A former PlayStation narrative director is petitioning the creators of the Until Dawn movie to credit the game’s writers in the film.
As spotted by Eurogamer, Kim MacAskill’s petition is “calling upon Sony, a leader in the gaming world, to set a precedent for change by revising the Until Dawn credits” by “asking for them to revise their approach to IP crediting, particularly in transmedia adaptations.”
“I’ve just left Until Dawn where the film director, writers, etc, were all credited, but instead of [Sony] mentioning the leading game dev(s) who created this ICONIC game you’re clearly proud of, [Sony] just wrapped it as ‘based on the Sony game’,” MacAskill wrote.
“They spent years breaking their brains to make something incredible, and the world DESERVES to know their names… instead… No credit. No thanks. No honor.”
MacAskill went into more detail on a LinkedIn post, asking what the difference was between HBO’s adaptation of Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us — which credits both the studio itself and Neil Druckmann as both writer and director — and the Until Dawn movie.
The director said Sony execs “firmly told” her that “the IP I personally created would NEVER be credited to me as I was salaried (no royalties, no control, no ownership, no acknowledgement)”, addressing Sony directly with: “I am struggling with the difference between Neil Druckmann’s favor and that of others in your company.”
The creative director said that when she enquired about the rights to the intellectual property she created while working for Sony, a company rep told her the megacorp “understood” her position but “this is not something that [Sony] can do,” and that it was “nothing personal” — “this is not specifically for you, but this is completely firm-wide.”
“All I wanted was to be credited and to potentially have enough ownership for adaptation,” she added.
“I am asking for [Sony] to revise their approach to IP crediting, particularly in transmedia adaptations,” the director wrote on the petition. “Providing an executive producer credit or acknowledgment equivalent would honor those creators whose visions and passion have given birth to these incredible stories and design, proving transformational in the entertainment landscape.
“Let’s advocate not only for the Until Dawn creators but for the integrity of the industry. By ensuring that creative voices are properly recognized, we can continue to inspire future generations of creators who dare to dream beyond current constraints. Sign this petition to urge Sony… and stand with all game creators… demanding well-deserved recognition in transmedia narratives.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
It looks like one of the PlayStation Plus games for May 2025 has leaked.
While nothing is confirmed by Sony yet, rumor has it teen slasher horror romp Until Dawn will be a free download for PlayStation players in May. Although the key art certainly suggests it’s the Until Dawn Remastered that’s coming, rather than the 2014 original, it’s not entirely clear; we’ll confirm just as soon as we know for sure.
PlayStation Plus is an online gaming service for PlayStation platforms that includes free monthly games, limited-time trials, online multiplayer, and member-exclusive discounts. It also includes a catalog of hundreds of current and classic games for Extra and Premium members, although the monthly free games are available to all players, regardless of their subscription tier.
As speculated by some members of the PlayStation subreddit (thanks, PushSquare), this could be a means of promoting the new Until Dawn movie, which released just ahead of the weekend. It didn’t particularly impress us; we awarded it 5/10, writing in IGN’s Until Dawn movie review: “Until Dawn is more disappointing than deadly, leaving all the promise of the horror game behind for a jumble of horror-movie re-creations.”
That’s the same score we awarded the 2024 remaster, calling the game an “overpriced and under-featured remake that seems less like a must-have bit of moonlit murder and something closer to daylight robbery” in IGN’s Until Dawn Remastered review. Supermassive’s 2015 original fared much better, getting a 7.5/10 from us.
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
The following article contains spoilers for The Last of Us season 2, episode 3.
This week’s episode of The Last of Us takes a moment to grieve and breathe after last week’s showstopper. It also takes a little detour from the game; much of this episode depicts the reaction of Jackson’s people to the events they’ve just suffered, and their vote on if they should pursue Abby or not. This is all original material for the show, and so there’s actually very few scenes in this episode that are taken straight from the game.
There are four key sequences from this episode that are recreations of moments from the game, and here we’ve compared them against the original source material, analysing what’s changed and what’s stayed the same. You can see both versions in the video above, or read on below for our written explanations.
Joel’s House
Following the harrowing murder of Joel in episode 2, Ellie visits her deceased father-figure’s house to mourn. As in the game, the front yard is covered in flowers left by the residents of Jackson. Unlike the game, though, Ellie enters alone rather than accompanied by Dina.
The show’s version of Joel’s house features many of the same props that decorated this location in the game, including his workshop room full of carved animals. In Joel’s bedroom, the bed linen is the same blue and white sheets. More importantly there’s the same red box on the bed that contains his signature items: the broken watch and his revolver. Ellie takes these and holsters the revolver in the waistband of her jeans, just as she does in the game.
Tommy’s Plans
The need for revenge begins to rise when Ellie talks to Tommy about what happened. While the broad strokes of this scene are the same in both show and game, particularly in tone, the actual setting and words are not recreated one-to-one. In both versions Ellie is angry and frustrated that Tommy wants to be more sensible about their next move, and so tonally the scenes match. However, where in the game this conversation takes place in a quiet, private room between just the two of them, in the show it’s conducted out in the open with Dina present.
