Category: Video Games

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s Director Talks About Creating Its Anticipated Ending and Teases Part 3

Spoiler Warning: This interview contains some spoilers for the ending of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth as well as some of the major changes from the original. You have been warned!

Heading into Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, fans had only one question on their mind: What was going to happen to Aerith? Final Fantasy VII Remake had upended the classic story, seemingly leaving the door open for all manner of changes, including to one of the biggest twists in gaming history. But if director Naoki Hamaguchi felt pressure to get the moment right, he isn’t saying it.

“In terms of whether there was pressure or stress around the scene, it was actually more so that within Nojima-san’s initial scenario we had this direction that was pretty set from his initial scenario. And so that was kind of quite solidified early on,” Hamaguchi tells IGN.

According to Hamaguchi, the anticipated finale for Final Fantasy VII Rebirth, which launched yesterday on PlayStation 5, didn’t inspire much internal debate. Instead, the development team mostly focused on executing on director Kazushige Nojima’s vision as best they could. “More of this kind of sense of determination as a team to best convey this based on Nojima-san’s scenario,” Hamaguchi says.

Early returns have been mostly positive. Final Fantasy VII Rebirth currently sits at 92 on Metacritic and is enjoying strong word-of-mouth. But despite awarding it a 9 in our review, we weren’t the biggest fans of how it wrapped up, writing, “It does fumble the execution of its ending, getting caught up in the mess of its multiple twisting timelines, but new moments and the overarching journey manage to evoke a deeper sense of reflection in spite of that.”

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s ending is indeed confusing, its vague nature bound to inspire lorehounds within the fandom. For Hamaguchi and his team, though, the confusion may be a feature more than a bug.

“HD games take quite long to develop…it’s not as so that we can release the final title the following year or anything like that. Of course, it takes a bit more time, so it is our intent and hopes that there will be many thoughts and conjectures and sort of guesses as to what this exactly means. And we do hope that players will kind of think about this and consider this up to the following title,” Hamaguchi says.

The journey to Rebirth and beyond

Whenever the third part of the Final Fantasy Remake trilogy releases — whether it’s called Remembrance or something else — it will mark the conclusion of a journey that has now spanned close to a decade and two separate console generations. It stretches as far back as the PlayStation 3, when Square Enix released what was then considered a beautiful tech demo featuring Cloud that sparked fevered calls for a remake, which were finally answered in 2020 with the release of Final Fantasy VII Remake.

The first game was directed by Tetsuya Nomura, one of the key architects of the original Final Fantasy VII. When it came time for Rebirth, he handed the reigns to Hamaguchi, who had grown up playing Final Fantasy VI and Final Fantasy VII before finally joining Square Enix in 2006. As a child, he loved manga and was impressed by how Square’s RPGs were able to capture a similar range of depth and expression. He entered the games industry as a programmer, making him in some ways the opposite of Nomura, who has defined the look and feel of multiple generations of Final Fantasy games through his art.

Where Yoshinori Kitase, Nomura, Nojima, and Motomu Toriyama worried about the creative direction of the story, Hamaguchi was tasked with logistics. He talks about being in charge of the “structure of the game” — the meat and potatoes elements like the combat and the open world — and managing the overall development. Meanwhile, it was Nomura who came up with the “Rebirth” subtitle, which like Remake has something of a double-meaning (“I think having played the game, you will understand what Rebirth means to this title,” Hamaguchi says)

“Nomura-san is an extremely creative individual,” Hamaguchi goes on. “And since he was one of the creators involved with the original fan of Fantasy VII, he was vital in understanding the elements that were the most appealing and continue that were beloved from the original title and how we can best express this in a way that would make that kind of impact today as well. He has this immaculate sensibility in that way and his opinions were very vital in the development. He is a creator that I have massive respect towards.”

In his time at Square Enix, Hamaguchi has worked on numerous Final Fantasy releases stretching back to Final Fantasy XII. What makes Rebirth different, Hamaguchi says, is that its nature as a sequel means that it’s easier to take into account critical feedback and rework elements that don’t work quite as well. Rebirth was also able to retain between 80 and 90 percent of the developers who worked on Remake.

Asked if the team took any lessons from Final Fantasy XVI, which was being made at roughly the same time, Hamaguchi demurs, noting that the nature of development means that it can be difficult to suddenly change the direction of a game’s design.

