November 2023

The Star Ocean series can be hit or miss, and you never know if a game will be a stellar installment or, well, an Integrity and Faithlessness. Star Ocean The Second Story is among its best games in the series, and I believe the R release cements its role as the strongest entry.

Like many Star Ocean games, Star Ocean The Second Story R involves a technologically advanced person from future Earth finding themselves on a planet that’s more akin to a fantasy world, complete with magic. Here, we get to witness two sides of the stories. One is of Rena, a young woman who was found in a forest outside a small town as a baby and is a bit of a mystery due to her ability to use healing magic. The other star is Claude C. Kenny, son of Ronyx from the first entry, who ends up crash landing on the planet of Expel. Claude’s goal is to find a way home. Rena wants to find out who she is. Both get caught up in the investigation of a strange Sorcery Globe that descended to the planet and caused various disasters. Each character’s route offers different insights, as well as occasional opportunities to recruit certain allies or earn different endings.

Ubisoft's chief people officer, Anika Grant, is leaving the company at the end of this month after two and a half years working on its workplace culture and HR issues.

Grant joined Ubisoft in April 2021 at a time she previously described as a "misconduct crisis" for the company, referring to the numerous allegations of sexual assault and harrassment made against senior and veteran employees including Splinter Cell and Far Cry creative director Maxime Béland and former editorial vice president Tommy François.

Grant's departure was announced internally by Ubisoft exec Yves Guillemot in a staff email, with the search for a replacement "well underway". In a statement to sent to GamesIndustry, Ubisoft confirmed Grant will be leaving the company at the end of the month.

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Lies of P director Ji Won Choi has provided a first glimpse of the game's forthcoming DLC, as well as confirmation a sequel is in the works.

In a Director's Letter video, Choi thanked the community for the game's 1m sales and provided an update on its future.

"Our highest priority is developing the DLC and working on our sequel," he said. While the DLC had already been revealed, the sequel had not.

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GiGO will sell Persona 5 Tactica taiyaki and drinks in Japan to celebrate the release of the game. The taiyaki and drinks will be available between November 17, 2023 and December 15, 2023. [Thanks, PR Times!]

The Persona 5 Tactica taiyaki and drinks will be sold separately, and each one costs 500 yen (or about $3). The taiyaki is modeled after Morgana, and it will be available at the GiGO Taiyaki Akihabara store in Tokyo.

Meanwhile, novelty drinks will be offered at 19 GiGO cafés throughout the country. The locations the drinks will be available at are the following:

• GiGO Collaboration Cafe Sapporo Norbesa
• Dinos Bowling Sapporo Teine
• Dinos Bowling Obihiro
• GiGO Sendai
• GiGO Headquarters Store
• GiGO Ikebukuro No.1
• GiGO Collaboration Cafe Ikebukuro
• GiGO Ikebukuro No.3

Lies of P launched back in September to both critical and fan acclaim – we gave it one of our highest scores of the year and you can read about why in Game Informer's Lies of P review. After a September patch that included various changes to make the Soulslike action RPG easier, game director Jiwon Choi has released a Director's Letter to confirm plans for a Lies of P sequel, tease DLC for the game with two new images, and more. 

Lies Of P Sequel Confirmed

Choi began the video thanking players for helping the game sell 1 million copies in less than two months after release. He then sneakily drops a line confirming the Pinocchio-inspired Soulslike is getting a sequel. 

"Our highest priority is developing the DLC and working on the sequel," Choi says in the Director's Letter. "The dev team is putting in significant effort, brainstorming and exploring different aspects of the projects." 

Shenmue creator Yu Suzuki has discussed the possibility of a fourth game in the series, and the idea of developing it as a more approachable prequel, similar to Yakuza 0.

Shenmue 3 was released in 2019, 18 years after the second game, but was aimed predominantly at fans of the series who backed the project on Kickstarter.

"I want Shenmue 4 to be enjoyable for newcomers," Suzuki said now, in an interview with IGN. "To make that possible, the most important thing is to make it enjoyable without knowing previous events in the story. I don't think that a new player wants to know 100 percent of the story. 20 or 30 percent could be enough.

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A slew of leaks have revealed under-wraps details on Fortnite OG, the game's upcoming throwback season which is set to feature the battle royale's original map for a limited time.

Because of the shortened season length - believed to last only until the start of December - the game's next battle pass will feature just 50 levels (half of the normal 100), leaks have revealed.

The battle pass will be filled with character skins that are mash-ups of previous Fortnite favourites, such as Peely the banana man mixed up with ice cream mascot Lil' Whip - for a new skin named Lil' Split.

