The main party members of Baldur’s Gate 3 — including characters such as Karlach, Astarion, and Shadowheart — are getting official Dungeons & Dragons miniatures from WizKids.
The D&D Icons of the Realms: Baldur’s Gate 3 box set is now available to preorder on the WizKids website for $49.99 and comes with seven minis in total.
Alongside Karlach the tiefling barbarian, Astarion the elf rogue, and half elf cleric Shadowheart, the box set also includes Gale the human wizard, Lae’zel the githyanki fighter, Wyll the human warlock, and Withers, the wise zombie man who revives fallen allies and summons companions in Baldur’s Gate 3.
“Transport your favorite characters from the screen to the tabletop with the new D&D Icons of the Realms: Baldur’s Gate 3 Character Boxed Set,” reads the official description. “This set features seven iconic characters from the critically acclaimed Baldur’s Gate 3 video game, perfectly recreated as detailed, pre-painted miniatures.
“Housed in non-blind windowed packaging, this set includes pre-painted miniatures for Astarion, Karlach, Gale, Shadowheart, Wyll, Lae’zel, and Withers. The set is perfect for Dungeon Masters looking to feature a famous character or as a collector’s piece for Baldur’s Gate and D&D fans.”
As mentioned, the set is particularly exciting for dungeon masters who happen to be fans of Baldur’s Gate 3, the D&D based role-playing game that proved a critical and commercial hit in 2023. It allows players to meet the Baldur’s Gate 3 party in their own campaigns, fitting around the story of the video game. A nice option to have, perhaps, given Baldur’s Gate 3 developer Larian has now moved on from Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons to make a brand new game.
The set obviously doesn’t include the additional party members characters can pick up later such as Halsin or Minthara, but perhaps this leaves a little room open for WizKids to release a second Baldur’s Gate 3 box set.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Square Enix has provided an update on the potential for an Xbox port of Final Fantasy 16, saying it wants to release the game on Microsoft’s console but can’t share a release date yet.
Speaking to Video Games, Square Enix’s Naoki ‘Yoshi-P’ Yoshida, producer of both Final Fantasy 14 and Final Fantasy 16, strongly suggested Final Fantasy 16 will eventually come out on Xbox by telling fans not to give up hope.
“Of course we did announce the PC version of the game, so looking towards the Xbox version, we do want to release it on Xbox,” Yoshida said.
“But when it comes to the specifics such as when the game would be available and such, we are not in a position to be able to share anything. But of course, I want to say that it’s not as if there’s zero hope, and we very much do want to achieve that. So players should not give up in terms of their hopes.”
Final Fantasy 16 launched as a PS5 exclusive in June 2023, with its PC version launching last month. IGN’s Final Fantasy 16 review returned a 9/10. We said: “Featuring fast, reflex driven, action heavy combat, Final Fantasy 16 is certainly a departure from what fans may expect out of a Final Fantasy game, but its excellent story, characters, and world building are right up there with the best the series has to offer, and the innovative Active Time Lore feature should set a new standard for how lengthy, story-heavy games keep players invested in its world.”
Last month, Square Enix made public its dissatisfaction with Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s commercial performance, admitting neither game met profit expectations.
In a financial results briefing held May 13 but only released in September, Takashi Kiryu, president and representative director of Square Enix said: “In the HD Games sub-segment, we released multiple new titles, including major titles such as Final Fantasy 16 and Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, but profits unfortunately did not meet our expectations.”
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.
I do not wish to dwell overly long on the incredible stop motion sheep in the trailer for folk horror game Daemonologie, because it’s got so much else going for it – from the gorgeously haunting vocal and string melodies to the extremely dark character interactions that offer your witch finder the choice between ‘talk’ and ‘torture’. And yet, living in Wales for the last decade must have rubbed off. The sweet sheep, they sing to me. The relative rarity of stop motion and other practical effects in horror media is surely one of the greater tragedies of our age, although not too surprising given the incredible amount of work it takes. Flock toward the trailer below, and I’ll see you on the other side of the pasture, hopefully as deeply altered by the experience as I was.
PlayStation Network is coming back online after an evening outage that left users unable to play some of their games for hours.
At the time of this article’s publication, Sony’s PSN service status page still showed warnings across Account management, Gaming and social, PlayStation Video, and the PlayStation Store, with an overall warning that “some services are experiencing issues.”