“It is very often so that,even if there are other titles in which the timelines of development align or overlap, it can be pretty challenging to actually implement things from another title into our own simply because the overall structure is already constructed or determined early on,” Hamaguchi says. “So yeah, looking at the Active Time Lore or some of the cinematic elements of expression they deployed in Final Fantasy XVI, there were certainly a lot of elements that were inspiring or very intriguing…but it was quite difficult to implement.”

The grand finale

With Final Fantasy VII Rebirth now complete and in the hands of fans, Square Enix can look ahead to the final part of the trilogy, which based on the current pace of development may not be finished until roughly 2028. If that winds up being the case, Final Fantasy VII Remake’s grand finale may well be a PlayStation 6 launch title if Sony’s comments about the PS5 being in the “latter stage” of its life cycle are anything to go by.

As for what the third part will entail, we do have some hints. Notably, Hamaguchi says that Cid’s home Rocket Town, which doesn’t appear in Rebirth, may be in the next game. “So as for Rocket Town, this was also not a part of Nojima-san’s original structure…And considering that how we introduce the character, Cid, for the Remake series this time is arranged a bit differently, Nojima-san, Nomura-san and I were all aligned with this decision to consider this for the next title.”

Fans are very delighted to see some of the characters from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titles that they have really loved and enjoyed

According to Hamaguchi, Rocket Town was also cut at least in part to focus on Gongaga, a previously-optional area that gets more prominence in Rebirth. “Considering that in the original the Gongaga area was optional for the players, we wanted to delve into this and express this more in depth for Rebirth. And so that was also an additional consideration for this as well.”

Unsurprisingly, the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII works also figure to play a role of some kind in the third game. Orignally a collection side-stories and spin-off games, Square Enix has hardly been shy about including characters and story beats from its various works, even going so far as to feature elements from the much-maligned Dirge of Cerberus in the Intergrade DLC. Ahead of Rebirth’s release on February 29, the 2005 movie Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children briefly returned to theaters for a special showing.

Hamaguchi has said that the next game’s script is still in development, so plenty can change. However, he does tease still more potential additions from Compilation.

“So while I can’t comment on the sort of exact contents of the third title now, of course, whenever we present characters that have originally appealed and appeared in a Compilation title for Final Fantasy VII, we’ve seen very positive feedback. Fans are very delighted to see some of the characters from the Compilation of Final Fantasy VII titles that they have really loved and enjoyed. So I hope that we can continue to touch on these. But at the time, in terms of the storyline, nothing is set in stone,” Hamaguchi says.

For now, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth seems like a win for Square Enix, earning more positive word-of-mouth than the series has seen in years. The real test will be whether it’s able to defy the odds and sell more copies than its predecessor, which sits at about 7 million units. Outside of its extremely popular MMORPG, Final Fantasy has been trending downward for a while now (granted, Final Fantasy XVI differed from its peers in that it was a platform exclusive), and direct sequels tend to see diminishing returns.

One way or another, Hamaguchi says he plans to see Square Enix’s ambitious Final Fantasy VII Remake project through. “At the end of Remake, I had a pretty lengthy discussion with Kitase-san surrounding this and that I would be devoted to this project for the next 12 years or so. I think we both had reached the consensus together and had some very good discussions around that. And so with that, I feel very much committed, and with the Remake series, as well as Rebirth, I feel very much confident about bringing it into this world. So I have this resolve for the Remake series and concluding the trilogy.”

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is now available on PlayStation 5. For more, check out our full Final Fantasy VII Rebirth walkthrough as well as our guide to Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s romances and relationships.

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.

Helldivers 2 Players Are Calling in All Sorts of Unannounced Stratagems, and It Might Have Something to Do With Cheating

This week, Helldivers 2 has seen a glut of gameplay leaks showing off officially unavailable stratagems, including of the upcoming mechs and, more recently, of a vehicle reminiscent of Halo’s famous Warthog. But what’s going on here? The community has a number of explanations.

Amid claims developer Arrowhead is randomly letting select players call in these unannounced stratagems, or jumping into the live game itself to test these new features, a perhaps more likely explanation has emerged: it’s the work of cheaters.

Five days ago, redditor stodal posted a list of game file names they uncovered while digging through the game’s innards. It included reference to a potential third alien faction dubbed the Illuminate, mechs, the ability to call in AI-controlled soldiers, weapon customisation, new weapons, something called ‘ship bowling’, and even names of upcoming enemies.

Now, as more and more gameplay videos showing apparent leaked footage emerges across social media, the community is pointing the finger at cheaters who are working around Helldivers 2’s anti-cheat to unlock the use of some of these normally unavailable features in live lobbies.

