly remember the many frustrated letters we received at IGN64 during those days.
Quest needed money. It sublicensed Ogre Battle to SNK, who were looking for hot properties to adapt for the new NeoGeo Pocket Color handheld system, a capable and underappreciated competitor to the Game Boy Advance. The result was that Ogre Battle suddenly saw a bit of a renaissance. Two “side story” (Gaiden) games from two different developers followed Ogre 64 in quick succession: SNK’s Ogre Battle Gaiden: Prince of Zenobia for NGPC and Quest’s own Tactics: Ogre: The Knight of Lodis for Game Boy Advance. Both games’ stories run parallel to the events in the very first game, Episode V, with the GBA title bridging the events between Episode V and VI.
All Dead, All Dead
The NGPC title – more of an imitation of the original than a game that could rekindle the flame – was a mere blip on the radar, while the GBA Tactics Ogre saw respectable sales, certainly for a strategy title, with more than 380k units sold through. Yes, it outperformed its 64-bit brother despite the GBA’s rich RPG and strategy library and a total lack of them on Nintendo 64. Was I the only one who preferred the classic Ogre Battles to the isometric tactics variety?
But what seemed like a rebirth actually proved to be the end of the line. In 2002, Square acquired Quest – and despite our wildest dreams of a reunited team working together to finally give us the first four chapters of the story, we only got a Tactics Ogre remake for PSP – and later, with very little fanfare, a new take on the same game again via a 2022 remaster called Tactics Ogre Reborn.
The Miracle
But before I leave you on another downer of an ending because nobody is working on another true Ogre Battle game (at least, that we know of) and somehow, neither the SNES original nor its N64 sequel are easily accessible, have you heard of Vanillaware? Well, the saints behind Odin Sphere and Dragon’s Crown seem to have a soft spot for Ogre Battle as well. Unicorn Overlord arrived as an absolute highlight for SRPG fans in early 2024. If you missed it, give it a shot! When it was first revealed in Nintendo’s September 2023 Direct, I had to do a double take because I genuinely thought it was a new Ogre Battle game.
So perhaps Matsuno was right all along – it just took a few years to get there. Somebody did make “something better” and a promising new RPG sub-genre continues under the banner of a new queen.
Where can you play it now?
But back to the classic Ogre Battle RTSRPG titles. In case you lost count, the 16-bit Tactics Ogre – which was never localized on Super NES – got a Saturn edition in Japan, then a translated wide release on PlayStation, then it was remade for PSP, and finally remade again in 2022 on everything but Xbox. Sadly, the original Ogre Battle was last seen in the west on the Wii Virtual Console in 2009, though Wii U and 3DS saw Virtual Console editions in Japan in 2013 and 2017, respectively. Ogre Battle 64 hit the Virtual Console on Wii in 2010 and saw a late release on Wii U in the US in 2017, as well. Neither title has seen multi-platform or compilation releases nor an announcement for Nintendo Switch Online. Given that Square titles have been entirely absent from Nintendo’s subscription service, it’s unlikely we’ll see them added anytime soon.
Which leaves the possibility of a future compilation – or, the old-fashioned way to legally play them on the platforms they were released on. Bad news, folks. The original Ogre Battle: The March of the Black Queen cartridge commands a price of almost $200 (loose) on eBay. Ogre Battle: Person of Lordly Caliber is a steal, by comparison, costing $100 for just the cartridge (no box or manual). A copy of Ogre Battle Gaiden for NeoGeo Pocket Color could be yours for just $30, on the other hand – and thanks to the new NGPC core and converter you can play it on the Analog Pocket’s gorgeous screen, too, if you own this fantastic retro handheld. In general, Japanese versions of all three Ogre games are way cheaper since more carts were manufactured, but know that you can’t switch the in-game text to English.
What about you? Are you interested in replaying either one of the three Ogre Battle games on a modern device? Or are you content with the torch passing to Unicorn Overlord as Square’s prime medieval-based strategy RPG series?
Peer Schneider heads up IGN’s Guides, Tools, and Map Genie teams and hopes to one day see Square bring back Matsuno to give us Ogre Battle: Episode I – The Show Must Go On.
Wizards of the Coast has released a new FAQ addressing the use of generative AI (GenAI)in Dungeons & Dragons and admitting it “made mistakes” in its lack of transparency regarding this use in its art.
The official D&D Beyond X/Twitter account made a post with a link to a new FAQ that aimed to “address how [Wizards of the Coast] assess and respond to generative AI concerns” regarding art commissions for both Dungeons & Dragons and Magic: The Gathering.
The Wizards team recognizes that transparency is critical in the face of evolving issues that affect the games we make, the people who create them and the community that plays them.
“Recently, we’ve had a few occasions where art used in marketing and game pieces has been publicly scrutinized, including for the possible inclusion of generative AI,” the opening paragraph of the FAQ reads. ” During this time, we’ve made mistakes while at the same time have also seen artists and their work misidentified as problematic in a variety of ways.”
The FAQ notes that Wizards of the Coast requires artists, writers, and other creative professionals who contribute to either or both games to “refrain” from using GenAI tools when crafting products. To combat those that may be using GenAI, Wizards of the Coast disclosed that it was “regularly evaluating resources” that could be used to detect when someone used generative AI.
The company also elaborated on why it may not respond to fans’ claims that GenAI may have been used in its artwork. One reason is that its internal investigation found the results inconclusive or that it made an internal decision not to work with an artist who used GenAI going forward but not publicly commenting to protect “the privacy of one or more individuals.”
This is not the first time Wizards of the Coast has been at the center of controversy for its use of Generative AI for artistic purposes. Last December, the company issued a statement reaffirming its anti-AI art stance after fans speculated that some of the art in the upcoming 2024 Player’s Handbook for Magic: The Gathering was because a dwarf was missing one of the arms, which is why the company used the technology in some capacity. A few weeks after the statement, the company disclosed that it used “AI components” in Magic The Gathering’s marketing artwork.
GenAI has become a hot topic in various industries in the last year. While some see the benefits of GenAI and artificial intelligence, others oppose the use of AI, especially in creative professions, as some may use it to displace people from jobs or potential work.
Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.
Yesterday, Viz Media announced the English release of a Magic the Gathering manga series called “Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated.” The manga’s physical release, due later this fall, will also come with an exclusive Magic card.
Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated, written by Katsura Ise and drawn by Takuma Yakota, is an ongoing manga series that was first published in 2018, according to MyAnimeList. The series, which takes place in 1998, follows a junior high school student named Hajime Kanou who goofs off with his friends by playing Magic: The Gathering. This garners negative attention from the school’s top student and Hajime’s academic rival, Emi Sawatari, who scolds him for bringing Magic to school.
Announcement: Attention Magic: The Gathering fans! The original Japanese manga, “Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated. A Magic: The Gathering Manga,” with story by Katsura Ise, and art by Takuma Yakota, releases Fall 2024. Includes an exclusive card! pic.twitter.com/IVpEbr12ID
Their relationship takes a turn when Hajime discovers Emi is the best Magic player at their local card shop, thus propelling their budding relationship and potential romance over their shared love of the game. If you’re a fan of YuGiOh! — which coincidentally also takes place around the same year — Emi and Hajime’s relationship reads as the polar opposite of Yugi Muto and Seto Kaiba. That is unless you read their relationship as a slow-burn romance, too.
Now, Magic fans can look forward to upcoming video game collaborations with Final Fantasy and Marvel, as well as Destroy All Humans. They Can’t Be Regenerated and its yet-to-be-revealed Magic card to sweeten the deal.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
“Ouch, right in the review score. Well, I guess it’s warranted,” Pilestedt wrote. “Sorry everyone for how this all transpired. I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience. I just want to make great games!”
Ouch, right in the review score 😢🤕
Well, I guess it’s warranted. Sorry everyone for how this all transpired. I hope we will make it up and regain the trust by providing a continued great game experience.
Pilestedt’s apology follows a previous tweet in which the Helldivers 2 boss directed disgruntled players to PlayStation Support if they had any questions about account linking rather than reaching out to Arrowhead.
In its statement, Sony rationalized its new Helldivers 2 account linking requirement as a safety and security concern, saying, “Account linking plays a critical role in protecting our players and upholding the values of safety and security provided on PlayStation and PlayStation Studios games.”
According to Sony, “technical issues” were to blame for Helldivers 2’s account linking being temporarily optional on launch. Come June 4, all current Helldivers 2 players must link their accounts in order to continue playing the game.
Isaiah Colbert is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow them on Twitter @ShinEyeZehUhh.
