A real-time strategy take on Resident Evil has been announced for iPhone and Android, developed in “close collaboration with Capcom to ensure authenticity and quality.”
Resident Evil Survival Unit is being co-developed by Joycity Corporation, a Korean mobile gaming company that previously made Pirates of the Caribbean: Tides of War, another licensed real-time strategy spin-off.
A full reveal of Survival Unit will take place next week but, until then, a single piece of artwork released today offers the smallest of clues to the game’s setting.
Amid a suitably dark and ominous atmosphere, a vehicle is stopped in the woods next to an advertising billboard for… you guessed it, Umbrella Corporation. The ad shows two happily smiling people, with the tagline: “Our Business is life itself…”
Umbrella existing likely places Resident Evil Survival Unit before the events of Resident Evil 4, by which point the evil organisation has crumbled. Could we be looking at the woods around the Arklay Mountains, near Raccoon City? We can just about glimpse a mountain range in the background, so it’s possible.
It’s easy to imagine a real-time shooter taking advantage of the events seen in and around the Resident Evil game, where several teams of STARS commandos — characters that fans have now grown to care about — most be poked and prodded into action, while kept alive for as long as you can.
An accompanying press release states that Survival Unit is “designed to appeal to both long-time fans and new players,” suggesting we will see some familiar faces or settings here.
And with the main series headed back to Raccoon City in Resident Evil Requiem, and supposedly picking up the storyline of Umbrella, now seems a good time to revisit the setting and events that started it all.
Resident Evil Survival Unit will launch in Japan, South Korea, North America, Europe, and Asia, published by anime company Aniplex, a subsidiary of Sony. More details will be confirmed next week via an online showcase, set to broadcast via YouTube on July 10.
Tom Phillips is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social
Sorry, historical farming village folk. You live in the sea now. Ok, fine. By the sea. But that’s the best we can do. Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord‘s War Sails expansion is due this Autumn, and TaleWorlds have put out a new deep dive blog covering what to expect from the big battle strategy RPG‘s first foray into wavely warfare. Shiver me tambourines and other such phrases that would have confused a viking, here’s the first trailer in case you missed it.
Releasing alongside a highly anticipated Switch 2 exclusive, the amiibo is now available through the My Nintendo Store UK for £16.99, with orders capped at three per customer.
Like other amiibo, though, a unique dual-character figure doesn’t just look great on your shelf. It also unlocks in-game content for Donkey Kong Bananza. Most notably, this includes the Diva Dress costume for Pauline, which grants the ability to make the appearance of discs after defeating an enemy twice as likely.
But that’s not all. By scanning either the new DK-Pauline amiibo, the Power-Up Bands from Super Nintendo World, or any of the other Donkey Kong series amiibo; solo Donkey Kong, Diddy Kong, King K. Rool, etc; gold “KONG” tiles with explosive power will appear. You can hurl these during gameplay to wreak extra havoc in the game’s many environments, and add an extra tactical edge to DK’s new adventure.
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Nintendo also confirmed during its dedicated Donkey Kong Bananza Direct that the game supports every previously released amiibo. Scanning non-DK series figures will instead get you giant material balls, which you can also make DK throw to traverse certain stages.
Preorders on the My Nintendo Store UK include standard delivery for £1.99 or free shipping if your order hits £20 or more. If you were planning on ordering any other DK figures (like those above), or games, like the various bundles for Pokemon Legends: Z-A, you may as preorder one of those now and save yourself a few pounds.
I’ve checked by adding both items to my basket testing the checkout and, even though Pokemon Legends: Z-A is releasing later than the Donkey Kong & Pauline amiibo on October 16 (meaning both will arrive via separate deliveries), shipping will still be free for the entire order.
The amiibo announcement follows a jam-packed Nintendo Direct showcasing Donkey Kong Bananza’s return to 3D platforming. New features include wild Bananza transformations, skill trees, a costume shop, and the creative DK Artist Mode where players sculpt and paint items and characters.
