Final Fantasy arguably has the edge over Dragon Quest when it comes to global fame, so much so that it's easy to forget that Yuji Horii's series came out before Hironobu Sakaguchi's.

The early rivalry between the two franchises was quite heated in Japan, but, as Horii tells Game Informer, he never saw Final Fantasy as "competition," even if it was on his radar as a designer.

He adds:

"Way back then, when Final Fantasy originally came out, I was definitely paying attention to it because it was something we needed to look out for. But there's one key difference that I really saw back then: the protagonists in the Final Fantasy titles, they speak a lot. Whereas for Dragon Quest, the key objective for [the games], or the experience it offers for the player, is that the player becomes the protagonist themselves.

In Final Fantasy, you kind of observe the protagonist, but you're not necessarily becoming the protagonist in the games. So I thought that was a really interesting and stark difference between Dragon Quest and Final Fantasy, but I didn't necessarily see them as a rival back then."

Despite this difference, Horii reveals he's a fan of the series – and even lists his personal favourite in the lineage. "I do like Final Fantasy, though. When I first saw Final Fantasy X, I recall feeling this was the ultimate perfection of Final Fantasy."

Ironically, both franchises are now under the same ownership, thanks to the 2003 merger of Square and Enix.

Dragon Quest's last mainline entry was 2017's Dragon Quest XI, but Dragon Quest XII is currently in development. Square Enix has been revisiting past entries with a series of remakes, the most recent of which is Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake.

When we reviewed the excellent Analogue 3D recently, one negative we picked up on was the fact that flash cart compatibility was inconsistent.

Some Analogue 3D owners have reported that older flash carts work fine, while others have said that more recent examples, like the EverDrive X5 and X7, do not. From my testing, my X7 certainly didn't work with the FPGA console.

Thankfully, EverDrive creator Krikzz has released a new firmware – OS-V3.09 – for X5 and X7, which solves this issue (thanks, ReCollect64).

The catch is that you'll need an original N64 console to deploy the update on your EverDrive, as you'll need to install a new bootloader.

This will only impact cartridges that are already in the field, as Krikzz will include the new bootloader as standard with all new EverDrive X5 and X7 carts.

Krikzz says the only other potential fix is a hardware one, and that will be down to Analogue itself. "The only solution in this case [is to] install [a] 1K pulldown resistor at cartridge pin AD7, with this fix A3D will boot ED64-X even with old bootloader," explains Krikzz. "There is still a small hope that Analogue will make some effort on their side so that people who don’t have an original N64 can run cartridges with older bootloaders on the A3D."

It has been noted that games booted via flash carts are potentially incompatible with all of the Analogue 3D's overclocking features:

Here are the full update instructions, direct from Krikzz himself:

1. Download and Install OS-V3.09.https://krikzz.com/pub/support/everdrive-64/x-series/OS/OS-V3.09.zip
2. Download bootrom-v5.xx.b64 and copy in to any place on SD card. https://krikzz.com/pub/support/everdrive-64/x-series/bootloader/bootrom-v5.04.b64
3. Run the cartridge on an original N64 console (it will not start on Analogue 3D with an older bootloader).
4. In the cartridge menu, select the bootrom-v5.xx.b64 and press [A]
5. When the installer screen opens, click [START] to begin the installation.

OS-V3.09 also includes some stability fixes for the Analogue 3D. "As for ED64 V2X/V3, it seems like it already works fine with OS 2.13," reports Krikzz. "I don't have V3 at the moment, but my v2.5 works just fine with OS 2.13."

If you're looking to pick up a new EverDrive, Krikzz is holding a Black Friday sale as we speak.

If you happen to love the Resident Evil series, then we have some interesting news to share with you.

A new documentary on the original survival horror classic is set to air in Japan later this month, featuring new interviews with key members of its development staff, including the director Shinji Mikami, the producer Tokuro Fujiwara, and its system planner Hideki Kamiya, alongside others.

Legendary Games Chronicle: Biohazard, according to Famitsu (via Genki_JPN), is set to air on NHK BS4K on November 29th, 2025, and will also be rebroadcast on the regular NHK BS on December 6th. It will cover various topics related to the game, from the threat of cancellation to technical constraints, and changes in direction.

Early development materials will also be shown, giving a further insight into the trial-and-error process that led to the finished title.

Images: NHK

Here's the full list of people being interviewed:

• Shinji Mikami (Director)

• Tokuro Fujiwara (Producer)

• Jun Takeuchi (Character Modeller)

• Hideki Kamiya (System Planner)

• Kazunori Kadoi (System Planner)

• Yasuhiro Ampo (Software System Engineer)

• Makoto Tomozawa (Composer)

• Ken Kutaragi (Former Executive Vice President, R&D Division, Sony Computer Entertainment Inc.)

This is the second game to be covered as part of the NHK's "Legendary Games Chronicle" series, with the documentary filmmakers having previously covered Final Fantasy in a programme that initially aired back in October of last year.

That documentary was viewable in English on the NHK World app, but we haven't been able to find any information yet on whether the same will be possible here.

Korean dev Shift Up already has an existing relationship with Tencent subsidiary Level Infinite on saucy smartphone shooter NIKKE: Goddess of Victory, so it’s perhaps not a surprise to see the company step in to publish its next title, Project Spirits.

The game – developed using Unreal Engine 5 – will launch across PC, mobile, and console, with no specific platforms announced just yet. (Although, we think you can safely assume PS5 will be in the mix.)

In addition to the publishing relationship, Tencent affiliate Yongxing Interactive will assist with development. It’s a studio made up of veterans from across various entertainment industries, including anime, comics, and games.

A statement said:

“Leveraging SHIFT UP’s expertise and their proven success with globally acclaimed IPs such as NIKKE: Goddess of Victory and Stellar Blade, Level Infinite aims to deliver the next generation of gaming experiences to players worldwide. As part of this process, Level Infinite and SHIFT UP have further strengthened their strategic partnership to include both publishing and joint development.”

There’s still no word on when Project Spirits will release, but a recent investor relations report noted that Shift Up only has around 20 employees dedicated to the title, as of the end of September 2025.

Presumably today’s announcement means it’s ready to begin ramping up development, and with Yongxing Interactive assisting on production, we should hopefully start to see some meaningful progress soon.

Sony will publish Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for PC in the relatively near future, if an ESRB rating is to be believed.

The original game was ported to other platforms by 505 Games, but this preceded the platform holder’s strategy of bringing more first-party titles to storefronts such as Steam.

It took roughly eight months for the original adventure to make its way to PC, but we’d expect around six months of console exclusivity here.

With the PS5 version launching on 26th June, we wouldn’t be surprised if the PC edition was out by Christmas, with an announcement possible at The Game Awards next month, where the title’s nominated for Game of the Year.

It’s worth remembering that this situation is slightly different to other first-party PS5 titles, as Kojima Productions owns the intellectual property and is an independent studio.

It goes without saying that we highly recommend the title, as noted in our 10/10 Death Stranding 2 PS5 review:

“In what will prove to be one of the defining games of the PS5 generation, Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is a profound achievement of design, gameplay, narrative, and visuals. As all four meet in the middle, Kojima Productions has crafted a cinematic spectacle that flawlessly transitions between action and traversal, all wrapped up in the most absorbing of narratives.”

Are you interested in the PC port of Death Stranding 2, or have you had your fill of this particular sequel already? Are you surprised to see the follow-up seemingly reach other formats this quickly? Drop a like in the comments section below.

SEGA has confirmed that those who own Yakuza 0, Yakuza Kiwami, or Yakuza Kiwami 2 on PS4 can take advantage of discounted upgrade paths when buying the new versions on PS5.

All three PS5 re-releases are due to launch on the 8th December, but there is a catch in that these upgrade paths only apply to the digital versions of the PS4 games — and any games claimed through PS Plus subscriptions unfortunately don't count either.

At the time of writing, SEGA has only detailed the upgrade pricing in the US, which differs between the three games.

Here's a quick summary:

• Yakuza 0 (PS4) upgraded to Yakuza 0 Director's Cut (PS5) - $14.99

• Yakuza Kiwami (PS4) upgraded to Yakuza Kiwami (PS5) - $1.99

• Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS4) upgraded to Yakuza Kiwami 2 (PS5) - Free

As far as official information goes, Yakuza 0 Director's Cut is the only PS5 re-release that features new or improved content. It has several additional cutscenes and an online co-op mode — which is why SEGA's charging more for the upgrade. It also has an English dub for the first time.

Meanwhile, nothing's been said about Kiwami and Kiwami 2 other than them including new text language support in French, Italian, German, Spanish, Latin American Spanish, Brazilian Portuguese, and Russian.

And for the record, there's been no mention of Kiwami 2 being boosted to 60 frames-per-second on PS5. It's looking like we'll have to wait and see if the 30fps curse has been lifted.

Oh, and your PS4 save data will not carry over to the PS5 versions, so get ready to start a new playthrough or two. Or three!

Still, we're glad that SEGA's seen sense and gone down the upgrade route. Given the publisher's more... questionable business practices over the years, we were pretty much convinced that these PS5 versions would demand a fresh purchase across the board.

Will you be replaying any of these Yakuza titles on PS5? Feel the heat in the comments section below.

Capcom recently prompted a backlash from fighting game fans when it revealed plans to place its official Street Fighter 6 finals behind a paywall — but fresh comments from Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada perhaps shed a little light on why the publisher's going down that road.

The answer is money, obviously, but in an interview with The Game Business, Harada is quick to explain that pro tournaments simply don't make money for the fighting games that they're built around.

"Lots of big companies are coming in and putting money into advertisements for these events, and a lot of influencers are making big money off of their streams," he says.

"But the revenue for our games doesn't reflect any of this stuff."

So why would fighting game developers and publishers bother to get involved in such events if there's no real money to be made? Well, historically, it's all been about promotion.

If your fighting game makes a splash at a public tournament, then it's essentially free advertising, which, in theory, leads to sales of said game. The same is true when a community springs up around specific titles; positive word of mouth and healthy competition have always counted for so much when it comes to a fighter's long term success.

But again, Harada suggests that there's no noticeable impact on a game's revenue — even if it ends up being one of the biggest names at Evo, or any other well-known event.

"It's quite interesting to see how that might change," he admits, before mentioning Capcom's latest strategy: "Occasionally, you're seeing certain events that pop up where they're charging pay-per-view, or something like that. Seeing how the money side of this changes, that's something I'm quite interested in."

Many a Tekken fan will be seriously questioning Harada's wording here, but we'll just have to wait and see whether Capcom's pay-per-view plans actually, er, pay off before jumping the gun.

Still, this makes for an intriguing topic, especially since fighting games have experienced a dramatic boost in popularity over the last decade or so. There's clearly a lot of money to be made in the wider world of esports, but it remains to be seen whether fighting games can tap into that same kind of appeal.

What's your take on this? Should fighting game companies be trying to monetise tournaments and events to begin with? Shell out for the latest season pass in the comments section below.

If you've been wondering what's next for the Switch Online's 'Nintendo Classics' service, the November update is now available.

This latest update includes NES and Game Boy titles, with a total of four more games added to the service today. On the NES, there's Ninja Gaiden II: The Dark Sword of Chaos and Battletoads, and on the Game Boy, retro enthusiasts can look forward to Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters and Bionic Commando.

Switch Online's Nintendo Classics service for Japan has received the same four titles in this week's update.

To access these titles, you'll need to have an active base-tier Switch Online subscription. This update for the Nintendo Classics library follows the arrival of the original Luigi's Mansion for the GameCube app in October.

What do you think of the latest additions to the Switch Online 'Nintendo Classics' library? Let us know in the comments.

Alongside the return of multiple retro games today, Nintendo has rolled out a new update for the Game Boy app on the Switch and Switch 2, bumping it up to Version 3.0.0.

