Let’s start by saying this: there is no best weapon type in Monster Hunter Wilds. If you’re looking for a definitive answer on which weapon type will get you the fastest hunt times every time because it’s just that good and overpowered, there isn’t one. The truth of it is that you should choose what feels good to play with for you. If you’re not carting, are consistently hitting the monster, and having fun while doing it, that’s what matters the most.

There’s a lot that goes into making a build for any given weapon successful, like armor, decorations, and a particular Artian weapon for the particular monster you’re up against, and those are the most important aspect, but if you’re looking for weapon types that just might help you get those hunt times down, these are great ones to try. This tier list of best weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds was created by Frankensteining IGN’s community tier list, online sentiment, my own opinion based on difficulty to master, and some current speedrun time averages.

Monster Hunter Wilds Best Weapons Tier List

The “best” weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds are Sword and Shield, Great Sword, Long Sword, Gunlance, and Bow, in no particular order, but the rest of the weapons are absolutely viable. These just stand out above the rest for a variety of reasons, which we’ll describe below.

S-tier:
These are the best of the best for both damage output and relative ease of use to get there. The Gunlance is the most technical weapon here, but its benefits are worth it according to the community.

• Sword and Shield
• Great Sword
• Long Sword
• Gunlance
• Bow

A-tier:

A-tier weapons have the potential to be as good as S-tier weapons in the right hands as they tend to be a bit more technical and less forgiving, or they fall just a tiny bit short. The Hunting Horn, though potentially not the best solo weapon, is exceptional in co-op.

• Insect Glaive
• Charge Blade
• Dual Blades
• Hunting Horn
• Heavy Bowgun
• Switch Axe

B-tier:

These may fall a bit short compared to S- and A-rank weapons even when in the most experienced hands, but that doesn’t at all mean they’re “bad.” They just might take a little more effort and fine-tuned builds for the results of some of the others.

• Lance
• Hammer
• Light Bowgun

Best Monster Hunter Wilds Weapons Explained

Sword and Shield

The Sword and Shield is amazing in Monster Hunter Wilds. It’s long been grossly underrated as solely the “beginner” weapon, and while it’s easy to pick up and get to it, it’s also one of the most versatile, consistent weapons in the game that can deal a ton of damage once you get your combos and movements down. Not only is it incredibly mobile even in the middle of attacks, allowing you to stick on monsters like mud on a Jyuratodos, but it can also guard and deal punishing damage. It can even perfect guard incredibly easily, letting you perform quick, powerful counter slashes and proc an Offensive Guard buff if you have that Equipment Skill. For support hunters, it can even use items without putting it away, letting you administer life-saving Lifepowders and buffing items for your whole party in a flash. Whether you prefer to evade or block, deal slashing or blunt damage, or even attack from above, the Sword and Shield has got it all–even a Power Clash. The only thing it’s missing is an Offset attack.

Great Sword

The Monster Hunter developers have said the first weapon they tool in new games is the Great Sword, and it shows. It can take advantage of Wilds’ new Power Clashes and incredibly satisfying Offset attacks, and its kit in general is quintessential Monster Hunter satisfaction in a nutshell. It will take more getting used to than the Sword and Shield, as it’s quite slow, and mishits can be punishing, but the introduction of Focus Mode makes it easier than ever to aim. If you’re looking for the highest damage output in a single strike, the Great Sword is a great pick, and those True Charged Slash hits look so satisfying.

Long Sword

The Long Sword is consistently Monster Hunter’s most popular weapon for good reason. It’s fast and fairly easy to pick up, with a fun, flashy, and satisfying playstyle that relies on its powerful perfect-evading counterattack, the Foresight Slash, to quickly build up the Spirit Gauge to deal max damage. It’s also got amazing reach, considering its size, so slicing off tails is a breeze with the Long Sword. It takes some management to maintain a maxed Spirit Gauge, but doing it is well worth the incredible damage output the Long Sword can accomplish when you’re in a flow with it.

Gunlance

To be honest, I know little about the Gunlance, but IGN’s community tier list contributors, speedrunners, and people around the internet seem to love it in Monster Hunter Wilds. I have found it much more difficult to pick up than the other S-tier weapons, but if you master it, it’s got amazing defense with its huge shield capable of Perfect Guards and explosive power in exchange for some mobility. In Wilds, the Gunlance can now fire two Wyvern’s Fire shots, which also have longer range. Its new attack, Wyrmstake Full Blast, is also incredibly powerful!

Bow

Though the bow isn’t doing too hot in Tempered Arkveld speedruns, many agree it’s an amazing pick in Monster Hunter Wilds, and I’ve seen it often voted as the strongest weapon in community polls. It certainly feels powerful, even despite its minor Focus Strike nerf since the Open Beta Test. So, what makes it S-tier? The Bow has a new move in Wilds that guarantees your shots will hit its intended target and crit: Tracer Ammo. Wilds also makes it so the Bow never runs out of its damage-boosting or ailment-inflicting coatings, further increasing its damage potential. Finally, if you perfect your dodge timing, the Bow’s Discerning Dodge replenishes your stamina so you almost never need to stop attacking! The Bow is mobile, strong, and its Focus Strike looks rad, what more could you ask for?

Remember, this is all just for reference, and we recommend sticking with your preferred weapon. For example, if you’re skilled with the Light Bow Gun, knowing exactly where to aim with what ammo and dodging every monster attack, you’re going to get better times than with the Great Sword if you keep whiffing your True Charged Slashes and can’t time your Offset attacks consistently. Any weapon takes time to get good at!

What weapon do you think is the best in Monster Hunter Wilds? Contribute to our Community Tier List at the top of this article. Maybe we’ll update this article with new ratings! And for more, don’t miss the growing, extremely comprehensive Monster Hunter Wilds guide.

Casey DeFreitas is a deputy editor for the IGN guides team and has been hunting monsters since the PS2 era. Catch her on every social @ShinyCaseyD.

Revisiting a game series from your youth is like exploring the basement in your childhood home. As you sift through the boxes and shelves, old memories come flooding back — which is exactly what happened as I started playing Carmen Sandiego, the latest game in a multimedia series that spans four decades. When the master thief appeared onscreen in her iconic trenchcoat and fedora, I was eight years old again, my face inches from a computer screen as I used my nascent knowledge of math, geography, and history to solve Carmen’s latest caper. 40 years later, Carmen Sandiego gives me that same thrill of solving puzzles by collecting clues, even if some of the modern additions to the visual novel-esque interface miss their mark.

As a former child gumshoe whose grasp of geography was gleaned from tracking down the world’s worst criminals as they scurried around the globe, I was more than ready to revisit the Carmen Sandiego-verse with the release of this eponymous new adventure from Gameloft. Though it takes some story cues from the animated Netflix series that wrapped up in 2021 — and emulates its cartoony visual style — it’s not necessary to know anything about Carmen’s backstory with the evil organization VILE to enjoy her latest quest. Significantly, this is the first time in the long-running series that players get to step into Carmen’s shoes and don her famous fedora, but it doesn’t make a real difference to the crook-hunting formula.

While the series got its start as an edutainment game, modern Carmen Sandiego is a mix of puzzle-solving, quick-time events, a dash of third-person top-down exploration, and (of course!) the occasional trivia question. In some ways, the newer elements make the world feel bigger and more exciting than its early DOS iterations; there’s more to do than simply click on icons representing key locations, parse through dialogue, and answer questions that wouldn’t be out of place on a fifth-grade final exam. That said, I wouldn’t have missed new activities like hang-gliding and grappling from rooftop to rooftop if they weren’t included.

As you follow VILE thieves from one country to the next, you’ll need to collect two types of clues: those that help them figure out where to go next, and those that help narrow down the list of suspects in the ACME detective agency’s database. In the ’80s and ’90s, Carmen Sandiego games relied on physical almanacs full of geographical and historical facts to help answer the in-game trivia questions and figure out what their clues meant. This time around, all of that information is kept within the game itself.

Throughout the campaign, you’ll find pieces of data like airport codes, exports, national languages, government structures, and more. This self-built almanac comes in handy when you’re on a VILE villain’s tail and need to decide what to do next. Typically, you’ll have a handful of clues to go by — a color or pattern on the flag, the spoken language, or whether residents drive on the left or right side of the road. You’ll use those clues to determine your next city from three provided choices.

Similarly, you’ll use personal information to narrow down the criminal behind each caper. The reimagined ACME Database makes this process smooth and streamlined; you can easily filter out suspects based on details about their hair and eye colors, hobbies, favorite foods, and fears. It’s quite satisfying to whittle down a list of 30-something suspects until there’s only one remaining and issue a warrant for their arrest. Just make sure you have the right person, otherwise it’s game over for Carmen (and time to start over for you).

Clues are found by exploring key spots throughout a variety of exotic locations around the globe, from New Orleans to Barcelona to Singapore to Brisbane, with a few stops in between. This is similar to how the early games worked, but there’s a bit more room for exploration and making choices this time around. In some places, Carmen gets to wander around, question multiple witnesses, and seek out local trivia that could come in handy later. You don’t get to choose which activities happen in which location, but there’s more action involved than there used to be.

Every case has several chapters with individual heists connected by an overarching villain. The cases start out at the scene of the crime, whether that crime is the theft of a Japanese bullet train, or the replacement of a city’s free Wi-Fi hotspots with paid “Vi-Fi” versions. In each city, you can visit three locations to collect clues that bring you one step closer to solving the case.

Here’s how it works in practice: As you visit each of the in-city landmarks and districts, such as Singapore’s Merlion statue, or a viking-themed museum in Reykjavik, you’ll need to complete pre-determined activities to uncover that location’s clues. Sometimes, that means walking around and questioning suspects and witnesses, often picking up some geographical fun facts along the way. Other times, you may have to complete a hacking or lock-picking puzzle or use Carmen’s hang glider or grappling hook.

Some of these gameplay elements are more fun than others. Completing puzzles to hack safes or boost wireless signals was satisfying, but the more physical activities are mostly on rails and not particularly thrilling. I have a particular beef with the grappling hook mini-game, which requires a simple button press as icons align on your screen. The problem is, those icons sometimes move erratically, so grappling is either way too simple or frustratingly obtuse. There’s also a hang-gliding activity that’s perfectly… fine, but I’d rather have fewer gameplay elements that are more fleshed out than some forced action that feels like filler. I would have been perfectly happy with more brain-teasers instead.

Though not as unforgiving as the 1985 iteration, it is possible to fail cases in Carmen Sandiego. The clock is always ticking. You typically have five or seven days to solve each case, and all of your activities take time — as does flying from one city to the next. If you missed a critical clue and ended up flying to Singapore when you’re supposed to be in Buenos Aires, you just wasted 11 hours. If you run out of time, the thief gets away and you have to start the case over. However, I never really felt the time crunch in the main campaign; I typically had at least a day left over, if not several.

There are other ways to fail cases in Carmen Sandiego, and these represented more of a threat in my playthrough. If you’re pickpocketing a VILE lackey and get noticed, you’ve just missed out on a key piece of evidence. Missing one clue won’t blow your case, but do that a few times and you won’t have enough information to make an arrest. Most of the time, I could pinpoint the exact moment when I blew it — I was too slow when following a mark, I didn’t pay close enough attention to actions that required precise button presses. Other times, I found myself at the end with several suspects still in my database and no idea where I missed a clue.