Donkey Kong Bananza drops in just a couple of weeks, and with this amiibo, you’ll be more than ready to swing into action and have a cool figure in your display.
Yesterday, Arrowhead Game Studios shell-shocked the games industry – announcing it would be bringing its PvE third-person shooter Helldivers 2 to the Xbox. Yes, the Sony-published game exclusive to PlayStation on consoles, is now making its way to Microsoft’s hardware.
Given the timing of all this, there are now (unsurprisingly) some Helldivers calling for a Switch 2 port, with threads on Reddit and social media popping up – asking the folks at Arrowhead to “let everyone in”, in reference to Nintendo players:
I’ve always been skeptical of Persona spin-offs. How can you twist such rich games into new shapes while maintaining the intricate details that make the series so beloved? Well, when it comes to the most recent addition to the family, Persona5: The Phantom X, the team at Perfect World appear to have done just that – or, at least, that’s how it seems on the surface. With beautifully animated cutscenes and a goosebump-inducing soundtrack, The Phantom X makes it clear early on that it isn’t keen to shake up the Persona formula. What it does do, however, is infuse that already excellent base with the all too familiar premium currencies of a mobile-focused gacha game. I have a more to play before my final review, but no matter how close it comes to recapturing the magic, there’s already a creeping sensation that this walk down memory lane is going to make way for endless grinding eventually.
Despite being a Persona 5 spin-off, The Phantom X doesn’t centre around Joker and his crew – instead, you’ll be playing as a fresh protagonist, Nagisa Kamisiro (though you can still pick your own name), in an alternate timeline version of that story. A seemingly average student, Kamasiro’s life changes when an adorable owl called Lufel calls on them to fight back against the misery and hopelessness enveloping the world, and to turn the tables against the great despair that clouds the hearts of the public. Unable to refuse, Kamasiro learns to wield their inner Persona and travels to the shadow world to help clear out the collective unconscious, one monster at a time. If you’ve played Persona 5, you’ll quickly notice that The Phantom X is following its formula beat by beat.
To fight off the aforementioned evil, you’ll bounce between beautifully recreated Tokyo neighborhoods and the monster-filled Metaverse, seeking out misbehaving fiends and infiltrating their minds while learning to master the series’ trademark turn-based combat that centers around elemental weaknesses. And because Kamisiro is a teen, you’ll also have to balance studying, part-time work, and home life, too. With all of its obvious derivations, The Phantom X struggles to conjure fresh ideas or immediate excitement in the shadow of a nearly decade-old modus operandi, but it at least manages to successfully clone the Persona formula, and that will be enough for some.
Thankfully, where the gameplay itself feels overfamiliar, the surrounding cast of characters provides enough mystery and warmth to keep things interesting. Alongside Kamisiro, you’ll meet the baseball-loving Motoha Arai, your husband-obsessed neighbour Kayo Tomiyama, and adorable schoolmate Tomoko Noge, to name a few. With energetic voice acting to back up their emotive and often humorous dialogue, it’s clear there’s been an effort to give the NPCs a sense of self, or at least the ones I’ve met so far. It didn’t take me long to forge an emotional attachment to them. Morgana’s anthropomorphic owl counterpart, Lufel, is a particular standout, and I am thoroughly enjoying a running gag about their somewhat archaic vocabulary confusing the school-aged NPCs.
The Phantom X follows Persona 5’s formula beat by beat.
You’ll spend most of your days in Kamisiro’s shoes doing time-progressing tasks like studying for school in local cafes, working at the Konbini for cash, and buying groceries that you can use to cook back at your home. I’m still scratching the surface on how integral these side tasks feel in the scope of saving the world, though I’ve been enjoying making shopping lists and gawking at iconic Tokyo landmarks all the same. Particularly, wandering through the bustle of Shibuya Scramble and spotting its famous puppy mascot amongst the beaming electronic signs felt like a wonderful ode to a city I’ve come to love in both real life and games.
