Virtual reality-focused developers Wimo Games have joined the ever-expanding list of studios to be hit by layoffs and closure in recent months, as the Battle Bows and Micro Machines: Mini Challenge Mayhem studio confirmed their closure last week.
Nintendo fans have been spoiled in the last several years with love from the Persona series, which after a long history married to PlayStation consoles has finally been creeping onto the Switch, game by game. Which is why fans felt snubbed after Persona 3 Reload, a remake of Persona 3, was announced for basically every major platform except Switch. But while a Switch announcement still hasn’t happened, the game’s director and producer are hinting that the idea hasn’t been fully abandoned.
Though the series has largely been the beloved child of PlayStation over the years, Persona 5 Royal made it to Switch in 2022, and Persona 4 Golden arrived this time last year. Nintendo players also got spinoffs Persona 5 Strikers back in 2020 and Persona 5 Tactica just this past November. Given that logic, it seemed that publisher Atlus and developer P-Studio was committed to the console, making it a bit of a surprise to fans that Persona 3 Reload was skipping it entirely.
The reasons for the snub still aren’t fully clear, but Persona 3 Reload director Takuya Yamaguchi and producer Ryota Niitsuma addressed the situation in a recent interview with Spanish language website Atomix.vg (quote via Google Translate, translation verified by IGN), suggesting that a Switch port may be in the cards somewhere down the line:
“Since we began conceptualizing everything that would come in Persona 3 Reload, we decided that there would be no version for the Nintendo Switch. Of course the idea is there, but it’s a matter of discussing it with the team and seeing what they think about it and we’ll see what happens.”
That’s not exactly an affirmative promise, but at least Yamaguchi and Niitsuma know the demand for a Switch version is there. It’s also always possible that Atlus and P-Studio have a Nintendo console version of the port in mind not for Switch, but for its heavily-rumored successor that many believe is coming this year. We’ll just have to wait and hope.
Persona 3 Reload is headed to basically every other major platform (PlayStation, Xbox, and PC) on February 2. We recently published our final preview of the game, asserting that it’s far more than a basic remake: “Persona 3 Reload isn’t a remake with a few alterations here and there; it’s a sincerely thought-through updated game that can seemingly stand on its own two legs in the competitive Persona lineup.”
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
The Nvidia tools used to create that raytraced Portal mod and other fanciness are now in open beta, inviting all and sundry to jazz up everything from Deus Ex to Garry’s Mod. Nvidia’s RTX Remix tech lets people fancify old games by injecting fancy modern lighting, new models, textures ‘remastered’ by AI, new environmental decoration, and other such fanciness, even if the game doesn’t have mod support. I’ll be curious to see what people make with this, though I am wary of artlessly pumping new tech into old games.
Pocketpair’s monster-collecting survival game Palworld has rekindled the eternal debate over what exactly constitutes a breach of copyright. While the game’s mechanics are more reminiscent of Ark: Survival Evolved and other tree-punching, template-arranging wilderness sims, its monsters owe obvious debts to Nintendo and Game Freaks’ Pokémon games.
The developers have something of a track record on this front, with their older early access release Craftopia freely stirring in nods to The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. But what separates copyright infringement from a flagrant, but perfectly legal rip-off? Given that a lot of people are making the case for Palworld being copyright theft online, I thought it might be useful to seek insight from (ominous roll of thunder) an actual lawyer.
With a patch incoming, Pathea charts the road ahead.
You may remember Pathea Games’ My Time at Sandrock, a life sim game released late last November that we weren’t massively enthused with. We awarded it a 5/10 in our review, saying that the launch version’s “bland presentation and technical hiccups” affected this sequel to My Time at Portia. The Switch version sits with a Metascore of 62 from 11 critic reviews at the time of writing, although the PC version stands at 81.
Despite our reservations, this cozy game held a lot of potential and in the months since, the development team at Pathea has been hard at work to correct flaws and bring in new content to keep players engaged. Arguably its biggest update on Switch — version 1.1.4 — is due out imminently, and to get a better sense of what it contains and what’s on the horizon, we recently sat down for a lengthy conversation with some key staff on the Sandrock team to discuss its past and, crucially, its future.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
Jump straight into managing your own planets as you guide a civilization through the ages. Build the ultimate empire in The Universim, a new breed of God Game in development by Crytivo.
You ever get one of those awkward phone calls from your cousin that he and his family are in town and want to drop in for an unexpected house visit? Or your buddy texts you about arguing with their roommate, and they need to come over and cool down. Or, perhaps, the most dread-inducing — your coworker’s kid-sitter canceled, and they need an emergency backup. Suddenly, you’ve got guests over, and you need to keep them entertained for a while. Fortunately for you, you’ve got a PlayStation Plus membership and extra controllers, which means one thing: it’s local multiplayer time.