In terms of dialogue there are close matches – both versions of Ellie say that Joel “would be halfway to Seattle by now” if the situation was reversed. Both versions of Tommy also note that Jackson would be left vulnerable, although in the show this is a clear reference to the prior episode’s horde attack rather than the game’s more general assessment. In both scenarios Tommy says it’s ultimately up to Maria as to if they get to hunt down Abby, but in the show he says that it will need to go to a full town vote, while the game version says he expects there will be “folks she can spare”.
The Ride to Seattle
Ellie and Dina head out to Seattle on horseback in search of Abby and her group. In both versions Dina asks Ellie to recall the first person she killed, and Ellie proceeds to explain how she saved Joel from a bandit in the first game/season. While the show’s dialogue is not an exact match to the game’s script, the details are largely the same – Joel was attacked and Ellie pulled the trigger to save him. The conversation is longer in the game, however, as Dina reciprocates with her own story of her first kill.
Later, the pair discover an overgrown car, which they consider a sign that they’re finally close to Seattle. This is, again, broadly similar to a moment from the game, even if the dialogue line is not a one-to-one match.
6 out of 10
Later in the episode we see Ellie and Dina camped out in a tent. Before lights out, Dina asks Ellie a question: how would she rate their kiss at the dance out of 10? This moment is a recreation of a scene from the game, but the timing and content of this conversation is notably different to the original game version.
In the game, Dina asks Ellie to rate the kiss while they are smoking marijuana at Eugene’s weed den. As we know from last week’s episode, this doesn’t happen in the show since it is Jesse, not Dina, who accompanies Ellie to Eugene’s den. It’s not just the time and location of this exchange that is altered, though. In the show, Ellie says that she’d rate the kiss a six, something that Dina is playfully upset about. In the game, it’s flipped – Ellie hesitates to answer, and so Dina says she’d score it a “solid six”. The two interpretations showcase very different dynamics; Dina in the game is much more confident and knows how to pull Ellie’s strings – she enjoys teasing her. Dina in the show, meanwhile, is depicted as more “teenage” in her approach, which emphasises the “young girls in the apocalypse” element of their love story.
The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion Remastered is set in Cyrodiil, the province in Tamriel home to the Imperial Empire. It is a fantasy setting packed with enough quests to keep even the most dedicated adventurer busy for hundreds of hours. But that hasn’t stopped some from probing the invisible barrier of its border for cracks — and even exploring the regions beyond.
Over the weekend, redditor GnoblinXD recounted their journey through Cyrodiil’s border and into Valenwood, Tamriel’s southwestern province and home to the Bosmer, or Wood Elves, and next door Elsweyr, a region featured in The Elder Scrolls Online. GnoblinXD found they were able to move through the invisible barrier set in place to prevent this sort of thing, and, from there, simply jumped their way across the river and up the cliff face in classic The Elder Scrolls fashion.
“I explored a bit and was surprised to find basically the whole landmass of the map was there, even if not detailed ofc,” GnoblinXD said.
Valenwood itself is a barren area, devoid of life, cities, NPCs, or even trees. There are a number of graphics and environmental issues GnoblinXD ran into while exploring here, which you’d expect given the developers of Oblivion Remastered never intended it to be explored in the first place. GnoblinXD tried to reach what they believe to be the Summerset Isles west of Valenwood, but fell afoul of the void. Reloading from saves set outside the bounds of Cyrodiil do not appear to work, forcing GnoblinXD to restart inside its borders.
If you want details, GnoblinXD uploaded a video, below, showing exactly how to get into Valenwood via this new border-breaking discovery.
Undeterred, GnoblinXD later uploaded images of their journey to Hammerfell, the province in the west of Tamriel rumored to be the setting of the upcoming The Elder Scrolls VI.
Bethesda has remained tight-lipped on where the next brand new The Elder Scrolls game will take place. All we have to go on is the game’s 36-second announcement teaser, which presents a towering stretch of mountains and a picturesque coastline overlooking a vast ocean. The prevailing theory is that the sequel will let players loose in Hammerfell – the central setting of The Elder Scrolls 2: Daggerfall and The Elder Scrolls Adventures: Redguard, as well as a visitable location in The Elder Scrolls Online. With tropical forests, harsh mountains and scenic coastal cities, Hammerfell’s depictions in previous Elder Scrolls games seem to align with the teaser, hinting that we may be set to explore the Redguards’ homeland once again.
To get to Hammerfell, GnoblinXD passed the southern Valenwood gap and walked around the port city of Anvil, the westernmost city in Cyrodiil, and up towards Hammerfell.
“After many an hour spent searching, I finally found my way to the other side of Cyrodiil’s northern border!” GnoblinXD said. “The region seems vast. Much bigger than the Valenwood/Elsweyr area. The landmass stretches way beyond render-distance, so who knows how far it goes… Likely there is nothing here, but I’m intrigued nonetheless.”
Now here’s where things get really interesting. GnoblinXD tried to find the coastline from the The Elder Scrolls VI teaser, walking west towards where that area would be in-game, but ended up falling off the edge of the map (“I didn’t die, but now I’m stuck in the backrooms of Oblivion, lol.”).
Perhaps GnoblinXD will eventually be able to find that area, or perhaps another player will manage it. Either way, the challenge is set for a glimpse at what may end up being the setting of one of the most-anticipated video games ever.
“I got here using no mods, glitches or console commands, my game is entirely vanilla,” GnoblinXD insisted. “Oh, and it’s kind of funny that Hammerfell seems thoroughly covered in forests while Valenwood had no trees at all, lol.