Overnight, redditor Old-Improvement7331 said a player joined their game and had access to mechs and a vehicle for faster travel. “I can only assume he was cheating due to being able to spawn mechs for everybody from the party,” Old-Improvement7331 said. Posting screenshots of the incident, Old-Improvement7331 said they gave a mech a go, saying it “definitely” made the game easier.

A growing debate about datamining equating to cheating within Helldivers 2 has also emerged, which in turn sparked a response from redditor Flighterist, who provided useful context for what’s happening. Apparently unavailable stratagems such as the vehicle are already in the game itself, but not officially enabled. Knowing this, some players are going into the files of the game to unlock their use in any lobby. Flighterist warned more of these types of videos will emerge in the coming days as more players unlock mechs and the like.

The question now is whether Arrowhead will take action to prevent this from happening, or whether it is even able to. Cheating has been a problem for Helldivers 2 ever since the game came out earlier this month. This week, IGN reported on how cheaters were using hacks to add infinite ammo, increase speed, and, perhaps most worrying, obtain hundreds of samples from missions.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty to be getting on with (officially!) in the world of Helldivers 2, including the ongoing galactic war against the bugs and bots. As revealed this week, Arrowhead employs a “game master” who runs the Helldivers 2 campaign like a D&D dungeon master.

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.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Ending Explained

Warning: this article contains full spoilers for both Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and the original Final Fantasy 7.

The story of Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is pretty easy to follow… until you get to the end, that is. Much like its predecessor, the final chapter of Rebirth heads into weird, uncharted territory, and it can all become a bit confusing. To save you from befuddlement, we’ve studied the ending and the storylines that lead up to it over and over to make sense of it all. And where we can’t make sense of it, we’ve theorised on what it means. Read on for all those answers, but be warned: it’s all spoilers from here on out, for both Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and the original game.

Zack and the Multiverse

In the finale of Final Fantasy 7 Remake it was revealed that there are two timelines; the one in which the main events of the game unfold, and a second reality in which Zack Fair survived the attack by Shinra guards. Rebirth goes one step further and reveals there’s not two realities, but multiple. Infinite numbers of them, in fact. Yup, welcome to the Final Fantasy 7 multiverse.

Sephiroth explains that “when the boundaries of fate are breached, new worlds are born.” And so when Cloud and the party defeated the Whisper Harbinger in the finale of Remake, they created the reality in which Zack survives.

But Rebirth demonstrates that even the smallest decisions can create new worlds. Towards the end of Zack’s storyline, he has to make a choice: will he save Biggs, Cloud, or Aerith? His choice creates three branching realities. Each unique universe is identified by its version of Stamp, a dog mascot who pops up everywhere. In the main reality, Stamp is a beagle hound wearing a helmet. In the second reality created at the end of Remake, the one that’s home to the majority of Zack’s story, Stamp is a border terrier with a cap. The version of Zack who goes to save Biggs creates a world where Stamp is a bulldog with a bucket hat, while the version who chooses Aerith manifests a reality where Stamp is a corgi with a collar. Follow the dogs, and you’ll know the reality you’re in.

While these different realities are the stages for different stories, Rebirth does suggest that everyone has a destiny that’s hard to outrun. In the realities where Zack chooses to save Cloud and Biggs, both versions of him are hunted down by squads of Shinra soldiers – echoing the way he died in the main reality. We see this with an alternate version of Aerith, too, where it’s implied that Sephiroth will always hunt her down. This, along with the return of the Whispers (the arbiters of fate we met in Final Fantasy 7 Remake) suggests that the party didn’t totally break the concept of destiny in Remake, and that there’s still a canon path that the multiverse expects its inhabitants to tread.

Homecoming

So what’s the deal with these multiple realities? Well, unsurprisingly Sephiroth wants to mess it all up. In the original Final Fantasy 7, Sephiroth’s plan was to cause a meteor to collide with the planet. The impact would cause the world’s spiritual energy, known as Lifestream, to leak out, which Sephiroth could then absorb to fuel his ascent to godhood. Rebirth’s version of Sephiroth plans something similar, but his goal is now greater than becoming a mere god. He wants to rule over infinity – to lay claim to the entire multiverse. To do so, he plans what he calls a ‘Homecoming’, the union of the multiverse’s many realities.

