Round Up: The First “Hands On” Impressions Of The Pokémon Legends: Z-A Demo Are In

Playable at the World Championships.

Pokémon Legends: Z-A isn’t out until October, but this weekend there’s a Switch 2 demo at the 2025 Pokémon World Championships.

The first impressions are now rolling in, and we’ve put together some thoughts so far – starting with a ‘hands on’ from our senior video producer Zion Grassl. Although it might not be for everyone, we’re thinking the hardcore fans will be pleased with how it’s shaping up.

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Anniversary: n-Space & Nintendo’s M-Rated GameCube Gem Is 20 Years Old

I ain’t afraid of no Geist.

Everyone, we like to believe, has a made a secret list for every single console they’ve ever owned, of weird and/or experimental stuff they either want to, or wished they had, played. Sometimes you get round to them, sometimes you don’t. You know the sort of thing. For me, on GameCube specifically, things like Cubivore come to mind, and to a lesser extent Eternal Darkness and Geist. Yes, Geist! Which means “ghost” in German. Did you know that? Of course you did. Every Geisterjäger or Paranormal-Forscher worth their salz knows this stuff.

Now, Geist didn’t exactly set the world on fire when it came out, but to skip over it for its shortcomings — of which it has its fair share — is to do yourself out of a genuinely odd, unsettling and actually quite good game. And, you know what, 20 years down the line from when it originally released, it’s perhaps more intriguing than ever thanks to how differently it plays compared to many of its peers.

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Guide: Donkey Kong Bananza: Walkthrough

Your ultimate Donkey Kong Bananza resource.

Donkey Kong Bananza is absolutely packed with things to do and see. Fortunately, we here are Nintendo Life are on hand to help with our ultimate Donkey Kong Bananza Guide.

In this guide, we’ll be running through everything you need to know about DKB and where to find every collectible, including All Banandium Gems and Discs, and every Outfit. We’ll also cover where to spend your Skill Points, and much more.

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First Impressions: Pokémon Legends: Z-A Is An Attempt To Catch The Hardcore Again

Smooth sailing on Switch 2.

Pokémon Legends: Arceus isn’t a perfect game by any means, but that didn’t stop it from syphoning all of my free time when it launched back in 2022. This was the first time in a while where I truly felt the desire to “catch ’em all”. While Arceus still borrowed a lot from the mainline games, it did enough to make the world of Pokémon feel fresh and alive in ways the franchise previously hadn’t for many players, including myself.

Legends: Arceus isn’t an open-world game, though the zones it offered still did a solid job of making me feel immersed in the environment. Not only would you find Pokémon walking around all over the place, you could sneak up on them and toss a ball without the need for a battle. This could backfire as a Pokémon might be alerted to your presence and lay the smackdown on you. Yeah, you – the trainer. There was a sense of danger and mystery that really couldn’t be found in any previous Pokémon games.

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Dark Deity 2 Is Bringing Another Healthy Dose Of Fire Emblem Inspo To Switch

Three Who’sthis?

Cast your mind back to 2022 and you might remember Dark Deity, the fantasy turn-based RPG that took more than a little inspiration from Fire Emblem: Three Houses. Fast forward to the present day and we have Dark Deity 2, the second entry in the series which looks just as tied to the Nintendo touchstone.

This one launched on PC earlier this year, but developer Sword and Axe and publisher Indie.io have announced that it will also be making its way to Switch on 4th September, and we can’t help but feel that it’s a good fit.

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Borderlands 4 On Switch 2 Won’t Support Split-Screen Couch Co-Op

But it will have “full crossplay”.

Since the announcement of Borderlands 4 for the Switch 2, we’ve had a number of updates from Randy Pitchford and the team at Gearbox Software about what exactly fans can expect.

Following the news last month the game would run at “mostly” 30fps (instead of 60fps) on Nintendo’s new hybrid hardware, we’ve now got another Switch 2-related update. This was spotted in the game’s official FAQ, which was updated earlier this month.

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We Might Be Getting An Update About Sakurai’s New Kirby Game Soon

He’s aware fans haven’t even seen gameplay yet.

One of the many surprises during the Switch 2 reveal in April was the new game Kirby Air Riders, a sequel to the GameCube outing.

It’s scheduled to arrive later this year, so what’s the latest? Game director Masahiro Sakurai has issued another small update via social media today, mentioning how he thinks the team should be able to share some information about this game soon.

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Capcom Is Holding A 90-Minute Panel At New York Comic-Con In October

It will showcase “recent and upcoming releases”.

Japanese gaming giant Capcom will be holding a special panel on the main stage at this year’s New York Comic-Con on 10th October 2025.

Entertainment Weekly unveiled the list of panels available at the event — which takes place from 9th to 12th October — and Capcom was among them.

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Disco Elysium-Inspired Narrative RPG ‘Rue Valley’ Gains A Switch Release

Plus a neat charity collaboration.

Rue Valley, a narrative RPG heavily inspired by Disco Elysium, has been confirmed for the Switch in addition to PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC.

No release date has been set at the time of writing, but we’re keeping a close eye on this one. It looks pretty awesome; definitely a little more upbeat and comedic than what Disco Elysium offered, but still retaining some of the same DNA.

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