“Anyway, time for me to do some exploring, might update more later :)”
And so they did, this time pictures of a journey into the aforementioned Elsweyr. Elsweyr is of course home to the Khajiit, the playable bestial and feline race feature in all the main The Elder Scrolls games so far.
What’s brilliant about this out of bounds area is that from within it you can see what very much looks like The Throat of the World, the highest mountain of Tamriel and perhaps the most iconic location in The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim. It is here that the Dragonborn climbs the Seven Thousand Steps to the ancient monastery of High Hrothgar, where the order of the Greybeards dwells, and learns from them Shouts and speaks with the dragon, Paarthurnax.
That’s right, you can go to Skyrim in Oblivion Remastered, but you can’t actually travel far enough in to get to The Throat of the World or see any sign of life.
This is so cool. If you go to the edge of the map in Oblivion Remastered, you can see Skyrim’s tallest mountain, The Throat of the World, off in the distance. This was not in the original game pic.twitter.com/oilOVpeuXF
“Much like Valenwood, Elsweyr is quite barren once you leave the border area with Cyrodiil,” GnoblinXD explained. “Unlike Valenwood, however, I suppose the lack of flora and fauna is somewhat more lore-accurate. With that said I found neither cats nor deserts, unfortunately, and most heartbreaking of all, no Moon Sugar 🙁
“I ran around a bit looking for anything of interest, taking some pictures along the way. I decided to see how far south you could go. Well, it turns out you can go quite far. After reaching and going beyond the southern edge of Elsweyr, there seemed only to be endless sea, so I decided to head east towards Black Marsh instead.
“And, oh boy, Black Marsh is definitely… uh… Unique, let’s say. I might make a post about it at some point if people want to see. I didn’t see how far east I could go, but very interestingly there is a HUGE landmass beyond the far eastern edge of the map.”
GnoblinXD is still mid-journey outside Cyrodiil, and may uncover even more areas to explore and famous landmarks looming over the horizon. They managed to find their way to both the Morrowind and Skyrim side of the border, but the walkable area doesn’t extend far. “So no selfies from the Throat of The World, unfortunately :(“ GnoblinXD said. However, after their initial post blew up on reddit (19,000 upvotes and counting), it seems others may make discoveries of their own. And so it has proven. “Went to Hammerfell a game early lol,” said X / Twitter user @Mar_Animation.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
The weekend is officially here, and we’ve rounded up the best deals you can find! Discover the best deals for April 20 below:
11th Gen iPad for $299
First up, you can save $50 off the newest iPad. Powered by the A16, the newest 11th-generation iPad is an exceptional addition to any workspace. You can use this device with both Apple Pencil and Magic Keyboard Folio to make the most out of it without having to go for the iPad Air or iPad Pro.
Visions of Mana for $34.99
Visions of Mana released at the end of August, and it’s available on sale for the first time this weekend. This is the first new Mana game in almost two decades, starring a cast of characters on a quest to save the world. In our 8/10 review, we stated, “Visions of Mana finally brings the long-dormant classic RPG series into the modern age, looking great and playing even better thanks to multi-layered class and skill systems that interact in clever ways.”
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition for $49.99
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition brings the long-requested Wii U game to Nintendo Switch with numerous quality-of-life updates and features. There’s also even an added epilogue story chapter with a new ending for the game, which likely will directly lead into the future of the series. With a soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano and a massive world to explore, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a game you can easily spend hundreds of hours in.
Razer Huntsman V2 TKL for $74.99
Best Buy has the Razer Huntsman V2 TKL Mechanical Keyboard for just $74.99 today. This keyboard features clicky optical switches that feel much lighter than most other mechanical switches out there, as you can get up to true 8000Hz polling rate for lower input latency. The Huntsman V2 TKL features doubleshot PBT caps, which are more durable and sturdy to ensure longer life. Another key offering of this keyboard is the detachable USB-C cable, so you won’t need to worry about wrapping your cable around when moving.
Persona 5 + Persona 5 Royal: Official Design Works for $57.31
If you’re a fan of Persona 5, this is the ultimate item for you. This Official Design Works contains 544 pages of artwork across both Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. You’ll find character illustrations, promotional art, rough concepts, detailed creator commentary, and even an interview with Shigenori Soejima.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 for $30
You can score Capcom’s massive RPG for just $30 this weekend at Amazon. We gave the game an 8/10 in our review, stating, “It is a retelling and reimplementation of all of those wonderful ideas from the 2012 cult-classic, including an awesome dynamic world and some of the best combat in the genre that integrates a subtle but amazingly complex physics system.”
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for $32.99
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is $32.99 at Woot right now, making this the lowest we’ve ever seen the RPG. The massive adventure across the planet to track Sephiroth was one of the biggest games of 2024, and it’s absolutely a must-play game. A 40+ hour main story awaits, with over 35 side quests available after you clear the story.
Kiki’s Delivery Service Film Comic: All-in-One Edition
Studio Ghibli has produced many of the most beloved anime films ever, and Kiki’s Delivery Service is a prime example. If you wish to experience this film in a new way, the Kiki’s Delivery Service Film Comic: All-in-One Edition is a great way to do so! This hardcover book contains the entire film across 584 pages – perfect for any Ghibli fan.
