Just when we thought we couldn’t be any more excited for Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake, Square Enix comes along and pushes our hype levels into overdrive. The remake’s official Japanese site has today been updated with new information and screenshots and several Japanese outlets have published extended gameplay footage showcasing the adventure in action.
Let’s start with the biggie and take a look at some of the new footage. Six different Japanese outlets have been permitted to share up to half an hour of gameplay and each showcases different elements ‚ so yes, there’s a lot to catch up on. Dengeki Online’s capture drops us into the game’s random encounters from the get-go, Famitsu’s contains a good deal of environmental exploration and 4Gamer’s shorter clip gives a whistle-stop tour of several locations in bite-sized chunks.
Get a first look at the newly announced Planet Coaster 2, coming to Xbox in fall 2024
Craft your perfect waterparks with a brand-new pool tool, flumes, waterslides and inflatable toys
Add personal flair to your parks with an enhanced creative suite, customisation options, management updates and more
Grab your goggles, Planet Coaster 2 has been announced and is set to arrive on Xbox Series X|S in the fall. In this highly anticipated sequel to Planet Coaster, you’ll now have the option to craft your dream waterpark, complete with flumes, waterslides, and a huge, sprawling pools to delight your guests. This can be a standalone park, or a section of a wider park with more traditional coasters and rides – the choice is yours! We got a brief first look at the game in a recent preview event, but before we take a dip into what’s new, check out the reveal trailer below for a small look at what’s to come.
Planet Coaster 2 promises a suite of amazing tools to craft an incredible waterpark for your guests. This all starts with the pool tool, which’ll allow you to place pools of all shapes and sizes for your park guests to enjoy. Once the water is down, the real fun begins. An extensive suite of funky flumes and slides can be placed in any way you want –whether they’re up in the air, full of twists and turns, or just offer a sharp plummet into the pool. What is a waterslide if not a wet rollercoaster?
There’s also a vast suite of customization options for your pools and attractions; change them to any colour you like and choose from a range of nautical themed décor – which is just one of several new themes – to jazz up the place. Planet Coaster 2 takes customisation even further than the original with the ability to add set pieces directly to rides, scaling them up or down for a perfect fit. We saw a little of this in action with a pre-built waterpark, and it looks fantastic. If you can dream it, you can absolutely build it with these tools, alongside the ability to share your creations with the community.
While waterparks are an exciting new part of the experience, they come in addition to all the traditional theme park rides and attractions featured in Planet Coaster, with more rides, more management options and more customization tools than ever before.
You’ll be able to mix and match within the boundaries of your park – go all out on the watery attractions or simply designate specific areas to pool activities and aquatic-themed rides. In the preview, we watched guests move between the main theme park area and the waterpark area with ease – the latter helps to offer more variety in what your parkgoers can do while they’re visiting.
There are also more fun tweaks to the management side of Planet Coaster 2. Guests will also need changing facilities so they can switch from their park outfits into their swimming garb. You’ll also need to ensure your pools are kept clean and safe for your parkgoers – if the water is suspiciously yellow, guests could be in for a bad time.
To fuel your park’s economy, you’ll also be able to sell pool passes that allow guests access to the waterpark areas, as well as inflatable pool toys from the Splash Emporium that’ll dramatically up the fun factor of your watery wonderland. This is just a small glance of what Planet Coaster 2 will offer, but for those looking for a more traditional coaster-crafting experience back on land, the sequel is not forgoing those traditional park-building elements.
There’s a newly enhanced suite of tools for all your main park needs – including a new path system that allows for wider walkways and sprawling plazas that make your park look lovely, while filtering guests more efficiently – a touch of authenticity that mirrors real world amusement parks. An enhanced track builder for rollercoasters will give you even more freedom over how and where to place your tracks for the ultimate thrill ride.
Customizing rides is a breeze with the blueprints, which allow you to make custom objects – anything from a small decoration to a fully-functioning rollercoaster – and share them with other players via the community workshop. You’ll be able to give anything you build a personal touch with the ability to add blueprint or scenery pieces to rides, and the new symmetry tool lets you make easy adjustments to those tiny details. For example, if you add or move a light or a small decoration on the side of one rollercoaster car, it’ll update the placement on all the cars at once – a blessing for the meticulous crafters out there.
And of course, looking after your guests is a prime responsibility. Parkgoers have been rebuilt to showcase more diversity and variety. Just like Planet Coaster, guests’ satisfaction will be measured via Excitement, Fear, and Nausea, and you’ll be able to see how they’re feeling about your park with greater ease thanks to an update in how they express their wants and needs.
Even with just a small peek at the game, Planet Coaster 2 looks to be an exciting iteration of the series with plenty of promising new features. The best news is there’s not too long to wait – Planet Coaster 2 is set to soar on Xbox Series X|S in fall 2024.
Hello everyone, this is Simon Dasan, A44’s creative director on Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn. Today we shed some light on one of the most mysterious aspects of our upcoming game, set for release on July 18 – the gods that have taken over the world of Kian. To do so we’ve released a brand new story trailer and are giving more information below!
Before the Siege
Before the Door to the Great Below was abruptly torn open, the people of Kian saw the ancient stories of gods and magic as nothing but myths. A new age fueled by black powder technology brought previously bickering nations closer together. Even the most conservative of places such as Three Peaks began to abandon the old ways in pursuit of the riches both trade and technology had to offer.
The Door to the Great Below itself remained as the one, grim reminder of the old world. Once upon a time, the city of Dawn had beenbuilt around it by those who struggled to let go of the dead. In modern times the Door had become an unexplainable curiosity, a landmark for a city that was forgetting its past.
The Siege of Dawn
Ten years before the events of the game an unprecedented disaster struck Kian; the Door opened and the Dead themselves marched into the world of the living, overrunning the unsuspecting city of Dawn. By the time there was any understanding of what had transpired the city was lost entirely, those lucky enough to escape the massacre having abandoned the city by the thousands.
The Dead threatened to overrun the entire world. The Coalition was thrown together to answer them, volunteers from many nations gathering themselves into a makeshift army. At tremendous cost, they pushed their enemy back, but ultimately failed to progress further than containing the Dead within the city walls. The Door to the Great Below remained open – and The Siege of Dawn had just begun.
Ten years later, black powder technology has finally advanced far enough to convince Sama, Field Marshal of the Coalition, to sign off on a mission behind enemy lines. Sama entrusts her unit of Sappers with the task of blowing the Door shut and ending a decade of suffering. However, the mission has overlooked a crucial detail; even after all these years, the Coalition remains in the dark concerning exactly how the Door opened… and who opened it.
The Sappers make it deeper into Dawn than any before them, only to walk straight into the lair of a god. Face to face with a creature straight from the pages of legend, the truth descends on them all at once. It was not only the Dead that walked through the Door on that fateful day 10 years ago, but the gods themselves, intent on claiming a world that had forgotten them.
The Sappers’ interference has drastic consequences. The gods are now truly loose on the world – each of them intent on shaping it into their own understanding of perfection.
The gods gone awry
Accustomed to independent domains in the Great Below, the gods have carved up the living world in the same fashion. Each god dominates their own part of Kian.
Dukmar
Dukmar controls Wanderer’s Rest, an ancient region that was once Kian’s cradle of civilization and is now the center of learning.
A self-proclaimed God of Knowledge, Dukmar’s understanding of the world is skewed by larger-than-life stories passed onto him by the souls of the Great Below. Unfortunately, the characters from these stories tend to be conquerors and tyrants, inspiring him to seek the same kind of dominance.
Freedom to wreak havoc on the Great Above is exactly the kind of opportunity Dukmar has always wished for. Arrogant and ambitious, he wastes no time seizing an entire city and taking its population hostage to build monuments to himself.
Rammuha
Rammuha controls Three Peaks, taking advantage of the conservative beliefs of its people to rule over the region without needing to reveal herself directly.
A Goddess of Order, her understanding of the world is fueled by flawed mortal ideas of rules and justice. Rammuha has always existed in the shadow of more powerful gods in the Great Below, forging her into a cunning and resourceful adversary.
Lacking brute force, she has become adept at manipulating others to get what she wants. She knows exactly how to turn the piety of the Knights of Three Peaks against them to turn a once faithful order into her personal army.
Inaya
Inaya, The Goddess of Life, works tirelessly in her role to keep the natural order of the world intact. Unlike the other gods, she is devoted to her duties and has no interest in the invasion of the Above.
Of all the gods, Inaya shares the closest relationship with Enki. Outside the natural order, he may be the only thing that matters to her.
Uru
Uru controls Dawn itself, never letting the Door to the Great Below out of his sight.
Uru the Ravager is the most powerful of the gods, burdened with controlling the Door between life and death itself.
All the other gods, even Enki, fear Uru’s power. The only force capable of restraining him is the Door itself, which he cannot venture far from.
That’s it for a look at the gods of Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn! We hope this sneak peek at their history and motivations leaves you wanting to see and discover more… And thankfully you don’t have to wait too long! You can pre-order Flintlock: The Siege of Dawn on PlayStation 5 now (with a 10% discount for PlayStation Plus members), ahead of its launch on July 18. A Deluxe Edition, including additional cosmetics for Nor, is also available.
Sony has opened up the Concord early access beta to all PlayStation Plus members.
In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Alice Labrecque, communications manager at developer Firewalk, revealed details on the pre-download, when the servers go live, as well as PC system requirements for the team-based multiplayer shooter.
The Concord early access beta runs from tomorrow, July 12 to July 14, with the open beta running from July 18 to July 21. PlayStation Plus members need only look for the option to download and play the early access beta when they boot up their PS5.
Here are the global release times for Concord’s early access beta across PlayStation 5 and PC:
July 12
10am PDT
1pm EDT
2pm BRT
6pm BST
7pm CEST
July 13
2am JST
2am KST
3am AEST
If you are playing on a PS5 you can pre-download the Concord beta starting today, Thursday, July 11 from 10am PDT.
Pre-ordering any edition of Concord grants you access to the beta early access weekend, as well as four extra codes you can share with friends so you can squad up with your own crew and take on rival crews together. Extra codes will be for the same platform you pre-ordered on.
Meanwhile, the Concord open beta runs from Thursday, July 18, at 10am PDT to Sunday, July 21. You can pre-download on PS5 starting Wednesday, July 17 at 10am PDT.
Labrecque said during the early access beta and open beta, all 16 of the launch Freegunners (player characters) will be unlocked and available to play and customize. “Whether you want to snipe from afar, lock down an area, provide support for your teammates, or… just dive head-first into the fight, our roster of Freegunners has something for everyone,” Labrecque said.
Here’s what you can play in the Concord early access weekend:
Four maps: Freewater, Star Chamber, Water Hazard, Shock Risk
Three modes: Cargo Run, Clash Point, Trophy Hunt
All 16 Freegunners
The open beta weekend includes all early access content plus new map Bone Mines and mode Area Control.
It’s worth noting early access and open beta progress carries over between the weekends, but progress from either beta will not carry over to the official launch on August 23. There’s full crossplay across PS5 and PC.
As for rewards, you get the Frog Weapon Charm (Frog stands for “From Orbit to Ground” and is the name of the Northstar’s drop ship), a Star Flare Icon, and Business Card for taking part.
And finally, here are the Concord beta PC specs:
The Concord beta will also support:
4K
Ultrawide 21:9
Uncapped framerate
KBM and DualSense Controller Support
Custom Key Mapping
FSR 3
DLSS 3.7
Last month, Sony said Concord’s $39.99 price point “provides the full experience.” Following Concord’s divisive reveal during Sony’s State of Play showcase in May, some had wondered whether the live service hero shooter would release in free-to-play form. Confirming Concord launches in both physical and digital standard editions for $39.99 / £34.99 / €39.99, Pam Piscitello, director of marketing and operations at developer Firewalk, said in a post on the PlayStation Blog that this full experience includes all 16 playable characters (called Freegunners in-game), 12 maps set on various worlds, and six team-based modes. This will expand shortly after launch with regular, post-launch updates for all players at no additional cost, Piscitello added.
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.
BioWare games feature implied nudity and sex scenes, as fans of the likes of Mass Effect and Dragon Age know well, but it sounds like upcoming action role-playing game Dragon Age: The Veilguard will take BioWare romance to a whole new level.
Game Informer confirmed topless nudity in the Dragon Age: The Veilguard character creator, which lets players customize their version of protagonist Rook. Veilguard game director Corrine Busche wouldn’t go as far as to confirm that this also means topless nudity features elsewhere in the game, but it very much sounds like that’s what players can expect. “This is a mature RPG,” Busche teased.
BioWare remained tight-lipped when asked if Dragon Age: The Veilguard also features “bottom nudity”, insisting it wants fans to find out for themselves, no doubt in romance scenes with the various party members.
There are obvious parallels to be made between The Veilguard and last year’s critical darling Baldur’s Gate 3. The latter became known not only for its deep romances (like in The Veilguard, Baldur’s Gate 3 player characters can romance any companion regardless of gender or race), but also for its sex scenes, including one involving a Wild-Shaping Druid that went viral.
Speaking to IGN last month, Busche said how sexually explicit the scenes are varies between characters. “Some of them are more spicy than others,” she said. “Just like real life, our companions have such diverse personalities. Some of them are more physical, more aggressive, and some of them are more… we have a gentleman necromancer, for instance, that is more intimate and sensual.”
Veilguard launches 10 years after the third game in the series, Inquisition, came out, and 15 years after the first game, Origins. Last month BioWare fully revealed Veilguard alongside its new name, with new info on the character creator and an extended look at gameplay. As part of our Summer Game Fest coverage, we were able to learn a lot about how The Veilguard will handle romance and player choice.
Dragon Age: The Veilguard is currently slated to release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC in fall 2024.
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.
If you’re a strategy game aficionado who has yet to cast a monocled eye over Hooded Horse’s catalogue, 1) which map hexagon have you been skulking under? And 2) you’re in for a treat. Founded in 2019 with the signing of Terra Invicta, and led by Dallas, Texas-based chief executive officer Tim Bender and chief financial officer Snow Rui, Hooded Horse have spent the past five years grabbing up original strategy games and strategy RPGs like a smaller civ quietly steamrolling bandit fiefdoms, while larger empires like Creative Assembly and Paradox Interactive bleed each other white in the centre.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake features new story elements, Performance and Graphics modes on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, and more.
Speaking to Famitsu and translated by @Genki_JPN on X/Twitter, Square Enix said the classic role-playing game’s remake features several improvements for modern players while staying true to the original.
Perhaps most notably, Square Enix is adding new story elements to Dragon Quest 3, and while it’s unclear how significant these will be, everything was supervised by series creator Yuji Horii.
On the technical side of things, the RPG will support 4K resolution on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, though console players must choose between it and a 60 frames per second Performance Mode.
Players can also choose between two protagonist appearances and three difficulty settings. Myriad quality of life features will also be available, including autosaves (though manual saves are still available), the ability to speed up battle with the shoulder buttons, two camera modes, a mini map which can be toggled on and off, and an NPC conversation log which saves the last 30 interactions.
Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake otherwise features towns which appear like miniatures in the overworld in classic RPG fashion, monsters which can appear in towns, a day and night cycle, and more.
The game was announced as a recreation of the 1988 original and launches November 14, 2024, meaning it will arrive more than three decades later. The HD-2D style was coined when Square Enix released Octopath Traveller for Nintendo Switch in 2018, which had 2D characters moving through high quality backgrounds in a tribute to classic turn-based RPGs.
In our preview of the game, IGN said: “The HD-2D foundation once again proves to be nearly foolproof when it comes to recreating that classic charm and a great way to modernize an old RPG that many would not have otherwise revisited.”
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
Nintendo recently revealed a short, spooky teaser for some sort of Switch game known as Emio. Details are pretty scarce at the moment, so naturally, fans worldwide have begun to analyse the trailer and speculate what it might actually be. Is it a new IP or an entry in an existing franchise? Is it being developed by Nintendo, or is a third-party project funded by The Big N? Is it from Silent Hill 2 developer Bloober Team? Who knows?
Since it’s likely we’re in for a bit of a wait until Nintendo spills the beans – whether that be mere hours or several days – fans have decided to kill some time by doing what they do best: create some awesome Emio fan art.
George R.R. Martin has revealed a set of new covers for A Game of Thrones and the entire A Song of Ice and Fire book series.
Revealed on his blog, the stunning new covers “capture the vastness of Westeros and the dangerous journey readers will encounter.” The five books are available in a boxed set and will be available online and in stores in October 2024, though no price was revealed.
“There is a raw and gritty quality to linocut and woodcut art,” the post continued. “A certain starkness that seemed to fit the stories, and a long history to the art form that felt right for this world.
“This cover design process paired linocut artist Mark Seekins and designer Tim Green, with art direction from David G. Stevenson. They worked together to develop sketches and carve the designs into blocks of linoleum, where the raised areas were inked and pressed onto paper. The covers feature several colors, which required separate blocks for each color layer. The finished prints were then photographed and incorporated into the covers.”
This boxset doesn’t include the entire A Song of Ice and Fire story, of course, as Martin famously, perhaps infamously, has yet to finish the final two books.
No writer is blessed with producing a perfect first draft, of course, and Martin’s “writing” of The Winds of Winter will also encompass re-reading, re-writing, editing, planning, and so on, so there’s still plenty of work to be done without actually increasing the page number total.
An estimated release window for The Winds of Winter was first given in 2011 when the previous book, A Dance With Dragons, was released, and Martin said it would take three years to finish at a good pace. That set expectations for a 2014 release date, but year after year, and delay after delay, Martin still isn’t ready to release the penultimate A Song of Ice and Fire entry.
Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.
I too desire to eat the moon. In Skate Story, you are made of glass and you will burst into a thousand miniscule shards if you bail. You have signed a four-page contract with the Devil, cursing you with this fragile body yet blessing you with a fearsome skateboard with which to fulfill your quest to digest Earth’s only natural satellite. I’ve only now got hands on a demo shared earlier this year at Tribeca games festival, and I’m reverberating with pleased energy at the dreamlike atmosphere of this demonic kickflip simulator.