Sephiroth explains that all worlds are doomed to fade from existence. We see this in a couple of instances, with the skies of some realities torn asunder. When these worlds die, they apparently return to the “planet’s embrace”. Essentially, it’s the Lifestream on a multiversal level. Sephiroth doesn’t speak plainly about his plans for this convergence of realities, but since he still seeks the meteor-summoning Black Materia, it’s logical to assume he wants to unite the multiverse and then obliterate it. If absorbing the Lifestream of one reality can make him a god, then absorbing the Lifestream of multiple realities would likely help him achieve that whole ‘King of Infinity’ ambition.

Aerith’s Fate

For Sephiroth to destroy the multiverse with meteor, he’ll need to ensure nothing stands in his way. And so that means killing Aerith, the last of the Cetra and the only person capable of using White Materia to pray for Holy, a magical barrier that will protect the planet. And so that’s exactly what he does.

But let’s rewind, because there’s a lot that happens leading up to Aerith’s death. As revealed in her trial in the Temple of the Ancients, Aerith was given the White Materia by her dying mother. But across the events of the first game, her every encounter with the Whispers sapped the White Materia of the knowledge and memories that power it. By the time Aerith left Midgar, it was nothing more than an empty, useless globe. As such, if Aerith is to protect the planet, she needs a new White Materia.

Thankfully, the multiverse means there are multiple Aeriths, each with their own materia. Through the guise of a dream, an alternate Aerith pulls Cloud into her reality – a world where the sky is crumbling and there’s no hope of salvation. This version of Aerith gives Cloud her White Materia and sends him back to his reality, just before Sephiroth arrives to stop her. Returned to the main reality, Cloud gives Aerith this new White Materia, putting destiny back on track.

Of course, as we well know from the original Final Fantasy 7, that destiny involves being impaled on Sephiroth’s sword. And, perhaps as expected, that’s exactly what happens. But it’s more complicated than that. We see Cloud deflect Sephiroth’s blade, saving Aerith from the killing blow. We even see moments of her alive in Cloud’s arms. And yet, she still dies. As far as I can tell, there’s no concrete answer to what’s exactly happening here. The burst of rainbow colour in this scene suggests another branch of fate (this motif is used in other scenes in which the multiverse is crossed or adjusted) and so this could be Cloud catching a glimpse of a reality where Aerith survives. Meanwhile, the tiny green lights around Aerith ‘alive’ in his arms points to her spirit communicating via the Lifestream, offering Cloud a moment of reassurance from the beyond. But the glitch editing in this sequence suggests it could all just be a result of Cloud’s degrading mind. As hinted at throughout the entirety of Rebirth’s story, Cloud’s body is gradually breaking down, causing him to be something of an unreliable narrator. We’ll return to this topic a bit later if you want to know more.

Aerith’s death is immediately followed by an incredibly long, multiphase boss battle. And in the final phase, none other than Aerith arrives to help defeat Sephiroth. While Rebirth features multiple versions of Aerith, it seems that this is actually our Aerith… well, her spirit form, at least. Following Sephiroth’s defeat, we see Aerith fade away in those little green lights – a sure sign that she’s returned to the Lifestream. But while she’s returned to the planet, that doesn’t mean she’s gone forever.

Promises

The final cutscene shows the party mourning Aerith’s loss. Yet, in almost all of these scenes, Aerith is clearly standing among them. Sadly, she’s not miraculously alive – this is just her spirit. But while the majority of the party cannot see her, Cloud can. Not just that; he can even talk with her.

In Rebirth’s final moments, Aerith makes a promise to Cloud. “I’ll put everything I’ve got into my prayers. I’ll stop the meteor.” Cloud makes his own promise to stop Sephiroth. This is an echo of the original game’s ending, in which it’s hinted that Aerith’s spirit protects the planet using the Lifestream while Cloud defeats Sephiroth in battle.

Over in another reality, Zack also makes something of a promise to himself. Sephiroth explained that worlds unite and part, and Zack witnessed this when his reality overlapped with Cloud’s, allowing them to fight Sephiroth Reborn together. Their worlds are now separated, but Zack wonders if they could be reunited once more. It’s a spark of hope for him, as in his universe Cloud is terminally ill from mako poisoning and Aerith is in a long-term coma following the disaster in Midgar. If his world can merge with another, then there’s a chance he can be reunited with healthy versions of Cloud and Aerith once again.

Reunion

While the ending suggests that Aerith will be able to stay by Cloud’s side as a spiritual guide for the rest of the journey, it’s not all roses for our spikey-haired protagonist. He’s the only person able to see the tear in his reality’s sky, perhaps as a result of having travelled across multiple worlds himself. More ominously, it could be related to Cloud’s mental connection to Sephiroth.