Though I did make some mistakes, the main campaign isn’t exactly what I’d call challenging. But considering the series’ history as a children’s educational resource, I may not be the target audience. I could see parents and kids playing through Carmen Sandiego together and having a great time as children build critical thinking skills and parents brush up on elementary-school geography. And though it’s on the simpler side, Carmen Sandiego never feels dumbed down.

For my fellow olds looking for more of a challenge, you’re in luck. Aside from the main campaign, you can explore the ACME Files for what we’re told are cold cases dating back to the ’80s. These cases have adopted the modern systems for filtering out suspects and jetting around the world, but they’re presented in a retro, pixel art style — and injected with questions that might make you feel like you’re back in school and your teacher just slapped a pop quiz on your desk. Quick, what’s the biggest island in the Caribbean? Which country was the biggest producer of wheat and rice back in 1985? What’s 4x13x80? (Thankfully, despite what my teachers told me, I do have a calculator in my pocket everywhere I go.)

The ACME Files use a simplified interface that made me feel like I was back in front of my family computer in the early ’90s frantically paging through a physical book to find the answers. This time around, Google was my almanac. That might make the retro cases seem easier than those of the campaign, but they’re actually more difficult, particularly the time crunch. I actually did run out of time in the ACME Files, and watching those last few hours tick away filled me with a determination to do it better next time. Overall, these cases are a smart addition that add variety to the experience and provide some comforting fan service.

The historical cases pull from the same list of cities as the main campaign, and it’s only a few hours before you’ve seen everywhere in the world that Carmen Sandiego can visit. I’m not sure why they couldn’t have expanded her global reach in the main campaign, but it results in every environment feeling a bit repetitive after a while. Still, there are often new facts to find upon revisiting, so every city is always worth another look.

Maybe it’s the nostalgia goggles, but none of these shortcomings bothered me enough to make me want to stop playing. Each chapter is paced really well, so it always feels like you’re making progress. I love games that make you think your way out of problems, and for the most part, that’s exactly what Carmen Sandiego demands of the player.

It’s a shame, however, that the campaign ends rather abruptly. There’s another caper coming in a free DLC release later this year, but it was jarring to gear up for the final mystery and see “Coming Soon” in the menu of a completed, publicly released game. The story doesn’t feel like it’s reached a natural conclusion yet, but there’s still a good 15 hours of content between the campaign and the ACME Files — even more if you complete all of the cold cases from way back when. After my initial confusion, I took this as an opportunity to explore more old cases and await the day when I can complete Carmen’s adventure.

It appears that some early gameplay footage of EA’s upcoming Battlefield game has leaked online, following closed playtesting.

Spotted by Insider Gaming, a Twitch user named anto_merguezz appears to have streamed footage from EA’s closed Battlefield Labs playtest, which allowed a small group of players to try out early versions of the game to help developers fine tune. Though there are no clips of the stream available on anto_merguezz’s page, someone appears to have recorded footage from the stream and it’s been posted online in various places, largely circulating via Reddit.

The footage appears to confirm the “modern” setting teased by Vince Zampella previously, distinguishing it from other Battlefield games with historical or futuristic settings. We get a decent look at some firefights, and a taste of the game’s destructible environments in the process. Fans already seem relatively pleased with what they’re looking at, which is a good sign after Battlefield 2042’s tepid reception at launch.

We already knew a bit about what to expect from the next Battlefield after we got our first official unveiling just last month. We’ve been told that the new Battlefield will include the return of a traditional, single-player, linear campaign, which has been welcome news to players irritated at its exclusion in the multiplayer Battlefield 2042.

Currently, EA is expecting its next Battlefield game to launch in fiscal 2026, which means sometime between April 2025 and March 2026. That means we should likely expect to see more of this game in an official capacity in the near future as EA gears up for launch. Hopefully that’s imminent, as it seems like EA won’t be able to keep Battlefield 6 (or whatever it’s going to be called) from leaking for much longer.

IGN has reached out to EA for comment.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

For most of the 21st century, the Final Fantasy games were PlayStation exclusives. But when you have a series that’s consistently gotten new games for almost 40 years, you have to think about how younger generations will be able to play them. That, and, of course, thinking about your bottom line, has led every publisher to lean more and more into multiplatform releases. On top of PC ports, Square Enix has released a decent amount of remasters and special editions of the Final Fantasy series specifically for Nintendo’s handheld.

The Final Fantasy games hitting Switch isn’t entirely unprecedented. The connection between Final Fantasy and Nintendo dates back to the series’ infancy, when the first game debuted on Nintendo’s Famicom system in 1987. In fact, the first six mainline Final Fantasy games debuted on Nintendo platforms before Square Enix jumped to PlayStation as the series’ primary platform with Final Fantasy 7.

With Final Fantasy VII: Rebirth’s PC launch and a solid Magic: The Gathering expansion bringing Final Fantasy back into the spotlight in 2025, plenty of people are hoping to dive into the series for the first time. Below we’ve compiled a complete list of Final Fantasy games available on Switch, for those looking to discover or revisit the beloved JRPG series on Nintendo’s latest console.

How Many Final Fantasy Games Are Available on Switch?

There are 20 Final Fantasy games you can play on the Switch — 12 mainline games, one prequel, and seven spinoffs. These games have been split into two sections below: mainline games (ordered by original release date) and other games (ordered by Switch release date).

Every Mainline Final Fantasy Game on Switch

Final Fantasy 1–6 Pixel Remaster

The first six Final Fantasy games are all available on Switch as part of Square Enix’s Pixel Remaster collection. Each game has been overhauled with new graphics, rearranged soundtracks, updated UIs, and new galleries for players to explore the creatures, illustrations, and music from all six games. If you’re interested in diving into the original Final Fantasy experience, this is the best way to do it.

The Pixel Remasters are available individually ($12–18 USD/each) or as part of the six-game Final Fantasy I–VI bundle ($75 USD). If you’re looking at the games individually, I’d recommend FF6, as it has one of the more immersive storylines.

Final Fantasy 7

One of the series’ most beloved games, Final Fantasy VII, is also available on Switch. This is not a remastered version of the game but rather a port of the 1997 original with three extra features: a 3x speed mode, the ability to turn battle encounters off, and a battle enhancement mode to make encounters easier. While the newer remasters, Remake and Rebirth, introduce modern action RPG mechanics to Cloud Strife’s battle against Sephiroth, the Switch edition of FFVII is one of the best opportunities to experience what made the original PlayStation game so impactful.

Final Fantasy 8 Remastered

The series’ next entry is also available on Switch as Final Fantasy VIII Remastered. This updated version was released in 2019, 20 years after FF8 originally debuted on PlayStation. Additions to the remastered version include a 3x speed mode, the ability to turn off random encounters, and battle assist options to lessen the difficulty of combat.

Final Fantasy 9

Final Fantasy IX on Switch, like FFVII before it, is a port of the original RPG, which, despite not being quite as “famous” as Final Fantasy VII, is considered to have one of the best storylines in the series. The Switch version includes a few extras compared to the 2000 original, including high-speed and no-encounter modes, an autosave feature, and HD cutscenes and character models.

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster is a bundle of Final Fantasy X and its sequel X-2 (the series’ first-ever direct sequel). The two games feature over 100 hours of RPG content, according to IGN sister site How Long to Beat, and include upgraded graphics and reworked audio (with the ability to switch back and forth between the new and original sounds).

Final Fantasy XII: The Zodiac Age

Skipping the now-shuttered MMORPG Final Fantasy XI, the series’ next mainline game available on Switch is Final Fantasy XII The Zodiac Age. The Zodiac Age, a remaster of the 2006 original, features HD graphics and a re-recorded soundtrack, as well as the Zodiac Job System, an increased battle tempo, an optional high-speed mode, and autosave functionality.

Final Fantasy 15 Pocket Edition HD

Final Fantasy XIII and XIV: Online are not available on Switch, which brings us to Final Fantasy XV Pocket Edition HD. It’s the latest mainline game available on the platform, as FFXVI is still only available on PS5 and PC.

Final Fantasy 15 Pocket Edition HD is an abridged version of the original game with cartoonish character models, simplified combat, a reduced skill tree, and fewer side quests. Pocket Edition HD does, however, retain the full FFXV story, boys on the road and all.

Other Final Fantasy Games on Switch

World of Final Fantasy Maxima (2018)

World of Final Fantasy Maxima, co-developed by Square Enix and prolific Japanese developer Tose, came to Switch with new content and the subtitle ‘Maxima’ two years after it was first released on PS4 and Vita. It’s an accessible RPG aimed at younger audiences that combines the series’ Active Time Battle system with the ability to capture Mirages (i.e., creatures) to use in battle.

Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! (2019)

Chocobo’s Mystery Dungeon: Every Buddy! is a remastered version of the 2007 Wii game Final Fantasy Fables: Chocobo’s Dungeon. This Final Fantasy spinoff is a turn-based RPG with randomly generated dungeons and a buddy system that allows players to bring other creatures or characters along for the dungeon-crawling chaos.

Collection of Mana (2019)

This collection of three Mana games is on this list due to its inclusion of the 1991 Game Boy game Final Fantasy Adventure. Despite beginning as a Final Fantasy spinoff, the Mana series dropped those ties with the release of its second game, Secret of Mana, and has since remained an independent franchise.

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition (2020)

Final Fantasy Crystal Chronicles Remastered Edition is an enhanced version of the 2004 RPG/dungeon crawler originally released for GameCube. Crystal Chronicles for Switch features a cute aesthetic, online co-op, and the addition of English voiceover for the first time. It’s a graphical improvement upon the original that also added new areas, monsters, weapons, and a higher-difficulty option.

Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend (2020)

Collection of SaGa Final Fantasy Legend compiles three Game Boy games: Final Fantasy Legend I–III. We’ve included these games in service to creating a comprehensive list, though these are only Final Fantasy games in name; the SaGa games belong to an independent franchise of RPGs inspired by but not necessarily connected to Final Fantasy. The first three SaGa games were given the Final Fantasy name to capitalize on the brand recognition with western audiences.

The collection adds a high-speed mode and Switch-specific enhancements like adjustable screen magnification and the ability to play with your Switch oriented vertically (when in handheld mode, with Joy-Cons detached).

Crisis Core –Final Fantasy VII– Reunion (2022)

A prequel to Final Fantasy VII, Crisis Core –Final Fantasy VII– Reunion is a remastered version of the 2007 PSP RPG. The game stars a young warrior named Zack Fair, whose connection to Cloud and FFVII is revealed throughout the story. Reunion features remastered graphics, new character and background models, fully voiced dialogue, a newly arranged soundtrack, and a refined battle system.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line (2023)

A rhythm game that celebrates the music of Final Fantasy, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line launched with 385 tracks from across the Final Fantasy series, though that has since grown to include music from other Square franchises for a total of 505 tracks. The Final Fantasy music pulls from 46 games, according to Squre, including FFI–XV. Theatrhythm Final Bar Line features over 100 characters and online multiplayer support for up to 8 players.

