Castlevania veteran Shutaro Ida has announced that he will be stepping back from work on Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night 2 following his recent cancer diagnosis.
The game developer, who worked on a long list of entries in Konami’s Castlevania series and more recently directed 2019’s Bloodstained, announced the news ina post on X/Twitter. He says he’ll be offloading some of his responsibilities with the rest of the team at developer ArtPlay now that he has begun his cancer battle.
“I, SHUTARO, also known as Curry Boy and Curry Sage, have been diagnosed with cancer and have begun my battle with the disease. I have already started talking about the sequel to Bloodstained, and have ideas for the game and such. From now on, the responsibility [for game direction] will be shared. Thank you for your support,” Ida wrote in a post translated by X and verified by IGN.
Ida has been instrumental in the Bloodstained universe and had planned on continuing it with a sequel. Bloodstained 2 was originallyannounced back in 2021, though no additional details about its progress have arrived since then. At the time, publisher 505 Games touted the action RPG as a success that managed to reach “generally favorable” reviews from both critics and fans onMetacritic.
Longtime Castlevania producer and ArtPlay president Koji Igarashire-posted Iida’s remarks. While acknowledging Iida’s contributions to the series and gaming as a whole, he assures fans that the rest of the team will push through until Ida is able to work with them again.
“Up until now, the DS [Castlevania] series and Bloodstained have essentially been produced primarily by Director SHUTARO. It can truly be called his work. It is a great blow to have him step away from the project, but we will do our best not to be defeated by it. I hope that you will recover quickly enough to work with us again.”
Ida led the charge on Bloodstained and made a game that we ranked asthe fourth best Metroidvania of all-time. In our8.8/10 review, we said, “The wait was worth it. Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night is a whole new castle to crash full of unexpected monsters and mysteries in the vein of classic Castlevania.”
Michael Cripe is a freelance contributor with IGN. He started writing in the industry in 2017 and is best known for his work at outlets such as The Pitch, The Escapist, OnlySP, and Gameranx.
Be sure to give him a follow on Twitter @MikeCripe.
It looks like popular Nintendo Switch emulator Ryujinx is no more.
One of its developers, riperiperi, announced the news on its Discord server today, saying that lead developer gdkchan “was contacted by Nintendo and offered an agreement to stop working on the project, remove the organization and all related assets he’s in control of.”
“While awaiting confirmation on whether he would take this agreement, the organization has been removed, so I think it’s safe to say what the outcome is,” riperiperi continues. The message, which you can read below, was also posted on Ryujinx’s X/Twitter account.
It also came just hours after some users raised concerns, noticing that Ryujinx’s Github page currently leads to a 404 message. Others pointed out Ryujinx’s download page also wasn’t loading, sparking more concern for the emulation project. Amid the speculation, one of the Discord’s mods assured fans that an announcement was coming, asking them to not spread misinformation in the meantime.
As it says on its website, Ryujinx is an open-source Nintendo Switch emulator written in C# for Windows, Linux and macOS. It began as a single-developer project in 2017, collecting a small team of developers along the way.
Today’s news is only the latest in Nintendo’s ongoing crackdown on emulators following its lawsuit against Tropic Haze, creators of the popular Switch emulator Yuzu. Tropic Haze paid $2.4 million in damages in the settlement, and Yuzu was shut down entirely. Nintendo claimed that The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom was pirated 1 million times before its release in the lawsuit, and issued a takedown notice for more than 8,500 copies of code of Yuzu in May.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Last year, hot off the back of Tears of the Kingdom, I wrote a piece expressing my love for Zelda’s ‘Modern’ dungeons. These puzzle-centric areas had been a little hit or miss, sure, but I found that there was a lot to like in each once I got past the general terminal-activation-ness of it all.
I thought I was over Zelda’s ‘Classic’ dungeon format — moving from one room to another via a series of puzzles, opening chests of increasingly flamboyant design and picking up unique items along the way. I thought the series was striding towards something new and I was excited by the prospect of that. I thought the Divine Beast formula was the future and I was ready to welcome it with open arms.
We are thrilled to invite Xbox Insiders on Xbox Series X consoles to join Off The Grid – Pioneers starting today. But wait, don’t chop your arms and legs off yet. There are a few things for you to know before jumping into the action. Read on for full details on how to get your free ticket to Teardrop Island.
About the Game:
Dive into the most extreme Battle Royale ever created! Three global gaming companies have set aside their differences to develop the ultimate adrenaline rush for pro gamers on a dystopian tropical island scarred by a history of corporate warfare.