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Capcom says mods for its PC games can cause "reputational damage" thanks to content which causes offence to "public order and morals", resulting in a blow to the games' (and presumably the company's) images.

The statement was made during a recent presentation uploaded to Capcom's research and development YouTube channel on anti-cheat and anti-piracy measures and how Capcom is tackling them in-house.

"Mods are popular with users because they allow them to add or change various features to an existing game," Capcom said, admitting the "majority of mods can have a positive impact". But some mods are seen as "detrimental" by the company in terms of "reputational damage" and workload.

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Bloodborne Kart, the fanmade spin-off, finally has a release date.

The project was first announced early last year and is coming from game developer Lilith Walther, responsible for the Bloodborne demake that recreated early levels in glorious PS1 detail.

The cheeky racing game will be released on 31st January 2024.

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The Twitch app on Nintendo Switch will soon shut down.

The free app allows users to watch Twitch streams on the console, though you can't stream directly from it - unlike on PlayStation and Xbox.

However, Twitch is ending support for the app. From 6th November new users will no longer be able to download the app from the eShop. All users will then lose access from 31st January 2024.

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It’s hard to say no to more Symbiote. Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2 explores a totally new story about the iconic alien parasite, and while many of the game’s plot threads get resolved by the end of the story, there’s still plenty of room for future DLC or a sequel to bring Spider-Man’s beloved foil Venom back for more…

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There are only two months left in what is quite likely one of the most epic years in gaming. We’ve already had some incredible games this year, and hopefully there are still a few more to come.

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Soon Bloodborne Kart will be real, as the PC fan game has a release date. People will be able to race around Yharnam on January 31, 2024. 

To go along with the release date announcement, the team behind the project confirmed some of the features people will see in the full game. As a reminder and as the title suggests, Bloodborne Kart is a racing game. It features a demake look, as well as both single and multiplayer modes. The single-player involves a campaign with bosses, while people can play in split-screen or VS Battle multiplayer. There are also 12 playable characters and 16 maps, with one of the more recent reveals being Eileen the Crow.

Here’s the new Bloodborne Kart release date trailer. It features narration from The Doll, before revealing that her monologue is due to her placing first in a race. From there, gameplay footage of various racers and their cars are shown as they go through various courses.

Arc System Works’ latest update for Guilty Gear Strive revealed Bridget ended up most popular character worldwide in the Season 3 Survey. The team also went over the upcoming roadmap for updates for the game.

The Season 3 Survey happened in September 2023, with over 37,000 offering thoughts on Guilty Gear Strive, the most popular character, and the person people most want to see as DLC. Worldwide, Bridget came in first, followed by Sol in second, Ramlethal in third, Baiken in fourth, and Ky Kiske in fifth. As for characters who people most want to see return as a playable character, A.B.A. topped the list in North America, South America, and Africa, Elphelt Valentine was first in Japan, Korea, and Southeast Asia, and Slayer is most wanted in Europe and the Middle East. 

Although WarioWare: Move It is one of the strangest gaming experiences I've had in a long time, its addicting gameplay also made it one of the most enjoyable games I've played all year.

Originally launching on the GameBoy Advance over two decades ago, the minigame franchise returns for its twelfth major title on the Nintendo Switch. However, like 2006's WarioWare: Smooth Moves for the Nintendo Wii, WarioWare: Move It asks a lot from players as the game heavily leans on the motion controls of the Joy-Con controllers, which is sometimes to its detriment.

A 7-inch vinyl record including the Japanese first opening and ending song of the Pokemon anime series will release on December 27, 2023. The record costs 2,970 yen (or about $20) and is now available for pre-order from various retail stores in Japan.

Side A of the record includes the original Japanese opening theme song of the 1997 Pokemon anime series, “Mezase Pokemon Master.” It is performed by the Japanese voice actor for Ash (Satoshi in Japan), Rica Matsumoto. Meanwhile, Side B includes the Japanese ending song, “One Hundred Fifty-One,” performed by Professor Oak Japanese voice actor Unsho Ishizuka.

The record includes two bonus items, a removable transparent sticker featuring Ash and Pikachu, and a Pokedex Style Foldable Card. The record comes with a yellow jacket cover. You can take a better look at the new Pokemon 7-inch vinyl record and its contents here:

Marvel's Spider-Man 2 hit PlayStation 5 exclusively on October 20 and quickly became Sony's fastest-selling first-party game. While we loved the game – read Game Informer's Marvel's Spider-Man 2 review here – players have discovered bugs and issues leading to laughter and, in some cases, progress impediment. Fortunately, developer Insomniac Games has been quick to fix issues with updates, like one last week that fixed an incorrect flag and the infamous white cube model issue. 

Now, the studio has released another update targeting various bugs players might be encountering in the game related to specific missions, shortcuts, tutorials, and more. 

Here's the full Update Version 1.001.004 release notes: 

Gran Turismo 7 is getting its biggest update tomorrow in the form of Spec II (a.k.a update 1.40). The content drop, which is free, adds a new cooperative mode, seven new cars, a fresh track, and more.

Perhaps the update’s biggest addition is four-player local split-screen. Unfortunately for PS4 players, this option is only available on PS5. Speaking of PS5-only features, those players can enjoy taking on Gran Turismo Sophy, which developer Polyphony Digital describes as a “prototype revolutionary racing AI agent” 

Spec II also adds the snowy Lake Louise track. Set in a Canadian ski resort, it comes in three variants: long track, short track, and tri-oval. New Master License events are coming and the update also adds quality-of-life features, such as a dashboard that tracks player progression.

Of course, new vehicles are always exciting, and here are the seven joining the roster:

Nintendo has revealed that Mario Kart 8 Deluxe's Booster Course Pass Wave 6, the final wave of DLC for the uber-popular kart racer, goes live next week on November 9. It includes eight new courses, including fan favorites like Mario Kart Wii's Rainbow Road, four new racers, a new music player feature, and more. With it being the final wave of DLC for Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, it brings the game's course count up to 96, which is double the 48 available in the base game. 

Alongside today's release date news and details, Nintendo has released a course overview trailer for the DLC that you can watch below: 

Wave 6 adds new cups to the game in the Acorn Cup and the Spiny Cup, which together add eight more courses to the rotation. These courses come from Mario Kart games from the SNES, GameCube, Wii, Nintendo 3DS, and the mobile-exclusive game, Mario Kart Tour. Here's what to expect in each: 

Reviewed on: Switch
Platform: Switch
Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Release: November 3, 2023

Ever since its first title 20 years ago, the WarioWare franchise has shapeshifted to take advantage of the capabilities and gimmicks of whatever the current Nintendo platform was. But the first entry on Switch, Get It Together, bucked that trend, putting you in control of the actual cast of characters in platforming-style microgames instead of taking advantage of the Switch’s unique traits. WarioWare: Move It aligns more with the traditional WarioWare experience, resulting in a better overall collection.

Sega has unveiled Sonic Dream Team, a new 3D action-platformer launching exclusively on December 5 on Apple Arcade. With it launching on Apple Arcade, you'll need to subscribe to the iOS-based gaming subscription service, which costs $6.99 a month. Dr. Eggman has discovered The Reverie, a special ancient device that can manifest dreams in the real world, and it's up to Sonic the Hedgehog and friends to stop him from doing so. Players must navigate "twisted dreamscapes, rescue your friends, and put a stop to Dr. Eggman's nightmarish dreams of world domination." 

Sonic Dream Team features six playable characters in Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy Rose, Cream, and Rouge, and Sega says each character brings their own flair and personality alongside three movement types "that provide unique exploration opportunities while navigating the dream world." It also features four boss battles, never-before-seen worlds spread across "four unique dream worlds with mind-bending environments that include wall-running, gravity changes, and more." Plus, Sonic Dream Team can be played on iPhone, iPad, Mac, and Apple TV. 

Check out the Sonic Dream Team reveal trailer for yourself below: 

The most ghoulish of Amnesia's many ghoulish ideas is "vitae". It's a luminous, blue-green fluid that can be used as an energy source, a chemical catalyst and a supernatural healing agent. Each Amnesia game is broadly a story about the production of vitae, with some levels consisting of huge distillation and refining apparata, and major plot developments tied to what you do with it. In the original Amnesia: The Dark Descent, you'll brew potions using vitae in order to keep a decapitated head alive. In 2020's Amnesia: Rebirth, you'll use ornate metal cannisters of the stuff like batteries to power otherworldly machines. Vitae is the blood and breath of Amnesia, the grease upon the narrative axels, the fuel in its boiler, the miracle McGuffin that sustains its nastier flights of fantasy. But what is vitae, exactly? Agony.

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Sega has announced Sonic Dream Team, a new 3D platformer releasing exclusively to Apple Arcade.

Players will take control of one of six characters - Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, Amy, Rouge, or Cream (where's Shadow?!) - as they explore a "bizarre world of dreams".

Each character has unique abilities as they explore 3D levels to take on Eggman, as always. Check out the trailer below.

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The final wave of the Mario Kart 8 Deluxe Booster Course DLC arrives next week.

Since March 2022, Nintendo has been releasing extra courses to the game as paid DLC (or part of the premium tier Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack subscription). Now the sixth and final wave will be available from 9th November.

As usual, the wave will include eight courses split into two new cups, taken from past games as well as mobile game Mario Kart Tour. Four new characters will also be added.

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I have three seconds to open these cupboard drawers, but as soon as they appear I know I'm toast. I stand (and with WarioWare: Move It! you really do need to stand) with arms outstretched. My fists are clenched, and I have correctly assumed the game's "Choo Choo" position - like I'm going to mime the movement of a chuffing steam train. My body is ready. But as I rapidly yank my fists towards me, again and again until the time runs out, the drawers stay put. And this, sadly, happens relatively often.

Move It! is Nintendo's latest collection of typically excellent and extremely bizarre microgame ideas, served at breakneck speed. As always, you have only seconds to work out what is going on, what you're being asked to do next, and then react to actually do the thing yourself. But, this time around, all the microgames require motion controls - and this is something I ultimately found to be more of a burden than a blessing.

When I think of the best motion-controlled games, I think of the one I still play with friends every now and again - Wii Sports. It was an enormous success because its motion controls encouraged participation. The gestures were completely self-explanatory. There were no fiddly buttons to learn, even on the simple Wii Remote. Everyone knew how to hold the controller as a tennis racket, or shift to a different position when using it as a golf club.

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The new voice of Wario - or at least, the person behind his grumpy moustachioed mouth in WarioWare: Move It! - looks to be Kevin Afghani, the actor also cast as the new voices of both Mario and Luigi.

It's not a huge surprise to see Aghani taking on Wario as well, as this role was one of the four major Mario voices all performed by the legendary Charles Martinet, alongside Mario, Luigi and Waluigi.

Afghani's role as Wario looks to be confirmed within the WarioWare: Move It! credits, where he's listed as the game's principal performer. (In a typically oddball touch, we can also see his favourite food listed alongside his name: it's sushi).

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Five of the Best is a weekly series for supporters of Eurogamer. It's a series that highlights some of the features in games that are often overlooked. It's also about having your say, so don't be shy, use the comments below and join in!

Oh and you can find our entire Five of the Best archive elsewhere on the site.

I can't remember the first time I noticed an insult in a game. Was it the original Grand Theft Auto? There must have been something before that. Leisure Suit Larry? No - it must go further back. There were all those LucasArts adventures and they were rammed with witty asides. Were they the start of it all?

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Ever since Metal Gear Solid V: The Phantom Pain was released in 2015, its eagle-eyed sniper, Quiet, has been at the epicenter of online debates over her revealing default outfit, and the backstory that supported it. Now, Quiet’s actress has finally weighed in on the discourse over her character’s getup.

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About five hours into Persona 5 Tactica, the tactical RPG spin-off of the Phantom Thieves’ supernatural adventures through corrupted Tokyo, I find myself thinking about Persona 5 Royal more than what’s going on in this group’s latest adventure. This is less a condemnation of Tactica than it is the broader handling of P…

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Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, Nintendo’s beloved Switch racer, is finally getting its last major expansion on November 9. And it’s one for the Rosalina and Wii fans.

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While it does have a handful of consumption apps like YouTube, Hulu, and Crunchyroll in the eShop, the Nintendo Switch is typically used for gaming and little else. That became a bit more true today, as the official Twitch app is getting tossed from Nintendo’s hybrid console.

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Badges are one of the best new additions that Super Mario Bros. Wonder brings to Nintendo’s perennial platforming series. This new piece of equipment lets Mario and his friends take on new abilities, which in turn lets you customize your play style to accommodate your own strengths and weaknesses. But not all Badges…

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Every month, Square Enix releases mobile and desktop Final Fantasy VII calendar images. The four November 2023 FFVII calendar images feature Rebirth character art ahead of the new game’s debut.

This time, the FFVII Rebirth versions of Cloud and Barret appear on both versions of the images. Each one appears in both a mobile and desktop style wallpaper. In each case, we get a better look at the outfits and equipment they’ll be wearing in the new installment, with some imagery from locations in part two showing up in the background. 

All four calendar images also point out the November Final Fantasy VII character birthday. Yuffie’s falls on November 20th, and it is marked on every version with a circle and her name noted somewhere.

Here are the November 2023 FFVII Rebirth calendar images featuring Cloud and Barret:

I still can be wary about Persona and Shin Megami Tensei spin-offs. Persona 5 Tactica is a cover-focused, turn-based strategy game not unlike XCOM and Mario + Rabbids and, in my first hours with it on the Switch, I found the gameplay paired well with the series concepts.

Persona 5 Tactica begins with a bit of mystery. The Phantom Thieves are gathering at LeBlanc after the events of the main game, socializing and escaping inclement weather. While there, they see news about Diet member Kasukabe disappearing. Not long after they do, something happens, causing weird imagery to appear at the door. The group ventures out, finding themselves transformed into their Phantom Thief attire when they do. It’s then that they also encounter a dreaded figure known as Marie and her minions, and eventually need to fall back alongside resistance member Erina to regroup and better prepare to retaliate. 

Bandai Namco released the Tales of Arise Beyond the Dawn DLC theme song, “We Still.” It may sound a little familiar as it is performed by Kankaku Piero, the same group that performed the original game’s track “Hibana.”

To go along with the release, there’s a music video to watch. Bandai Namco shared the full version of Kankaku Piero’s “We Still” on top of footage from the game and its expansion. People can see both the existing cast members reuniting and experiencing important moments, while also seeing the new character Nazamil. During the event scenes, we see Nazamil meeting and connecting with the party, as well as people like Alphen, Shionne, and Rinwell using their abilities to attack.

There’s a new Granblue Fantasy Versus Rising release date, due to the game being delayed. Cygames said it will now release on December 14, 2023, and the Granblue Showcase: Part 2 - GBVSR will be held on December 2, 2023. 

Cygames originally said the game would debut on November 30, 2023 during Evo 2023. However, due to a desire to ensure the overall quality of the final product, it’s been pushed back a few weeks. While feedback from tests was positive, the major adjustments announced in October 2023 will take more time to complete. People who get standard versions can play on December 14, 2023. If someone buys the Digital Deluxe Edition, they get early access to the title on December 11, 2023 now.

As for the Granblue Showcase: Part 2 - GBVSR, there’s no exact release time yet. The team only noted that instead of appearing in November 2023, it will air on December 2, 2023. 

Here’s part of the statement from Creative Director Tetsuya Fukuhara about the delay:

Thirsty Suitors is a dazzling new entry in a genre that is always badly in need of bolstering: turn-based RPGs without anime aesthetics and a story about something other than killing God. The game sees you play as Jala, who returns to her dilapidated hometown after getting dumped by the older woman for whom she abandoned college and her high school sweetheart. Waiting for her is a disappointed mother, a soon-to-be-wed sister who refuses to even speak to her, and a shadowy cabal formed of her spurned exes from the time in her life when rampant, unrelenting teen horniness nearly ripped the town apart. Jala’s journey to redemption and genuine adulthood will take her to the psychic plane to do cathartic (if overly simplistic) battle with her wronged exes, to the local skatepark to pull off some janky grinds, and to grounded emotional revelations that are rarely written this well in videogames.

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Poppy Playtime, the cult horror series about a terrifying blue fluffy toy, will receive its third chapter next month.

Titled Deep Sleep, it's set to be the scariest and longest chapter of the game so far, taking players further into the abandoned toy factory of Playtime Co..

Developer Mob Entertainment promises new characters, more minigames, and improved graphics in this instalment.

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If you've already explored Grounded's garden to the fullest (I haven't, despite my best efforts, because it turns out I don't entirely love man-sized spiders bearing down on me without warning), here's a little something you might be interested in: developer Obisdian is releasing a free update on 13th November giving players the creative tools to build backyards of their own.

Make It or Break It, as the new update is known, introduces a new Playgrounds mode where players can either muck around with the backyard featured in the story campaign or create one from the ground up, using an empty sandbox as a starting point.

Make It or Break It's suite of tools promises a considerable amount of creative freedom. Players can craft buildings and fill them with furniture, place obstacles, spawn creatures and bosses, even trigger ambient sounds and music. Obsidian says the majority of the campaign's assets - including art props, gameplay items, and harvestables, right down to individual blades of grass - will available for use, with no limit on the number of objects that can be placed.

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Sony has announced the next three games available as PlayStation Plus Monthly titles for members this month.

Subscribers will be able to add Mafia 2: Definitive Edition, Aliens Fireteam Elite, and asymmetrical multiplayer game Dragon Ball: The Breakers to their library at no extra cost from 7th November.

The current PS Plus Monthly games are The Callisto Protocol, Farming Simulator 22, and Weird West, and you've got until 6th November to add them to your library if you haven't got them already.

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