Hollow Knight: Silksong’s Upcoming Patch Will Nerf The Difficulty In Certain Areas

It might be proving too much for some.

Team Cherry has announced the first patch for Hollow Knight: Silksong, bringing a solid selection of fixes and improvements to the newly-released game (thanks, Eurogamer).

Due for launch “mid next week”, one key aspect of the patch is that it will actually nerf the game’s difficulty in certain areas – primarily relating to two early boss encounters and a reduction in damage from the ‘Sandcarver’ enemy.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) Coming to Select Vehicles in Partnership with LG

Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) Coming to Select Vehicles in Partnership with LG

Xbox LG Cloud Gaming Hero Image

We’re committed to meeting players wherever they are, bringing the joy of gaming into even more places and experiences. That’s why we’re excited to announce our latest expansion for Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta). Through our collaboration with LG Electronics, we are working to integrate the Xbox experience into select internet-connected vehicles, introducing a new way to bring more of what players love about Xbox into more places.

Gaming On the Move: Entertainment for Every Journey

With the Xbox built into LG’s webOS Automotive Content Platform (ACP), passengers in internet-connected vehicles will be able to stream and play games directly from the Xbox app. Game Pass Ultimate members will soon have instant access to hundreds of games including popular titles like Gears of War: Reloaded, Forza Horizon 5, and upcoming releases like Obsidian Entertainment’s The Outer Worlds 2 (an automotive data plan is required to access streaming services. All services operate in compliance with driving safety regulations).

Already have some favorite Xbox titles in your library? Game Pass Ultimate subscribers can also stream select games they already own, such as Bugsnax, Don’t Starve, Mafia: The Old Country, and more, giving you even more flexibility in the gaming experience. You can find the full list here.

Whether you’re jumping back into an old favorite or discovering something completely new, Xbox Cloud Gaming and LG Electronics transforms your vehicle’s infotainment system into more than just music and movies – it becomes a full entertainment hub. Whether you’re waiting at an EV charging station or trying to entertain your passengers on an extended road trip, pass the time by playing games keeping everyone entertained and making the journey feel more fun.

More Ways to Play, Anywhere You Go

If you’re new to gaming, Xbox Cloud Gaming is a great way to get started. All you need to do is connect a compatible Bluetooth controller, launch the Xbox app from your internet-connected in-vehicle infotainment system, log in to your Xbox Game Pass subscription, and start playing.

Our work with LG is the latest example of Xbox expanding to new places, building on partnerships that already bring Xbox Cloud Gaming to mobile devices, PCs, and TVs. By adding vehicles to the mix, we’re giving players more choice than ever in how they enjoy their games.

To learn more about Xbox Cloud Gaming and how you can play across TVs and browsers on supported devices like smartphones, PCs, and tablets, visit xbox.com/cloudgaming.

The post Xbox Cloud Gaming (Beta) Coming to Select Vehicles in Partnership with LG appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Hideo Kojima Should Make a New P.T.-Style Game, or Maybe I Will, Says Bayonetta and Devil May Cry Creator Hideki Kamiya

Okami and Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya recently weighed in on Hideo Kojima’s “lost” horror game demo P.T., and its lasting legacy.

A collaboration between Hideo Kojima and film director Guillermo del Toro, P.T. was released in 2014 on the PS4 as a free demo for their upcoming game Silent Hills. However, when series publisher Konami cancelled the game in 2015, they also delisted the demo from the PlayStation Store, making it impossible to redownload. This led to second-hand PS4 consoles with the critically acclaimed demo commanding high prices on auction sites like Ebay.

On X, where he regularly responds to (and blocks/unblocks) fans, Hideki Kamiya recently talked about P.T in response to a user expressing hope that either Kamiya or Kojima would try making another P.T.-style game. On September 5, Kamiya tweeted, “if it’s impossible to resurrect P.T., Kojima should make a new game in the same style,” adding: “if Kojima doesn’t do it, maybe I’ll give it a go. I hate horror though, so it wouldn’t be horror… plus, I have no ideas.”

