IGN

Board gaming is great in part because of the varitey of new options available nowadays. You'll find plenty to choose from, whether you're interested in family board games, strategy board games, or just about any other genre. But just because modern games are the best they've ever been, that doesn't mean older games are bad. For the best board games, there's good reason they've been popular for a really long time.

Modern games are mostly the product of a design trend that dates back to the mid-nineties. So it's of particular interest to go digging for gold in the years prior to that explosion. Here, in chronological order, are some of the best classic board game that stand the test of time. Some of these will likely also be on sale during Black Friday 2023.

I’ve written about a lot of games in this column in the last year, all of which I’ve loved very much. But I don’t think I’ve been totally obsessed with any of them in the way I’ve been obsessed with In Stars and Time. For a week, I stayed up late every night because I couldn’t put it down. I dreamed about it. I sat at my desk at work, watching the clock, eager for the hour when I could finally get home and try again to unravel the mystery of what was really going on in the hearts and heads of protagonist Siffrin and his companions.

In Stars and Time fits into a lovely mental box I have going of RPGs that riff on the Earthbound tradition by contrasting themes of earnestness and joy with an unsettling metanarrative that riffs on the very idea of something being a video game. Undertale is the best popular example of this, but I’d put games like Mother 3, Contact, Moon: Remix RPG Adventure, and a number of others into the same category with it. If you like any of the stuff I just listed, buddy, you’ll DIG In Stars and Time.

Nintendo has announced a new Indie World Showcase airs on November 14, and features roughly 20 minutes of updates and announcements focussed on indie titles coming to the Switch.

The presentation starts at 12pm ET on Tuesday, and can be streamed live on the Nintendo website and on the company’s official YouTube channel.

Within minutes of going live, the X post was inundated by comments from fans hoping to see an update, or even a potential release date, for Hollow Knight: Silksong, while others implored fans of the franchise to keep their enthusiasm in check with the liberal use of memes.

The last Indie World showcase took place in April earlier this year, and gave us our first glimpse at Blasphemous 2, along with updates on highly anticipated games like Oxenfree 2: Lost Signals, and a host of other titles. Check out IGN’s roundup article to see every game shown in the April presentation.

The Nintendo Switch, which is deep into its sixth year, has sold over 132 million units to date and is still putting up impressive numbers despite being in overall decline. While we wait for the Nintendo Direct why not pass the time by checking out this article detailing everything we know about the Switch's eventual successor?

Hades, the beloved rogue-like from Supergiant Games that has you attempting to escape the Underworld of Greek myth, is headed to Apple devices via Netflix in 2024.

When Hades arrives on iOS, it will do so without any in-game ads, no extra fees, and no in-app purchases, much like other Netflix games. It will simply be available to play as it always has, just now on more devices that have Netflix!

HADES is breaking new ground! 🔥 The critically acclaimed rogue-like game is coming exclusively to iOS via Netflix next year. #GeekedWeek pic.twitter.com/c8HRoNAOQX

— Netflix (@netflix) November 11, 2023

We here at IGN are obviously happy more people will get a chance to play Hades as we awarded it our Game of the Year award in 2020.

"Hades is a one-of-a-kind rogue-lite that sets the bar for creatively combining wildly different genres and using their strengths to complement each other in unexpected ways," We wrote of Hades. "Satisfying, twitch-based combat combined with the Rogue-lite potential of breaking the game through a lucky pull of boons and power-ups leave you feeling like a god.

"Above all that, though is how Hades ties narrative progression to its gameplay loop. Failed runs, player choice, and built up relationships are authored moments that feel unique to your playthrough in a way that no game before it has even attempted to come close."

This is our Zombies review for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Check out the single-player review for our thoughts on the campaign or the multiplayer review for our thoughts on PvP.

Like a lot of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3, this year’s Zombies mode has undergone what might be described as a "Warzone-ification," forcing its traditional PvE elements into a larger, more open map. But as popular as the Warzone side of Call of Duty (or in this case, the extraction shooter mode, DMZ) might be, mixing it together with Zombies just dilutes both. This is less a new take on Zombies than it is a DMZ reskin, and with disparate elements cherry picked from both modes mashed against one another. It has had some highlights in the first few hours I’ve played across eight or so matches, and I still have lots more to see, but so far it’s more often been slow, a bit dull, and at odds with what has usually made Zombies fun.

Operation Deadbolt, the name for Modern Warfare 3's Zombies mode, takes place on a version of the upcoming Warzone map of Urzikstan. Gone are the usual wave-based battles through smaller, dedicated maps that you explore and unlock as you go. Instead, the moment-to-moment gist of the mode is almost exactly what you encounter in DMZ: Head into the map, search for cool stuff, and call a helicopter to escape with it before you're either overwhelmed by enemies or the 45-minute match timer expires. On its face, there's not even much to identify this as a Zombies mode other than the zombies themselves, at least in the early hours.

This is our multiplayer review for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. Check out the single-player review for our thoughts on the campaign or the Zombies review for our thoughts on PvE.

Update - November 10, 2023:

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 officially launched yesterday, and it isn’t surprising that not a lot has changed about its multiplayer since the last beta (which you can read my previous impressions of down below). While I still have a lot more to see since I’ve only been able to play a few hours on the live servers, so far I’m not impressed by a sequel that basically feels like little more than Modern Warfare 2 with new maps.

The biggest improvement I noticed from the beta was the sharper graphics, as the environments no longer look blurred and washed out. Once I was able to turn off motion blur and remove the film grain filter, my previous complaints about everything looking soft and out of focus were suddenly completely solved. However, I’m still not a fan of how oddly dated the UI looks – the XP pop ups, objective markers, and alerts are all very retro Modern Warfare, with only slight changes from Modern Warfare 2. That part in particular may be nitpicking, but I expected at least some changes given this is a full sequel (though it was reportedly meant to be an expansion initially), and instead everything just looks the same.

It’s no secret that Disney is a multimedia powerhouse, the king of every form of entertainment from movies, TV shows, theme parks, and even video games. Over the last 30 years, The House of Mouse had a hand in creating video game adaptations of some classic Disney movies and original games, like Kingdom Hearts and Epic Mickey.

Today, there are plenty of Disney games for the Nintendo Switch for you to enjoy playing alone or with family and friends. Whether you’re relaxing at home and want to take a break from scrolling through Disney+ or taking a trip to a Disney Park, here are seven best Disney games you can play right now on the Switch.

You can also check out our larger roundup of the best Switch games overall for more options.

Kingdom Hearts: Melody of Memory

Disney and Square Enix’s spin on the latter’s Final Fantasy Theatrhythm lets you take control of Sora, Donald, Goofy, and other characters from across the Kingdom Hearts universe to slash the Heartless and their ilk to the beat of the series’ iconic soundtrack. You run along the staff and hit the monsters in time to the beat lest they hurt you if you miss it. You can enjoy the musical stylings of Yoko Shimomura by yourself, or share the music with your friends in local co-op or online multiplayer battles.

With the holiday season underway, NetherRealm Studios is joining in on the festivities with some holiday Mortal Kombat 1 Fatalities, including a Thanksgiving-themed one. It, like every other Fatality, is pretty gory, but that might not be what grosses you out about it.

It's not out yet officially, but X/Twitter user @thethiny managed to datamine it, and it's already getting pretty visceral reactions. If you've got a strong stomach, you can watch it below. (Warning: It's quite graphic and may leave you feeling nauseous, especially if you're squeamish about vomit).

Happy Thanksgiving 😋🍗🐲

MK1 Thanksgiving Fatality#MK1 #MortalKombat1 pic.twitter.com/5OuzbZy8D5

— thethiny 🐰🍉 (@thethiny) November 10, 2023

Basically, it's pretty gnarly, as the character is shown getting their pummeled face forcibly stuffed with typical foods you'd consume at a Thanksgiving dinner — turkey, sweet potato pie, and green bean casserole. Their opponent then, however, jumps on their gut, forcing them to vomit it all out along with their eyes and brain exploding out their head.

After years of yearning from fans, intense speculation, rumors, unthinkably massive data breaches, and even an FBI Investigation, co-founder and President of Rockstar Games Sam Houser posted on the studio blog and Twitter account on November 8th that the “first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto” will be released in early December.

We are very excited to let you know that in early December, we will release the first trailer for the next Grand Theft Auto. We look forward to many more years of sharing these experiences with all of you.

Thank you,
Sam Houser

— Rockstar Games (@RockstarGames) November 8, 2023

In just a few hours, the tweet had nearly a hundred million views, almost five hundred thousand retweets, and over one million likes. All for an announcement of an announcement.

But how did hype for the next entry in the vaunted series reach such a fever pitch? Let’s take a look at everything we know about Grand Theft Auto 6.

Warhammer 40,000: Darktide is getting a free, two-part update called The Traitor Curse, developer Fatshark has announced.

Part one of the update arrives in November 2023 while part two arrives in December, sometime "before the winter holidays," Fatshark said. Nothing more specific was given, but The Traitor Curse is being released in celebration of Warhammer 40,000: Darktide's first anniversary, which is November 30.

Part one includes a new cinematic about the motivations of the Moebian 6th and also introduces players to The Carnival, a new disreputable zone promising transgressive distractions and entertainment. Fans can also get a brief glimpse at this new area in a trailer.

The Carnival zone and a new mission naturally comes in part one too, with players able to "strike at the heart of the Moebian 6th operations and fend off hordes of enemies in Mercantile," according to Fatshark.

The ability to inspect player loadouts in the Mourningstar is being added in part one, alongside an update to the veteran talent tree. "Enjoy many changes and tweaks made to the veteran tree, including the addition of Keystones," Fatshark said. "Due to these changes, veterans will see their talent tree reset and players will have to re-assign talent points."

The developer didn't share what's coming in the December update, but will likely reveal the details once part one is made available.

Disney Lorcana took the trading card game world by storm when it released The First Chapter in September, and we’re already surging towards the next set this fall. Titled Rise of the Floodborn, it will introduce over 200 new cards including all manner of Disney characters, items, and songs, and deliver an exciting development in the overall story of Lorcana. IGN has your exclusive look at some new cards from the second set, as well as an interview with Disney Lorcana Narrative Lead Samantha McFerrin where we unveil the epic, inky inciditing incident that's caused a great calamity in the realm of Lorcana. Get ready for an advanced lesson in Lorcana lore!

Check out IGN’s impressions of Lorcana after playing a hands-on demo.

Game development legend Masuhiro Sakurai stopped making fancy character reveal cutscenes in Super Smash Bros. because they kept leaking online.

Sakurai, the creator of Super Smash Bros, released a YouTube video that explains why the beloved cutscenes never made it past Nintendo Wii entry Brawl.

"Smash Bros. contains crossovers you can't find anywhere else, so I thought it would be fun to represent them in a more concrete, charming way," Sakurai said. "I also thought they'd make a nice reward for pushing on in the adventure mode, Subspace Emissary.

"We put a lot of money and effort into making them, but before the game even came out, people were posting them online. Even overseas media outlets were doing it with the pre-release copies we provided. This meant they really weren't much of a reward, so I decided to stop making movies that cut in during gameplay. It's a tough time to be making story-driven games."

These dramatic character reveals emerged in a different form that, for the most part, let Sakurai release them when he wanted, however. Fighter Reveal Videos were premiered during Nintendo Directs and other events, bringing back the excitement of a fancy in-game reveal without players having to work for it.

Mortal Kombat 1 now has its first DLC character, Omni-Man from the Invincible series, and players have already discovered he’s equal parts broken and hilarious.

It’s early days of course, but already the community has declared Omni-Man an extremely powerful character. So he should be, right? It’s Omni-Man after all. He’s meant to be one of the most powerful beings around! But in a fighting game you want a decent balance across the roster of playable characters, and Omni-Man is perhaps a little overpowered for his own good.

A lot of his damage potential comes from using incredible speed to punish his opponent, even from a projectile, and his ability to dodge attacks. The timing can be tight, but in the right hands Omni-Man is clearly a beast. He’s particularly devastating with air combos, too, as Omni-Man can dash behind his opponent in the air multiple times to keep combos going.

Don't zone against Omni Man Darrius pic.twitter.com/hOoOd2UJth

— Adam (@UndeadjimMK) November 9, 2023

Don't zone Omni-man (Insane Difficulty) no bar. pic.twitter.com/ieSx0lN4r3

With its sandbox-like “Open Combat” missions and the return of fan-favourite villain Makarov, you’d be forgiven for thinking that this year’s Call of Duty campaign might be a fun step forward for the series. Sadly, it’s a disaster. Modern Warfare 3 is the worst single-player outing for COD in its lifetime; a duct-taped mess of missions, many of which are quite literally ripped from Warzone, that frequently plays like DMZ multiplayer with bots. It’s almost certain to be remembered as Call of Duty’s lowest point when it comes to single-player design.

I’ll leave it to our review to analyse MW3’s worst mistakes. Instead, let’s remember Call of Duty’s finest hour and the game that laid the foundations for the shooter’s contemporary image: the original Modern Warfare. 16 years later it remains the series’ most accomplished campaign. A masterclass in FPS design, it has a carefully measured tempo delivered via a wonderfully textured set of missions. Seemingly taking notes from Nintendo’s manual for Mario, Call of Duty 4 weaves between novel ideas and builds quick-fire missions around unique gameplay concepts. From sinking ship escapes to aerial bombardments, through stealth assassinations and car chases, the original Modern Warfare is a constantly rotating menu of gourmet shooter design.

They say a picture is worth a thousand worths. And there are plenty of positive things to say about two recent images posted by Larian Studios, showing the strides the developer has made to optimize the Xbox Series S port of Baldur's Gate 3.

Larian Studios CEO and founder Swen Vincke posted screenshots showcasing how the team has substantially reduced the RAM and VRAM loads for Baldur's Gate 3 on Xbox Series S.

Got a nice present from our engineers. Ensuring memory is well under control and having buffer for peaks was the main thing holding us back I think this will benefit all platforms too. Still some work left but very close now. pic.twitter.com/xvtUDPFebo

— Swen Vincke @where? (@LarAtLarian) November 8, 2023

Both graphs reveal the progress Larian made between September through early November, showing the drastic decreases with the current numbers around 2.3GB for VRAM and 4.7GB of RAM usage, down from the 3.5GB and 5.2GB both were hitting in early September.

The Yakuza series is known for its confusing naming conventions but it seems even the developer gets mixed up, as Like a Dragon Gaiden: The Man Who Erased His Name features a tutorial screen from the Judgement games.

Spotted by Reddit user InfernusXS and verified by IGN, a tutorial card telling players how Like a Dragon Gaiden's alcohol system works is seemingly the one from Lost Judgement. Both series are made by Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, take place in the same universe, and even feature the same locations and mechanics, but this Judgement reference in Like a Dragon Gaiden definitely appears to be a mistake and not just a reference.

This is evident by the tutorial mentioning a map that doesn't actually feature in Like a Dragon Gaiden. "Both Kamurocho and Ijincho are known for their long-established bar districts," the explanation reads, despite the game only featuring Ijincho and Sotenbori as explorable areas. These two areas instead feature in Judgement sequel Lost Judgement.

Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 has arrived and Cardy, Matt, and Jesse are here to discuss what may well make it the worst-ever COD campaign. On the brighter side, Thirsty Suitors is a fun Persona/Tony Hawk mashup wrapped in a Scott Pilgrim story that you may want to check out. There's also time for some quick reactions and wild speculation about what we might see from GTA 6 and the newly announced Legend of Zelda live-action movie.

Have any thoughts about The Endless Search theme? Got any good demo disc stories? Get in touch at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com

IGN UK Podcast 722: Modern Warfare 3's Cam-Painful

• IGN UK Podcast 721: Sourdough and Soup Season
• IGN UK Podcast 720: Don't Sleep on Alan Wake 2
• IGN UK Podcast 719: That's So Kraven
• IGN UK Podcast 718: Nando's with David Beckham
• IGN UK Podcast 717: Spice Up Your Life

Warner Bros. Games and Avalanche Software have finally shared a first official look at Hogwarts Legacy running on Nintendo Switch just a few days ahead of launch.

The Magic Awaits trailer, which you can watch below, shows just over two minutes of the hit Harry Potter game running on Switch ahead of its November 14 launch. Somewhat bizarrely, neither the publisher nor developer had shared a single glimpse of gameplay until this trailer, even with it already being available on other platforms.

A handful of cutscenes show the player character beginning their journey as a witch or wizard, by getting a wand at Ollivanders, taking part in their first magic lessons, and so on. The trailer also features some of Hogwarts Legacy's baddies and monsters that players will need to take on.

Only six screenshots of Hogwarts Legacy on Switch had officially been shared previously, showing magic lessons in the classrooms of Hogwarts, seating by the Black Lake, and some of the spooks featuring in the game.

Unofficially, however, a sliver of gameplay could be viewed online as of November 7 when someone received a boxed copy of Hogwarts Legacy early and leaked it online.

Warner Bros. is giving Mortal Kombat 1 players who bought the controversial $10 Halloween Fatality two “free” Fatalities amid a vociferous backlash over the fighting game’s aggressive monetisation.

Mortal Kombat 1 publisher Warner Bros. Games and developer NetherRealm were heavily criticised in October 2023 for selling a Halloween Fatality for 1,200 Dragon Krystals (1,250 of which can be bought in a bundle for $10).

Check out how it looks in the video below:

Now, as Mortal Kombat 1’s first DLC character, Omni-Man, goes live, we have word that a Seasonal Fatalities bundle will be sold from next week. This includes the aforementioned Halloween Fatality, as well as a Thanksgiving Fatality and an upcoming Winter Fatality. Warner Bros. has yet to announce the price for that bundle, but it’s expected to be around the $30 mark.

And here’s the key point: those who bought the Halloween Fatality will have access to the bundle at no extra cost. “We appreciate your feedback on all everything MK1,” reads the statement.

Here's how the Thanksgiving Fatality looks, courtesy of Mortal Kombat dataminer thethiny (warning, like all Mortal Kombat Fatalities, it's not for the faint of heart):

In Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora, developer Massive Entertainment will transport us to the incredible world of James Cameron’s sci-fi blockbusters. But, unlike the studio’s previous Division games, Frontiers of Pandora is played in first-person. This is something that… well, a lot of you have issues with.

With such striking protagonists as the blue, cat-like Na’vi it’s understandable why many people would like to play in third-person. So why is Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora in first-person?

“Because we want you to feel immersed, we want you to feel immersed and feel like you're really on Pandora,” says Ditte Deenfeldt, game director on Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. “So it was never really a big discussion for us.”

“This was something that we were completely in agreement with Lightstorm,” explains creative director Magnus Jansen, referring to James Cameron’s film studio, which is aiding in the creation of Frontiers of Pandora. Both Lightstorm and Massive consider Pandora to be the star of the game rather than the Na’vi.

“To be as close to Pandora as possible, to be as immersed into it as you can possibly be, which is (achieved through) the first-person perspective… to me, it was a no-brainer for us to go there,” says Jansen.

“We want you to get up close to nature, which is kind of the main character to some degree in the game, and the very best way of doing that is being in first-person,” sums up Deenfeldt.

Modern Warfare 3 is out today, November 10, and already Activision has had to pull various multiplayer maps out of the game because of spawn points that were causing absolute carnage.

One map in particular, Quarry, when played on the Hardpoint game mode was found to spawn players in the same spot over and over again, letting the opposing team gun them down for fun.

mw3 spawns go crazy 🔥🔥🔥 pic.twitter.com/bZqFua59o1

— Justin Pistachio (@JustinPistachio) November 9, 2023

spawns seem good on this game #MW3 pic.twitter.com/UqnAgbrBYu

— Zelta (@ObeyZelta) November 9, 2023

MW3 spawns 😂 pic.twitter.com/8Fj1jSN66g

Activision has issued a fresh warning to Warzone cheaters: it may cut their parachutes so they “splat” on the ground.

In a blog post responding to concern about cheating in Call of Duty amid the launch of Modern Warfare 3, Activision explained this new trick it has in store for cheaters in the free-to-download battle royale.

“With Splat, if a cheater is discovered, we may randomly, and for fun, disable their parachute sending them careening into the ground after they deploy,” Activision said.

“But what if we catch them after they’ve deployed? Well, Splat can also adjust player velocity, which transforms a bunny hop into a 10,000-foot drop taking them out instantly. This is one of many new tricks we’ve developed – and we’ll talk about more in the future.”

Activision stressed that Splat won’t randomly turn on for a player that isn’t verified to be cheating. Player reporting won’t turn it on, and the game can’t accidentally activate it, either.

Video game cheat experts recently warned Modern Warfare 3 on PC would be “riddled” with cheaters. In an investigation by IGN, we dug into the reasons why companies like Activision find it so hard to stop them.

Update, November 10: Argos is the best deal on this bundle at £399.99 while stock lasts. This Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 PS5 bundle is proving to be extremely popular, and has sold out at many retailers already. Amazon, GAME, and Currys also have the deal left for around £409 as well. While these aren't as good as the original deal, this is still an excellent offer and a tremendous £130-£140 in savings vs the RRP of buying each of these products separately. The original story continues below.

This early Black Friday deal in the UK is already a cut above the rest, and could well be the best discount we see over the holiday shopping season. With the PS5 Slim launching soon globally, we're already starting to see huge discounts on the previous standard PS5 Disc model and its relevant bundles.

At select UK retailers, you can currently find the PS5 and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 3 (2023) bundle for just £399.95, which is already a tremendous discount from the RRP of £539.99, but at the EE Store, you can currently get the bundle for £389.49 with code 5GAMEDAYEE. This will be one of the best Black Friday deals this year, but it's definitely an early deal as it will expire on November 7 -- so act fast to secure your order and avoid disappointment.

Sledgehammer Games reportedly pitched Call of Duty Advanced Warfare 2, its follow-up to 2014's Advanced Warfare, only for it to be shelved in order to create Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3. This reportedly led to heavy development crunch within the studio.

According to Bloomberg, Sledgehammer Games had to make Modern Warfare 3 in a year-and-a-half rather than the typical three-year development cycle. The development of Modern Warfare 3 was reportedly rushed because of another Call of Duty that was delayed out of the 2023 release window.

Previous reports revealed that Modern Warfare 3 was originally conceived as an expansion to Modern Warfare 2, but that Activision decided to make it into a full sequel. It initially was supposed to take place in Mexico, but the finished version fully rebooted the story and instead featured the villain Vladimir Makarov. Sledgehammer studio head Aaron Halon took to social media to say that the game was conceived as a premium game from the beginning.

“On behalf of the extremely talented team across Sledgehammer Games and our partner studios with whom we’ve collaborated on development, this has been a labor of love to lead the first ever back-to-back sequel in Call of Duty,” Hanlon explained.

I wish I lived in Sandrock. It's a place where a cat can be a celebrated member of the town guard and every street gets fully decked out for the holidays. It's where newcomers are enthusiastically welcomed, contrary to other Western stories where folks "not from around these parts" are met with suspicion. It's got plenty of Western staples though; a ranch managed by a salt-of-the-earth family (even if the husband is a little unhinged), a cute main street with a saloon and general store, plenty of lovely Western accents, and of course, a touch of danger. My Time at Sandrock is an excellent entry in an ever-growing list of cozy games, consistently fun while managing to stand apart from the crowd thanks to its theme of optimism grown out of hard times.

As a sequel to the post-apocalyptic RPG town sim My Time at Portia, the desert-based follow-up My Time at Sandrock is deeply familiar. Like its predecessor, you've come to this struggling town to assist in improving and growing it by building items and relationships. Learning to build an efficient workshop was a great joy, and I'm proud of how I can take on townie requests and build main story items with relative ease by the end of the 75 hours I’ve spent with it so far.

If you enjoy puzzle games, I have an exceptional one for you. To celebrate the launch of The Talos Principle II, you can grab a key for the original Talos Principle, a first (or third) person puzzle game, on Steam right now as part of IGN Plus.

IGN Plus Monthly Game: The Talos Principle

The Talos Principle (check out the review) is a fantastically written, well-crafted puzzle game with a healthy side of philosophy. They are like nothing else and, if you ask me (and our reviewer), the sequel is even better. If you want to jump in and simply enjoy it as a puzzle game, you can do that. If you want to dig deeper and figure out what's going on in this world, you can do that. If you want to explore the meaning of consciousness, what it means to be human, and other heady questions mulled over by philosophers for ages, The Talos Principle has you covered there, too.

The Talos Principle is a modern classic, and The Talos Principle II is every bit the worthy sequel we could have hoped for, and I hope you enjoy both as much as I have. Now onto the interview!

Things can never go perfectly in a fairytale fantasy world - only in the past, or after the ending, do things get normal and good. So, naturally, in For the King 2 the brave queen Rosomon of the first game has fallen to the evils of chaos, and over a series of five adventures your team of erstwhile heroes strike out to explore their hexagonal world, get stronger, and for a resistance to the queen by scouring little linear dungeons or defeating notable foes. The sometimes-whimsical, often challenging quests take you across a variety of terrain and turn-based combat scenarios, smoothly aided by very functional, simple game mechanics, but the whole thing is hindered by a user interface that fails to communicate even very simple information clearly. For everything nice in For the King 2 there's some irksome way the UI impedes it.

Each adventure takes an average of about six hours, for a total run of about 30, but fail any one of them by running out of time or lives and it's over. You'll have to start from the beginning of that adventure. This review took about 40 hours to actually win, for example, due to a combination of some unlucky stat rolls and a couple of brutal critical hits scored by enemies depleting that limited pool of revives. It sounds unforgiving, but the difficulty is extremely customizable in lives, time limit, and your access to better items – which is to say that while losing can be very frustrating, you at least chose the possibility of loss. That’s little consolation when you're out five hours of gameplay, though – that comes in the form of lore points, pretty typical roguelite fare used to unlock new characters, items, locations, events, and cosmetics for future runs.

This article contains spoilers for the story of Insomniac’s Spider-Man 2.

Insomniac’s latest patch has removed a popular glitch for Spider-Man 2, which allowed players to escape the confines of a main story mission to free roam through the digital streets of New York city while controlling the symbiotic supervillain Venom.

After playing through Spider-Man 2’s expertly crafted main story, some fans were left disappointed with how little time they got to spend playing as the title’s main antagonist: the shape-shifting alien symbiote Venom.

A subset of the Spider-Man community was therefore ecstatic when a glitch was discovered that allowed players to freely explore Insomniac’s New York as Venom, after performing some glitchy shenanigans in the late game story mission ‘Don’t be Scared’. The video below shows off it was done:

Sadly, the glitch was something of a monkey’s paw, as while it did grant players their hearts desire of exploring as Venom, it also had a nasty habit of corrupting the save file in which it was exploited. As a result, Insomniac’s latest patch included a fix for the game-breaking aberration, much to the disappointment of some players, who live in hope that the developer may add more symbiote-centric content to its game.

The Baldur’s Gate 3 updates are coming in thick and fast. Now, developer Larian has released the game's tenth hotfix, which addresses a number of issues.

Hotfix #10, now live on all platforms except Mac, addresses visual issues and bugs, Larian said in a post on Steam. Chief among them is a fix for an issue where Astarion’s voice wasn’t quite following what he was supposed to say during dialogues.

Elsewhere, there’s a fix for Shadowheart not following the party, or as Larian put it: “We've asked Shadowheart to stop getting distracted by the wonderful vistas of the Sword Coast and she should now follow with the rest of the team.” That pesky Shadowheart!

Larian continues to have fun with Baldur’s Gate 3’s patch notes. I enjoyed this one quite a bit: “Fixed male dwarf barbarians' shoes, which were missing their texture and looked like big blueberries.”

Here are the Baldur’s Gate 3 Hotfix #10 notes in full:

FIXES

The developer of a promising cRPG dubbed Australia's answer to old-school Fallout has delayed the game just days before it was due out.

Australian indie studio Drop Bear Bytes had set Broken Roads’ release date for November 13 but announced a delay to early 2024 “to allow for additional polish time”. The delay was so last-minute that at the time of publication, Broken Roads’ Steam page still carried the original release date.

Broken Roads is a traditional isometric RPG in which players make their way across a desolate future Australia. It’s due out for PC, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and Xbox.

Drop Bear Bytes said the game is “content complete”, but it is now “coming in longer than we originally anticipated at around 30 hours of gameplay and nearly 400,000 words of dialogue”.

“As you can imagine, it’s extremely time-consuming to properly test all of these,” the developer added. The delay was a “difficult decision”, Drop Bear Bytes insisted, but is best for the game. Extra resources will now be provided to quality assurance (QA) in order to stamp out bugs.

Remarkably, Broken Roads had already supplied publications with review copies of the game. Indeed, IGN was in the process of reviewing the game before receiving word of the delay.

Braid, considered by many to be one of the greatest indie games of all time, is set for an Anniversary Edition on PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X and S, PC, and Netflix on April 30, 2024. A Mac and Linux release is due out later.

Braid is a puzzle-platform game originally released in August 2008 by designer Jonathan Blow at the height of the Xbox 360’s Xbox Live Arcade service. Gameplay revolves around an eye-catching time-manipulation mechanic players use to progress.

The Anniversary Edition includes improved sound and new mixes and variants of the soundtrack by Martin Stig Andersen (Control, Inside) and Hans Christian Kock. Crucially, there are ‘hand-repainted’ graphics by original artist David Hellman, and animations with extra frames for smoother in-game motion.

You’re able to switch back and forth between the old and new Braid on the fly. There’s a developer commentary track, too.

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

Nintendo has removed the controversial "bagging" strategy from Mario Kart 8 Deluxe in the game's Update 3.0.0.

Bagging, short for sandbagging (deliberately weighing yourself down at the beginning only to remove the weights and perform better later), basically means just that in Mario Kart 8. Players would start slow in the race in order to pick up an overpowered item, work their way back up into contention, and then use the item to guarantee victory.

As reported by GamesRadar and verified by IGN, this is no longer an option in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe despite being a prominent but controversial part of online racing since the Wii U version launched in 2014.

Yup looks like it's over for Bagging strategy in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe. Homie @vnt__x pulled a Green Shell in 12th on GBA Cheese Land a sandbagging staple.

RIP Sandbagging 2017 - 2023pic.twitter.com/RmgCzA8rfI

— Bear (@BearUNLV) November 9, 2023

It was particularly popular on races with huge shortcut opportunities like the aptly titled GBA Cheese Land. X/Twitter user Bear posted a video confirming its removal. "Looks like it's over for Bagging strategy in Mario Kart 8 Deluxe," they said. "Homie pulled a Green Shell in 12th on GBA Cheese Land, a sandbagging staple."

Microsoft has released a handy Xbox update that makes it nice and clear if a game you play is leaving Game Pass soon.

As reported by Pure Xbox, players will now be presented with a pop-up message when they go to play a game that will soon leave the subscription service. "This game is leaving Game Pass after November 15," the current message reads for this month's departures.

"[This game] will no longer be a part of the Game Pass library," the message continues. "Add it to your wishlist so you'll know if it comes back or goes on sale. Or buy it now for up to 20% off to keep on playing."

(New Feature) Xbox adds new Feature to remind you when games are Leaving #XboxGamePass soon

This is a great QOL feature that's great for both Xbox and consumers. They give you a link to the store to purchase the game with the game pass discount before the game leaves the… pic.twitter.com/xXysYOP5BR

— Idle Sloth💙💛 (@IdleSloth84_) November 9, 2023

The less wholesome part of this is Microsoft steering players towards actually buying the game, of course, though it is an undeniably useful feature regardless and many users will want to continue playing their games. Microsoft also offers Game Pass games for 20% off if bought proper, so players will now have a heads-up to buy their games before they go back to full price.

Activision has moved to justify its new Call of Duty launcher ahead of the release of Modern Warfare 3, touting easier file management and seamless title switching.

Call of Duty HQ is the new platform from which Call of Duty games such as the imminent Modern Warfare 3 are launched, and replaces the Modern Warfare 2 app. It is not possible to jump straight into Modern Warfare 3, Modern Warfare 2, or battle royale Warzone via their own dedicated apps. Rather, players must log into Call of Duty HQ, find their game of choice via a Netflix-style launcher, then load the app. Call of Duty HQ is required to play either Modern Warfare 3, 2, or Warzone, and unlike parts of those games, Call of Duty HQ cannot be deleted if you want to play.

Modern Warfare 3, which was reportedly originally planned as a DLC expansion for last year’s Modern Warfare 2 before changed to a full price standalone release, sits within Modern Warfare 2. On PlayStation 5, Modern Warfare 3 does not have a Platinum trophy, much to the annoyance of players. Activision has yet to explain this, despite multiple requests for comment from IGN.

An apparent mistake saw the PC version of Persona 5 Tactica made briefly playable on Steam yesterday, a week prior to its planned November 17 launch.

Around 10am EST yesterday a handful of eagle-eyed Steam users took to social media to report that Persona 5 Tactica had seemingly become available to install, with users later claiming they were able to play the opening section of the game. Others who had wishlisted the game on Steam reported receiving emails notifying them that the title had been released.

According to the third-party metrics tracker SteamDB, a meagre three players were able to download the title and get it playing in the roughly 20-minute window before developer Atlus and publisher Sega took action to correct the unfortunate mistake, and revoke access.

Persona 5 Tactica has been released early on Steam by accident, I'm playing the game right now pic.twitter.com/OcSVbOrg3H

— Faz (@ScrambledFaz) November 8, 2023

At this point, another accident seemed to occur, with Persona 5 Tactica’s Steam page cycling through a number of dates - going back as far as January 1, 1970 - before finally settling on November 17. Of course, having the game out in the wild, no matter how briefly, heightens the risk of spoilers, so be sure to remain vigilant in the runup to Persona 5 Tactica’s launch.

It's been notoriously difficult to get your hands on a PS5 since its launch in late 2020 between industry-wide chip shortages and scalpers reselling consoles for nearly $2,000, but the supply has finally caught up to demand for the most part, and now it's far more common to see the consoles in stock in-store and online at most retailers.

If you're looking for the best places to purchase PS5 consoles online in 2023, we've got you covered with a full breakdown below, including pricing on current PS5 consoles, the best time to buy a PS5, information on PlayStation Plus plans, as well as where to trade in your exisiting PlayStation consoles and games.

Where to Buy PS5 Consoles Online Right Now

If you're looking to buy a new PlayStation 5 this year, here's where you can purchase them online in 2023. You can also check out our guide to PS5 deals for potential discounts.

PlayStation 5

The PlayStation 5 is Sony's latest and greatest and features true 4K visuals with support for ray tracing, an ultrafast 825GB SSD, and the all-new DualSense controller that immerses you in your games through haptic feedback and adaptive triggers.

Star Wars Hunters, the Overwatch-esque squad-based PvP shooter from Zynga coming to Nintendo Switch, iOS, and Android, has been delayed to 2024.

Zynga posted an update on X/Twitter, announcing the delay to a generic 2024 without providing anything more specific. The announcement comes a year and four months after the publisher released an incredibly similar post delaying the game to 2023, which is obviously no longer happening.

Star Wars Hunters was delayed to ensure the development team meets "that highest level of quality", Zynga said, but just like last year it didn't offer anything more specific.

What makes the seemingly troubled development even more bizarre is that Star Wars Hunters is already available to some players through a soft launch in select countries. "We are thankful to all of our fans who have played Star Wars Hunters in soft launch and have loved the engagement and enthusiasm for the game shown in our soft launch territories," Zynga said.

"Game delays are frustrating, for both fans and us as developers, but our top priority remains to ensure players have the best possible experience. We continue to strive towards that goal on Nintendo Switch, Android, and iOS devices. Thank you for your understanding and we'll see you in the arena soon."

Gameplay footage of Hogwarts Legacy on Nintendo Switch is finally in the wild as a result of one fan getting the game early.

Hogwarts Legacy hits Switch in just a few days on November 14 but publisher Warner Bros. Games and developer Avalanche Software, somewhat bizarrely, haven't shared a single glimpse of gameplay, even with it already being available on other platforms.

Reddit user Talhelfg revealed on November 7 they received a boxed copy of the game early, however, and posted a 38-second gameplay video to X/Twitter before swiftly taking both posts down. The internet being what it is means the video had already spread though, and X/Twitter user Jose Morales Ros reposted the leaked gameplay themselves, which can be seen below.

El vídeo ha desaparecido. Lo dejo por aquí. #HogwartsLegacy #NintendoSwitch pic.twitter.com/LJDVzQgCt1

— Jose Morales Ros (@geekdegafas) November 7, 2023

The gameplay doesn't give too much away since it's so short, but does show the player character running around and casting spells without any hints at slowdown or other performance struggles.

Sony has provided a sales update for Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, confirming more than five million copies sold after just 11 days on sale.

Developer Insomniac trumpeted Spider-Man 2’s sales success, saying in a post on X/Twitter: "Woo! We're incredibly honoured to announce Marvel's Spider-Man 2 on PS5 has sold over five million copies! Thank you to our incredible community for supporting us and helping us reach this milestone!"

Sony said previously Spider-Man 2 was the fastest-selling PlayStation Studios game over a 24-hour period when it sold more than 2.5 million copies in a day. That sales milestone put Spider-Man 2 ahead of Santa Monica Studio’s God of War Ragnarok at the top of the PlayStation day-one launch sales chart.

But how does it fare now? God of War Ragnarok sold 5.1 million copies in its debut week, which means outside of the initial 24-hour period, Ragnarok remains top dog. God of War Ragnarok launched in November 2022 on PlayStation 4 as well as PS5, however, and it’s worth noting Spider-Man 2 is a PS5 exclusive and therefore sold into a smaller install base than Ragnarok.

Sony president Hiroki Totoki has said the company is reviewing PlayStation's live service game push amid development trouble that has already seen Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us multiplayer game hit with setbacks.

Totoki said in a financial call that Sony is reviewing the 12 live service PlayStation games it has in the works, and committed to launching only six of them by the end of financial year 2025, meaning by the end of March 2026. Totoki said Sony is still working on when the other six live service games will come out, adding: "It's not that we stick to certain titles, but for the gamers quality should be the most important.”

Here's Totoki's statement: