September 2023

Alan Wake 2 stars dual protagonists – Alan Wake and Saga Anderson – and we're taking a look at Alan's side of the story! Join Marcus Stewart and Kyle Hilliard as they show off a nice slice of the upcoming game and give hands-on impressions from playing it. This demo unfolds a few chapters into the game and sees the tortured author explore the sinister Oceanview Hotel in search of an escape from The Dark Place. Get a look at new mechanics such as Alan's Dark Place Lamp and the ability to "rewrite" his surroundings using narrative elements. 

Be sure to also read our in-depth preview of this demo here and check out our thoughts on Saga's section by reading this preview and watching this NGT. 

Head over to Game Informer's YouTube channel for more previews, reviews, and discussions of new and upcoming games. Watch other episodes of New Gameplay Today right here.

Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: Epic Games
Developer: Remedy Entertainment
Release: October 27, 2023
Rating: Mature

I got my hands on Alan Wake 2 during a recent preview event, letting me explore two slices of the game as the titular troubled author and FBI agent Saga Anderson. You can read about my experience with Alan’s segment here, but Saga’s side shows plenty of promise and narrative intrigue. 

PlayStation has announced Horizon Forbidden West: Complete Edition, which is a game package that includes both the base Horizon Forbidden West game and its DLC expansion from earlier this year, Burning Shores. This Complete Edition will hit PlayStation 5 next week on October 6. The PC version will be released in early 2024.

Horizon Forbidden West is the 2022 follow-up to 2017's Horizon Zero Dawn, and it was one of our favorite games of last year – read about why in Game Informer's review here. It hit both PS5 and PlayStation 4, but if you missed it last year, PlayStation and developer Guerrilla Games are making it easier to experience the full Forbidden West package on PS5 next week. 

Update, 10/2/23:

Remedy Entertainment revealed last week that a Performance Mode was coming to Alan Wake 2 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. There was no mention of this mode coming to Xbox Series S, however, and Game Informer reached out to Remedy to ask if the mode was skipping the console. Remedy confirmed to Game Informer today that there will be no Performance Mode for Alan Wake 2 on Xbox Series S.  

The original story continues below...

Original story, 9/27/23:

A new Lies of P update is live on PlayStation and Steam, and it includes several changes to bosses, standard enemies, items, and more that should make the game easier overall. The update is not yet live on Xbox platforms but publisher Neowiz says the Xbox versions of the update "have been submitted to Microsoft for testing and will be updated as soon as they are ready." 

Lies of P hit PlayStation, Xbox, and PC earlier this month. It's one of our favorite games of the year – read about why in Game Informer's Lies of P review here – but it's a tough soulslike that kicked our butts more than once. However, today's Update 1.2.0.0 should make the game easier overall so if you've taken a break from saving Krat with Pinocchio, now might be a good time to jump back in. 

Here's what's changed in Update 1.2.0.0 in Lies of P: 

EA is moving away from its decades-long FIFA series with the release of EA Sports FC later this week. It seems that the publisher is taking the idea of replacing FIFA quite literally, too, as it has pulled every previous FIFA game from sale on PC storefronts Steam and Epic.

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Horizon Forbidden West will follow its predecessor Horizon Zero Dawn away from former PlayStation exclusivity with a PC release early next year.

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Chris Metzen, one of Warcraft’s longest and most influential lore-crafters for more than two decades before he retired back in 2016, has returned to work at Blizzard full-time.

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Acclaimed minimalist survival RPG Vampire Survivors is done with summer and is heading for frostier climes, courtesy of its next free content update, the Chilling Update, which just recieved a first trailer ahead of its arrival "soon".

Poncle hasn't laid all the specifics of Vampire Survivors new Chilling Update (also known as patch 1.7, and also also seemingly known as Whiteout), but its trailer drop came with confirmation it'll feature a brand-new wintery stage, complete with snow-covered pines and more snowmen than you can shake an arm-shaped stick at, plus a brand-new character.

As to the identity of this newcomer, I really couldn't say beyond the fact they have a fetching hood, based on the information currently available, but Poncle's new trailer does confirm patch 1.7 will introduce the Glass Fandango as a new weapon - "stronger with movement, Orologions, and against frozen enemies" - plus new achievements, and probably a bunch of other stuff I've missed because I have, alas, only recently begun my Vampire Survivors journey.

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CD Projekt Red has apologised for the Ukrainian localisation of Cyberpunk 2077 due to language which could be "considered offensive by Russian gamers" which was added in the 2.0 update last week and said it is working to add the "correct lines" in the next patch.

Website Zone of Games discovered differences between the English and Ukrainian scripts with altered dialogue. Since publishing its initial report, other differences within the versions of the game have surfaced.

As reported by our mates at Rock Paper Shotgun, the changes include swapping the word "asshole" to "rusnia", a Ukrainian derogatory word for Russians. The localisation also has allusions to Russia's ongoing invasion of Ukraine, such as a reference to "Russian warship, go fuck yourself", the response of a Ukrainian border guard to a Russian warship in a widely circulated encounter near Snake Island.

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I've been playing the new Forza Motorsport preview these past couple of weeks and, in the wake of our developer interview with Turn 10, I wanted to share my own impressions on the game. After all, Forza 2023 has been in development longer than any prior entry in the Motorsport series and expectations are high. The preview build only includes a limited selection of content but it's enough to give us a better idea of how it's shaping up on Xbox Series X and Series S in terms of graphics, gameplay and performance.

The current preview build includes access to three cars and five tracks, and kicks off with an introduction segment in the spirit of Forza Horizon - where you're dropped right in the middle of a race in progress across two different tracks. It's nowhere near as seamless at Horizon, mind you, as there is a distinct loading point between the two events, but it's still a great way to kick things off and really showcases what the engine is capable of.

The first race takes place on series staple Maple Valley, and this is perhaps the best-looking track we've seen thus far. The new dynamic lighting system combined with the 3D foliage makes a world of difference creating a sleek, gorgeous track environment to race through. Compared against Forza Motorsport 7, the differences become evident - Forza 7's lighting is entirely baked and, while it can look amazing, the limitations are easily visible. The car sticks out and isn't well integrated into the environment, versus the new installment where everything is more grounded.

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Video game statue maker Gaming Heads has claimed it was told by Sony to destroy its licensed merchandise, including items already paid for but not yet shipped to customers.

The company has shared an open letter to Sony on social media and its website, apologising to customers for the situation and stating this was "PlayStation's decision, not ours".

The items it claims to have been told to destroy include in-stock items, items ready to be shipped, items in production, and items in development. These are from a range of franchises, including The Last of Us, God of War, Bloodborne, and Ratchet & Clank.

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It's been 13 years since Alan and his typewriter first made their way onto Xbox 360, in a twisted and often perplexing story that ultimately left the author in the Dark Place, a surreal alternate dimension where works of art shape reality. Now, ahead of Alan Wake 2's long-awaited October release, I've gone hands-on to find out how our favourite fictional writer is holding up.

At a very basic level, much of Alan Wake 2's gameplay will feel familiar to those who have played the original. Players have access to firearms, torches are used to burn away shadows, Alan can dodge attacks and also heroically sprint away when a little more distance is needed (something I did quite often). Outside of combat, there are plenty of shadowy environments to explore, and light will once again be key to overcoming many obstacles in your path. All much as to be expected from an Alan Wake sequel.

But while Alan Wake 2 may feel quite familiar from this angle, there is so much more that sets the sequel apart from its predecessor, with Remedy taking great strides away from the original with new settings, mechanics, characters and a whole new genre for players to wrap their heads around.

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It's been 13 years since Alan Wake launched himself into the murky waters of Cauldron Lake in a bid to save his wife, Alice. For over a decade, he has been left languishing in the Dark Place, with surreal visions and a nightmarish hell dimension his only company. But now he is back in Alan Wake 2, Remedy's much anticipated sequel, and ready to burn the darkness away once again.

This time, however, Remedy has decided to take the series in a new direction. The developer is shaking off the action-adventure genre that came before, and is instead treading a new path - that of survival horror. But how and why did Remedy make this jump between genres? And, why now?

"Coming out of Max Payne way back when, we didn't really explore the idea of different game genres," creative director Sam Lake told me at an Alan Wake 2 press event held earlier this month. "It was kind of a given of 'ok, it's an action thing and maybe a bit more adventure put in, and some horror elements on the story side'."

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Horizon Forbidden West will come to PC in “early 2024,” Dutch port house Nixxes Software confirmed today. The sci-fi action-RPG marks the latest in a steady drumbeat of Sony’s first-party exclusives making the jump from PlayStation 5 to Steam and the Epic Games Store.

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As the Sonic the Hedgehog ambassador, Sega announced Hololive VTuber Korone Inugami will participate in the Sonic Square collaboration event at the Fuji-Q Highland amusement park in Japan. That will be held from September 27, 2023 to October 15, 2023. Her voice will be able to be heard alongside Sonic and his friends over the park announcements. Additionally, she will appear at a talk show event in real-time. You can learn more about what’s in store for Sonic Square on the official website.

First, an AR photo spot will be available beginning on October 2, 2023. At the park plaza, if you scan the QR code with a smartphone, it will be possible to take a commemorative photo with Korone.

In addition, you'll hear her quite a bit. Korone will handle the in-park announcements, working together with Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy. Her voice can also be heard at random while passing through the Sonic ring reproduction photo spot in the plaza. Most of the time, you’ll hear the ring sound effect, but there is a chance you’ll be able to hear the Hololive Vtuber's voice.

Finally, the talk show event will be held at the Event Stage in Central Park. It will be on October 9, 2023 at 2pm JST. Six attendees will win some collaboration art autographed by Korone herself.

In September 2023, Atlus announced a feature new to the Persona series that will appear in Persona 3 Reload for the first time: Link Episodes. Link Episodes occur along with the main story and have been implemented to give players a chance to learn more about the characters that previously weren’t focused on very deeply. It is a way to get to know Persona 3 characters who didn’t have their own Social Links. Ryokutya noted Persona 3 Reload Director Takuya Yamaguchi and Producer Ryota Niitsuma recently revealed in an interview with Japanese magazine Famitsu and the developers that these link episodes would be time-limited. The two also mentioned that the development of the game is almost complete. [Thanks, ryokutya2089!]

Producer Niitsuma explained the following about the new Social Link adjacent Persona 3 Reload feature:

Link Episodes occur as the main story progresses, and if you spend time with the character during a set period of time, the next episode will occur in the next period… If you miss the first episode, you won’t be able to see the subsequent episodes.

I miss Dragalia Lost. That’s probably weird to say when starting a review for a game that isn’t even by the same developer. The thing is that Silent Hope, Marvelous’ newest action-RPG and dungeon diver that’s loosely connected to the Rune Factory series, reminds me of Dragalia Lost in various ways. The chibi character designs. The restricted character movesets that force you to play to their advantages. The way levels look. How fighting can sometimes feel. It gets me feeling nostalgic for that past game, even though this bears a lot in common with other loot-driven action-RPGs, and I appreciate that.

Before Silent Hope ever began, a king of what seemed to be a wonderful kingdom headed into a massive Abyss and took all of the world’s words with him. The only person with the ability to communicate and speak in that way is his daughter, a princess now enclosed in a crystal made of her own tears. However, seven heroes belonging to different classes and with their own special abilities have gathered at the mouth of that gaping maw. With the princess’ powers and their own skills, they’ll head into the various layers of the Abyss to find out what’s going on and, hopefully, save the day.

We know young Sephiroth will be joining FFVII Ever Crisis as a playable character, and now there’s new art of him. Square Enix and Applibot took to social media to share three pieces of art highlighting how the character will look in the game. People will see all three of these examples when going through the new The First Soldier chapters that will show up in the mobile game on September 29, 2023. 

First, here’s the young Sephiroth character portrait art from FFVII Ever Crisis. You’ll see it when he’s speaking during story segments.

Vampire Survivors developer Poncle has revealed a new "Whiteout" update coming to the game soon, and it brings with it a new snowy stage, character, weapon, and more. Alongside this news, Poncle released a short teaser of what awaits survivors in the Whiteout update, and it looks like a frosty new take on the Vampire Survivors arcade action. Unlike the Tides of the Foscari DLC that was released earlier this year for $2, this Whiteout update will be free on all platforms where you can play Vampire Survivors. 

"It's the first trailer for Whiteout, the new free update we're working on (patch v1.7)," Poncle's announcement tweet reads. "Get ready for a frosty new stage, a new character, weapon, and more. Coming soon to all platforms." 

Check out the Vampire Survivors Whiteout update trailer for yourself below: 

Omg we are having a super clumsy day and dropped something!!

It's the first trailer for Whiteout, the new free update we're working on (patch v1.7). Get ready for a frosty new stage, a new character, weapon and more. Coming soon to all platforms #VampireSurvivors pic.twitter.com/bwPrx48Hbu

After launching back in 2020 on PC via the Epic Games Store, Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 1+2 is finally (three years later…) making its way to Steam in October. Soon, it will be very easy to play this fantastic remake of the first two games in the series on your Steam Deck, no Heroic Games Launcher required!

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Exploration is a key part of the Starfield experience, with large planetary spaces through which to wander across the galaxy, but it can be risky. On top of combat and quests, environments feature an assortment of hazards, each of which are capable of afflicting the player with specific conditions. However, Bethesda’s…

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The latest episode of the Ahsoka Disney Plus series felt like it was moving all the important chess pieces around the board. And for good reason—the next episode is its last, so showrunner Dave Filoni had to make sure Ahsoka Tano (Rosario Dawson), Sabine Wren (Natasha Liu Bordizzo), and the newly rediscovered Ezra…

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Gaming on Mac becomes more of a reality every day, with powerful Apple Silicon processors and the Game Porting Toolkit unlocking surprisingly decent performance in a wide range of modern games and emulated titles alike. We don't normally cover Mac gaming here, but I thought you might want to know that the latest M2 Mac Mini is down to $499 at B&H Photo in the US, a $100 reduction on the base-spec unit that makes it quite a powerful computer for the money.

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NZXT's H1 v2 is one of my favourite small form factor PC cases, but a high price point (and a manufacturing defect in the V1 model) kept it from seeing widespread adoption. It's now possible to pick up this Mini ITX case from Best Buy for $200, half its usual price and a good deal for a case that includes a 750W SFX power supply, 140mm AiO and top fan.

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Cyberpunk 2077’s 2.0 update arrived last week alongside new (and truly excellent) expansion Phantom Liberty, bringing a host of tweaks and improvements in an impressive climax to the originally technically-troubled and artistically-questionable game’s quite staggering redemption arc.

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One of the lantern fish lures dangled in the face of anybody losing momentum in Starfield is "mate, you would not believe the weird stuff that happens in New Game Plus". I won't say too much - not in this opening paragraph, anyway - but there's a playfulness to the post-completion options that you don't really find in the rest of Bethesda's much-ballyhooed RPG. It's the kind of thing you expect from modders, not the developers themselves.

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I like small things - models, and what not - but I'm not patient enough to build them from scratch myself. Lego sets represent an ideal, if monstrously expensive, solution. I can build the thing without having to make all the constituent parts of it. I've recently gotten well into the modular city sets, to the extent that I look up discontinued sets on eBay and other such secondhand vendors. I don't actually get sets very often, but last week I built a police station, which can slot next to the bookshop I got for my last birthday. And while the bookshop has cute details - like a book called Moby Brick with a white block leaping from the sea on the cover, and an attic flat with a pet iguana in a glass tank - the copshop has some secret secrets that are the Lego equivalent of leaving a skeleton in a toilet stall. But better.

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Cast your mind back to 2018, and you might recall Adi Shankar - the producer of Netflix's acclaimed Castlevania adaptation - announcing he also had a Devil May Cry animated series in the works. Five years on, and the streaming service has now given us a first look at the show, which is supposedly coming "soon".

Netflix's animated Devil May Cry series has been made in collaboration with Capcom, and comes from Studio Mir - the animation team behind the likes of The Legend of Korra and My Adventures with Superman.

Beyond that, details are almost entirely non-existent at present, although Netflix's announcement trailer does at least gives us a quick look at the adaptation's interpretation of Dante, who looks to be well and truly in "cocky pretty boy" mode for this outing.

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