Category: Video Games

Honkai: Star Rail version 2.0 features new realm Penacony, live February 6

Dear Trailblazers, greetings from the Honkai: Star Rail dev team. Today, with great enthusiasm, we are thrilled to announce that the new realm of Honkai: Star Rail — Penacony — will unveil its mysterious veil in the forthcoming version 2.0, titled If One Dreams At Midnight. Additionally, we are excited to share that beyond introducing new maps, storylines, and companions, version 2.0 marks the initiation of Penacony’s main Trailblaze Missions. These missions will span from versions 2.0 to 2.2, and culminate with epilogues in version 2.3. We believe you will find boundless adventure on this Planet of Festivities.

After pioneering various worlds such as the Herta Space Station, Jarilo-VI, and Xianzhou Luofu, the Crew has received an invitation from The Family to travel to Penacony as honored guests to attend an event called the Charmony Festival. Remarkably, this is also the first time The Family has extended invites to other factions.

The Planet of Festivities in the Asdana system

Centuries ago, Penacony was once a frontier prison utilized by the IPC for detaining criminals. Over the years, and through various incidents, the control of this planet shifted to The Family. Today, Penacony has undergone a remarkable transformation, evolving into a renowned cosmic vacation spot, and is known as the Planet of Festivities. Today, as the territory of The Family, adherents to the Harmony, it is hailed as the Planet of Festivities in the Asdana system. The core of Penacony is a gigantic interstellar hotel named The Reverie that towers over the starry cosmos. Countless interstellar celebrities are drawn to gather here, indulging in a luxurious holiday experience. Furthermore, the magic of The Reverie goes beyond its exterior. Once the guests have checked in, returning to their rooms, and succumbing to slumber, the true adventure unfurls. Safeguarded by The Family, guests will be able to traverse between the planes of reality and the Dreamscape, facilitated by a unique sleep device known as the Dreampool.

The Golden Hour you’re about to step into isn’t merely the first dream in the series; it stands out as one of the liveliest and most popular among the 12 Dreamscapes. Upon entering this dream, you’ll find yourself in a dazzling metropolis bathed in golden hues. In this realm, hundreds of wonders will unfold before your eyes: As you navigate the city, you can enjoy floating ice cream in midair, encounter running billboards, and come across Cash-Spewers that continuously dispense banknotes when touched.. Within the Golden Hour, celebration and pleasure take center stage in this city: the clocks are frozen at midnight, with syrupy sweet brews tempting one to indulgence, endless music and dance, and the entire Dreamscape is immersed in a frenzy of ceaseless revelry.

As you cautiously explore the Golden Hour, you’ll stumble upon a mysterious location—Dream’s Edge. This vast dream realm is currently under construction and remains inaccessible to external visitors. Respected artists, architects, and scholars from across the galaxy assemble here as Dreamers hired by The Family to contribute to the future of Dreamscapes. As you traverse this region, you’ll come across the Dream’s Eye—a wondrous device that utilizes visual illusions to seamlessly connect previously disjointed paths with significant height differences in an impressive way. In this perspective, once-disjointed paths seamlessly connect, enabling you to traverse previously impassable routes. In addition, in the subsequent trailblazing expedition, Trailblazers will unlock the ability to Dreamwalk, allowing them to enjoy a unique experience of defying gravity and walking on walls and ceilings.

When it comes to dreams, every move you make is filled with uncertainty. While Penacony may seem like a place of prosperity and harmony on the surface, could hidden secrets be lurking beneath its beautiful exterior? Do you have what it takes to uncover the truth and confront any potential dangers that may lie ahead?

Guests of the fest

In version 2.0, the enigmatic character, Black Swan, will make a dazzling debut in the story of Penacony. As a 5-star character, she is not only an outstanding oracle, but also a Memokeeper in the Garden of Recollection, exuding an air of nobility, mystery, and elegance. As the first Memokeeper to formally appear in the game, Black Swan has a strong desire to explore the memories of others. The memories of others, through Black Swan’s patient listening and organization, transform into cards in her hands. When Black Swan uses Basic ATKs or Skills to attack enemies in combat, there is a certain probability of applying a special stackable DoT effect called Arcana to the enemies. Under the Arcana state, Black Swan triggers additional effects based on the number of Arcana stacks the target is under. Moreover, as the stacks accumulate, the DoT inflicted on the enemy will correspondingly increase.