But even if you’re not in an urgent need to keep a surprise audience entertained, getting a group of players together on the couch to have a good time is one of the best uses of your PlayStation. There are plenty of amazing PS4 and PS5 games you can always boot up whenever you need a good serving of multiplayer mayhem. Here are some of our favorites available with PlayStation Plus.*
Everyone’s a hero in this chaotic transformation-focused action/RPG. With the aid of a magic wand, your bland amorphous humanoid character assumes myriad different forms, each with a unique playstyle–and, with a friend in tow, you can take on forms that cover for each other’s weaknesses or double up on your strengths. With hundreds of combinations of forms and abilities to explore and blast through foes, you’ll have hours of fun with bodily modification.*
*Available as a PlayStation Plus January 2024 Monthly game.
The weirdness and humor of the beloved Borderlands series continues in this tabletop fantasy-themed spinoff. You and three of your friends/frenemies can play together in a weird and wild fantasy loot-driven FPS with your own customizable characters in classes like Stabbomancer and Brr-zerker. Use melee weapons, spells, and (of course) lots and lots of crazy guns to eradicate enemies and get all the sweet, sweet rewards. Play in either normal co-op mode or coopetition mode, where you’ll need to squabble to decide who gets what loot.*
*Included in the Game Catalog with PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium memberships.
We all know and love Street Fighter. Even if your play partner’s never thrown a Hadoken in their life, it’ll only take a couple of minutes to learn, and then you’ve got even more fun and strategy to dig into. With 12 different Street Fighter games in one package, you can stick with the classic Street Fighter II titles, or dig deep into the later Alpha and III series. You don’t have to be able to do the Daigo Parry to have hours of fun digging into the storied history of Street Fighter with a friend–but once you’ve had fun playing competitively, you may want to take your skills to the next level.*
*Included in the Classics Catalog with PlayStation Plus Premium memberships.
Don’t have your dice and Dungeon Master gear on hand for your tabletop roleplaying session? Boot up Dragon’s Crown Pro and take your gang of adventurers on a gorgeous side-scrolling journey through realms of treasure and fantasy. Play as one of six classes and travel into dungeons as a band of up to four players, felling fearsome foes in fierce action gameplay and returning to the tavern with tales of bravado and plenty of sweet loot. Customize your warrior with skill trees to create your dream fantasy fighter. Will you discover the legendary Dragon’s Crown?*
*Included in the Classics Catalog with PlayStation Plus Premium memberships.
Take a trip back to the days of multiplayer Turtle beat-em-up action at the local arcade, but with brand-new visuals, super special moves, loads of secrets, and no need to worry if some kid before you spilled orange soda on the player-three joystick. Run through the single-session arcade mode with up to six players or, if you’re spending a while together, play through Story Mode co-op to build custom character loadouts and aim to conquer special challenges. Add the DLC expansion Dimension Shellshock for a new Survival mode and even more playable characters.*
*Included in the Game Catalog with PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium memberships.
LittleBigPlanet’s star sets out with some friends on an incredible family-friendly journey through a beautiful 3D world. The very fabric of Craftworld is abundant with stretchy, bouncy, tactile joy that allows you to use Sackboy’s robust movement skills in delightfully enjoyable and creative ways. But to get the most out of this Big Adventure, you’ll want to visit with friends (up to three more), as some stages and challenges require cooperation to conquer.*
*Included in the Game Catalog with PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium memberships.
Well, it looks like the megacorporation that you and your buddies were employed (read: enslaved) by in the cyberpunk world of Veles suddenly collapsed. Now, everything in your neighborhood’s going to hell. It’s time to get the guns out and solve problems. Explore neon-lit, dilapidated environments in an open world from an isometric viewpoint while blasting through foes and hazards with twin-stick shooter action. Augment yourself with upgrades and hack into forbidden areas as you acquire new skills, strengths, and loot. And don’t neglect to take cover when you have to. It’s better than becoming a bullet-ridden shell.*
*Included in the Game Catalog with PlayStation Plus Extra and Premium memberships.
*Titles available with PlayStation Plus memberships at the time of article publish.
RoboCop: Rogue City just received a major update that adds New Game Plus as well as a new, harder difficulty.
Teyon’s launched last year and was well-received by fans of the iconic sci-fi movie. IGN’s RoboCop: Rogue City review returned a 7/10. We said: “RoboCop: Rogue City is the video game equivalent of a B movie in the best way, with the look and over-the-top action to capture the essence of the series.”
Now, a new update gives players a reason to jump back in. New Game Plus lets you start over with all of your previously unlocked skills and Auto-9 upgrades, for the full “invincible robotic law enforcement officer” experience, Teyon said in a post on the game’s Steam page.
To unlock the mode, finish the game after the update is applied. This can be done by reloading a save made just before completing the game, Teyon said. Once done, a new save file will be created, and loading it will grant you access to NG+. You’ll also unlock a new Golden Auto-9 skin as soon as you beat the game.
Elsewhere, RoboCop: Rogue City now has a new difficulty level that makes enemies deadlier. “If you’re up for a challenge, time to try the There Will be Trouble difficulty!” Teyon said.
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.
The next Cyberpunk game from CD Projekt – currently codenamed “Orion” – might have multiplayer in it, according to co-CEO Michal Nowakowski. Please let it be some kind of deckhead ‘passenger-seat-driver’ mode, where you get to play a crusty celeb uploaded to another character’s brain implants, who strolls around the landscape as a hologram, offering gritty commentary on your Night City-based endeavours. Watch those corners, samurai! Hey, you missed an ammo pack. SAMURAI ARE YOU LISTENING TO ME.