Chocobo GP (2023)

Chocobo GP is a Final Fantasy-themed kart racer developed by Arika (Tetris 99). While there are better kart racers available on Switch, Chocobo GP is a fun respite from the more involved RPGs that make up the majority of the Final Fantasy franchise. Like other kart racers, it features time challenges, tournament-style races, and options for multiplayer racing.

Upcoming Final Fantasy Games on Nintendo Switch

The most recent mainline Final Fantasy release is Final Fantasy XVI, which has yet to see any variant or equivalent release on Switch. We probably won’t see a new mainline FF game on PlayStation or Switch anytime soon, as Square Enix’s current focus is its three-part remake of Final Fantasy VII. Final Fantasy VII Remake was released on PS4 in 2020, followed by Final Fantasy VII Rebirth on PS5 in 2024, and both have since made their way to PC.

As some of the biggest Final Fantasy games of this generation, the big question is whether we’ll see either of these massive remakes on the Switch. While unlikely on the current Switch console, Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth are rumored to be part of the Switch 2 launch, which we’ll be hearing more about at a Nintendo Direct in April.

Jordan covers games, shows, and movies as a freelance writer for IGN.

When I sat down to play developer MercurySteam’s latest project, Blades of Fire, I expected something of a return to the studio’s Castlevania: Lords of Shadow games, updated with the modern stylings of God of War. An hour later I thought I was playing a Soulslike, albeit one where all the stats were in my weapons rather than an RPG character sheet. By the end of the three-hour hands-on session, I realised both of those observations were simultaneously true and false: this is a game that is unmistakably built on well-worn ground, but the unique arrangement of both its borrowed components and new ideas results in a fresh and interesting approach to the action-adventure genre.

While it’s not exactly a clone of Sony Santa Monica’s work, you’d be forgiven for assuming as much at first glance. With its dark fantasy world, heavy-hitting strikes, and third-person camera that stays close to the action, Blades of Fire has much in common with the Norse era of Kratos’ journey. There are certainly even more parallels that I could talk of: across a demo that took place during the game’s opening hours, I explored a twisty, treasure chest-laden map with the aid of a young companion who helped solve puzzles. Together we sought out a woman of the wilds who lived in a house mounted atop a giant creature. It can sometimes feel a bit too familiar, especially when you also factor in the many elements pilfered from FromSoftware’s library, including anvil-shaped checkpoints that, when rested at, both refill your limited health potions and respawn enemies.

Join me on a violent journey through the English countryside, AKA: 90 minutes with Atomfall, the new survival-action game from Sniper Elite developer, Rebellion. I recently visited a pub in North London to have a pint and some hands-on playtime, and came away intrigued by Atomfall’s open-ended approach to mission design and eerie tone. I also may have lost my mind and decided to attack everyone I saw, including an old lady who likely didn’t deserve it, with a cricket bat. Let me explain why.

Every NPC in Atomfall can be killed, from the lowliest grunt to the most important quest-giver. As I sit down to start the demo, I decide that my mission is to test that design. I’ll admit that my approach is inelegant; barely two minutes into my exploration of this digital Cumbria, I clumsily activate a tripwire alarm that results in me having to end the lives of three alerted guards. I do so with the blunt face of a cricket bat, a hefty chunk of wood that’s Christened as my murder partner with a liberal splash of claret.

I later loot a bow and arrow, and being the glutton for archery in games that I am, I quickly equip it. Now I’m set for long and short-range encounters, and so can let Mr. Cricket Bat take a well-earned rest. Nearby, I spot a hulking wicker man, towering over me and waiting to be set alight. I’m not going near that. I’ve seen how that story ends. Sights like this nod to the folk horror undertones that serve as the bedrock for this region of Atomfall’s segmented world, which is made up of multiple “open zones”. It generates a convincingly uneasy atmosphere that only feeds into the larger mystery I’m trying to crack: what exactly happened here in this sleepy, now irradiated corner of England?

My thoughts about such a mystery are interrupted by a rabble of druids, who presumably have something to do with that wicker man. They prove the perfect range finders for my newly-acquired bow. One. Two. Three. They all fall down. “I’M ROBIN BLOODY HOOD”, my brain shouts to itself, before I snap out of it and back into my London pub surroundings. I haven’t had a drink yet, I promise. It’s only 10am.

The bow feels good to fire. But I’m more interested in Atomfall’s smart approach to stamina. A traditional depleting and regenerating bar is nowhere to be found, instead replaced by a heart rate monitor that increases the more you perform physically taxing actions. Sprinting for an extended period will push you well over 140 bpm, for example, making it harder for you to aim steadily and accurately if you suddenly have to stop and fight. Later, I find a Bow Mastery skill manual that unlocks a perk that negates the impact a heightened heartbeat has on drawing the bowstring back. It’s not exactly the most exciting perk, and a browse through the menus suggests Atomfall doesn’t boast the most complex skill tree suite. However, it does seem malleable enough to tailor your character’s skills to a gameplay style of your choosing if, for example, you’d prefer to specialise in stealth over gunplay.

With my only achievement so far being a bunch of dead druids, you may rightfully be wondering what my overall goal is here. And, to an extent, so was I. Aimless exploration of the Casterfall Woods region had yet to unearth anything significant, so I follow my only quest lead: a note pointing me in the direction of a herbalist, Mother Jago, who lives near an old mine. Along the way I spot allusions to the greater story at play, as a shimmering, oily swirl of blues and purples hovers over a power plant – the apparent cause of Britain’s descent into the post-apocalypse. Nearby, a phone box rings and a creepy voice warns me to stay out of the woods. It’s too late for that, but thanks for the call anyway.

