Capcom has released the first title update for Dragon’s Dogma 2, adding some crucial features to the game.

Update 1.050, out now on PC via Steam and PlayStation 5, and on Xbox Series X and S “in the next few days”, adds the option to start a new game when save data already exists. Inexplicably, Dragon’s Dogma 2 launched without this option, although modders soon brute-forced it into the PC version.

Elsewhere, Capcom has boosted the number of Art of Metamorphosis items available at Pawn Guilds to 99. Art of Metamorphosis lets you edit your character, and is one of many day-one microtransactions Capcom is currently selling for real-world money.

Meanwhile, Dragon’s Dogma 2 on console gets various graphics and performance options, including a toggle for motion blur and ray tracing. Crucially, Capcom has added the option to switch frame-rate to either variable or max 30fps. Players have criticized Dragon’s Dogma 2’s frame-rate, which Capcom has said is linked to stress put on CPUs by a large number of NPCs. It’s worth noting that Capcom said the motion blur and ray tracing toggle does not improve the game’s frame-rate significantly, but meaningful improvements are coming further down the line.

Despite a controversy over microtransactions and a backlash to the game’s performance, particularly on PC, Dragon’s Dogma 2 is the biggest launch for a single-player Capcom game on Steam, with an impressive 228,585 peak concurrents. If you’re playing Dragon’s Dogma 2, be sure to check out IGN’s interactive map, our walkthrough hub, and our guides on Pawns and Pawn Specializations.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 title update patch notes:

• Adding the option to start a new game when save data already exists.
• Changing the number of “Art of Metamorphosis” items available at Pawn Guilds in the game to 99.
• Making the quest that allows players to acquire their own dwelling (where they can save and rest) available earlier in the game.
• Miscellaneous text display issues.
• Miscellaneous bug fixes.

[PlayStation5]

• Adding the option* to switch Motion Blur on/off in Options.
• Adding the option* to switch Ray Tracing on/off in Options.
• Adding the option to set Frame Rate at Max 30fps in Options.

[Steam]

• Improving quality when DLSS SUPER RESOLUTION is enabled.
• Fixing an issue related to the display of models under some specific settings.
• *These options won’t affect frame rate significantly. Improvements to frame rate are planned for future updates.

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.

Cardy, Matt, and Mat are here to talk about a right ol’ mixture of stuff this week. We’ve got new games like Princess Peach: Showtime and old ones like the original Metal Gear Solid trilogy. Then there are brand-new films such as Civil War and Drive-Away Dolls, and a bunch of thrillers from between 1975 and 1981. Oh, and a new X-Men TV show that is kind of an old X-Men TV show.

Tell us what your favourite sauce is. Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast 742: Solid Snake Smoking Meats

• IGN UK Podcast 741: Dragon’s Dogma 2 Has the Sauce
• IGN UK Podcast 740: Rise of Ricky Stanicky
• IGN UK Podcast 739: We Draft Our Favourite 2014 Games, Films, TV Shows, and Memes
• IGN UK Podcast 738: Shoguns, Unicorn Overlords and Kingmakers
• IGN UK Podcast 737: Buster Swordin’ Makes Me Feel Good

Developer Maddy Thorson acknowledged that it’s time to “face the music” in a blog posted on Thursday, announcing that Earthblade — the next game from the team behind the acclaimed platformer Celeste — won’t be making its 2024 release date.

In her detailed update, Thorson acknowledged some of the hurdles that the project has faced, at one point admitting that she apologized to the team as she dealt with challenges in her personal life. She also recevealed that her studio, Extremely OK Games, has hired veteran indie developer Kyle Pulver, who among other things is the “world champion of Towerfall.”

“Kyle quickly approached us with big ideas, which can be scary for everyone involved. But it was clear that he’s not here to derail the project. He’s identifying our vision and the problems preventing the game from living up to it, and working with us to pinpoint solutions. Plus his fresh eyes have inspired all of us to see things anew,” Thorson wrote.

First announced back in 2021, Earthblade is a “2D explor-action” game with a pixel art style and a soundtrack from Celeste composer Lena Raine. It was subsequently revealed in a trailer at the 2022 Game Awards, though not much else has been seen of it since. It was originally expected to be out in 2024 before the announced delay.

Thorson, who is a transgender woman, wrote that her transition “involves a lot of change, uncertainty and doubt, and it’s easy to see how that has bled into Earthblade.”

“I was despairing about this and apologizing to the team recently, but [developer Pedro Medeiros] said something that helped me shift my thinking. He told me that this uncertainty was always going to be part of the process and that it wasn’t solely coming from me — we’ve all had to fight through uncertainty together to make Earthblade. Even if we could go back and do everything ‘perfectly’ from the start the result would be a different game. Despite the setbacks, we all still believe in this project, and more importantly in each other,” Thorson wrote.

Thorson did not reveal a new release date, but did say that she feels like she’s at the “start of a new era.” It is certainly slated to release on PC. For more, check out our Celeste retrospective published last year, which includes interviews with Thorson, Raine, and more.

Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.

Marvel leapt from comics to film, becoming the highest grossing film franchise of all time. It should come as no surprise that it has similarly jumped to the tabletop, garnering a massive amount of attention and money. These stories and characters translate well to board gaming. They allow for bombastic expression and tense drama.

