Category: Video Games

Pokémon’s Former Chief Legal Officer “Surprised” Palworld Got This Far

“This looks like the usual ripoff nonsense”.

The new “open-world survival and crafting game” Palworld is breaking records, but part of the success has seemingly been fueled by a lot of heated debate and comparisons online.

One major talking point has been the game’s monster designs, with accusations and claims it’s taken more than just “inspiration” from the Pokémon series. It’s admittedly raised questions about what The Pokémon Company may be thinking about this early access title’s overnight success, and while there’s been no official response, we’ve now got the next best thing.

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Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Free DLC Includes a Playable Joker

Joker, the infamous clown prince of chaos, is confirmed to not only appear in Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League. But he will also be a playable character.

Announced in the third and final developer diary series for Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, Rocksteady Studios revealed the post-launch content plans for its upcoming game ahead of its release date. The studio detailed the roadmap for the first season of DLC, which will be released sometime in March.

Some additional content in season one includes new boss fights and enemy variants, a new playable environment based on Joker, and two new episodes with new activities, missions, and strongholds to partake in.

Three additional seasons of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League are planned, according to Rocksteady. Each season will introduce a new playable character and one new playable environment, among other things such as new weapons and activities.

The marquee of season one is that Joker will be a new playable character. Fans of Rocksteady’s Arkhamverse games are probably mystified at the idea, given the upcoming game is set five years after Batman: Arkham Knight and the Joker from that trilogy is dead. However, this is different from the Joker we have seen in those games; rather, this Joker was pulled from another dimension based on the Elseworld comics.

“The original Arkhamverse Joker has been dead for five years, but this is a new Elseworlds twist on the villain,” Rocksteady studio director Darius Sadeghian said in the developer diary. While Rocksteady Associate Design Director Johnny Armstrong revealed that this Joker “was part of the Suicide Squad in the Elseworld that he’s from, which already shows that he’s slightly more cooperative than the previous Joker we’ve had” before teasing that this Joker is “unhinged in a different way.”

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is out on February 2 for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S. For more, check out our hands-on preview.

Taylor is a Reporter at IGN. You can follow her on Twitter @TayNixster.

Nintendo Switch Menu Mockups Found On Prototype Console

A Switch in Time.

Do you ever look at the home screen of your Nintendo Switch and wish there was a bit more colour? A bit more chaos? Or that it was a bit less monochromatic? Well, thanks to German translator PaulFelixKelly, we’ve had a glimpse at some of the ideas and mockups Nintendo had for the menu.

Kelly managed to get hold of a prototype Nintendo Switch unit which was used for early production and development. The Prototype Switch NAND comes with 64GB of storage, but it’s also home to some development secrets, which include these menu mockups.

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Diving Deeper into the World of Avowed

Diving Deeper into the World of Avowed

Avowed Hero Image

At the recent Xbox Developer_Direct 2024 broadcast, Obsidian Entertainment shared its most comprehensive look yet at its upcoming fantasy-action RPG, Avowed.  

But even that only scratched at the surface of what’s coming your way this fall. On today’s special episode of The Official Xbox Podcast, Avowed Game Director Carrie Patel and Gameplay Director Gabe Paramo shared an extended look at the quest showcased during Developer_Direct, providing more detail on the moment-to-moment experience of the flexible combat system, and where this side quest fits in the larger narrative of Avowed. 

This latest look at Avowed gives us a good idea of what to expect from Shatterscarp, one part of the ecologically diverse island of The Living Lands, all in the same universe as Obsidian’s CRPG series Pillars of Eternity. But what makes Avowed a very ‘Obsidian game’ goes far beyond the commonality of setting in the world of Eora. 

“It’s really about our player-centric approach to role play,” Patel shared during this week’s Podcast. “The way we really approach consequence and choice is giving players the opportunities to define who they are in this world, how they want to behave – what fantasy, what challenges they want to undertake.”  

It’s all part of Obsidian’s “your worlds, your way” approach, and players will feel the weight of their choices moment-to-moment with every slash, parry, and spell cast.  

Avowed Companions Image

What stands out is not just the variety of ways you can tackle combat – examples include the classic ‘sword and board [shield]’, samurai-esque sword and gun, and dual-wielding wands like a wizard in the Old West – but also how you’ll frequently want to (or need to) change your loadout to best suit what you find yourself up against. These loadouts are also complemented by skills, and Obsidian had a deep well of moves to pull from out of the Pillars of Eternity universe.  

“We wanted to be able to grab as many abilities from the trees as possible – and categorize them a little bit differently so that the player doesn‘t feel locked into a single choice at the start of the game,” said Gabe Paramo, Gameplay Director. “They can mix and match between different abilities to get some variety. You can commit to being a fighter, but it’s not an enforced class setup.” And if you want to try out a new suite of abilities, you can always respec your character. 

We saw great examples of this in the Developer_Direct: dual-wielding wands served as effective crowd control when a group of smaller Xaurips swarmed the player. But in a more one-on-one encounter with a slightly larger enemy, using an ice-imbued wand to freeze an enemy, then shattering the newly-frozen block with a charged power attack of an off-hand sword was supremely effective. 

Paramo cited another devious combo: “With ‘Into the Fray,’ you can use a fireball ability that creates an AOE [area of effect] ability on the ground, and then pull the enemy into the fire.” 

It’s all part of a comprehensive elemental system that comes into play both in and out of combat. Paramo continues, “you can light guys on fire, you can freeze them, you can shock them, you have objects in the environment you can interact with. They’re not just on weapons, on wands – you might find it on swords, certain abilities might cause elemental damage. And your companions [can] as well.” 

Patel shared more about those companions – your hero won’t be wandering the Living Lands alone. “They all have deep ties to different regions of the Living Lands, and they all have their own personal reasons for wanting to ally with the player and help them resolve the big conflicts that you’re encountering over the course of the game. They’re your allies – in some ways your advisors, your local guides. They provide a lot of additional commentary and context that reveals something about their character, but also about the corner of the world you’re exploring.”  

Avowed Combat Image

They’re also your allies in battle; Kai, who we saw in the Developer_Direct, played a tanky role, drawing aggro, while Giatta, who also makes an appearance, keeps the party healed up. Expect to meet more in your journeys across the Living Lands. 

‘Playing your way’ expands beyond moment-to-moment action; as demonstrated in the Developer_Direct, you’ll be making meaningful decisions that affect the story.  

“For us, creating these choices, like the big ones that affect the outcome of a quest, or the wellbeing of certain characters or communities are just as important as the smaller choices that you make in navigating a dialogue and, in subtle ways, influencing your relationship with another character,” said Patel. “All of it is really centered around letting the player be the main character in this setting.” 

It’s important to note that for all we’ve now seen of Avowed, there’s much, much more to explore throughout the Living Lands. In fact, the specific quest in Shatterscarp we covered “is entirely discoverable, which means it’s also entirely missable.” In terms of scope of the game, Paramo compares with another recent Obsidian title, “it’s open-zone, size comparable to The Outer Worlds areas on the larger side, and [with] multiple paths essentially to tackle combat situations, or avoid them.” 

According to Patel, sharp-eyed players will have much more to seek out throughout their time with Avowed: “One of the big delights of being a developer on a game like this is creating so much for players to find, and knowing that not everybody’s going to seek it out, and not everybody’s gonna find it, but knowing that the players who do are really going to enjoy the secrets they discover.” 

Avowed launches this fall on Game Pass, Xbox Series X|S, and Windows PC – for more information please visit the Avowed website. 


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Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder?

The Weird and Wonderful Living Lands
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.

Visceral Combat to Play Your Way
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance.

Companions as part of your journey
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.

The post Diving Deeper into the World of Avowed appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Persona 3 for Nintendo Switch Isn’t Totally Out of the Question, Says Director

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.

Nvidia’s cross-game modding tools RTX Remix now in open beta

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.

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Does Palworld break Pokémon’s copyright? We asked a lawyer

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.

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Exclusive: “This Game Is Not Going Away” – My Time At Sandrock Devs Talk Making Good, And ‘Switch 2’ Hopes

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.

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