It’ll be a while till we find out for sure: Orion is still in the conceptual phase, with CD Projekt expecting to have about 80 people working on it by the end of this year. The higher priority in 2024, it seems, is the next big steaming helping of The Witcher.
With all the pop-culture crossovers Magic: The Gathering has been getting lately, the board game Clue certainly isn’t one I was expecting to see. More than that, it’s not one I initially expected to be quite so much fun. Ravnica: Clue Edition is a standalone box that mixes the pick-up-and-play simplicity of something like Magic’s introductory Jumpstart packs with the murderous deduction mechanics of Clue, and we’ve got details on how it works, what’s inside the box, and an exclusive look at all the new cards hiding in its packs. I even got to go hands-on and play a round with a few folk from developer Wizards of the Coast, and the result of this unexpected tie-in is a strange but surprisingly compelling mix of a multiplayer Magic match and a family board game night.
You can flip through the two image galleries below to see all of the unique cards available exclusively in this set, as well as a bunch of photos of what’s inside Ravnica: Clue Edition’s box
Before we get too deep, you’re probably wondering how the heck you play. The answer is to that is actually deceptively straightforward – Ravnica: Clue Edition is meant to played with four players, with each player opening two of the eight included booster packs and shuffling them together to make their 40-card deck. Similar to Jumpstart, there are 10 different themed packs (with a little variation) that you could potentially open, each designed around one of the two-color guilds in Magic’s most iconic city, Ravnica. Players start at 30 life, but largely you are just playing Magic as usual.
The twist, of course, is in the parts of Clue that have been weaved into this box. In addition to the themed boosters, Ravnica: Clue Edition comes with a pack of 21 predetermined suspect, weapon, and room cards – and just like in Clue, one set of those is secretly put in an envelope at the start of the match, while the others are divided randomly amongst all the players. (These are playable Magic cards you could play in other decks as well, but for the purposes of this game they are essentially just used as reminder game pieces.) From there, you can win either by killing all three of your opponents like in Magic or correctly guessing the cards in the envelope like in Clue.
Mashing two games together like this can run the risk of feeling disjointed, but when I played Ravnica: Clue Edition myself I was impressed by how the deduction system has been used to incentivize a certain kind of behavior in the Magic game – specifically, that behavior is to play lots of creatures and make them fight. That’s because, also like Clue, you are able to ask other players if they have certain suspects, weapons, or rooms in their pile, but here making those guesses is restricted by Magic mechanics: you get the opportunity to do so only when you either deal combat damage to another player, or exile six mana value worth of cards from your graveyard at the end of your turn.
That means you’re basically playing a full game of Clue without the board, and in order to make any headway in your deductions you actively need to be attacking your opponents and casting spells instead of walking between rooms. Turtling up and not attacking may protect your life total, but stalling defensively like this isn’t really in your best interest in the long run since your opponents will still be taking swings at other people, asking questions and getting more intel while you hide in your fort. It’s an interesting way to mitigate the problem some creature-heavy multiplayer games of Magic can have, where players sometimes build up such menacing armies that no one wants to make the first move.
This playstyle is actively supported by the cards that have been put in each of the booster packs, too, which have plenty of ways to help you be aggressive with your creatures. The match I played felt very scrappy, with lots of interaction and combat decisions to make, both in terms of determining when you have a good attack and who you even want to hit for the most useful intel. You only get one shot when you decide to make your final guess and look inside the envelope for a potential win, but while guessing wrong here means you’re locked out of that alternate victory condition, it doesn’t stop you from still trying to come out on top by doing some murders yourself.
With all of the themed packs being based on Ravnica’s guilds, your forty-card deck is basically always going to be split between either three or four colors, but having the right colors of mana was a surprising non-issue in my match. The packs have plenty of ways to account for that built in, including dual-colored lands and other mana fixing cards, but one really clever rule is that revealing a Clue card as part of someone else’s guess also rewards you with a Treasure token. It’s extremely elegant – if you get stuck on mana and can’t cast stuff, you’re likely going to fall behind on board and get hit, which means more people will guess your cards, which means you’re more likely to get Treasures, which then fixes your colors and catches you up.
And while Ravnica: Clue Edition is designed to be packed back up in its box and stored like a little standalone board game, you could always use your own custom decks alongside these rules if you prefer. Now, obviously I don’t think the intent would be to roll in with some super efficient combo deck that kills the table all at once without ever caring about the Clue cards, but it does seem nicely suited for a more casual group of “battlecruiser” style decks looking to shake things up as they turn creatures sideways.
Of course, it’ll take more than just one game to determine how this unexpected combo holds up over time, let alone with decks not designed around it. But what I came in expecting to be a strange, one-off novelty is actually a pretty entertaining and thoughtfully designed package I’d like to try out again. If anything, my biggest takeaway is that while I may be an okay Magic player, I am downright terrible at Clue.
Tom Marks is IGN’s Executive Reviews Editor. He loves card games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more.
