Category: Video Games

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth director Naoki Hamaguchi was surprised the remake once again spurred a debate around the use of yellow paint in video games.

Using yellow paint on ledges and walls to indicates a traversable area in a video game has been a hot topic among players ever since its rise in popularity in the likes of Uncharted on PlayStation 3. Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth uses this tactic too, with players voicing their opinions on it since the first demo for the role-playing game was released.

Speaking to Red Bull, Hamaguchi said he “didn’t think that the yellow paint [debate would be] discussed on social media” following the demo’s release, and said he and the development team at Square Enix have heard players load and clear.

“For things like camera options, where people have a wide variety of preferences and there’s no one right answer, our basic approach is to offer various accessibility options,” Hamaguchi said. “So I would like to take on board the valuable feedback we have received towards this for future games.”

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is just the middle part of an entire remake trilogy, so this comment perhaps suggests Square Enix may make the yellow paint an optional accessibility feature in the third and final game, or perhaps allow players to adjust the intensity of it themselves.

In our 9/10 review of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, IGN said: “Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth impressively builds off of what Remake set in motion, both as a best-in-class action-RPG full of exciting challenges and an awe-inspiring recreation of a world that has meant so much to so many for so long.”

Those playing can check out IGN’s extensive guide on the Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, and see how long it takes to beat, our PlayStation 5 performance review, and how Square Enix caused havoc by mislabeling its discs in Japan.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Best Buy is offering a nice little deal for Nintendo fans right now – you can get a free $25 e-gift card when you purchase a select Nintendo Switch model there. This bonus credit will be sent to you after your purchase and is great to use as a discount towards some Nintendo Switch games or accessories for your new console.

The Nintendo Switch consoles using this promotion are the White OLED model, the OLED model with Neon Red and Neon Blue Joy-Con, the original Switch with Neon Blue and Red Joy‑Con, and the Blue, Turquoise, and Coral Switch Lite. Check out these models at the links below to get your free $25 Best Buy e-gift card before the offer’s gone!

Purchase Select Nintendo Switch Model, Get a Free $25 e-Gift Card at Best Buy

If you’re looking for even more Switch-related deals to take advantage of right now, there are still quite a few MAR10 Day deals available. At the moment, you can still save on select Mario games and Mario-themed accessories, alongside some excellent SD card deals. Not to mention, Nintendo’s offering a 14-day free trial of Nintendo Switch Online as well (extended from their usual 7-day free trial), which will be available through March 17.

You can also check out our roundup of the best Nintendo Switch deals to see even more discounts available outside of the world of Mario. Right now, you can also save on popular titles from last year like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom or Super Mario Bros. Wonder. If you want to check out deals for other consoles, we also have roudups dedicated to the best Xbox deals, the best PlayStation deals, and the overall best video game deals.

Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.

Persona 3 Reload players have taken to Steam to express frustration at Atlus announcing a $35 expansion pass one month after promising the game is a “complete experience”.

Persona 3 Reload’s expansion pass has been dubbed a “cash grab” by some fans who spent as much as $200 on the Collector’s Edition only to see more content announced just one month later. “Imagine buying a $100 Premium Edition and one month later you have to buy another $35 for what is just cut content,” Hourai said in a Steam review. “Awful cash grab,” added Zandig.

Fans were originally concerned that Atlus would release the base game in 2024 and soon after announce an expanded edition, as it did with the original Persona 3 (with follow-ups called Portable and FES), plus Persona 4 (with Persona 4 Golden), and Persona 5 (with Persona 5 Royal).

Persona Team production manager Kazuhisa Wada insisted fans could buy Persona 3 Reload with confidence upon its February 2 launch, however, promising it “offers a complete experience”. But on March 6, Atlus announced an expansion pass containing more background music from Persona 4 Golden and Persona 5 Royal, additional costumes, and the Episode Aigis expansion, which included around 30 hours of extra content in the original game. Atlus itself calls this segment the “final chapter” of Persona 3 Reload.

The Steam reviews for Persona 3 Reload have taken a hit in response to the announcement of the expansion pass, the first wave of which (including the bonus tracks) arrives today, March 12. Just 2.98% of reviews were negative on launch compared to 39.22% today.

It’s the specific expansion pass Steam page that has taken the brunt of frustration, however, as it currently has a “mostly negative” rating with just 21% of its reviews being positive.

“People who bought the $100 Digital Premium Edition or $200 Aigis Edition should be entitled to this,” wrote Crazydog1435, referencing that most deluxe editions now come with the season pass included. “Love how this doesn’t come with any of the expensive editions,” said Timo654.

“Great game but this remake shouldn’t have been advertised as a Persona 3 remake without FES content just for this to be announced a month later for such an egregious price and not included in the big versions we’ve already bought,” said Photo.

Persona 3 Reload producer Ryota Niitsuma said upon its announcement that Atlus “wanted to really genuinely work on recreating the Persona 3 experience” so wouldn’t be remaking the extra content from FES or Portable. Wada assured the decision to remake the FES content was made after this, though certainly before he promised the base game was a “complete experience”.

“Devs lie saying ‘no FES content planned’ yet this releases just over a month after initial release,” said thatguyoverthere. “I am the problem. I bought this since it’ll probably be fun, but I’ve spent about $60 in additional content for this game for things that should’ve been in there day one. I really hope this doesn’t happen again with any Atlus or SEGA game.”