With a seamless blend of PvP and PvE elements, this cyberpunk Battle Royale envisioned by Neill Blomkamp (District 9) will set a new standard for the genre.
Experience the Off The Grid: Pioneers as we release our first locations, weapons, limbs and game modes and prepare yourself for an immersive narrative campaign on Teardrop Island while simultaneously surviving a Battle Royale — no problem for an elite gamer such as yourself, right?
Build your ultimate character by extracting high-value gear from the Island and empower them with unique abilities by modifying your body with cybernetic limbs during the gameplay session.
Cyberlimbs During play, players can loot unique cyberlimbs, granting powerful abilities to aid in combat. But here’s the kicker, you can swap limbs anytime during the game to adapt your playstyle. You can even shoot them off and steal them from your opponents. Unique abilities include toxic gas, trip mines, increased running speed, auto-missiles, jetpack jumps & much more.
Teardrop Welcome to the star of the show and the centerpiece of everything the game is about. Teardrop Island. Players will be able to explore the following regions.
The sandy shores of OCIO
The urban neighborhood of Little Kyiv
The construction sites and cranes of Stork City
The lush greenery of the Marshlands
The desalination plants of Saltie
Customization Off The Grid provides a wide range of weapon and attachment customization options. It also offers up to 3 free loadout slots to accommodate your unique preferences and playstyles.
How to Participate:
Sign-in on your Xbox Series X console and launch the Xbox Insider Hub app (or install the Xbox Insider Hub from the Store first if necessary)
Navigate to Previews > Off The Grid – Pioneers
Select Join
Wait for the registration to complete and be directed to the Store and install Off The Grid – Pioneers
NOTE: Matchmaking is available daily from 6PM CEST (9AM PT / 12PM ET) to 2AM CEST (5PM PT / 8PM ET)
NOTE: Limited space is available and offered first-come first-served.
NOTE: This playtest is only available on Xbox Series X consoles.
NOTE: This playtest is only available for Xbox Insiders in the regions below.
Austria
Belgium
Canada
Czechia
Denmark
Finland
France
Germany
Hungary
Ireland
Israel
Italy
Mexico
Norway
Poland
Portugal
Saudi Arabia
Slovakia
Spain
Sweden
Switzerland
The Netherlands
Turkey
United Arab Emirates
United Kingdom
United States
How to Provide Feedback:
Jumping into the playtest means you’re stepping into a version of Off The Grid that is still evolving. You might run into the occasional bug or see something that’s not quite finished – and we welcome all the feedback you’ll send our way about your experience. Our teams will continue packing in features and improvements to craft the most exciting and innovative battle royale ever!
If you experience any issues while playing Off The Grid, don’t forget to use “Report a problem” so we can investigate:
Hold down the home button on your Xbox controller.
Select Report a problem.
Select the Games category and Off The Grid – Pioneers subcategory.
Fill out the form with the appropriate details to help our investigation.
The Community:
Want to join the conversations with the Off The Grid community and share your experience? Join us on any of our social channels: X/Twitter || Instagram || Tiktok || Discord
For more information: follow us on X/Twitter at @XboxInsider and this blog for announcements and more. And feel free to interact with the community on the Xbox Insider SubReddit.
The release of Silent Hill 2 is just around the corner on October 8. We’re honored to be able to share detailed information about Silent Hill 2 with PlayStation players. Konami and Bloober Team have focused on respecting the original 2001 Silent Hill 2’s storyline, emphasizing the emotional expressions of each character through the highly skilled performances of their respective actors, and modernizing the overall gameplay. We hope that this very clear comparison will show you which aspects of the original the production team has respected and emphasized, as well as which aspects have been improved upon.
Spoiler Alert: This article and video reveal some narrative and gameplay surprises within Silent Hill 2.
For this episode of PlayStation Underground, Bloober Team partnered up with the SIE crew to bring you an exclusive look at James’ confrontation with Flesh Lip inside Brookhaven Hospital, presented in a head-to-head comparison with the same boss battle as it appears in the original game.
Caption: Join Bloober Team’s Mateusz Lenart, Creative Director, and Andrzej Mądrzak, Lead Writer, for a look inside Brookhaven Hospital.
In many ways, this boss fight, alongside its accompanying cutscene, exemplifies the approach we took when reimagining Silent Hill 2. It shows our reverence for the original game by staying true to its original design, while also expanding upon it using modern technology that allows players to feel more in control of James.
As you can see, the general set-up for Laura’s cutscene that predates the battle and the Flesh Lip encounter itself are quite faithful to the original game, but with a few key changes that enable us to take full advantage of current storytelling and combat design techniques.
Caption: Comparison between 2001 Silent Hill 2 and the 2024 Silent Hill 2 remake
Familiar characters come alive
For Laura’s cutscene, the interaction between her and James maintains the same story beats as in the original. Both James’ and Laura’s personalities have been preserved, with the most significant changes coming in the form of more involved camera work and top-notch voice acting.
Caption: The full cutscene between James and Laura from the 2024 Silent Hill 2 remake, without commentary.
Full-body motion capture, used in conjunction with detailed animation, has allowed us to make these characters come alive through subtle facial expressions and gestures. The performances of the actors were key in this respect, with both Evie Templeton and Luke Roberts really embodying the characters of Laura and James, respectively.
When it comes to the script itself, we wanted to avoid changing things for the sake of changing them. While minor deviations from the original game’s script can be expected, our main objective with this cutscene and all others was to capture the complex character dynamics that made the original Silent Hill 2 such a landmark in the history of interactive storytelling.
Caption: Comparison between 2001 Silent Hill 2 and the 2024 Silent Hill 2 remake
A boss battle for the ages
The encounter with Flesh Lip is one of Silent Hill 2’s most startling moments. With its unique and unnerving look, Flesh Lip was groundbreaking in terms of integrating symbolism into the design of a monster. Doing this boss battle justice in the new game was a challenging but ultimately rewarding task.
Unlike the fixed camera system in the original Silent Hill 2, adopting an over-the-shoulder perspective brought with it a series of changes to the encounter’s design. For instance, the scale of the room where the fight occurs has been expanded to allow players more space to roam.
Caption: Comparison between 2001 Silent Hill 2 and the 2024 Silent Hill 2 remake
But the biggest change in the design of the boss fight has to do with Flesh Lip himself. Instead of facing two of them right from the start, the battle now begins with a single foe, but one who can dynamically move through the ceiling, ready to pounce on James at any point.
Caption: The Flesh Lip battle takes on a new shape in the Silent Hill 2 remake
Moreover, once players manage to bring Flesh Lip down to the ground, he unveils his second phase, adopting a menacing spider-like pose that greatly enhances his speed and range of attack. To counteract this, players will have to use a combination of melee and ranged attacks, while also dealing with Flesh Lip’s terrifying scream, which can temporarily stun them during the fight.
Once Flesh Lip is defeated, players will likely breathe a sigh of relief. But that’s when the battle’s final surprise arrives. A second Flesh Lip appears and instantly grabs James by the neck, dragging him further into the underbelly of Brookhaven Hospital. This functions as both a jump scare in its own right, and also as a kind of easter egg for fans of the original game. They will likely be taken aback by the appearance of a second Flesh Lip just as the battle wraps up.
Caption: Comparison between 2001 Silent Hill 2 and the 2024 Silent Hill 2 remake
Final thoughts
As the new Silent Hill 2 remake inches ever closer to release on October 8, we wanted to take the time to present a head-to-head comparison depicting one of the game’s defining moments. We hope this manages to convey our approach towards the whole game, which emphasizes the original’s strengths and seeks to expand upon them while staying true to the game’s spirit.
Throne and Liberty is off to a very strong start. The new MMORPG by NCSoft and Amazon Games has already rushed to number four on Steam, behind only Dota 2, Counter-Strike 2, and that one banana game.
At the time of this article, Throne and Liberty sits at around 292,116 concurrents, putting in the top half of the list of Steam’s ten most popular games. Its early performance is all the more impressive in light of mixed reviews, most of which have focused on its server issues and microtransactions.
Indeed, server issues seem to be the biggest problem facing Throne and Liberty, with fans complaining about spending 45 minutes creating a character only to get disconnected. What’s more, it doesn’t appear possible to choose a different server, leaving fans little recourse except to hope that things improve.
Still, Throne and Liberty seems to be doing well, following in the footsteps of other Amazon Games releases including Lost Ark and New World. Originally billed as a Lineage sequel, Throne and Liberty is described as a free-to-play MMO with PvE and PvP set in a dynamic and seamless world. It suffered numerous delays over the course of a development cycle spanning several years.
We wrote about Throne and Liberty during its beta, “Overall, I certainly enjoyed most of my time with Throne and Liberty. There are big, late-game things that I want to come back and participate in, like large-scale PVP battles between guilds and raid dungeons. The story and quests won’t upend any long-standing MMO conventions. The inner voice that usually commands me to make sure every task that can be done must be done very quietly let me skip through slow dialogue and turn a blind eye to many menial side tasks. I never skipped an opportunity to fight, though.”