At The Family’s feast, another 5-star character, Sparkle, is also set to join the Trailblazers’ team. Sparkle, the enigmatic Masked Fool, is dedicated to the pursuit of Elation through any means necessary. As a dangerous master of drama, she excels at changing identities and indulges in playing various roles. With a thousand masks at her disposal, she can embody countless personas. For Sparkle, wealth, status, and power are nothing more than fleeting illusions, and only Elation can ignite her desire to act. In battles, Sparkle’s presence will provide an additional increase to the team’s maximum Skill Point. Moreover, her unique Skill not only boosts the CRIT DMG of a designated teammate but also Advances that teammate’s Action, providing more strategic options for battle deployment. After Sparkle unleashes her Ultimate, she can simultaneously restore multiple Skill Points for the team.

Up next, a local Penaconian, Misha, is also making his debut. As a 4-star character, Misha works as the doorman at The Reverie. Dreaming of becoming a cosmic adventurer like his grandfather, Misha is passionate in learning about various interstellar experiences hotel guests share. He eagerly anticipates the day he can embark on a journey to explore the stars. The more Skill Points the team uses in battle, the more DMG Misha’s Ultimate will inflict. Additionally, when Misha uses his Ultimate, there is a chance to Freeze the target, making him a reliable companion worth entrusting.

It’s worth mentioning that the limited 5-star characters — Dan Heng, Imbibitor Lunae and Jing Yuan — will appear in event warps during the first and second halves of version 2.0, respectively. With the formidable strength of these two characters, they will continue to be powerful allies by your side in the upcoming adventures in Penacony.

Gaming experience optimization

Since the Express Crew embarked on the trailblazing expedition, we have been committed to enhancing players’ gaming experiences. In version 2.0, we decided to introduce a series of system optimizations to make the gaming experience more convenient for Trailblazers. Firstly, we will be launching a feature called Fate’s Atlas, which organizes the storyline. It will document the events and plot lines that occur in each world by unit in chronological order, helping Trailblazers better understand the narrative context of each world. In addition, we have optimized the enhancement process for Relics. You can now conveniently insert materials while upgrading and easily elevate each Relic to the specified level you desire. We have also introduced Relic set recommendations tailored for different characters, allowing Trailblazers to efficiently filter and switch Relic sets with a single click based on their needs. Finally, we have optimized the marking, discarding, and salvaging of Relics, making it easier for Trailblazers to find materials efficiently.

With the upcoming launch of version 2.0, we would like to thank every player for their support from the depths of our hearts. The curtains of Penacony’s grand festival are about to be raised, so stay tuned for more details and discover the nuances of this new world during your gameplay. We will see you again in the next chapter of Honkai: Star Rail!

Everything We Know About Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League

Nine years after Batman: Arkham Knight, Rocksteady’s jumping back into the DC universe with Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. The same universe, but totally different gameplay; Suicide Squad is an open-world co-op looter-shooter. For those on the fence about Rocksteady’s latest, or for those who want to absorb every bit of information about the world, characters, and how it all works, here’s everything we know about Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League.

What’s the Story?

Set five years after the events of Arkham Knight, Kill the Justice League has us leave Gotham City for the first time,instead taking us to Superman’s stomping ground of Metropolis. If you’re remotely familiar with the Suicide Squad concept, you know the basic drill: shadowy government agent Amanda Waller has tasked a handful of DC villains to save the world in exchange for a reduced prison sentence. Any squad member who dares step out of line will promptly be fined one head for their disobedience, courtesy of a bomb planted in their necks.