Resident Evil 3 for $19.93
You can save $10 off the PS5 version of Resident Evil 3 this weekend at Amazon. In our 9/10 review, we wrote, “Resident Evil 3 is a wonderful continuation of Capcom’s latest remake efforts. Although its just-okay multiplayer mode falls short of the bar set by its magnificent single-player campaign, the latter does such a good job at balancing 2020 gameplay and a classic Resident Evil tone that I recommend it without reservations.”
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii for $49.99
The latest Like a Dragon game stars everyone’s favorite ex-yakuza, Goro Majima, on an adventure to sail the seas as a pirate. When Majima wakes up unable to remember anything about himself, he embarks on a quest to regain his memories, and of course, in true Like a Dragon fashion, things get crazy. This is the lowest we’ve seen this game so far, so be sure to pick up a copy while you can.
Star Wars Outlaws Limited Edition for $29.12
Finally, Star Wars Outlaws for Xbox Series X is on sale for $29.12 at Amazon. We gave the game a 7/10 in our review, writing, “Star Wars Outlaws is a fun intergalactic heist adventure with great exploration, but it’s hindered by simple stealth, repetitive combat, and a few too many bugs at launch.”
The weekend is officially here, and we’ve rounded up the best deals you can find! Discover the best deals for April 20 below:
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition for $49.99
Xenoblade Chronicles X: Definitive Edition brings the long-requested Wii U game to Nintendo Switch with numerous quality-of-life updates and features. There’s also even an added epilogue story chapter with a new ending for the game, which likely will directly lead into the future of the series. With a soundtrack by Hiroyuki Sawano and a massive world to explore, Xenoblade Chronicles X is a game you can easily spend hundreds of hours in.
Razer Huntsman V2 TKL for $74.99
Best Buy has the Razer Huntsman V2 TKL Mechanical Keyboard for just $74.99 today. This keyboard features clicky optical switches that feel much lighter than most other mechanical switches out there, as you can get up to true 8000Hz polling rate for lower input latency. The Huntsman V2 TKL features doubleshot PBT caps, which are more durable and sturdy to ensure longer life. Another key offering of this keyboard is the detachable USB-C cable, so you won’t need to worry about wrapping your cable around when moving.
Persona 5 + Persona 5 Royal: Official Design Works for $57.31
If you’re a fan of Persona 5, this is the ultimate item for you. This Official Design Works contains 544 pages of artwork across both Persona 5 and Persona 5 Royal. You’ll find character illustrations, promotional art, rough concepts, detailed creator commentary, and even an interview with Shigenori Soejima.
Dragon’s Dogma 2 for $30
You can score Capcom’s massive RPG for just $30 this weekend at Amazon. We gave the game an 8/10 in our review, stating, “It is a retelling and reimplementation of all of those wonderful ideas from the 2012 cult-classic, including an awesome dynamic world and some of the best combat in the genre that integrates a subtle but amazingly complex physics system.”
Resident Evil 3 for $19.93
You can save $10 off the PS5 version of Resident Evil 3 this weekend at Amazon. In our 9/10 review, we wrote, “Resident Evil 3 is a wonderful continuation of Capcom’s latest remake efforts. Although its just-okay multiplayer mode falls short of the bar set by its magnificent single-player campaign, the latter does such a good job at balancing 2020 gameplay and a classic Resident Evil tone that I recommend it without reservations.”
Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii for $49.99
The latest Like a Dragon game stars everyone’s favorite ex-yakuza, Goro Majima, on an adventure to sail the seas as a pirate. When Majima wakes up unable to remember anything about himself, he embarks on a quest to regain his memories, and of course, in true Like a Dragon fashion, things get crazy. This is the lowest we’ve seen this game so far, so be sure to pick up a copy while you can.
Star Wars Outlaws Limited Edition for $29.12
Finally, Star Wars Outlaws for Xbox Series X is on sale for $29.12 at Amazon. We gave the game a 7/10 in our review, writing, “Star Wars Outlaws is a fun intergalactic heist adventure with great exploration, but it’s hindered by simple stealth, repetitive combat, and a few too many bugs at launch.”
This article contains spoilers for the Until Dawn movie.
I’ve been racking my brain over the conundrum that is adapting Until Dawn. Supermassive Games’ deconstruction of horror cinema through choice-based butterfly effect mechanics is essentially a 10-hour playable movie—a damn fine one written by indie horror staples Larry Fessenden and Graham Reznick—so a film adaptation couldn’t just be the same thing. But a film that isn’t indebted to the game and its “choose your own adventure” method doesn’t feel appropriate either. Sony’s desire to release an Until Dawn adaptation seemed misguided upon announcement, and after viewing the film, it’s still a headscratcher.
That’s because David F. Sandberg’s Until Dawn movie betrays the core hook of Supermassive’s Until Dawn.
Writers Gary Dauberman and Blair Butler chose to adapt Until Dawn as its title reads. In this case, “Until Dawn” translates into a time-loop-like horror scenario where five young adults find themselves hunted by various baddies, and they only escape if they can survive … until dawn. Should anyone die, they’ll wake once a gigantic hourglass fixed to an ominous, skull-adorned mount drops its last grain of sand. Die enough times, and you become a wendigo lost to Dr. Alan J. Hill’s delirious experiment. The core impetus of a missing sibling is still there—Ella Rubin’s protagonist, Clover, is hunting for her missing sister—but otherwise, you’re not on Blackwood Mountain aka Mount Washington (er…yet), and certainly not similarly punished for choices that alter narrative paths.