Aside from being a typical teen, much of your time in The Phantom X is spent in battle, and your combat expeditions launch from the Metaverse app located on Kamisiro’s phone. You can access these challenges anytime from the overworld, but you’ll need to use a naturally refreshing currency called Stamina to reap the rewards. Focusing on the mainline story missions will help keep you on track in terms of difficulty, though you can also explore a variety of combat challenges as you please to stockpile loot and earn experience, too. This is where the first hints of grinding come into focus but, mercifully, the combat in The Phantom X is very moreish and easy to sink time into.
The Phantom X bases its combat system on Persona 5, meaning it’s turn-based with engaging reactive elements. When you roll up on a baddie, you’ll cycle through your party one member at a time, choosing between melee attacks, ranged attacks, and special Persona abilities. Similar to Pokémon, the enemies you’ll face, as well as the Personas you deploy, all have elemental strengths and weaknesses (like fire or ice) that can be exploited for extra damage. It’s a tried-and-tested system with enough diversity in its moveset to keep battles fresh, and even if you are starting to tire of it, the imagination-stoking enemy designs pull a good amount of weight throughout. What makes Persona combat truly unique, though, is the series’ bold interface design and legendary battle themes. I promise, no matter how many times you’ve already heard Persona 5’s Last Surprise, it just doesn’t get old.
Sadly, no amount of vocal flair from singer Lyn Inaizumi can make up for the sizable array of gacha systems and currencies you need to balance in The Phantom X. While there are characters and Personas you can unlock through the story, the quickest way to bolster your team is to engage in the lucky dip Contracts menu. In line with most other Gacha games on the market, you can earn the currencies you need to pull by grinding, or cut to the chase and pop in your credit card details to get an instant boost. I’m still only about 10 hours into my playthrough, and I’ve not hit any obvious roadblocks, but I can see them coming. At my current level, I have enough cash to buy health items, as well as a plethora of unique currencies to upgrade my Personas, weapons and more. Plus, when it comes to actually engaging with the gacha spins, I don’t feel like the boost they provide are hugely necessary to my success yet. Inevitably, this won’t last, though, and I can see cash-shaped hurdles on the horizon.
Outside of the inclusion of premium currencies, perhaps my biggest issue with The Phantom X so far is that it feels more like an uncanny reflection of Persona 5, rather than a unique take on its established lore. Other spin-offs like Persona 5 Tactica or Persona 5 Strikers feel like strong additions to the series that come at it from a completely different angle, whereas The Phantom X is more of a well-executed imitation. It’s not to say that I’m bored, and I’ve thoroughly enjoyed both its combat and getting to know the characters so far. The first few chapters of its story are well-written, appropriately shocking, and do well to hook you into the world. But The Phantom X’s “do-over” take on the story The Phantom Thieves just isn’t providing a new enough experience to warrant the amount of time (or possibly money) I’ll need to invest to see it through when Persona 5 and its predecessors are readily available and feel far more curated and engaging.
While I’m mostly enjoying my time with Persona5: The Phantom X so far, there’s still so much to explore before delivering my final review, like investigating the depth of the upgrade systems and the long-term impact of premium currencies as you progress. As a fan of the series, it’s hard to look a gift horse in the mouth when it comes to fresh Persona 5-related content. But as of right now, I’m just unsure about how The Phantom X can deviate enough from the core material to compel me to invest in it long term – only time will tell.
After last month, we bet you thought July was cooling off a little, right? Well… a little, but not much.
The Switch 2 has been here for a month now, and we’re swimming in games old and new on the new platform. And look, we all know what’s top banana for many of you this month, and a new Switch 2 Edition is also on the agenda, but there’s 13 (ish… there’s a couple of bundles here!) other fabulous looking games coming out on both hybrids.
Black Bolt and White Flare are out in Japan, and prices are already settling on the most sought-after cards. I’ve been following the early market closely on TCGPlayer and eBay, and it’s clear which cards are leading the packs… get it?
Zekrom and Reshiram are pulling in the highest numbers, while full-art Trainers and EX cards are also climbing fast. For now, here’s a look at the most expensive cards from both sets right now, based on what I’ve found.