Apart from the release of Kid Icarus: Of Myths and Monsters and Bionic Commando, this major update also comes with some cool new easter eggs. If you missed the boot screen of the Game Boy era featuring the 'Nintendo' logo (or 'Game Boy' one) and iconic sound, the good news is it's back!

It works the same as it does on the GBA. Once you've installed the update, boot up the app and hold the left analogue stick, and you'll see the original Game Boy start screen appear. What's also neat is it's different depending on your 'game screen' settings in the app's options menu.

So, you'll get whatever screen filter you've got the game screen set to: Game Boy, Game Boy Pocket or Game Boy Color.

One last thing, the sound when booting up the Game Boy - Nintendo Classics app has also been changed from the Game Boy boot up noise to a coin block sound from Super Mario Land. If you want to see the boot up in motion, Vooks.net has also shared a video.

It's taken some time to get to this point, but Nintendo finally seems to be getting underway with its Metroid Prime 4: Beyond marketing campaign.

So far, we've got commercials and in-store demos, and now Nintendo's Canadian branch has announced it will be hosting a special event next week on 3rd December 2025, allowing fans to watch a "brave band" of "top streamers" explore planet Viewros as the renowned bounty hunter Samus Aran.

These will be two sponsored streams featuring @tetraninja and @JeuSerieux. Here's a rundown about both channels:

"Tetra Ninja is a YouTube content creator and full-time gamer who has been sharing his passion for video games with his community since 2010. Best known for his Let’s Play series, in which he guides viewers from the opening cutscene to the final boss, he offers an in-depth look at new releases as they launch. As a lifelong Nintendo fan, Tetra Ninja is excited to join Samus on an all-new mission in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond and can’t wait to bring his viewers along for the adventure."
Wednesday, December 3, 6:00 p.m. - 7:00 p.m. EST

"Le Jeu C'est Sérieux is a duo of video game enthusiasts made up of Guiz and Laurent. Nostalgia is a recurring theme for these partners in crime, specifically Guiz with his huge collection of NES™ games, while Laurent collects VHS recordings in search of artifacts of the video game past. They have shared their love of video games for over 10 years, both on YouTube and Twitch. As Metroid fans since the first NES game, they can't wait to be back on duty with renowned bounty hunter Samus Aran in Metroid Prime 4: Beyond."
Wednesday, December 3, 6:00 p.m. - 7:30 p.m. EST

This news follows Nintendo's recent rollout of demos at select in-store kiosks across North America. Nintendo has also revealed some other details ahead of the anticipated launch, such as the estimated file size of the game. You can find out more about all of this in our previous coverage.

Will you be checking out any video or stream footage before jumping into Metroid Prime 4: Beyond? How about the recent previews? Let us know your thoughts in the comments.

Super Mario 64 might be one of the most popular speedrun games of all time, and it's still absolutely huge. You'd think runners would know absolutely everything about this almost-30-year-old game, but recently, a brand new trick was discovered that will potentially change the nature of speedruns, particularly the 1 Star Speedrun, forever.

Bubzia, a speedrunner who specialises in blindfolded speedruns, has documented the discovery of this new technique that has essentially wiped out one of the most famous skips in the game, the side backwards long jump (SBLJ, as it's more commonly known), which is used to skip the 30-star door in the basement of Peach's Castle. It's incredibly tricky to pull off but it's been a staple in the community for years.

But two speedrunners — FramePerfection and Crackhex — have found a workaround that eliminates the need to even do this. Amusingly, it's been dubbed the "crackslide" by the community, and while the the original trick was created using emulation tools, runner haribo39 managed to recreate the trick.

You can see Bubzia demonstrating the trick at around 8:53 minutes in (warning for strong language), and even he's surprised at how quickly he pulls it off.

Essentially, "all" you have to do is line yourself up against a particular wall in the basement, backflip up against it, butt slide on the railing next to the wall, and you'll be catapulted up to the door and, after some text, go through the wall.

While this is a huge discovery for the basic 1 Star run, it's especially big for blindfolded speedruns, a category which has been trying to crack the 10 minute mark for a while. Now, it could very well be possible.

Bubzia has already managed to get below 11 minutes while making a few big mistakes, and only a few seconds off the current world record. Sounds like Super Mario 64 speedruns are going to be extremely competitive.

If you want to have a crack at it yourself, then Bubzia has laid out all the steps in a tutorial at the end of his video.

Are you impressed to see Super Mario 64 speedruns thriving in 2025? Ever tried one yourself? Let us know in the comments.

Remember Splitgate 2? This free-to-play multiplayer shooter arrived back in the summer, but following heavy criticism, developer 1047 Games took it back to a beta phase.

Well, after many months of work, it seems the game is almost ready to come back.

The studio has confirmed that the beta phase will finish on 4th December, and will make its proper relaunch later in the month.

During Splitgate 2's time back in beta, the developer has made some pretty significant changes to the game in response to the negative feedback from the initial release.

For example, the game has totally ditched factions, and the faction-based abilities have been reimagined as power-ups.

More "roundless" modes have been added like King of the Hill, Domination, and Team Deathmatch, as well as a Classic Arena that aims to "capture the spirit of original Splitgate".

The team has also "introduced new maps, new weapons, reworked the menus, and refined systems constantly" based on player feedback during the beta.

"None of this happens without you. The past six months have been a journey, and every piece of feedback, every playtest participation, every community discussion has shaped where we are now. Splitgate is in the best place it's ever been, and that's because you've been here with us."

There's no firm date for the relaunch just yet, but it sounds like the game could be back in action this side of Christmas.

Are you looking forward to jumping back into Splitgate 2? Tell us in the comments section below.

[source x.com, via splitgate.com, insider-gaming.com]

Helldivers 2 has announced the next premium Warbond coming to the game, and it looks purpose-built for destroying bugs.

The Python Commandos Warbond is set to arrive on 2nd December 2025. Here's the trailer to give you an idea of what to expect:

Players can look forward to several new weapons and stratagems, including a minigun, a drone equipped with a flamethrower, a powerful chainsaw, and an assault rifle/grenade launcher combo.

As well as all that, the Warbond includes new cosmetics, with two new armour sets, capes, patterns, emotes, and so on.