That’s… not Until Dawn.
Death Shouldn’t Be An Afterthought
In the game, death matters. It matters so much, in fact, that killing a single character sends ripple effects felt throughout the remaining storylines. There’s no regeneration or second chances. Like, famously. That’s the point of Until Dawn. The stakes are so astronomically high, the slightest nervous twitch of your controller during a “stay still” Quicktime event could doom multiple characters. Dauberman and Butler fail to translate the nerve-wracking experience of playing Until Dawn, landing on quite the opposite concept.
If anything, Until Dawn is a beginner’s attempt at Cabin in the Woods. Glore Valley is drenched by a thunderstorm, except for a perfect circle of sunshine over the welcome center location, like some all-powerful horror movie god is controlling the rain—once again resembling Cabin in the Woods in terms of the “influencing environment” effect. The all-seeing overlord (Dr. Hill), the meta nature of characters joking about horror movie rules, and the different creatures unleashed each rewind? Despite countless plot configurations, the game’s powerful storytelling is far superior to this random assortment of scary scenes tied to an hourglass clock. The game pulls players deeper into a web of intrigue, where the movie’s Mad Libs nature drags viewers through a jumbled rotation of clowns-and-kooks randomness.
Points are awarded for at least using wendigos. In the game, Fessenden’s “Stranger” character reveals that a 1952 mining cave-in led to cannibalism, and said cannibals turned into wendigos that now haunt Blackwood. Here, Clover and her friends start turning into wendigos due to Dr. Hill’s experiments on Glore Valley from his sanatorium hideout (resembling his dingy in-game office). It’s not a one-for-one translation, nor does it need to be, but the wendigos are overshadowed by a slasher villain vaguely costumed after Josh’s psycho getup. There are also witches, porcelain doll-looking masks, creepypasta demons, and water that makes your entire body explode Scanners-style if you drink it. It’s a hodgepodge of dangers that have nothing to do with Fessenden and Reznick’s straightforward creature-centric game, outside of a few Easter eggs.
The most obvious connection is Peter Stormare as Dr. Hill, Josh Washington’s (Rami Malek) hallucinated psychiatrist who runs players through rigorous psychological tests that influence future in-game details. However, even Dr. Hill features stark differences in the film vs. the original game. In the movie, he’s seen as a gas station attendant, but it’s not long before he’s outed as former game character Dr. Hill—who’s in control of experiments on Glore Valley. It’s here where we have the only direct reference to the game’s most well-known character, Josh Washington. After Clover discovers Hill’s “office,” we see her patient profile alongside Josh’s.
There’s some exposition about Hill’s experiments as we watch prisoners cannibalize bodies and then turn into wendigos to highlight that connection to the game, but the reveal is followed by Clover defeating Dr. Hill pretty easily.
Except she doesn’t. Probably.
As the film ends, we return to the dirty sanitarium office where Dr. Hill explodes after ingesting some ‘splodey water, and on surveillance monitors, we see Blackwood’s lodge. We then hear Dr. Hill speak, suggesting he was Clover’s hallucination, much like Josh’s in the game. But, that’s right before the credits because I guess Sandberg’s movie is an offshoot prequel that, for some reason, has nothing to do with the actual events of the Until Dawn game? If there is a sequel, presumably it’ll be about Josh’s case of vengeance paid unto the Blackwood group except based on the film’s rules … somehow.
Cheap Easter Eggs Aren’t Enough
It’s just all so generic. Turning Dr. Hill into the baddie removes intrigue and becomes a cheap cop-out, torn from the game but improperly refitted. Then the stinger of Blackwood hits, which again is confusing because in interviews, Sandberg insists his film takes place after the game’s timeline—but Blackwood’s reveal suggests it’s not a sequel, but a prequel. Inconsequentiality plagues Sandberg’s film in a way that makes you wonder why it’s even tied to Until Dawn (*cough* intellectual property reasons *cough*), which only causes Blackwood’s tease to be even more spoonfed and underwhelming. For so long, Until Dawn (the movie) bears no resemblance to Until Dawn (the game)—why pivot back toward the game at the last minute?
The reason is simple: to appease us fans. There are choice moments that attempt to help us relive the game, but they’re crammed in like afterthoughts. Ji-young Yoo’s spiritualist character Megan has everyone hold hands in silence, mimicking the game’s quiet “hold your breath” Quicktime events. There’s a shot bathed in red lighting where a wendigo is right by a frightened Clover, and that’s a direct reference to the “Don’t Move” instructions. But the game’s cinematic nature doesn’t yield many other level-based opportunities to recreate, nor does the film try. The adaptation’s biggest issue is it never fully comprehends how best to honor Supermassive’s inspiration while telling a fresh horror tale.
What else might you recognize? The wendigo audio files are plucked from the game, reusing the same noises. There’s also Abe’s first death of being chopped in half, which could be respect paid to Josh’s fake death in the game, or maybe that’s just a lucky coincidence. Are the werewolf sketches in the witch’s cabin a possible reference to The Quarry? Is the radio in the basement the same radio in the game where characters find out they must survive until dawn? Chances are yes, but these Easter eggs feel forced.
