Hey, everybody! Sid, O’Dell, Tim, and Brett are back this week to discuss MLB The Show 25 early access, including an interview with San Diego Studio Gameplay Director Chris Gill. The crew also swaps Monster Hunter Wilds stories and highlights this week’s news.
Thanks to Dormilón for our rad theme song and show music.
[Editor’s note: PSN game release dates are subject to change without notice. Game details are gathered from press releases from their individual publishers and/or ESRB rating descriptions.]
Sony and game developer Santa Monica Studio have revealed the Dark Odyssey collection, a God of War Ragnarök update coming to players next week that features in-game equipment themed after one of the franchise’s most iconic outfits.
Sony detailed all of the goodies included in its God of War 20th anniversary plans in a PlayStation.Blog post. Dark Odyssey is the real headline here, as it includes a war chest of cosmetic treats for all God of War Ragnarök owners across PlayStation 5 and PC. It’ll arrive as a free update March 20.
Everything included in Dark Odyssey features a clean, black-and-gold look that will no doubt have Kratos and co looking better than ever as they tear their way through Norse mythology. Atreus and Freya both receive their own cosmetic sets as part of the patch, too, as do a variety of the player’s shields and weapons.
The show-stealer, though, is a Dark Odyssey appearance and armor set for Kratos that hearkens back to a skin originally only rewarded to players who managed to beat God of War 2 on God Mode difficulty. Players can claim the content in any Lost Items chest in the base game or immediately in God of War Ragnarök’s roguelike Valhalla mode after the update drops. The patch will also finally introduce the option to customize the appearance of Kratos’ weapons without sacrificing each weapon’s respective ability.
Dark Odyssey Armor & Appearance for Kratos
Dark Odyssey Kratos Appearance
Dark Odyssey Armor Set for Kratos (Dark Odyssey Breastplate, Dark Odyssey Bracers, Dark Odyssey Belt)
Dark Odyssey Companion Armor
Dark Odyssey Vestment for Atreus
Dark Odyssey Witch Frock for Freya
Dark Odyssey Weapon Appearances & Attachments
Dark Odyssey Leviathan Axe [Appearance] & Dark Odyssey Knob [Attachment]
Dark Odyssey Blades of Chaos [Appearance] & Dark Odyssey Handles [Attachment]
Dark Odyssey Draupnir Spear [Appearance] & Dark Odyssey Hind [Attachment]
Dark Odyssey Shield Appearances & Rönd
Dark Odyssey Guardian Shield [Appearance]
Dark Odyssey Dauntless Shield [Appearance]
Dark Odyssey Stone Wall Shield [Appearance]
Dark Odyssey Shatter Start Shield [Appearance]
Dark Odyssey Onslaught Shield [Appearance]
Dark Odyssey Spartan Aspis Shield [Appearance]
Dark Odyssey Rönd
God of War Ragnarök released in late 2022, so one simple update was never going to do the series’ 20-year history justice. Also included in Sony’s plans to celebrate God of War is a long list of other activities and offers for those who have stuck with Kratos’ story since the beginning. Highlights include a collection of some snazzy social media assets (that you can download here), an art showcase coming as part of a collaboration with Los Angeles’ Gallery Nucleus, new merch, sales, multiple vinyl releases covering the franchise’s history, and more.
“On behalf of everyone at Santa Monica Studio, we are immeasurably grateful to have had the chance to build the legacy of this series with and for you, the fans of God of War,” the studio said.
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor 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).
Easter eggs and secret messages are old hat for many ongoing games, and Helldivers 2 is no stranger to them either. So it’s little surprise that amid an ongoing, calamitous conflict with the Illuminate, players are poring over the messages for hidden details.
If you’re not caught up with the running narrative in Helldivers 2, here’s a quick catch-up: developer Arrowhead has the Illuminate back and pushing the lines of galactic warfare as the latest threat to Super Earth. The eerie foe is using a massive black hole to slowly consume entire planets, pushing it to Angel’s Venture and, now, Moradesh.
Ironically, the black hole was initially created on Meridian by Super Earth, in an effort to wipe out a Terminid Super Colony. Arrowhead’s got a particular penchant for “yes, and”-ing the outcomes of the galactic campaigns. The slow build to right now, with the Illuminate pretty much pushing a black hole slowly towards Super Earth, is the latest in a long line of dominoes.
So, now we’re here: Moradesh is evacuating, and Helldivers are anticipating the next step of this cataclysmic campaign. Yet some are digging into the evacuation orders, trying to suss out a hidden meaning from the messages Arrowhead is broadcasting.
Reddit user Pinglyadya shared an image of what looks like an egg, hidden in the Moradesh videos. In the comments, they go further, breaking down the potential morse code strings into dots and dashes, surmising that it all results in a few different codes: “045a5, 06efbc, e1b5f0 then 21232. We don’t know what this is the code to but have fun.”
The “06EFBC” code caught attention in another thread, as it could correspond with the hex code for a shade of teal called Last Straw. Sounds ominous! Nothing concrete has surfaced beyond that, but at least a few fans are convinced there’s something hidden in these messages.
It wouldn’t be the first time players have gone diving for secrets in Arrowhead’s updates. With the Meridian Singularity slowly approaching Super Earth, though, I do wonder whether Helldivers have time to spare for this.
Arrowhead has, since the destruction of Moradesh, issued a new Major Order for players, tasking them with defending planets so Super Earth can construct a Penrose Energy Siphon and effect a “one-time reduction” in Dark Energy Accumulation.
MAJOR ORDER: Following days of diligent resource collection and repurposing of enemy combatants, the Helldivers have enabled the construction of a partial blockade of the Meridian Singularity. The blockade is porous, but still moderately effective, and has slightly reduced the… pic.twitter.com/ye33V6VKa6
Hopefully, this can put a stop to the giant tear in space that’s slowly encroaching on everything the Helldivers hold dear. And, possibly, put a few more secret messages out into the ether.
This is all part of Helldivers 2’s ongoing, community driven Galactic War, which has captured the attention of the game’s community for over a year now. The Illuminate invaded in December with an initial alien force that added new enemies to fight against as well as brand new Super Earth colonies to fight on. These colonies introduced Helldivers 2’s first urban environments, with city streets packed with innocent civilians mind-controlled by the Illuminate. The Voteless, as they’re called by Super Earth, are little more than zombies who want nothing more than to team players limb from limb.
I don’t much enjoy sports sims, but sometimes an imaginative spin on a sport will sneak past my guard. Electro Bop Boxing League has spins aplenty. You probably could have stopped at robot boxers, Developer Dob. You didn’t have to give it a swaggering electro swing soundtrack as well. Special moves depicted as old-timey computer punched cards? Soldering limbs back on between rounds with a Repair-o-Gun? Little eggheads in lab coats clinging to the back of my gymrat C3PO as he pounds some would-be Megatron to shrapnel? Referee counts presented as a rebooting sequence? Developer Dob, you are spoiling us!
In my hectic pursuit of a scoop, I have spent a non-zero amount of today peering at a smudgy image of a London bus sign from a Tides Of Annihilation trailer, trying to work out whether the new gooner-baiting Arthurian slasher has screwed up its portrayal of Britain’s public transport network. If it had, you’d best believe that’d be a headline. I’d have broken the internet with it. “Never mind turning the Dread Knight Mordred into a waifu,” I’d have written, hissing like a kettle. “Those absolute tourists at Eclipse Glow Games have made a mockery of the sacred N19 route from Finsbury Park to Clapham Junction.”
Nintendo’s MAR10 Day eShop sale is wrapping up in North America this weekend (16th March). So, if there are any titles starring Mario & friends that you have been meaning to check out, this is your friendly reminder to get in there and make the most of the savings while they’re still around!
It wouldn’t be MAR10 Day without an eShop sale and today, Nintendo of America has kicked off just that.
Hanoi Studios presented Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Matchin an inclusive support institution in Santo Andre, Brazil.
How inclusive games bring benefits to neurodivergent individuals.
Creator Luis Otavio shares the desire to bring this initiative to a wider range of educational institutes in Brazil.
On February 8, 2025, Luis Otavio, co-founder of the Brazilian indie game publisher Hanoi Studios and developer of Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Match, visited Centro de Apoio e Reforço Escolar (CARE), an inclusive support institution in Santo Andre, SP, Brazil. The studio introduced both the Board Game and the ID@Xbox Play Anywhere versions of Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Match, as a support tool for the development of neurodivergent children.
Fernanda Mombelli, neuropsychopedagogue and owner of the institution, emphasized the importance of early identification of a child’s special needs. She also highlighted the key skills and educational stimuli that inclusive games provide for neurodivergent students.
As a new release in the genre, Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Match helps develop attention, concentration, memory, focus, and planning skills, functions in which neurodivergent individuals often face greater challenges.
Hanoi Puzzles: Solid Match is designed to offer a welcoming challenge to players, where the number of moves per level is not enforced, allowing for experimentation and problem-solving at your own pace. Check out what pedagogue and physical educator Alan Nobre had to say about this initiative:
“In early childhood education, we don’t aim for high performance. We want this to be the happiest moment of a child’s life, because we believe that a happy child learns more, develops more and that’s our main goal.”
Take a deeper look at how inclusive games benefit neurodivergent individuals.
A student with ADHD, anxiety disorder, stuttering, and socialization difficulties played the game, and Fernanda Mombelli documented and observed their engagement and learning process:
“Initially, with minimal guidance, the student quickly understood the objective of the game and demonstrated rapid progress through the early stages. However, upon reaching the intermediate stages, they encountered more complex challenges, which led to visible signs of anxiety, including stuttering. The game was paused, and the student was instructed to take a deep breath, observe, and click on each piece to explore the available paths before making a decision. With this structured approach, they gradually overcame their difficulties and continued progressing through the intermediate stages.
Additionally, when engaging with the board game version in cooperative mode alongside two educators, they expressed great enthusiasm, stating that they loved the game and wanted to play more frequently during the sessions. This response not only highlighted their enjoyment of the activity but also indicated significant progress in their socialization skills, attention, concentration, and sense of belonging. It was a truly rewarding moment for all of us.”
What does the future of inclusive games look like for Luis?
“I want to develop more games with inclusion in mind and make this initiative reach a wider range of educational institutes in Brazil”.
If you’re looking for more resources and tips for family gaming, visit xbox.com/family. You can learn more about what Xbox offers for families, including information about privacy and access to privacy tools, the Xbox Family Settings app and Community Standards.
Play Hanoi Puzzles:Solid Match on Xbox and PC today! The game is available as an Xbox Play Anywhere game with cross save and Smart Delivery.
A new game concept inspired by the classic Tower of Hanoi. Assemble towers stacking pieces of the same color on a hexagonal board with a mysterious and relaxing atmosphere.
Use the rules of the famous Tower of Hanoi puzzle,
where a larger piece cannot be on top of a smaller one.
Unlock blocked hexagonal cells by building a tower of the same color,
to open new paths and advance in the resolution of the Level.
Last week, we asked you to join the hunt and share rapturous moments from Monster Hunter Wilds using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:
shimo_psshares their hunter and Palico sitting atop their Seikret.
KAMIgion__Ujeanshares an action-filled moment fighting a monster in the desert
Lny_Trpr_EE7shares a Palico chilling with a frog on its head
Search #PSshare #PSBlog on Twitter or Instagram to see more entries to this week’s theme. Want to be featured in the next Share of the Week?
THEME: Monster Hunter Wilds – Monsters SUBMIT BY: 11:59 PM PT on March 19, 2025
Next week, the hunt continues. Capture highlights of your favorite monster quarry in Monster Hunter Wilds using #PSshare #PSBlog for a chance to be featured.
Saber Interactive has insisted all its previously announced games are still in development, despite the radio silence around high-profile titles such as the Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic remake.
“Saber Interactive is one of the largest independent developers in the world,” Willits said. “We are working on numerous games across many different genres. Everything that we have talked about is still in development. We will share information on upcoming games when we have something cool to share.”
The most obvious subject of Willits’ statement is the KOTOR remake, which remains one of gaming’s most elusive projects. Announced in 2021, the long-awaited remake has changed hands multiple times, seemingly stopped development and restarted again, and after four years has failed to materialize.
“It’s clear and it’s obvious that we’re working on this,” he said at the time. “It’s been in the press numerous times. What I will say is that the game is alive and well, and we’re dedicated to making sure we exceed consumer expectations.”
Willits’ statement, which comes nearly 12 months later, reaffirms Karch’s quote. But still, even now, we have seen nothing of the KOTOR remake beyond its initial announcement video.
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.
“Ardenfall is almost cheeky in how close it is to a classic ‘thesda game,” Alice Bell wrote of the demo to this open-world RPG back in the Aliceful year of 2023. She also asked me about my own propensity for game discovery in my staff writer interview, to which I replied she knew I was OK at it because she nicked the idea for the Ardenfall article from a comment I left. Good taste, Alice, and good taste, me: Ardenfall is great fun. It’s had a demo kicking around since 2022, and now it’s set for an early access release this year. You’ll find a steamin’ hot tray-tray* below.