Black Bolt: Japan’s Most Expensive Cards
I’ve been tracking Black Bolt and White Flare since their Japanese launch, and the early market has already picked its favorites. No surprise, Zekrom ex 174/086 leads the Black Bolt pack at $343.12, and it’s not even close.
The alternate Secret Rare version, Zekrom ex 169/086, is holding strong too at $171.29. Both are big pulls with bold art and high early demand. But it’s not just dragons making waves.
N’s Plot 173/086 is already climbing to $97.51, making it the priciest Trainer card in either set. Mid-tier cards like Kyurem ex 168/086 and Serperior ex 167/086 sit in the $50 to $60 range, while Meloetta ex and Genesect ex are slightly lower but still fetching healthy prices for new EXs.
Even the cheaper cards, like Kyurem ex 160/086 at $10.93, or Snivy and Pansage, both hovering around $20, are drawing in early collectors looking to complete those secret rare numbers before the English release.
White Flare: Japan’s Most Expensive Cards
Over in White Flare, things look just as competitive. Reshiram ex 174/086 has taken the top spot here, priced at $347.76, basically mirroring Zekrom’s dominance.
The second Reshiram ex, 168/086, isn’t far behind, fluctuating between $159.95 and $181.85.
Then there’s Hilda 173/086, which is shaping up to be the Trainer pull from this set. It’s listed at $110, but already hitting $121.36 on eBay.
Beyond that, we’ve got Hydreigon ex at a solid $57.50, and a few mid-range hitters like Keldeo ex, Jellicent ex, and Whimsicott ex, all sitting around $25 to $30.
Even cards like Oshawott 102/086, Zoroark, and the alternate Hilda 166/086 are seeing interest around the $16 to $24 range.
These sets are just getting started, and the market’s already showing clear lines between casual rares and serious collector targets.
Where to Buy Sealed Boosters (JP)
Japanese Cards are more popular than ever. The challenge is getting hold of them, which is where TCGPlayer comes in. Instead of paying for importers and stores’ fees from getting this stuff for retail in Japan to get into your hands, you’re paying market value for sealed products.
There’s plenty of chase cards in a booster box for Black Bolt and White Flare, specifically one secret rare, full art, hyper rare or alt art alongside 3 art rares. I’m not saying you’ll get your money back in card values, but it’s fun ripping boosters open. It’s the next best option if you’re not just buying cards standalone for display.
Black Bolt White Flare Preorders
There’s been recent preorder restocks for big box retailers such as Walmart, so we’d recomend keeping an eye on these listings to secure your day one sealed product.
Black Bolt and White Flare sealed products are also on TCGPlayer, although they’re all over MSRP which is to be expected on the secondary collectors market right now. My advice? Wait until after release on July 18 to see where to market setles before making any big moves.
This Week’s Pokémon TCG Crashers and Climbers
With Black Bolt and White Flare wrapping up the Scarlet & Violet era, all eyes are now on what’s next —and Mega Evolution is officially back.
The Japanese Championships 2025 confirmed MEGA Symphonia and MEGA Brave as the first entries in the new Mega Expansion Packs, launching August 1 in Japan. These sets reintroduce Mega Evolution ex cards in a powerful new form, now Stage 2 Pokémon worth 3 Prize Cards when knocked out.
Cards like Mega Gardevoir ex, Mega Venusaur ex, and Mega Lucario ex are leading the charge, and collectors are already snapping up classic Mega cards in anticipation of their return to the spotlight.
Christian Wait is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering everything collectable and deals. Christian has over 7 years of experience in the Gaming and Tech industry with bylines at Mashable and Pocket-Tactics. Christian also makes hand-painted collectibles for Saber Miniatures. Christian is also the author of “Pokemon Ultimate Unofficial Gaming Guide by GamesWarrior”. Find Christian on X @ChrisReggieWait.
