The finest trad-style Switch RPGs available to humanity.
Updated with Suikoden 1 & 2 HD Remaster. Enjoy!
Nintendo Switch has amassed a huge number of quality titles across almost every category since launching back in 2017, but that may be more true with RPGs than any other genre.
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Sundays are for playing a bit of Split Fiction and tinkering with that new expensive camera you bought, the latest in a long line of attempts to adopt a new hobby. You’re almost 40 so if this one doesn’t stick you may as well just give up and start a Band Of Brothers re-watch.
For Eurogamer, Florence Smith Nicholls wrote about their experience at a Disco Elysium-inspired LARP.
Hyaaah!
Hello chums, and welcome back to another edition of Box Art Brawl!
Last time, we looked at Pokémon Trading Card Game for the Game Boy Color, and the result was pretty definitive. The Western design won with 69% of the vote, with some of you noting that the Japanese variant didn’t even look like it belonged to the Pokémon franchise. User Kienda said “If someone showed me the Japanese case out of context, I wouldn’t even twig it was a Pokémon game”. Yep, fair comment!
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
“Could we make it that they’re all baseball players in a baseball league?”.
Gail Tilden, former Nintendo of America’s marketing boss, recently spoke to The Video Game History Foundation’s Frank Cifaldi at the Long Island Retro Gaming Expo, and one of the topics she touched upon was the small matter of launching Pokémon in the West.
As you’ll probably be aware, Pokémon—or Pocket Monsters, as it’s known in Japan—was already something of a phenomenon in its homeland before it reached North America and Europe, and it was Tilden’s job to repackage it for Western tastes.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
SXSW’s The Future of World-building at Disney Panel was filled with exciting details and teases of the future of Disney Parks, including how The Mandalorian and Grogu will be joining a new mission aboard Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run, that Imagineers will need to create a new type of ride vehicle with emotion for Magic Kingdom’s Cars ride, and a tease of what the load area and lift off will look like for the new Monsters, Inc. attraction.
Disney Experiences Chairman Josh D’Amaro and Disney Entertainment Co-Chairman Alan Bergman led the festivities and discussed what their teams are working on and how beneficial it is when they collaborate for exciting new experiences at Disney Parks.
There was a ton discussed, and we’ve gathered all the biggest announcements and reveals below!
While we knew The Mandalorian and Grogu would be part of a new story on Millennium Falcon: Smuggler’s Run at Walt Disney World and Disneyland, Disney confirmed the new experience would debut alongside The Mandalorian & Grogu movie on May 22, 2026.
The Mandalorian creator Jon Favreau and Imagineers Leslie Evans and Asa Kalama shared a bit more about the upcoming new story and revealed some concept art of locations that should excite fans of that galaxy far, far away. The images, which you can see below, include a Jawa’s Sandcrawler on Tatooine, the Millennium Falcon and Mando’s Razor Crest flying toward Cloud City on Bespin, and even a tease of visit to the wreckage of the second Death Star above Endor.
“This isn’t going to retell what happens in the movie – it’s more like participating in something that’s happening just off-camera from what you see in the film,” Favreau explained.
Imagineers captured scenes for this new story from the set of The Mandalorian & Grogu, meaning it should feel very authentic when it goes live.
In addition, it was also revealed that the wonderful BDX droids that have been seen at Disneyland will soon be making their way to Walt Disney World, Tokyo Disneyland, and Disneyland Paris. There will even be a new variant as an Anzellan (like Babu Frik!) named Otto will sometimes appear on a BDX that needs a little tune up.
Oh, and if that wasn’t enough BDX goodness for you, the team shared these droids will be making an appearance in The Mandalorian & Grogu.
Monsters, Inc. Land is coming soon to Disney World’s Hollywood Studios and it will include an exciting new themed roller coaster that will be Disney Park’s first-ever suspended coaster and its first with a vertical lift.
This new attraction aims to give guests the dream-come-true moment of soaring through Monsters, Inc.’s door vault and Disney shared a first look at the load area and how it should set the tone very well of what’s to come.
We still have much to learn about this new attraction and the land it will live in, but this is an exciting tease nonetheless.
Pixar Chief Creative Officer Pete Docter and Imagineer Michael Hundgen shared new details about the upcoming Cars attraction that will be part of the new Cars-themed land that is currently in development at Magic Kingdom.
“Our primary goal is creating an emotional experience for our guests,” Hundgen said. “For this Cars attraction, we need to invent a new type of ride vehicle. No one builds these in a factory because it has to do so much more than just carrying you from one place to another. We have to create a car that conveys a feeling when you ride in it.”
The team needed some real-world data to help in their research so they went to the Arizona desert to ride in an off-road vehicle and take off over rocky terrain. This new ride doesn’t take place in Radiator Springs, but instead it will be a thrilling rally race through the mountains, so they want it to feel just right.
From there, they worked with a motocross company to build a dirt track of their own to race around and used that to develop what will eventually be the ride vehicle.
“We’re using a customized production vehicle,” Hundgen continued. “It has sensors all over it, and we’re taking it for test drives on our dirt track to gather data on how the vehicle responds to different terrain. This is where we turn that feeling we want into real-world engineering.”
These vehicles will also get some Disney and Pixar magic thrown in as each car will have its own personality, name, and number.
Disneyland’s Avengers Campus is getting two new attractions, including one called Avengers Infinity Defense where guests will team up with members of the Avengers to take on King Thanos across multiple worlds. However, the second one was the star of Disney’s SXSW panel as Robert Downey Jr. himself stopped by to share new details about it.
It’s been previously revealed that Downey Jr. would be returning as Tony Stark for Avengers Campus’ Stark Flight Lab, an attraction that will take guests into Tony’s workshop and allow them to experience some of the new tech he’s been working on.
Downey Jr. said these new experiences are “the living embodiment of the Stark Enterprises mission statement.”
“The curiosity, the passion, the inventiveness, the occasional flair for the dramatic, most of all a drive to put something good out into the world to make life better, at the minimum more fun by a mile, ” Downey continued. “It’s the privilege of a lifetime to be invited to participate.”
As for the ride itself, guests will sit in “gyro-kinetic pods” and will eventually be grabbed by a giant robot arm who will help them make “several high-speed maneuvers inspired by Iron Man and some other Avengers.”
“Transferring from a track to a robot arm and then back again – nothing like this has ever been done before in a theme park, and we’re so excited about it,” Chief Creative Officer for Walt Disney Imagineering Bruce Vaughn explained. “Usually, we hide all the tech behind the scenes so you can focus on the story. Here, the tech IS the story, so we’re putting it front and center.”
One of they ways Imagineering is making the tech the star of this attraction is the focus on that robotic arm, which actually takes heavy inspiration from Tony Stark’s little robotic friend, DUM-E. The team enlisted the help of dancers and motion capture to help make these robots feel as real as possible.
For more from the world of Disney, check out our 75th Anniversary Retrospective for Cinderella, how Disneyland will be celebrating its 70th anniversary, and everything else announced at D23’s big Disney Experiences Showcase.
Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.
Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.
Not the same?
When Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1 + 2 launched, I only had one thought on my mind: “This is awesome, but can we please get 3 + 4?”
I had dabbled with the first two entries back in the day, but it was only when Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 launched in 2001 that I properly got hooked on the series. It felt perfect, and despite classics like Metroid Prime and The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker sitting higher on my ‘best GameCube’ list, there’s no other game I sunk more hours into than THPS 3.
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No luck Hunting them Monsters then?
The weekend has rolled around once more so it’s time for another edition of What Are You Playing!
After last week’s Poké-fest, it’s been a slightly quieter one in Nintendo land over recent days. The Game Boy NSO library was treated to a duo of new titles, Nintendo started slashing some prices ahead of MAR10 Day and we finally got the official announcement of the worst-kept secret in the biz, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4.
Read the full article on nintendolife.com
It’s been a long week, hasn’t it? The balm for me is that I’m spending Saturday feeding squirrels at one of my favourite Glasgow parks, and then visiting a cat cafe. It’s a good time to be me. I hope you’ve all got a healthy dose of animal in your lives to help get you through these chilly March mornings. Games, too. Lots of games. Here’s what we’re clicking on this weekend!
Few sports are more primed for the whole “being a video game” thing than professional wrestling, but it’s kinda weird when you think about it: the WWE itself is more akin to an elaborately choreographed fight or dance sequence in a movie than it is an actual competition, whereas the goal of the games based on it is to fight to win. But inherent contradictions aside, I’m enjoying my time with WWE 2K25 so far – just a couple of days in – thanks to its much-improved Showcase mode and generally great game feel.
When I step into a new version of an annualized game like this, the first thing I try to do is get the lay of the land. Even though I’ve been playing wrestling games since the N64 days, my first stop is the tutorial because, unless things have gone very wrong, something is always a little different (this year, for instance, sees the long-requested return of Chain Wrestling) or I’ve forgotten how to do some very important, very specific button sequence you need to be able to do. WWE games have had a good introduction for a while now, especially compared to other sports game franchises (Hi, Madden!), and WWE 2K25 is no exception. This is an incredibly detailed tutorial that will walk you through everything you need to be a champ in the ring, with in-depth explanations of what moves do and how to do them. The Performance Center is a great teaching tool whether you need a quick refresher or you’re learning to do an Irish Whip for the first time. This may seem like an odd thing to spill ink over, but every version of a game is someone’s first – or maybe their first in a while – and I’m glad Visual Concepts seems to remember those people.
Once I’d refreshed my memory, I spent a while just looking around. WWE 2K25’s got an absolutely stacked roster, whether you’re here for classics like Bret “Hit Man” Hart, wrestlers-turned-movie-stars like Dave Bautista/Batista and Dwayne Johnson/The Rock, megastars like “Stone Cold” Steve Austin, or weirdos like Doink the Clown. I also appreciate that there are several versions of the same dudes from across their history in the WWE. Why yes WWE 2K25, I do need a handful of Triple Hs, each with their own different stats, thank you! Did you know that, compared to the modern version of The Rock, the 1997 version is considered a bum? Me neither, but that’s what the stats say! Remember what Rhea Ripley’s visual style was in 2020? Or 2017? When was the last time you thought about “Ravishing” Rick Rude? This stuff is great, and what’s better is you can edit just about every aspect of these wrestlers, from how the crowd reacts to them to tweaking individual stats and changing out moves if you don’t like Visual Concepts’ take on them. The ability to tweak individual wrestlers is not new, but as this roster gets bigger, it’s good to be reminded of how impressive all of it is.
Among other new things in WWE 2K25, so far I’ve briefly toyed with intergender matches, The Island (I mean, who among us hasn’t wanted to impress Roman Reigns?), and new MyRise storylines. But what’s captured most of my attention so far is this year’s Showcase mode, which follows the Bloodline and the Anoa’i, Fatu, and Maivia families. Paul “The Wiseman” Heyman hosts the thing this year, and he’s clearly having a very good time providing the backstory that explains who the players are and why these matches are significant. There’s a lot of archival footage here, as in years past, though the problem of blurring out some folks’ faces (maybe due to rights issues?) persists.
Regardless, Showcase feels better than last year’s version (partially because this time we’ve got full ring entrances and the mid-match commentary is really excellent, and here for every match) and a fun twist this time around is that you’re sometimes asked to change the outcomes of matches members of these families lost in the real WWE storyline. If what I’ve played is any indication of the whole, there are also no longer any cuts to match footage that interrupt your gameplay. Big moments are instead recreated in-game, which means they play out more organically, even if you’re not following the checklist. So far, I’m having a blast doing things like beating the ever-loving snot out of Hulk Hogan with Yokozuna.
The other thing that’s stood out is just how good it all looks. The WWE series has always been a looker, but this year Visual Concepts has managed to make things noticeably prettier than ever. Bruises, blood, and sweat are more realistic, and you can tell how long a match has been going, who is winning, and where the guys in the ring are taking the most punishment at a glance. It’s really impressive.
And that’s kind of where I am with WWE2K25 as a whole as we head into the first weekend. There’s a lot left to do before I can slap a number on this bad boy, but it looks fantastic, feels pretty great (just like WWE 2K24), and there’s a lot of it. An upscale wrestling buffet, if you will. What I’ve had so far is scrumptious, but there’s still a wide selection of dishes on the table, and your boy’s gotta taste test ‘em all. Better get back to it – that circle’s not gonna square itself.
Are you playing? Let us know what you think so far!
Let’s start by saying this: there is no best weapon type in Monster Hunter Wilds. If you’re looking for a definitive answer on which weapon type will get you the fastest hunt times every time because it’s just that good and overpowered, there isn’t one. The truth of it is that you should choose what feels good to play with for you. If you’re not carting, are consistently hitting the monster, and having fun while doing it, that’s what matters the most.
There’s a lot that goes into making a build for any given weapon successful, like armor, decorations, and a particular Artian weapon for the particular monster you’re up against, and those are the most important aspect, but if you’re looking for weapon types that just might help you get those hunt times down, these are great ones to try. This tier list of best weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds was created by Frankensteining IGN’s community tier list, online sentiment, my own opinion based on difficulty to master, and some current speedrun time averages.
The “best” weapons in Monster Hunter Wilds are Sword and Shield, Great Sword, Long Sword, Gunlance, and Bow, in no particular order, but the rest of the weapons are absolutely viable. These just stand out above the rest for a variety of reasons, which we’ll describe below.
S-tier:
These are the best of the best for both damage output and relative ease of use to get there. The Gunlance is the most technical weapon here, but its benefits are worth it according to the community.
A-tier:
A-tier weapons have the potential to be as good as S-tier weapons in the right hands as they tend to be a bit more technical and less forgiving, or they fall just a tiny bit short. The Hunting Horn, though potentially not the best solo weapon, is exceptional in co-op.
B-tier:
These may fall a bit short compared to S- and A-rank weapons even when in the most experienced hands, but that doesn’t at all mean they’re “bad.” They just might take a little more effort and fine-tuned builds for the results of some of the others.
The Sword and Shield is amazing in Monster Hunter Wilds. It’s long been grossly underrated as solely the “beginner” weapon, and while it’s easy to pick up and get to it, it’s also one of the most versatile, consistent weapons in the game that can deal a ton of damage once you get your combos and movements down. Not only is it incredibly mobile even in the middle of attacks, allowing you to stick on monsters like mud on a Jyuratodos, but it can also guard and deal punishing damage. It can even perfect guard incredibly easily, letting you perform quick, powerful counter slashes and proc an Offensive Guard buff if you have that Equipment Skill. For support hunters, it can even use items without putting it away, letting you administer life-saving Lifepowders and buffing items for your whole party in a flash. Whether you prefer to evade or block, deal slashing or blunt damage, or even attack from above, the Sword and Shield has got it all–even a Power Clash. The only thing it’s missing is an Offset attack.
The Monster Hunter developers have said the first weapon they tool in new games is the Great Sword, and it shows. It can take advantage of Wilds’ new Power Clashes and incredibly satisfying Offset attacks, and its kit in general is quintessential Monster Hunter satisfaction in a nutshell. It will take more getting used to than the Sword and Shield, as it’s quite slow, and mishits can be punishing, but the introduction of Focus Mode makes it easier than ever to aim. If you’re looking for the highest damage output in a single strike, the Great Sword is a great pick, and those True Charged Slash hits look so satisfying.
The Long Sword is consistently Monster Hunter’s most popular weapon for good reason. It’s fast and fairly easy to pick up, with a fun, flashy, and satisfying playstyle that relies on its powerful perfect-evading counterattack, the Foresight Slash, to quickly build up the Spirit Gauge to deal max damage. It’s also got amazing reach, considering its size, so slicing off tails is a breeze with the Long Sword. It takes some management to maintain a maxed Spirit Gauge, but doing it is well worth the incredible damage output the Long Sword can accomplish when you’re in a flow with it.
To be honest, I know little about the Gunlance, but IGN’s community tier list contributors, speedrunners, and people around the internet seem to love it in Monster Hunter Wilds. I have found it much more difficult to pick up than the other S-tier weapons, but if you master it, it’s got amazing defense with its huge shield capable of Perfect Guards and explosive power in exchange for some mobility. In Wilds, the Gunlance can now fire two Wyvern’s Fire shots, which also have longer range. Its new attack, Wyrmstake Full Blast, is also incredibly powerful!
Though the bow isn’t doing too hot in Tempered Arkveld speedruns, many agree it’s an amazing pick in Monster Hunter Wilds, and I’ve seen it often voted as the strongest weapon in community polls. It certainly feels powerful, even despite its minor Focus Strike nerf since the Open Beta Test. So, what makes it S-tier? The Bow has a new move in Wilds that guarantees your shots will hit its intended target and crit: Tracer Ammo. Wilds also makes it so the Bow never runs out of its damage-boosting or ailment-inflicting coatings, further increasing its damage potential. Finally, if you perfect your dodge timing, the Bow’s Discerning Dodge replenishes your stamina so you almost never need to stop attacking! The Bow is mobile, strong, and its Focus Strike looks rad, what more could you ask for?
Remember, this is all just for reference, and we recommend sticking with your preferred weapon. For example, if you’re skilled with the Light Bow Gun, knowing exactly where to aim with what ammo and dodging every monster attack, you’re going to get better times than with the Great Sword if you keep whiffing your True Charged Slashes and can’t time your Offset attacks consistently. Any weapon takes time to get good at!
What weapon do you think is the best in Monster Hunter Wilds? Contribute to our Community Tier List at the top of this article. Maybe we’ll update this article with new ratings! And for more, don’t miss the growing, extremely comprehensive Monster Hunter Wilds guide.
Casey DeFreitas is a deputy editor for the IGN guides team and has been hunting monsters since the PS2 era. Catch her on every social @ShinyCaseyD.
