News and Reviews

The Yakuza / Like A Dragon series has been one of the biggest surprises of the Switch 2 generation, with three games — 0, Kiwami 1, and Kiwami 2 — available on the platform already. In February next year, it'll be joined by the brand new Yakuza Kiwami 3 & Dark Ties which is much more than a remake of Yakuza 3, says RGG Studio director Yokoyama Masayoshi. In an interview with GameWatch (translated by Automaton), Masayoshi-san has said that this remake "contains some major hints about the future direction of the series." "We haven't officially announce anything related to that yet," Masayoshi continues "But once you play it, I think you’ll get an idea, or rather, a pret…

Yakuza Kiwami 3 will apparently feature "major hints" about where the Like a Dragon series is heading, despite being a PS5 and PS4 remake of a PS3 title. This is according to RGG Studio director Masayoshi Yokoyama, who isn't a stranger to saying stuff that'll make Yakuza fans sit up and take notice. "It contains some major hints about the future direction of the series," Yokoyama told GameWatch (as translated by Automaton). He continues: "We haven’t officially announced anything related to that yet. But once you play it, I think you’ll get an idea, or rather, a pretty solid sense of what we intend to do with the series going forward." Honestly, it's one hell of a quote, a…

Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red might be teasing something for the game's imminent fifth anniversary. We've written about this before, but it wouldn't surprise us in the least if the company has plans. After all, third-party developer Virtuos is — as far as we know — still working on updates for the open world title, having helped create Patch 2.3 earlier in the year. Some fans have theorised that the team's been working on another big update ever since, and the game's fifth anniversary would obviously be the perfect time to release it. Anyway, this rumour's been reignited thanks to a new post from the official Cyberpunk 2077 account on social media. For a while n…

The new version of Red Dead Redemption for Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S will be with us on Tuesday, December 2nd, and it's already Tuesday in some countries right now, hence why we've got some early footage! It always seems to be Fuzion Xbox Testing on YouTube that gets to this kind of stuff earlier than anyone else, and they've already provided us with detailed early looks at both the Xbox Series X and Series S versions of RDR 1. On Xbox Series X, we can see that Red Dead Redemption is running at a resolution of 4K and delivers some nice visuals despite looking dated in some ways, while the frame rate seems to be a locked 60FPS. Ah, finally! It's very much the same st…

Marvel Cosmic Invasion is kicking off December on Xbox Game Pass in a big way - and the new Marvel brawler is out now, which means early reviews are starting to trickle in for the newly-released Xbox title. So, we're going to gather up some of those early reviews down below for you take a look at. Spoiler alert; Marvel Cosmic Invasion sounds like it'll be a lot of fun on Xbox Game Pass! Console Creatures (9/10) TechRaptor (8.5/10) Nintendo Life (8/10) Push Square (8/10) GamesRadar (4/5) PlayStation Universe (7.5/10) At the time of writing, Marvel Cosmic Invasion has a score of 78 on Metacritic and a rating of 82 on OpenCritic; pretty good going for this one so far, then.…

Rockstar's new current-gen upgrade for Red Dead Redemption is starting to roll out in certain regions, and with the game now live in some parts of the world, we're seeing that this new version has a 50% launch discount on Xbox Series X|S. Available for seemingly the first two weeks after release, Red Dead Redemption has a half price offer right now. Here's how that's looking on the New Zealand store at the moment, with the upgrade expected to go live in other regions over the next few hours: Of course, we must note that existing owners of the Xbox 360 backwards compatible version will get this new upgrade for free anyway, so if you have that old version tied to your acco…

We might have to wait a little while longer than expected until we can see Elden Ring: Tarnished Edition in its full glory on Switch 2, but the title is still popping up at games expos around the world, giving us plenty of opportunities to see it in action. The latest slice of hands-on time came from the Milan Games Week 2025, where 'Corey Da Flame' captured the over-the-shoulder footage found above (thanks, Nintenderos). It's the same opening section that we have seen played on Switch 2 a couple of times now, and off-screen recording is never the best way to get an idea of things from a performance perspective, but things seem... less tarnished than we were expecting. Ok…

Last Friday saw the broadcast of The Mario Kart World: Knockout Tour Streamer Showdown, sponsored by Nintendo and overseen by our friends at IGN Entertainment. Featuring 24 UK variety and gaming influencers, the event showcased Mario Kart World's Knockout Tour at its most chaotic. The selected streamers were split into six teams of four, and commemorative trophies were offered to the quartet that accumulated the most points throughout the competition. Clearly, much more than honour was at stake here. Hosted by IGN UK’s George Forsyth-Nash (aka Nash) and Outside Xtra’s Jane Douglas, The Mario Kart World: Knockout Tour Streamer Showdown also benefited from insights by Outsi…

Jennifer Hale, one of the most iconic voice actors and best known for playing Commander Shepard in the Mass Effect trilogy and Naomi Hunter and Emma Emmerich in the Metal Gear Solid series, has spoken about her experience in playing Bayonetta in Bayonetta 3. Hale, who took over the role from Hellena Taylor for the third entry in the series, told GAMINGbible (via IGN) that she "got thrown under the bus by that whole thing." "I was unable to speak on my own behalf because I was under not one but two NDAs. Eventually, I was allowed to make a statement, which I appreciated, and I was able to present the facts,” Hale continues. Following PlatinumGames' announcement of the new …

Ahead of its PS5 version launching tomorrow, the Trophy list for Red Dead Redemption has gone live, sharing what is an identical list to the PS4 edition. Exophase has the complete list of 52 Trophies, which is mostly focused on the base game, with some Trophies for the Undead Nightmare expansion to go along with it. As this is the same list as the PS4 version, we can pull on the Trophy guides published for that edition to confirm we're looking at a very achievable Platinum Trophy on PS5. PSN Profiles lists just one missable Trophy, which requires you to "complete 20 story missions without switching to a new horse at a hitching post". The advice is to never hitch your hors…

The Witcher developer CD Projekt Red is reportedly sticking to its plan to release not one, not two, but three new games within a six year period. To be clear, the company's referring to the new trilogy, which starts with The Witcher 4. The Ciri-led adventure doesn't have a release date (or even a release window) yet, but the idea is that once it's out, you won't have to wait too long for The Witcher 5 and The Witcher 6. "As we had stated before, our plan still is to launch the whole trilogy within a six-year period," co-CEO Michal Nowakowski reiterated during a recent financial call. Nowakowski suggests that the (much) shorter development cycle will be, in part, thanks t…

With awards season just a few weeks away, Sony's official PlayStation Blog has opened all of its Game of the Year 2025 deliberations to the public, allowing PS5, PS4 fans to vote for their favourite titles released this year. Voting across 19 categories is live now until midnight on Tuesday, 9th December, giving you a full week to consider your picks and then submit them. You can do so through the link, with the following categories available: Best New Character Best Story Best Graphical Showcase Best Art Direction Best Audio Design Best Soundtrack Best Accessibility Features Best Use of DualSense Best Rerelease (Remaster) Best Multiplayer Experience Best Ongoing Game Bes…

If even one of the biggest games in the world, with all the money it generates on a daily basis, is now embracing AI tools for art production, how much hope is there left? Following the end of the Zero Hour live event this weekend and the beginning of Season 7, Fortnite players have started pointing out parts of the map and in-game items that look suspiciously AI-generated. The game's main Reddit page (via Eurogamer) has now been taken over by posts debating the suspected images and items, with some accusing them of being AI and others pulling up artist defences. The two main examples people are pointing to are in-game posters. The first can be seen below, which features …

If you enjoyed building simple (or complex) vehicles to solve puzzles in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, then you’ll absolutely love what PS5 open world Where Winds Meet is cooking. The game, which launched globally last month, is getting a massive update in China which will see it incorporate mechanics where you can build simple cars, boats, and aircrafts. It works similarly to Nintendo’s flagship franchise, where you combine components to construct your makeshift machines. For example, a plank of wood paired with four wheels and an engine will give you a basic car. Add steering to give yourself more manoeuvrability. You’ll be able to save builds and share the…

Halo: The Master Chief Collection has been a pretty steady Steam performer since it was introduced to the platform back in 2019; especially over the last three or four years where it regularly hits about 10k concurrent players at peak times. Over this past weekend though, the collection peaked a little higher than usual; hitting a Steam player count not seen since late 2021. Yep, over the weekend, Halo: MCC surpassed 12k players on Steam for the first time since December 2021. To be specific, the title brought in 12,306 players on Sunday, November 30th - in what's turned out to be the game's most popular day on the platform in almost four years. The game is currently disc…

At the end of last week, the developers beyond the critically panned MindsEye released Update 6 for the game, adding "enhanced gameplay" alongside a Free Starter Pack that means anyone can now try it for free on multiple platforms. Specifically, the MindsEye Free Starter Pack features the Robin Hood campaign mission along with 14 ARCADIA missions, and it'll be updated regularly with new ways to play. To access it on Xbox, you'll need to find the MindsEye page on the Xbox Store and then look for the "free trial" button. MindsEye (Xbox Store) In terms of Update 6, you can see some Xbox Series X footage below which shows how the game unfortunately still runs at 30FPS even to…

It's been quite an underwhelming Black Friday and Cyber Monday 2025 from a console perspective for Xbox fans, with just a few small discounts scattered around for the two systems, but that's still managed to make some people happy! Over on the Xbox subreddit, there are a few people showing off their new Series X and Series S purchases, although it's unclear what specific deals they've taken advantage of here. As mentioned last week, many of the Black Friday deals were in the UK, although we spotted a handful (including refurbished models) in the US. Here's a look at two of those posts from over the weekend: Beyond consoles, we've also seen a lot of deals for Xbox controll…

Limited Run Games announced Tomba! 2: The Evil Swine Return Special Edition way back in June 2024, and while a good chunk of time has passed us by since then (including a rather buggy release of its platforming predecessor), the release date is almost upon us! Tomba 2 will arrive on the Switch eShop on 15th December for $19.99 (or your regional equivalent), marking the first time that the 3D PlayStation platformer has been available on Nintendo systems. For those who didn't try this one out in the early 2000s, Tomba 2 took the same jungle platforming precedent as the first game in the series, but moved things into the wonderful world of 3D. With the now-chiselled Tomba gi…

Has it really been eight entire years? Yes, it really actually has, so sit up and pay attention at the back. Xenoblade Chronicles 2, which as every Xenoblade nerd worth their salt knows is actually the third game released in the series, dropped into existence on this very day back in 2017, and it's a bit good. We gave it a well-deserved 9/10 in our review, so it's a bona fide banger as officially ordained by the bona fide banger squad™. To celebrate this eighth birthday (they get big so quickly these days), Monolith Soft has been sharing a lovely bit of artwork over on its social media. Which is great. For reference, here's the Google translation: Yes, happy birthday. Ve…

A PS2 on-rails shooter game based on the popular manga/anime series Gunslinger Girl is set to get a fan translation from the translation team at Hilltop Works, allowing players to experience the title with English subtitles. Gunslinger Girl, in case you're unfamiliar with it, originally started life as a manga that was serialized inside the shōnen magazine Monthly Comic Dengeki Daioh in 2002, and was later adapted into two different anime series named Gunslinger Girl and Gunslinger Girl -Il Teatrino-. It was created by the Japanese author Yu Aida and had a story that focused on an agency based in Italy, which masquerades as a rehabilitation centre for young girls who have…

Takenobu Mitsuyoshi is famous for his vocal contributions to classic Sega titles like Daytona USA and Sega Rally Championship, and has revealed to Time Extension contributor Ollie Barder that his legendary career as "the guy who sings" happened almost by accident. In a new interview with Forbes, Mitsuyoshi talks about how he joined Sega and how he secured his position in video game history thanks to his unique contribution to 1994's Daytona USA. "I think the turning point was probably when I implemented my own singing in Daytona USA," he says. "To be honest, up until then, I had never thought of my voice, my singing, or even the title 'vocalist' as something that could st…

We have some good news for English fans of Bandai Namco's Idolmaster series. A new fan translation patch is currently in the works for The Idolmaster SP, the 2009 entry in the idol raising simulation/rhythm series for the PlayStation Portable. The new patch covers the game's three separate releases — Perfect Sun, Missing Moon, and Wandering Star — each of which came on a separate disc and featured a different set of idols — and will mark the first time the game has received a full English fan translation, building on the partial translations that were previously released between 2009 - 2014 by TLWiki. It is the work of a team that includes BonillaP and Soutaisei/相対性 and, …

Gregg Mayles recently announced his departure from Rare after 36 years, which means the brains behind such classics as Battletoads, Donkey Kong Country and Banjo-Kazooie is no longer with the legendary British studio. While he's very much focused on his future, Mayles is equally keen to promote his past, and has been digging into his personal archives to unearth material related to Banjo-Tooie, which recently celebrated its 25th birthday. Among the paperwork you'll find scripts, unfilmed TV commercials, lost special moves, maps and unused abilities, but the item that made me smile the most was a fax from Nintendo's Japanese HQ which cleared the game for release in that re…

Edia has announced another compilation of Telenet Japan games. This time, focusing primarily on Wolf Team's Zan series of Japanese-set simulation titles, which see players stepping into the role of a warlord tasked with commanding an army around a battlefield (thanks, Gematsu, for the spot!). In the past, the collection of games has regularly been likened to Koei's Nobunaga's Ambition series of strategy games, and typically shares a similar focus on military affairs, such as arranging your troops into formations, gathering intelligence, and handling other aspects of war. The series first debuted back in 1989 with the release of Zan: Kagerō no Toki on the PC-98 and Sharp X…

Square's Secret of Mana (known as Seiken Densetsu 2 in Japan) is one of my personal favourites in the SNES library, so when I heard the news that a fan-made attempt to bring it to another of my beloved consoles – the PC Engine – is underway, I was understandably excited. As is the case with many of these unofficial porting projects, it pays to keep expectations in check. Developer kaffeeware / not_again admits this is just a demo at the moment, and they haven't even had the chance to test it on real hardware personally. Images: kaffeeware To that end, they're looking for volunteers to help iron out any early bugs on original PC Engine/TG-16 systems – and early reports …