Dragon Age star Alix Wilton Regan has given her personal response to the backlash faced by last year’s Dragon Age: The Veilguard, and blamed the “mixed reactions” on people who “wanted to see the game fail, or wanted to see [BioWare] fail.”
The actor, who plays the Female Inquisitor in both Dragon Age: Inquisition and Dragon Age: The Veilguard, told IGN that she was “absolutely devastated” to see BioWare’s latest game fail to find a larger audience, despite mostly positive review scores from critics.
Speaking during a new interview discussing her many iconic video game characters to date — as well as her role in Microsoft’s upcoming Perfect Dark reboot — Wilton Regan said she had loved her time as BioWare’s Inquisitor, though did not believe the character would now return.
“I feel absolutely devastated for BioWare as a studio that they got such mixed reactions to the game,” Wilton Regan said of the response to The Veilguard. “I personally thought it was a really strong game. I thought it was just BioWare being more BioWare.
“I also think a lot of people kind of wanted to see it fail, or wanted to see [BioWare] fail, either because they’re just really bad people on the internet — of which there are unfortunately many, as we have discovered.”
At launch, The Veilguard was review-bombed online. Criticism of the game being “woke” centred on its inclusion of a non-binary companion character, and the ability for the player to choose to be transgender. On Steam, Dragon Age: The Veilguard now sits with a ‘Mixed’ player respose, with user-defined tags for the game describing it under “LGBTQ+” and “politics” labels.
“People were attacking the game before it was released,” Wilton Regan continued. “It’s ridiculous. How can you judge a game, a book, a film, a TV show before it’s actually released? You can’t. It’s an idiotic stance to take.”
“I only ever want to see the folks from BioWare thrive, because I adore them,” Wilton Regan concluded. “And whatever they go on to do next I have no doubt their talents will be richly rewarded. We’re really lucky we’ll get more gold from them in the future.”
A slimmed-down BioWare is now working on Mass Effect 5, which currently does not have a release date.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Warner Bros. has confirmed what Mortal Kombat 1 fans feared after the recent launch of the Definitive Edition: no new DLC characters or story chapters will be released for the game.
Mortal Kombat 1 has sold 5 million copies, with the franchise now up to 100 million. Mortal Kombat 11 became the best-selling game in the franchise by passing Mortal Kombat X’s nearly 11 million units sold worldwide soon after launch. By 2022, Mortal Kombat 11 had sold more than 15 million copies worldwide. Clearly, Mortal Kombat 1 has underperformed compared to previous games in the series.
In a tweet on the official Mortal Kombat social media account, Warner Bros. acknowledged the disappointment the news will cause players, “but our team at NetherRealm needs to shift focus to the next project in order to make it as great as we possibly can.”
Warner Bros. failed to say what this new project is, but current speculation points to Injustice 3, a continuation of NetherRealm’s DC fighting game series.
Here’s the statement in full:
We are hearing players’ requests for continued game support of Mortal Kombat 1, and, while we will continue to support Mortal Kombat 1 through balance adjustments and fixes, there will not be additional DLC characters or story chapters released from this point on.
We understand this will be disappointing for fans, but our team at NetherRealm needs to shift focus to the next project in order to make it as great as we possibly can.
March 2025’s release of the T-1000 guest character, which came a year-and-a-half after the release of Mortal Kombat 1 itself, now goes down as the game’s final major content drop. For context, in July 2021, NetherRealm announced it had started work on its next project (Mortal Kombat 1) and, as a result, there would be no further DLC for Mortal Kombat 11. That announcement came two years and three months after the release of the game. Today’s announcement comes one year and eight months after the release of Mortal Kombat 1.
Players are already bringing up prior comments from NetherRealm development chief Ed Boon, who had promised fans years of support. Indeed, many are now pointing to a September 2024 tweet from Boon, who at the time moved to reassure fans already concerned that the studio had moved onto its next game by saying: “NetherRealm is still fully committed to supporting Mortal Kombat 1 for a long time to come.”
What now for Mortal Kombat? Parent company Warner Bros. Discovery has indicated that it still believes the gory fighting game franchise has a future. In November, CEO David Zaslav said that on the games side of things, the company plans to double down on just four titles, one of which was Mortal Kombat. Movie adaptation Mortal Kombat 2 is due out later this year.
Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Hot off the heels of Palia, a great life sim that just consumed dozens of hours of my life, I actually can’t believe I’ve been sucked into yet another one only a few days later. With its witty writing and seemingly endless supply of charm, Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time has already stolen plenty of mine. The characters and story so far are both wonderfully goofy and much more substantial than I’m used to seeing in this genre, the RPG-like Life system of leveling up various jobs is really easy to get lost in, and it seems to have nailed the balance between day-in-the-life cozy activities and more action-packed exploration to the point where it’s really hard to predict what might happen next. I’m still pretty early on in what’s starting to look like quite a lengthy adventure, but I’m already head over heels for this delightfully light-hearted romp filled with talking birds and time-traveling dragons. There go my weekend plans.
Fantasy Life i is an interesting hodgepodge of chill game mechanics lovingly arranged into one killer mixtape that’s repeatedly surprised me thus far. One moment I’ll be mining for ore with a pickaxe to craft an iron ingot and think, “ah, okay. I get what this game is” – only to find myself walking through a time vortex moments later that leads to a prolonged open-world trek filled with combat against brightly colored monsters. Though that can be a little jarring at first, after a few hours I started to appreciate the way it keeps things fresh by enticing you to jump between its various attractions.
If I’m ever feeling a bit bored by helping villagers with their random requests, I can go run around a desert on the back of a camel in search of hidden treasure chests and fire-breathing lizards for a bit, or get myself chewed out by an entitled mimic. The thing that brings these disparate activities together is that they all have a low-impact vibe to them, one where I never felt the need to lean forward in my chair or worry about min-maxing my character’s loadout. It’s part life sim, part action-adventure RPG, all unified by its universally mellow tone.
I’m especially surprised by how quickly I started to care about its cast of characters, too. That could be Edward, the adventure-seeking archaeologist, Trip, the talking bird who loves to sass humans, or Rem, the musically-inclined princess who seems to enjoy slumming it up with us common folk. The humorous dialogue and larger-than-life personalities have made me chuckle a lot more than I usually do from life sims, and I am quite interested to learn more about the time-skipping plot I’ve found myself in the middle of.
It’s impressive just how much this goofy life sim does.
It’s both surprising and impressive just how much this goofy life sim does, and how much of that is almost immediately super engaging. Of course, it’s totally possible that some of that charm will wear off as I become more familiar with its system and get further into the grind. It could be that Fantasy Life i just has an incredibly strong opening, but even if that does turn out to be the case, I’ve really been enjoying my time so far and am feeling pretty good at its chances of holding my attention.
I’m still early on in my adventure, and have yet to try out the multiplayer features (which include both online and local co-op for up to four people), get into the later stages with any of the job paths, or finish more than a few chapters in the story. After what will almost definitely be a sleepless weekend dominated by shanking wolves and helping a merchant bear heal his bee wounds, I’ll have much more to say – but for now I’ve gotta go help this cat with his personal problems.
When the original Parks released in 2019, it quickly became a modern classic, thanks in large part to its gorgeous artwork celebrating the U.S. National Parks. See our review for details on that first edition. But Keymaster Games didn’t just slap a fresh coat of paint on the 2nd Edition and call it a day. Instead, it thoughtfully combined the base game with its expansions, streamlining the gameplay, updating the visuals, and introducing new features, all while preserving that cozy game feel.
The result is something that feels like both a sequel and a revision. Either way, the 2nd Edition of Parks is a great excuse to hit the trails, snap some photos, and fill your canteen all over again.
What’s in the Box
Like the original version, the second edition of Parks comes in a beautifully designed box packed with components that live up to its iconic design. Right on top, you’ll find a textured, high-quality rulebook that’s easy to follow and includes a QR code that links to a helpful video if you prefer to learn by watching.
While Parks is relatively straightforward to play, it includes a wide variety of components. Two log-shaped containers hold the game’s colorful wooden tokens, representing the resources you’ll collect while hiking the trail. Beneath those is a tri-fold game board with clearly marked spaces to guide you easily through setup. The game board has been completely redesigned and expanded, with an all-new permanent trail area, canteen tile drafting section, and more.
The real standout is the built-in storage tray at the bottom of the box, which is the best I’ve seen across the 60-plus board games I own. Everything has its place, from tokens and tiles to dice and cards, all packed efficiently to keep the game’s footprint compact, while making cleanup a breeze. The tray holds decks for the Parks, Gear, Passion, Ranger Teddy, and Volunteer Projects cards, along with solo reference cards, Season and Campsite tiles, Photo and Hiker tokens, Trail Site tiles, and more.
Each player gets a board featuring an empty backpack and water bottle, with clearly marked sections around the edges for organizing visited and reserved parks, purchased gear, and more. The Backpack holds up to 12 resources, while the water bottle has six spaces for Canteen tiles you can fill as you play.
One of the biggest updates in the 2nd Edition is the expanded card set, which now includes all 63 U.S. National Parks, up from 48 in the original. The cards feature all-new artwork and clean iconography that better matches the game’s updated, more colorful design. While some fans may miss the original illustrations from the Fifty-Nine Parks print series, the new art feels more cohesive and fits well with the rest of the game’s style. Each card includes the park’s name, founding date, and a short blurb about what makes it unique.
Rules and How It Plays
Gameplay in the second edition of Parks is a streamlined take on the original, incorporating elements from both expansions. The goal is simple: score the most points by hiking the trail, visiting parks, snapping photos, and completing optional objectives.
To set up, each player takes a pair of hikers and the matching player board. They also receive a random Canteen token, placed on their board, and a Campfire token flipped to its lit side if playing with more than three players. Each player is then dealt two Passion cards and chooses one to keep, discarding the other. Lastly, the First Hiker token is given to the designated starting player.
Gameplay in the second edition of Parks is a streamlined take on the original, incorporating elements from both expansions.
Passion cards provide small thematic goals to chase during the game, such as visiting parks with specific icons, using Wildlife tokens to take photos, or buying Gear from the item shop. Once completed, you can flip the card to choose one of two rewards: an ongoing effect that lasts the rest of the game, or an endgame bonus that adds extra points to your final score. Some Passions are easier to complete than others, and I usually leaned toward the endgame bonuses as those extra points were often the difference between winning and losing.
Each round in Parks takes place during one of three seasons: spring, summer, or fall. All three seasons are drawn randomly at the start of the game and each offers a unique bonus, such as rewarding players for collecting the most of a specific resource or visiting parks with certain icons. While spring and summer don’t grant any extra points, the fall season awards three bonus points to the winner, making it especially appealing. Players can choose to ignore these objectives, but they offer useful incentives if they align with your goals.
On their turn, players move one of their two hikers forward along the trail, collecting resources or performing the action on the Trail Site tile above the space they land on. Since you can only move forward toward Trail’s End, careful planning is key. Trail Site tiles can offer specific resources like sun, water, forest, and mountain; let you buy Gear from the item shop; allow you either to take a photo by exchanging any resource or add a token to your Canteen; roll the Trail Die for a random bonus; or trade any resource for a Wildlife token (which, fittingly, acts as a wild resource token). Every tile is shuffled each season to keep things fresh and unpredictable, except the Parks space, which is permanently located in the middle of the trail.
Landing on the Parks space lets you either reserve a park or visit one by paying its resource cost. If you have enough resources, you can even visit multiple parks on the same turn, making this space crucial for scoring points. Because of that, it’s often the most hotly-contested spot on the board. Thankfully, there’s no limit to how many parks you can reserve, and no penalty for not visiting them before the game ends. However, since you can’t reserve and visit in the same action, each choice on this space carries real weight.
Parks is ultimately a game about opportunity cost. Every move asks the question: What am I giving up by going here? Many Trail Sites offer one-time bonus resources, so players are racing to grab what they can before others beat them to it. Since each Trail Site is unique each season, and you can’t share a space with another player (including yourself) unless you use a lit campfire, every decision matters. You might skip ahead to grab a key resource or reach a specific site, but doing so means sacrificing everything you passed along the way, with no chance to go back until the following season.
Like many worker placement games, the real strategy in Parks comes from using both of your hikers in tandem to block opponents from collecting key resources or taking valuable actions. In higher player count games, the trail can get crowded fast, so refreshing your campfire to share spaces becomes essential. In lower player count games, there’s more room to breathe, allowing you to slow down and hit more spots along the trail. When a player reaches the Trail’s End, they choose one of three actions: take the Parks action, pay any resource to take a photo, or buy Gear. The first hiker to arrive at each space also gets a one-time bonus, adding an incentive to rush the trail. This constant push and pull between slowing down to gather resources and racing ahead for rewards is the real special sauce that makes Parks shine.
Parks is ultimately a game about opportunity cost. Every move asks the question: What am I giving up by going here?
Because your Backpack can only hold 12 resources, you need to manage your inventory carefully by spending resources when possible, or you risk having to discard valuable ones at the end of your turn. The Canteen, by contrast, offers flexible bonuses whenever you collect water. Instead of placing the water in your Backpack, you can slot it into a Canteen to gain a resource or perform an action, depending on what you’ve collected. Some tiles even grant powerful effects, like taking the important Parks action. Once used, Canteen bonuses remain unavailable until the next season, so timing matters. Overall, they’re a clever way to give players alternative paths to key actions and resources without relying solely on open trail spaces.
Another way to earn points on the trail is by taking photos. This is most commonly done by visiting a Trail Site or the Trail’s End space with a photo icon, where you can exchange any single resource to take a photo worth one point. The player with the most photos at the end of the game also earns bonus points, giving you a good reason to snap a few along the way. If you land on a space with the Shutterbug badge, you’ll claim the Shutterbug token, which lets you take a second photo each time you use the photo action, as long as you can pay for it. However, the token can be taken by other players, so make the most of it while it’s yours.
During your expedition, you’ll have chances to visit the Gear shop and purchase items to help you along the trail. Gear costs between one and three sun resources, depending on the effect. While Gear doesn’t directly earn you points, it offers light engine-building opportunities like gaining bonus resources at specific Trail Sites, filling your Canteen after certain actions, or refreshing your Campfire more often. That said, I found the Gear shop to be hit or miss, unless it directly benefits your overall gameplan. You’re usually better off saving your resources for visiting parks, since that’s where the real points are.
While Parks supports solo play and up to five players, I found it shines best with two or three players. However, the strategy feels much more cutthroat at two players (a cooperative board game, this is not). Regardless of player count, when only one player has hikers left on the trail, they must move both hikers to Trail’s End on their next turn. This rule keeps players from being too greedy with trying to hit every space along the way, as they risk being rushed and missing out on more valuable opportunities. In a two-player game, this is even more noticeable, since one player can jump to the end early and force the other to skip potential turns needed to catch up.
Once you have a few hikes under your belt, you can add optional modules to Parks to increase variety or raise the difficulty. The Camping mode introduces three tents to the trail, allowing you to choose from a pool of powerful bonuses. However, using a tent means you cannot collect resources or use the action at that Trail Site. Volunteer Projects add more challenge by introducing restrictions that players must follow, such as spending extra resources when visiting parks, limiting the number of Wildlife tokens you can hold, or only being allowed to visit parks you’ve already reserved.
Parks includes a full solo mode that pits you against Ranger Teddy, an automa made up of two sets of hikers that take actions by flipping cards to determine their movement. Your goal is to achieve the highest score possible, which adds plenty of replayability. While Ranger Teddy’s hikers don’t collect resources, purchase Gear, or visit parks directly, they discard those elements when landing on the corresponding spaces, effectively simulating the pressure of competing players. Because their movement is often unpredictable, you’ll need to stay on your toes in order to succeed. You can also add Ranger Teddy to multiplayer games to simulate more players on the trail and add some variety.
Even though S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition released on May 20 offering free “fully remastered and optimized” upgrades for all owners of the original trilogy, developer GSC Game World has been under siege by a review bomb campaign after players discovered the Russian voice acting and “Soviet-era” landmarks had been quietly removed.
S.T.A.L.K.E.R.: Legends of the Zone Trilogy – Enhanced Edition includes remastered versions of Shadow of Chornobyl (2007), Clear Sky (2008), and Call of Prypiat (2009) with upgraded visuals, next-gen console optimizations, and expanded mod support. However, shortly after release, all games plummeted to a “mostly negative” rating on Steam as players flooded the review section to complain about blurry visuals and register their dismay that the games were now “blurry, censored, and revised, [with] added advertisements.”
“So I own the originals and played them to death. If I get an enhanced edition I want to be excited when I boot it up, to see something different that makes we want to re-engage with the game. This isn’t it,” explained one player. “The graphics aren’t upgraded enough to get excited about, I have mixed feelings about stripping out the Russian references – honestly I see the original games as products of their history and although I understand the sensitivities of the developers I’m not sure whats to be gained by retconning them.
“So it’s free so I’ve nothing to complain about, but it’s not a huge step up from the original and to be honest, if you want an enhanced edition you can just mod the thing to your hearts content or play anomaly. GSC needed to do much more here and some cosmetic tweaking doesn’t really cut it.”
While not formally acknowledging the negative reviews, GSC has today posted an update and a patch that it says will fix crashes on unsupported PC hardware and some consoles, address save issues, and repair “missing geometry on several levels.”
“Stalkers, we care about your feedback and are working on fixing the most critical issues,” the team said. “We really want to make your comeback to the Zone special.” It then said it would “continue to work on improving the trilogy.”
The “missing geometry,” players believe, refers to the missing Soviet relics found across all three games. It’s not clear if GSC chose or was compelled to revise Soviet iconography, but PC Gamer was able to confirm that the monument/sign outside Chornobyl itself, which reads “ChAES in the name of VI Lenin,” had at least been deleted. All that was left was “the two concrete blocks it used to stand on.”
The update made no explicit mention of the missing audio or the blurry textures.
“THEY LISTENED! THEY LISTENED! THEY LISTENED!” cried one delighted player on Reddit. “EE still has some issues but goddamn it, so glad they actually work on fixing the game and do not ignore the feedback.”
One player said: “That’s a million time[s] better solution than just removing it without a trace. That’s both applauding the current decommunization efforts while not censoring anything that existed before it.”
“This is a good first step. Hopefully we see some other fixes to notable things like the popular blur issue and items not appearing in marked stashes,” added another.
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.
Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time is out, and it’s already quite popular. In light of this, Level-5 has announced some free DLC is on the way, in recognition of the new Fantasy Life’s positive reception.
Announced on the Level-5 site, the developer has confirmed free DLC is coming to Fantasy Life i. While no release date is set yet, the team is teasing some new recipes, as well as new content to “update the world” (via Gematsu). It will also apparently allow players to utilize high-rarity weapons obtained from Treasure Groves and other sources.
Level-5’s latest sits at a ‘Very Positive’ user review rating on Steam at the moment with over 3,000 reviews, and given the early confirmation of free DLC, it seems like the new game has certainly taken off.
It feels like a solid win for Level-5, even after the departure of Keiji Inafune last year to “reassess and restructure” the project. Business operations of Level-5 Comcept were transferred to the parent company after Inafune left. In a post from March 2025, Level-5 boss Akihiro Hino described Inafune’s departure as an “unexpected challenge.”
Fantasy Life i has taken off though, which hopefully bodes well for the rest of Level-5’s roster of upcoming games. The studio announced a slew of games in a February 2023 Nintendo Direct, and while some have released, others are still in development. The yet-to-be-released games include some heavy hitters, like futuristic detective RPG DecaPolice and the next installment in the Professor Layton series, Professor Layton and the New World of Steam.
While we wait to see when and how those games land, at least Fantasy Life i: The Girl Who Steals Time players have some more chill life updates to look forward to. If you’re currently playing Fantasy Life i, make sure to head over to our Fantasy Life i Gift Codes hub, where we’re cataloguing all the Gift Codes and how to redeem them for some in-game goodies.
Elden Ring Nightreign will soon let players drop into the shifting lands of Limveld, exploring and fighting for survival either solo or in groups of three. For the duos out there though, it sounds like you’ll need to be open to a third.
In IGN’s interview with Elden Ring Nightreign director Junya Ishizaki, the Nightreign lead discussed the choice to lean on solos and trios as the core experience options. When asked why there’s no option for a pair of players to drop in together without a matchmade third player, Ishizaki said it was overlooked.
“The simple answer is that this is simply something that was overlooked during development as just a two-player option, so we’re very sorry about that,” said Ishizaki. “As we said before, we set out to make this a multiplayer co-op game for three players, balanced for three players, so that was the main focus and it’s at the core of Nightreign.
“Of course, I myself as a player understand that and often want times where I’m just playing myself, so this is something that we considered from the start,” Ishizaki continued. “And so we did put a lot of effort into creating this experience that was playable for solo players in as much as the rules and new systems allowed. So in putting all our efforts into that aspect, we kind of overlooked and neglected the duos aspect, but this is something that we are looking at and considering for post-launch support as well.”
If you’re playing solo, it does sound like Elden Ring Nightreign takes that into account. Ishizaki said the parameters of Elden Ring Nightreign “adjust dynamically depending on the number of players in that session,” so lone wolves shouldn’t be too overwhelmed in single-player.
You’ll have to find and locate some self-revive options, which are incorporated for those opting for single-player. And if you’re playing trios, well, that’s apparently what Elden Ring Nightreign is built around. Whether duos support shows up or not, having an extra hand around can’t hurt against some of the fearsome bosses waiting in Nightreign.
Elden Ring Nightreign is out on May 30, 2025 for PC, PlayStation 4 and 5, and Xbox One and Series X and S.
There’s something magical about slicing open the seal on a fresh Pokémon TCG box. That quiet shfffft as the plastic slides away, the weight of a booster box in your hands, and the flicker of hope as each pack crinkles open. And after unboxing everything myself, Pokémon TCG: Scarlet & Violet’s latest expansion, Destined Rivals, truly gets it.
After getting my hands on a full spread of Destined Rivals products early, thanks to The Pokémon Company, it was obvious from the start that this isn’t just another Scarlet and Violet set. The nostalgia hits hard, and the artwork is genuinely stunning.
Build and Battle Box
I kicked things off with the Build and Battle Box, which comes with four booster packs, a 40-card semi-constructed deck, and one of four stamped promo cards. Mine came with Team Rocket’s Tyranitar which immediately set the tone. That promo looks fantastic in foil.
From the four booster packs, I managed to pull an Illustration Rare and one ex card. The Tyranitar holo alone had me wishing I could clone it three more times. Putting together a quick deck using the included cards and a few pulls was fun, which says a lot for a product that’s often treated like a warm-up act.
Booster Bundle
This was my favorite product to open. The Booster Bundle packs in six booster packs and no fluff, and I hit gold with my favorite card of the set. I pulled Ethan’s Typhlosion IR from this bundle. Honestly? If I had stopped opening packs here, I’d have been perfectly happy.
Both cards felt like a reminder of how much thought and care has gone into the set’s design. And when you hit cards like that back-to-back, it’s tough not to start scrambling for more bundles just to see what else you might get.
Booster Box
There’s just something satisfying about cracking into a full Booster Box, and this one didn’t disappoint. Inside the 36 packs, I pulled eight ex cards, six Illustration Rares, one Special Illustration Rare, and one Gold Rare. That’s 16 hits that didn’t feel like filler.
Alongside the Ethan pulls mentioned above, I pulled Ethan’s Ho-Oh ex Gold rare, Arven’s Mabosstiff ex SIR and Team Rocket’s Crobat ex SR , both of which immediately got me thinking about new deck builds. The Mabosstiff ex artwork alone is enough to make me want to run midrange decks again, and Crobat looks like it was born for a damage spread archetype.
Team Rocket’s Houndoom IR also showed up late in the box, and it felt like the perfect closer. It’s aggressive, looks like it could punch a hole through your binder, and made me actually stop and appreciate an Illustration Rare that isn’t trying to be too cute.
Elite Trainer Box
Next was the Elite Trainer Box, with its slick red and black Team Rocket design that looks even better in person. Inside you’ll find nine booster packs, Rocket’s Wobbuffet promo card, a set of sleeves, dice, and all the other trimmings you’d expect.
Unfortunately the pulls were a bust for me. That’s the way it goes sometimes, but I will say the box design might be one of my favorites in recent memory. It feels like it was made for fans who grew up with Gen II and still have their Rocket’s Zapdos somewhere in a binder. Even when the hits don’t come, it still feels like a collector’s piece.
Typically, these drops occur around 8 AM PT / 11 AM ET, so get your Best Buy app ready and signed in, and add the ETB to your wishlist ASAP.
So should you pick it up? In my opinion, yes. If you’re a collector, a deck builder, or just someone who misses the feeling of opening packs that actually feel like they’re worth something, this is the set for you.
Get the Booster Box if you want the full ride. Grab a Booster Bundle if you’re chasing an IR like I was. Even the Build and Battle Box makes a solid case for itself. Just don’t be surprised if one product turns into three. This set has a habit of pulling you in, pack by pack.
Final Thoughts
Destined Rivals is the kind of set that doesn’t just lean on nostalgia, it uses it as a foundation and builds something new. The return of Trainer’s Pokémon opens up all sorts of creative deckbuilding potential. You’re not just building a deck around a type anymore.
You’re building it around a character. And for once, the common cards feel like they belong. I’m finding myself looking at every card in the pack instead of instantly bulk-sorting anything without a foil.
And the artwork. I know everyone says this every time a new set drops, but I actually mean it. The card illustrations in this set are more expressive, more dynamic, and just plain more fun to look at. That’s something I didn’t realize I was missing until I opened 40-plus packs and found myself lingering on commons. Obviously my favorite box opening experience was with the booster box, absolute mad scenes.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
Square Enix has dropped an update for Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, improving boat travel speed, critical hit rates and abilities, and introducing a new shortcut button that lets you map spells and abilities to specific buttons.
As detailed on Steam, update Ver. 1.2.0.0 specifically addresses issues with three key areas: traversal, vocations, and battle. For the former, Square Enix said it had increased the movement speed when travelling by boat or using Ramia, as well as ensured that if you open the menu while travelling, you won’t see your travel speed continually reset every time.
You’ll also find that critical hit rates for the Hero and Martial Artist have been increased, and The Hero’s Falcon Slash and Gigaslash abilities, as well as The Warrior’s Cutting Edge ability, have been buffed to be “more powerful,” too.
Perhaps most notably, battles have been refreshed as well, and a limit placed on the number of times some monsters can keep spamming the same attacks in the same “turn.” Defence has been lowered for all monsters bar metal ones, although adjustments have also been made to make it a little trickier for both enemies and your squad to be “successively afflicted” with the same status ailments.
Here’s the full list of changes and improvements:
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake update Ver. 1.2.0.0
Traversal
The movement speed when travelling by boat or using Ramia has been increased.
Adjustments have been made to avoid boat travel speed being reset by opening the menu or getting into a battle while travelling by boat.
A feature has been added whereby pressing the menu button while flying with Ramia allows the player to switch between automatic and manual flight modes.
Vocations
Critical hit rates for the Hero and Martial Artist have been increased.
The Hero’s Falcon Slash and Gigaslash abilities have been made more powerful.
The Warrior’s Cutting Edge ability has been made more powerful.
The Priest can now equip the Duplic Hat.
The Monster Wrangler’s Monster Pile-On ability has been changed to have reduced power until all friendly monsters have been found, and to carry out a random number of attacks between 3 and 5.
The amount of MP used by the Monster Wrangler ability Wild Side has been changed to 30.
Battle
A limit has been placed on the number of times that some monsters can perform certain actions within one turn.
Some monsters have been adjusted so that they no longer use Defending Champion in the next turn after they become the last remaining monster.
The status-ailment resistance of boss monsters has been increased for Draconian Quest difficulty.
Adjustments have been made to make it more difficult for both enemies and party members to be successively afflicted with the same status ailments.
Some monsters (Metal Chimaera and Hardy Hand) now yield more experience points when defeated.
Defence has been lowered for all monsters except for metal monsters.
Minor adjustments have been made to the way that damage is dealt.
Miscellaneous
Once the Mini Medal Manor has been visited, it will be added to the list of Zoom destinations.
A new “short-cut button” feature has been added that allows spells and abilities to be assigned to specific buttons. For more information, please refer to Traveller’s Tips in-game.
In the Temple of Trials, the number of Elfin Elixirs required to be handed over to the guard has been changed to 10.
A treasure chest has been added to the Temple of Trials, allowing players to acquire one more Gringham Whip.
Fixed a bug whereby levelling up after using the Seed of Life or Seed of Magic items would cause the status increase value to be calculated twice.
Adjustments have been made so that if trophies and achievements have not been acquired correctly, selecting Misc. > Info in the menu allows some of them to be reacquired.
Miscellaneous fixes for minor bugs.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake lets you experience the chronological beginning of the Erdrick Trilogy storyline in this remake of the original RPG classic. We enjoyed our time with Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake, awarding it an impressive 9/10 in our review, writing: “Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is a shining example of how to remake a classic RPG and a brilliant reminder of why the original is an essential work.”
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.
Just days after losing its two-year-old objection to Microsoft’s acquisition of Activision Blizzard, the U.S.’s Federal Trade Commission (FTC) has officially dropped its case.
The FTC’s appeal could have presented a late roadblock to continuing. However, as reported by The Verge, the Commission has now dismissed its complaint entirely, stating in a brief filing issued on May 22: “The Commission has determined that the public interest is best served by dismissing the administrative litigation in this case.”
“On May 7, 2025, the Ninth Circuit affirmed the decision of the United States District Court for the Northern District of California, FTC v. Microsoft Corp. […] denying the Commission’s application for a preliminary injunction to block the acquisition of Activision Blizzard, Inc. by Microsoft Corp.
“Accordingly, it is hereby ordered that the Complaint in this matter be, and it hereby is, Dismissed.”
For a timeline of all of Microsoft’s struggles with finalizing its Activision Blizzard acquisition, you can click here.
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.