Persona 3 Reload also has myriad pieces of downloadable content available at launch including costumes and additional music. IGN has asked Atlus for comment.

Persona 3 Reload is available on PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X and S, and PC. A Nintendo Switch version hasn’t been announced so far, though Persona 3 Reload’s director Takuya Yamaguchi has said it’s not out of the question.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “With a stellar visual overhaul and countless small but impactful changes, Persona 3 Reload tells a timeless story of tragedy and hope with sharp emotional sincerity.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Rejoice, Elden Ring fans, as the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion now has a nailed-down release date of June 21. What’s better than that? Well, a discount on DLC of course. It’s currently priced at $39.99 MSRP, sparking speculation that this could truly be a massive offering for fans. But, if you’re on PC, we highly recommend picking up Shadow of the Erdtree from Green Man Gaming or Fanatical, trusted online PC code merchants who currently have the DLC listed for $35.19 and £30.79 in the UK.

That’s $4.80 savings, and 12% off for an expansion Elden Ring fans are most certainly going to buy — it’s a Steam code as well so this is a no-brainer. This was out of stock for a couple of weeks, but is now back and available once again, so this is a huge deal. We’ll leave a handy link to the deal just below.

• See at Fanatical
• See at GMG

Other amazing PC gaming deals right now include Dragon’s Dogma 2 preorders for $57.39, and Helldivers 2 for $33.19 at the time of writing. Both are incredible offers on their respective Steam codes and well worth picking up in the GMG and Fanatical sales while you can.

Publisher Bandai Namco has also recently announced that Elden Ring sales have recently grown to hit 23 million. As part of the reveal of the hotly anticipated Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, Bandai Namco issued a sales update for the base game, which, last we heard, had sold 20 million a year after launch.

The base version of Elden Ring returned a 10/10 in IGN’s review. “Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path,” we said.

For those on console, you can see our complete preorder guide for Elden Ring Shadow of the Erdtree Edition right here on IGN as well. Otherwise, it could also be worth checking out 15 hidden details that we found in the Shadow of the Erdtree trailer as well.

Other tech and gaming deals right now to consider include an Xbox Series S Starter Bundle (including 3-months of Game Pass) for just $220 at Target, Dune in 4K is 30% Off at Amazon before Part Two releases, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor is Currently 50% Off at Best Buy.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

If you’ve ever tried to stealth your way past a Terminid patrol in Helldivers 2 and found yourself somehow spotted despite your best efforts to creep silently about and remain out of sight, there might have been a very good reason for that: it turns out the horrible bugs can smell you.

During a play session with YouTuber OperatorDrewski, game director and Arrowhead CEO Johan Pilestedt revealed there’s more than meets the eye when it comes to Helldivers 2’s terrifying Terminids.

OperatorDrewski asked about playing Helldivers 2 as a stealth game, which some players, particularly those who opt to play solo in the co-op-focused shooter, have done ever since the game’s explosive launch on PC and PlayStation 5 in February.

While Helldivers 2 very much revolves around making things go boom in increasingly over-the-top ways, stealth is viable, particularly if you want to avoid upsetting a nearby patrol. “It’s not really that we have stealth gameplay, it’s just that everything just has to make sense, like all the enemies, they have hearing, sight,” Pilestedt replied.

“They also have an approximation of smell within a close radius. If you’re in proximity of some of the units that are very sensory aware, like the Stalker, they will detect you no matter if they can see you.”

It’s a terrifying thought: some enemies in Helldivers 2 will smell you and find you if you stray too close, no matter how well you’re hiding. Stalkers are particularly annoying — they can camouflage themselves almost to the point of invisibility. Add a keen sense of smell and you’ve got one deadly melee Terminid to deal with.

🌐 THE ENEMIES OF SUPER EARTH: The Terminids 🐜

Keep your eyes open, Helldivers. Don’t let a Stalker get the drop on you. pic.twitter.com/NJ0XM0InwJ

— HELLDIVERS™ 2 (@helldivers2) March 1, 2024

Pilestedt failed to namecheck another enemy, so we’re not sure if the Automatons can smell. Does it make sense for alien robots to be able to smell Helldivers on the battlefield? Do they have noses? Do they have a smell subroutine? Probably best to assume they do and keep your distance, just in case.

While enemies such as the Stalker remain tough opponents, Arrowhead has today released a new Helldivers 2 patch that deals with the spawn rate of heavily armored Terminid enemies the Bile Titan and the Charger, as well as the possible play against them.

Helldivers 2’s upcoming premium Warbond, dubbed Cutting Edge, launches this week, hot on the heels of the release of mechs. The Warbond includes new weapons, new armor sets, new capes, and new emotes. Meanwhile, Arrowhead has asked for the Helldivers 2 community’s help in coming up with ideas for the “hard to solve” problem of players kicking teammates who don’t have meta loadouts.

Helldivers 2 has become one of the surprise hits of 2024 since launching in February, topping the charts on Steam and reportedly selling around three million copies. According to at least one analyst, it’s still growing. Check out IGN’s Helldivers 2 review to find out why it’s going down so well.

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.