And the stakes couldn’t possibly be higher this time around; after being deployed into Metropolis (which developers say is twice the size of Arkham Knight’s Gotham), our ragtag group of mercenaries finds that the city is under siege from a mighty intergalactic force in the form of Brainiac and his endless purple armies. Even worse, he’s brainwashed the Justice League, including Batman, Green Lantern, The Flash, and even Superman. The only way to stop Brainiac? You’ll never believe this, but… somehow, some way, you have to kill the Justice League.

Which Characters are Playable?

Suicide Squad releases with four characters that, in single-player mode, you can freely swap between. Or, if you know only one of them appeals to you, Rocksteady says you can play the full game as just that one character. Player expression is a core tenet of Suicide Squad, so while each character has certain baseline abilities and all wield guns, you’ll have plenty of room to shape and mold them to your preferred playstyle.

The most recognizable face is undoubtedly Harley Quinn, the psychologist-turned-psychotic jester acrobat with a thing for explosions. She packs her signature baseball bat, but manages to nab two of Batman’s gadgets as well – the bat drone and grapnel gun. With these she can swing like Spider-Man from pretty much anywhere and even rain down bullets while suspended in the air. Given her particular affinity for explosives, we can expect her talent tree to give plenty of buffs to her grenades.

Next up is Deadshot, the gunman who never misses, making his Arkhamverse debut, well kinda. The expert marksman named Deadshot that you saw multiple times in past Arkham games is totally unrelated from the expert marksman named Deadshot that you’ll be taking control of in Kill the Justice League. Rocksteady has seemingly implied that the sniper assassin from past games was an impostor all along. In any case, Deadshot is built around precision, with the best long-range game of any launch character. His jetpack gets him a vantage point from virtually anywhere and you’ll find lots of critical hit and counter talents in his talent tree.

Then, we have King Shark, the quintessential tank you’ve got to have in any group. He’s the best at absorbing damage on the starting roster and specializes in dishing it out even more. Shark is highly reminiscent of Hulk from that Ultimate Destruction game you loved renting in 2005, complete with incredibly high jumps, multiple air dashes, and earth-shattering ground slams. If you can look past his enormous strength and taste for blood, he’s also naive and relatively good-natured compared to those he rolls with. In other words, he’s a lot like Drax from Guardians of the Galaxy. King Shark’s talent tree will generally boost his melee attacks, such as causing enemies to bleed for an additional 50% damage or sacrificing damage for extended close-quarters range.

Finishing off the launch roster is Captain Boomerang, who Rocksteady has described as the most well-rounded of the group. With the Speed Force gauntlet he yoinked from the Hall of Justice he can throw a boomerang to effectively create a point in space for him to teleport to, allowing him to excel at dashing in for close-range hits and zipping back out for ranged shots. Combined with double jumps, he can spend a good amount of time in the air, but seems best suited to keeping most of his combat grounded to get the most out of his speed.

Post-launch, Rocksteady will be expanding the Squad with DLC characters as well. First up is confirmed to be the Joker. You might be thinking that he died in 2011’s Arkham City, and you’d be right. There is a lore reason for that, but we’ll get to it later. You’ll float through the air and skim across skyscrapers using his rocket-powered umbrella, deliver punchlines with his grappling hook crowbar, and even get to peel back the emotional and psychological layers of this clown prince of crime.

Rumors also point to Mr. Freeze, Deathstroke, Killer Croc, and Katana potentially showing up as well, but as always with rumors, please hype responsibly. And if we can get speculative for a second here, corporate synergy might nudge the roster to include even more characters from the DC movies and TV shows, like Polka-Dot Man, Peacemaker, Ratcatcher, or Bloodsport.

Whether you like it or not, Kill the Justice League is a live service game, so the idea is to get you to want to play for as long as possible. While characters can level up infinitely, once one of them hits level 30, you unlock Squad Talents. In essence, these are upgrades for the team, not just for individuals, and you get more of them as you pile on the character levels. Once again, you’re free to pick a main character to play as while ignoring the others, but spreading out your playtime will get you more squad talents more quickly.

