The Ukrainian city of Mariupol came under heavy bombardment during the opening months of Russia’s invasion in 2022, a programme of artillery and air strikes that damaged or destroyed the majority of residential buildings and has killed or dispossessed thousands of people. It has now been occupied by Russia for almost two years, during which, as reported by the Associated Press, Russia has demolished, rebuilt and renamed much of the city, overwriting its Ukrainian heritage.
The Disco Elysium-inspired RPG Hollow Home is a memory of Mariupol from just before the war – not a 1:1 recreation, but a collection of details, colours, personalities and some familiar buildings, painstakingly amassed and offered up in the face of erasure. Speaking to me during a very brief demo at Digital Dragons in Poland this year, artist Anastasia Hlyniana called my attention to the plants jutting from old car tyres around the game’s isometric map, which she says are a common sight in Mariupol.
Beyond Good & Evil: 20th Anniversary Edition is out now on Switch and, by and large, it’s turned out to be a successful release for Ubisoft, boasting upgraded visuals from the original alongside some meaningful bonus material. We gave the game an 8/10 in our review, and you should definitely check out our full thoughts when you’re able.
Naturally, however, with multiplatform games such as this, the Switch version has unfortunately been subjected to a few downgrades when compared to PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The most noticeable change comes with the textures: characters, objects, and environments are significantly less detailed than the game’s console counterparts, though the use of lighting is at least on par across all systems.
Unique Ammo Mechanics: Absorb enemy fire to reload and retaliate.
Engaging storyline: Uncover the truth behind the lack of weapons in the galaxy.
Variety of modes: Enjoy different game modes offering varied challenges and replayability.
I’m Austin Sojka, the solo developer behind Romans I XVI Gaming, and I’m incredibly excited to announce that my passion project, Retaliate, will be launching on Xbox on July 15th, 2024.
Get ready to dive into a retro-inspired space shooter that brings a unique twist to the genre. In Retaliate, you start with no ammo. Instead, you must use your temporary shield to absorb enemy fire and convert it into your own ammunition. This mechanic adds a strategic layer to the classic shooter formula, making every encounter a thrilling challenge.
Your quest to uncover who has seized control of all the weapons in the galaxy and put an end to their reign of terror begins with Story Mode. The rich and immersive narrative provides a compelling backdrop to the intense space combat.
Your progress to put a stop to this foe is met with increasingly powerful enemies, armed with increasingly destructive weapons. But this is to your advantage! From homing missies, to bombs, to lasers and beyond. Every weapon of your enemy can become a weapon of your own.
Along the way, adjust your ship and shield to match your personal style. What is victory if you aren’t doing it in style? Customize your ship and your shield in the hangar. This allows for a personalized gaming experience that’s uniquely yours.
To keep the action fresh and exciting, Retaliate offers various game modes. In Endless Mode, you’ll test your endurance as you strive for the highest score against an infinite onslaught of enemies. Trials Mode presents the opportunity to hone your skill on the levels from Story Mode. And in Classic Mode, you can experience gameplay inspired by the original space shooter classics.
Retaliate is available for pre-order on Xbox now! Don’t miss your chance to dive into this exciting space adventure on July 15th. Your support means the world to me, and I’m incredibly grateful for the opportunity to share this game with you.
Retaliate is a retro inspired scrolling shooter with a twist, you start with no ammo!
Unlike those in the golden era of space shooters you are not so fortunate as to have infinite ammo. Instead use your shield to both destroy your enemies and absorb their weapons, then use your enemies’ weapons to retaliate!
• Story: Discover who has seized control of all the weapons in the galaxy and bring their reign of terror to an end!
• Arcade: Challenge yourself in your mastery of the mechanics of Retaliate. Go for a highscore in Endless mode, perfect the levels in Trials mode, or try the original that inspired it all in Classic mode.
• Hangar: What is victory if you’re not doing it in style? Customize your ship and your shield in the hangar.