As Cloud discovers he has the Black Materia in his pocket, his mind glitches for a moment. He mutters “the reunion”, and fits the apocalyptic materia into his Buster Sword. What all this means will almost certainly be covered in the final game of the Remake trilogy, but if you want more context now, we need to look at the full events of the original game. As hinted to in Rebirth’s Shinra Mansion basement scenes, Cloud was experimented on by Professor Hojo, who injected him with Jenova cells. The robed figures seen all throughout Rebirth are also victims of the same Jenova trials. The Reunion of which both they and Cloud speak is the reunion of Jenova’s cells – a ritual triggered by Sephiroth himself from a crater far in the north. That’s where the robed men are headed, and that’s why Cloud miraculously knows that Sephiroth is north; he’s being subconsciously summoned to the Reunion. You can probably now see why Sephiroth wants Cloud to keep that Black Materia safe…

Shinra vs. Wutai

The other significant reveal in the finale is that Glenn Lodbrok is actually a puppet of Sephiroth. As revealed earlier in the game, Lodbrok is attempting to reignite the war between Shinra and Wutai. In a public address he blames the murder of several Wutai soldiers on the company, as well as the emergence of the Weapons from the mako reactors. But the reveal that Lodbrok is actually a manifestation of Sephiroth lays clear the whole purpose of the conflict: it’s a ploy to distract Rufus Shinra.

As noted in the scene between Rufus and Glenn, it was Rufus’ fathers dream to discover the Promised Land; a place overflowing with mako energy where he could build the city of Neo Midgar. After President Shinra was killed, Rufus continued his father’s work, tailing Aerith in hope of discovering this fabled place. But Sephiroth also wants to find the Promised Land – in the original game he needs its abundance of energy to use the Black Materia and summon meteor, and presumably that remains true in Rebirth. And so by creating the manifestation of Glenn Lodbrok, Sephiroth can brew a conflict between Wutai and Shinra that will distract Rufus away from the Promised Land. Rufus works it all out and guns down the robed man who took Glenn’s form, but it seems like it’s too little too late. The Shinra Resistance Committee is ready for war, and it looks like it’ll all get messy in the final game of the trilogy.

Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Features Editor.

Sons Of The Forest review: beautiful survival horror with a few missteps

There are moments where Sons Of The Forest matches the sublime paranoia of Subnautica. There’s that same lurching, exquisite tension as you delve deeper and deeper into darkness where you are not welcome, supplies dwindling, footfall echoing, monstrosities skittering about in the black. On my most intense plunge into one cave, I groaned aloud as the path I was praying must be the exit twisted back on itself, sending me first down a rope, and then into a long slide down, down into the earth, back into the spindly clutches of pale, bifurcated mutants. When I finally saw the sun again, I could have cried.

It’s still a bit wonky, but the full 1.0 release makes the Forest a fuller, livelier and more inviting (or else alluringly off-putting) prospect for a wander – even, as in my case, a wholly solo one. Consider this your cue to peel open some skin pouches.

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Random: The Simpsons Meets Mario Kart In Bizarre TV Mash-Up

It’s-a me…. Lisa..?

The Simpsons is, somehow, still a thing in 2024. Regardless of what we might think of its overall quality, however, there’s no denying that the cartoon is able to pull off some truly weird and wacky crossovers.

While presumably not an official crossover by any means, the show has recently strayed into the realm of Mario Kart with a bizarre dream sequence in which Lisa, Homer, Milhouse, and more partake in a race on what appears to be a take on the racing franchise’s Rainbow Road (thanks, Eurogamer).

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Crash Bandicoot 4 studio Toys For Bob split from Activision and Microsoft to go independent

As the video games industry violently contracts to ensure shareholder satisfaction at the cost of making thousands upon thousands of people unemployed, Skylanders studio Toys For Bob have announced they’re splitting from Activision Blizzard and Microsoft to go independent. Good for them, but maybe too late for some. Earlier this month, the San Francisco Chronicle reported that it seemed Activision Blizzard were closing Toys For Bob’s California headquarters and laying off 86 people. Still, the new independent Toys For Bob say they’re working on something new and “exploring a possible partnership” with Microsoft.

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Valve Pulls Fake Steam Helldivers 2 Games, but Devs Express Concern They Appeared in the First Place

Valve has pulled a handful of fake Steam listings for Helldivers 2 that were different games, potentially even cracked games, disguised as the hugely popular co-op shooter to fool people into spending money.

Helldivers 2 community manager Twinbeard posted a warning on the game’s Discord that shone a light on the scam.

“There are unfortunately two (three now?!) fake games being marketed as Helldivers 2 on Steam at the moment,” Twinbeard said. “THESE ARE FAKE. They are not made by Arrowhead but they claim to be. We do not know what they contain, but they are not affiliated with us in any way.

“Our legal department is on it and we hope Valve will remove the products as soon as possible.

“The only two genuine copies are Helldivers 2 and Helldivers 2: Super Citizen Edition. BOTH OF OUR GENUINE GAMES WERE RELEASED FEBRUARY 8TH. All remaining Helldivers 2 games are fake.

“People posting as us trying to scam people is obviously very sad and frustrating, and for that as well as for security reasons we urge you to stay clear of them. Again, the only two Helldivers 2 products we market are Helldivers 2 and Helldivers 2 Super Citizen Edition. (I haven’t had time to check the details on the fake store pages yet since I just got up.)

“Additional information will follow if or when there is any new information.”

Thankfully, Valve did pull the fake Helldivers 2 listing, per an update this morning from Twinbeard: “All fake store pages now seem to have been taken down by Valve, who acted very swiftly after we reached out. We´ll assess everything in due time. Also, a big THANK YOU to everyone who DM:ed or pinged me/us about the fake pages and games. Together we stand.”

While Valve moved quickly to stamp out the scam Helldivers 2 pages, it appears the problem is not isolated to Arrowhead’s shooter. Palworld community chief Bucky tweeted to say there had been a “wave” of fake games that suddenly appeared on Steam today, a development they called “quite concerning.” According to Bucky, Steam took down a fake Palworld listing almost immediately after developer Pocketpair got in touch. “Hope no one was tricked into buying it!” Bucky said.

Valve is now facing questions over how these listings were able to make it onto Steam in the first place. The hope is of course that the high-profile nature of the fake Helldivers 2 Steam listings will cause Valve to close whatever loophole was exploited here.

Meanwhile, there’s plenty to be getting on with in the world of Helldivers 2, including the ongoing galactic war against the bugs and bots. As revealed this week, Arrowhead employs a “game master” who runs the Helldivers 2 campaign like a D&D dungeon master. Gameplay leaks have offered fans a closer look at the upcoming mechs, too.

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.

Random: Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth Producer Had To Put His Playthrough Of Zelda “On Hold”

Work on the new PS5 game “got really busy”.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth is out this week and while many PlayStation 5 owners will be likely diving into the highly anticipated release, the game’s producer Yoshinori Kitase is actually planning to return to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom.

Speaking to BAFTA, Kitase mentioned how he had been a lifelong fan of the series since the original game Legend of Zelda on NES and while he was enjoying Tears of the Kingdom, unfortunately, life got in the way (like it probably has for so many other Zelda fans).

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Head To Outer Space In The New Free Update For Vampire Survivors

The ‘Space-54 update’ has arrived.

If you’re still enjoying the roguelite bullet shooter Vampire Survivors, you might want to check out its latest update which sends players to space (again).

It’s officially titled the ‘Space-54 Update’ and is completely free. It adds one new bonus stage, two new characters, four new weapons, a new relic, and seven achievements to unlock. There’s also a bit more to uncover as well!

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Today Only: This Color Shifting Xbox Wireless Controller Is 30% Off With This Best Buy Deal

For today only, Best Buy is offering the official Xbox Series X|S Core wireless controller in Stellar Shift for only $49.99. That’s almost 30% off the original $69.99 MSRP. Aside from the difference in color scheme, this is the same controller as the one that’s included with your Xbox Series X or S console.

Xbox Core Controller in Stellar Shift for $49.99

Stellar Shift is a color-shifting, blue-purple pearlescent shimmer that, in my opinion, looks better than most of the other Xbox color schemes out there. It also features a rubberized purple swirl grip that has different pattern varations among each individual controller.

This is the same official controller that you get bundled with the Xbox Series X and S consoles. It features textured grips, hybrid D-pad, button mapping with the Xbox app, a 3.5mm audio jack that works with any wired headset, and a Share button to send your screenshots and video out into the world.

The Xbox Core controller features both Xbox wireless and Bluetooth connectivity. That means you can also use it for your PC or mobile device as long as it supports Bluetooth. In fact, the Core controller is considered one of the best PC controllers you can get. If your PC doesn’t have Bluetooth, then you can connect your controller via a USB cable or with the Xbox wireless adapter.

For more discounts on the Xbox and accessories, check out the best Xbox deals today.