As much as I can understand the derision from some quarters regarding NBA 2K26, FC 26, Madden — any of these big sports’ games in their yearly, money-grubbing modern forms — I have, unfortunately, got a few of them to thank for several things that I enjoy in life these days. One of which is the old basketballs.
For most of my life, Basketball was a game where people ran up and down a court, scoring and then letting the other team score. There was no discernible defence, no strategy, nothing other than to be incredibly athletic and awesome and beautiful – and good at going airborne. Oh, and if you had a gigantic wobbly NBA Jam head and a pair of fireproof sneakers, well, all the better.
It’s been a hot minute since the last Digimon game graced our screens, but the wait is nearly over – Digimon Story Time Stranger will be advancing the series in fresh ways when it hits PS5 on October 3. I was lucky enough to spend some time with the monster-taming RPG to find out what evolutions await.
An intriguing story, set within stunning sights
My introduction to this new era of Digimon was bookended by two separate story beats. The first was the opening of the game, where I chose Dan Yuki (and then later Kanan Yuki, but my choice didn’t affect the story) of ADAMAS, a secret organisation charged with investigating and fixing anomalous phenomena. And it just so happens there’s one in Shinjuku.
A trek across my starting point in Tokyo led to an encounter with some Digimon within a perilous underground section, a broken and abandoned office space, and eventually a fraught battle on top of a skyscraper.
While this created a good foundation for the game, the second story section was a comparative explosion of colourful fantasy, letting me explore the Digital World’s Abyss Area. Sure, Tokyo has its charms, but the Abyss Area’s beautiful and unapologetic depiction of the Digimon culture ranks as one of the most impressive sights in the series to date. Between the clear pools, shimmering rock formations, and a group of Digimon revering MarineAngemon singing and dancing, it was an unforgettable set-up that truly showed off the glossy, anime-style visuals.
It has a mature side
The Digimon series is no stranger to deep themes and topics, so fans will be happy to hear that even this curated playtest showed signs that Time Stranger isn’t going to shy away from big questions. Between the two story sections, there were already clear indications that there’s an exploration of interspecies war between the Digimon and Titans, the pressure of societal expectations, and even the navigation of mental health when I was visiting Shellmon and trying to discover why they haven’t left their home.
There are still plenty of light-hearted laughs
Even when the stakes are high, Digimon Story Time Stranger doesn’t forget its Saturday morning cartoon influences, either. Any brooding is balanced by its desire to have fun and deliver a lightness of touch, whether it’s through the idle animations of your party members, its joyful voice acting, humorous dialogue choices when talking to NPCs, or the ability to collect a variety of incidental cards and costumes.
Not to mention that, yes, you can ride some of the Digimon in your team via the DigiRide option. Does it make traversing the environment any quicker? Only in some cases. But is it fun to see your agent hop on Leomon’s shoulder as you romp through a kaleidoscopic land of wonder? Oh yes.
Starting out with familiar RPG elements
Digimon Story Time Stranger’s tried and tested battle system has plenty of familiarities to get you started. My first encounter with the cute digital monsters offered me a choice between the Data mammal Patamon, Vaccine sea beast Gomamon, or Virus little devil DemiDevimon.
As usual, this is a gentle intro to the ‘rock-paper-scissors’ attribute system that sets up the turn-based battle mechanic – Vaccine is strong against Virus, Virus is powerful against Data, and Data is best against Vaccine. But on top of that, they can possess four other attributes and 11 elements such as Water, Plant, and Dark, meaning there are a vast combination of how your 450+ Digimon can shape up. Which translates into varied and strategic combat to figure out how to exploit your enemy’s vulnerabilities.
DigiAttacks, new Personality system, and more
What’s more of a surprise is the intricacies added to the battle system. For one, enemies are now visible on-screen, so you can sometimes avoid them or trigger pre-emptive strikes by pressing R2 for a DigiAttack, which can instantly defeat weaker foes.
I also got to play with the Personality system, which is designed to make each Digimon more individual. Depending on where your beastie lines up within the 16 different personality types, bracketed into Philanthropy, Valor, Wisdom, and Amicability, you’ll benefit from stat and skill perks. For example, ‘Friendly’ gives Defence and Attack buffs when coupled with the Slow Starter personality skill, which provides attack boosts from round four onward.
These personalities can be changed based on mini conversations you have with your Digimon, too. During quiet moments, you can engage with your pals, who will ask curious questions. My Leomon enquired if I was being reckless and that maybe I should take a break. When I replied with gratitude, they responded that they simply didn’t want me to collapse, which then turned their personality to Philanthropy.
Another time, my Dinohyumon asked the surprisingly philosophical question if we can overcome anything by being brave, to which I responded that “other things mattered, too”. He sighed with “ugh, that’s tough,” and I was given the option to replace an old personality skill with the new one of First in Line, so in subsequent battles, he always got to act before everyone else. Handy.
So many mysteries to uncover
In the near couple of hours I played, it was clear that Digimon Story Time Stranger was rife with secrets. I briefly got to explore the In-Between Theatre, a multi-dimensional space populated with odd faceless beings and managed by recurring character Mirei Mikagura. While the Theatre could be used to travel to other areas, there were clearly other uses and elements it was hiding beneath its luxurious décor.
There were also lots of nice little gameplay elements to keep things fresh, including a thrilling chase sequence where I had to escape from a brutal MetalGreymon, and the ability to use R2 when exploring to blast through obstructions and also receive hints when noteworthy items were nearby.
There’ll be plenty more to discover across time and space when Digimon Story Time Stranger releases on October 3 on PS5 – and based on my experiences you’re going to have the time of your digital life.
If you peered into Edwin’s maw this morning, you might have seen that Trainatic’s out today, September 8th. Well, having now given its demo a go, I can waft away a bit more of the billowing steam of mystery for those standing on the platform who’re considering boarding.
Fans of the Pokémon Trading Card Game once again have a new reason to keep an eye on Amazon and Walmart, with it being the best place to score packs of White Flare and Black Bolt.
The Booster Bundles have been trending slightly downward in price, likely with attention being turned to the upcoming Mega Evolution set & the recently announced Phantasml Flames, offering collectors and players an opportunity to pick them up for less than at most other retailers.
Each bundle includes six booster packs from its respective expansion, with the chance to pull cards like Zekrom ex among Black Bolt’s most valuable cards, or Reshiram ex in as one of White Flare’s most high-priced chase cards, plus the exclusive Black White Rare Victini that appears across both sets.
Of course, the official MSRP for these bundles is only $26.94, though finding them at that price is nearly impossible now that they’ve officially hit shelves. Best Buy is technically the only retailer still listing at MSRP, but availability has been restricted to in-store purchases and tends to vanish quickly.
At the moment, Amazon has the edge with the White Flare Booster Bundle priced at $45.01 and the Black Bolt Booster Bundle at $48.90. Over on TCGplayer, while both bundles are hovering in the $40-$48 range (which could make them the cheapest, depending on the listing), sellers for the current listings have added shipping costs, which you’ll have to cover.
Walmart sits in a similar bracket, with listings ranging between $47.85 and $48.87 depending on which bundle you’re after, with limited units left at the time of writing.
The reason demand is so high comes down to the sets themselves. Black Bolt and White Flare together feature all 156 Pokémon from the Unova Pokédex, a callback to the beloved fifth generation of games, Pokémon Black and White. Filled with alternate art cards and multiple foil variants, these expansions have been must-haves for completionists.
Even as more fans are looking ahead to the late September Mega Evolution set and the fall release of Phantasmal Flames, the allure of all there is to collect in White Flare & Black Bolt still has plenty to keep your decks and collectable binders buzzing.
For those who missed out at MSRP, Amazon’ & Walmart’s current discounts still represent the most affordable way to secure these Unova-themed packs before demand pushes prices even higher. These are sure to sell quickly once more keen collectors hear about these, so be sure to grab them whilst you can if you want them.
Ben Williams – IGN freelance contributor with over 10 years of experience covering gaming, tech, film, TV, and anime. Follow him on Twitter/X @BenLevelTen.
Steam tells me I’ve spent 171 hours of my life to this point playing Starfield. It’s not an insignificant amount of time, but it pales in comparison to how long I’ve spent with the myriad other works of developers Bethesda. Said devs now look like they might have fired up the tease rocket for the space RPG‘s second major expansion. If they have, the very little they’ve shown off so far hasn’t gotten me right on board to play more.
Get your first look at developer Chronospace’s revamped War Mechanic, a single-player alternate-history “what if the Manhattan Project had been sabotaged?” action-adventure game where you must survive, pilot your combat car, deal with NPCs that have their own agendas, and build up your base.
The reworked War Mechanic brings in Narrative Designers Jacek Komuda and Maciej Jurewicz (The Witcher 1 and 2) as players take on the role of Jack Wallace, a mechanic stranded on the war-torn Nordook Island. “Bringing in veteran storytellers let a young team grow up fast,” said Co-Producer Rafał Lewkowicz. “The vision is the same—now it’s precise, readable, and worth fighting for.” On the island, you’ll rebuild your base, modify your guns and equipment, salvage parts and materials with your multi-torch, set up automated defense systems.