It bears repeating that much of the spirit of Kill the Justice League is found in creating unique character builds. You can rebuild your talent trees at almost any time you want and can save eight loadout slots, so experimentation is very much encouraged. The Social Squad feature even lets you import character builds made by other players, like friends or even streamers. If someone else uses your hero, you’ll earn a slice of the loot they earned in that other player’s session.

Will There Be Loot?

Speaking of loot, the weapons you earn from completing missions will play a major role in how you make your character your own. After a year-long effort by Rocksteady, the controversial gear score system has been removed, so rest assured that neat weapon you found early on won’t become totally obsolete deeper into the game.

Early on, you’ll forcibly recruit none other than the Penguin to be your resident arms dealer. Through him, you’ll purchase new assault rifles, pistols, sniper rifles, shotguns, SMGs, and heavy weapons, with each squad member being proficienct in three of those gun types. These guns are built by different in-universe manufacturers like STAR Labs, AMERTEK, LexCorp, and the Gotham City Police Department with each coming with unique aesthetics and “feels” to their weaponry, once you unlock them.

Gear scores may be gone, but gear tiers are still in the game with rarity classes being ranked common, uncommon, rare, epic, legendary, notorious, and infamous. According to a Discord Q&A with Rocksteady, “common through epic increase in power in the number of possible augments available, but Legendary, Notorious, and Infamous is when we really turn up the heat.” Legendary weapons come with unique augments that set them apart from the lower tiers in a meaningful way. For example, The Cooler is a sniper that freezes enemies on crits, Combo Meal guns let you use your combo-locked talents as soon as you land a crit, and BAAANNNG trades all your grenades for a single one that basically functions as a mini nuke in terms of damage and blast radius.

Notorious and Infamy weapons are themed after DC villains, not just in the way they look, but through gameplay as well. For example, this gun themed after Bane spawns powerups on critical hits that give your other weapons with Bane’s Rage. These will refocus the way you play and if you want to maximize their capabilities, you’ll probably want to consider making them the focal point of your character build. Again, you’re free to mix up your talents without any kind of risk, so don’t be afraid to swap out your skill sets to really get the most out of that cool gun you just found.

Guns are one thing, but you’ll of course be able to give Brainiac’s minions a smack all up close and personal-like. What Penguin does for guns, Toyman will do for melee weapons. And Ivy, when you unlock her as a support character, will imbue those weapons with up to two simultaneous Afflictions. Afflictions seem to be your standard elemental effects, like fire, ice, electricity, and poison, but named after different DC characters to keep them more on-theme . For example, Diablo Blaze ignites enemies for continuous damage, Deep Freeze will turn them into solid ice for extra bullet damage, Livewire Bolt looks like it temporarily stuns them with electricity, and so on and so forth.

Just because you can zip around the city on foot with respectable agility doesn’t mean that vehicles won’t have their place, though. Gizmo will be your go-to for anything from a toy car that grows into a full-sized one (probably using tech borrowed from The Atom) to a flying gunship complete with rockets and turrets that makes wiping out interdimensional threats that much easier.

How About the Endgame?

I do say “interdimensional” pretty intentionally here because Kill the Justice League’s endgame will revolve heavily around it. With “Elseworlds,” you’ll jump to different alternate universes which have all been torn asunder in their own ways. Briefly shown are versions of Metropolis ravaged by tornadoes, ice, and even the Joker. Yes, the playable Joker mentioned earlier actually comes from an alternate universe, allowing the Arkhamverse lore to remain intact while letting Warner Bros. cash in on any character they want anyway.

The Joker represents the model Rocksteady wants to follow for their DLC in the future: each season of content will be heavily themed after a DC villain and will consist of two story “episodes.” For those of you tired of the FOMO aspect of live service games, fear not; episodes are not time-limited events, but rather permanent additions to the game that you can go back and replay any time you want.