This PSN issue affected all PlayStation consoles currently supported (PS Vita, PS3, PS4, PS5) and other services that require a PSN login.
The Japanese Ask PlayStation Twitter account said Sony was investigating and carrying out recovery work. “We sincerely apologize for any inconvenience caused,” Sony said.
However, users are reporting PSN is slowly coming back online, and IGN was able to log in to PSN this morning in the UK.
The PSN outage once again raises issues with a lack of true offline play for many single-player focused games. Does it play?, which tests commercial releases to ensure they work internet free, tweeted: “Good thing we have internet so we aren’t affected by offline services. Oh, wait, that’s not how it works.
“Has anyone tried registering a detachable disc drive? Does that still work?”
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.
Throwback turn-based RPG Sea Of Stars will get the free update that adds a local co-op mode next month, letting up to three players waddle through the game’s story side by side (by side). The update will also include commonly requested features, say developers Sabotage Studio, like tweaks to the combat and a “revamped prologue” that’ll see players able to get stuck into the action quicker. We’d previously heard about this update, but now we know the actual release date.
Annapurna Interactive has moved to reassure fans concerned over the future of Silent Hill: Townfall after a significant upheaval that saw a mass walkout at the publisher.
The upshot is concern over the future of games set to be published or co-developed by Annapurna, and one of those games is Silent Hill: Townfall.
Silent Hill: Townfall was announced two years ago, in October 2022, as a co-production between Annapurna Interactive and Observation and Stories Untold developer No Code Studios. Silent Hill: Townfall’s reveal consisted of a series of unsettling images, with most of the teaser swapping between images of ocean waves in black and white (and, at the end, bright red) and a slow zoom in to a pocket CRTV, while a voice demanded to know why the listener was here.
At the time, No Code creative director Jon McKellan said Silent Hill: Townfall “respects the source material but also does something a little bit different with it.” But we have yet to hear more on the project and now, two years later, and in the context of Annapurna’s high-profile troubles, there is growing concern over its development.
But in a tweet, Annapurna moved to calm that concern, firstly by apologizing for it and then insisting Townfall will continue to be co-developed with Konami and No Code.
We deeply apologize for any concerns about SILENT HILL: Townfall. SILENT HILL: Townfall will continue to be co-developed by KONAMI @Konami, Annapurna Interactive @A_i, and No Code @_NoCode. pic.twitter.com/Wd4m4OsauS
Still, there is no release date for Silent Hill: Townfall, and we have seen any new trailers for it since its announcement.
Silent Hill: Townfall isn’t the only game on Annapurna’s books. It’s got Mixtape from Beethoven & Dinosaur, the developer of The Artful Escape, and Blade Runner 2033: Labyrinth, among many others.
IGN’s reporting has revealed that at Annapurna a tiny leadership team is struggling to ensure that around 40 projects have the support they need, while the company’s partners have been left at various stages of development and uncertainty as to what comes next.
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.
Sonic X Shadow Generations is fast approaching and it seems we might now have a rough idea of just how long the new Shadow campaign will be.
During a chat with Famitsu at the Tokyo Game Show recently, producer Shun Nakamura mentioned how the new Shadow-themed adventure would apparently be around the same length or possibly a little less than the main Sonic Generations offering (translation via ResetEra).
We learned a lot of new information about Monster Hunter Wilds at Tokyo Game Show 2024 during the Capcom Online Program and extended Scarlet Forest gameplay stream, including the reveal of the foul Congala and fowl Yian Kut-Ku. Both monsters are returning to the series after a long absence. Here’s a quick breakdown of everything we’ve learned with comments from the developers.
The Fanged Beast Congalala, a Farting Pink Ape
Technically, we could’ve made an educated guess that Congalala would be returning to the series thanks to the distinctly pink armor the hunter was wearing in the official Dual Blades showcase. But it was finally officially confirmed during the Scarlet Forest gameplay stream, where the developers said fans have wanted Congalala to return for quite some time. Congalala is a Fanged Beast first introduced in Monster Hunter Freedom 2 for PSP (at least in the US).
Congalala resembles a gorilla, except it has striking pink fur and a tail that’s often holding a mushroom. Its main, disgusting way of attacking is through visible farts that throw brown debris into the air and belches that change depending on the food it most recently ate. In Wilds, before a certain move, Congalala will produce a special item called “Truffle de Conga” which can be stolen and used in your own cooking.
Congalala can also cover you in a “stench” so powerful you’re unable to consume anything, including health potions. Make sure to bring Deodorant out on hunts in the Scarlet Forest which is where you’ll encounter Congalala, at least for the first time. Luckily, recovering from such a stench is simple with Monster Hunter Wilds’ new Optimal Status Recovery option in the radial menu. With this, you’ll have quick access to whatever item is needed at the moment, so you won’t have to dig through the item pouch while it’s too stinky to think.
In an interview with IGN, Monster Hunter Wilds director Yuya Tokuda says this new feature is meant to be a quality of life improvement, but you may not find yourself using it as often as you think because the Palico will be “on it” trying to heal you. The same can be said about the Optimal Health Recovery option, which will not only use guild-issued healing items like Rations before dipping into your hard-earned stores of Potions but will use the item that will get you closest to full recovery without overdoing it.
The Bird Wyvern Yian Kut-Ku, the Original “Tutorial Monster”
Yian Kut-Ku is the very first flying monster Hunters faced in the original Monster Hunter for PS2, and has the honor of being the first returning monster to be revealed after Rathalos.
Like Congalala, Yian Kut-Ku is also pink, and resembles a goofy-looking, scaly bird monster. While Yian Kut-Ku moves around a lot and is fairly quick, it usually trips and falls when it charges. Kut-Ku’s other main attack is fireballs, making it an early resource for Flame Sacs.
Monster Hunter Wilds executive director and art director Kaname Fujioka says Yian Kut-Ku was given the honored spot of first properly revealed returning monster afer Rathalos not just because they love Yian Kut-Ku, but because he thinks it’s “a sort-of well-known, popular, and beloved monster among the fan base.” Fujioka adds, “This choice of the next reveal was something that I think showed that we love Monster Hunter just as much as you guys do, and we’re always thinking about what would be fun to bring back.”
As for why Yian Kut-Ku is being brought back for Wilds specifically, Fujioka says it would be great to see how Yian Kut-Ku appears in Wilds’ pack system, where the same large monsters can appear in a group for the first time.
Customizable Seikrets
During the Scarlet Forest gameplay, we also saw the hunter riding a differently colored Seikret. The Seikret is the mount in Monster Hunter Wilds, and it was confirmed during this stream that we can customize its colors. Not much else is known about the depth of this customizability just yet!
Alongside the two monster reveals, the Scarlet Forest gameplay stream also showed a portion of a hunt with Uth Una, the Leviathan revealed during the most recent PlayStation State of Play. There were also details on how fishing in Monster Hunter Wilds will be a little more involved when reeling in a big fish.
Lastly, though unrelated to Monster Hunter Wilds specifically, there were more announcements for Monster Hunter’s 20th Anniversary, including a special Rathalos Fender Telecaster guitar. Capcom also revealed that Monster Hunter is getting special collaborations with both Transformers and Digimon. For Transformers, a Rathalos Prime Transformer figure; and for Digimon, two special V-Pets featuring monsters from Monster Hunter as well as special fusion monsters. RathalosGremon is a fusion of Greymon and Rathalos, and ZinoGarurumon a fusion of Garurumon and Zinogre. As of now, we’re unsure if these will be officially available outside of Japan.
We’ve got some good and bad news fighting game fans. If you were looking forward to the arrival of Hunter X Hunter: Nen x Impact (based on the anime and manga series), Arc System Works has now announced it’s delayed the launch until 2025.
According to a translation by the Arc System Works social account, this delay is to allow the team to implement rollback netcode. The release date will now be shared at a “later time”, so when we get an update, we’ll let you know. Here’s the full message:
“I really wonder, who’s even complaining about this?
Ahead of the release of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake this November, series’ creator Yuji Horii has addressed the changes to the female characters in the game, who are now showing less skin than the original version of the game.
Speaking during an interview at the Tokyo Game Show (and translated by Valuate News), Horii admits he’s just as confused by the changes to the late Akira Toriyama’s artwork, but goes on to explain how if there’s “too much exposure, the age rating goes up” and it means the game can’t be sold to “all-ages”.