“The re-reveal isn’t a reset; it’s a refocus,” said Co-Producer Rafał Pelc. “We aligned everything to narrative—richer lore, character-driven quests, and exploration that actually matters.” Visually, Chronospace says, “War Mechanic now boasts a visual overhaul with photorealistic assets, haunting environments, and creatively designed robots and bosses that feel as alive as the world they inhabit. Combined with a redesigned UI and immersive systems-driven gameplay loop, War Mechanic balances player agency with a gripping narrative.”
Wishlist War Mechanic on Steam if you’re interested.
Ryan McCaffrey is IGN’s executive editor of previews and host of both IGN’s weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He’s a North Jersey guy, so it’s “Taylor ham,” not “pork roll.” Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.
Details surrounding Cyberpunk 2 are scarce, but fans of Cyberpunk 2077 can rest assured that the game’s biggest star is down to return if given the opportunity.
Speaking with IGN while promoting his upcoming movie Good Fortune, Keanu Reeves said that he wants to be part of the sequel to CD Projekt’s 2020 game.
“Absolutely. I’d love to play Johnny Silverhand again,” Reeves said when asked if he’d be interested in revisiting his legendary rockstar terrorist character in Cyberpunk 2.
Reeves’s love-affair with the Cyberpunk community began with his viral “you’re breathtaking” moment at E3 2019. Reeves, on-stage to announce the release date of Cyberpunk 2077, was interrupted by a fan who shouted out “you’re breathtaking!” Reeves’ response was to double-down with his own “you’re breathtaking… you’re all breathtaking!” Cue wholesome memes across the internet forever more. You can see the iconic gamer moment in the video below.
The question is, could Reeves actually play Johnny Silverhand in Cyberpunk 2 even if he wanted to? In other words, could Johnny Silverhand return in the sequel, given the events of Cyberpunk 2077?
Warning! Spoilers for Cyberpunk 2077 follow:
While many players believe Cyberpunk 2077 provided a suitable ending for Johnny and V’s story, depending on which ending of the game CD Projekt makes canon for Cyberpunk 2, the door may be left open for Reeves’ return. Could Johnny return in cameo form perhaps, having downloaded himself into someone or something else? Canon ending dependent, could V end up becoming Johnny Silverhand in mind and body for Cyberpunk 2? Or perhaps it would be better to let Johnny and V rest and go for a fresh start with the sequel.
There are many unanswered questions when it comes to Cyberpunk 2, but in May Cyberpunk creator Mike Pondsmith teased some previously unknown details. Pondsmith, who worked closely with CD Projekt on the 30 million-selling Cyberpunk 2077 and was involved in promoting the game ahead of its 2020 launch, was asked about the scope of his involvement with Orion at the Digital Dragons 2025 conference.
Responding, Pondsmith admitted he wasn’t as involved this time around, but said he does review scripts and had been to CD Projekt to check out the ongoing work.
“Last week I was wandering around talking to different departments, and seeing what they had, ‘Oh look, this is the new cyberware, what do you think?’ ‘Oh yeah, that’s pretty good, that works here.’”
And then, the morsel on the sequel: that it features a brand new city in addition to the Night City we know from Cyberpunk 2077. Pondsmith described this new city as “like Chicago gone wrong.”
“I spent a lot of time talking to one of the environment guys, and he was explaining how the new place in Orion, because there’s another city we visit — I’m not telling you any more than that but there’s another city we visit. And Night City is still there. But I remember looking at it and going, yeah I understand the feel you’re going for this, and this really does work. And it doesn’t feel like Blade Runner, it feels more like Chicago gone wrong. I said, ‘Yeah, I can see this working.’”
It’s worth pointing out that Pondsmith’s comments do not necessarily suggest the Cyberpunk sequel will feature a future Chicago, rather a city that has the feel of a dystopian version of the city. It may well be a take on future Chicago, but that isn’t confirmed based on these comments. There is also some debate about whether Cyberpunk 2 will expand upon the Night City that’s in Cyberpunk 2077 or feature a new version, and the extent to which it is playable.
Also back in May, CD Projekt revealed that a sequel to Cyberpunk 2077 is officially in pre-production and will be called Cyberpunk 2. The studio also said that nearly 100 developers were already working on the game, which was previously referred to by the codename “Project Orion.” That number had grown to 116 by the end of July.
CD Projekt co-CEO Michał Nowakowski also seemed to confirm rumors that the sequel won’t be out until at least 2030 by stating that the studio’s “journey from pre-production to final release takes four to five years on average.”
Image credit Patrick T. Fallon/Bloomberg via Getty Images.
Michael Peyton is the Senior Editorial Director of Events & Entertainment at IGN, leading entertainment content and coverage of tentpole events including IGN Live, San Diego Comic Con, gamescom, and IGN Fan Fest. He’s spent 20 years working in the games and entertainment industry, and his adventures have taken him everywhere from the Oscars to Japan to Buenos Aires, Argentina. Follow him on Bluesky @MichaelPeyton
Gearbox development chief Randy Pitchford has said the inbound Borderlands 4 Day 1 patch “does a lot,” amid concern about the performance of the looter shooter.
Pitchford responded to concern about Borderlands 4’s pre-release performance on PC from some users on X / Twitter, confirming not only that there’s a Day 1 patch on the way, but that it sounds pretty much essential to play the game.
Borderlands 4 has an official release date of September 12 across PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC via Steam and the Epic Games Store, with the Nintendo Switch 2 launch following shortly after. Fans will be keen to jump in as soon as possible, making the Day 1 patch an early hoop to jump through.
Despite the Day 1 patch, playing Borderlands 4 on older hardware won’t miraculously unlock “buttery smooth performance,” Pitchford added. It should be expected that Borderlands 4 is “unplayable” if you’re trying to use a PC below min-spec, he said, and, generally, playing new AAA games on older hardware won’t achieve impressive results.
Here’s the comment in full:
The Day 1 patch does a lot! That said, the expectation for using a below min-spec machine should be that the game is unplayable. That the game runs at all on your system is a miracle. That you can get 55 – 60 fps out of heavy combat is actually incredible given how the engine and what’s going on under the hood. Your specification doesn’t indicate if you’re on SDD or HDD, but that could also explain some of the hitching. It’s a big, bold, new, seamless world and I’m sorry to say that older hardware may not provide buttery smooth performance for the latest gen AAA games, as has always been the case since the dawn of PC gaming.
A significant portion of the PC gaming audience play on low-end hardware. Indeed, just last month the developers of Battlefield 6 told Eurogamer they saw a “substantial number” of open beta players on or around the minimum recommended specs, with a number of users even playing below the minimum spec.
While you wait for Borderlands 4 to launch, be sure to check out IGN’s recent interview with narrative director Sam Winkler, lead writer Taylor Clark, and managing director of narrative properties Lin Joyce to learn more about why the team decided to create a more grounded story this time around.
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.
Shhhhh. If we’re quiet, we might be able to avoid discourse with this one. If you’ve spent your weekend playingHollow Knight: Silksong and found that the likes of enemies inflicting double damage and spawns being miles away put a dampner on the fun, mods can help.
I know, I know, these are videogames and we must take their difficulty with the utmost seriousness. How else are any of us supposed to learn important life lessons, like ‘press button dodge at this point’, unless we go through hours of frustration trying to beat one boss (or look such info up)? As such, I stress that these mods, like all mods, are entirely optional. No need to shout at people for using them. Save your voice for singing love ballads to Hornet during breaks in the action.
MachineGames seemingly hasn’t finished with its Wolfenstein series just yet.
While it’s been over half a decade since we last punched a Nazi in Wolfenstein: Youngblood, studio head Jerk Gustafsson has hinted the team would very much like to go back to the Wolfenstein universe to tie up BJ Blazkowicz’s story.
While both Youngblood and the 2019 VR title Cyberpilot touched on the wider Blazkowicz family’s fortunes, we haven’t actually played as series stalwart Blazkowicz since 2017’s The New Colossus. And it’s BJ’s story that seems to intrigue Gustafsson most — in fact, it seems Blazkowicz’s story was always meant to be told in three parts.
In a new interview with Noclip, Gustafsson said the team had “always seen [BJ’s story] as a trilogy,” adding: “That journey for BJ, even during those first weeks at [id Software], when we mapped out New Order — we still had the plan for at least [BJ], what would happen in the second one and what would happen in the third one.
“I think that’s important to say, because — at least, I hope — we’re not done with Wolfenstein yet. We have a story to tell,” he added (thanks, PC Gamer).
The last Wolfenstein game was 2019’s Wolftenstein: Youngblood, Set in 1980, 19 years after BJ Blazkowicz ignited the second American Revolution, it introduced the next Blazkowicz generation to the fight against the Nazis. In IGN’s review, we awarded it a middling 6.5, calling it “aggressively okay.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world’s biggest gaming sites and publications. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