When you’re not jumping through the multiverse, you can take on new mission types. In Incursion, your squad is brought to Brainiac’s turf to fight through his armies and his ship’s tentacles. These are designed for relatively quick play sessions in comparison to the other mission type, Killing Time. These will be a lot like the classic horde modes you’ve seen in other games. As you clear out bad guys, they’ll become increasingly frantic as Brainiac’s ship continuously beats down the shield protecting you. As you kill enemies, the shield replenishes, promoting an “attack in the best form of defense” mindset.

But what would character customization be without some cosmetics thrown in for good measure? Some costumes will be exclusive to the in-game store, but rest assured that the only additional paid content currently planned starts and ends with cosmetic features with all future characters and missions coming completely free of charge.

Happy Hunting

So, Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is aiming for a different audience than the game series it repeatedly reminds us it shares a connection with. But with so much detail poured into the world, characters, story, and player expression, maybe those willing to keep an open mind will find this a worthy return to the Arkhamverse. Or, looter shooter fans might fall in love with Suicide Squad immediately without concern for Rocksteady’s past games. A multiverse of possibilities lies in store when Kill the Justice League launches on February 2nd (or January 30th if you’re paying for early access), so let us know in the comments where your hype level currently lies.

Twang! Horizon Forbidden West on PC keeps PS5 Dualsense support and adaptive triggers

Good news, Horizon likers. Not only have Sony announced a release date for the PC version of Horizon Forbidden West’s Complete Edition – mark your calendars for March 21st, folks – but they’ve also released a new trailer showing off all the various PC features. Chief among them for me is proper support for PS5 Dualsense controllers, which means you should be able to benefit from all the same haptic feedback ripples and adaptive trigger pulls of Aloy’s bow as folks did on PS5.

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All Deep Earth Colors for PS5 Controllers and Console Covers Are Now Available

It’s January 26, which can only mean one thing: Sony’s new set of metallic colors for DualSense controllers and PS5 console covers is now available in its entirety. It’s called the Deep Earth Collection, and while two of the colors have been available for a couple months, the Sterling Silver ones release today. The full set consists of controllers and console covers (for all models: fat, slim, disc, and digital) in volcanic red, cobalt blue, and sterling silver. All of the items are now available to purchase. Let’s take a look.

Deep Earth Collection PS5 Controllers

The controllers look pretty great, with bold red and blue colors, and a tasteful (if less attention-grabbing) silver. Feature-wise, they’re no different from the standard PS5 DualSense controller, but “if it isn’t broken, why fix it?” — Sony, probably.

Deep Earth Collection PS5 Console Covers

The console covers are only available at the PlayStation Direct store, at least at the time of this writing. The covers match the DualSense colors exactly, so you can pick up a set in the same color as the controller you get, or you can mix and match to suit your taste. They all look pretty great, if you ask me. PS Direct also has the controllers, so you can buy them both in one place if you like.

Grab whichever ones you want, because you really can’t lose. And if you’re looking to get a head start on shopping for your honey, check out our Valentine’s Day gift ideas.

Chris Reed is a commerce editor and deals expert for IGN. He also runs IGN’s board game and LEGO coverage. You can follow him on (long inhale) Threads, Bluesky, Mastodon, and the social network formerly known as Twitter.

Naughty Dog’s Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2 Documentary Arrives Next Week

Naughty Dog’s Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2 documentary arrives on February 2, 2024.

Announced in a post on X/Twitter, the developer shared the imminent release date for the behind the scenes documentary it announced earlier in January. New skins for Ellie and Abby in The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered will also be released to celebrate its arrival.

“Grounded 2: Making The Last of Us Part 2 is coming on February 2,” the post said. “You’ll be able to watch this documentary on YouTube and as part of an upcoming downloadable patch for The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered. The update also includes additional new skins for Ellie and Abby.”

A two minute trailer for the documentary was also released earlier this month, showing development footage of the 2020 game dating as far back as 2016. Grounded 2 will give fans a look at the inside of Naughty Dog as the game was created, and the trailer shows off various key moments including when a huge leak revealed key story details ahead of launch. Various team members including director Neil Druckmann also appear in the trailer to offer insight into the development process.