The diversity on offer is strong. There are smaller and more accessible games, larger and more heady ones, and plenty of titles with attractive miniatures and gorgeous illustrations. This list includes 8 of the top Marvel games on the market. There is something here for nearly anyone. |

TL;DR: The Best Marvel Board Games

• Marvel United: Spider-Geddon | See it at Amazon
• Marvel: Crisis Protocol | See it at Amazon
• Marvel Champions | See it at Amazon
• Marvel: Remix | See it at Amazon
• Marvel Dice Throne | See it at Amazon
• Marvel Zombies – A Zombicide Game | See it at Amazon
• Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R. | See it at Amazon
• Unmatched: Marvel | See it at Amazon

The Best Marvel Board Games

Marvel United: Spider-Geddon

Marvel United is a rules-light and affordable adventure game that works superbly for nearly any age. Each player takes on the role of a unique superhero and work together to thwart a villain and their henchmen. Heroes are fueled by their deck of action cards, with players utilizing these cards to activate various locations around a city, beat down minions, and confront the main rival. While there are a series of Marvel United titles and many product options, the best starting point is the recently released Spider-Geddon set. This offers a large amount of content with an intriguing set of heroes and adversaries.

Marvel: Crisis Protocol

Ever wonder what it would be like to play Warhammer 40,000 but with Marvel heroes instead of Space Marines? Marvel: Crisis Protocol is the answer. This is a heavily detailed miniatures game that requires players to assemble figures. You can dive deep into this hobby, painting each character with painstaking precision, as well as constructing buildings and elements of terrain to fight over. The ruleset is splendid as it focuses primarily on small teams of mixed heroes. Each character is distinct with their own suite of abilities and powers. It’s a dynamic and exhilarating game with a wonderful flow. For a more thorough look, you can read our review of Marvel: Crisis Protocol.

Marvel Champions

This fully cooperative card game has players wielding unique decks for superheroes such as Captain Marvel, Spider-Man, and Black Panther. Each hero has a number of specific ability cards representing their various powers in combination with a central character card that can flip between their hero persona and their alter ego. Players manage their hands and decks in order to dish out damage against a central antagonist such as Rhino or Ultron. The villain, which is controlled entirely by a personal deck of cards, pursues their own agenda to threaten the innocent and achieve world domination. For those that are particularly smitten with this title, you can expand your collection with dozens of additional hero packs and larger expansion boxes.

Marvel: Remix

As the smallest game on this list, Marvel Remix is a tidy card game that can be tossed in a bag and taken nearly anywhere. This competitive design has players trying to assemble a hand of heroes, villains, locations, and items. Each card has various symbols that interact with other cards, as well as its own scoring condition. With deft play you can build a hand with several intersecting combinations that yield enormous point gains. Since you only make your way through a portion of the deck and there are a wide range of creative synergies, this little game beckons continual play and exploration.

Marvel Dice Throne

Dice Throne is the successful competitive dice battler that has been kicking since 2018. Just recently the series made the jump to Marvel, featuring heroes such as Black Widow, Captain America, and Thor. Each character has their own set of dice and abilities, and players take turns rolling their dice and assigning the results to their various unique powers. The goal is to deal enough damage to defeat your opponent in this quick and clever head-to-head bout. While play is streamlined and relatively uniform, the asymmetric playstyles for each hero encourage experimentation and add just enough texture to maintain long-term interest. There are some truly empowering moments when you manage to roll your special finishing maneuver and unleash maximum power.

Marvel Zombies – A Zombicide Game

Zombicide is the popular miniature heavy cooperative survival game where players fight the dead while seeking to accomplish various scenario-specific objectives. Marvel Zombies shifts the series to the popular Marvel storyline where an infection has spread and the heroes have begun to turn into powerful undead legions that crave flesh. Beyond the naturally slick adaptation of the Marvel property to this series, this game flips the traditional Zombicide script by having players take on the role of superhero zombies hunting humans. It features an entirely new hunger mechanism while pushing gameplay into several distinct directions that changeup the formula. This may very well be the best Zombicide yet, as its crammed full of wonderful ideas and shining Marvel miniatures.

Marvel D.A.G.G.E.R.

D.A.G.G.E.R. stands for “Defense Alliance for Global and Galactic Response”, and this is the organization that players are affiliated with this in globe-spanning adventure game. The scope here is larger than any other title on this list, as players travel around the world to put out fires and confront enemies. Villains terrorize cities and launch evil machinations for greater purpose, and heroes such as Daredevil, the Hulk, and Elektra must do everything within their power to shut it down. This is a lengthy game, but it’s one with scope that provides for a more epic adventure with many ups and downs. It delivers a fully realized vision of characters responding to threats and traveling to various regions in order to thwart evil. There is a real sense of being overwhelmed and having to triage threats in order to stay ahead of the curve and prevail.

Unmatched: Marvel

The Unmatched series is a collection of games that pit fighters against each other in head to head bouts. Think Street Fighter on a tabletop, except it trades out Ryu and Ken for heroes of all different time periods and properties. There are sets that feature mythic and literary figures such as King Arthur or Alice from Alice in Wonderland, and there are also sets that highlight pop culture characters such as Grant from Jurassic Park or even Ghost Rider. Yes, there is an entire suite of Marvel characters spread across several products, allowing players to wield icons such as Moon Knight, Spider-Man, and Black Widow. The game itself is smooth and simple as each character is fueled by a deck of asymmetric cards that represent their unique attacks and powers. In just 20 minutes, two participants can square off and beat the heck out of each other utilizing a simple and rewarding ruleset. Over multiple plays you can come to understand the nuance of these characters, just as if you were learning a moveset while playing an electronic fighting game. This is a fantastic, inexpensive product line that is entertaining and lean.