The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom pushes players to use creativity, rather than brute force, to solve its most tricky puzzles and even boss fights. But while most dungeons and boss fights are a breeze as long as you’ve been keeping your collection of Echoes up to date, there’s one ultra-challenging roadblock that more and more players are reporting is stumping them. No, it’s not a super-hard enemy…it’s a horse race.
Over the last week, player after player has posted on the Echoes of Wisdom and Zelda subreddits complaining about the game’s horse races, and specifically the “short race” in particular. The short race, which Zelda can enter once she passes a point in the game where she gets her own horse (as opposed to a rental) is supposed to be simple. Ride the horse around a circular track exactly one time, and do it in under 17 seconds. Basic stuff.
But for some reason, this particular horse race is a nightmare to do in that amount of time. The track is littered with crates (which Zelda’s horse can jump) and trees (which it cannot jump) to trip you up, making it hard to gain and maintain speed. Post after post has appeared with players finishing the race in just over 17 seconds or even 17 exactly…but needing under 17 to win. Even players who have passed the other horse races with flying colors are struggling with the short race.
Fortunately, some players are finding creative solutions. One player posted a clip of Zelda using Echoes of lava rocks to build little staircases allowing the horse to jump over the tree obstacles, meaning they could get past them without swerving and losing speed. Another popular tactic was even simpler: just use Tri to move the trees out of the way as you ride past, avoiding them entirely. That method in particular is saving other players already:
Found a dead rat in my inbox this morning. When I examined the entrails it spelled out the following: PaThoLoGiC 3 aNnOuNcEd ToDaY. Ah, I see. Developers Ice Pick Lodge are working on a sequel to their infamously oppressive plague town simulator, only this time the follow-up will feature “a time-travel mechanic, allowing players to go back and see how their decisions change the lives of the townspeople.” It will also put you in the fancy-schmancy shoes of the Bachelor, a doctor fond of quoting Latin phrases, who will have the ability to order quarantines and request patrols of entire areas of town. There’s no firm release date yet, but we’re told it’ll be ready some time next year.
Monolith Soft, the studio behind the Xenoblade Chronicles series, is expanding its in-house engine for use on future titles thanks to its newly-founded R&D department (thanks, Automaton).
That is according to the company’s Chief Creative Officer Tetsuya Takahashi and lead programmer Michihiko Inaba, who, in a recent interview with Japanese outlet CGworld, spoke about the company’s plans for the future as it plans to tackle bigger development projects.
Wave after wave of enemy forces advance, seemingly without end. Attacks arrive from every angle at once. The lives of innocent Eliksni captives hang in the balance. In response, Guardians do what they do best: take up arms and run headlong into the fray.
One of the major features introduced in Destiny 2’s latest Episode, Revenant, is Onslaught: Salvation. A defensive wave-based activity that pits three-Guardian fireteams against increasingly intense waves of enemies, Onslaught also allows Guardians to purchase powerful defensive units to use against the invading hordes. In its original form (introduced in Destiny 2: Into the Light), Onslaught was a packed and intense mode, full of ratcheting tension and ‘Did you see that?’ moments. Now, with Onslaught: Salvation, the development team is raising the bar.
“There were a lot of great and constructive feedback from the community with the original Onslaught,” said Destiny 2 designer Clayton Kisko. “The one we heard most often was that they wanted Bungie to invest in the mode with new maps, new enemies, and new defenses, and that is exactly what we are doing with Onslaught: Salvation.”
From a thematic perspective, Onslaught: Salvation’s three new maps – Widow’s Court, Eventide Ruins, and Kell’s Grave – are leaning into the gothic horror that is fitting with Revenant’s chilling visual theme. If the original Onslaught was about protecting the Last City from the forces of the Witness, this time around the theme leans into slaying monsters, fighting evil, and saving the innocent.
By their nature, Onslaught maps need to pack a lot of punch into some relatively tight spaces to provide maximum tension and action. The three new maps each have their own unique layouts, while also building on lessons learned from earlier Onslaught maps.
“This time around we were able to identify the design pain points early and got ahead of the enemy teleporting issues,” said Kisko. “We ensured that there were at least three wide lanes for each Advanced Defense Unit (ADU) location. For Eventide Ruins, the larger map, we took our learnings from Mothyards (from the original Onslaught) and set out to make sure enemy spawn locations were closer to the ADU to ensure a closer time-to-complete to the other two maps.”
Alongside the new maps, Guardians will be pleased to know that they’ll have new defensive countermeasures available this time around. The new Air Strikes will rain down retribution on humanity’s enemies and, for those who want to get a bit more hands on, there’s the Rideable Turret.
“The Rideable Turret is good at mowing down clumps of enemies or damaging a single heavy unit like those deadly Demolitionists who like to attack the ADU,” said Kisko. “It can overheat, though, so players will need to balance when they fire and for how long. The defensive upgrades increase the health of the turret and the damage. The final upgrade will add scorching rounds to the bullets. What is so cool about that is the sandbox team was able to design it so the turret will combo with any of the rider’s Solar fragments or buildcrafting around scorching rounds.”
While defending the ADU is one of the key mission components in an Onslaught: Salvation game, it’s certainly not the only thing that will keep Guardians moving. Augmentation waves and bonus objectives will take players out of their comfort zones (and away from the safety blanket of relying on defensive countermeasures). This time, players will be infiltrating the Revenant Nest to free captured Eliksni. For one bonus objective, new shielded enemy units will appear, requiring Guardians to use special ether-light cannons to stop them.
Jonathan To, narrative lead for Destiny 2, said the team has worked hard to include narrative hooks in Onslaught: Salvation to keep things moving from a story and character standpoint.
“The main writers for Onslaught: Salvation created some excellent character-building and exchanges between Spider, Crow, Eido, Eramis, and others. Crow is figuring out a new role for himself in the City, Eido is the player’s partner this Episode in a role we can’t wait to share more about, and who knows what Eramis will be up to when she returns, having both helped and fought against us in the past. Fans of the Eliksni and the saga of the Fallen up to this point in Destiny will love what the team has done here.”
Onslaught: Salvation is playable with the release of Destiny 2: Revenant, starting October 8.
Halo creators 343 Industries are having a bit of a glow-up. They’re now calling themselves Halo Studios, a piece of rhetorical doubling-down that reminds me of those dril tweets about “James Bond, author of James Bond”. They’ve also abandoned the proprietary Slipspace game engine used by Halo Infinite in favour of Epic’s Unreal Engine 5, which will be the basis for “multiple new games”. To celebrate the occasion, Halo Studios have released some footage of Project Foundry, an expansive Unreal Engine 5 prototype and spawning vat for actual Halo games, which is billed by the Xbox Newswire as a kind of ur-Halo – “a true reflection of what would be required for a new Halo game using Unreal, and a training tool for how to get there”.
On the 10-year anniversary of Alien: Isolation’s release, developer Creative Assembly has confirmed that a sequel is in development.
In a statement marking the survival horror classic’s 10th birthday, creative director Al Hope said the development team would share more details “when we’re ready.”
Hope returns to lead development on the sequel having done so on the first game. In his statement published to X/Twitter, Hope said: “On the 10th anniversary, it seems only fitting to let you know that we have heard your distress calls loud and clear.
“Today, I’m delighted to confirm, on behalf of the team, that a sequel to Alien: Isolation is in early development. We look forward to sharing more details with you when we’re ready.”
That’s all we have for now. We don’t have a final title for the game, a release window, or target launch platforms. Given the sequel is in early development, it will probably be some time before we find out what to expect and get our first look.
For now though, there’s genuine excitement from Alien: Isolation fans, many of whom had called on Creative Assembly and owner Sega to greenlight a sequel ever since the first game came out. Alien: Isolation sold one million copies within three months of going on sale, then 2.11 million after six months, which was not enough for Sega to have considered it a commercial success.
IGN recently revisted Alien: Isolation for the 10-year anniversary, exploring why the 2014 horror game was just as impoactful now as it was when it launched. “It’s an unforgettable feat of video game design that has successfully endured the test of time, and – like the 1979 film from which it burst forth – will undoubtedly still hold up after another decade has passed,” we said. “Today, on its 10th anniversary, Alien: Isolation remains a singular, extraordinary experience.”
However, the UK studio still has plenty in the works in addition to the Alien: Isolation sequel from its Survival team. Creative Assembly is reportedly also working on a Total War Star Wars video game, one of three new Total War games in development. Total War fans have called on Creative Assembly to give a Star Wars game a shot for years, although there are equally vociferous calls for the studio to follow its Warhammer trilogy of Total War games with a similar effort for Warhammer 40,000.
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.
Halo’s move to Unreal Engine 5 would make it easier for developer Halo Studios, née 343 Industries, to take Xbox’s flagship first-person shooter multi-platform, including a launch on PlayStation 5, tech experts have said.
Speaking to Eurogamer, Digital Foundry chief Richard Leadbetter said moving to Unreal 5 makes for “easier” multi-platform development than porting across the existing Slipspace engine.
“It stands to reason that an engine designed for deployment across multiple platforms would be easier to work with than existing technology built for Xbox and PC,” Leadbetter said.
While Microsoft’s multi-platform video game push has seen the likes of Rare’s Sea of Thieves and Obsidian’s Grounded make the jump to PS5, the company has yet to announce any Halo game for a non-Xbox console.
Despite a backlash from some hardcore Xbox fans, Microsoft’s multi-platform push appears to have been a success. Sea of Thieves, for example, topped Sony’s sales chart earlier this year, and Xbox boss Phil Spencer has said the company’s franchises are stronger for heading to PlayStation and Nintendo Switch.
“… we run a business,” Spencer said. “It’s definitely true inside of Microsoft the bar is high for us in terms of the delivery we have to give back to the company. Because we get a level of support from the company that’s just amazing and what we’re able to go do.
“So I look at this, how can we make our games as strong as possible? Our platform continues to grow, on console, on PC, and on cloud. It’s just going to be a strategy that works for us.”
Microsoft has so-far used older games released over a year ago for its multi-platform push as opposed to brand new games, but that will soon change with the release of Indiana Jones. The most dramatic move would be to bring Halo to PlayStation, given the shooter’s symbiotic relationship with Xbox. But would Microsoft actually go through with it? As former Xbox boss Peter Moore recently told IGN, Microsoft will be debating whether to bring Halo to PlayStation as we speak.
Halo’s shift to Unreal comes amid a tumultuous time for Xbox that has seen an eye-watering 2,550 staff cut from the gaming business this year and multiple studio closures. All the while, sales of Xbox Series X and S have fallen dramatically, Xbox Game Pass growth has stalled, and Microsoft faces a backlash from hardcore Xbox players about its potentially wavering commitment to exclusives and the console business.
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.
Graham asked me if I’d discovered what the metaphor in Metaphor: ReFantazio might be, and I replied, “I don’t know haha”, or something along those lines. Having given it more thought, I think there are two metaphors: 1) It plays quite like Persona. 2) Its story is like a commentary on our society… or something to that effect.
Metaphors aside, though, the game is a gigantic fantasy RPG that’s technically better than Persona 5 in a lot of ways. Structurally, it feels less repetitive. It has more animated cutscenes that elevate those key story moments. You can brush aside weaker enemies in real-time combat, rather than face them in tiresome turn-based tangoes. And overall, I think it’s the best game Persona or Persona-like Atlus have put out – it really is brilliant. But there’s a part of me that feels like it’s missing something that’ll leave it less ingrained in the memory than Persona 5 once its final chapter has closed.
We’re now one full week into October following the first September since 2016 without a really big Nintendo Direct.
Looking back at our Nintendo Direct broadcast history guide, it’s all there in black and white (well, red and white). 2020’s Direct might have been a Super Mario-focused job themed around that series’ 35th anniversary, but that caveat aside, 2016 — the year before the Switch launched — was the last year there wasn’t a full, flagship Nintendo Direct in September.
Anyone familiar with Atlus’s deep and involving role-playing games has been eager to see what the strange and magical Metaphor: ReFantazio has in store. And while it’s not directly connected to the popular Persona series, there are some intriguing touchstones across its aesthetics and mechanics to hook fans and newcomers alike. Let’s take a close look at some of these intriguing similarities and differences ahead of the October 11 release date.
Combat is unleashed
Fans of Persona’s fast-paced yet detailed turn-based combat will find themselves at home here, but Studio Zero has given it a little twist, too. You can engage in real-time combat with low level enemies, taking them out with a handful of targeted strikes or even a single blow if your current level totally outclasses them.
There’s a dedicated dodge button to avoid their attacks if they see you before you can act, which is also handy for foes which are too tough to take out in real-time. In which case, you can initiate a turn-based battle after you’ve softened them up with an action strike – especially handy if you can catch an enemy off-guard first, giving you a free hit during the turn-based Squad Battle.
Real-time combat can be used to any monster’s advantage, too. During one instance I thought some vicious beasts were blocked by some barrels, but they smashed right through them, initiated the Squad Battle, and got a free hit on my party in the process. Lesson learned – I used the protagonist’s Fae Sight a lot more often from that point to be more aware of nearby enemies and have Gallica assess their threat levels. But if things are going really badly, you can also press L3 to restart the battle.
Time management is key
As the game’s main plot develops, one of your aims becomes balancing tasks through the day to gain democratic popularity while completing other objectives to become more powerful, creating bonds with other party members or hitting certain story milestones. As in Persona, each of these consume time as you creep towards specific events, and not meeting deadlines for critical ones results in a game over.
So mapping out each day, knowing when to enter time-consuming dungeons and when to rest – or even kill time by doing more peaceful tasks – can make all the difference. Thankfully, all activities are clearly denoted with how much time they eat up, so you shouldn’t be caught off guard.
Exploring the United Kingdom of Euchronia
Metaphor: ReFantazio wastes no time establishing that we’re not on our Earth… or in a particularly safe land. The game’s inciting incident comes from a savage act of regicide, and things only get wilder from there with its medieval fantasy setting exploring themes of bigotry and the value of imagination, especially when overcoming our own fears and anxieties.
Humans are far from human
In fact, the term ‘human’ in the game is synonymous with often giant, grotesque monsters feared by the varied fantasy races of the game. Even our blue-haired protagonist – who arguably looks the closest to a traditional Persona character – is a rarity in a world full of the horned Clemar Tribe, elven looking Roussainte Tribe, fairies, and many other species.
The music is more operatic
Persona is known for itseclectic range of tunes, from rock to acid jazz to electronic inspired beats. Givenits setting, Metaphor: ReFantazio soundtrack leans towards the more orchestral, with tense strings, dramatic drums, and chants present in its wonderfully composed battle themes that are already subject to deservedly flattering memes. Fans of the parent series, Shin Megami Tensei, might find their toes tapping in its sweeping tonal familiarity.
Less summoning or fusing, more transforming
While Metaphor: ReFantazio’s powerful Archetype forms are similar toPersona’s summoning system, there are some notable differences. Archetypes are typically awakened when a party member confronts and overcomes a certain fear or anxiety, causing them to tap into a magical armored form capable of enhanced attacks and abilities.
These transformed figures are part of a job system where your party members can switch between the 40+ differently skilled Archetypes, spread across 14 different lineages to suit your playstyle. For example, despite which characters you have in your party, you can put together a Saviour from the Healer lineage, a Ninja Thief and a Devil Summoner. Or a Magic Knight, Dragoon Gunner and Martial Artist Brawler. And with them create combos in battle via spectacular Synthesis Skills.
Exploring a safe haven
It isn’t long in the game before you’re transported to the mysterious Akademeia, by the equally mysterious More. This magical library is a spirit home where you can learn about Archetypes via books and lectures, and unlock additional aspects of their abilities. Initially you’ll not have much choice in going to Akademeia, but as the game progresses, you’ll be able to choose when you visit via the protagonist’s novel or More’s ghostly figure.
There’s much More to Akademeia than first appears
While acting as an enemy-free hub to study and grow, Akademeia also gives space for Metaphor: ReFantazio to delve into the tale’s meta commentary, examining the power of imagination and the nature of storytelling. Without giving too much away, this is also tied to one of your very first acts in the game, where you as the player type in your own name. Oh, and there’s also a cute cat you can pet… which I often did. Priorities, right?
Persona’s not the only one with style
Sure, you might have played medieval fantasy RPGs before, but have you played one as stylish as this? From its anime cutscenes to its fun battle chatter to its slick victory outros, Metaphor: ReFantazio rivals Persona for its sheer sense of flair. The UI also maintains a sense of familiarity without being a direct mimic, opting for a slightly more uniform aesthetic.
Similarly, the game knows when to use a bold mixture of colors and when to opt for a more naturalistic palette, delivering an eye-pleasing blend of what we’d expect for a classic fantasy genre without sacrificing the Atlus panache and polish.
Your protagonist has a voice
Perhaps the most notable aspect of Metaphor: ReFantazio’s cast is that your protagonist is voice acted in the same way the rest of the characters are. Although you can name him whatever you wish, as the bulk of the in-game dialogue is still delivered via text with occasional vocalizations.
A union of tribes
Tellingly, every party member you develop throughout the game represents each of the main tribes of the land. For example, the stoic knight Hulkenberg is a Roussainte, while the rodent looking Eugief tribe is represented by Heismay, who awakens the thief archetype. And the diminutive but faithful fairy Gallica might not be able to fight, but offers valuable advice and guidance on your journey.
Creating bonds with Followers
Romantic Persona fans won’t necessarily find the same starry-eyed connections in Metaphor: ReFantazio, but building relationships is still important. At various points you have the opportunity to interact with other party members and NPCs, and spending specific time with them forms a bond. In turn, this can help awaken new Archetypes, with deeper rapports unlocking further abilities.
Real life connections help, too
Staying online with the game gives you the option to explore the handy Travellers’ Voices page. A press of the Touch Pad shows you what other players have done in the section you’re currently in. So if you’re stuck in a dungeon, you can check out what party formations others have used and what levels they cleared that area with, as well as changing your formation to match another player’s for a better chance of success.
Travellers’ Voices also works in towns as well, handily letting you know where players have spent their time most during the day. A nice little feature if you’re looking for a bit of guidance as to how to while away some free time in Euchronia.
Rich, constantly surprising and stylishly elegant, Metaphor: ReFantazio is not only a delight for fans of Atlus’s games, but will charm newcomers with its magic, too. If you’ve not already found out for yourself via the PS5 demo, you’ll get the chance when the full game launches October 11 on PS4 and PS5.