Naughty Dog released the original Grounded documentary in 2014, which arrived as a similar 85 minute feature on the making of the original The Last of Us.

Grounded 2 could be fans’ last taste of The Last of Us for a while, as The Last of Us Part 2: Remastered arrived January 19 and no further games have been announced. The remaster includes a roguelike mode called No Return, Lost Levels with developer commentary, graphical enhancements, DualSense integration, and a Guitar Free Play mode.

The Lost Levels — which were cut from the original game but are being included as bonus content for the PlayStation 5 upgrade — are called Jackson Dance, Boar Hunt, and Sewers, the last of which has fans particularly worried.

In our 10/10 review of the original game, IGN said: “The Last of Us Part 2 is a masterpiece that evolves the gameplay, cinematic storytelling, and rich world design of the original in nearly every way.”

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

Enshrouded updates will expand the building tools, speed up resource respawning and fix progress loss

Now see here Ollie Toms, supposed guides editor of this supposed videogames website – if Enshrouded really does have “the best building system in the survival genre” then why does the floor of my hovel look like a petrified sneeze? I was innocently carving myself a nice stone foundation last night when the Devil jogged my elbow and I dug a massive, raggedy trench straight through it. I’ve spent an hour now trying to fill in the trench and flatten it out, to no avail. There’s always a jaggedy bit right in the middle, and I’m getting displaced trypophobia from the awareness that my efforts have seeded the terrain beneath with random cavities.

What’s worse, there is no mention of enhancing the floor-levelling functionality in this Keen Games forum post on Enshrouded’s various launch issues, which they are even now racing to fix. Instead, it’s all talk of frame rates, multiplayer stability and dedicated servers not appearing. Somebody rush me a cement mixer, stat, or I’m moving back to Valheim.

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My Nintendo Store Reveals Princess Peach: Showtime! Pre-Order Bonuses (UK)

Notebooks and tote bags and pins, oh my!

It’s full steam ahead for Nintendo’s upcoming 2024 releases and while Mario vs. Donkey Kong is technically next on the schedule, that doesn’t mean that Princess Peach: Showtime! is shrouded in the mysteries of the future.

Just this week, we got a look at a brand-new trailer and some tie-in pastel pink Joy-Con, so it seems only right that Nintendo would start to advertise the upcoming game’s pre-order bonuses now too.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth Has an Entire Pokémon Game Inside It

Spoiler Warning: The following article contains spoilers surrounding a type of side quest which becomes available in Chapter 4 of Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth, but doesn’t feature any major story spoilers.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth may be a turn-based RPG already, but the latest Yakuza also has an entirely separate turn based RPG minigame inside it that mimics (and parodies) a Pokémon game.

Infinite Wealth doubles down on the Pokémon references of its predecessor, Yakuza: Like a Dragon, expanding that game’s Sujimon concept from a fun collection mechanic to a full-on game of its own.

Though players will add Sujimon, which are just the game’s regular enemies, to their Sujidex as before, an entirely new side quest parodies both Pokémon Go and the mainline Pokémon games by having players engage in raids to catch Sujimon, battle gyms, and eventually take on the Sujimon League King.

Players will meet the previous game’s Sujimon Sensei early on, who bestows upon them the Sujidex and the promise of a whole new region of monsters to catch in Hawaii. Though this is already very Pokémon, as new regions were added to introduce new Pokémon in each game, the Sujimon Sensei drops another reference. “One could call it an entirely different region of Sujimon. A tropical dreamscape, yet a land of shadows — blessed by the sun and the moon,” he says, referencing Pokémon Sun and Moon, which take place in the fictional Alola region, based on Hawaii.

Before the extent of the Sujimon League unfolds, an NPC can also be spotted talking about how he took a week off from work “to come catch that rare Hawaiian exclusive”, a reference to Pokémon Go’s regional exclusive Pokémon.

These mild connections are blown out the water when Ichiban encounters the Sujimon Sensei in Hawaii again though. “Hawaii hosts a Sujimon tournament of some magnitude,” he says. “It’s a professional obligation I investigate.”

The pair then walk through a technology shop before giving a secret code to the man behind the counter: “Who’s that Sujimon?”, which is a callback to the Pokémon expression made popular through the original anime.

A secret door emerges and Ichiban enters a very Pokémon-looking Sujimon Stadium where trainers are battling. Though we described Sujimon as Infinite Wealth’s “regular” enemies, that term is a bit of an understatement. While the Yakuza games are relatively grounded in reality, the overactive imagination of Ichiban means he sees every regular hooligan as a fantastic monster. Some merely have glowing eyes, but others turn into giant basketballs, futuristic robots, or demonic chickens. It’s these versions of the enemies players must collect and battle with.

Sujimon battles work differently to Infinite Wealth’s main turn-based combat, taking more inspiration from the likes of Pokémon Go, where trainers take it turns dealing damage depending on how quickly their SP bar fills up. Sujimon also have different types — Blaze, Frost, Nature, Light, and Shadow — and these work with the same rock, paper, scissors mechanics that Pokémon does. Frost beats Blaze, Blaze beats Nature, and so on.

Ichiban’s Sujimon adventure is set up once his initial battle is complete. There are four Sujimon Gyms he must conquer before taking on the Sujimon King. Just like Pokémon, each one has a couple of trainers to fight first before taking on the main baddie: a member of the Discreet Four. This is another Pokémon reference, parodying the Elite Four which players take on before the Pokémon League Champion.

Following this introduction, the Sujimon Sensei sends Ichiban off with a message of hope: “You must travel across the land, searching far and wide. Catch Sujimon, become a man, I’ll wait here, inside.” This is another throwback to the Pokémon anime and its iconic opening credits song.

It’s not just the story that mimics Pokémon though, but gameplay too. Beyond battles, players must also catch Sujimon, and can do so in a couple of ways. Pokémon Go style raids are one method, as various locations around the map have countdowns that spawn Sujimon Raids when complete. Ichiban battles these Sujimon with regular Infinite Wealth mechanics, but once complete will have a chance to catch them. An opportunity to catch a Sujimon is also offered occasionally after beating one of the Sujimon trainers who are also dotted around the map.

The catching mechanic is very similar to Pokémon Go too, but instead of catching pocket monsters in a Poké Ball, Ichiban offers Sujimon a Suji Gift. These mimic Pokémon items too, ranging from common to super to hyper and eventually master. Players must then time the release of the gift to ensure maximum effectiveness, before tapping on the Sujimon to increase the chances further. Naturally, Ichiban is given a starter Sujimon to begin his journey, and can choose from Blaze, Frost, or Nature.

Suji Spots (yes, like PokéStops) are also present around the world, and just like Pokémon Go grant players items for passing through them. Players can use these locations to strengthen and evolve their Sujimon too, plus engage in practice battles and buy things from the Sujimon shop.

Infinite Wealth is available today, January 26, for PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One and Series X and S, and PC. It features the Yakuza series’ biggest map to date and lets players become a samurai, surfer, and housekeeper as it continues the unique blend of dramatic crime thriller and completely wacky shenanigans.

Publisher Sega has caused some frustration, however, as Infinite Wealth’s New Game Plus mode is exclusive to the Deluxe and Ultimate versions of the game, which come in at $15 and $40 more expensive respectfully.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: “Sprawling, enthralling, and packed with dynamic brawling, Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth isn’t just the best turn-based Like a Dragon game, it’s one of the greatest games in the entire series.”

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

Former Stardew Valley dev reveals urban life sim Sunkissed City

What do you do after running away from the big city to start a new life in the country? You run away from the country to start a new life in the big city, obviously. Former Stardew Valley developer Arthur “Mr. Podunkian” Lee has announced Sunkissed City, a life simulation game set in a delightful coastal burb that’s reportedly “pumping with funky vibes and quirky characters”, together with migraines, stretches of dead water and horrible sewer monsters.

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