Available for Xbox Insiders on PC: Postgame Recaps
Alex Charters, Senior Product Manager
Starting today, Xbox Insiders in the PC Gaming Preview can try postgame recaps in the Xbox PC app on Windows. After you finish a play session, you may see a quick recap that highlights moments from that session—like captures you took, achievements you unlocked, and relevant in‑game events—plus an option to share feedback so we can keep improving the experience.
Postgame recaps are designed to show up only when they’re useful—not after every game. You’re most likely to see a recap when you take a capture through Game Bar or unlock an achievement. On your first time playing a game (and occasionally after that), you may also see a short check‑in and recommendations for other games you might enjoy.
You’re in control of what you see. You can turn individual recap types on or off in Settings > App > Postgame recaps to tailor the experience to your preferences.
To support postgame recaps, the Xbox app may run in the system tray while you play so it can show the recap after you exit your game. We’ve optimized this to minimize memory and performance impact. If you opt out of all postgame recap types, the Xbox PC app will no longer start in the system tray when you launch a game.
We’d love your feedback—tell us what you found helpful, what felt unnecessary, and what you’d like to see after future gaming sessions.
How to Get Xbox Insider Support and Share Your Feedback
We want to thank all the Xbox Insiders for the feedback you share with us. If you’re an Xbox Insider looking for support, please join our community on the Xbox Insider subreddit, where official Xbox staff, moderators, and fellow Xbox Insiders are there to help. We recommend adding to threads with the same topic before posting a brand new one. This helps us support you the best we can! We’re grateful to our Insider community for the helpful feedback you provide, it continues to shape the future of Xbox.
For more information on the Xbox Insider Program, follow us on Twitter at @XboxInsider and keep an eye on this blog for all the latest news.
For more information: follow us on X/Twitter at @XboxInsider and this blog for announcements and more. And feel free to interact with the community on the Xbox Insider SubReddit.
Avowed Celebrates Anniversary with Massive Update – and Comes to PlayStation 5
Gabriel Paramo, Gameplay Director, Avowed
Summary
Three new playable races and customization options added, allowing you to make your ideal envoy.
New Game+ mode and custom game options extend the game beyond the ending.
Photo Mode, a brand-new weapon type, and a host of quality-of-life improvements add to Avowed’s largest update yet.
A year after the initial launch, the Avowedteam is capping its post-launch roadmap with a special anniversary update that goes live for all today. This update, for which full details can be read over on the Obsidian site, brings with it a variety of community requested features, a host of quality-of-life fixes, and a few extra additions that the team wanted to get in just for the fans. Avowed is also launching on PlayStation 5 with the past year of updates included, allowing more players to get in and explore the Living Lands.
New Faces with New Races
To top the list of big new features being added to Avowed is the ability to choose from three new races during character creation. Joining the pre-existing human and elves are the stout and well-traveled Dwarves; the two-toned skin, hairy, and big ear having Orlans; and the large and uniquely strong Aumauan. Players will be able to choose as one of the five when starting off their adventure and bringing their envoy to the Living Lands.
If you are in the middle of your journey and want to try the new races, a new Magic Mirror has been added to the Party Camp that allows you to change your character at any time. With it you will be able to change to a new race, check out the new godlike feature variants, or—if you want a quick change of appearance —use one of the new character presets that have been put in, all without needing to create a new character.
And for those who may have completed the game but want to hop back in and try out one of the different races, you don’t have to start entirely from scratch…
Retake the Living Lands Again with New Game+
When you’re ready for another journey into the Living Lands, you can now do so with the New Game+ mode that has been added. Once you have completed the game after the anniversary update has gone live, you will get the chance to create a New Game+ save. This feature will allow players to bring over all unlocked abilities (with the exception of godlike abilities), unique weapons and armor, and unlocked enchantments. Everything else for the player goes back to a new game slate; however, that does not mean danger is minimized. Enemies have their stats increased so they will be tougher, but to balance that out, the player gets an increase to their attribute points cap – things like Might, Constitution, Dexterity, etc. – from 15 to 30 so they can bring the hurt to stronger foes.
Offering even more options, you can try out the custom game difficulty modifiers to make enemies hit harder (or softer), have more (or less) health, or even be faster. Modifiers can also be adjusted so that the player can do more damage, have more health, magic, and stamina resources, and even allow them to carry more items. The game can truly be played your way.
But That’s Not All!
Rounding out the anniversary update is the addition of a Photo Mode so you can capture all the best angles of your envoy, as well as your companions or just the Living Lands, and share them with your friends. A brand new weapon type – the quarterstaff – lets you fulfill your archmage dreams. Plus, there are a host of quality-of-life updates like improved lighting, the ability to skip previously unskippable conversations with a certain god, and some enemies respawning to keep areas lively.
For those who are making their return to Avowed to check out the anniversary update, welcome back. If this is your first time in the Living Lands, you are about to enter a world of wondrous flora and fauna, exceptional exploration, and satisfying combat. The team has added a ton to the game since its initial launch, from community requested features like more abilities for the fighter and ranger skill trees, arachnophobia mode, enemies being able to use player abilities, and a host of other changes. The fate of an island is up to you; forge it to your will.
Avowed is available now for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, ROG Xbox Ally handhelds, Xbox Cloud, PlayStation 5, Battle.net, and Steam for $49.99 for the standard edition and $59.99 for the premium edition. It is an Xbox Play Anywhere title and available with Xbox Game Pass Ultimate and PC Game Pass.
Premium Edition includes:
– Avowed base game
– Up to 5 days early access
– Two Premium Skin Packs
– Access to Avowed Digital Artbook & Original Soundtrack
Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder?
The Weird and Wonderful Living Lands
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
Visceral Combat to Play Your Way
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance.
Companions as part of your journey
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.
Welcome to the Living Lands, a mysterious island filled with adventure and danger.
Set in the fictional world of Eora that was first introduced to players in the Pillars of Eternity franchise, Avowed is a first-person fantasy action RPG from the award-winning team at Obsidian Entertainment.
You are the envoy of Aedyr, a distant land, sent to investigate rumors of a spreading plague throughout the Living Lands – an island full of mysteries and secrets, danger and adventure, and choices and consequences, and untamed wilderness. You discover a personal connection to the Living Lands and an ancient secret that threatens to destroy everything. Can you save this unknown frontier and your soul from the forces threatening to tear them asunder?
The Weird and Wonderful Living Lands
The Living Lands is a place that feels foreign yet somewhat intrinsic to you as it feels the island itself is calling out to you for help. Explore an island home to many different environments and landscapes, each with their own unique ecosystem.
Visceral Combat to Play Your Way
Mix and match swords, spells, guns, and shields to fight your way. Dig into your grimoire for spells to trap, freeze or burn enemies, bash them with your shield, or use range bows to attack from a distance.
Companions as part of your journey
Companions from a spread of species will fight alongside you, with their own unique set of abilities. From a former mercenary to an eccentric wizard, they will be part of your journey with your choices shaping them as you help them with their quests.
Coming to Xbox Game Pass: Kingdom Come Deliverance II, The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt, EA Sports College Football 26, and More!
Megan Spurr, Senior Community Lead, Xbox Game Pass
Happy Tuesday everyone – I know this day of the week is always better when it comes with a side of games coming soon, games available today, and updates you might have missed for some of your favorites. Let’s jump in!
Available Today
Aerial_Knight’s DropShot (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – February 17 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Available Day One with Xbox Game Pass! Aerial_Knight’s Dropshot is a high-speed, stylized FPS / Race where you play as Smoke Wallace. As a kid, he was bitten by a radioactive dragon, turning his skin purple and giving him the power to fire bullets from his fingertips. Race rivals, fight dragons, shoot smart, and look cool when you land.
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – February 17 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora is a first-person, action-adventure game set in the never-before-seen Western Frontier of Pandora. You, a Na’vi, were abducted, trained and molded by the human militaristic corporation RDA to serve their purpose. Fifteen years later, you’re free but find yourself a stranger in your birthplace. Reconnect with your lost heritage, discover what it truly means to be Na’vi, and join other clans to protect Pandora from the RDA. Plus, enjoy the new third person update to experience Pandora from a whole new perspective.
Avowed (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – February 17 Now with Game Pass Premium
A year of updates comes to an end with new playable races, New Game Plus Mode, Photo Mode, custom game options, a new weapon type in the quarterstaff, and a host of gameplay fixes and improvements. This update offers a perfect time to both start or return to your journey in the Living Lands.
Coming Soon
Death Howl (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – February 19 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass
Already available on PC in Game Pass, journey through the sorrowful spirit world in a soulslike deck builder. Craft cards and claim powerful totems to defeat the woeful spirits lurking in the mystical lands. Unravel the tale of a grieving mother in her desperate attempt to defy death and bring back her son.
EA Sports College Football 26 (Cloud and Xbox Series X|S) – February 19 Game Pass Ultimate
EA Sports College Football 26 is now on The Play List. Rep your colors across 136 FBS schools featuring over 300 authentic coaches, 2,700 new plays, and 10,000 college athletes with upgraded abilities. Ultimate subscribers can play now with EA Play, then score a Supercharge Pack from February 19–March 20 and save 10% on EA digital purchases.
The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt – Complete Edition (Cloud and Console) – February 19 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium
Explore a legendary dark fantasy open world as monster slayer Geralt of Rivia in an epic quest to find his daughter — the Child of Destiny — Ciri. Follow a branching story full of choice and consequence across distinct regions, enjoying everything The Witcher 3 has to offer through the Complete Edition.
TCG Card Shop Simulator (Game Preview) (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, Handheld, and PC) – February 24 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass
Open and manage your own local game store. Stock shelves with the latest booster packs or crack them and collect the cards for yourself. Set your own prices, hire staff, host events, and expand your card shop.
Dice A Million (PC) – February 25 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Available Day One with Xbox Game Pass! Have you ever tried to roll 1,000,000 on a set of dice? No? Build the right bag of die, and you might just pull it off. The luck of the roll is in your capable Hand, decked out in powerful rings, with more than a few tricks up the sleeve.
Towerborne (Full Game Release) (Console, Handheld, and PC) – February 26 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass
Towerborne is launching as a complete game from an in-progress preview on February 26. The full release adds more story, areas, enemies, and progression, with updated difficulty and balance for different playstyles. Cosmetic rewards are now earned through gameplay, along with many polish and quality improvements. With launch you’ll also get offline play and optional online co-op.
Final Fantasy III (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – March 3 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass
With the power of light nearly eclipsed by the power of darkness, only the crystals’ four chosen adventurers can save the world.
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – March 3 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass
Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a thrilling Action RPG, set amid the chaos of a civil war in 15th Century Bohemia. You are Henry of Skalitz – an ordinary man doing extraordinary things – caught in a gripping tale of revenge, betrayal and discovery as he embarks on an epic journey.
In Case You Missed It
Menace (Game Preview)(PC) – February 5 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Command a strike force of marines, mercenaries, and criminals in the lawless Wayback system, cut off from the Core Worlds. Unite factions to face an unknown threat. Deploy tanks, walkers, and infantry with a massive selection of equipment to choose from, train your troops, plan operations, and engage in tactical battles.
Diablo II: Resurrected (Console and PC) – February 11 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, PC Game Pass
High on Life 2 (Cloud, Xbox Series X|S, and PC) – February 13 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
An intergalactic conspiracy threatens the fate of humanity! Team up with a wide cast of talking alien guns as you shoot, stab, and skate your way through exotic locales across the galaxy to take down the bad guys and save your favorite species (humans)!
Game Updates
Overwatch: Season 1: Conquest (Console and PC) – February 10 Game Pass Ultimate, PC Game Pass
Season 1: Conquest launches Overwatch’s next big story as five new Heroes arrive together, bringing fresh playstyles and a faction-driven Conquest event. Choose your side as Overwatch and Talon collide, with evolving gameplay and a narrative that shapes the future.
In-Game Benefits
Microsoft Mahjong (PC) – February 24 Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, Essential, PC Game Pass
Find your focus in Microsoft Mahjong! Get in the zone with soothing sounds & tranquil scenes as you pair tiles to solve the board. Ramp up difficulty, tackle Daily Challenges, and increase clarity as you master Achievements. Lock into laid-back fun as you recharge with Mahjong.
Leaving February 28
The following games are leaving the Game Pass library soon. Jump back in to tie up any loose ends or save up to 20% off your purchase to keep the fun going!
Monster Train (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Expeditions: A MudRunner Game (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Injustice 2 (Cloud, Console, and PC)
Middle Earth: Shadow of War (Cloud, Console, and PC)
As always, we’ll be back here soon for more games, more updates, and if you keep an eye on @XboxGamePass, more memes. Talk soon!
Why the Blizzard Showcase Was the Just the Beginning of a Massive 2026
Joe Skrebels, Xbox Wire Editor-in-Chief
For the last few weeks, Blizzard has been going big. Blizzard Showcase brought together the four key titles – Overwatch, Diablo, World of Warcraft, and Hearthstone – and gave the space to bring their updates, announcements (and some surprises!) in their own ways. It’s all a part of the road to BlizzCon 2026: the year of Blizzard’s 35th anniversary, not to mention the 30th anniversary of Diablo, and the 10th anniversary of Overwatch. This is the perfect space in time to look back at the universes that have brought us together and look forward to the future.
For Blizzard President, Johanna Faries – speaking on the Official Xbox Podcast – the Showcase has been a combination of careful planning and happy serendipity:
“We’ve been really thoughtful about [giving] our players what they’re hoping for, and hopefully delight them and surprise them in some big ways. I think those have landed. And we’ll just continue to sort of prime what we hope to be a very, very big year as we continue on here in 2026.
“Our franchise teams, and our game teams within those franchises, think a lot about, ‘What do we want to do next year? What do we want to do five years from now?’ Maybe, ‘What do we want to do 10 years from now?’ And we’ve organized our thinking and our strategic planning to make sure that comes together in a really thoughtful way. It’s very intentional how we’ve slate planned into the future.
“At the same time, the inorganic part was we sat back well over a year ago, and I said, ‘Look, there’s something bigger going on here, and I think we can marry this. I think we can make this a party on behalf of all of Blizzard Entertainment.’ And hopefully if you’re a fan of Blizzard, you’re gonna feel something bigger than just, ‘Oh, I got what I needed from Overwatch’ or, ‘I got what I needed from Diablo.’”
That idea – that this is a celebration of momentum across Blizzard, not just a series of game announcements – comes with a key extra detail: this is going to be a massive year. Showcase represents what Blizzard has to show us now, but its 2026 is far from over – not least with a return to the legendary BlizzCon later this year.
“Right now, we have a huge swath of announcements that our games have just brought forward. And why I say that is I think we’re pretty excited to say: There’s still BlizzCon coming in this calendar year, right? Imagine what else we’re stacking up.
“We’ve got to execute on that. We’ve got to make sure we’re delivering in a big way. But I think the teams are cooking. They’re very excited to bring some major announcements, maybe some surprises.”
We certainly haven’t seen everything Blizzard, and its games, will have to offer this year – but the wider point of this moment is to set the table for the future of the company. Blizzard is celebrating 35 years of existence by preparing for the next 35 years.
“I think there’s just an energy around this moment and how this is sort of a launching pad for a big future. It’s very fulfilling to be able to come into work and feel busy in that way, pressure in that way, stakes in that way. I think we’re all really proud of being able to try and pull it off. But again, it’s many years in the making.”
As Faries makes clear, that long-term thinking is being applied per-franchise, and per-game – making sure that it’s not just Blizzard’s future being considered, but how each individual title can thrive:
“What do we want the next 35 years to look like? What’s the vision? What’s the direction? We’ve set a lot in motion with respect to that, making sure we’re clear on it, making sure we’re coordinated on it, making sure that every year from this moment forward, there’s sort of a reliability that players can depend on us to launch in big ways, launch in surprising ways. Maybe take some zags!
“Not everything’s going to hit. That’s gaming. But in many ways, let’s understand where we are going – not only as a company, but by franchise, by game, right? I think at minimum, if you were to ask any of our major teams right now, ‘Hey, what’s your plan for the next three-, four-plus years?’, they have a very clear answer.
“I think this is just very much the beginning – I know you often kind of hear that – but I think ’26, in many ways, really represents a long road ahead of us in terms of things to be excited about.”
You can hear much more from Johanna Faries about Blizzard Showcase, BlizzCon, and Blizzard’s games on the Official Xbox Podcast right now
Welcome to Next Week on Xbox! In this weekly feature we cover all the games coming soon to Xbox Series X|S, Xbox One, Xbox on PC, 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!
Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown Deluxe Edition
Star Trek: Voyager – Across the Unknown is a story-driven survival strategy game in which the fate of the iconic starship is in your hands. Take the helm, manage the ship and resources, and make difficult decisions. Will you be able to bring home the ship and its crew?
You play as Styx, a cunning goblin with a caustic sense of humour who has mastered the art of infiltration. Your goal? To get your hands on Quartz, the most precious – and dangerous – resource in a world on the brink of a war between elves, humans, and orcs. Styx: Blades of Greed takes the proven formula of the first two games and perfects it by putting freedom and creativity at the heart of the experience. Explore vast vertical environments and master new tools and skills. Whether you’re discovering Styx for the first time or you’ve been a fan from the beginning, greed has never been so much fun!
Aerial_Knight’s Dropshot is a fast, stylish action shooter that throws you straight out of a plane and into the chaos. Take out enemies, dodge wild traps, and make it to the ground first. Filled with finger blasting, Dragons, Powerups, and a bunch of stuff trying to take you down midair. Don’t let anything get in your way of becoming a legend! Just try to look cool and land in one piece!
Welcome to Hex Park—a colorful playground of brainteasers where every move matters. Rotate and align arrow tiles to guide directions, pop obstacles, and clear the board in as few moves as possible. It’s easy to pick up, delightfully tricky to master, and impossible to put down.
HeadHunters is a chaotic platform fighter for up to 4 players, online or on the couch. Blast, bash, and body-swap your way through explosive arenas in fast-paced, no-rules mayhem. It’s all about dodging, blasting, and making your mates scream “no way!”. Heads will definitely roll!
In a place in Albuquerque, New Mexico, USA, a strange accident occurred on October 27, 1986. Everything was recorded on a VHS tape. Enter the eerie world of Backrooms Level X, a first-person horror game that immerses you in an endless labyrinth of desolate and surreal spaces. After a freak accident, you find yourself trapped in the Backrooms, a place where logic and reality vanish. Explore endless corridors of yellow carpet, empty rooms and areas of flickering light as you try to find a way out. But beware: you are not alone. Mysterious entities lurk in the shadows, and every sound may be the last you hear.
Death Match Love Comedy!
KEMCO in Japan & Asia, PQube in North America & Europe
Heartfelt confessions – explosive consequences! From the creators of Raging Loop comes a wild ride of a visual novel, full of slapstick comedy, occult experiences, and romance! First year Kei Yagi is about to receive a love confession from not one, but two classmates, when he suddenly explodes! Although this initial incident was an illusion, he discovers that due to a mysterious curse put upon him, the next time he receives a confession of love he will truly explode and die!
Harvest Cafe gives players the opportunity to manage and farm their own farms. Players grow their farms by growing vegetables, fruits and other crops. They feed and care for animals to produce food such as milk, eggs and meat. They can also use the materials they gather from the environment to create new farmland and improve their farm. Players sell the produce grown on their farms in their own restaurant in the village center. In the restaurant, players cook delicious food and serve it to customers. Players can diversify their menu by trying different recipes and prepare special dishes to increase customer satisfaction.
The most dangerous criminals are convicted and sent to Kletka. Your sentence is to descend into the depths of the Gigastructure while maintaining a living and hungry elevator. Never forget to feed it if you don’t want to end up being eaten alive. Kletka is omnivorous, be ready to feed it both fuel and flesh. The Gigastructure is an endlessly expanding building. Traps and anomalies fill the corridors. Any stop you make could be your last.
Taking Satisfactory, Forager and the gratifying gameplay loop of clicker/idle games as references, Outpath would be just that. Exploit your environment, craft, build and automate your base in this 3D first-person platformer! Gather. Craft. Build. Explore. Relax. No time limits, no pressure, play at your own pace and style.
In a dystopian future where corporations rule, a brutal reality show is the hottest entertainment property in town! You play as Scarlett Martillo, a contestant out for revenge. To win, you must navigate dangerous urban arenas packed with lethal traps and face off against hordes of heavily-armed psychopaths.
Become an Envoy of Death, able to unleash the incredible powers that will make you the most dangerous soul in Limbo. Upgrade your character’s abilities to become the ultimate Soulslinger and take on thrilling challenges in a bloody war against the criminal cartel of the afterlife!
Start a scary adventure and be the first to solve all the mysteries of this horror game! You’ll have to immerse yourself in a thrilling and exciting adventure together with the main characters! Children have been missing for a long time in Lakewitch, and you are destined to solve this creepy mystery. Who is the kidnapper, and why is he doing it? Where are the children disappearing to, and how to save them? You can solve all the puzzles and find out the answers…if you don’t get scared!
Liquor Store Simulator is a simulation game about developing your own store. You start your business in a small shop that you bought on credit. Buy goods, manage your store, hire staff. Who knows, maybe you will be able to make a real alcohol empire out of a small store. At first, it won’t be easy—you’ll have to work at the checkout yourself, accept deliveries, keep records, and maintain order in the sales area. But hard work and smart decisions will help you turn a modest retail outlet into a thriving store with a wide selection and satisfied customers.
Designed as a new way to experience the franchise, Ascendance stays true to Legacy of Kain’s tone and characters while introducing a bold new format.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is available on March 31 on Xbox Series X|S and will be cloud playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendanceexplores a new gameplay and stylistic direction for the franchise. Built as a fast-paced 2D action platformer, Ascendance blends tight combat, traversal, and a fully voiced, character-driven narrative that feels both familiar and unexpected within the Legacy of Kain universe.
Ascendance is designed around momentum. Combat and movement are closely intertwined, pushing you to constantly stay in motion as you fight, jump, fly, turn into a swarm of bats, and climb through Nosgoth’s dark, crumbling environments. Encounters often flow directly into platforming challenges, creating a rhythm that keeps the pace moving forward.
Combat and Movement in Constant Motion
Moment to moment, Ascendance asks you to think about how you move just as much as how you fight. Each playable character brings their own combat style and traversal tools, including aerial movement, gliding, special abilities, and evasive dashes. These mechanics are governed by a stamina-like resource that fuels nearly every action, from attacking to flying, forcing you to manage your momentum carefully.
Stamina management is the connective tissue between combat and platforming. Overextending in a fight or misjudging a jump can quickly leave you vulnerable, whether that means falling into a pit or being caught off guard by enemies. Defensive options like dodges reward timing and awareness, encouraging you to learn enemy behaviors rather than relying on button-mashing. The result is a gameplay loop that feels fast and reactive.
A New Format, A Familiar Identity
Visually and structurally, Ascendance represents a significant change from previous Legacy of Kain games. Despite the shift in format, Ascendance stays rooted in the franchise’s gothic tone. The world remains bleak and oppressive; the themes are heavy with fate, power, and consequence. The game’s narrative unfolds across multiple eras, connecting familiar characters and moments from the series’ history while expanding on ideas that were previously only implied.
Crucially, Ascendance does not sacrifice storytelling for speed. Mainstays of the franchise, including Simon Templeman as Kain, Michael Bell as Raziel, Anna Gunn as Ariel, and Richard Doyle as Moebius, return to provide fully voiced dialogue. Frequent narrative beats ensure that the game feels like more than a pure action experience. Story sequences are carefully paced, providing breathing room between bursts of combat without disrupting the game’s overall momentum.
A New Legacy
Ascendance’s 2D side-scrolling presentation and pixel art aesthetic immediately stand out, evoking the era when the series first emerged. That approach is paired with PS1-era-inspired 3D sequences and anime-influenced cinematics, bringing major story moments to life while nodding to the franchise’s first leap into 3D with Soul Reaver. The experience centers on combat and atmosphere, challenging you to master movement, read enemy patterns, and stay in control under pressure.
What to Watch for Early On
During the first hour of play, Ascendance quietly teaches its systems through action. You’re encouraged to experiment with movement, learn when to push forward, and pay close attention to story details. Like many Legacy of Kain entries, Ascendance does not spell everything out immediately. Clues are embedded in dialogue, environments, and character interactions for willing to listen closely.
The pacing is intentionally brisk. Most of the game is designed to be completed in relatively focused play sessions, with the story unfolding quickly and combat encounters arriving in steady succession. The story brings the gravity you expect from a Legacy of Kain game and amplifies the experience throughout.
A New Way to Experience Nosgoth
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance stands apart from the rest of the series in both form and feel, yet it remains unmistakably part of the same lineage. By combining fast 2D action, demanding traversal, and a story deeply tied to Nosgoth’s mythology, Ascendance offers you a new way to experience the franchise without losing what made it memorable in the first place.
Whether you’re a longtime fan or discovering Legacy of Kain for the first time, Ascendance delivers a focused, momentum-driven experience that reimagines the series while honoring its gothic roots.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is available on March 31, 2026, on Xbox Series X|S and will be cloud playable via Xbox Cloud Gaming.
The Heart of Darkness Collection is the ultimate Legacy of Kain experience, bringing together Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered Deluxe Edition and Legacy of Kain: Ascendance in one definitive bundle.
Return to the dark world of Nosgoth and relive the climactic struggle between Kain and Raziel in Legacy of Kain: Defiance Remastered Deluxe Edition, updated with modern enhancements and exclusive bonus content. Then step into Legacy of Kain: Ascendance, a fast-paced 2D action platformer that brings you Nosgoth in a brand new way.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance will be available to play on March 31, 2026.
Legacy of Kain: Ascendance is a fast, 2D action platformer built around vertical movement, fluid combat, and skill-driven play.
Nosgoth’s dark fantasy world is brought to life through animated cutscenes and beautifully crafted pixel art gameplay. Each level is filled with environmental challenges and puzzles that flow seamlessly into combat. Fly, fight, and unravel the past in a world of collapsing kingdoms, haunted ruins, and shattered timelines.
2D Action Platformer
Chain melee strikes, evasive dashes, and supernatural attacks in fluid, vicious combat.
Multiple Protagonists
Overwhelm the battlefield with Kain’s vampiric powers. Play Raziel before his fall as a human Sarafan knight, then take flight for the first time in his vampiric form. The Vampire Elaleth introduces an aggressive playstyle focused on fast, relentless offense.
Original Score
Ascendance delivers a powerful original score by Celldweller.
Returning Voice Talent
Reunites iconic Legacy of Kain voice actors – Michael Bell, Simon Templeman, and Anna Gunn.
Chromagun 2: Dye Hard Splashes onto Xbox Featuring a Robust Accessibility Mode
Harrison Floyd-Marketing Manager PM Studios
Summary
Available now for Xbox Series X|S.
Robust accessibility system for those who are colorblind.
Wield your Chromagun across dimensions and parallel universes, each with unique physics, style and tone.
Color isn’t a barrier. While ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard is built on the language of color, it refuses to let color become a barrier. A unique symbol overlay system designed for color blind players earned ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard a Horizon Award for Technical Innovation at GG Bavaria 2025. It is a colorblind accessibility system that reimagines how players read and combine hues. Instead of relying solely on visual color differences, every color is paired with a distinct symbol: clean, intuitive shapes that overlay directly onto surfaces, objects, and even blended colors. When players mix hues, those symbols merge and stack in real time, creating a clear visual shorthand for every combination.
The result is a puzzle language that stays readable no matter how the player may see the world. Whether the player is navigating a monochrome chamber or juggling multiple color interactions at once, the symbol system ensures that every solution remains just as clever, challenging, and satisfying. With the goal that every player can experience the game on equal footing.
ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard features include:
A One-Of-A-Kind Tool – The ChromaGun: Wield the titular “ChromaGun,” a versatile paint-gun used to shoot primary colors onto surfaces and objects, mixing them to manipulate the environment and outsmart puzzles. Mastering the color wheel is essentially to success. Mix and fire primary colors to bend environments to your will! Rewiring doors, redirecting drones, and unraveling puzzles that twist in increasingly clever ways. Every puzzle hinges on how well you can mix, match, and manipulate hues under pressure. Fire blue at a red block and watch it shift instantly into a purple, opening new paths or triggering mechanisms you couldn’t reach before. The deeper the game gets, the more the game asks you to think and juggle multiple color combinations on the fly. With deeper color physics, sharper puzzle logic, and environments that react in surprising layers, the sequel delivers its most ambitious, brain‑stretching 3D challenges yet.
Magnetoid Chromatism: Master the proprietary core mechanic of Magnetoid Chromatism, a system where color isn’t just visual, it’s magnetic logic that governs how the entire world behaves. WorkerDroids, platforms, switches, and even environmental hazards react to color‑charged polarity, pulling toward or repelling away from whatever hue is applied. A single color can shift the flow of a room. ChromaGun 2: Dye Hard reimagines puzzle realities with ever-changing rules and visual styles, from comic-book labs to sci-fi facilities, keeping each challenge inventive and unpredictable. You interact with WorkerDroids, beams, tools and switches in flexible systems.
Multiverse Puzzles: Set in the dangerously pristine world of ChromaTech Industries, the game’s stylized presentation and humor blend clever problem-solving with off-beat charm. Travel through time and space across five different dimensions and parallel universes, each with new physics, visual style and narrative tone. Inside the comic‑book dimension, every action explodes with over‑the‑top flair. Each shot from the ChromaGun triggers a burst of hand‑drawn onomatopoeia – Wham!, Boom!, Pow! – that pop in like a comic book. Then there’s the chicken universe, an entirely different flavor of chaos. Poultry-based problem solving. Here, puzzles revolve around a flock of hyper‑aggressive, feather‑ruffling chickens who charge the player on sight. Instead of traditional switches or drones, progress depends on coloring these furious birds mid‑attack, using their reactions and movement to trigger mechanisms, open paths, and of course solve puzzles.
Welcome to ChromaTec, the universe’s leading producer of the ChromaGun (patent pending)! Here at ChromaTec, colors are magnets! Well, not exactly. Magnetoid Chromatism—a physical property of the pandimensional realm—is a bit more complex than that. In layperson’s terms: Walls attract objects of the same color. All kinds of objects! Like large boxes. Or small boxes. Or medium boxes! Or super-safe, friendly, decidedly non-murderous WorkerDroids*. (List not exhaustive)
Use your refined painting and color-mixing skills to voluntarily solve intricate puzzles on the ChromaTec Testing Track for ChromaGun Research Purposes, Mark II — aka ChromaGun 2.
Please note the following are not valid reasons for non-participation:
– Not having participated in the Testing Track Mark I
(aka ChromaGun 1; no prior knowledge necessary)
– Color-blindness
(A color-blind accessibility mode is available at no extra charge)
– Fear of birds**
– Fear of magnets (They’re colors, not magnets)
– Fear of being involuntarily forced to perform tests on an experimental color-based firearm (this will never happen)
ChromaTec would like to remind you of the following important disclaimer:
Not solving tests as instructed is not advised.
Breaking the ChromaGun is not advised.
Activating a portal to a parallALTERNATEel uniREALITYverse is not ADVISEDadvised…
ChromaLABS would like to remind you of the following disclaimer:
ChromaLabs is the universe’s foremost—and only—manufacturer of the patented ChromaGun. Our world-class engineers are all [redacted] free [redacted] and [redacted] motivated [redacted] to [redacted] ensure that our testing grounds meet the following criteria:
– Unbreakable tests: No constant restarting of test chambers necessary
– Removable paint: Painting and mixing is fine, but undoing it is even better
– Advanced puzzles: Physics challengPUZZLes, clever paintPAINT mechanics, and even [redACTED] oh TWO i [REDacted] UNIVERSES have a CANNOT EXIST bad IN feeling THE SAME about REALITY this.
We hope you enjoy your brief, pleasant, VOLUNTARY participation in the ChromaLabs CHROMATEC Testing TRACK.
* WorkerDroids may be less non-murderous than implied.
** Except chickens
How High On Life 2’s Skateboarding Kickflips the Shooter Genre on Its Head
Summary
Chief Design Officer Erich Meyr shares with us how the High On Life 2 team brought skateboarding to their hilarious first-person shooter.
The team cites their experience working on games like Sunset Overdrive and playing Tony Hawk games to help capture the feeling of riding on a board.
High On Life 2 launches February 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and available on day one with Game Pass Ultimate with support for Xbox Play Anywhere.
When I first got my hands on High On Life 2last year, I was blown away by how well it captured the essence of skateboarding. Yes, it’s a video game, so there are some liberties taken with it, but it felt right in a way that feels familiar to skating game fans – even in a totally different perspective and genre. With large, skateable objects meticulously placed, paired with some great first-person shooting thanks to the hilarious Gatlians, it’s a mechanical change that gives High On Life 2 a truly one-of-a-kind feature, something we’ve genuinely never seen a developer try before.
This also makes High On Life 2 feel like a much faster game than its predecessor. By essentially swapping it out for your sprint button, and increasing your overall agility, the skateboard feels like an extra limb you never knew you needed – one that allows you to grind on rails, jump over objects, or even as a projectile against enemies.
Now, with release nearly here, I was able to connect with Chief Design Officer Erich Meyr to talk more about how the idea behind having skateboarding as a traversal (and combat) mechanic within a first-person shooter came about – and it turns out it was something the team had been noodling on since before the first game arrived.
“The earliest inspiration for the skateboard came back on High On Life when Concept Artist Sean McNally drew the bounty hunter riding a roly-poly type of alien,” Meyr tells me. “Unfortunately, a level-specific mechanic like that wasn’t in our timeframe on the first game, but good ideas tend to haunt us forever. When we were brainstorming for High On Life 2, the idea scuttled its way from our collective unconscious, and we thought it would be even better as a normal skateboard that helps ground your character as an Earthling.”
Parkour!
Skateboarding has embedded itself into the world of gaming over the years – there have been countless Tony Hawk games; Skate has returned in force; indie games like Session or Skate Bird bring their own flare to the skate video game genre. Now High On Life 2 is building this out as a first-person experience and is taking cues from games from both the past and the present to help it really feel distinct. But one of the big inspirations isn’t technically a skateboarding game at all:
“Three of us on the dev team were lucky enough to work on Sunset Overdrive at Insomniac Games, and while doing first-person skating is a bit different then Sunset’s grind-heavy parkour, I really wanted to capture a similar environmentally driven flow,” Meyr explains. “While working on Sunset Overdrive I was addicted to traversing across Sunset City; I’d often travel all the way across the city to play my work, instead of using developer shortcuts, just to explore and enjoy the traversal team’s amazing job. When we started seriously considering having a skateboard in High On Life, I knew deep in my cobwebbed soul we should strive for that feeling, even if it inflated the skateboard into something much larger.”
As far as digging into the classics, the team went back and analyzed a lot of Tony Hawk games to figure out what would work (and not work) for first-person skateboarding. For example, Tony Hawk’s controls don’t work as an FPS, but served as a baseline inspiration for what skating should feel like: “It really got me thinking about layering in vert ramps, half pipes, and grinds. I played a ton of Session as well, though as much as I love it for being insanely technical, we were going for a much more simplified control scheme and couldn’t fit in something like their awesome trick system.”
Finding Inspiration from Indies
During the research and conceptualizing phase of High On Life 2, Meyr was surprised to find that there were practically no first-person skating games available, beyond some mods for Skate. Then he stumbled upon an indie game called Griptape Backbone. “It’s very chill and dreamy and got us thinking about how to cheat the board placement so it’s more visible in first person and helps ground you.”
“When we were near the last year of development, [open world FPS] Echo Point Nova came out – I had a blast playing it and loved how they simply replaced sprinting with a hoverboard. We applied that same philosophy to our game (choosing what button to put the skateboard on was giving us no end of grief) and it really made combat on and off the board feel seamless. So, we pulled inspiration from a lot of different games along the whole process. The inspirations were all great references, but it really came down to some very clever engineering, solving a lot of wild design problems, tuning the controls, and a lot of playtesting.”
Once it was settled that skateboarding was going to be a key feature for the next game, the team began to tackle High On Life2’s more unique challenge – mixing both skating and shooting and making them feel fun to play. One of the largest debates that Meyr tells me about on the team was whether your aim should be independent of your movement direction while on the skateboard.
“For a long time, you could look in any direction while skating, which felt very natural and let you do some crazy moves like circling around enemies while shooting and skating backwards while still fighting,” Meyr says. “However, in playtesting, it meant we kept having to make larger and sparser arenas so you wouldn’t be running into stuff constantly because you’re not looking where you’re going!”
In the end, the team decided to lock the player’s movement to their viewpoint while skateboarding but allow free look while grinding objects – effectively, skating is all about getting to the right place, and grinding is about unleashing hell once you’re there. This simple change made navigating spaces and the overall usability of the skateboard in combat feel much better. Having navigated through a few levels in my time with High On Life 2, I get the trade-off here, as I no doubt would have bumbled into numerous walls and objects if I wasn’t looking in the right direction.
In part, that’s because of how fast the skateboard lets you travel – this is far more than a fancy sprint button, letting you cross huge swathes of a level in a way most FPS games don’t. It adds a major new dimension to combat but, given that the game has a compelling and hilarious story to tell, with tons of performances to capture, it’s also entirely possible for you to accidentally skip past a character or line of dialog if you’re not facing the right way. I asked Meyr how the team tackled this challenge, even in the moments where there wasn’t a narrative beat to adhere to.
“Well, firstly it made storytelling harder as players can now fly past everything as fast as they want! We had to get clever about how we funnel you into important moments to give players time to notice them,” Meyr tells me. “But aside from that, it was also a fun challenge to figure out what kinds of city objects make natural skate elements. One of my favorite moments was when someone put a big octopus mascot in the middle of the city, and we were like, ‘Hey, this is great, but it needs to work with the skateboard because every single player is going to grind on that shit.’ And then we exposed its brain as a bouncer to launch you crazy high. There’s no real story there I guess… we just love making stupid things fun.”
Ride, Shoot, Have Fun, Repeat
Matching that fun with a well-paced game is another element the team tackled when deciding how much influence skateboarding should have on the overall design and pacing of High On Life 2.
“In the first game we typically paced gameplay to cycle between traversal, combat, and narrative beats. The skateboard fit pretty easily into the traversal piece of that formula,” Meyr explains. “Skating has a large influence on the combat aspect of the game, but we didn’t let it take over. In the end, we wanted the game to still have a lot of what makes a traditional shooter feel fun. We didn’t want the skateboard to muddy the FPS experience by having to blow out aim assist or let you move so fast enemies have to do crazy things to keep up with you.”
The game wastes little time in getting me on the board and it isn’t long until I’m unleashing this tandem of skateboarding and shooting in High On Life 2, like sliding across powerlines as I dispatch a variety of alien goons in the opening zoo level. The skateboard never feels like it gets in the way of the shooting; it amplifies it, nudging me to mix it into my newfound ability to reach alien foes on rooftops who would otherwise be inaccessible without it.
The first game already featured a lot of verticality and unique traversal elements thanks to the Gatlians like Knifey and their grapple ability – but the skateboard only intensifies that ambition. Grinding, riding in sewer pipes, and wall riding all create opportunities for unexpectedly complex riding options in the environment. Every level features unique opportunities to test your skills, like navigating across a mix of floating rails and pools, giant balloons to bounce on, and other zany obstacles while traversing the planet ConCon as one such example.
Board riding can also be vital, as highlighted in some of the boss fights so far. With the bounty hunter Sheath, it took place in a large room with slanted, quarter-pipes that run up the walls, making for plenty of opportunities to remain on the move while dishing damage. Or fighting against Brutakis, the mini-boss of MurderCon, the entire zone felt like a skatepark with plenty of ramps, rails, and stairs to navigate. This all feels designed with purposeful intent to keep you moving to help bring a natural fun and flow to the battle.
Letting Go of Your Hands
It’s always a balance to teach a new mechanic to a player while making it not feel like you’re holding up the momentum of the game. Initially, the team did a lot of “hand holding tutorial” tests for the skateboard and found it made for a terrible experience. In the end, they pared the tutorials back until they were just hitting the essentials and letting the player grasp and play with the mechanics on their own time.
“There are elements to the skateboard we don’t teach up front and let you discover on your own, then reinforce in later levels,” Meyr says. “By that point you may have already figured them out and won’t even notice the tutorial, or you will learn them there and think, ‘Holy crap I could have been doing this the whole time, I need to go back and try this in the city!’”
Meyr tells me that, during playtesting, he was relieved to see the concept embraced by the internal team. “I was worried if we leaned fully into skating, it meant we’d need to sacrifice some of the core FPS, but it turned out when the skateboard was treated as an extension of sprinting it really helped naturally juggle between the two. I was also delighted at how much people wanted to do with the skateboard in combat. We came up with bailing on your board and having the board fly and hit enemies, and immediately playtesters wanted to bounce on enemies’ heads and bash into them. So, we made all that work! I’m curious if players will be able to beat the game just using the skateboard once you obtain it.”
Through constant iteration and driven by a passion for skateboarding, the team at Squanch Games have not only built upon the success of their first game but pushed themselves to bring something wholly unique to its sequel – while doing a kick-flip over a bunch of aliens. We can’t wait to get on our board on February 13, 2026, when High On Life 2 launches for Xbox Series X|S, Xbox on PC, and available on day one with Game Pass Ultimate with support for Xbox Play Anywhere.
Pre-order High On Life 2 now to get a “I PRE-ORDERED HIGH ON LIFE 2” hat for select weapons! It doesn’t do anything but if you don’t pre-order you’ll never be allowed to have it! (And the weapons in our game can feel real emotions so if you don’t get the hat they’ll remember it and resent you for it!)
Offer ends at launch.
You’ve done it. You’ve taken down an intergalactic cartel, brought humanity back from the brink of extinction, and hunted dangerous bounties to the far corners of the galaxy. Bounty hunting has brought you fortune, fame and love; but when a mysterious figure from your past reappears and puts a price on your sister’s head, your cushy life gets thrown into chaos.
Do you have what it takes to risk it all and bring down an intergalactic conspiracy that once again threatens your favorite species (humans)?
High On Life RETURNS as you and your beloved rag-tag team of alien misfits shoot, stab, and skate your way through gorgeous, dangerous worlds all across the galaxy to blow up the EVIL pharmaceutical conglomerate hell-bent on putting price tags on HUMAN LIFE!
Of all the action-RPG franchises to make you work for an epic moment, Monster Hunter is up there among the ones that push you hardest, and the Monster Hunter Stories series is no exception to the rule. You take on the lowest rank Monsters, you get pummelled into the dirt until you learn how to beat them, and then you excitedly hurry back home to build a new weapon and a cool set of armor from the creature you’ve just murked, ready to go through the entire process again with a slightly harder monster. It’s a rewarding battle, but a tough one, and Monster Hunter’s greatest secrets are often reserved for those that take the time to fully embrace its many systems.
Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection shows you right from the start that things are going to be a little different around here. In the first minute of my hands-on session with the game, my Rider (not a Hunter, but we’ll get into that later) is sprinting down a cliff at warp speed before leaping right off the edge, only to be caught mid-air by her pet Rathalos and, together, they soar across a glittering lake, in what may be the most breath-taking introduction to a Monster Hunter game I’ve seen yet, inviting you, the player, to immediately take the reigns of this majestic creature – who, for once, at isn’t a foe to be conquered, but a friend. It’s a stark contrast to the opening of Monster Hunter Stories 2, in which you carry a Rathalos egg around for hours before it hatches. This introduction feels like the culmination of a spin-off that’s ready to step out of the shadow of its mainline series, and show us exactly what it can do.
A Brand New Story
To set the scene, Monster Hunter Stories ditches the mainline series’ traditional fast-paced, unforgiving third-person combat for a turn-based system, riffing off the likes of Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Pokémon, and other similar monster-packed RPGs. Instead of a Hunter, you are a Rider, able to befriend and battle alongside monster companions (Monsties).
In this third instalment, set a long time after the events of Stories 1+2, your character is the heir of Azuria, the kingdom in which our adventure begins. In the first few story missions, we meet and are partnered up with Eleanor, the princess of the adjacent kingdom Vermeil. The two are on the brink of war, and it’s up to you to figure out how to resolve each kingdom’s needs and put a stop to it. Meanwhile, a phenomenon called the Crystal Encroachment is threatening to destroy the ecosystem, turning Monsters feral and driving some close to extinction.
Your character is also a member of the Rangers, a team of Riders assembled to research Monster ecology and help protect it. It’s a super compelling setup that sees your created character grappling between their royal responsibilities and goals as a Ranger, crafting a darker, stronger narrative than the previous instalments. You don’t need to be familiar with the previous stories, either, just jump right on in.
The World of Azuria
This setting is also new to Monster Hunter Stories 3. Azuria serves as a vibrant, sprawling starting ground that feels effortlessly inviting – almost Ghibli-esque in style – and you begin the game equipped with Monsties that enable basic traversal right away. Ratha (your Rathalos) can’t maintain unlimited flight, but he can catch updrafts to get a boost of height for travelling long distances quickly, as can many other Monsties with the flying ability. Monsters roam the world freely, and you can choose to battle them or leave them be.
Stories’ turn-based combat system is simple to grasp in its basic form – a rock/paper/scissors setup where one move type beats another. Stories 3 is much more tutorialized than predecessors; you’ll quickly get to grips with what move type monsters use, as well as more in-depth mechanics like elemental attacks, and behaviour that shows where they’ll change up their strategy. However, do not mistake guidance for ease – despite its turn-based presentation, there are meticulously crafted systems at play that mean you’ll need to come extremely prepared for every fight. My hubris quickly got the better of me while moving through story missions, thinking I could push through one more mission, only to be flattened by a new Feral Monster. It pays to take your time, fully explore the world, level up your Monsties, and plan out your approach.
The world has Monster nests scattered around, which contain eggs. This is your primary method of collecting new Monsties, and each one is a surprise. Some contain rarer eggs, some contain multiple eggs, and some will have a Monstie ready to jump out and defend the eggs you’re trying to run off with. This mechanic comes from the previous games, but it’s much more simply presented, at least in the early game – you don’t need to run through a winding maze of caves as in previous games, just dip in, grab the eggs you want and dip out before a Monstie comes to get you – another example of how Stories 3 is streamlining to build a smoother experience for newcomers.
Managing the Ecosystem
The more eggs you collect, the more Monsties you’ll end up with in your stable. As with previous Stories games, you’ll be able to ‘release’ a Monstie you don’t want to keep, but Stories 3 introduces another brilliant mechanic – Habitat Restoration.
With this, you can actually change the ecology of different areas of the map by intentionally introducing different monsters to the ecosystem. For example, the early game invites you to release a Rathian into the starting area, and shortly after, you’ll see Rathians appear in that part of the world. As you release more Rathians, its rank in the ecosystem will rise, which means you’ll find more powerful Rathian eggs hidden in nests surrounding the region the creature lives in. In previous Stories games, finding powerful eggs relied on pure luck when scrabbling through nests, but this time, you can effectively engineer a powerful version of the Monstie you want by creating a home for it, which is absolutely brilliant, truly rewarding your careful thinking (or just letting you buff the monster type you happen to love).
Monsters also have the opportunity to mutate, offering an even more powerful variant. By releasing Rathians into the wild, I was able to unlock Pink Rathian, build up their rank, and eventually leading to unlocking a Dreadqueen Rathian – the most powerful version of the Monster – in my first few hours of play.
Beyond that, the ecosystem can also affect the element of a Monster, which is an exciting new first for the series. Very early on in the game, I ended up finding a green dual-element Anjanath, able to deliver its trademark fire attacks alongside less expected lightning abilities. It’s such an interesting evolution for these beloved Monsties, without changing up their core dynamic, and another area in which Stories 3 feels like it’s growing to meet the complexity of mainline Monster Hunter games, without losing its own identity and charm.
With this entry, Monster Hunter Stories no longer feels like the franchise’s quirky distant cousin, this is a fully-fledged, magnificently designed adventure that can stand proudly on its own. With a striking new world and a mature, promising new narrative that gives your adventure purpose from the start, you’re no longer an unknown Rider making their way through the world or riding the coattails of another legend – you’re a royal heir, a renowned Rider, and a Ranger that from the off says “I’m here, and I’m ready”. Not unlike the game itself.
The third entry in the Monster Hunter Stories RPG series is here!
Twin Rathalos, born in a twist of fate.
Monster Hunter Stories is an RPG series set in the Monster Hunter world, where you can become a Rider, raising and bonding with your favorite monsters.
The Story
Azuria and Vermeil: two countries, on a path to destruction.
When all hope seems lost, an egg is found. Inside is a Rathalos, a species thought to be extinct.
But this quavering light of hope is quickly extinguished, giving way to the darkness of despair.
Born from the egg is not a single Rathalos, but twins, bearing the Skyscale marking that hearkens back to the disastrous civil war of 200 years prior.
The natural world teeters on the verge of destruction, with countless monster species facing extinction. In the shadow of these dark times, the flames of war rekindle.
Two countries, and two Rathalos.
A Rider and their trusted Rathalos, buffeted by the winds of fate, set out on a journey for the truth.
*There are other bundles that include this product. Please be careful of duplicate purchases.
Agreement to the End User License Agreement is required to play this title. (https://manual.capcom.com/eula/game/)