But while Amazon Games have a way of getting off to a fast start, they have struggled to maintain that momentum amid slow updates, balance problems, and other issues. New World launched to huge numbers, wound up getting heavily retooled, and is trying to get a fresh start on console as New World: Aerturnum. We’ll see if Throne and Liberty has better luck.
Kat Bailey is IGN’s News Director as well as co-host of Nintendo Voice Chat. Have a tip? Send her a DM at @the_katbot.
Starting today, Amazon is offering the Final Fantasy VII Rebirth game for PlayStation 5 for only $49.99. That’s a savings of nearly 30% off and the lowest price we’ve seen for it on Amazon. We saw this deal once before at Walmart, but that has long since expired. This is the “exclusive Amazon edition,” which also includes a themed controller skin featuring Cloud and Sephiroth. Rebirth is easily one of the best games of 2024, PS5 or otherwise.
30% Off Final Fantasy VII Rebirth
Final Fantasy VII Rebirth is the second game in the revamped FFVII trilogy and starts off right where Remake ends. The exodus from Midgar allows for a much more open-world experience compared to Remake’s linear structure, which means more areas to explore, more characters to play around with, and more spells, abilities, and summons at your disposal. According to HowLongToBeat.com, Remake takes 32 hours to finish the main story while Rebirth takes 46 hours.
Check out our Final Fantasy VII Rebirth review and see why this game earned an “Amazing” 9/10 score. In it, writer Michael Higham states that “Final Fantasy VII Rebirth impressively builds off of what Remake set in motion as both a best-in-class action-RPG full of exciting challenge and depth, and as an awe-inspiring recreation of a world that has meant so much to so many for so long.” He continues on to say that “for as flawed as parts of how this classic has been reimagined might be, Rebirth still stands out as something both thrilling and unexpectedly impactful.”
Will this price drop during October Prime Day or Black Friday?
Of course there aren’t any guarantees, but I think it’s unlikely the price will drop any further for the fall Prime Day sale. Although October Prime Day offers plenty of excellent deals, historically video games have not been a big part of it. Black Friday is a different story. We’re still nearly two months away, but if you’re willing to hold out, the price may drop further. Because Rebirth was released this year and it has been commercially successful, there’s less of a chance that it will be further discounted.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn’t hunting for deals for other people at work, he’s hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Console-playing Baldur’s Gate 3 fans no longer have to look at PC players in envy — Patch 7 is available on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and Mac today.
Highlights of the patch include 13 new endings for players doing evil runs, including unique new endings for each Origin character, as well as revamped split-screen. But the real highlight is the new Mod Manager, allowing console players to take advantage of the bevy of mods players have made for the hit RPG.
While console players can’t use the official toolkit to create mods, they can now use those that have been made with the toolkit, and that have passed internal testing. There are currently 69 mods that have passed internal testing, and Larian says more will become available on console and Mac as they continue to test them.
Larian also released a couple of videos to celebrate the news: a fresh animated short in collaboration with Mashed and Spud Gun Studios (nice bowl cut, Astarion) and one highlighting five mods that console and Mac users can now get their hands on.
The absolutely massive Patch 7 includes even more than mods and new evil endings, also adding Honour Mode improvements, new Legendary Actions, and various gameplay improvements and bug fixes. Larian also notes that Hotfixes #26 and #27 are available on all platforms today as well.
Patch 7 was long rumored to be Larian’s last update to Baldur’s Gate 3, although the studio clarified last month that it’s not the final patch after all — but declined to offer specifics on what’s to come. For more in the meantime, check out our recent interview with the developer looking back on the year since release.
Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.
Hexworks and CI Games are working on a sequel to 2023 action-RPG Lords Of The Fallen, itself a sequel to 2014 action-RPG Lords Of The Fallen. It’s slated to launch in 2026. Will the new Lords Of The Fallen also be called Lords Of The Fallen? Will it build on the exciting innovations of Lords Of The Fallen, or will it seek to recapture the nostalgic charms of Lords Of The Fallen? Perhaps in ten years time we’ll do a list feature, “Lords Of The Fallen Games Ranked”, with just one entry. I’m pretty sure that in 10 years time, generative AI plagiarism will have rendered everything interchangeable anyway.
“It is a great blow to have him step away from the project”.
Shuntaro Ida, a veteran designer on the Castlevania franchise and director of Bloodstained: Ritual of the Night, has sadly stepped down from the development of Bloodstained 2 following a cancer diagnosis.
Ida announced his decision on social media (thanks, VGC), stating that although he had already come up with ideas for the upcoming game, he will pass these on to others while he receives treatment. Koji Igarashi, long-time producer of the Castevania series, reposted this message to express his sadness while wishing Ida a quick recovery.