The path is littered with similar small environmental story touches, such as an old boathouse rigged with an unsettling alarm system, the words “get lost” painted across it – a warning the nearby mound of skulls and bones seemingly didn’t heed. There’s an enjoyably uneasy vibe around every corner of Atomfall, with sleepy, leafy forests giving way to creepy zones of terror. Plenty of Fallout comparisons have been made ever since its reveal, but I think Stalker and its recent sequel is a far more apt touchstone, both in terms of tone and game design.

Following another druid massacre in which I butcher them and loot their garden center home for herbs (a quick-thyme event, if you will) I meet Mother Jago at her quaint allotment retreat. Dressed in a plum-coloured coat and animal skull and rose-laden hat, she resembles Angela Lansbury if she’d got big into black magic aromatherapy instead of crime solving. But my hopes that she could make Atomfall’s opaque mystery any clearer are immediately dashed – she gives only vague answers to my questions, despite exhausting every dialogue option as I dig for clues as to where to go next. This reminds me of classic point-and-click adventures in the way you’re encouraged to explore every corner of conversation in search of a hint. Eventually, a door is opened: Jago offers what she promises to be valuable information in exchange for the safe return of her herbalism book. A book that is, of course, not in a library, but held hostage at the druids’ fortified castle. So, with a new lead in my notebook, I traipse back across the map in search of recipes and the druid blood protecting it.

Atomfall’s freeform design means I’m able to approach from any angle, and so I decide to attack the castle from the side. As I make my way there I encounter a druid patrol near an abandoned petrol station. The surely soon-to-be-considered historic Battle of the Forecourt kicks off as I lob my only grenade into the middle of them. The enemy AI isn’t the most reactive, rarely darting for cover or really engaging in any evasive maneuvers, but the satisfying eruption of blood and bits of bone does alert a couple of archers from further down the road. I put a halt to their advance with a nail bomb and then proceed to slalom their arrows, quickly closing the distance so that I can snap one’s neck before getting my trusty bat out for another round of head-smashing. There’s definitely fun to be had playing around with these enemies, but from the small sample I’ve had so far, I wouldn’t go into Atomfall looking for top-tier combat. Instead, it seems wise to treat enemy encounters more like a fun sideshow to the main event of discovering the world’s secrets.

After sniping a couple of axe-wielding brutes I make it inside the castle’s outer walls. There I stumble across a locked hut. A note printed with a set of map coordinates pinned to its door suggests that the keys are far away to the southeast. Atomfall doesn’t believe in objective markers, instead leaving it up to you to study your map and place down markers on points of interest yourself. Could this locked hut be where the book is hidden? Do I need to go on a quest for this key? My hunch tells me no, and I instead walk up to the central keep’s big front doors.

Once inside, I find a few more druids to club, but no sign of the book. I hunt around its dank hallways, finding nothing but cloth and alcohol to craft healing bandages with. I spend a good ten minutes searching every corner, but no luck. It’s a further example of Atomfall’s obtuse approach to mission design. You won’t have your hand held here, and the book won’t glow gold with a big “pick me up” sign attached. While it can lead to moments of frustration, I find myself ultimately encouraged by Rebellion’s approach to make something that challenges the player and sticks stubbornly to its explorative, almost detective-like vision.

So, with the book nowhere in sight, I decide to follow the paper trail and head to those map coordinates in search of the keys I previously read about. Perhaps this would unlock my path forward? The coordinates lead me into the den of a poison plant monster… thing that seems to boil my brain if I spend too long near it. Rifle bullets make minimal impact, and there’s little I can do to prevent my quick death. I reload my save and use my Skyrim bunny-hopping muscle memory to bypass the beast, leaping down a rock face to collect the keys from one of the creature’s earlier victims. I head back to the hut, where I find a shiny new perk point and a smattering of ammo. As you’ll no doubt be aware, none of these items resemble the herbalism book that I’m trying to find.

Forlorn and slightly lost, I venture under the castle and deep into its bowels, where the druids concoct their rituals and chemical-fuelled practices. I kill the High Priestess and about a dozen of her lackeys, find an SMG, a recipe for crafting poison bombs, and an atomic battery which seemingly opens up a whole new questline that I simply don’t have time to look into before my demo time runs out. Again, the observant among you will notice that none of these items are the book I’m looking for.

After my play session ends, I’m told the book was in the castle, just lying on a table I must have walked past several times. Before that revelation, though, I start to believe the book simply doesn’t exist. That it is a ruse. A lie. I decide to go back to the herbalist and see if she has anything to say for herself. She doesn’t, of course, because the book is real and the quest to acquire it is legitimate. But my own confusion manifests as fully buying into my character’s descent into violence, and so I kill her. She becomes one with her plants in the soil. Searching her body for some kind of hidden “truth”, I find a recipe for something that would appear to help combat the poison swamp monster I encountered earlier. It’s too late for that, but I assume this is the valuable information she was going to exchange her book for. We could have saved a lot of time here, it seems.

Not that you can shave a huge amount of time off Atomfall’s runtime. I’m told by the developers at Rebellion that you’d struggle to finish the story in “less than four or five hours”, and that most players will take around 25 hours. Quite what will happen within those 25 hours could be quite varied, though. I spoke to someone else at the demo session who went on an entirely different adventure to mine during their time playing, one that started with a crashed helicopter I never encountered and led to a whole new region filled with killer robots and mutants. It appears that even by just skimming the surface of Atomfall, there are many depths, secrets, and mysteries to be found.

