November 2023

Alan Wake 2 is sublime - a masterclass in the visual arts - and while it still manages to look fine on consoles from Xbox Series S upwards, it's with high-end PC that you get to see Remedy's masterpiece at its absolute best thanks to hardware-accelerated ray tracing, path tracing and DLSS 3.5 ray reconstruction. The question is: do you need best-of-the-best hardware like RTX 4080 or RTX 4090 to benefit from the experience? Well, it's a demanding experience to be sure, but we were happy with the results we gleaned from RTX 3080 and its nearest 40-series equivalent, RTX 4070, both running at 1440p output resolution. And of course, those settings can and will provide similar scalability on other RT-capable GPUs, though your mileage may vary.

There's scalability then, but let's kick off by taking a look at the individual RT features and what they actually do. Ray-traced direct lighting essentially adds RT shadows to all light sources. Alan Wake 2's standard shadow maps can be temporally unstable, and also switch from different quality shadows depending on distance, resulting in some obvious 'popping' as you move through the cascade.

Rasterised shadows also have a uniform sharpness to them, whereas in real life, shadows are sharper the closer to the casting light source they are, tapering off into the distance. This is linked to another problem: not every object casts shadows. RT shadows in Alan Wake 2 solve each and every one of these issues, while common problems in other games with this effect are also side-stepped. RT shadows often do not animate, for example. This particularly jarring on elements like vegetation, but it's not an issue in this game.

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The Switch is becoming quite a home for visual novels and adventures, and Witchy Life Story is among them. While it’s a brief breath of fresh air, it also might not be for everyone due to some issues.

Witchy Life Story is essentially a coming of age story. Your avatar, whose appearance and initial identity you customize, is the black sheep of a respectable magical family. After certain experiments and actions, their grandmother sent them to Flora to help the village with a festival to boost their fruitfulness and prosperity. By acting as the small town’s witch for about two weeks, you’ll assist villagers with their needs and hopefully make this year’s harvest festival better than previous ones. Three characters can be dated, some can be befriended, and you’ll essentially make choices that influence the course of the story. (Even if some seem to net the same response no matter what you say.)

At the start of the 1980s, video games were mostly relegated to coin-gobbling arcade machines, but their surging popularity prompted a Time Magazine cover story in January 1982 with a cringeworthy warning: “GRONK! FLASH! ZAP! Video Games are Blitzing the World!”

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UPDATE 6/11/23: The launch of Fortnite OG, featuring the game's original map, has been an enormous success for Epic Games' six-year-old battle royale.

Last Saturday saw the game beat its best-ever player count - higher even than the game's original black hole event, Travis Scott concert, or anything else to have happened over the years.

"Yesterday was the biggest day in Fortnite's history with over 44.7 million players jumping in and 102 million hours of play," Epic Games revealed in a post on X, formerly Twitter. "To all Fortnite players, OG and new, THANK YOU!"

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Genshin Impact developer miHoYo's new game, Zenless Zone Zero, is inviting players to express their interest in an all-new beta test.

Players aged 16+ on PC and Android/iOS devices can apply now to be in with a chance of securing a spot in the beta, although miHoYo stresses that the test is only open to "limited accounts" and all data will be deleted at the end.

Right now, it's unclear when the beta test will run or even how long you have to get your name down on the list, but all interested parties are invited to complete the pre-registration and "Equalising Test" sign-up survey to "successfully sign up for a chance to win Equalising Test Qualification".

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Alan Wake 2's most memorable – and surprising – chapter was almost cut.

That's according to the critically acclaimed horror game's creator Sam Lake and director, Kyle Rowley.

This story contains spoilers for Alan Wake 2, so please only read on if you've completed the game or are happy to be spoiled.

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Viz’s Junji Ito manga release Mimi’s Tales of Terror is a fascinating one. Rather than being entirely original, he’s adapted stories from Shin Mimibukuro by Hirokatsu Kihara and Ichiro Nakayama. Each one is an allegedly true story, with Ito’s retelling using a young woman named Mimi as a common thread in the same way as Cat-Eyed Boy does. The result is an accessible anthology.

How Mimi’s Tales of Terror works is these “true” stories are reinterpreted and retold, only with Mimi and her boyfriend as adjacent fixtures in them. Because these are based on urban legends, the length varies from story to story. In the same way, so too does the degree of horror tied to each one. The majority aren’t as unsettling and haunting as a regular Junji Ito tale. Rather, these are reports of unnerving situations someone else’s friend of a cousin may have went through. This also means the depth of the story varies, and you can tell ones where the mangaka perhaps had a bit more liberty to editorialize, like “Scarlet Circle.” I’d say that’s almost a boon though, as the extra experiences and involvement of Mimi herself really help with making the tales more interesting.

HoYoVerse announced that sign-ups for the Zenless Zone Zero Equalizing Test second closed beta are now open. The deadline for the sign-up will be announced at a later date.

At the time of writing, there is no confirmation on the exact dates for the upcoming Zenless Zone Zero Equalizing Test. The test will support PC, as well as Android and iOS platforms.

The way to apply for the new closed beta test is to head to the game’s official website and register for it with a HoYoVerse account. Players can also acquire more “draws” (higher chances to access the beta test) by completing tasks indicated in the website’s Lucky Draw event. Zenless Zone Zero prizes and merchandise can also be earned by participating in this event.

In addition, HoYoVerse shared a new Zenless Zone Zero teaser trailer for the upcoming closed beta test. You can take a look at the three-minute trailer here:

Comparisons between the OG PS5 and the PS5 Slim are out, and some say the sleeker new design is "not that much smaller" than its chunkier sibling.

Dave2D has provided a detailed teardown of the brand-new console system, showing off the machine's trimmer stature and the console's new outer cover, which now boasts a half matte, half gloss finish. This means any panels bought for the original system cannot be used on the updated one, as it essentially has four separate pieces.

Perhaps unsurprisingly, Dave2D made specific mention of the weight difference. Whilst the original version weighs in at either 3.9kg or 3.3kg, depending upon whether or not you have the digital version or the system with the disc drive, the new models weighs 3.2kg or 2.6kg respectively.

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From the Pokemon Trading Card Game to Yu-Gi-Oh!, there have been many tabletop games from Japan that have become massively popular worldwide. Here are the anime trading card game titles that we like the most.

It's the unconventional answer, but Fire Emblem Cipher. Sadly, this TCG never appeared outside of Japan, though some people added decks to Tabletop Simulator. It basically takes characters from multiple games, adds an ability to improve their strength and ability (without seals), and tasks you with eliminating your opponent's forces. It's a lot of fun, and I'm sad it's so obscure. -- Jenni

This might be the most cliche answer ever, but my favorite TCG is the Pokemon Trading Card Game. As a child of the 90s, it can't be stated enough what a cultural impact the series had on the West. I will never forget the rush of excitement I felt after tearing open a booster pack and pulling a holographic rare of my favorite Pokemon. And despite being a little kid, I did actually play the game (I even ruined several expensive Pokemon cards due to using them in local tournaments)!

A new tour celebrating the "most iconic video game music" will kick off in May next year.

After two sold-out shows at London's Royal Albert Hall, Video Games in Concert is set to tour the UK next summer, stopping off in Brighton, Liverpool, Wolverhampton, Manchester, and Bournemouth. Sadly, there are no dates outside of England at this time.

"Video Games in Concert is a critically acclaimed concert series that features one of the world’s premier composers of video games scores, Eímear Noone, who is responsible for some of the most enduring soundscapes on World of Warcraft and other best-selling video games," a press release says.

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Bloober Team and Konami's forthcoming Silent Hill 2 remake will feature a playable origin story for Pyramid Head, according to a Best Buy listing. Specifically it says "fan favourite character, Pyramid Head, makes a return along with a special origin story for fans to play through." That's pretty much all she wrote, where the much vaunted "news-reporting" aspect of this news article is concerned. Now to spend several hundred words whining about why this is probably a terrible idea.

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Two months on from the release of Starfield, players are still waiting for Bethesda to address the numerous bugs which are present. But there's a whole other group of players out there taking matters into their own hands - the team behind the Starfield Community Patch, an ambitious and surprisingly professional taskforce trying to fix the game themselves. The project came under the spotlight about a month before Starfield released. It was wild to think that a group of modders could already be working on a mod for Starfield before it had even released, but there they were - anticipating the Bethesda jank fans have come to expect.

The SCP's goal is to improve the vanilla experience of Starfield for players by fixing everything from major bugs to spelling errors, so long as it presents some sort of issue for players of the base game. The scope of the patch doesn't include new content, balance changes (outside of correcting obvious errors), or anything which doesn't fit with Bethesda's original vision for the game.

Two members of Marvel's Spider-Man 2 narrative team have shed more light on the game's ending, and what it means for Peter Parker and Miles Morales.

Narrative director Ben Arfmann and advanced writer Brittney Morris discussed how the ending of Spider-Man 2 will impact the likes of Peter, Miles and MJ, and spoke about a change of focus for Insomniac's series.

Please note, there will be spoilers for Marvel's Spider-Man 2 in the article below. If you are yet to finish the game, and wish to keep it as much a surprise as possible, this is your cue to head elsewhere now.

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Two Diablo 4 developers have dropped a big hint about a previously-denied secret cow level in the game fans have been searching for.

As previously reported, Diablo general manager Rod Fergusson stated there's "no secret level", but this hasn't stopped fans from hunting for one. There was seemingly a breakthrough made last month, too, after a player acquired a mysterious relic that required killing exactly 666 cows.

Now, at this weekend's BlizzCon 2023, production director Tiffany Wat and associate game director Joe Piepiora hinted the secret cow level might be real after all.

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Eiji Aonuma, known for his long-running work on Nintendo's Legend of Zelda series, is to be awarded a knighthood in France.

The Nintendo exec has been named a 'Knight of the Order of Arts and Letters' by the French Minister of Culture. As reported by NewsinFrance, a date for the presentation of this distinction has not yet been set.

However, when the time does come for this presentation, Aonuma will join fellow Nintendo creator Shigeru Miyamoto as one of the few in the video game industry to be bestowed with the honour.

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The impact of Elden Ring is still being felt as one modder has put the iconic Malenia into Sekiro: Shadows Die Twice.

Chinese modder Last孤影众 (Gūyǐng zhòng) has created the Land of Reeds mod, which - among other changes - adds the rot boss to Sekiro, which YouTuber Ongbal tested out last month (thanks PC Gamer).

Yes, that means parrying every hit of Malenia's Waterfowl Dance attack. That alone is quite the feat, though Ongbal's Wolf is more than a match.

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UPDATE 07/11/23: Konami has confirmed to Eurogamer that Best Buy's listing page for Silent Hill 2 Remake was incorrect.

In a statement sent to us, Konami said the page contained "incorrect information" and it had been updated. The line "Fan-favourite character, Pyramid Head, makes a return along with a special origin story for fans to play through," has been removed from the game's description.

ORIGINAL STORY 06/11/23: A Best Buy product page for Silent Hill 2 Remake has sparked fan fears of a Pyramid Head origin story.

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Devolver have released a Let's Play for robo-philosophical puzzler The Talos Principle 2 in which the Let's Player is GLaDOS, nemesis of Valve's Portal games, with which The Talos Principle has a few things in common. They've brought on original Portal voice actress Ellen McClain to narrate the footage, and the result is genuinely quite funny. As you'd expect, GlaDOS isn't that impressed by Croteam's work. I score this a 7/10 on the Hoot And/Or Holler scale.

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Fortnite has made a sudden return to its long-lost original map for a month-long mini-season fuelled by nostalgia, and its sudden spike in popularity has blown past everyone's expectations. It's a stunning moment for Epic Games' ever-changing battle royale - even by Fortnite's own stratospheric standards - and yet I can't help but feel a tinge of sadness that this is the version of Fortnite all 44 million players picked up on Saturday.

The game's first map is a special place, home to countless player memories and a string of wild and memorable live events, the likes of which haven't really been topped since. But it was also the game at its most basic and rough - a nimble but work-in-progress creation labelled as "Early Access" and built on-the-hoof as Epic Games quickly pivoted from Fortnite's initial PVE zombie shooter origins.

To see this version of Fortnite blow up now is surely brilliant for the future of a game I play pretty much every day - which Epic itself has said is only now starting to grow in popularity again after previous lockdown-era peaks (and since it became a lot more difficult to play on mobile). But the fact remains this is a version of the game that, nostalgia aside, lacks so many of the features and functionality Epic had built on top of these foundations. And it also presents something of a dilemma for Epic, as it must now navigate how it will cater to the tens of millions who turned up to play Fortnite OG after this month concludes.

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The Invincible is my kind of science fiction. When I look up at the stars, I feel wonder and mystery, and romance, even. I believe anything is possible out there and that we only have to find it. And when I look at The Invincible, it makes me feel that way too. You can see it in the screenshots. In hues that are almost gaudy, there are sweeping desert landscapes where huge finger-like rock formations reach out as if to try and scratch the surface of strange moons behind them. There are turquoise skies fading to starry black, and boiling oranges beneath them. It's like looking at a postcard of what space could be - a space of emotional warmth and feeling. I find it mesmerising.

This particular setting - this fiction - is based directly on a book written by Polish author Stanisław Lem in 1964. It's a book by the same name, The Invincible, and it tells of a gigantic spacecraft landing on an alien planet and making a stunning discovery. The game is told from a different viewpoint but it very much deals with the same overarching storyline and themes: the relationship between different forms of life, and how something might evolve if left unchecked.

In the game, you are a biologist working with a small research crew on a vessel that isn't The Invincible. Whether or not that gigantic ship is even in the game, you don't know - you have nothing to do with it. Your name is Yasna, and the game begins with you waking inexplicably on the surface of the alien planet, alone, wondering how you got here from your ship and where the rest of your crew are. Yasna's journey to remember what's going on becomes your journey, then. And casting you as a biologist and not, say, a soldier, informs a lot of what you'll be doing in the game, as well as how you'll be doing it.

Retro Studios was once working on a Portal-esque first-person puzzle game called Adept.

The studio began work on the game after Metroid Prime 3 and had a working prototype built in that game's engine, but Nintendo said no.

Until now, footage of the prototype hadn't been made public, but a new video from YouTube channel DidYouKnowGaming has revealed Adept - as well as fresh details on other cancelled games by Retro Studios.

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Embracer's chief operating officer has left the company, amid a wave of restructuring and studio closures.

Announcing his departure on LinkedIn, Egil Strunke said he had "reached a checkpoint", before adding it was time for a new project.

"Last week I left Embracer Group as COO, and it's with mixed feelings I am parting ways [with] this global company phenomenon, rooted in Karlstad, Sweden," Strunke wrote. "On one hand grateful for having had the chance to work with the one-of-a-kind Lars Wingefors [Embracer's CEO] and all the other AMAZING colleagues (too many to mention!) which I will be sad to leave. On the other hand excited about the opportunities that lie ahead - starting and building my own company: Strunke Games."

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Award-winning singer Adele has revealed she made her son a Rust costume "from scratch" for Halloween.

Adele told the story of her homemade Rust outfit to the audience during one of her recent Las Vegas residency shows, as spotted by VGC.

The segment started off with Adele asking if anyone in the audience was a gamer, and whether they'd heard of the survival sandbox game before.

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The Call of Duty franchise has continually set sales records and delivered rock-solid multiplayer experiences, almost single handedly carrying the first-person shooter genre into the modern era. It remains a crucial pillar in the gaming industry, so much so that Sony and Microsoft were fighting over it in the lead-up…

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For Black Friday 2023, Nintendo announced a Switch OLED Super Smash Bros Ultimate bundle and a Super Mario Party Joy-Con bundle. The Joy-Con and game bundle will appear on November 10, 2023, while the Switch bundle launches November 19, 2023.

Both of the deals will be available before Black Friday 2023 takes place on November 24, 2023. With the Super Mario Party Joy-Con bundle, people get it for $99.99. The Joy-Cons are usually $79.99 alone, while Super Mario Party is typically $49.99. The bundle includes a red left Joy-Con and a blue right one. The game copy is a digital code for someone to redeem.

With the Super Smash Bros Ultimate Nintendo Switch OLED bundle for Black Friday 2023, people get the system, a digital copy of the fighting game, and three months of Nintendo Switch Online. That also includes a special Switch model that features SSBUiconography on it. 

Here are pictures of both offering’s boxes:

Atlus shared new footage and details about the Persona 5 Tactica Repaint Your Heart DLC. The new Nyahoo! News segment showed two new characters involved in the story and the DLC-s unique combat mechanics revolving around paint.

The events of the DLC are parallel to the story of P5T. In it, Joker, Akechi, and Yoshizawa are drawn into a location in the Metaverse, when they encounter Guernica, a world-famous masked street artist. In the real world, Guernica’s art represents the anger of the less fortunate.

However, in the Metaverse, Guernica acts like a different person. She is accompanied by a talking pink parrot called Jerry, and is hunting people wearing mouse costumes with paint guns. One of these people is Luca, who seems to know a lot about the situation and intends to stop Guernica from going out of control.

You can check out the new Nyahoo! News video about the Persona 5 Tactica Repaint Your Heart DLC in more detail here:

Blizzard Entertainment revealed three new World of Warcraft expansions this weekend during BlizzCon 2023, starting with The War Within, which launches next year. Midnight will follow it in the new Worldsoul Saga, which the studio is calling an "ambitious creative endeavor for the Warcraft universe," and The Last Titan will release after that. Together, The War Within, Midnight, and The Last Titan make up the Worldsoul Saga. 

With Black Friday and the holidays upon us, Nintendo has pulled back the curtains on its retail plans for the shopping season and they include a new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate-themed Switch OLED bundle and two new Joy-Con colors. 

Starting November 19, select retailers and Nintendo's own store will begin offering a new Super Smash Bros. Ultimate bundle that includes a Switch OLED model, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate-themed Joy-Con, and the full Super Smash Bros. Ultimate game download. This bundle also includes a 3-month individual membership to Nintendo Switch Online and will retail for $349.99, which represents roughly $70 saved compared to if everything was purchased individually. 

Check out the Super Smash Bros. Ultimate Switch OLED bundle below: 

Reviewed on: PC
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC
Publisher: Sega
Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studios
Release: November 9, 2023
Rating: Mature

Earlier this year, we spent time with tha ltd. and Enhance Experience, the creative teams behind Humanity, for a documentary on the game's development.

While, on its surface, Humanity is a puzzle game about leading groups of people to a goal, as its name implies, its story wrestles with ideas of what it means to be human, the nature of groups, and why we always seem to resort to violence. Humanity's story reflects real-world events, showing us the paths we're currently on.

Epic Games launched Fortnite Battle Royale in 2017 and if you followed the game back then, you likely know that every other week, there was news that Fortnite had its biggest day ever in terms of player count and other impressive metrics. Now, more than six years later, Fortnite has had its biggest day ever again, bringing in 44.7 million players and 102 million hours of play on Saturday, November 4. 

Epic Games tweeted this record over the weekend, calling it the biggest day in Fortnite's history before thanking Fortnite and OG players.

Way to start things off with a big bang 💥

We're blown away by the response to #FortniteOG. Yesterday was the biggest day in Fortnite’s history with over 44.7 MILLION players jumping in and 102 MILLION hours of play.

To all Fortnite players, OG and new, THANK YOU!

— Fortnite (@FortniteGame) November 5, 2023

As for why, Epic doesn't list a specific reason but it's pretty clear it's because of the new season itself. Dubbed Season OG, a short one-month-long season of Fortnite brings players back to the Chapter 1 map for some throwback battle royale nostalgia. Plus, near-weekly updates will take players on a journey from Chapter 1: Season 5 all the way to Chapter 1: Season X. 

Every weekend, indie devs show off current work on Twitter's #screenshotsaturday tag. And every Monday, I bring you a selection of these snaps and clips. This week, my eye has been kicking doors, clicking on shoes to walk, running along walls, and fiddling with buttons on a television in space. Come check out these attractive and interesting indie games, and more!

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While the new tank hero Mauga was the headliner of Blizzard’s Overwatch 2 showing at Blizzcon this weekend, the dev team also highlighted two more playable characters coming to the hero shooter next year: a DPS character named Venture and a support hero code named Space Ranger. If you only watched the opening…

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Just in time for Black Friday budgeting, Nintendo announced a Switch bundle launching on November 19 that’ll package the OLED model of the handheld-console hybrid with the crossover fighter Super Smash Bros. Ultimate.

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The PlayStation 5 “slim” arrives this month, and a new teardown video shows what players can expect, from internal differences to the fact that it doesn’t actually look that much smaller overall. It might be Sony’s most subtle but unusual redesign to date.

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Kazuma Kiryu has been hitting the cigs pretty hard.

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Bandai Namco released the second chapter in the Tales of Arise Beyond the Dawn DLC Prelude novel. It is titled Two Open to Change, and it focuses on Kisara and Dohalim receiving a letter from Alphen and Shionne.

Chapter 2 is available in English from the Bandai Namco official news website, as well as from the Tales Channel+ website, which includes background music options. Chapter 3 is titled Two Who Want to Change. It will focus Alphen and Shionne, and will appear at a later date.

The first chapter of the Tales of Arise Beyond the Dawn DLC Prelude novel was released on November 3, 2023. It stars Rinwell and Law, and is titled Two Who Remain the Same. Bandai Namco previously shared a skit starring Dohalim and Kisara that will appear in the Beyond the Dawn DLC.

Spike Chunsoft announced that content will be cut from the Japanese version of Baldur's Gate 3. This is being done in order to comply within CERO's Code of Ethics regarding "banned expressions." [Thanks, Game Watch!]

In the Japanese version of Baldur's Gate 3, the ability to show explicit content including "display of genitals," "display of nudity in cutscenes," and "view sex scenes" will be removed. The Japanese version of the game will also change how internal organs are shown. Finally, Spike Chunsoft noted that Larian removed the option for players to torture NPCs at the Goblin Camp.

Although Baldur's Gate 3 received a CERO Z rating in Japan which restricts the game to players 18 years old or older, these changes are meant to comply with Article 7 "Banned Expressions" of CERO's Code of Ethics which states in part:

1. The banned expressions prescribed in Appendix 3 shall not be used in computer and video games for household use.