It seems that Kojima’s upcoming experimental horror game OD might go some way to plugging the P.T.-shaped hole. First teased back in 2023 via a mysterious trailer, OD promises to “explore the concept of testing your fear threshold, and what it means to overdose on fear.”

Like P.T., OD is also a collaboration with a filmmaker, this time with Jordan Peele of Get Out fame. Hideo Kojima previously promised that OD will be something that “no one has seen before,” although details still remain scarce. Kojima will be holding a special event in Tokyo later this month to celebrate 10 years since his break with Konami, where he is likely to reveal more info about future projects (possibly including more about OD).

Although Devil May Cry and Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya kicked off his career at Capcom working on the original Resident Evil and its sequel, he has never made a modern, photorealistic horror game akin to P.T. In a series of tweets last October, Kamiya observed that P.T.’s delisting left a gap in the market, which Japanese indie hit The Exit 8 stepped into. “The Exit 8 went viral, but it’s basically just a watered-down P.T.,” Kamiya opined.

The Exit 8 is far less gory and objectively less scary than P.T., however it does share the delisted demo’s looping corridor mechanic, building a sense of dread in the player as they try to spot anomalies in its subway passage. Selling fast on Steam upon its release in November 2023, The Exit 8 has grown into such a phenomenon that it has even spawned a film adaptation (which recently generated some controversy in Japan).

Despite saying that he can’t play P.T. alone because it is “too scary,” Hideki Kamiya is full of praise for Kojima and del Toro’s demo. He even went so far as to say that the ‘8-like’ sub-genre (games with similar settings and mechanics to The Exit 8, which proliferated in the wake of its meteoric success) should really be called ‘P.T.-like.’ “P.T. was really that revolutionary – with an unparalleled uniqueness, and I think it has strongly influenced subsequent game creators,” said Kamiya.

Speaking of Kamiya, he’s busy working on Okami 2 for Capcom with his new development studio, Clovers. Kamiya left PlatinumGames in 2023 under something of a cloud.

Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.

Hollow Knight: Silksong multiplayer mods are already starting to arrive, and it’s not even been a Skonging week

Ok, that was quick. Hollow Knight: Silksong has been out less than a week, and no less than two modders have already had a crack at getting multiplayer working in it, so you can take on those pesky bosses with some co-op aid or moral support.

Maybe I shouldn’t be surprised. After all, the Skong modding scene has exploded out of the gates with the same level of gusto folks have had for just playing the base version of the long-awaited metroidvania. Then again, it’s one thing for folks to be putting out a bunch of smaller scale tweaks that can help make things easier, and another for them to turn a one player game into a more than one player game.

Read more

Hollow Knight: Silksong Developer Team Cherry Reveals First Post-Launch Patch Notes, Makes ‘Slight’ Balance Adjustments in the Early Game

Hollow Knight: Silksong developer Team Cherry has revealed details on the game’s first post-release patch, which it said mostly makes bug fixes and “slight” balance adjustments in the early game.

In a post on Steam, the developer said patch 1.0.28470 is set for all players mid-next week, so around September 17. However, PC players can access this version right now via the public-beta branch on Steam or GOG.

In terms of balance changes, it looks like the patch makes Silksong slightly easier, which will be welcome news to those who are struggling with the game. Silksong is one of the biggest launches of the year, hitting huge player concurrent numbers on Steam alongside a positive reception from critics. But amid the excitement over Team Cherry’s long awaited sequel is a debate within the community about whether the game is too hard — perhaps even unfairly so. It comes as no surprise to see Silksong’s early days mods dominated by those which make the game easier.

Over the weekend, we reported on how some Silksong players were expressing criticism across social media, subreddits, Discords, and Steam reviews about the game’s difficulty scaling and brutal runbacks. There’s even one very early miniboss causing a lot of players a whole heap of trouble, too.

“Is it just me, or are some of the things that make Silksong ‘difficult’ just cruel?” wondered redditor Machi-Ato. “The game has artificially inflated difficulty and playtime due to overtuned numbers and menial tasks/runback,” reads a post on Steam.