I do wonder if some of the objectives may be too obtuse for some, though. The lack of direction could certainly be offputting, but Atomfall feels like a game that rewards you the more you indulge in its obfuscated quest design. The blurred lines between the side and main objectives add a real peril to every action, with its malleable plot design encouraging each player to tell their own tale and find their own ending and explanation for what has happened here in the irradiated English countryside. I’ll still see the end of the story, despite killing off poor old Mother Jago, it may just be wildly different from yours.

But, that’s all that I have time to see today. For now, my hands bloodied from the undeserved demise of a herbalist and the warpath I’ve left behind, I decide to engage in full-British mode: take my cricket bat, head to the pub, and wait for this all to blow over.

Simon Cardy is a Senior Editorial Producer who can mainly be found skulking around open world games, indulging in Korean cinema, or despairing at the state of Tottenham Hotspur and the New York Jets. Follow him on Bluesky at @cardy.bsky.social.

If you follow Rockstar Games on X (the Everything App formerly known as Twitter), then you may have been surprised, confused, or a combination of the two when you saw the GTA studio posting about the film Marching Powder and its star, Danny Dyer.

From our friends Nick Love and Danny Dyer, the absolute legends behind The Football Factory…@MarchingPowder_ — a proper naughty comedy out tomorrow in the UK and Ireland.

Get tickets now at https://t.co/Zj4EBgRKVO and look out for details on worldwide release soon. pic.twitter.com/15u4DEpeDW

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) March 6, 2025

Why on earth would Rockstar be posting about a small British film to its audience of 21 million followers? And who is this Danny Dyer guy? Don’t worry, we’re here to explain.

Who is Danny Dyer?

Danial John Dyer, better known as Danny Dyer, is an actor from East London. And if you live in the UK, he needs no introduction. As Rockstar’s post states, he’s an “absolute legend”. If you don’t speak British slang, then please refer to the Urban Dictionary’s definition of the term to better understand Dyer’s reputation:

“A person who embodies the pinnacle of all the important social aspects. Any person who is funny, reckless, original and sensitive in the right measures is likely to be nominated a legend by his associates. A person to whose persona you aspire.”

Dyer has been acting since 1993 and has built up a reputation for playing rough-and-ready working class characters. That’s in part due to his public persona; he’s considered somewhat outspoken on societal and government issues, and is known for his “tough uncle” approach to life. For example, in 2010 when offering advice to readers of Zoo magazine, Dyer told a man attempting to recover from a recent break-up that he should go “on a rampage [drinking session] with the boys.”

Dyer is also beloved for his many wild social media posts, such as this gem:

Roll on bonfire night……….it’s gonna get strapped to a great big massive fuck off Rocket so it can join the other Furbys in the sky…

— Danny Dyer (@MrDDyer) September 12, 2013

How is Danny Dyer Connected to Rockstar?

If you’ve no idea who Danny Dyer is, but are a big fan of the Grand Theft Auto games, then you’ve almost certainly heard his voice. Dyer plays Kent Paul in GTA: Vice City, the manager of Scottish rock band, Love Fist. He reprised the role for GTA: San Andreas, in which Kent represented a new band, the Gurning Chimps, and later produced for rapper Madd Dogg.

Dyer has a more important connection to Rockstar, though, and it comes from an unusual place. In 2004, Dyer starred in The Football Factory, a British film directed by Nick Love and produced by… Rockstar Games. Yes, once upon a time Rockstar helped create a feature film.

Not many games in the past decade have generated as much buzz in the zeitgeist as FromSoftware’s Elden Ring. In a time when board games based on video games are becoming commonplace, it was only a matter of time before FromSoftware’s behemoth made its way to the tabletop. Steamforged Games – creators of other major video game adaptations like Resident Evil, Monster Hunter World, and FromSoftware’s Dark Souls – took up the flask to do just that. Now, after a highly successful crowdfunding campaign in 2022, Elden Ring: The Board Game (referred to as just Elden Ring going forward) is nearly in the hands of backers and available for preorder for everyone else. Rise, Tarnished. It is time to fight once more.

After a quiet year beneath the waves, The Sinking City 2 has resurfaced with a brand new trailer and an official Kickstarter campaign launch.

Exactly one year after its announcement, the new trailer for The Sinking City 2 gives us our first look at pre-alpha gameplay and the expected focus on Lovecraftian horror first, with survival, and investigation gameplay mixed in that developer Frogwares is embracing as its signature style. The team has also published a developer deep dive with a more detailed look at what the team is planning for combat, exploration, and optional investigation.

Alongside these trailers, Frogwares has launched a Kickstarter today to help get the game over the finish line. In a statement, CEO Wael Amr explained that the Kickstarter funding was necessary due to the ongoing war in Ukraine:

After 3 years of this horrid war hanging over our daily lives, we’ve learned to adapt, though it has never been easy. In 2023 when we released Sherlock Holmes The Awakened with the help of Kickstarter and our loving fans, we built ourselves a safety net that saved us more than once. From power outages and the need for team members to relocate on short notice, to having to pause development for days, this safety net was crucial. Given that The Sinking City 2 is a far more complex and demanding game, we’ve decided to take the same route as before.

Frogwares has faced numerous challenges over the years in its work on both the original The Sinking City, and now its sequel. In addition to the immense challenges of developing games during wartime, Frogwares was locked in a publishing rights struggle over the first The Sinking City with original PC publisher Nacon that resulted in the game being pulled from some platforms back in 2020. Fortunately, Frogwares won full publishing rights last year, and announced it had settled its disputes.

The Kickstarter for The Sinking City 2 is live now, with a target of $105,000 USD.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

One of the real achievements of tabletop crowdfunding has been the freedom to experiment with ambitious ideas. Instead of needing to target a mainstream audience with wider appeal, video-game-to-board game adaptations have been able to aim at more niche audiences whose hobby identity overlaps between both mediums. This has allowed a game like S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The Board Game to thrive, offering a full-blown analog experience that is enormously rich and full of life, just as the original franchise fully deserves.