Today’s gaming deals are stacked, I’m so hyped. We’ve got premium laptops with decent discounts, curved OLED monitors, and high-refresh powerhouses, all with serious price cuts. A couple of these are big hitters from HP and ASUS with RTX 5080 GPUs inside, while the LG and Samsung monitors are flying under $800 thanks to that JULYFINDS coupon on eBay (don’t forget to apply it at checkout).
EA has announced it will shut down BioWare’s Anthem on January 12, 2026.
Because Anthem’s only content is online, this means the game will be unplayable after that date.
Premium in-game currency will stop being sold today, though existing balances will still be able to be used until the game shuts down. The game will be removed from EA’s storefront on August 15, 2025, but will still be available for download if it’s already in your library until it officially shuts down.
Anthem launched in February of 2019 to lukewarm reviews, including our own 6.5/10 which criticized the grindiness, lack of polish and variety, and a mismatched story. The game had sold 5 million copies as of December of 2023, which fell short of EA’s target of 6 million copies in the first few months. Though EA continued to update and improve Anthem in the months that followed its launch, in February of 2021, EA ceased active development on the game. The following month, its game director departed the company.
In an FAQ, EA stated that no layoffs occurred at the company as the result of Anthem’s sunset. This will come as a relief, given that EA has undergone a number of massive staffing cuts in the last few years that have left staff reeling.
As for BioWare, it’s currently fully focused on Mass Effect 5 after the sales failure of Dragon Age: The Veilguard.
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.
Hades 2‘s next patch could be its last before the game emerges from its early access cocoon.
As spotted by RPS, the roguelike action RPG’s latest patch — the Unseen Update — introduces a “number of adjustments to some of the latest additions,” but developer Supergiant did tease that this will “likely be [its] final patch before the v1.0 launch”… “whenever that will be.”
The team said it will continue to monitor your feedback in the meantime.
The full patch notes are included below, although please note we’ve removed any notes including spoiler tags, so you’ll have to head on over to Steam to read those. Anything in bold has been inspired directly “by community feedback.”
Hades 2 Unseen Update Patch 10 patch notes:
General Gameplay
Reduced further cases of successive attacks causing you to become ‘stun-locked’
Whenever you take damage to Armor, it will reduce any temporary Armor you have from sources such as Security System (Hephaestus), prior to reducing the more-permanent kind
Nocturnal Arms & Abilities
Sister Blades: Omega Attack can no longer be interrupted by foes
Umbral Flames: reduced orbit speed of Omega Special projectiles, but increased their damage
Argent Skull: Omega Special wave projectiles no longer stagger foes
Black Coat: increased speed of Attack sequence and damage of first strike; slightly increased Omega Attack channel speed, and it can block more types of incoming area-effect damage; increased Special accuracy
Aspects of the Nocturnal Arms
Witch’s Staff (Melinoë): reduced bonus to Magick and Power
Witch’s Staff (Momus): slightly increased how long it takes your serpents to fire successive Omega Moves
Oath of the Unseen
Vow of Frenzy: now also makes foes enter the battle faster; reduced effect on Vow of Rivals moves
Vow of Scars: fixed several cases where this was not reducing Life recovery as expected
Boons & Blessings
Steady Growth (Demeter): now will only Rarify itself if you have no other eligible Boons
Hestia: Scorch Curse can no longer deal Critical damage or similar, nor is affected by Air Quality (Zeus)
Success Rate (Hermes): no longer affects the passive effect of Raki
Incandescent Aura (Hera x Hestia): reworked — now deals damage to all Hitch-afflicted foes when you restore Magick
Natural Selection (Poseidon x Demeter): reworked — now distributes bonus Lv. to your primary Boons
Scalding Vapor (Poseidon x Hestia): no longer can activate the Froth Curse
Gigaros Dash (Hades): reduced damage; fixed Scorn amplifying damage other than Attack and Special
Unseen Ire (Hades): fixed an issue causing the effect duration to last longer than stated