Look, I’m all for a “spiritual successor.” But to do so, there has to be some resemblance to the thing you are named after. While I don’t think Until Dawn is a terrible movie, it’s a bad Until Dawn movie. It’s a far cry from the urgency and invasive dread that Supermassive so easily conjures, speaking to what makes the playable horror movie such a blast to complete (over and over).
As is, the Until Dawn movie doesn’t make much sense in context. The events of Glore Valley are a grab bag of ideas from other horror movies that would be nothing but a clip show without Dr. Hill’s inclusion. But even with Stormare’s reprised role, it’s only Until Dawn at face value, nothing deeper. I get the interpretation of the gang’s choices forcing them to keep restarting, but it’s still too far off-base to consider this adaptation anything more than unfaithful. In the end, Until Dawn is a missed opportunity to bring Supermassive’s smash-hit game to life.
When Bethesda finally revealed Oblivion Remastered earlier this week, I could hardly believe my eyes. Somehow 2006’s trip to Tamriel, known for its weird, potato-faced characters and smeary stretches of low-res verdant grasslands, is now the best-looking Elder Scrolls game ever made. A long history of HD overhauls has conditioned me to expect underwhelming results from remasters – Mass Effect Legendary Edition and Dark Souls Remastered are barely indistinguishable from their Xbox 360 parents, for instance – and so to see the Imperial City that I explored nearly 20 years ago rendered in Unreal Engine 5 with ray tracing was momentarily unbelievable. Not only that, but the game has been enhanced with upgrades to combat, RPG systems, and a multitude of other details. All that considered, I wondered if Bethesda and the project’s developer, Virtuos, had got the title wrong. Surely this is Oblivion Remake, not remastered?
It turns out I wasn’t alone in that thinking. Numerous fans have declared it a remake, and even Bruce Nesmith, the senior game designer on the original Oblivion project, has said “I’m not sure [the word] remaster actually does it justice.” But while I doubted Bethesda and Virtuos’ remaster claim at first, after playing several hours it’s actually pretty clear – Oblivion Remastered may look like a remake but it plays like a remaster.
There are plenty of reasons why Oblivion looks like a remake and they can be easily summed up: Virtuos has done a huge amount of work, with “every single asset redesigned from scratch.” In terms of what you physically see on screen, it is all brand new. Every tree, every sword, every crumbling castle. This means Oblivion lives up to modern graphical expectations. Not only is it beautifully textured, it also has gorgeous lighting and a whole new physics system that ensures every arrow and weapon strike affects the world realistically. And while all who you meet in the game are recognisably the same folks you crossed paths with back in 2006, every single NPC model is a brand new creation. It’s a hugely impressive overhaul that rejects the idea of making something that “looks like you remember” and instead aims for something that’s great by 2025 standards. It’s the best a Bethesda Game Studios RPG has ever looked, and if I had seen it before the remaster rumours began I’d probably have believed that it was The Elder Scrolls 6.
It’s not just visuals, though. Combat has been overhauled, and so swinging a longsword no longer feels like fencing with a balloon. The third person camera is now actually functional thanks to the addition of a reticule. Every menu, from the quest journal to dialogue to the lockpicking and persuasion minigames, have all had refreshed interfaces. The original, horrific levelling system has been replaced with a much more logical hybrid of Oblivion and Skyrim’s approaches. And finally you can sprint. With so many visual and gameplay upgrades, surely we are firmly in remake territory?
If I had seen Oblivion Remastered before the rumours began I’d probably have believed that it was The Elder Scrolls 6.
The big issue here is not so much one of technology, game changes, or project scope, but semantics. There are no industry-defined parameters for remakes and remasters, and publishers recklessly throw the terms around. Rockstar’s “Definitive Edition” remasters of the Grand Theft Auto trilogy are unmistakably blocky PlayStation 2-era games with upscaled textures and modern lighting effects. But the Crash Bandicoot N. Sane Trilogy, also branded a remaster, sports all-new graphical assets and looks like a game from the modern era. Things are even muddier when we get to remakes: Bluepoint’s Shadow of the Colossus and Demon’s Souls both rebuild their respective games from the ground up, but are faithful, 1:1 recreations of the original experiences. Resident Evil 2, meanwhile, sticks more-or-less to the original blueprint in terms of structure, but completely redesigns the way you interact with the survival horror icon. And then we have Final Fantasy 7 Remake and Rebirth, which radically overhaul the design, script, and even story beats of the original games. All five of these examples are considered remakes, but there’s very little shared philosophy between them.
At one point in time, the general consensus seemed to be that if the game had been rebuilt from scratch in a modern engine, it was considered a remake. Remasters, meanwhile, were more limited upgrades performed within the scope of the game’s original technology. Such a definition is clearly becoming fast outdated, though. Today, it seems more fitting to say that a remaster is a graphical overhaul that preserves the design of the original game (bar a few quality of life gameplay upgrades), while a remake redesigns a game from scratch. Such a definition would “downgrade” Demon’s Souls and the upcoming Metal Gear Solid: Delta to remasters, and ensure the remake term only applies to games that genuinely feel like new takes on old ideas.