It's bringing big 80s action movie energy, with the jungle feel bringing Predator to mind.

There's a little more info on the PS Blog if you're interested.

Will you be making use of the Python Commandos Warbond in Helldivers 2? Tell us in the comments section below.

[source blog.playstation.com]

There aren't many surviving video game magazines today, but miraculously, some new ones pop up every so often, and they've evolved into seriously premium products.

One such example is A Profound Waste of Time, a gaming journal crowdfunded by readers, and its sixth issue is currently accepting pledges on Kickstarter.

This one may be of particular interest to PlayStation fans, as the leading feature in the new issue hones in on Astro Bot.

A big interview with Nicolas Doucet is the main attraction, speaking about "how his studio, Team Asobi, channels the wonder of early cinema into a new language of play, one built on clarity, rhythm, and joyfulness" as well as PlayStation's 30th anniversary.

The issue features original (and very cute) artwork on its cover, with a lenticular layer on the special edition that allows Astro to emote as you turn the mag in your hands.

It's a beautiful object, and full of other interesting features too, including interviews with Team Ninja president Fumihiko Yasuda and Giant Squid's Matt Nava.

If you're interested, you can back the new issue on Kickstarter. A pledge of £25 (~$33) gets you the standard version, while the special edition requires a pledge of £45 (~$59). The estimated delivery is December 2026.

Again, A Profound Waste of Time's issues are made to be quality products, and typically contain nearly 200 pages full of original work, hence the price tag.

Will you be snagging a copy? Tell us in the comments section below.

The Xbox November 2025 update is now being highlighted by the folks over at Xbox Wire, and as usual with these updates in recent months, it's not really very console-focused - the updates encompass everything nowadays.

With that in mind, we've got some cloud upgrades including the ability to choose your stream resolution, the arrival of Copilot on mobile, the ROG Xbox Ally's full-screen experience crossing over to standard Windows 11 PCs, and more.

Let's take a look at what Xbox is highlighting in the November 2025 update:

Gaming Copilot Arrives On Mobile

"Gaming Copilot is now available in the Xbox mobile app, where you can access it directly via the Gaming Copilot tab. When youneed help, push the “Microphone” icon to talk or type your message in the box. Gaming Copilot knows what’s happening in your game in real-time, so ask it any gaming related questions , from gameplay tips to achievement history, and receive immediate and helpful responses."

Xbox Full-Screen Experience Arrives On More Devices

"We’re excited to bring the full screen experience (FSE) to even more Windows devices. FSE is now generally available on additional Windows handhelds currently in market, and Windows Insiders can preview the full screen experience on more Windows 11 PC form factors."

Select Your Preferred Xbox Cloud Gaming Resolution

"User Selected Resolution allows players to manually choose their preferred streaming resolution before launching a game. This has been a top player request, and we’re excited to roll it out in alignment with support for higher stream quality (up to 1440p for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers)."

Xbox Cloud Gaming Arrives In More Locations

"Players in India can nowstream and play hundreds of titles on the devices they already own, whether it’s on an Xbox console, PC, handheld, mobile phone, or supported TVs.

Xbox Cloud Gaming is now available on LG TV and Amazon Fire TV devices in Brazil and Argentina."

"Coming soon, we will be supporting the Xbox app on more Amazon Fire TV devices including: Fire TV Stick 4K Plus, Fire TV Stick 4K Select, Fire TV 4-Series TVs, Fire TV Omni QLED TVs."

Beyond these features, Xbox is also highlighting a few things that we've mentioned already here at Pure Xbox, including that you can get free engraving with Xbox Design Lab right now, there are some new SpongeBob Xbox controllers, and a new Backbone Pro - Xbox Edition mobile controller has been released.

As usual, more games have been added to Xbox Play Anywhere, Xbox Stream Your Own Game and Xbox Retro Classics over the past month as well, which are listed on the Xbox Wire website and we'll be covering separately too. There are also a few more mouse and keyboard Xbox games that we're constantly updating in our big M&K guide.

More information on all of the November 2025 update features is available over at Xbox Wire.

As part of today's November 2025 Update, Microsoft has announced new features for Xbox Cloud Gaming, including a new 'User-Selected Resolution' option that brings "enhanced stream quality for select titles".

Yep, following on from the likes of Digital Foundry spotting that certain Xbox Cloud Gaming titles were now streaming at up to 1440p, Microsoft has confirmed the resolution bump; now adding the option to "choose your preferred video quality when streaming games".

"We’re excited to introduce enhanced stream quality for select titles, including support for up to 1440p. In line with this upgrade, we’re enabling you to choose your preferred video quality when streaming games by giving you more control over the experience. User Selected Resolution allows players to manually choose their preferred streaming resolution before launching a game. This has been a top player request, and we’re excited to roll it out in alignment with support for higher stream quality (up to 1440p for Xbox Game Pass Ultimate subscribers). This ensures players can tailor their subscription to match how and where they play."

As part of this November update to Xbox Cloud Gaming, the team has also announced that the program is now available in India - and on LG TV and Amazon Fire TV devices in Brazil and Argentina. These new options are available now, while Xbox Cloud Gaming will soon be available on more devices in general.

These devices will support cloud gaming via the Xbox app "soon":

• Fire TV Stick 4K Plus

• Fire TV Stick 4K Select

• Fire TV 4-Series TVs

• Fire TV Omni QLED TVs

Chuhai Labs has shared the first gameplay trailer of its stunning-looking on-rails shooter, Wild Blue Skies (formerly known as Wild Blue), featuring some anthropomorphic animals piloting flying vehicles through the skies to fight evil. Sound a little familiar?

Okay, so the game still isn't confirmed for Switch (or Switch 2) yet — just PC and Xbox — but just watch the gameplay up top. Trust us. This is basically Star Fox with lovely cel-shaded-inspired visuals and all the barrel rolls, shooting and banter you'll ever need.

Here's a run-down if you need a little more detail:

Features Ready for Takeoff:

- Modern Take on 90s On-Rails Shooters: Experience the thrill of classic aerial combat reimagined with modern design, smooth controls, and updated visuals.
- From an Aerial Legend: Developed by Chuhai Labs, the indie studio founded by Giles Goddard, the legendary programmer behind Star Fox, Stunt Race FX, Super Mario 64, and 1080° Snowboarding.
- High-Flying Adventures: Take control of Bowie Stray and soar through vast environments from scorching deserts to frozen tundras and beyond.
- Cinematic On-Rails Combat: Engage in thrilling dogfights and take down waves of enemies as you navigate intense, cinematic levels.
- Dynamic Environments: Each mission offers unique hazards and landscapes that challenge your reflexes and reward skillful flying.
- Stylish Visuals & Smooth Performance: A polished, modern aesthetic that channels the spirit of classic 3D shooters with crisp effects and fluid motion.
- Streamlined Systems: Slick controls and intuitive gameplay make it easy to jump in while offering depth for veterans of the genre.
- Rewarding Progression: Rack up high scores, complete optional tasks, and discover hidden collectibles as you battle against Grimclaw’s forces.

Images: Humble Games

Images: Humble Games

And look, if you need more convincing, one of the programmers of the original Star Fox — Giles Goddard — is working on this game' he's also worked on Stunt Race FX, Super Mario 64, and 1080° Snowboarding. of course, his most important work is in helping bring Doshin The Giant to GameCube.

Oh, and this is the same studio that worked on the excellent Cursed to Golf. Basically, Wild Blue Skies looks absolutely lovely, and we would really like to see this on Switch.

Let's hope we get some news on other platforms soon!

Are you looking forward to Wild Blue Skies on Steam or Xbox? Do you hope it comes to Switch (2)? Let us know in the comments.

Update [Tue 25th Nov 2025, 8am]: It's time for another big Assassin's Creed Shadows update, with patch 1.1.6 now available to download on PS5 at around 4GB.

The update implements not one, but two free quests. The first is — somehow — an Attack on Titan crossover, in which Naoe and Yasuke investigate an impending titan-sized threat.

There are a couple of downsides to this quest, however. For starters, it's only going to stick around until the 22nd December (presumably due to licensing agreements), and on top of that, the cool Attack on Titan-themed armour from this article's image is actually from a paid DLC pack. Boo!

Ubisoft's pulled this one before, with Shadows' previous Dead by Daylight crossover. There are cosmetic rewards up for grabs through the free quest — and you can nab a crystal katana for Naoe — but it feels like the best stuff is once again locked behind a paywall.

Meanwhile, the second free quest — titled 'A Puzzlement' — sees the game's two protagonists solve a comical dispute. Both characters will learn new techniques upon completion (as per the patch notes):

• Naoe will learn how to perform her own spectacular version of Yasuke's war kick ability.

• Yasuke will learn how to stealthily dispatch enemies in a non-lethal way.

This is the last update on Ubisoft's 'Fall Roadmap' for Shadows, but we assume that support will continue for at least a little while yet.

Original Story: Well, we're not sure anyone saw this crossover coming.

Just confirmed by Ubisoft, Assassin's Creed Shadows' next collaboration will be with... Attack on Titan.

The super popular manga and anime property will be featured in a new quest, which seems to task Naoe and Yasuke with stopping a titan transformation. No, we're not making this up.

All we've got to go on right now is the above teaser trailer, but the quest itself goes live on the 25th November. That's tomorrow at the time of writing.

However, it's also worth noting that this is a limited time deal. The quest will only be available until the 15th December, 2025.

What's more, the cool Attack on Titan-themed equipment seen in the promotional material actually seems to be part of a paid DLC pack that accompanies the update — which is rather disappointing.

What the heck do you make of this one? Aim for the back of the neck in the comments section below.

You've got to admit, the post-launch support for Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 has been stellar.

The crunchy action shooter has received numerous, significant updates since its release in September of 2024 — and rather miraculously, it's showing no signs of slowing down.

The game's latest patch — officially deemed version 11.0 — is yet another beefy addition. It's available to download now on PS5, weighing in at 9GB.

A new co-op mission has arrived, along with new equipment, over 40 new gameplay modifiers, and even a bunch of fresh cosmetic items. Gameplay balance tweaks are also part of the update. Again, it's an especially meaty patch for a title that's now 14 months old.

The initial plan was for Space Marine 2 to enjoy a full year of support, but the game was such a sales success that publisher Focus Entertainment actually greenlit an extra year of free updates. In other words, there's still much more to come from Titus and the lads.

Warhammer 40k: Space Marine 2 Update 11 Patch Notes

New PvE map: Reclamation

• Operation Reclamation takes place in orbit above the planet Avarax.

• A squad of Space Marines is deployed to a critically damaged Imperial cruiser to purge it of Tyranid infestation. However, as the mission unfolds, the objectives begin to shift.

New PvE Equipment: Sanctified Wrath

Upon use, the player's melee damage is increased by 25% for 15 seconds, and the player is immune to knockbacks. When used, enemies within a small radius are pushed back.

🟡 Change from PTS: Increased amount of charges from 1 to 2

💬 It's not the last equipment that we are going to add.

New Battlefield Conditions

More than 40 new Battlefield Conditions have been added.

New Heroic Items

Added 6 Heroic Weapons and 8 Armour Pieces to unlock with Accolades.

Weapons:

• Retribution's Bequest (Heavy Bolt Pistol)

• Chains of Duty (Heavy Bolter)

• Wrapped (Instigator Bolt Carbine)

• Wrapped (Bolt Sniper Rifle)

• Death's Grasp (Power Fist)

• Storm's Dominion (Thunder Hammer)

Armour Pieces:

• Mark VII Helm

• Artificer Mark X Helm

• Black Templars Artificer Mark X Helm

• Mark VI Corvus Veteran Helm

• Veteran Molecular Bonding Studs R. Pauldron

• Honourific Gem R. Pauldron

• Cameleoline Shroud R. Pauldron

• Veteran’s Shroud R. Pauldron

New Season Pass Content

• Blood Angels Champion pack added (Tactical Champion + Jump Pack for Assault + Signature Chainsword Skin)

• Salamanders Cosmetic Pack added.

Chaos Customisation (PvP)

Customisation of Chaos classes is now available using armour parts from sets.

Assault - New Feature

Added a set of Jump Pack Dash attacks for Assault, that are much quicker and responsive than normal sprint attacks. Dash attacks should be affected by all perks that affect Sprint attacks as well.

🟡 Change from PTS: Jump Dash attacks deal 50% more damage

💬 We are going to continue expanding and improving sandbox gameplay for all classes. After Assault, it's going to be Tactical's and Vanguard's turn, however those changes will not be in Patch 12 as we would like to focus on Tech Marine.

Melee

Power Axe:

• Chained Whirl Slash now can be performed after Overhead Strike.

• Overhead Strike damage is increased by 50%.

• Perk "Riposte" became a default behaviour - After performing a Power Backstep, hold attack to perform an Overhead Strike.

• Perk "Riposte" is changed - Overhead strike damage after Backstep is doubled.

• Blocking versions can now enter Power Stance.

Heroic Double Edge Relic (Chainsword):

• "Trampling Stride" Perk now works with a Heroic Perk Combo.

• Double Heavy Combo now can be performed after a Whirl Slash sprint attack.

Heroic Power Gladius (Power Knife):

• Damage buff now lasts for 1 second after the first instance of damage instead of being wasted on a single enemy.

🟡 Change from PTS: Fixed issue where damage buff lasted indefinitely.

Firearms

Heavy Bolt Rifle: Base damage increased by 13%.

Heroic Combi-Melta (Bolt Rifle): Increase damage by 15% for both Bolter and Melta firing modes.

Multi-Melta: The change allowing the player to shoot from the standing position immediately after firing from the blind (removing the previous delay) has been reverted. The interval between shots is now enforced when transitioning to the standing position.

🟡 Bolt Pistol: Base damage increased by 13.5%.

🟡 Volkite Pistol: Base damage and volkite explosion damage increased by 10%.

🟡 Patch 11 Heroic Weapon Changes from PTS

🟡 Heroic Heavy Bolt Pistol:

• Increase Gun Strike damage by 20%.

• Add 6 ammo to max capacity.

• Heroic perk will now instantly kill enemy enemies that are calling for reinforcement.

🟡 Heroic Sniper Bolt Rifle: All ammo restore perks will not trigger when using this weapon.

💬 While it was clear that its a very powerful weapon in PTS, we don't want to reduce its effectiveness, but we do want to raise its skill cap.

🟡 Heroic Thunder Hammer: Assault's Ground Pound will also spawn a shock zone.

🟡 Heroic Power Fist:

• Damage bonus for light attacks is increased to 200%.

• Increase radius for heroic perk activation to 15 meters.

• Issue Fixed: Sometimes perk didn't activate properly.

🟡 Heroic Heavy Bolter:

• Works like a fencing weapon as originally intended.

• Fixed UI display of accuracy value.

Classes

Tactical

• Signal Jammer: The perk has been reworked.

Old: “Enemies marked by Auspex Scan cannot call for reinforcements and automatically explode upon attempting to do so.”

New: “After marking an enemy with Auspex Scan, other enemies cannot call for reinforcement and automatically explode upon attempting to do so for 90 seconds.”

Sniper

• Precision Targeting: Now perk works against Extremis and Terminus-level enemies.

• Guardian Protocol: Removed cooldown.

• Ambush: Now also slows down nearby enemies for 10 sec.

Bulwark

• Emergency Countermeasure: Cooldown is decreased from 90 to 45 seconds.

Vanguard

💬 For too long, Vanguard's role was to be a vessel for the squad's healing perks. With these changes, we want to reinforce ranged/melee hybrid playstyle for him. But we are not entirely done with Vanguard changes. We would like to take a closer look at his ability.

• Grapnel Launcher damage now scales based on difficulty.

• 🟡 Retribution: The perk has been reworked.

Old: “After you are grabbed or knocked back, you deal 30% more Melee Damage for 20 seconds.”

New: “When your Ranged weapon’s magazine is empty, Melee Damage increases by 25%.”

🟡 Change from PTS: Damage buff increased from 20 to 25%.

• Moving Target: The perk has been reworked.

Old: “Each Melee Attack you land reduces the Ranged Damage you take by 5% (up to 30%). If you do not land a Melee Attack for 5 seconds, the effect ends.”

New: “Killing an enemy at a range of 30m or more restores Ability Charge by 5%.”

• 🟡 Tenacity: The perk has been reworked.

Old: “After killing 10 enemies within 5 seconds, Diving Kick's Damage increases by 40% for 15 seconds.”

New: “After a Ranged kill Majoris-level or higher enemy, Diving Kick's Damage increases by 130%. Cooldown 15 seconds.”

🟡 Change from PTS: Fix interaction between Shock Wave perk and Tenacity caused by double damage scaling.

• Collateral Damage: Increase damage by Diving Kick to 50%.

• 🟡 Inner Fire: Now works according to description.

Assault

• Act of Attrition: The perk has been reworked.

Old: “Enemies hit by Melee Attacks take 15% more Damage for 3 seconds.”

New: “Enemies hit by Damage from Melee Attacks executed while sprinting or dashing Melee Attacks take 25% more Damage for 5 seconds.“

Battlefield Conditions

Great Responsibility

Increased HP bonus from 100% to 150%.

Retirement Barge

Reduced HP debuff from 66% to 50%.

Poorly Fit Suit

Reduced damage by 33%.

Equipment Malfunction

restricted from appearing on the Exfiltration mission.

Surgical Strike

Buffed damage by 15%.

Extreme Challenge

Increased Extremis enemies spawn cooldown.

Gameplay QoL

• Increased netcode damage cap.

💬 This change is going to open a huge can of worms for gameplay balancing, but it has to be done. The game damage numbers should not be restricted by net code and should be accurate all of the time. We will be monitoring which builds and perks combinations will become problematic. It's pretty clear that some damage buffs combinations from multiple sources are already insane (looking at you Blocking Power Fist). For now, have fun.

• Sniper damage buff from Cloak Ability lasts a little bit longer to fully affect entire burst and full auto weapons.

• Improved sound indication for unparriable attacks.

• Pyrecannon Heavy Stance behavior with sprint now matches other heavy weapons.

AI

• Chaos Spawn: Fixed headshots not registering for client side hit detection weapons.

• Vortex Beast: Added headshot area.

• Lots of minor fixes with animations.

CUSTOMISATION

• Bots use player class customisation.

• Added sorting armour parts by rarity.

• Fixed: Black Templar Champion now chains his Power Sword properly.

• Lots of minor customisation fixes.

LEVELS

• Lots of minor fixes with level geometry.

Are you still playing Space Marine 2? Have you been enjoying all of these updates? Get ready to slaughter more xenos scum in the comments section below.

Much has already been written about Vampire: The Masquerade - Bloodlines 2 and its desperately troubled development, but it's still interesting to hear about the project from someone who was actually there, on the inside.

In a rather revealing interview with Cat Burton on YouTube, Dan Pinchbeck, the game's creative director, basically admits that significant doubts surrounded the title from the start — especially when it came to taking up the 'Bloodlines' name.

"We used to sit there and go and have these planning sessions of, ‘how do we get [the producers] to not call it Bloodlines 2?," Pinchbeck explains.

He continues, in particularly damning fashion: "That feels like the most important thing we do here is to come at this and say this isn’t Bloodlines 2. You can’t make Bloodlines 2. There’s not enough time. There’s not enough money’."

Indeed, it's a brutal recollection of what must have been a stressful situation for The Chinese Room — the studio that was handed the project after it had repeatedly failed to get off the ground elsewhere.

The bottom line here is that Pinchbeck — and presumably many others at The Chinese Room — knew that they couldn't replicate the magic of Bloodlines, which is now fondly remembered as a cult classic RPG.

And with that in mind, Pinchbeck recalls that his original pitch was to create a more linear experience.

"We can’t make Bloodlines 2, we can’t make Skyrim, but we can make Dishonored," he says.

Of course, looking back on Bloodlines 2 now, that line of thought makes a lot of sense. To be fair, the developer clearly understood its own limitations — but once the project adopted that all-important 'Bloodlines' name, the game's fate was sealed.

Pinchbeck, who co-founded The Chinese Room, left the company before Bloodlines 2 released.

"It felt like [The Chinese Room] had evolved into something that wasn’t the same thing that [co-founder Jessica Curry] and I started," he states.

Bloodlines 2 launched just over a month ago, and it was met with disappointing reviews from both critics and Vampire: The Masquerade fans. We called it "disastrously paced" and "a shambles" in our 4/10 review.

Did you ever have faith in Bloodlines 2? What do you make of Pinchbeck's comments? Don't forget to drain some blood in the comments section below.

It's no secret that Microsoft wants the ROG Xbox Ally to feel as comfortable for console users as possible, but that can be difficult when you're wielding a Windows 11 PC in your hands.

One of the problems is that games require tinkering in terms of power settings, frame rates, graphics and various other things that can affect the likes of performance and battery life. To counter this, Xbox has unveiled a new feature called "Default Game Profiles" that will support over 40 games at launch (it's starting in preview today).

The idea is that when you load up these games and you've got Default Game Profiles turned on, the Xbox Ally will automatically do all the hard work in the background to optimise for performance and battery life. These profiles have been hand-crafted for each game, and apparently can offer some significant benefits compared to manual tuning.

"For example, in Hollow Knight: Silksong, the Default Game Profile can add nearly an hour of battery life compared to Performance mode while still delivering smooth 120 FPS gameplay."

The full list of 40+ games has yet to be revealed, but Xbox has shared some of the first-party titles supporting it:

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

• Call of Duty: Warzone

• DOOM Eternal

• DOOM: The Dark Ages

• Forza Horizon 5

• Gears 5

• Gears of War: Reloaded

• Gears Tactics

• Halo: The Master Chief Collection

• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

• Minecraft

• Sea Of Thieves

• Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3+4

In our view, this is a fantastic move from Xbox to add even more optimisation to games on the Ally, and it should mean that even casual adopters who don't do any tweaking will be able to get the most out of these titles on the system.

Better yet, Team Xbox even says that the profiles are designed to boost power if the FPS falls below its intended target, while power will be limited if the frame rate is easily hitting its target. All of this is naturally only applicable when playing on battery, as it's not intended for plugged-in sessions.

We'll leave you with a little bit more information on Default Game Profiles below, which as mentioned are starting in preview today and should be rolling out to the public very soon.

"Spend more time playing and less time fine-tuning. Default Game Profiles, available in preview starting today, automatically balance frame rate (FPS) and power consumption for 40 supported games at launch, including Fortnite, Gears of War: Reloaded, Hollow Knight: Silksong, and others, with more coming soon. This means smoother, more enjoyable gameplay and extended battery life, without requiring manual adjustments."

Xbox developer Treyarch has fully detailed Black Ops 7 Season 01, and there's a lot of content coming to the game next week. A big batch of multiplayer maps, Zombies survival maps, weapons, operators and more are arriving for the Xbox Game Pass title on December 4th - alongside "significant improvements" to the game's battle pass system.

First off, let's take a look at that Season 01 content roadmap. Although the team shared a bunch of this information before the game launched, we now have the full S1 rundown - alongside new Warzone content and the addition of that release date of course. Here's the Black Ops 7 Season 01 roadmap:

Adding onto this, Treyarch says that it's "taken learnings from Black Ops 6’s Battle Pass" and has "made tuning adjustments for a more satisfying journey" overall. We're just going to throw the team's full quote on these changes down below because there's a lot to get stuck into - and the Battle Pass progression is being added to the game alongside Season 01.

"With Season 01 just around the corner, we’re excited to announce new changes to significantly improve the Battle Pass experience for all Black Ops 7 and Call of Duty: Warzone players, starting on Dec. 4th:

1. The team has taken learnings from Black Ops 6’s Battle Pass completion times and made tuning adjustments for a more satisfying journey. The result: each season’s Battle Pass in Black Ops 7 will be more rewarding for the time you spend playing.
2. Earlier pages in the Black Ops 7 Battle Pass can now be completed faster with fewer tiers needed to unlock HVT content, while later pages will contain more rewards. This means players will earn high-value content sooner across all 100 tiers.
3. For the first time, we’re adding the ability to earn Battle Pass Tokens via Daily Challenges, which are now also available in Co-Op Campaign & Endgame. These can be earned on certain days during the season by completing your bonus Daily Challenge and can be used right away.

With these core changes to the Battle Pass system, along with the addition of Weekly Challenges and even more Weapon Camos to earn in Season 01, our top focus is ensuring your time is rewarded more than ever in a Black Ops game."

We can't complain at more significant battle pass content being unlocked earlier we suppose, even if that particular progression system does feel a little tired these days. We like the sound of unlocking tokens through challenges though - and in general, this should provide a more rewarding progression system overall.

We'll see how it all shakes out when Black Ops 7 Season 01 lands on December 4th; free for existing players including those on Game Pass Ultimate.

Just three weeks after its release, Nintendo is already bringing more goodies to Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment later this week in the form of a free update.

Available on 27th November 2025, the update will add new weapons, a brand new Sync Strike for Zelda and fan-favourite Korok Calamo, and other goodies. Being typically coy there, Nintendo! The game already has a ton to unlock, including maxing out characters and finding all of those pesky Koroks, even if it's a little brisker than Age of Calamity.

Well, head over to the Japanese website and you'll see exactly what else we'll be getting — along with some extra challenges, new enemies, and more powerful materials, you'll also be able to team up with the Block Golem for another new Sync Strike.

A handful of new battles are also getting added on Thursday, including one which is apparently titled "A serious battle with Rauru". Hmmm.

Images: Nintendo

There are also some additional patch notes, which aim to fix functionality and a few bug fixes. We'll post the official translation when they're out there, but a couple of tweaks include adding tutorials that appear on the map are added to the list, previews of areas you can reclaim will show up, and a preview of the amount of health you can recover is now shown.

The previous Hyrule Warriors game also got a handful of updates and an Expansion Pass which brought with it an "expanded roster". So don't expect anything of that scale here.

Nintendo promised that it had free updates planned for the game after launch. And free stuff, whatever it is, we'll take. Especially as we really enjoyed this canon prequel to Tears of the Kingdom.

Are you still playing Age of Imprisonment? Looking forward to the new update later this week? Let us know in the comments.

Nintendo released its latest firmware update for Switch 2 last night, ushering in a handful of general improvements for the console. Alongside these tweaks, the update also appears to have coincided with some compatibility fixes, including one title we've been waiting to see up and running for a while: NieR:Automata The End of YoRHa Edition (thanks for the heads up, My Nintendo News).

Square Enix and PlatinumGames' sci-fi ARPG has long been sitting in a pretty bad way on Switch 2, with many users reporting frequent crashes when trying to get it up and running on the new hardware. A glance at Nintendo's compatibility information site before today listed NieR: Automata as "Unsupported - Problems with game progression have been found", but that all seems to be in the rear-view as of system update 21.0.1.

As of 25th November 2025 (that's today), the game's listing has been updated as "supported" on Switch 2, with the note that "previously identified issues have been fixed".

It's a welcome change, because NieR: Automata ruled on Switch 1, and now we have the perfect excuse to dive in all over again. In our 9/10 review of the initial Switch release, we described Automata as "a top-notch port that has clearly been produced with respect and focus, often surpassing our expectations in both visuals and performance". Sigh as if we didn't already have enough backlog games to get through before the year is up...

The Duskbloods, being that it's a FromSoftware joint and all that good stuff, is certainly high on our list of things we're very excited about arriving on Switch 2 in the near future. However, given that it's a multiplayer-typed deal in the same vein as the studio's divisive Elden Ring: Nightreign, we understand that there's a little more trepidation surrounding it, or at least that's how it's felt.

Solo FromSoftware efforts get a big thumbs up very quickly, it seems, but words like 'multiplayer' or even 'online' might make you feel it's not a full-fat adventure from the Dark Souls studio, perhaps. It's understandable. And yet, according to a new leak surrounding the game (as reported by Vice), The Duskbloods has been cooking longer and having more consideration put into it than any of FromSoft's work thus far.

The leak in question comes from a Chinese journalist who gained credibility after leaking correct Elden Ring info before it launched back in 2022. As translated by Ziostorm, they report that:

“From what I know, The Duskbloods was greenlit even earlier than the marketing period for Sekiro’s release. It is the FromSoftware title that has spent the longest time purely on gameplay prototyping and validation among all of their games so far. Although its PVE and PVP, it reportedly contains many innovative elements the team themselves are very proud of.”

They go on to claim that the game, which sees Hidetaka Miyazaki on directing duties, lest you forget, could be more influential than the likes of Sekiro (which launched in 2019) and its great big red mark that it paints on baddies for you. So it seems as though there may well be some big new mechanic at work here that we are yet to find out about as you get down and dirty as one of the game's vampire-flavoured Dusksworn combatants.

You can check out the full quote in Ziostorm's time-stamped video:

As to why it's been so quiet on the news front regarding the game thus far, the same leaker says that all Elden Ring Nightreign DLC will be wrapped up (something which occurs on 7th December) before FromSoftware turn their full attention to revving up their Duskblood engines. Oooh, we're quite excited, actually.

With no confirmed release date beyond "2026", plus not a whole lot of info about the PvPvE online adventure to sink our teeth into and the Switch 2 port of Elden Ring delayed into next year, let's hope we're in for a little pre-Xmas info drop. Or even just a tease. Come on, lads, give us something! Check out the reveal trailer below for a reminder.

Are you looking forward to The Duskbloods, or does the online aspect cool your desires in some regards? Make sure to let us know your thoughts on this one!