Crimson Dress (Arachne): fixed an issue causing this to give a high damage bonus right away; increased bonus per Encounter
Daedalus Hammer Upgrades
Boosted Ignition (Skull): no longer offered while using
Looming Ignition (Skull): fixed an issue causing this to give its full damage bonus immediately rather than over the duration as described
Hexes & Path of Stars
📢 Adjusted Path of Stars layouts to make room especially for Godsent upgrades
Adjusted when Godsent upgrades are offered during the story for the first time, now later than before
Twilight Curse: this and other Morph effects now block any on-death attacks when afflicted foes are slain, with the exception of Inferno-Bombs
Prize of Poseidon (Moon Water): cut from game; replaced with…
Pride of Poseidon (Moon Water): new! Godsent upgrade gradually restores Life and Magick over time
Zenith (Sky Fall): cut from game; replaced with Ambition, which deals bonus damage to Guardians
Lineage: new! Your Hex can be Godsent one more time when used in Guardian Encounters
Keepsakes
Discordant Bell: effect now persists for the night even after you switch Keepsakes
Resources & Reagents
Reduced chance of never finding the resource type aligned with your Animal Familiar in shorter regions
Shrine of Hermes
Fresh Sustenance MAX: reduced Life recovery
Art & Visual FX
Added alternate textures when using upgraded Tools of the Unseen
Updated visual FX when Crescent Pick Outcroppings are depleted
Added visual indicator in Boon Info for when Arcana are disabled due to Barren (Chaos)
Miscellaneous
Melinoë now can greet Frinos while he is in the Training Grounds, as with the other Animal Familiars
Gameplay Timer now also pauses automatically when interacting with the Path of Stars
Heracles no longer sometimes ominously just stands around after his Encounters
Updated presentation for Icarus fly-by attacks
Improved feedback on Life and Magick gauges after swapping Keepsakes that modify your totals
Improved feedback spending resources in the Altar of Ashes, Silver Pool, and Music Maker screens
Improved contextual feedback on various Boons when affected by Vow of Scars
Damage from Specials and Omega Specials is now separated for some weapons on the Victory Screen
Reduced cluttered damage numbers using Argent Skull (Medea)
Added letterbox to the game intro in some aspect ratios
Updates and fixes to translations in some languages
Bug Fixes
Fixed an issue where Melinoë could suddenly take 500 damage using Eruption (Path of Stars) and Night Bloom (Selene) to raise a Tempus in the battle against Chronos…
Fixed a number of story events that were never playing
Fixed a number of contextual voice lines that were never playing
Fixed cases where you would sometimes Dash-Strike unexpectedly using the Moonstone Axe
Fixed some interactions between and Psychic Whirlwind (Daedalus)
Fixed Black Coat not interacting with some abilities that improved Channeling speed
Fixed visual issues where strikes with Hidden Aspects sometimes appeared to be interrupted by foes
Fixed Wounds from Ares sometimes causing on-hit slowdowns too frequently
Fixed Sea Star (Poseidon) sometimes doubling items created by Gold Gold Gold (Echo)
Fixed Personal Loan (Dionysus) giving you nothing back if it got Rarified
Fixed Heracles sometimes turning invisible while attacking
Fixed cases where Athena could unexpectedly appear more than once per night
Fixed cases where using Cast to interrupt Attacks or Specials would pause animations longer than expected
Fixed Past Deeds screen not showing more than 36 Boons if you had that many
Fixed Satyr Supplicant Life Bars persisting after they were slain
Fixed Ares Plasma UI indicator sometimes disappearing unexpectedly
Fixed several text errors
Other minor fixes
Hades 2 is the sequel to Supergiant’s hit game, mixing engaging storytelling and roguelite action elements for an engaging dungeon-crawling experience. We thought Hades 2 was ‘Amazing’ when it released in May 2024, slapping it with a 9 in our early access review, writing: “Even in its Early Access state, Hades 2 is just about everything one could ask for in a sequel to one of the best roguelites of all time. Featuring excellent refinements to its roguelite progression, a fantastic new main character in Melinoe, and two unique sets of levels that have you fighting foes on the surface and in the underworld.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
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