So if we accept these proposed definitions, is this new version of Oblivion a remake or a remaster? As anyone who’s played even just an hour of it can plainly see, Oblivion Remastered absolutely has the correct name. Yes, those new assets and Unreal Engine 5 ray tracing effects make it look brand new, but beneath that glowing skin is a collection of 20-year-old bones, organs, and muscles, all roughly stapled and taped together in that unmistakably Bethesda way. As the studio explained, “We looked at every part and carefully upgraded it. But most of all, we never wanted to change the core. It’s still a game from a previous era and should feel like one.”
The hallmarks of that previous era are everywhere. It’s in the loading screens that hide behind almost every single door. It’s in the baffling persuasion minigame that still, despite the interface upgrade, barely makes sense and feels utterly disconnected to your conversations. It’s in the design of the cities, which have the simplistic design of theatre stage sets rather than the complex, knotty arrangements of authentic population centres. It’s in the NPCs, who wander like awkward automatons and talk with all the grace of an AI trained on a “how to be society” manual. It’s in the combat, which even after a significant upgrade still feels detached and unwieldy. And it’s in the long list of bugs and glitches that still remain, reverently preserved in the name of upkeeping the original’s quirky charm.
The granular details of Oblivion are clearly grey and long in the tooth.
Just a couple of months ago we were treated to Obsidian’s Avowed, which offered a vision of the future for some of The Elder Scrolls’ key building blocks. Its kinetic combat is practically space-age compared to Oblivion Remastered’s, while its approach to rewarding exploration makes the rolling hills and grotty caves of Cyrodiil feel very much a relic of yesteryear. Such modern systems help put Oblivion Remastered into context. That’s not to say that this revised classic has nothing to offer in 2025 – far from it. The magic of its world still sparkles brightly, its Rohan-like open fields filled with dozens of mysteries and oddities. Much of its ambition remains intact even two generations later, such as the dynamic goblin wars that wage between its NPC clans, or the narratively-satisfying questing structure that remains head-and-shoulders above Skyrim’s many “visit a draugr-filled dungeon” missions. Many of its old-school ideas around player freedom feel refreshing in an age where we now reject the hand-holding nature of games from the 2010s. But the granular details of Oblivion are clearly grey and long in the tooth. There’s no finesse in its dialogue, nor elegance in the way its systems interconnect. And the level design, be it cave, castle, or the cursed lands of Oblivion itself, feels positively ancient. A remake’s job would be to update all those ideas, but this project is all about reliving the old. As such: Oblivion Remastered.
Video games have historically leant on terminology from other mediums. In the world of movies, remakes are brand new productions with fresh casts, crews, scripts, and sets. Remasters are existing films that are enhanced as far as possible to match modern picture quality standards. But an old film is still an old film; the 4K restorations of Jaws and The Godfather look incredible, but they are clearly products of the 1970s. You can see it in the direction, the delivery, the effects work. It’s in the texture of the film grain. Oblivion is like those blu-ray restorations of classic films. It pushes visual quality as far as it possibly can, which thanks to the more malleable medium of video games means recreating the project’s “exterior” in a brand new engine. But beneath that shell, Oblivion is unmistakably a product of the 2000s. Alex Murphy, executive producer at Virtuos, had the perfect analogy during the reveal stream: “We think of the Oblivion game engine as the brain and Unreal 5 as the body. The brain drives all the world logic and gameplay and the body brings to life the experience that players have loved for almost 20 years.”
Oblivion Remastered is exactly what it says it is, and that shouldn’t be seen as downplaying its achievements. Instead of insisting that it’s a remake, we should actually be using it as the quality bar by which we judge remasters from other titan-scale AAA companies. This is what Mass Effect Legendary Edition should have been, rather than a cleaned-up re-release. This is what Grand Theft Auto: The Trilogy should have been rather than an incredibly cynical-feeling cash grab. Because there’s nothing cynical about Oblivion Remastered. It looks like a remake crafted by passionate hands but plays like a remaster preserved by loving fans, and that’s exactly how it should be.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is a new RPG and debut title from the French studio, Sandfall Interactive. With a blend of immersive storytelling and challenging gameplay, there’s nothing else quite like it. Maxroll has been hard at work on helpful guides for Expedition 33. There are guides to help you get started, teach you game mechanics, find valuable loot, and hone your builds. Maxroll’s Codex has weapons, skills, Pictos, and Lumina to help you prepare for the challenges you will face on the continent. If you’re the theorycrafty type, you can use Maxroll’s Expedition 33 Planner to make your own build, then share it on their Community Builds Section.
Getting Started
Get started in the world of Expedition 33 with character guides, beginner resources, and Pictos guides from Maxroll. If you’re looking for a step-by-step companion guide to keep up as you play, check out IGN’s Expedition 33 Walkthrough.
Beginner’s Guide
Maxroll’s comprehensive Beginner’s Guide for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 introduces the game’s core mechanics like exploring the world, doing battle against Nevrons, each of the playable characters and their unique mechanics, plus introduces the game’s progression systems like weapons, attributes, Pictos and Luminas. Also check out IGN’s 10 Things Expedition 33 Doesn’t Tell You for a shorter guide of some easily-missed things you should know.
Combat Guide
Learn more about defeating dangerous Nevrons with IGN’s Combat Guide. This is a beginner’s guide with some tips and tricks, including advice for how to use Lune and Maelle.
