Since Guilty Gear first arrived on Sony’s PlayStation in 1998, singeing the air with furious guitar shredding, it’s always been a head turner. While graphically, its goth-rock anime stylings have dazzled with each iteration, Arc System Works’ foremost achievement is in managing to differentiate itself from Capcom’s heavily aped fighting game paradigm. That said, with the series becoming so increasingly convoluted over the last 26 years, ostracising many a would-be player as a result, a redress of sorts was needed. It’s here that Guilty Gear Strive steps in.
Strive remains tonally as it ever was: all-leather and metal; characters that sit somewhere between glam rock and BDSM fetishists; and a blaze of raucous, revved, spectacular battling. Where Guilty Gear XRD (2014) more closely resembled its predecessors, Strive totally overhauls its character models to be larger and more detailed, from muscle ripples to flailing buckles, and introduces new features while removing some others.
Cuisineer Plates Up a Buffet of New Features on Xbox
Scott ParksMarketing Manager, Marvelous USA (XSEED Games)
Summary
Cuisineer is out January 28!
New features on Xbox include seasonal festivals with event-exclusive delights, a new wardrobe feature to collect and change your costume, new weapons for your battles in dungeons, and more.
Get a deeper look at four of the seasonal festivals and their bonuses.
The cozy roguelite dungeon crawler and restaurant simulation game Cuisineermakes its way to Xbox today, bringing a buffet of new features to hungry players. Whether you want to try a new outfit for protagonist Pom, swing new weapons like the Salt ‘n’ Pepper Shakers while adventuring, or set the perfect ambiance in your restaurant with the gramophone, there are layers of flavor in this Xbox offering.
One feature I’m especially excited for you to sink your teeth into are the new seasonal festivals. With this release, Pom’s hometown of Paell will celebrate eight brand-new festivals, and I’m going to prepare you to make the most of them by highlighting four festivals today. For each one, I’ll let you in on the goodies you can grab and showcase an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at some cute concept art.
Spring Reunion
Each season has two festivals, and one of Spring’s is known as the aptly named Spring Reunion, which takes place on the date of Spring 9. The townsfolk of Paell decorate the town and hide eggs in unexpected places, and they’re all up for grabs. This is an egg-cellent opportunity to gather some last-minute supplies before opening your shop as customers today are in the mood for egg-based dishes.
If you want to take these bright and cheery colors with you into the seasons ahead, then make sure you have some profits saved up to purchase a set of Spring Reunion furniture, and the Spring Bunny outfit, made available by merchants in town for a limited time.
Fireflame Festival
The Summer festival I want to spotlight is the Fireflame Festival, which takes place on Summer 19. The Cuisineer developers are a small team based in Singapore, which makes sense if you’ve seen the dishes and delicious food illustrations in this game. The Fireflame Festival brings another helping of cultural inspiration from Asia.
Summer is hot and that means spicy. During this festival, customers crave meals with Tasty Spice and Flaming Spice ingredients. Luckily you can search around the Cheelee lanterns in town for these ingredients. Make this occasion extra special by visiting town at night to release beautiful lanterns or fireworks to light up the sky. But make sure you save some time to grab the Fireflame restaurant decorations and Festive Dragon outfit from town merchants before the festival comes to a close.
Harvest Jubilee
Fall promises a bountiful harvest. See for yourself during the Harvest Jubilee, which takes place on Autumn 7. The trees of Paell take on an autumnal hue, and your fellow residents have even decorated the fountain in front of your restaurant as a giant pumpkin. And while harvests are important, so is candy. Check the numerous candy baskets around town to gather up some sugar in the form of Sweet Sap ingredients that will be perfect for satisfying the sweet tooth your customers bring to your restaurant on this day.
If you’re the type that wants to bring this farm-to-table energy to your restaurant even after fall ends, the merchants in town have you covered with the Farmer outfit and Harvest Jubilee furniture. Fun fact: dressing up in the Farmer outfit will have you matching Pom’s best friend, Biscotti.
Solanum Gala
The year closes strong with Solanum Gala on Winter 17, one of the coziest festivals yet. Red, green, and white abound in the snowy town of Paell, and a giant Solanum tree is right outside your restaurant. Your customers keep the color theme by asking for dishes with red and green Tomato ingredients, and yes, you can gather free Tomatoes around town.
My absolute favorite part of Solanum Gala is the festive outfit you can purchase. Turn Pom into a ‘Santa cat’ with the Nyanta outfit. The hood fits Pom’s cat ears! For those who want to hold on to the holidays for as long as possible even after Solanum Gala has ended, you can purchase some merry furniture for your restaurant on this day only.
Preview the Outfits
In closing, here is the adorable concept art for each of the seasonal outfits I mentioned. The festivals I showcased today are just scratching the surface of the new features available in Cuisineer’s Xbox release, out tomorrow, January 28. Happy cooking!
Upon receiving a startling letter from her parents, the independent adventurer Pom swiftly returns home to Paell, only to find her parents gone and their beloved restaurant abandoned. Now left with mounting debts and a village in dire need of some fine cooking, Pom will have to delve into the deepest dungeons for the scarcest spices, rarest meats, and the most valuable vegetables she can find to keep her parents’ dream alive.
Dive into dungeons and cook up a storm as Pom, an adventurer-turned-restaurateur! Cuisineer‘s food-focused action challenges you to build your dinner the hard way: by dungeon-diving for materials and ingredients. Wield your cooking utensils against giant chickens, artillery shrimps, fire-breathing peppers, and other pesky perils, sipping boba tea along the way. Work with local artisans to customize your kitchen, and tailor your dining hall to the needs of loyal patrons eager to experience the rare recipes you’ve cooked up.
The Xbox Series X/S and Windows Store release of Cuisineer plates its enticing gameplay with fresh ingredients like new weapons, year-round festivals, a wardrobe feature, and more tasty inclusions that are sure to spice things up.
A Smorgasbord of Dungeons
Explore procedurally generated biomes such as the Green Ruins, Frozen Fjord, and Konpeito Swamps that change their size, shape, and resources every time you visit.
Craft Your Own Culinary Experience
Cook over 100 different recipes from around the world, from crunchy Popiah rolls to rich Kaya jam, from double-fried crispy chicken with zesty lemon, to sweet treats piled high with berries. Get the right dishes to the right customers and customize your kitchen and dining hall with the help of local artisans.
Master the Flavors of Fighting
Knock out monsters and rivals with Salty, Sour, Sweet, Bitter, Umami, Frosty and Toasty powers that unleash flame, poison, chain lightning, and other fantastic effects. You can also fight with unique utensils and gourmet gear, like Spatula, Smackerel, Swordfish, and the newly added Konpeito Fist weapons!
Take Quests to Go
From Naicha the Bubble Tea seller to Alder the big friendly carpenter, Paell is full of sweet and spicy townsfolk to befriend. While you’re dungeon diving, be on the lookout for items the townsfolk need. You’ll be rewarded with gold, new items, and even more recipes to take your cooking and adventuring to new heights.
Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software have confirmed plans to launch Hogwarts Legacy mod support for PC, opening the floodgates for players to add whatever their hearts desire to the Harry Potter video game.
The team announced the addition with a special video presentation, below, revealing a release date of January 30, 2025 for a free update that includes the highly requested feature. It’ll only be for PC for now, with the team sharing no news about when or if players can expect to see modding come to consoles.
“We’ve made it easy for everyone. It’s all simplified with official tools provided by us,” Avalanche community manager Chandler Wood said. “For mod creators, you’ll be able to get the official Hogwarts Legacy creator kit, free on the Epic Games Store. The creator kit provides powerful tools right at your fingertips, allowing you to flex your inner developer like the ones here at Avalanche and conjure the magic with custom mods that other players can enjoy, too.”
Hogwarts Legacy mods will almost certainly devolve into chaos immediately as players rush to add Shrek, Thomas the Tank Engine, and more nonsense to the open-world Harry Potter game. Thankfully, Avalanche is here to help fans get a head start. The studio said it’s been working with members of the community to make a few mods available on day one, including creative broom options like dragons and a vacuum cleaner as well as unique cosmetics, an endless dungeon experience to test your combat skills, and a magical creature fetch quest. More community-generated content will no doubt appear in the months ahead, giving players more than enough content to keep them busy as Avalanche looks ahead.
Hogwarts Legacy launched for PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S in February 2023, with PlayStation 4 and Xbox One versions following in May and the Nintendo Switch version following in November. That means it’ll celebrate its two-year anniversary next month with full-on mod support, but the free update is far from the only post-launch support the project has received since it arrived.
In regular Darkest Dungeon 2, your mind, body and soul are fixed upon the points of a horrible mountain, looming over the inn at the end of every foetid wagon ride. It’s sort of Journey for plague doctors, or possibly The Hobbit: Cosmodick Turpin Edition. I enjoy feeling the weight of those distant peaks upon my brain and eyeballs, but it’s nice to fire up Kingdoms, the new free DD2 game mode that’s launched just today, and have a choice of disasters to trundle toward.
Over here is an inn being overrun by slathering beastmen. Over there is another, safer inn, but it’s inconveniently perched behind a nest of tentacular cultists. In the middle there is you, with the customary DD party of half-dead, half-mad adventurers, equipped with an exciting smorgasbord of sharp edges, cursed artefacts, phobias and diseases. Let us proceed laughing and wailing to the launch trailer.
Sega has filed trademarks for Skies of Arcadia and Eternal Arcadia in Japan — and plenty of Dreamcast and GameCube fans are going wild worldwide.
The trademarks — one for the game’s English name, and the other for its Japanese name — were made on 16th January, and then made public on 24th January (thanks, Gematsu).
The story follows Arlo, heir to the Warden of the Wastes, as he battles a devastating ancient evil.
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter introduces new gameplay mechanics, revised systems, and fearsome challenges while retaining the brutal charm of the original game.
The wait is nearly over! Tomorrow, on January 28, our new game, Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter, will be released into the wild, returning players to its gritty, medieval, and anthropomorphic world of epic battles and visceral executions.
Set several rat years after the conclusion of the original, the story follows the paws of Arlo, heir to the Warden of the Wastes, as he journeys across the far stretches of the Ratdom’s northern frontier in a valiant effort to overcome a devastating and ancient evil that’s spreading across the land.
When Tails of Iron first launched in 2021, we were blown away by the overwhelming support from players and critics alike; it was truly humbling. So, when it came to developing the second instalment in the Tails of Iron saga, we wanted to expand the experience in several ways – and that’s what we’ve done!
We’ve added further gameplay and combat mechanics, revised systems, and introduced fearsome new challenges, while keeping the same brutal charm you loved in the first game. There’s much to gnaw on in this sequel, but today we’re going to briefly look at the new beast hunt gameplay, how Arlo is preparing to fight back against the giant creatures and the Dark Wings.
Elementa: Magic from the Gods
As the ice-cold shadow of the Dark Wings, an old and near-mythical enemy of the Rats, drapes across the northern frontier, leaving a wanton trail of destruction, the Rat gods of old grow ever fearful. And so, in a desperate attempt to turn the tide, they gift their elemental powers to Arlo.
One of the new additions we’re bringing to combat in Tails of Iron 2 is the Elementa spellcasting system, which brings a further layer of strategy to combat. Unlocked during Arlo’s quest across the Wastes and beyond, he’ll be able to harness four devastating forces to help vanquish his foes:
Electric: Summon lightning from the heavens to stun multiple foes in their tracks.
Fire: Launch fireballs at enemies in a straight path, leaving trails of devastation.
Ice: Unleash freezing gusts that immobilize foes with a chilling grip.
Poison: Inflict a slow but deadly damage-over-time effect on groups of enemies.
Elementa abilities can also become more powerful when their upgrade shines are discovered, giving Arlo more devastating powers to wield against enemies.
Elemental Strategies and Tactical Combat
Spellcasting isn’t the only combat system embracing the power of the elements. Enemies in Tails of Iron 2 have specific weaknesses to certain types of elemental damage, making tactical preparation crucial. Knowing when to equip a fire-infused weapon or wear poison-resistant armor can mean the difference between glorious victory and deadly defeat. The same goes for in-game crafting: Weapons and armor will need to be forged and tailored to an enemy’s weaknesses to support Arlo in battle.
We’ve also introduced elemental traps into the game, essential for trying to control the impending onslaught from a group of enemies. With the expanded arsenal of weapons and armor types, from venomous swords to frost-resistant plate mail, it’s crucial to think strategically to dominate the battlefield. The Northern Wastes demand cunning as much as strength!
The Thrill of the Hunt
Across the Northern Wastes are colossal monsters that antagonise and threaten the peoples of the frontier, and naturally, as you’d expect from any hero, Arlo’s journey wouldn’t be truly complete without taking on these terrifying beasts. As he explores the world beyond Winter’s Edge, from The Golden Forest to the White Whiskers and further afar, Arlo can accept contracts from locals and embark on epic monster hunts to rid the land of its most deadly threats.
And these hunts are no pushover. Each is a battle for survival, with cunning enemies that will test Arlo’s skills and resolve. But the rewards are worth every risk. Defeating these beasts yields rare resources to craft some of the game’s rarest and most powerful equipment, strengthening more than Arlo’s resolve against the tyrannical Dark Wings. And of course, every victory comes with the glory of solidifying a legacy as the ultimate monster hunter!
Ready to Defend the Ratdom?
We’re really excited for the release of Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One tomorrow, January 28, and we hope you enjoy experiencing the expanded combat and gameplay we’ve touched upon. There’s more across the Ratdom to discover, so whether you’re wielding elemental magic, rebuilding Winter’s Edge, or hunting ferocious beasts, this is a ‘tail’ for the ages. The Northern Wastes await!
Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter – Deluxe Edition
Prepare for the chilling clash against the Dark Wings with the Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter Deluxe Edition, combining the brutal action-RPG base game with both the ‘Augur of the Draugr’ armour and weapon pack and ‘Hair to the Throne’ cosmetic DLC.
Step into the fray clad in the legendary Draugr armour of old, forged in the fires of the elder wars between Rat and Bat, before choosing between six different, warrior-worthy hair and beard styles. For those who seek to claim victory over winter’s shadow, only the fiercest attire will do.
Deluxe Edition
• Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter base game
• Augur of the Draugr pack: Features exclusive items, including three new helms, three armours, and three pauldrons, together with three new shields and three new axes.
• Hair to the Throne pack: An exclusive collection of six beards and hairstyles to further customise Arlo’s battle-readiness.
Just as the Rats of the South start to piece their lives together, following the great war between Rodent and Frog, an old and unspeakable evil stirs in the North; wings black as death; fangs sharp as steel; and a thirst for blood rivalled only by their insatiable hunger… for vengeance.
As Arlo, young heir to the Warden of the Wastes, journey through the vast, snow-ravaged lands of the North in an epic quest to overcome the Dark Wings once and for all. Hunt down giant beasts. Unite disparate clans. Upgrade your settlement. And discover a terrible secret of blood and crown…
The time for heroes is over. For the Kingdom needs a warrior; forged of the North and as cold as the snow that shrouds these lands. A rat… carved from iron.
And so, a new tail begins.
Explore a Vast, Wintry Kingdom
Fully narrated by RPG-legend, Doug Cockle, prepare to embark on an epic adventure across the northern realms of the Ratdom; an expansive, frost-bitten land on the brink of all-out war.
Hunt down Giant Beasts
Track down and defeat the legendary monsters of this realm, and be rewarded with rare resources with which to craft devastating equipment. But be warned, these colossal creatures won’t go down without a fight… and then some.
Master Brutal Combat
The lands of the North are a perilous place, so you’ll need to master the fast, challenging combat for any chance of survival. Evade attacks with a dodge roll, nail split-second parry bashes, and unleash an array of gruesome executions.
Customise your Attack
Craft your own extensive arsenal of upgradeable weaponry, ready to fight as you see fit; strike quick with a spear, afar with a bow, or go claw-to-claw with a heavy-hitting mace. Alternativity, gain a tactical advantage with a range of new, deadly traps…
Upgrade your Settlement
As Warden of the Wastes, defending your lands is only half the battle. Construct and upgrade your settlement with hard-earned gold to gain access to more powerful items from the Smithy, tastier meals at the Kitchen, a wider range of powerful traps from the shoppe, and more!
Baldur’s Gate 3’s long-awaited Patch 8 is currently available to players on PS5…but it’s not supposed to be.
In a social media post today, the official Larian Studios account revealed that PS5 players do indeed have access to Patch 8 through what seems to be an accident somewhere, as the patch itself isn’t ready for prime time.
“No, the Patch 8 stress test hasn’t yet begun,” the post reads. “Yes, PS5 players do currently have access to Patch 8. While we work with our partners to understand what’s going on, please note that any new saves made while on Patch 8 will not be compatible with Patch 7.
“How’s your Monday going?”
Patch 8 was first announced back in December and is the final major update expected for Baldur’s Gate 3. It’s planned to add cross-platform progression and play, photo mode, and 12 new subclasses, as well as new abilities, animations, VFX, summons, cantrips, and even voicelines. It’s a massive update that promises to really shake things up a year and a half after launch, and while it’s seemingly due out this month, today’s PS5 release seems to have jumped the gun a bit.
Late last month, Larian opened registrations for a stress test of Patch 8, which it opened to players on PC via Steam and on console via Xbox and PlayStation. However, that stress test hasn’t actually happened yet, and as Larian wrote, this release on PS5 is not the stress test.
For now, it’s probably recommended for PS5 players not to download this patch just yet in case it comes with unintended bugs or other issues, and as Larian says, saves won’t be compatible with Patch 7 if you need to roll back for any reason. Proceed with caution here.
But the good news is that even if this was an error, it sounds like Larian is inching much closer to releasing Patch 8 in earnest. We’ll be keeping an eye out for news of the actual stress test and the release itself, which seems likely to make what we called a 10/10 game at launch even better.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Assassin’s Creed publishers Ubisoft are making another round of layoffs as part of wider efforts to persuade their investors to stop yelling at them. They’re letting 185 people go across their European operations, and will be closing UK-based Ubisoft Leamington, whose recent projects include supporting development of Star Wars Outlaws and Skull And Bones. All this less than two months after jettisoning the hundreds of people who worked on free-to-play shooter XDefiant.
Pokémon TCG Pocket is warning players of the consequences for cheating, just ahead of the expected release of in-game trading later this week.
In an announcement pushed to the app yesterday, players were warned about violations of the Terms of Service that specifically relate to cheating:
“We are aware that some players have engaged in data tampering, real money trading, and other behaviors that violate the Terms of Use,” reads the in-game notice. “If we confirm that a player has engaged in behavior that violates the Terms of Use, we will warn them, suspend their account, or take other action.”
No further details were offered as to what behaviors, specifically, are being targeted. Players on r/PTCGP have been speculating that this warning is related to a few different behaviors. One of these, referred to as Wonder Pick Farming, is a practice where individuals mass-create new accounts to take advantage of the many free packs available for new players, and try to roll a “god pack,” or a super rare pack of cards with five very rare cards. Then, they offer their friend code to others for money, so that buyers can add them as friends and then see the “god pack” in the game’s Wonder Pick function and be guaranteed a very rare card.
Another behavior speculated to be the target of a crackdown is a practice where players will grind accounts to level 50 with plenty of banked currency by participating in PvP battles over and over, using the game’s timeout function to stall games until the opponent concedes so they can win repeatedly.
Beyond that, it’s possible that the warning was simply published because of the game’s upcoming trading feature release, which could potentially kickstart a new wave of inappropriate behavior, especially where “real money trading” is concerned. The trading feature, which was panned by fans upon announcement, allows players to trade cards of one star rarity and below with friends. Players have expressed frustration with both the rarity limit on trading, as well as the need to spend some sort of currency to make the trade happen in the first place.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. You can find her posting on BlueSky @duckvalentine.bsky.social. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Today I learned about balut, a street food of the Philippines. It’s a fertilized duck egg, boiled or steamed, in which you can still see the duck embryo as you munch. I’m too old to discover this acquired taste on a gap year, but I’m not too old to waltz down the horror aisle in Itch.io, throwing retro jumpscarers into my basket. Which is where first-person Filipino suspense game Hapunan can be found. You play a young street food vendor hawking the eggs on a quiet corner late at night. Naturally, something alarming is afoot. There is talk on the radio of dangerous folk out at night…
