Category: Video Games

Another New Atelier RPG Is Heading To Switch Next Year

With another lengthy title.

Koei Tecmo today took to the Tokyo Game Show to announce Atelier Resleriana: The Red Alchemist & the White Guardian, a new Atelier RPG coming to Switch at some point in 2025.

This is a spin-off of the mobile game Atelier Resleriana: Forgotten Alchemy and the Polar Night Liberator and will be set in the same world. We have very little information about what the new RPG will have in store, though Koei Tecmo describes it as a “completely offline” experience, so make of that what you will.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Next Week on Xbox – New Games for September 30 to October 4

Next Week on Xbox Hero Image

Next Week on Xbox – New Games for September 30 to October 4

Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Windows, and Game Pass! Get more details on these upcoming games below and click their profiles for further info (release dates subject to change). Let’s jump in!


Cats with Guns (Xbox)

Cats with Guns (Xbox)

Synnergy Circle Games

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Cats with Guns – October 1
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Cats with Guns is a 2D casual game with rogue-lite elements, where you can make strategic decisions on the middle of the battle and go from a small kitten to a powerful and intimidating feline. Evolve your cat and overwhelm the enemy forces with powerful abilities. Fight sheer enemy numbers with a huge firepower and defeat the generals until you reach Meowstopia.


Predator: Hunting Grounds

Predator: Hunting Grounds

IllFonic Publishing

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Predator: Hunting Grounds – October 1
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

Hunt or be hunted in this asymmetrical multiplayer shooter that pits man against Predator. As part of a Fireteam, complete missions before the Predator finds you. Or be the Predator and hunt your prey. Wield human and alien weaponry – fight with a state-of-the-art arsenal as the Fireteam, and deadly tech like the shoulder-mounted Plasma Caster, Combistick and more as the Predator.


THRONE AND LIBERTY: Early Access Pack - Ultimate

THRONE AND LIBERTY: Early Access Pack – Ultimate

Amazon Games

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

$99.99
Get it now

Throne and Liberty: Early Access Pack – Ultimate – October 1

Throne and Liberty captures the essence of classic MMORPGs while introducing new gameplay elements, adding depth and excitement at every turn. Choose your dual-weapon loadout to customize your approach on the battlefield, or morph into creatures of the land, water and sky to traverse the vast and seamless world. Prepare for an unforgettable adventure where you’ll need to gather your guild, prepare for battle and claim the throne.


Damikira

Damikira

Eastasiasoft Limited

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Damikira – October 2
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

What do you get when you combine frenetic arcade-style shooting, tons of guns and violence, a sprinkle of dark humor and a grappling hook? It’s Damikira! Grab a firearm and blast through side-scrolling stages as you face hordes of costumed enemies, challenge online leaderboards, upgrade your arsenal and discover hidden mechanics to stack the deck in your favor!


Prison of Illusion (Xbox Series X|S)

Prison of Illusion (Xbox Series X|S)

DERIK D.F

☆☆☆☆☆
3
★★★★★

$4.99
Get it now

Prison of Illusion – October 2
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

A young white-haired vampire was walking through the darkness of the forest and saw a large castle on top of the mountain. He then decides to go inside and explore the environment. But he discovers that the magic present in the castle makes him trapped. Help the young vampire overcome traps, challenges and find the way out.


Spot The Differences! Party
Xbox Play Anywhere

Spot The Differences! Party

Sanuk Games

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Spot The Differences! Party – October 2
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Xbox Play Anywhere

The most complete difference game on consoles, in an all-new version with gorgeous 4K graphics! Play solo or with up to 3 friends and see who the quickest spotter is! Featuring 300 pictures and 3,000 differences to find!


Cryptmaster

Cryptmaster

Akupara Games

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

$24.99
Pre-order

Cryptmaster – October 3

Say anything in this bizarre dungeon adventure where words control everything. Fill in the blanks with text or voice to uncover lost abilities, embark on strange quests, and solve mindbending riddles.


KILL KNIGHT

KILL KNIGHT

PlaySide

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

$14.99
Pre-order

Kill Knight – October 3
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Once a loyal knight, betrayed, and banished to the Abyss. A desecrated corpse inside reanimated armor. You rise to an eternal death. Branded Kill Knight, you have one purpose: kill the Last Angel.


Parcel Corps

Parcel Corps

Secret Mode

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Parcel Corps – October 3

Forgo the mundanity of the 9-5 and embrace the high-octane life of a freelance bicycle messenger! Forget the job security, stable salary, and basic workplace rights less cool jobs offer while you ride along walls, grind rails, and startle pigeons on your way to corporation-toppling domination.


SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Pre-order

SWORD ART ONLINE Fractured Daydream Pre-order

Bandai Namco Entertainment America Inc.

☆☆☆☆☆
9
★★★★★

$59.99
Pre-order

Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream – October 3
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream is an exciting new start, departing from the 10th anniversary of the Sword Art Online game series. Galaxia, a new system that allows players to relive the past, has been added to ALfheim Online; however, Galaxia spins out of control causing players from all over time and space to be displaced! To set the timeline back on track, Kirito must work with fallen friends…and foes.


Skautfold: Shrouded in Sanity

Skautfold: Shrouded in Sanity

RED ART GAMES

☆☆☆☆☆
9
★★★★★

$9.99
Get it now

Skautfold: Into the Fray – October 4

Set in the alternative historical setting of 1897 Angelic Empire of Britannia, your contract will order you to eliminate the source of the unnatural fog enveloping the Berelai Manor. A strange and repelling madness took hold of the servants roaming the halls, and they will attack on sight, for their madness is one rooted in a deeper understanding of cosmic insignificance.


SpongeBob SquarePants™: The Patrick Star Game

SpongeBob SquarePants™: The Patrick Star Game

Outright Games Ltd.

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

$39.99
Pre-order

SpongeBob SquarePants: The Patrick Star Game – October 4
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Patrick fans, your time has come – and Bikini Bottom is your open-world playground! So become the Star of the show, put your silliest ideas into action, and enjoy the physics-based chaos that unfolds all around you. From The Krusty Krab to Glove World, the SpongeBob universe is yours to goof off in.


Ballotron Galaxy

Ballotron Galaxy

Desert Water Games

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Ballotron Galaxy – October 4
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

Discover the newest challenge in your favorite arcade! Blast off into space and put your skills to the test once again. Shoot small balls to strike larger balls and blocks. Uncover creative solutions to connect the blue and green ball. Experiment with unique strategies to overcome challenging, logic-based puzzles.


Block & Shot

Block & Shot

17Studio LLC

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Block & Shot – October 4

A puzzle game in which you must control various weapons. In the game you will see more than 50 interesting levels and many different locations. Overcome obstacles and find ways to solve puzzles on your way to get to the main goal – the golden cartridge case.


Johnny Trigger
Xbox Play Anywhere

Johnny Trigger

QubicGames S.A.

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

$4.99
Pre-order

Johnny Trigger – October 4
Xbox Play Anywhere

Stylish, deadly, and smooth as a billiard ball, Johnny Trigger is a man on a mission in this non-stop platform shooter game where the action never ends. Do you have what it takes to bring down the underground world of the mafia?


NHL® 25 Standard Edition Xbox Series X|S

NHL® 25 Standard Edition Xbox Series X|S

Electronic Arts

☆☆☆☆☆
36
★★★★★


$69.99

$62.99
Pre-order

NHL 25 – October 4
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S

EA Sports NHL 25 is the latest installment in the NHL video game series developed by EA Vancouver and published by EA Sports. This year’s version features Ice-Q, a new gameplay intelligence system that enhances the realism and responsiveness of player movements and actions on the ice, the Grudge Match System which tracks the competitive history between teams, Sapien Tech which improves character models for more lifelike appearances, a revamped Franchise mode, and more! Xbox Game Pass Ultimate members with EA Play can experience a 10-hour trial of EA Sports NHL 25 starting September 27.


Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel

Ratalaika Games S.L.

☆☆☆☆☆
★★★★★

Get it now

Zero the Kamikaze Squirrel – October 4
Optimized for Xbox Series X|S / Smart Delivery

Who said bad guys cannot be heroes? Aero the Acro-Bat’s infamous enemy comes for some ninja squirrel action with an adventure of his own! While working on Edgar Ektor’s evil plan, Zero receives a letter from his girlfriend telling him their forest is in danger and her father has been kidnapped. Now Zero needs to head back to his forest as soon as possible, but the evil madman Edgar Ektor doesn’t take a no for an answer.

The post Next Week on Xbox – New Games for September 30 to October 4 appeared first on Xbox Wire.

Call of Duty Warzone Fans Up in Arms Over Playlist Consolidation Ahead of Black Ops 6 Launch

Activision has been accused of “butchering” the playlists available for battle royale Warzone after developer Raven Software announced a consolidation ahead of the release of Black Ops 6.

Warzone typically rotates different modes, squad sizes, and even maps every week, much to the annoyance of some fans who just want to play the battle royale in their favorite way, or with a specific number of friends.

With Black Ops 6’s release just a few weeks away, Raven announced it’s making “preparations” for the future of Warzone. As part of that, has consolidated the current playlist selection into the following:

• Battle Royale Solos & Quads

• Resurgence Duos & Quads

Plunder, Bootcamp, and active Limited-Time Modes will remain available, and Trios will continue to be available via Ranked Play, with the current season ending on Thursday, October 17.

However, it’s what Warzone has lost, rather than what it now has, that has sparked a backlash from fans, with Duos and Trios no longer available in Battle Royale mode, and Solos and Trios unavailable in Resurgence.

This means that from now until at least the launch of Black Ops 6 on October 25, Urikztsan (the current Battle Royale map) only supports Solos, Quads, and Plunder Quads, and Resurgence has a Duos and Quads map rotation, with Trios available in Ranked Play only via Rebirth Island (by far the smallest map in the game).

It’s fair to say this announcement has sparked a backlash from Warzone’s hardcore community. “This might be one of the worst decisions I’ve ever seen,” said YouTuber Westie. “You’re essentially sunsetting core branches of your game and giving no real explanation at the time the change is being made.

“Some added context/information would be wonderful.”

Here’s some more reaction:

Raven has yet to offer an explanation for its decision, but some are speculating it has to do with a need to maintain fast-filling lobbies amid a perceived shrinking playerbase. Players are also wondering why Raven namechecked the release of Black Ops 6 in its announcement — Warzone is set to incorporate the upcoming shooter’s mechanics, weapons, and gear into the game, but there’s no explanation for why this would require a playlist consolidation.

For now, Warzone players have no choice but to play with this new, consolidated playlist offering, or, as some are threatening, quit until their favorite ways to play return.

Last month, Activision announced that Warzone is bringing back the map that started it all, Verdansk, in spring 2025. Verdansk is the most beloved map in Warzone’s four-year history, and it returns to the battle royale complete with iconic points of interest such as Stadium, the Train Station, and Superstore. Fans are now hoping their favorite playlists will be available in time for Verdansk’s release.

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.

Space Marine 2 Patch 3.0 Made a Seemingly Innocuous Change to the Game’s Ending — and Now Warhammer 40,000 Lore Fans Are Losing Their Minds

A seemingly innocuous change made to Space Marine 2 as part of this week’s big Patch 3.0 has got Warhammer 40,000 lore fans excited about potentially huge implications for the game’s story and the wider setting itself.

Warning! Huge spoilers for Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 follow:

Space Marine 2 patch 3.0, released yesterday, September 26, made a long list of welcome changes to the game, but one line in particular buried within the patch notes suggests the Emperor himself played a key role in the story all along.

Pre-patch, during the climax of Space Marine 2, we see a cutscene in which protagonist Lieutenant Titus almost dies while destroying a Chaos artifact. He then hears a voice that says: “Rise, son of Guilliman.”

According to the game’s subtitles, that line — again, pre-patch — was attributed to Marneus Calgar, Chapter Master of the Ultramarines. Fans took it as an odd thing for Calgar to say to Titus, given he also is a son of Roboute Guilliman, the primarch from which all Ultramarines are based.

Now, onto patch 3.0. Here’s the change in question:

  • Fixed an unidentified voice at the end of the story that was assigned to the wrong character.

Assigned to the wrong character, you say? So, who is the right character? The same cutscene now attributes the line to [Voice], which is ambiguous, but Warhammer 40,000 lore fans have a clear idea who this voice belongs to: the Emperor himself.

If true, this has big implications for Space Marine 2’s story, the nature of Titus’ abilities not just in this game but the first, and any role he might play in the ongoing narrative. But given Titus is now part of the Warhammer 40,000 canon (he has his own model you can play on Games Workshop’s tabletop game and the company has even released an official lore video delving into Titus’ backstory on Warhammer TV), fans are taking this as further evidence of the Emperor’s resurgence across the galaxy.

For the uninitiated, the Emperor of Mankind is the reigning monarch of the Imperium of Man whose slowly decaying body has sat immobile within the Golden Throne of Terra for over 10,000 years. But that hasn’t stopped the Emperor, the most powerful psyker to have ever existed, from seemingly stepping in every now and then to help humanity out in its darkest hours.

At this point in the ongoing (and slow moving!) Warhammer 40,000 storyline, there is growing evidence to suggest the Emperor is finally stirring, with some convinced his return proper is coming sooner rather than later. Indeed, in Warhammer 40,000 novel Godblight, the Emperor uses Guilliman as a vessel to burn down the Garden of Nurgle from within the Warp, miraculously reviving his son in the process.

Warhammer 40,000 fans now believe the Emperor is doing something similar with Titus. Titus’ unexplained immunity to the corrupting influence of Chaos during the Space Marine games may have been the Emperor’s doing all along. Indeed Titus’ ability to interact with the Chaos artifact and destroy it might be because he is blessed by the Emperor. As the ending of Space Marine 2 makes clear, the Inquisition’s suspicion of Titus and his abilities continues despite his heroics. But perhaps in the inevitable Space Marine 3 we’ll see the truth of the Emperor’s involvement, and Titus finally clear of the Inquisition’s attention.

For now, Space Marine 2 and Warhammer 40,000 lore fans are simply enjoying the debate this change has sparked, and have pointed to a tease by creative director Oliver Hollis-Leick about whether the line of dialogue in question does indeed come from the Emperor. Here’s his response:

“That is open to individual interpretation. It could be in Titus’s mind, could be Calgar, or it could be the Emperor (though GW might disagree on that). I know who I meant it to be when I wrote it but I’ll keep that to myself ;)”

IGN recently interviewed Saber chief creative officer Tim Willits about the boost he expects the PS5 Pro will give the game, and how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 has “changed everything” for the studio.

Meanwhile, Warhammer 40,000 superfan Henry Cavill has been playing Space Marine 2 and delivered his verdict, and we also have details on what fans can expect from Space Marine 2’s seasonal post-launch content model. Season 2 runs from October until the end of 2024, and includes a new Operations map, a new enemy, a harder difficulty level, a new weapon, and various other improvements.

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.

System Purge: Hollowpoint is a maddening platformer, but the good kind of maddening

Alice Bee (RPS in peace) wrote about platformer System Purge a while back, saying it starred a witch with a nice hop. So I tried out the demo for its sequel, System Purge: Hollow Point, and can confirm that the witch still has a nice hop. I’m thankful for this, because if the witch did not have a nice hop, the game would be maddening in a bad way. Don’t get me wrong, it’s still maddening. Just in a good way. The hop is good.

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Japanese Charts: Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Surpasses 6 Million Units Sold

Pole position.

The latest boxed charts data from Japan is now available courtesy of Famitsu, and once again, we can see that the Switch is still comfortably dominating in the region both with hardware and software sales. Astro Bot is the only representative from Sony’s PS5 platform.

Frankly, it’s mad that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe keeps selling so well. More than 7 years after its Switch debut with mere months (weeks..?!) to go until we learn more about the Switch successor, the arcade racer has now surpassed a mind-boggling 6 million units sold in the region. Worldwide, of course, the latest data confirms that the game is now sitting well above 60 million units sold.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

Deadlock cheaters are being turned into frogs as players get chance to vote on their fate

Valve instituted a fairytale punishment for cheaters in its unreleased laney shooter Deadlock yesterday. Cheaters will now be turned into frogs, provided the other players in the match vote for it. A Counter-Strike 2 modder proved the effect in a post on Xitter after the change was mentioned in some out-of-the-way patch notes by a Valve developer.

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The ghost of StarCraft: Ghost endures as a new shooter set in the RTS universe is in the works at Blizzard

A new shooter set in the StarCraft universe is in the works at Blizzard, according to Bloomberg reporter Jason Schreier’s book Play Nice, via Eurogamer. The project is headed up by Dan Hay, who worked various leading roles on Ubisoft’s Far Cry series, and also a 1999 CGI film starring Jim Belushi named “The Nuttiest Nutcracker”. The real-time strategy spinoff was also mentioned during an IGN podcast that aired yesterday.

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Review: Looney Tunes: Wacky World Of Sports (Switch) – Zany Sporting Antics That Aren’t Much Fun

That’s pretty much all, folks.

Fans of old-school sports compilations may remember Tiny Toon Adventures: Wacky Sports Challenge on Super Nintendo. In it, you played as the titular animated youngsters, who competed in enjoyable cartoon versions of familiar events. SNES also had Looney Tunes B-Ball, a beautifully animated genre classic that put a colourful spin on the NBA Jam formula.

Bamtang Games hopes to bring back this forgotten subgenre with Looney Tunes: Wacky World Of Sports, a collection of four game types, pitting the original Warner Brothers animated line-up against each other in solo and multiplayer tournaments.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com