Weapons, Attributes and Upgrades
Weapons are a core part of building your team in Expedition 33. Each weapon (and character skill) deals different types of elemental damage, some of which are more effective than others against different Nevrons. Each character has a variety of different weapons that have increased attribute scaling as you level them, plus unlock special bonuses at levels 4, 10, and 20. Read more about Weapons, Attributes and Upgrades.
Pictos and Luminas
Pictos are equippable items that give stats and a variety of unique effects. Each character can equip 3 Pictos, but you can use the Lumina system to gain even more special effects. If you’re struggling on an encounter, consider changing up your Pictos to gain more defenses, add damage or buff your team with things like Shell or Powerful. Learn more about Pictos and the Lumina system, a core progression feature in Expedition 33.
Early Game Pictos Guides
The Pictos system provides a lot of room to customize your party and build each character the way that you want, but there are a few Pictos which stand out as especially powerful during the early game. Keep an eye out for Dead Energy II and Critical Burn, complete side-content for the “lone wolf” style Last Stand Pictos and use Recovery to turn one character into a super-tank!
Characters
Learn about each playable character in Expedition 33, their unique mechanics, and skills with Maxroll’s Character Skill Guides.
Maxroll also has a few more guides suitable for the midgame and endgame. These go into detail on how to unlock areas of the map, defeat certain enemies more easily, or which Pictos are the best.
How to Unlock all of Esquie’s Traversal Abilities
Esquie can break through obstacles, swim, fly, and even dive under the ocean. Learn how to unlock all of Esquie’s Abilities as you progress through the game.
Enemy Strengths and Weaknesses
Learn about the Strengths and Weaknesses for the enemies you encounter across the Continent. Abuse enemy weaknesses to deal 50% more damage, and avoid using elements they absorb, as those heal the enemy instead of damaging them!
Zone Progression
If you’re feeling lost after completing the game’s story, Maxroll has you covered with a Zone Progression Guide, which gives some recommendations on when to complete different optional zones. IGN also has a list of Expedition 33 side quests with their rewards, so you can determine which ones are worth completing.
Best Pictos
Learn the Best Pictos to equip in both the early game and the endgame. Maxroll’s guide details Pictos that provide generic power along with those that have more niche uses, empowering new build archetypes.
Codex
Maxroll’s Expedition 33 Codex has information on all of the different Weapons, Pictos, Luminas, and Skills available in the game. You can even adjust the level at the top to see how Weapons/Pictos scale.
Here are the features to keep in mind when using Maxroll’s Expedition 33 Planner.
Select your characters and set up the active party. If you want to create different teams (with unique setups for each character) you can also do so here. At the top select an optional tag like “Story” or “Post-Story.” You use this section to navigate between each of the characters on your team to change their setups.
Pick your weapon, then adjust the level. As you do the power and scaling change but attributes are not currently factored in.
– Select the 6 skills you’re using on the character.
NOTE: Gradient Skills are excluded here but you can learn more about them in the Codex!
Pick your Pictos, you can use each Pictos once across your entire team. Select the correct level to display the stats added by each.
Add Luminas here, the point count is displayed at the top.
Allocate attributes, maybe use something your weapon scales off of?
Your stats are displayed here, based on Pictos, Attributes, and base weapon damage.
Add some notes, tell people about your skill rotation or where you found some of the cool stuff you’re using.
Set your build to public to share it with the community.
Tomorrow Comes
That’s it for Maxroll’s new guides for Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. Why not head over to the build planner and start theorycrafting?
Written by IGN Staff with contributions from Tenkiei and Snail.
Players woke up to find that Virtuos’ massive re-release received an unexpected update earlier today. With no patch notes or clear answer as to what the update addressed, most proceeded with their play sessions as normal. Others, however, quickly found that the first Oblivion Remastered update was causing more problems than it fixed
Yoooo why would @virtuosgames push an update to Oblivion Remastered that removes all upscaling right before the games first weekend?!!?
“Can’t change the upscaling methods anymore,” one Reddit user pointed out. “It’s set to ‘off’ and while the arrows are clickable nothing happens. So I closed the game, disabled fluid motion in the NVidia app (was testing something before the patch came) and started the game again. Loading times for my save are long again and still can’t change upscaling settings lol.
“Now I am stuck with 40-60 fps in high settings with a 5800X3D and a 5080. Nice patch :D”
While some players haven’t noticed much of a change in performance, others are reporting new struggles related to low framerates. Many have also noted that upscaling settings have been completely closed off, leaving fans with major visual issues ahead of Oblivion Remastered’s first weekend in players’ hands.
Bethesda finally attempted to address concerns with a post published on its official support page. As for what today’s Oblivion Remastered update was meant to fix, the post explains the patch simply included “a few backend tweaks and nothing directly impacting game play.” Unfortunately, it seems those who own Oblivion Remastered through the Microsoft Store are the ones running into problems with their upscaling and anti-aliasing options.
“Any graphic settings adjusted prior to the Microsoft Store hotfix are still enabled and function normally,” Bethesda clarified. “However, you will temporarily be unable to adjust those settings due to the issue with the settings UI. The team is taking a look and working out a resolution, we will share more info as soon as we can.”
For now, there’s no telling when exactly a resolution for what was originally supposed to be an under-the-radar hotfix will arrive. In the meantime, it appears players on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X | S consoles can continue playing with no issue.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