The journey of developing Cygni hasn’t been easy, especially as a start-up, with this being our debut game. Nevertheless, every step of this journey has been filled with passion.
Our inspiration was sparked by the enjoyment we found in playing shoot’em ups on arcade machines in our youth – a fun experience that brought joy to all, regardless of high scores. We aimed to recreate this exhilarating experience using next-gen technology, with the power of the PlayStation 5. This has allowed us to deliver a fresh take on the shoot-‘em-up, with an epic story, and innovative gameplay features for a new generation of gamers.
Ava’s fight for survival
Cygni, a planet colonized by humans, thrives on ancient technology found in ruins left by an unknown civilization. These remnants serve as a vital power source and catalyst for technological progress. Our Konamiprotagonist Ava, a recent recruit in Cygni’s Air Force, pilots the Orca in a desperate struggle against a sudden, potent attack by bio-mechanical aliens— potentially Cygni’s original inhabitants.
Beyond the bullets
Energy Management: Switching between shields (health) and weapons (more firepower and missiles) on the fly.
Combat: Air-to-air and air-to-ground combat includes a real-time crowd system—not just a background prop; they are gameplay-related, where players can interact with allied forces on the ground. This mutual assistance is not only crucial for gameplay but also aids in obtaining pickups and increasing your score.
Weapon Enhancement: Upgrade and prepare weapons – even equipping your ship with two additional side-drones – before engaging in battle.
Designer Mode: Allows players to create, save, and manage projectile patterns on the go. This feature adds a layer of customization and strategy, enabling players to toggle between saved patterns on the go.
Three Difficulty Modes: Easy (being more accessible, by having 3 lives per level) Normal and Hard.
Local Co-Op: Players can revive each other at the cost of sacrificing shield points, while enjoying double the firepower.
Arcade Mode: Tailored for high-score enthusiasts. Players start from Level 1 and continue to the game’s end without any interruptions or cutscenes, but with only one life. This mode caters to those who enjoy a relentless challenge, and the highest scores can be recorded on global online leaderboards.
Colossal Bosses: Cygni features large bosses each with their own unique combat mechanics, providing players with challenging and memorable battle experiences.
Innovation with indie passion
Using our past experiences in filmmaking and animation, we wanted to push the visual storytelling boundaries in Cygni without compromising gameplay. This includes short cutscenes in-between levels and creating full scale high-quality CG cinematics (Intro and Outro to the game), uncommon to most indie games, and the genre. Cygni takes full advantage of the PS5’s power and its SSD allowing for crisp visuals, fast loading times and a smooth experience running at 60FPS/4K.
We wanted to create a shoot’em up that’s not entirely a bullet hell experience – sometimes you WILL get hit, but that’s OK. The core gameplay mechanic of balancing your ship’s power between its weapons and shields means you can strategize your offensive vs defensive gameplay (firepower vs. shield). We have utilized the DualSense controller’s directional haptic feedback to help elevate and enhance this in a tactile, but logical way.
Cygni: All Guns Blazing launches on PS5 next month on August 6.
The closure of Embracer-owned studios continues — this time it’s developer Piranha Bytes that’s reportedly shut down.
German studio Piranha Bytes was founded in 1997 and changed hands a number of times before it found its way to Embracer via publisher THQ Nordic in 2019. Piranha Bytes is perhaps best-known for developing fantasy role-playing series Gothic and Risen, but in recent years it released science fiction role-playing games Elex and Elex 2.
Earlier this year, Piranha Bytes acknowledged it was in a “difficult situation” amid devastating cuts and layoffs at embattled parent company Embracer. At the time, Piranha Bytes said it was trying to find a partner for its next project, apparently not with Embracer.
According to German website GameStar, Piranha Bytes shut down at the end of June. IGN has asked Embracer for comment.
Meanwhile, two former Piranha Bytes developers, Björn Pankratz and Jennifer Pankratz, have formed a new indie called Pithead Studio and kicked off a video series that promises to reveal what went down during the studio’s final months.
With Pithead Studio we have founded a new indie studio. In the future we will develop immersive and fantastic indie games.
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.
Warning: This article contains spoilers for Star Wars: The Acolyte Episode 5!
The lightsaber is undoubtedly one of the coolest (albeit sadly nonexistent) weapons in all of pop culture. What’s not to love about a laser sword that can cut through anything yet easily stow away in your pocket when not in use? Though as we’ve seen many times in the Star Wars universe, some Jedi and Sith aren’t content to stick to the traditional lightsaber design. The Acolyte is just the latest Star Wars project to continue that proud tradition.
From double-bladed lightsabers to lightsaber pikes to a lightsaber rifle (?), here are the strangest and most noteworthy lightsaber designs in the Star Wars franchise, including a few from the classic Legends continuity.
Lumiya’s Light-Whip
You have to give Marvel Comics credit for thinking outside the box on this one. Long before the days of villains like Darth Maul and Kylo Ren, 1985’s Star Wars #95 featured one of the most unusual lightsaber designs ever conceived. Lumiya, former protege of Darth Vader himself, constructed a whip based on ancient Sith designs. Built from a combination of unbreakable Mandalorian iron and lightsaber crystals, this weapon is the only lightsaber that creates a flexible beam. Lumiya nearly overwhelmed Luke with this deadly weapon, forcing him to wield two sabers at once to stand a chance in battle.
The Double-Bladed Lightsaber
The concept of a double-bladed lightsaber was introduced prior to The Phantom Menace, but this movie brought that weapon into the mainstream thanks to Darth Maul. Maul showed how deadly this weapon can be in the right hands, dominating two powerful Jedi at once. Similar doubled-bladed sabers have been used by characters like Savage Opress and Satele Shan.
The Lightsaber Pike
One of the more interesting variations of the double-bladed lightsaber is the lightsaber pike, a weapon used by the guards at the Jedi Temple on Coruscant. With a longer hilt and shorter blades, these sabers are designed to be used more like a staff than a traditional sword. The hilts also fold in half in a switchblade-style design, one that’s started becoming more popular in the Star Wars universe.
Pong Krell’s Sabers
Star Wars: The Clone Wars introduced a corrupt Jedi Master named Pong Krell who puts his own spin on the double-bladed lightsaber design. Krell’s saber blades are longer, like Maul’s, but the hilts fold in half, like the lightsaber pike. Krell is also the rare Jedi capable of wielding two double-bladed sabers at once, a feat only possible because of his incredible strength and extra arms.
Mace Windu’s Purple Saber
Canonically, there’s only one Jedi cool enough to wield a purple-bladed lightsaber. Lightsaber crystals almost always come in green, blue or red varieties, making Mace’s saber quite the collector’s item. We can’t help but wonder what became of the weapon after Anakin sliced Mace’s arm off in Revenge of the Sith.
Count Dooku’s Saber
Count Dooku was regarded as one of the finest swordsmen in the galaxy before defecting to the Sith. His lightsaber hilt features a unique, curved design, allowing for precise motions and strikes. This enhances the fencing-inspired fighting style Dooku has perfected. His protege, Asajj Ventress, wields a pair of similar sabers, though never quite as skillfully as her master.
Darth Sidious’ Sabers
Darth Sidious’s sabers stand out both for their ornamental design and the fact that the hilts are so short. That makes sense, given that Sidious has taken great pains to conceal his Sith powers and keeps his sabers concealed within the folds of his robes.
Ahsoka Tano’s Sabers
When Ahsoka Tano first appeared in Star Wars: The Clone Wars, she wielded a traditional green saber. But as the series progressed and Ahsoka became more confident in her abilities, she switched to the Jar’Kai style of combat, which focuses on dual sabers. Like a samurai, Ahsoka carries a standard-length blade and a shorter blade known as a shoto. Star Wars Rebels further sets her apart by making Ahsoka one of the rare Jedi to wield white lightsaber blades, with the blades also appearing in the live-action shows The Mandalorian and Star Wars: Ahsoka.
Maris Brood’s Sabers
Star Wars: The Force Unleashed introduced Maris Brood, a Jedi Padawan who falls to the Dark Side after the death of her master, Shaak Ti. Brood’s twin sabers are inspired by tonfa sticks, with a perpendicular hilt design that allow her to hold her sabers at unusual angles.
The Darksaber
The Darksaber is one of the oldest known lightsaber weapons in the Star Wars universe. Its archaic design results in a flat, angled blade that glows black and makes a distinctive hum. This blade has a long history with the warriors of Mandalore. Its creator, Tarre Vizsla, was the first Mandalorian inducted into the Jedi Order, and it’s since been used by Mandalorians like Pre Vizsla and Sabine Wren. The Darksaber also shows up in The Mandalorian’s Season 1 finale and played a key role in subsequent seasons.
Darth Malgus’ Saber
Ancient Sith Lord Darth Malgus has one of the few lightsabers that can probably kill a man even when it’s deactivated. The top of the hilt features two blade-like protrusions that make it seem as though Malgus carries an ax on the battlefield.
Darth Chratis’ Saber
Another powerful Sith Lord of the Old Republic era, Darth Chratis is notable for carrying a metal staff than can collapse in half and emit a lightsaber blade. The unusually long hilt gives Chratis extra reach in battle.
Darth Bane’s Lightsaber Pike
While the weapon the Jedi Temple Guards wield is called a lightsaber pike, The Clone Wars almost introduced a weapon even more in line with a traditional pike. This concept art shows the weapon intended to be used by Darth Bane in the Season 6 episode “Sacrifice.” It’s basically a long staff that emits a broad, tapered blade. But while Bane himself did appear in that episode, his weapon never made the cut.
The Grand Inquisitor’s Saber
Star Wars Rebels introduced the Inquistorius, an order of Dark Jedi charged with helping Vader wipe out the last of the Jedi. Each of these villains is equipped with a multi-purpose lightsaber. The hilt resembles nothing if not an identity disc from Tron, though it can also fold in half so that it looks like the hilt of a cutlass. These sabers can be used in either single or double-bladed mode. These weapons can also double as, well, personal helicopters.
Kylo Ren’s Saber
Kylo Ren wields an unusual crossguard saber that reflects his own unstable nature. The crystal powering his saber is cracked, requiring ports on either side of the hilt to vent the excess heat and plasma. The advantage is that Kylo’s saber has two extra blades (or quillons) that he often uses to his advantage in battle.
The Lightsaber Rifle
Jedi librarian Jocasta Nu may not seem capable of going toe-to-toe with Darth Vader and his Inquisitors, but she’s a surprisingly scrappy fighter when the need arises. Jocasta leveled the playing field by attaching her ordinary blue lightsaber to a specially designed rifle. That rifle uses the lightsaber as fuel for its incredibly destructive blasts. Unfortunately, the rifle can only fire so many shots before the lightsaber burns itself out.
Rey’s Switchblade Saber
In The Rise of Skywalker, Rey has a vision of herself wielding this deadly double-bladed lightsaber. This special weapon folds in half like Pong Krell and the Jedi Temple Guards’ weapons, but the twist is that it can still be used as a twin-bladed weapon even folded. Now that it’s been shown in the films (albeit as a vision), it’s only a matter of time before we see someone wielding a similar blade for real.
Vernestra Rwoh’s Light-Whip
While Lumiya has yet to make the jump from the classic Legends timeline to Disney’s official Star Wars universe, the lightsaber whip has been canonized thanks to the High Republic initiative. A young Vernestra Rwoh wields one of these weapons in the books, while a much older version of the character appears (along with her saber) in The Acolyte.
Qimir’s Modular Lightsaber
The Acolyte introduces Qimir/The Stranger, a Jedi-hating villain with a few tricks up his nonexistent sleeves. In addition to wearing a helmet and gauntlet made of the lightsaber-shorting substance known as cortosis, Qimir wields a red saber with a detachable secondary hilt. This allows Qimir to fight with a standard saber and a shorter shoto, similar to Ahsoka Tano.
They get knocked down, but they get up again, and you’re apparently never going to keep Eve Online studio CCP Games from trying to make an FPS set in the universe of their Excel(lent?) MMO happen. EVE Vanguard – the studio’s admirable fourth crack at it – was announced last September. Since then, it’s had several open betas and, according to a new and rather vague roadmap, should release sometime post this coming November. Here’s said infographic – more pork scratching-stained napkin scrawl than sat-nav.
Capcom and Tango Gameworks veteran Ikumi Nakamura hasn’t been shy about her love and nostalgia for the project that initiated her into AAA development: Ōkami. And now in a new video conversation with Hideki Kamiya, the pair have opened up about Ōkami’s development, including Kamiya’s belief that its development team as a whole…could have been better.
This comes from a new entry in a video series presented by Nakamura’s new studio, Unseen, called Ask Ikumi. In it, she’s been sharing all sorts of behind the scenes game development insights both on Unseen’s project, Kemuri, and her own development experience. In this latest video, she sits down to chat with longtime colleague Hideki Kamiya, with whom she worked on Ōkami, Bayonetta, and briefly on Scalebound. Their conversation largely focuses on Ōkami’s development, and the pair has a lot to say!
The video opens with Kamiya explaining his notorious philosophy of blocking anyone who annoys him on Twitter by asking questions he’s answered before, or not addressing him in Japanese. They then launch into a discussion of Ōkami’s development. First, they discuss its original conception in a photo-realistic style. Ōkami was apparently first conceived while Kamiya was working on Viewtiful Joe, and saw work on the Resident Evil remake for GameCube being done next to him. He was impressed by the realism, and wanted to use that style for something more “light-hearted” than the horror genre. So Ōkami was conceived as a game about “healing.”
But, he says, the photorealistic style they were aiming for was a struggle to get working on PS2. With Ōkami in trouble, the team was looking for new ideas, when character designer Kenichiro Yoshimura drew main character Amaterasu with a brush. This design sparked a new visual style for the entire game. Not long after, the studio leads convened a three-day summit over a weekend to revamp the game, during which time the Celestial Brush was pitched, and Ōkami changed directions for the better.
Ōkami was supposed to be Clover Studio’s signature title…It was supposed to be a dream team with all the best staff in each section. That was the plan, but in the end, not everyone, but as the whole team, I frankly think it was weak.
But even so, Kamiya is candid that Ōkami could have been even better. For one, Ōkami was supposed to have a bigger story, but the team ran out of time and ended midway through what Kamiya wanted to do. What’s more, Kamiya has apparently been notoriously critical of the team that worked on Ōkami, as Nakamura brings up. She reminds him that at a party near the end of development, Kamiya apparently said to the whole room, “This team was the worst!” Kamiya admits it, and while he backs off his comments at the time a bit, he goes on to say he was “half right.”
“Ōkami was supposed to be Clover Studio’s signature title,” he says. “That’s why we wanted to create a dream team. It was supposed to be a dream team with all the best staff in each section. That was the plan, but in the end, not everyone, but as the whole team, I frankly think it was weak.
“It wasn’t a dream team. There was a very drastic contrast within. There were certainly people without whom there would be no Ōkami. Those members shone brightly. Some of them really shone stronger even more than ones I had worked with previously. I’m not saying this as flattery, but you [Nakamura] certainly did. Naoki Katakai and Keniichirou Yoshimura, Sawaki Takeyasu, Mari Shimazaki, Hiroshi Yamaguchi. I’m really grateful, but when viewed as a whole, it wasn’t a dream team.”
Kamiya elaborates a little further in banter with Nakamura here and later in the interview, suggesting that the issue was that the level of passion and enthusiasm for Ōkami wasn’t high throughout the entire team, but instead was rather uneven. Nakamura acknowledges she noticed this, too.
“If I think about the Viewtiful Joe and DMC teams, the passion was uniformly high,” Kamiya says. “But in Ōkami’s team there was a huge contrast.”
“Because all the users who played and enjoyed Ōkami, I’m sure they all think it was made by a great team, but actually, that wasn’t the case,” Kamiya concludes. “This is my honest opinion.”
The full conversation between Kamiya and Nakamura is fascinating and worth watching in its entirety. In it, Kamiya refers to Ōkami as a “failure” (though he seems to be referring to commercial success) and notes that Clover Studio could have continued existing if it had been successful. Nakamura also states that Ōkami has had the greatest influence on the work she’s doing now at Unseen with Kemuri. You can watch the whole video right here, and then catch up on our own interview with Nakamura from IGN FanFest earlier this year.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Red Art Games recently announced that Elrentaros Wanderings, the new RPG from Rune Factory creator Yoshifumi Hashimoto, will be heading to the Switch digitally on 16th August 2024.
Developed by Marvelous subsidiary HAKAMA, the game blends life-sim elements with action-RPG gameplay, all the while boasting gorgeous, colourful visuals that aren’t too dissimilar from Square Enix’s Bravely series.
Hi everyone! We hope you are getting ready for a good summer and have enjoyed the last few weeks of gaming news.
As we gear up for Astro Bot’s launch on September 6, we wanted to let you in on a few surprises we have been reserving for our community.
In Astro Bot, you and Astro go on a mission to rescue the 300 bots crew who got scattered all over the galaxies. Many of the bots making up the crew are cameo characters that have marked the PlayStation history. There are over 150 to collect, each with their own funny animations relating to the game they originally came from.
To add a spice of fun, we’ve been hiding 4 of these Special Bots inside Astro’s Playroom, which came pre-loaded in every PS5 console. By unlocking these 4 hidden characters in Astro’s Playroom, you will be able to take them with you into the new game, Astro Bot, and add them to your starting crew. Are you following so far?
On June 7, we dropped in the first of these 4 Special Bots. Being cheeky robots ourselves, we thought it would be fun to turn this into a treasure hunt riddle and see how long it would take anyone to figure it out. What a big surprise to see it took the community less than 3 hours to clear that riddle. That was quite incredible. If you have missed it, here is a quick rundown of what you have to do.
We hid a secret capsule in the first area of GPU Jungle (Render Forest). To make it appear, you must stand on top of a big plant near the edge of the level, just behind the Bloodborne Hunter Bot. Inside the capsule, another Special Bot (Lady Maria) appears to be trapped and needs rescuing.
On the capsule itself, we included a small hint showing the image of a clock. But what could that mean? Looking carefully around the level nearby, you will find a similar clock symbol carved into one of the trees up above. It takes a few jumps to get there. It is at the back of a tree, the furthest away.
That’s when things get trickier (or so we thought!). Standing on that spot, you have to pause the game by pressing the options button. Instead of the normal pause, that makes a special Astral Clock screen appear. By entering the number 24.11.2015 (or November 24, 2015, the original release date of the Bloodborne DLC featuring Lady Maria), the hands of the clock magically turn and…
The capsule opens, letting our Special Bot free. Well done, let’s celebrate with a trophy!
Once freed, Lady Maria will wait for you in the Mission Room, ready to be transferred to Astro Bot when you are ready.
Just a few days ago, we added a second Special Bot, Selene, from the PS5 title Returnal. Once again, working together, you were able to crack the riddle and free her to make it 2 out of 4.
We hope you enjoy these updates as much as we had fun making them! In addition to these Special Bots, the PlayStation Labo received an update, so we invite you to check it out and add new artefacts to your collection.
That’s all for now. But the treasure hunt does not end here! We will be back soon with 2 more riddles on the run-up to the release of Astro Bot. And by the looks of it, we might have to make the next ones even harder.
Thank you all for playing along with us, and we will see you soon!