Thankfully, IGN is here to help. Here’s how to unlock and use the map, how to get Rosary Beads, Achievements and Trophies list, and our ever expanding Silksong Interactive Map. Also, you may need the Bell Beast boss fight guide. It’s a hard one!

Hollow Knight: Silksong update 1.0.28470 patch notes:

  • Fixed situation where players could remain cloakless after Slab escape sequence.
  • Fixed wish Infestation Operation often not being completable during the late game.
  • Fixed wish Beast in the Bells not being completable when Bell Beast is summoned at the Bilewater Bellway during the late game.
  • Fixed getting stuck floating after down-bouncing on certain projectiles.
  • Fixed courier deliveries sometimes being inaccessible in Act 3.
  • Fixed craft bind behaving incorrectly when in memories.
  • Fixed Lace tool deflect soft-lock at start of battle in Deep Docks.
  • Fixed Silk Snippers in Chapel of the Reaper sometimes getting stuck out of bounds.
  • Fixed Claw Mirrors leaving Hornet inverted if taking damage during a specific moment while binding.
  • Fixed Snitch Pick not giving rosaries and shell shards as intended.
  • Removed float override input (down + jump, after player has Faydown Cloak).
  • Slight difficulty reduction in early game bosses Moorwing and Sister Splinter.
  • Reduction in damage from Sandcarvers.
  • Slight increase in pea pod collider scale.
  • Slight reduction in mid-game Bellway and Bell Bench prices.
  • Slight increase in rosary rewards from relics and psalm cylinders.
  • Increase in rosary rewards for courier deliveries.
  • Various additional fixes and tweaks.

All fixes will apply retroactively, so players who’ve hit a significant bug that prevents progress may want to switch over to public-beta to receive the fix, Team Cherry said.

“Further fixes are already being worked on for a second patch. If you have an issue and you don’t see the solution in the list above, we may be working on it.”

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle: The Order of Giants Review

Single-player, story-based DLC that gives me an excuse to return to an impeccable single-player, story-based adventure that I adored the first time around? Unlike an out-of-his-depth Marcus Brody, MachineGames really knows how to speak my language. The Order of Giants is a roughly four-hour side quest for Indiana Jones and the Great Circle that’s heavy on puzzles and features a string of tremendously atmospheric caves, catacombs, and canals to explore through the belly of Rome. After not having visited The Great Circle for many months, I was quickly hooked all over again. Even if it’s just for an afternoon, The Order of Giants is an effective refresher on most of the things I love about MachineGames’ take on the finest fascist-hater to ever find himself under a fedora. However, I have to concede that its presentation as a belated quest from early in The Great Circle’s story does make it feel noticeably less special and crucial to play than a more overtly separate adventure could have been, and the final fight falls a little flat.

Slipping The Order of Giants directly into what’s basically the first act of The Great Circle’s story obviously spoke to the MachineGames team in an irresistible way and, to a degree, I can see the elegance of blending it into the existing game in this fashion. Accessing the mission actually happens from within the Vatican level itself – it isn’t an individual mode or level you can directly hop into via the main menu. It’s an interesting approach, since it makes The Order of Giants feel like a segment that was left on the cutting room floor. If you’re playing for the first time it’ll just be there from the outset, and for returning players it’s a little like watching a familiar film with a lengthy deleted scene re-inserted. It’s a neat and tidy solution, but it does have the unfortunate side effect of making the DLC feel a little inessential overall. That is, it wasn’t here initially, and it doesn’t change anything now that it is – whether you play it or not.

Troy Baker’s performance as Indy remains hard to fault, and the music is again outstandingly faithful to the films.

While The Order of Giants kicks off within the existing Vatican level, the mission quickly distinguishes itself by placing Indy into a previously unseen interior – and subsequently whisking him out of the Vatican entirely, and into Rome. Troy Baker’s performance as Indy remains hard to fault, and the music is again outstandingly faithful to the films. There are some really stunning underground locations throughout The Order of Giants, and I regularly found myself poring over the details of its crusty catacombs.