This is a complex and expensive game chock-full of content. In it, up to four players take on the role of STALKERs, cooperating to achieve mission objectives such as rescuing a prisoner, retrieving an artifact, or hunting a massive beast in the irradiated environs of Chernobyl. Setting up the tiles, tokens, overlays, and cards can take a solid 20 minutes. Sneaking or fighting your way through the zone while handling all of the necessary aspects of play is another two or three hours. These estimates are for players who are familiar with the game and its rules as your first session is likely to stretch even longer. This experience is the inverse of the recent Mass Effect board game, instead seeking to offer an entire world to immerse yourself in at the cost of accessibility. Fortunately, all of this effort is absolutely worth it, for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. is a marvelous experience on the tabletop.

The default mode of play is a story-focused campaign that lasts three scenarios. This is a more modest and reasonable commitment than popular campaign board games such as Gloomhaven or Divinity: Original Sin the Board Game. Crucially, it means players are far more likely to actually finish the game.

It plays like a mashup of a traditional dungeon crawler with adventure game aspects. Each player controls a different STALKER outfitted with a variety of firearms, armor, and supplemental items. You then take turns performing one of several actions, including the expected moving and shooting, but also more unusual options like tossing bolts to distract enemies or interacting with terrain elements on the map.

The environment is dynamic and unpredictable. This is a key quality of the game, as it seeks to capture the danger and mystique of the Zone. You accumulate radiation moving through certain areas, hopefully possessing some kind of suit to offer protection. You also manipulate objects depending on the scenario and your goals. This may mean you have to locate a hidden trapdoor and pry it open, or choose between climbing a shaky ladder and descending into a drainpipe to enter a ruined building cut off from your approach. Often these environmental challenges are displayed on cards that are laid atop the map tiles. After spending an action to trigger or interact with their features, you flip the card over and reveal the outcome. There’s a strong sense of the unknown, particularly on your first playthrough of each scenario.

This core element of mystery is most strongly conveyed through anomalies. These swirling elemental entities are a significant detail of the video game’s setting, and they’re fundamental in establishing the character and personality of the post-apocalyptic surroundings. The board game adaptation of these oddities is spectacular. They’re represented by a standee and sit atop a translucent template on the board. The template contains various symbols spread across multiple map spaces, establishing a tense threat for any who would approach.

Any figure that enters such a space must roll a die. If the symbol rolled matches one in the current space, it triggers the anomaly’s reaction. The effects depend on the specific type of anomaly, but often this means substantial damage with occasional detrimental status afflictions. To successfully navigate the area of threat, STALKERs must toss bolts to cover the face-up symbols and find a safe path through the chaos. This system is fantastic, as it captures the tone and atmosphere of the source material in a way that’s not overly cumbersome. It also uses a unique set of components that is unusual in the board game space, which adds an esoteric quality and emphasizes its alien nature.

The enemy AI is also well implemented. After all of the STALKERs have activated, a card is flipped and a menu of actions is performed. Different enemy types, such as mutants and humans, behave somewhat differently, and they also take into consideration whether the protagonists were overly loud or acted with stealth. Players running and gunning like lunatics draw more attention and receive a higher degree of aggressive response. This system provides strong incentives to conduct stealthy operations, and the tools afforded as well as the construction of the scenarios themselves make this a satisfying strategic approach. Much like the anomalies and environment facets, the intersection of enemy behavior and player conduct is a well considered system that is surprisingly satisfying.

The story-focused campaign is interesting, with its own quirks worth exploring, but its lifespan is limited. The narrative offers two branches of missions you can embark on, which means you can replay the game to pursue the pathway you neglected. Each playthrough consists of only a few missions, but you may even find some joy in replaying scenarios you’ve already bested. Some terrain elements are randomized, and most scenarios offer multiple viable solutions to accomplishing the objective.

The campaign also offers some neat between-mission diversions. You can visit scavenger camps, interact with armorers, and unearth forgotten stashes. This is handled through an overland map of the nearby area, with newly discovered location nodes applied to the map via sticker. Two blank maps are included in the game as a fresh sheet is needed for each campaign you embark upon. These small location visits are executed fairly well, as they bring in a more macro view of the setting and help add context to the more zoomed-in missions.

If that’s all S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The Board Game was, it would still be a solid entry into the tabletop gaming space. Fortunately, there’s more: the single best feature in this box is the Zone Survival module. This is a full-fledged scenario generator that combines several randomized components to create a unique procedurally crafted mission. The event deck is constructed from a random allotment of cards, and your objective is either randomized or chosen from a list. You select the map from one of 10 layouts, and various environmental details are created through card draw.

This system is bonkers. Nearly half the cards and tokens in the game are dedicated to this fully developed and robust system. The story-driven campaign could have been removed wholesale, and this mode alone would have established S.T.A.L.K.E.R. as one of the year’s best board games. Yes, the setup here is even more finicky and detailed, but the ensuing one-off scenario is full of surprises and drama. The degree of variability here is wild, and the game looks to support near endless play.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. The Board Game is a complete and hefty package, but it’s also one with an enormous amount of future potential. The core game comes with miniatures for the STALKERs, and cardboard standees for all foes and anomalies. Optional miniatures sets can be purchased, alongside several content expansions that add more detailed personal narratives to the characters, factions to interact with, and new narrative campaigns to embark upon. The commitment by the publisher is staggering, and this game looks to have long legs.

Where to Buy

• See it at Board Game Bliss

Check Out More Board Games Based on Video Games: