Game Informer

The new and revamped PlayStation Plus, which includes three tiers and bundles together Plus with PlayStation Now in two of them, is now live in Japan. As such, we have our first look at the PS Plus launch lineup of games ranging from PlayStation 5 to the first PlayStation, and even PlayStation Portable too, courtesy of Gematsu.

Of course, it’s important to note that since this is the lineup of games available today in Japan, there’s the possibility this lineup could be just for Japan. The U.S. lineup, which launches on June 13, for example, could be completely different. Only time will tell. However, the Japan lineup could, at the very least, be a great indication of what’s to come. 

Here’s the launch lineup of Plus games in Japan, broken up by platform: 

Coming off a down year that felt indicative of the stagnation that so many longtime players decry when looking at the Madden NFL series, EA Sports has a lot to prove. With this year paying tribute to the late John Madden through three special covers, EA Sports wants to deliver a product worthy of putting his face back on the main cover for the first time in more than 20 years. I spent a day in EA Orlando's offices to learn how this year's game pushes the series forward and applies lessons learned from previous years to deliver several key improvements in this year's product.

Chucklefish, the publisher behind Stardew Valley and other titles, revealed a game called Spellbound years ago and in 2018, the name was changed from that to Witchbrook. Then, Witchbrook kind of disappeared for two years before it resurfaced in 2020 with a brand new art style. And then it disappeared again, until today, when Chucklefish released five new images of the witchin' RPG alongside a fancy new Steam page. 

“Welcome to Witchbrook,” a tweet reads. “Enjoy this magical sneak peek into the town of Mossport with these brand-new-fresh-out-of-the-oven screenshots. Wishlist now on Steam.” 

May’s Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak Digital Event gave us a good look into what to expect for the upcoming paid expansion. The 16-minute-long presentation showcased some of Sunbreak’s new areas, debut monsters, and gameplay tweaks. We also saw variations on well-known monsters that fans can encounter in the fresh experience. And while this gave us a lot to chew on, we couldn’t wait to explore all the new changes ourselves. We recently sat down with Sunbreak’s team and got a hands-on preview of the expansion, which featured two different quests, a peek at unique locales, characters, and, of course, monsters.

My adventure begins in Elgado Outpost, a location filled with European-inspired architecture, which Director Yoshitake Suzuki describes as a “former fortress that is now being used as an outpost for the hunters and the organizations that you’ll meet in the game.” Being an early build of a work still in progress, the preview’s visuals were perhaps not as polished as the final result. However, the town’s various Western influences swirl together to give it a lively personality. The new outpost doesn’t step entirely away from Rise’s design, though, as residents of Kamura Village leave their own mark on the settlement.

Platform: Switch, PC
Publisher: Capcom
Developer: Capcom
Release: March 26, 2021 (Switch), January 12, 2022 (PC)

The Monster Hunter franchise has been one of Capcom's most prominent over the last few years, and the publisher hopes to continue that trend with the release of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, the PC and Switch title's first major expansion. Join us as we give you an early look at some new gameplay and discuss our hands-on impressions of the hotly anticipated DLC.

Now that the calendar has shifted from May to June, Pride month has officially kicked off. In support of LGBTQIA+ communities, Microsoft will be donating money to charity, selling a new controller design, and more to celebrate.

Starting on June 9, the faceplate design you see above will be available in the Xbox Design Lab as a customization option through the end of the month. Inspired by Pride, the faceplate incorporates 34 flags representing different LGBTQIA+ groups. Xbox has put together a site highlighting each flag on the controller. Because this is an Xbox Design Lab promotion, and in the spirit of diversity, you can freely customize the rest of the controller like you would with any other product in the Design Lab, including colors for grips, triggers, d-pad, analog sticks, and buttons.

The controller customization comes as a result of a limited design given out to a handful of people last year. The blog post announcing Xbox's Pride plans describes the decision to make this year's design wildly available, saying, "Last year, Xbox shared a vision for a Pride controller. We produced a limited batch of Pride controllers and shared it with LGBTQIA+ players and creators around the world. While the response to the controller was very positive, many asked us to make this design universally available. We heard you, and we’re expanding availability by making this year’s Pride controller customizable through Xbox Design Lab, specifically underscoring the uniqueness of the LGBTQIA+ experience."

Reviewed on: Switch
Platform: Switch, PC
Publisher: Devolver Digital
Developer: Nerial
Release: June 2, 2022

Novel concepts are worth their weight in gold, and Card Shark comes out swinging with an idea you’re unlikely to have encountered before. Set in 18th century France, players take on the role of a destitute and mute drink server who is lifted into high society by a puffed-up card cheat. Along the path to riches, a deep conspiracy is uncovered, touching the lives of everyone in upper-class society, and playing out in backroom parlors, Corsican pirate dens, and royal palaces. It’s a clever and appealing setup, but it can only carry the game so far. With gameplay that feels like a chore from beginning to end, I was eager for this card game to reach its final round.

Variety reported last year that a Twisted Metal series was on the way from the writers of Deadpool, and then we later learned the show will debut on Peacock. 

Anthony Mackie, perhaps best known as Falcon in the Marvel Cinematic Universe (although he does have a new role in it now), was cast as the series’ star last September and now we know who will be playing the most iconic character from the Twisted Metal franchise, Sweet Tooth. It will be none other than Will Arnett, the voice of Batman in The Lego Batman Movie and the titular character in Bojack Horseman. 

Yesterday, Sega debuted roughly 30 seconds of Sonic Frontiers open-world gameplay and today, you can now watch more than seven minutes of gameplay, courtesy of IGN. It’s basically an extended look at what was showcased yesterday and it looks great. 

Right off the bat, it’s beautiful – looking more realistic than any Sonic game before, too – and it’s clear that speed is the name of the game because there’s virtually nothing in the way of stopping the Blue Blur. It’s cliche to say, but it looks like if you see something in the distance, there’s a way for you to speed all the way over there, be it by rail, ramp, on ground, or something else. Take a look for yourself below:

As you can see, running isn’t all that’s in this extended gameplay look. There are plenty of Sonic staples, like on-ground boosts, bumpers, and more. Plus, there are towers that act as platforming challenges, tasking you with reaching the top. Elsewhere, there are simple puzzles to solve that involve stepping on lit switches as well as a speed wheel (think: hamster wheel, or hedgehog wheel, I suppose) that seems to do something to the surrounding area. Maybe it defogs a map, or unlocks new areas to explore. Only time will tell for now. 

Knockout City developer Velan Studios announced back in February that its dodgeball multiplayer game would be going free-to-play. Today, that free-to-play version of Knockout City has launched. Plus, Season 6 is now live too. 

The new season is called City of Tomorrow, and in it, the Super-Science Symposium is back in town, and scientists from all over the world are duking it out in dodgeball to show off their wildest inventions as a result. With these scientists’ new tech comes plenty of new toys for dodgeballers to play with, which means players have a lot of new things to try out like a new Special Ball, updates to hideouts, new crew vehicles, and a new Brawl Pass that features an Among us crossover. 

You can check out the new season reveal trailer below: 

Here’s a look at what to expect, straight from Velan Studios: 

Diablo Immortal is finally out on mobile devices, a full day earlier than expected for some regions. 

The entire Diablo Immortal launch, which will see the game hit iOS and Android devices everywhere and PC, is still slated for tomorrow, June 2, at 10 a.m. PT/1 p.m. ET. If you plan on playing the first-ever, built-from-the-ground-up-for-mobile Diablo game on a phone, then head to your app store to see if it’s available.

While waiting for it to download, check out our latest gameplay from it below:

“As we prepare to launch Diablo Immortal on June 2 at 10 a.m. PDT for iOS, Android, and PC in Open Beta, some players will see Immortal propagate on the Apple App Store and Google Play beginning the morning of June 1 PDT,” a blog post reads. “This is in part due to the nature of how mobile games rollout to ensure a smooth full launch for the mobile version of Immortal. To confirm when Immortal will be fully launched for your region on all platforms, please reference the below time map.” 

John Madden has lent his name to the longest-running NFL franchise in the video game industry for nearly three and a half decades and EA Sports is honoring the memory of the late coach and broadcaster with three separate covers for Madden NFL 23. Following John Madden's passing in December 2021, EA Sports made the call to dedicate this year's game to the man who made the franchise possible in the first place. To do so, rather than featuring an athlete on the cover of Madden NFL 23, EA Sports created three distinct covers to celebrate the three major areas of John Madden's contributions to the game of football.

The first cover honors John Madden's contributions to the NFL as a coach, featuring him being carried off the field on the shoulders of his players following his head coaching victory in Super Bowl XI in 1976. Next up, is an homage to his time as an NFL color commentator, which he did for CBS Sports, Fox Sports, ABC Sports, and NBC Sports from 1979 to 2009. The final Madden NFL 23 cover pays tribute to his contributions to his NFL video game franchise, with a digital-only All-Madden Edition. The art, created by Philadelphia artist Chuck Styles, recreates the original 1988 John Madden Football box art.

The Pokémon Company has released a new trailer for Pokémon Violet and Pokémon Scarlet and it reveals the new professors, four-player co-op capabilities, the new legendaries, the box art for the two games, and more. 

It also reveals that Pokémon Violet and Scarlet will hit Switch on Nov. 18. On that day, you'll be able to choose between the three starters: Fuecoco, Sprigatito, and Quaxly. They will likely be given to you by the new professors (yes, plural) of Generation 9: Professor Sada if you're playing Scarlet (left) and Professor Turo if you're playing Violet (right).

You can check them out in action in the trailer below:

Shortly after their introduction, the trailer reveals that four-player co-op will be in Scarlet and Violet, a first for the Pokémon series. It won't be limited to just online battles like in previous games, though – it seems we'll be able to explore the region with other players. Throughout the trailer, we get glimpses at returning favorites and new Pokémon, such as Pawmi, Lechonk (great name), and Smoliv.

You just heard the collective sigh of relief from achievement hunters all over the world because their hobby just got a lot more convenient. 

That’s because after a new Xbox update, you'll be able to view secret achievements from wherever you’re playing an Xbox game. Before this update, you simply could not – the console would let you know an achievement was secret, but you’d have to search online elsewhere to determine its objective. Starting this month, you can choose to reveal secret achievements, according to a new Xbox Wire blog post, as reported by IGN. 

“If you don’t mind spoilers or want a hint on any of the achievements in the games you’re playing, it’s easy to find the secret achievement details on your Xbox,” the blog post reads. “From within a game, open the guide and go to Game Activity > Achievements. When you see a secret achievement, you can now reveal details like the title, achievement description, and Gamerscore. And after you peek, you can go back and hide it or continue to display the details. 

“You can reveal secret achievements anywhere you like to play and track your achievements from Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One consoles, the Xbox app for Android and iOS, the Xbox app for Windows PC, and Game Bar on your PC.” 

Here’s a look at how it works: 

Blizzard is launching its first big Diablo mobile game this week, and I've had it on my phone for the last handful of days, putting it through hell for review. Unfortunately, I wasn't able to see everything that Diablo Immortal has to offer after spending over 15 hours with the free-to-play handheld action RPG, but in lieu of a full review, I'd like to share some thoughts on my time with Immortal as the game is soon to be available for everyone to play on mobile devices and PC.

Reviewed on: PC
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher: Fireshine Games
Developer: Spiral Circus Games
Release: June 1, 2022
Rating: Teen

The impeccable graphics and thought-provoking narrative shine so brightly in this puzzle/adventure title that the game’s defects, like the frustrating lack of direction, stand out in grimy, stark contrast. The moment I began playing, I was under the aquatic world’s monochromatic and disquieting spell. However, the magic was continuously dispelled as I increasingly encountered imbalanced challenges and tedious objectives.

Silt is undoubtedly one of the most beautiful games I’ve played this year. Its underwater world is brought to life in shades of black, grey, and white. But though the color palette is limited, it is applied masterfully. Inky darkness gives way to foggy gloom, which is pierced by brilliant illumination. The artistic visuals are meticulously detailed. Every feature and figure is shaded and ornamented in ways that make me stop and admire the screen instead of moving to my next objective. One moment, I swim along an ocean floor choked with reeds; in the next, I emerge from the gaping mouth of an inert, needle-fanged monstrosity, and both scenes equally demand my attention. The graphics’ dark and light motifs also spill over wonderfully into the game’s exploration of those themes.

Summer Game Fest kicks off on June 9, and host Geoff Keighley has unveiled the full list of game publishers and studios participating in the event. 

This year's #SummerGameFest will feature events, activities and updates for fans from more than 30 partners, with more to be announced.

It's going to be a great month for video game fans.

Get ready! pic.twitter.com/vLaRGnbtBK

— Geoff Keighley (@geoffkeighley) May 31, 2022

In the tweet posted above, Keighley states that SGF will feature events and updates from over 30 partners, with more to be announced. For now, the line-up includes: 

Sonic Frontiers was teased way back in 2019 before it was teased once again in 2021. It was originally supposed to drop last year, but it instead became a 2022 title, with a new trailer debuting at The Game Awards 2021. Now, as we anticipate the Blue Blur’s 3D return sometime this year, Sega has released a new teaser trailer that gives us just a taste of Sonic’s first open-world foray, and it looks awesome. 

This new teaser comes by way of the official Sonic the Hedgehog Twitter account, which released the trailer alongside news that Sonic Frontiers is getting the IGN First treatment in June. In fact, according to the tweet, we’ll be getting some world-exclusive reveals very soon, which, if this teaser trailer is anything to go off of, means we’ll probably be getting some extended looks at gameplay in June. For now, the teaser trailer below will have to do: 

Update, 6/1/022

After a leak yesterday, Sony has confirmed that the June 2022 PlayStation Plus games are God of War (2018), Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl, and Naruto to Boruto: Shinobi Striker. This news accompanies word that they won't be available to you as a PlayStation Plus member until the new and revamped service goes live, which is set for June 13 in the U.S. 

"When the all-new PlayStation Plus launches into your region, these titles will be available as monthly games to all PlayStation Plus members including those on the PlayStation Plus Essential Plan (which includes the same benefits PlayStation Plus members get today)," the PlayStation Blog post reads. 

You have until June 6 to download last month's free games, which were FIFA 22, Tribes of Midgard, and Curse of the Dead Gods. 

The original story continues below...

Original story, 5/31/22: 

On this week's episode, we dive into the biggest week ever for comic books! We purchased roughly 25 comics each and have reviews for the best of the bunch, including Daredevil/Elektra, Something is Killing the Children, The Punisher, Hulk, and so much more. As always, we take a look ahead to what we will be purchasing this week, giving you a nice roadmap for what is to come.

If you would like to follow us on Twitter: Andrew Reiner (@Andrew_Reiner) and Philip Hoff (@bnow23).

From Panel to Podcast is a weekly show created by two lifelong comic book readers who offer suggestions on which comic books you should be reading each week. Each episode also dives into the latest developments for comics in video games, movies, and television shows. We'll even discuss comic book collectibles and anything we think you should know about that pertains to this entertainment medium.

Be sure to subscribe to From Panel to Podcast on your favorite podcast platform. The show is available on Google Podcasts, Spotify, and Apple Podcasts.

Xbox has begun to announce its upcoming slate of Game Pass titles for next month, with six games joining the service in the opening days of June. Sharpen your blades and get ready for plenty of action with the three big games coming to the subscription service over the next week. Ubisoft is providing two games with For Honor: Marching Fire Edition hitting tomorrow and Assassin's Creed Origins arriving on June 7, just in time for Series X owners to enjoy the new 60FPS update. Koei Tecmo is also bringing Ryu Hyabusa's remastered trilogy of 3D adventures to Game Pass with the June 2 addition of Ninja Gaiden Master Collection. 

Here's the full list of Game Pass additions coming in the first part of June:

The Pokémon Company announced today that it will be debuting new footage of two of this holiday's most anticipated releases, Pokémon Scarlet and Violet. We first saw the duo of Switch games when they were revealed in a Pokémon Day presentation, which brought along an initial look at the unnamed region seemingly based on Spain and Portugal and the introduction of the three beloved starter monsters, Quaxly, Sprigatito, and Fuecoco.

🚨 New #ScarletViolet trailer drops tomorrow! 🚨

You read that right, Trainers. Tune in to our YouTube channel at 6:00 a.m. PDT on 6/1 for the latest on Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet!

Make sure you’re subscribed and have notifications turned on: https://t.co/8Hw4hsHzDJ pic.twitter.com/CHyBhxY1JT

V Rising launched in Steam Early Access on May 17, and the vampire action survival game has quickly taken the world by storm. Developer Stunlock Studios revealed that the game has pushed past 1.5 million copies sold in only two weeks.

Stunlock doesn’t provide an exact sales number, but 1.5 million+ is a remarkable feat for a game technically in its infancy. V Rising has been popular on Twitch and has garnered strong reviews thus far. The game puts you in the undead boots of a newly awakened vampire who must build their empire. Similar to games like Valheim, players explore an open world in search of resources (either from nature itself or by pillaging villages) to construct a castle and become the second coming of Dracula. Combat pushes you to use your supernatural abilities to take down a host of otherworldly creatures, and you can tackle the game alongside friends in co-op. You can also attack other players’ castles in PvP. 

As an Early Access title, V Rising will continue to receive updates and improvements over the next several months. The game’s Steam page states that Stunlock hopes to launch the game in 1.0 within the next 12 months, barring any changes.

<p><img src="https://www.gameinformer.com/sites/default/files/styles/body_default/public/2022/05/31/1b4b2c1e/monument_valley_header.jpg" width="800" height="450" alt="Monument Valley Series PC Release July" typeof="foaf:Image" class="image-style-body-default" /></p> <p>Ustwo’s Monument Valley and its sequel are coming to PC this summer.&nbsp;</p> <p>More specifically, Monument Valley: Panoramic Edition and Monument Valley II: Panoramic Edition will hit PC on July 12. Both of these illusion-based geometric puzzle games were released on iOS and Android devices in 2014 and 2017 respectively, and now, for the first time ever, they’ll be playable on non-mobile devices. As the name implies, the view of the game, which is longer than it is horizontal as a result of being mobile games, will be shifted to account for PC monitors. Instead, both Monument Valley games will be presented in a wide view and you can see what that looks like below thanks to the series’ art director:</p> <blockquote class="tw-align-center twitter-tweet"> <p dir="ltr" lang="en">We're making Monument Valley WIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIIDE<br /> <br /> 🥳🥳🥳<br /> <br /> Working on this has been a really nostalgic experience, I hope you all like it.<br /> <br /> Please wishlist 💖 <a href="https://t.co/f3CoRdCuJH">pic.twitter.com/f3CoRdCuJH</a></p> — David Fernández Huerta (@DavidFHuerta) <a href="https://twitter.com/DavidFHuerta/status/1531625951120990209?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 31, 2022</a></blockquote> <p>Both games can be added to <a href="https://store.steampowered.com/curator/9753427/sale/MonumentValleyPC" target="_blank">Steam</a> wishlists right now and unsurprisingly, in order to run these games on your PC, you’re not going to need much horsepower at all.

Update, 6/2/22:

The 60 FPS patch for Assassin's Creed Origins is now live. 

Here are some notes about the patch from an Assassin's Creed community manager: 

"Hey everyone,

Title Update 1.6.0 for Assassin’s Creed Origins will be deployed on Xbox Series X|S / Xbox One and PlayStation 4 / 5: June 2nd, 2022 at 2PM CEST, 8AM ET, 10PM AEST, and 5AM PDT.

Patch Sizes:

• PC: ~2.9GB
• Xbox One: ~3GB
• PlayStation 4: ~8.2GB

Game Improvements:

• Added 60 FPS support when running the game on Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5.
• Added a new Assassin’s Creed Franchise Store Menu."

Original story, 5/31/22:

Last December, Ubisoft announced a new-gen performance update was coming to Assassin’s Creed Origins and we now know that it’s coming this week.

On June 2, Bayak’s revenge quest across Ptolemy-era Egypt will run even better thanks to the addition of 60 FPS gameplay. The update will be available for those who play the game on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S. Origins’ successor, Assassin’s Creed Odyssey, received the same current-gen FPS boost last August. 

Square Enix is synonymous with widely known JRPG franchises like Final Fantasy, Dragon Quest, Kingdom Hearts, and Nier. However, a lesser-known series that's produced some under-the-radar experiences is returning. Romancing SaGa: Minstrel Song Remastered is launching on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch, PC, and iOS and Android devices this winter. 

The instruments change, but 30 years later the melody remains the same.

Announcing Romancing SaGa -Minstrel Song- Remastered, coming this winter. pic.twitter.com/Y6D48xDK9O

— SaGa Series (@SaGaGame) May 31, 2022

Minstrel Song dropped exclusively on PlayStation 2 in 2005. The updated visuals (changed from bit art to 3D) don't do much to improve the very bizarre character designs, but fans of the series that never got to play it more than a decade ago will finally get to test their skills with the game's combat and class systems. 

Minstrel Song itself is a remake of the original Romancing SaGa game released on the Super Famicom in 1992. The narrative follows eight adventurers as they try to stop the resurgence of an ancient deity of darkness. 

Nintendo has announced that a brand new trailer for Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet is dropping tomorrow. 

The trailer will go live at 6 a.m. PT/9 a.m. ET tomorrow, June 1, on the official Pokémon YouTube trailer. As for what to expect, that remains unknown as the tweet announcing this news says to tune in to the channel "for the latest on Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet." If it's like trailers in years past, we'll likely learn more about the world of Gen 9, including some new looks at Pokémon, locales we'll be visiting, and, if we're lucky, a look at the two main legendaries that will appear on the boxes of these two Switch games. 

🚨 New #ScarletViolet trailer drops tomorrow! 🚨

You read that right, Trainers. Tune in to our YouTube channel at 6:00 a.m. PDT on 6/1 for the latest on Pokémon Scarlet and Pokémon Violet!

Make sure you’re subscribed and have notifications turned on: https://t.co/8Hw4hsHzDJ pic.twitter.com/CHyBhxY1JT

Tunic started with a difficult choice for lead developer Andrew Shouldice: stay at his stable job or take the plunge and quit to work full-time on his budding game idea. In 2015, Shouldice closed his eyes and jumped. However, when asked why he made that decision, he initially hesitates. 

“Why indeed?” Shouldice answers after a beat with a chuckle and a dramatic tone that suggests Tunic’s development cycle was a long one. There is no single incident he can point to that spurred him into making his choice. Instead, several factors, including how much he enjoyed making past one-off projects and his dwindling excitement for his job, influenced his decision to strike out on his own. His departure wasn’t without uncertainty.

“I remember thinking to myself; this might be a bad decision,” Shouldice says. “But I would rather make the bad decision now than always wonder what could have been, you know? Which is very cheesy, I understand. But that was sort of the thing that ended up pushing me over the edge. I really want to do this. Maybe it’s a bad idea, but I have to know.”

Seven years after its inception and four since its grand debut on the E3 stage, Tunic has finally launched. The vibrant isometric action game puts you in the boots of a sword-wielding fox fighting through a world of winding paths, mysterious structures, merciless enemies, and hidden secrets. Its art style, combat, and setting earned Tunic an ever-growing crowd of fans over the years. But while it’s currently one of the highest-rated releases of the year, Tunic started as a small solo project.

My first battle royale skydive was in the early access version of PUBG. I landed on the outskirts of Lipovka and, with the devastating SCAR-L, made quick work of enemies. There were brief moments of gratification, but securing that delicious Chicken Dinner tested my patience for dozens of hours and proved too frustrating. Fortnite’s cartoonish aesthetic and enticing crossovers scratched my casual FPS itch, but the base-building mechanic constantly shattered combat momentum. Warzone’s sensory overload was downright overwhelming. With arena sizes that seemingly rivaled open-world games, a high combatant count, and annoying purchasable killstreaks, Call of Duty’s battle royale reminded me that less is more. 

And then there’s Apex Legends, the great equalizer – where skill, tactics, and dumb luck (RNG) coalesced into intense, energetic bouts. Even three years after its surprise launch, Apex Legends continues to be the best battle royale out there. 

During the recent closed alpha test, we sat down to talk about all things MultiVersus with the game's director, Tony Huynh, from Player First Games. In this interview, we talk with Tony about what MultiVerus is, how it is to work with Warner Bros on the project, philosophies on its core combat designs and business models, and much more. 

Game Informer: Can you tell us about MultiVersus? What’s the quick pitch of it?

Tony Huynh: MultiVersus is a cooperative platform fighter. It's free to play. And it's a game that has a lot of the barriers removed, that's really easy to pick up, but also a really smooth, gradual mastery curve into the game. Its focus is on cooperative team-based gameplay. So from the ground up, everything about it is team-based, working with your ally, all the abilities and moves are based around team play as well as having a huge iconic character cast of really awesome characters. We spent a lot of time on making the characters play the way that you think that they would play. We try to support every single input device, like keyboards and controllers. In an effort to remove all barriers, we also have a lot of resources poured into making really good online play through dedicated server rollback netcode. In a nutshell, that is what MultiVersus is; it's a very cooperative focused, social-focused platform fighter that I think everybody can pick up and play and then also invest thousands of hours, like I have, into it. [laughs]

Working for a video game website, I engage in many playful, though sometimes heated, debates about games with my co-workers. We recently discussed the best Kingdom Hearts characters, and, surprisingly, several of us excluded Sora from the cream of the crop. However, a defender propped up Sora’s one defining good trait: his overwhelming positivity. In response, I jokingly said if optimism is all Sora offers, he should be replaced by a superior beacon of positivity: Ichiban Kasuga, star of Yakuza: Like a Dragon. We had a good laugh and moved on, but the idea lingered in my brain. I need this to happen. 

I’ll preface my next statement with this disclosure: I like Kingdom Hearts. Now that blowback immunity is activated, I think Sora is lame. He’s a good kid with a great heart, and he’s fun to use in Super Smash Bros. However, Kingdom Hearts III made me finally accept that I haven’t really been into Sora as a personality since (maybe) Kingdom Hearts II. Much of that probably has to do with his dialogue; it’s unbearably cringe-worthy at times. Not to mention he’s also got a bad case of Ash Ketchum syndrome; the dude is umpteen games deep, and he still isn’t an officially recognized keyblade master? More than anything else, though, I find Sora bland. 

If you’ve ever wondered if people in the world of Star Wars play sports that don't involve racing repulsorcrafts, we now know that they play at least one: Blitzball. 

No, you didn’t misread that – it says Blitzball, you know, the underwater hockey-like sport played by Tidus, Wakka, and others in Final Fantasy X. That’s because in the canonized novel Star Wars: Brotherhood, which is about the relationship between Anakin Skywalker and Obi-Wan Kenobi, a reference to Blitzball being played in a local lake is made. How do we know it’s the Blitzball from Final Fantasy X? Well, the author of Brotherhood, Mike Chen, is the person who revealed this fun detail, as reported by GamesRadar. 

“There’s a reference to a sport called Blitzball played in a local lake. Blitzball is basically underwater hockey played as a minigame in Final Fantasy X. As a former NHL writer, I freaking loved Blitzball and spent hours winning leagues.” 

#6: There's a reference to a sport called Blitzball played in a local lake. Blitzball is basically underwater hockey played as a minigame in Final Fantasy X. As a former NHL writer, I freaking loved Blitzball and spent hours winning leagues. pic.twitter.com/uad4uIMcrA

Back in March, I began playing Grand Theft Auto V for the first time ever. I somehow missed it in 2013, and as the years went by, I realized maybe I just wasn’t that interested in it. However, I couldn’t shake the idea that I had a GTA-sized gap in my gaming knowledge, especially as I write news stories seemingly every month about its massive sales numbers, which somehow keep increasing, the continuous flow of GTAV Online content, and more. 

GTA V is as prevalent today as it was in 2013, so when the new-gen editions on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X/S were released in March, I decided to finally give it a go. And, unsurprisingly to most reading this probably, it lived up to the hype. So much so that I’m still playing it today, more than two months later. I love playing through the game’s main campaign and the Strangers and Freaks missions, but I’ve found that my absolute favorite thing to do is just drive around while listening to music. 

It’s Memorial Day, and to celebrate the long weekend, we’re shining the spotlight on the asymmetrical multiplayer genre. This category features games where two groups face each other, but each side has unique, sometimes wildly disproportionate, skills and goals. As evidenced by many of the year’s recently released and upcoming titles, like Evil Dead: The Game, IllFonic’s Ghostbusters: Spirits Unleased, and Dragon Ball: The Breakers, the genre is seeing a resurgence. There’s no shortage of asymmetrical games you can jump into right now if you want to hone your skills or build up anticipation for soon-to-be-released titles.

Hot off an exciting weekend of tons of news from Star Wars Celebration 2022, including the reveal of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and details about The Mandalorian and Ahsoka, a new trailer for Season 2 of Star Wars: The Bad Batch has arrived. 

In it, we get new looks at the Bad Batch, of course, as well as Darth Sidious aka The Emperor and Wookiee Jedi youngling Gungi. With a look at Gungi, we now know that he survived Order 66, which sought to kill and end the entirety of the Jedi. The trailer also reveals that we can expect Season 2 of The Bad Batch to drop onto Disney+ this fall. 

As you can see in the trailer above, the titular Bad Batch of heroes are still doing their thing, searching for what they want to do now that they’re free. Of course, meanwhile, Sheev Palpatine’s empire is on the rise and the crew will need to deal with that while extending their helping hands to others. It looks like they’re after new allies, too, which hopefully includes Gungi. 

Everyone has that Elden Ring boss they really enjoyed facing off against, even if they kicked your butt over and over again, including the game’s director and From Software CEO Hidetaka Miyazaki. 

His favorite boss is Starscourge Radahn, according to a new Xbox Wire Japan blog post, as translated by IGN. As for why, the famed director cites Radahn’s alluring design as a character in The Lands Between as well as the festival surrounding him. 

“It’s tough to decide, but I’d have to say Radahn,” Miyazaki said. “As an individual character, he’s really alluring, and I really like the Radahn Festival situation. There’s a literal sense of festivity and exuberance, but also a unique tinge of sadness and loneliness.” 

He said when he first brought up the idea of Radahn and his festival, “no one on the team took it seriously,” which is extra funny considering this boss is Miyazaki’s favorite. He added that his next favorite bosses after Radahn are Godrick, the Grafted and Rykard, Lord of Blasphemy. He also said one of his favorite designs out of anything in the game is the 12-fingered Caria Manor hand spiders, because of course (they still give me the heebie-jeebies). 

Nintendo has revealed a sneak peek at an upcoming music track from Splatoon 3. Nintendo describes "Sea Me Now" by in-universe band Front Roe as having "a melodious, punkish sound" that has been "swimming up the charts in Splatville lately." True to the description, the track veers closer to what we had in the first Splatoon's soundtrack, though with decidedly more of a punk-rock edge.

You can listen to "Sea Me Now" by Front Roe below.

The Splatoon series has long been known for its music, even including its in-universe artists as main characters. In the original Splatoon, pop duo Callie and Marie (AKA the Squid Sisters) ran down the news at the start of each play session, while Splatoon 2 introduced us to Pearl and Marina (AKA Off The Hook). We don't know who the figurehead announcers of Splatoon 3 will be as of this writing.

Splatoon 3 comes to Switch on September 9. For more on what this third entry in the franchise brings to the battlefield, check out the latest gameplay trailer here or learn about its improvements on the series' wave-based cooperative mode, Salmon Run: Next Wave, here.

Video Gameography is on hiatus this week, but in the interim, we'd like to announce the next season officially. 

Season six of Video Gameography will chronicle one of the most stylish franchises around: Devil May Cry. Its 20+ year history began after series creator Hideki Kaimya attempted to create an installment of another legendary Capcom series, and instead birthed the prototype of the modern character action game (or "Stylish Action"). In this new season, we'll be covering the development and devilish narratives of all of the DMC titles, including Ninja Theory's reboot. Dante, black-haired Dante, Virgil, Sparda, Trish, Nero, Lady, V; all of your favorite characters are going to be there! Here's the complete list of games we'll be talking about in the coming weeks:

• Devil May Cry
• Devil May Cry 2
• Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening
• Devil May Cry 4
• DmC: Devil May Cry
• Devil May Cry 5

Video Gameography is a podcast hosted by Game Informer Associate Editors Marcus Stewart and John Carson. Each season is a deep dive into a specific video game series, with each episode exploring the year of release, development, and narrative for a single game in that storied franchise. We're joined by a special guest every episode to help break down our thoughts on the topic that week and have a few laughs along the way. 

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic II – The Sith Lords is coming to Switch on June 8. This role-playing game was originally released on Xbox in 2004 and later found its way to PC. You'll now have the chance to play it again on your TV or take it on the go on Switch for just $15.

The Sith Lords is set during a dark period for the Republic. As a Jedi in exile, you could bring stability to the Jedi Order and help the Republic, or embrace the dark side of the Force and help a new order take command. This sequel embraces player choice in meaningful and fun ways, allowing you to form tight bonds with your teammates and pick how you wield the Force.

We recently ranked The Sith Lords as the fifth best Star Wars game in our Top 30 Star Wars Games list, saying "Although development switched studios from BioWare to Obsidian Entertainment, the choice-driven bliss of the original Knights of the Old Republic RPG is alive and well in Sith Lords. Picking up five years after the fall of Lord Malak, the Sith Lords is another finely penned tale that offers deeper dialogue options, another great cast of characters, and plenty of alignment-specific variables."

BD-1 is everywhere these days. He starred in Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order alongside Cal Kestis, will be in the just-announced sequel Star Wars Jedi: Survivor, and may have even been in an episode of The Book of Boba Fett. This adorable droid is now getting the brick treatment with a Lego set launching this August.

Lego announced this BD-1 set at Star Wars Celebration and showed off what it can do. The set consists of 1,062 pieces and is a part of Lego's recent droid line, which consists of R2-D2, D-O, and a Probe Droid. BD-1's legs move, his head tilts, and you can open a tray that holds healing cannisters. Lego also included a display plaque that comes with a BD-1 minifigure. Now all we need is a smaller set that gives us a Cal Kestis minifigure. The BD-1 set retails for $99.99. You can see it in all of its glory in the images below: