Category: Video Games

Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered Leaked via PlayStation Store Ahead of State of Play Broadcast

With Sony’s State of Play broadcast set for tonight, the inevitable leaks have begun. First up we have the heavily rumored Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered, which was spotted on the PlayStation Store before being swiftly removed.

According to the store description (via reddit), Legacy of Kain Soul Reaver 1-2 Remastered is developed by video game revival specialist Aspyr, and launches December 10, 2024 to coincide with Soul Reaver’s 25th anniversary. There’s even a trailer and a number of screenshots, all lifted from PSN before Sony reversed its mistake.

“Experience the epic conflict of Kain and Raziel in original form or with remastered graphics,” reads the description. The games included are remasters of Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver and Legacy of Kain: Soul Reaver 2, both cult classics developed by Crystal Dynamics for the PlayStation and PlayStation 2 respectively.

Here’s the (leaked) official blurb:

Experience the Legendary Narrative

Centuries after your former master, Kain, betrays and executes you, you rise again and embark on a relentless quest for revenge.

Wield the Powers of a Wraith. Slay your former vampire brethren with your claws, bolts of telekinetic energy, and the elemental Wraith Blade. Grow stronger by devouring the souls of your enemies.

Shift Between Realms. The Elder God has granted you the ability to shift between the Spectral and Material Realms. Traverse the realms to solve puzzles, reveal new paths, and defeat your foes.

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.

Life Is Strange Creator Don’t Nod Has Rough Start to the Year, Presses Pause on Two Projects

Original Life is Strange developer Don’t Nod has announced it had a rough start to the 2024/25 financial year and has pressed pause on two projects as a result.

Don’t Nod’s latest financial report revealed its recent release of Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden “did not achieve the commercial results” it hoped for and it has changed its plans going forward as a result.

The studio is “temporarily pausing two projects in the design phase,” for example, enabling it to “prioritize resources and maximize the chances of success of the titles with the greatest potential at present.”

This will seemingly see Lost Records: Bloom & Rage pushed to the forefront following a “particularly positive reception” at Gamescom, Don’t Nod said. The first part of this episodic, narrative adventure is expected in February 2025.

“We are obviously disappointed by our recent performance in an extremely competitive and selective market,” chairman and CEO Oskar Guilbert said.

“Despite an excellent critical reception, Jusant and Banishers: Ghosts of New Eden unfortunately did not achieve the commercial results we had hoped for, resulting in a deterioration in our 2024 half-year results and leading us to consider all possible options regarding our roadmap.”

Don’t Nod had seven games in the works as of March 2024, including the two which are now on ice. It revealed the number as part of an internal restructuring that saw three branches created to focus on role-playing games, narrative adventure games, and action adventure games respectively.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Spiders release fantasy RPG GreedFall 2 in early access, as its frustrated workers are offered concessions

Look out, it’s Spiders. It’s fun to write about Spiders, because you get to frighten people for a moment, before they realise you’re talking about the game development studio, Spiders. They have just released GreedFall 2: The Dying Land into early access. For those who don’t remember the first GreedFall, it was a colonial-styled RPG about landing on the magical shores of another continent and getting into scrapes with monsters and frontiersfolk. This time the story is furthering the fantasy Columbian exchange by putting you in the role of a native who’s been uprooted against their will and taken to the “old world”. The game’s release comes against a backdrop of dissatisfaction in the studio. But workers have gained some concessions in talks.

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God of War Ragnarok Mod Removes Controversial PSN Requirement — and Its Creator Has Vowed to Maintain It

Just days after PlayStation game God of War Ragnarok launched on PC to a ‘mixed’ Steam user review rating over its forced PlayStation Network account linking, a mod has been released that bypasses the requirement entirely.

Sony had made it clear on the God of War Ragnarok Steam page that a PlayStation Network account would be required to play Sony Santa Monica’s purely single-player adventure, but that failed to prevent a number of negative reviews singling out the policy.

While God of War Ragnarok’s Steam user review rating is now up to ‘mostly positive,’ one modder has decided to take matters into their own hands by stripping out the PSN requirement.

iArtorias’ NoPSSDK mod, which has been downloaded 1,764 times from Nexus Mods at the time of this article’s publication, “fully strips the PlayStation PC SDK runtime requirement for God of War Ragnarok.” But because the mod removes the PSN overlay from the game and mimicks an offline mode in the process, it’s being used to bypass the PSN / Steam account linking requirement. IGN has verified the mod does indeed work.

In a post on Nexus Mods, iArtorias vowed to maintain their mod even if Sony updates God of War Ragnarok to combat it. “I will try to maintain the tool even if something changes, but hopefully nothing crucial happens,” they said.

Sony will no doubt take a dim view of iArtorias’ mod, which is picking up Steam as more and more players download it. There are also calls for a similar mod for Sony’s other recently released PC games, such as Ghost of Tsushima. Ghost of Tsushima requires a PSN account for the Legends online multiplayer mode and to use PlayStation overlay, but it is not required to play the single-player game, which makes Sony’s decision to enforce a PSN requirement on the purely single-player God of War Ragnarok all the more baffling.

Sony’s PSN account requirement for its PC games was thrust into the limelight with the release of Arrowhead’s explosive PC and PS5 co-op shooter Helldivers 2 earlier this year. Helldivers 2 suffered a review bomb campaign on Steam after Sony made PSN accounts mandatory for PC gamers on Valve’s platform (Arrowhead subsequently decided to turn the Steam user review history graph into a cape, which is ready for launch but has yet to release).

Sony eventually backed down and reversed Helldivers 2’s PSN account requirement, but the game remains unavailable in the many countries that lack PSN. And indeed all Sony’s games on PC now suffer from this problem, which means God of War Ragnarök is unavailable on PC in over 100 countries.

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.

Shadows Of Doubt review: a buggy yet brilliant detective sim of grand ambition

For years, a dangerous and charismatic game has evaded the grasp of many designers. Some say it doesn’t exist, that no publisher would ever back it. I’m talking about the one city block RPG that Warren Spector has often mentioned. Sure, we’ve seen a few usual suspects already – Deus Ex Mankind Divided, Disco Elysium, even Else: Heart.Break – they all grimace in the line-up but nothing ever sticks. Now, out of the gloom of indie development, comes another perp ready to have his mugshot taken. Shadows Of Doubt is an open world detective sim that comes perilously close to being our guy. Its clothes, stature, gait, and fingerprints match the description of what Spector often describes. And yet, if you tilt your head, something is just a little off. The game isn’t confined to one block. It’s not an RPG precisely. And its simulation has plenty of bugs, jank, and unintentional comedy. But after all this time, in the absence of a smoking gun, shouldn’t we just put this guy in the slammer and call the case closed? I say yes, let’s. Officers! Arrest this game, it’s brilliant.

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Talking Point: So Then, Is This ‘Switch 2’ Leak Legit?

Is the Switch-ing hour upon us?

With all the rumours and speculation about Nintendo’s next hardware over the last few weeks (who are we kidding — last few years), the recent ‘leak’ of prototype pictures has piqued the interest of even the most level-headed Nintendo fans. The images show renders and what appear to be prototype casings for the main console with new, larger Joy-Con variants, plus a shot of a chipless motherboard.

While the fervour for Switch 2 news makes it easy to dismiss this as an elaborate fake — we all remember the oval NX pics based on a Nintendo patent that ‘leaked’ prior to the Switch’s reveal — these images align with the rumours and industry whispers regarding the upcoming console. And yesterday the expert folk over at Digital Foundry shared their opinion: they believe these leaks are “almost certainly” the real deal.

Read the full article on nintendolife.com

UK Deals: EA Sports FC 25 Preorders Drop to Just £51

It’s a big week for PlayStation fans, with a State of Play kicking off at 3 PM on September 24, and preorders for all things PS5 Pro and 30th anniversary live on September 26. We’ll be covering preorders for the PS5 Pro and the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Edition right here on IGN, or for immediate notifications, be sure to follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter/X.

For now, there’s an electric deal ongoing at eBay with promo code SEPTSAVE20. It’s a hot 20% off eligible retailers, including one of our favourites The Game Collection Outlet. This includes the upcoming EA Sports FC 25, with preorders down to £50.36 for PS5, PS4, and Xbox (down from £69.99). But, note that this code will expire by September 27, so act fast to avoid disappointment.

TL;DR – Best UK Deals Today

EA Sports FC 25

Sports! It’s another year, and another round of EA Sports FC madness. If you’re jumping into the game right at release, this is absolutely the best deal on FC 25 in the UK right now. Down to £50.36 with code SEPTSAVE20, best to nab this discount before it disappears or sells out.

Disney+ (ad-tier)

Considering what it offers, Disney Plus is still one of the best streaming services on the block. From classic Disney animated films to the latest Marvel and Star Wars movies and shows, excellent kids’ programming like Bluey, and so much more, it puts an incredible range of high-quality viewing options at your fingertips. Plus, at the moment, one of our favorite Disney+ deals is this excellent limited-time offer on the Disney+ Basic plan. You can score 3 months of Disney+ Basic right now for just £1.99/month.

The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom

Alright, Zelda fans, this is the big one. The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom is set to drop on September 26, 2024, and it’s flipping things around. This time, Princess Zelda steps in to take you on an adventure to save Hyrule. It’s down to £37.49 at Currys with promo code ZELDA25. Out September 26, the time has come to make your purchase before the expires or sells out!

Super Mario Party Jamboree (Switch)

Another big Switch release incoming, and another huge discount when buying at Currys. Use code JAMBOREE25 to bring your preorder down to just £37.49 before its release on October 17. The real question, will we get a Switch 2 reveal before then?

Pepsi Max No Sugar Cola Cans 24 x 330ml

How many cans of Pepsi is too many? Certainly not 24. For just £7.49 at Amazon right now, this is one of the best deals going for the fizzy nectar. Plus, if you’re addicted to it, why not opt for a Subscribe and Save plan at Amazon to bring your costs down to just £6.74 instead? You can cancel the plan right away if you change your mind, and still only pay £6.74, no questions asked.

Kindle Unlimited (3-Months)

Kindle Unlimited is fantastic, and there’s no reason to not take it up when it’s currently free for Prime Members as part of the early October Prime Day deals. Down from £28.97, a three month free membership is a huge deal, which comes with so much to enjoy for big readers.

With Kindle Unlimited, you gain unlimited access to millions of digital titles, comics, audiobooks, and magazines. Some of the books you can enjoy with Kindle Unlimited range from incredible comics like TMNT: The Last Ronin and All-Star Superman to absolute classics like The Fellowship Of The Ring. It’s a deal you definitely don’t want to miss.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Don’t Nod “pause” two game projects and “refocus” others following Jusant and Banishers sales disappointment

We liked Jusant, Don’t Nod’s clamber-upper masterpiece, and we also liked Banishers, their colonial ghost-busting action-adventure, but it seems that not enough people did. The company have posted a profit warning, reflecting an 11% decline in operating revenue for the first half of 2024. They’ve also “paused” two unannounced games in development, and altered other unannounced games to be more appealing to a “wider audience”. Beyond that, they’re considering “all possible options regarding our roadmap”, which sounds just a touch ominous.

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PS5 Pro Will ‘Hopefully’ Automatically Make Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Performance Mode Look Better Than Quality Mode Does Now, Dev Says

The developer of Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 is in talks with Sony over the game’s potential support for the upcoming PlayStation 5 Pro.

PS5 Pro, due out in November priced $700, has an AI-powered upscaling feature called PlayStation Spectral Super Resolution (PSSR) that can automatically improve the image clarity of games.

In an interview with IGN, Saber Interactive Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits said he’s hopeful the PS5 Pro will improve Space Marine 2 by default via PSSR.

“What I’m excited about is the AI upsampling of the graphics,” he said. “So I have my kickass AMD machine, a kickass Nvidia machine right there. And the game looks f***ing great. But when I play on the PS5, I play performance.”

Space Marine 2 has two display modes for PS5 and Xbox Series X: ‘Quality’ offers higher resolution, a stable 30 frames per second, and better graphics, whereas ‘Speed’ drops the resolution in a bid to hit 60fps.

However, Space Marine 2 has performance issues on PS5 relative to the Xbox Series X version. According to the tech experts at Digital Foundry, Space Marine 2 impresses on Xbox Series X and S, but “flags” on PS5. Here’s DF’s analysis:

“In testing Space Marine 2 on PC, it’s clear that the game’s encounters with alien swarms pushes the CPU hard – and at least as of patch 1.02, that results in lop-sided performance on consoles in the 60fps speed mode. Series X typically outperforms PS5 by around 10 to 15fps, despite both machines using the same settings and resolution targets. The lowest drops come when taking a flamethrower to the encroaching horde, where PS5 drops to the mid-30s while Xbox Series X is in the mid-40s.”

Willits’ “hope” — he admits he’s not a technical person — is that Space Marine 2 in Speed Mode on PS5 Pro will look better than Quality Mode does on the base PS5.

“So what I hope — and it’s just me, I don’t know anything technical — but what I hope is with the PS5 Pro, with the AI upsampling, that players will be able to play Space Marine 2 in Performance [Speed] Mode, and it’ll look better, hopefully — hopefully, I don’t know — it’ll look better than it does in Quality Mode now.”

It true, it means those who play Space Marine 2 in Speed mode on PS5 will benefit from its higher frame-rate (hopefully locked to 60fps this time, but no guarantees as the issue on the performance side — hitting 60fps — is the CPU limitation) and improved graphics. The game will have a higher resolution owing to the PS5 Pro’s faster GPU (more pixels) and then PSSR upscaling (better upscaling of those more pixels).

But what about a PS5 Pro Enhanced patch for Space Marine 2? Sony has said several games will be patched with free software updates for gamers to take advantage of PS5 Pro’s features (IGN has a list of all the confirmed PS5 Pro Enhanced games so far). These games can be identified with a PS5 Pro Enhanced label within their title.

We’re actually in discussions with Sony to figure out what we want to do.

Willits said Saber has no plans right now for Space Marine 2 to join the PS5 Pro Enhanced list, but did confirm that the company’s engineers are in talks with Sony to work out if it’s something they want to support.

“So we’re actually in discussions with Sony to figure out what we want to do,” Willits said. “Sony’s really happy about the game. Microsoft is happy about the game too! But yes, our engineers are discussing what we can do. We have no plans right now. We’re still trying to figure that out. Again, the PS5 Pro is brand new, our game, we’re just trying to catch up. So we just have to be patient with our official plans.”

Sony is set to host a State of Play broadcast today, September 24, at 3pm PT / 6pm ET, with news on more than 20 upcoming PS5 and PS VR2 games “from studios around the world.” Perhaps we’ll get a clearer idea of what to expect from the PS5 Pro at the show.

Meanwhile, we have plenty of Space Marine 2 coverage to check out, including Willits on the record-breaking success of the game and what it means for a potential story DLC or even Space Marine 3. Warhammer 40,000 superfan Henry Cavill has also been playing Space Marine 2, 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.

Near Mint is Slay The Spire but you’ve accidentally left your cards in the washing machine

This one’s a very simple build at the moment, but neat enough that I wanted to shout it out. Near Mint is a roguelike deckbuilder where you advance through a tower fighting slightly stronger iterations of the exact same skeleton. Ok, nothing too captivating so far. The twist comes from the cards: someone’s left them in their Oodie pouch, spilt BBQ sauce down it, then stuck it in the wash before taking the deck out. Now, all the cards have split apart into three pieces. It’s name-your-own-price on Itch here, and it’ll only take you a couple minutes to get acquainted, but I’ll explain the gist below. Gist is a good word. Satisfying to say. Gist.

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