The action, meanwhile, is typical of The Great Circle itself: a mix of light first-person platforming, some puzzle solving, and some scattered stealth and brawling against Italian soldiers and a group of mysterious and violent red-robed cult members. This isn’t the sort of DLC that adds a radically different new layer of combat, so don’t expect them to display any new tricks.

The puzzles, though, are absolutely the highlight. I liked two of them in particular more than any in The Great Circle itself. One is a well-crafted water puzzle, and the other is essentially a giant marble maze you need to solve without losing your flaming ball and starting over. There is one particular text-based brainteaser where the link to the physical puzzle pieces seemed a little obtuse initially, but shortly afterwards made me feel like a mild idiot for not figuring it out sooner. Sometimes that’s the best kind of puzzle.

There aren’t any dramatic action sequences in The Order of Giants akin to the fighter plane skyjack in The Great Circle – or tobogganing down the Himalayas on a huge, Nazi battleship. It’s a slower-paced affair overall, but I don’t mind this since it’s seemed to have resulted in a pumped-up amount of puzzles to mull over. It does crescendo to a slightly unexpected miniboss fight in a very neat location, but it’s not a particularly inventive battle – it’s just run, ranged attack, run, ranged attack, run, etcetera. It probably went on a little long considering how repetitive it ended up being, wrapping up just as I’d started wondering whether what I was doing was even the right thing.

Nintendo Adds Another Golden Sun Soundtrack To Nintendo Music

Listen to Camelot’s RPG sequel.

Nintendo’s weekly update for the Nintendo Music app has arrived, and this time it adds the soundtrack from the RPG Golden Sun: The Lost Age.

Nintendo and Camelot released this sequel on the Game Boy Advance in 2002/03. The album contains 94 tracks and has a runtime of 3 hours and 23 minutes. Here’s Nintendo’s official social media update:

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Xbox Returns to Tokyo Game Show 2025 – Here’s How to Tune In

Xbox Returns to Tokyo Game Show 2025 – Here’s How to Tune In

Xbox TGS 2025 Hero Image

We’re thrilled to announce the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast on Thursday, September 25 at 7pm JST (3am Pacific / 6am Eastern / 11am UK). This year’s show will feature titles from our creative teams, alongside exciting updates from our partners in Japan, across Asia and around the world.

We know players around the world delight in Japan-inspired content and games developed in Asia, and we can’t wait to connect with players across the globe to show off the incredible talent and creativity behind upcoming games coming to Xbox.

Once again, we’ve created a bespoke visual identity for Xbox at Tokyo Game Show. Using an urban neon aesthetic, the design puts the viewer in a street scene that is distinctly Tokyo, with various signs illuminating the way, all featuring gaming and Xbox iconography (with a touch of Japanese culture included as well).

Read on for all the details about Xbox at Tokyo Game Show 2025, including how and when to tune into our broadcast.

Get Hands-on with Xbox at Tokyo Game Show

Available to the public for the first time ever in Asia, Tokyo Game Show attendees at the Koei Tecmo booth can play Ninja Gaiden 4, a cutting-edge adventure where legacy meets innovation in a high-octane blend of style and no-holds-barred combat.

Visitors will also have the opportunity to get hands-on with the ROG Xbox Ally and ROG Xbox Ally X, two new gaming handhelds developed from Xbox and ASUS, at the Republic of Gamers booth.

Bethesda will co-host a merchandise booth with Infolens Geek Shop. The store will feature official merchandise for Fallout, Starfield, Doom, and The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, and include rare products never before released in Japan.

How Do I Watch the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast? 

The Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast will be streamed live on official Xbox and TGS channels. Here’s where you can watch live in your region:

Asia / Pacific

Click to open menu.

Japan

Korea

Australia / New Zealand

Southeast Asia (English)

Taiwan

Hong Kong

China

Americas

Click to open menu.

Global

https://www.youtube.com/xbox

https://www.twitch.tv/Xbox

https://www.twitch.tv/XboxASL  

Europe /  Middle East

Click to open menu.

UK

France

Germany / Austria / Switzerland

Italy

Spain

Poland

Middle East and North Africa

Türkiye

What languages is the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast available in?

This year’s broadcast will be available on Tokyo Game Show’s official YouTube channel, as well as live on select Xbox social channels in Japanese, English, Korean, Simplified Chinese, Traditional Chinese, Arabic (MSA), French, German, Italian, Polish, Brazilian Portuguese, Castilian Spanish, Mexican Spanish and Turkish.

Following the broadcast, we will add language support for Canadian French, Filipino, Hindi, Indonesian, Malay, Māori, Russian, Thai, Ukranian and Vietnamese. Please note that the audio of the show is primarily in Japanese, so you may need to turn on captions to see the translated show.

Is the show going to be Accessible to those with low/no hearing or low/no vision?

The show will also be broadcast with Japanese Sign Language (JSL), American Sign Language (ASL), and with audio descriptions in both Japanese and English.

I’m not going to be able to watch, where can I find out what was announced?

As soon as the show is over, the Xbox Wire team will be publishing a full show recap (with localized versions to follow in Japanese, Brazilian Portuguese, French, German, and LATAM Spanish) and standalone articles about select games will go live during the show.

Co-streamer and content creator notes for the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast

We at Xbox greatly appreciate any co-stream efforts and aim to ensure you have a smooth experience if you choose to do so. However, due to forces beyond our control, we cannot guarantee that glitches or disruptions by bots and other automated software won’t interfere with your co-stream. For those planning to create post-show breakdowns of the Xbox Tokyo Game Show 2025 Broadcast in the form of Video on Demand (VOD) coverage, we recommend you do not use any audio containing copyrighted music to avoid any action by automated bots, and to also consult the terms of service for your service provider.

For more details and a full schedule for Tokyo Game Show 2025, visit the official site from the show’s organizers.

The post Xbox Returns to Tokyo Game Show 2025 – Here’s How to Tune In appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Octopath Traveler 0 Platform Specs Reveal Town Size Limitations on Some Devices

Square Enix has announced Octopath Traveler 0 will have town building placement limitations for some consoles when it launches for PC, Nintendo Switch, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X | S this December.

Details about hardware restrictions were revealed alongside full platform specifications for the Octopath Traveler prequel. It comes with information about what resolution and FPS PC and consoles can achieve, while warning players with older hardware that their HD-2D RPG experience may come with a few noticeable differences.

PS5, Xbox Series X | S, and up-to-date PCs will support a maximum Town Building Placement Limit of 500. Those who play on Switch 2 and PS4, however, will see that building placement decreased to 400.

Town sizes in Octopath Traveler 0 shrink even more if you play on the original Switch, with Square Enix sharing that Nintendo’s first hybrid console will feature a maximum of just 250. That’s just half of what players on PS5 and Xbox Series X | S will see. It’s unclear how noticeable these town size differences will be for players when they play for themselves.

In terms of resolution and FPS, PS5 and Xbox Series X, of course, lead the pack with support for up to 3840 x 2160 and 120 FPS, with PC players able to select their preferred performance settings depending on their setup. Xbox Series S supports 120 FPS at 1920 x 1080, with PS4 and Switch 2 both featuring up to 1920 x 1080 at 60 FPS. Finally, Octopath Traveler 0 played on the original Switch will have a maximum resolution of 1280 x 720 with support of up to 30 FPS.

While Switch 2 players will have the option to play the Octopath Traveler prequel on the go, they should know Square Enix recently revealed the physical version of the experience will only be available as a Game-Key Card. Switch 1 owners, on the other hand, can pick up an actual physical card but will not have an option to upgrade to a Switch 2 version.

Octopath Traveler 0 was announced for Switch and Switch 2 in July and will launch for all platforms December 4, 2025. For more on Square Enix’s latest, you can see what is included in its Standard, Deluxe, and Collector’s Editions.

Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He’s best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).