IGN Video Games

IGN Video Games

Game Scoop! 678: RE4 Remake & Final Fantasy 16 Reactions

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 03:05 PM PDT

Welcome back to IGN Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Justin Davis -- are discussing Sony's recent State of Play presentation. That means Resident Evil 4 Remake, Final Fantasy 16, Callisto Protocol, Street Fighter 6, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions.

Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service.

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Find previous episodes here!

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet Trailers Seem to Hint at New Gym Theme

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 12:04 PM PDT

Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's second trailer revealed new Pokemon, locations, and people — but more notably hints at a potential gym theme. What if Pokemon Scarlet and Violet's gyms are themed after Formula One? There's a chance it could be MotoGP instead, but given the heavy vehicle theme we see between the new Legendary Pokemon and in other elements, one theme or the other seems likely.

Game Freak isn't shy about leaving hints about upcoming announcements in its trailers. The first trailer, for example, featured four Nintendo Switch on a single table that now serves as a nod to the four-player co-op. Below is our analysis of several screenshots from both the first trailer and the second that lead us to believe Pokemon Scarlet and Violet features one of Spain's popular motorsports. And, come on, the Legendary Pokemon literally have wheels protruding from their chests.

Legendary Pokemon Design

At first glance, only Miraidon, Pokemon Scarlet's box Legendary, looks related to technology. In the second trailer, we can clearly see Miraidon's jet engine legs in action and its digitized eyes. Its maw, which could resemble scales, actually resembles carbon fiber upon closer inspection. Sure, jets are mostly made out of carbon fiber, but so are Formula 1 cars, due to their superior strength, durability, heat resistance, and incredible light weight. According to motorsport.com, using carbon fiber for F1 cars was a new development in 1981 with the debut of the McLaren MP4/1. Before, F1 cars were made out of pretty much the same materials as normal cars. Though obviously F1 cars in our world have wheels as average cars do, Miraidon here has evolved past the need for them.

Not Koraidon, though. Scarlet's box Legendary looks totally naturalistic, except for, well, the tire sticking out of its chest. Though not functional in its current state, it's not unheard of for Pokemon to have different forms, even wildly so. Maybe Koraidon and Miraidon will gain new forms that make them... drivable. Ridable? To further speculate, we believe Koraidon could transform into an aquatic "vehicle" due to its webbed hands and feet, and Miraidon into an aerial "vehicle" of sorts. They could also just be design motifs. Regardless, they're vehicle-related motifs.

A New Kind of Pokemon Center

These structures appear to replace traditional Pokemon Centers, but they have an easily accessible, all-outdoors design complete with an outdoor seating area.

They even appear with this design inside towns (shown below), but when seen out in the open, they always have pavement around them. They resemble "gas stations" and could serve as "pit stops" for weary trainers and their Pokemon.

The attendants aren't too clear, but each seems to feature at least two individuals, one who seems to be a Nurse Joy with a cap on her pink hair. There are three distinct banners below the counter — blue, red, and green. The blue could represent Poke Mart items, red the Pokemon Center, and green could be miscellaneous items. Above the service counter is a wraparound screen with ads for a variety of things, from travel, to shoes, and... even tires.

A Region With... Tire Advertisements?

It's a bit hard to make out, but behind our friend, Nemona, is an ad on the far side of one of the Pokemon Center pit stops. Zoom in to that same ad behind her Pawmi to get a broader view. It appears to be an ad for a specific brand or type of tire, with a tread design in black and yellow behind the main text.

Maybe the Qwilfish mascot alludes to the extra grip the tire has on tricky terrain.

Gym Space

If Game Freak follows a similar framework as Pokemon Sword and Shield, then there's a good chance that this proposed F1 theme is going to be featured most prominently in Scarlet and Violet's gyms. In this shot of a large castle town, the circled modern structure in the hills stands out not only because of its design, but also its location. F1 racing requires a ton of space. What better place to have an extra-large gym than in the hills right next to the town? The screenshot perfectly hides what lies beyond the tallest part of the building. The building itself seems like it could be small for a gym, but the size could make sense if the structure we see houses the stands that overlook the gym track.

Even if the Scarlet and Violet gyms only feature F1 in theme with no actual racing, we're still left with a big question: why does this region require so much space for Pokemon battles? Sword and Shield's Gigantamax made use of the height of soccer stadiums, but what mechanic will make use of the space and implied speed of F1? There is a chance this theme could be used purely for aesthetics.

The Other Hints

Crossed flags are an iconic symbol for racing. These are shown in the second trailer in conjunction with what seem to be other landmarks, possibly marking gym locations, or other points of interest.

The second trailer also included a reveal of the "full" logo design for Pokemon Scarlet and Violet. The text logos both have prominent borders featuring a profile of their respective legendary Pokémon and four mysterious symbols. These logos, interestingly, look like ornate license plates. Note that the details of the plates (the quarter wheels on the top right and left and even the pattern of the border) also mimic the design of the legendary Pokemon. While F1 cars don't have license plates, this still keeps with the car theme.

This theme could be totally off the mark, but why else would Pokemon Centers suddenly look like gas stations? Be sure to let us know your Pokemon Scarlet and Violet theories below. For confirmed Pokemon information, head over to our confirmed list of Pokemon in Scarlet and Violet and their version differences, including the version exclusive professors.

Casey DeFreitas is an editor on the guides team at IGN. Catch her on Twitter @ShinyCaseyD.

Miranda Sanchez is the executive editor of guides at IGN. She's a big fan of stationery and fountain pens. You can sometimes find her on Twitter.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake Not Canceled, but Delayed Again

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 11:49 AM PDT

The Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake has not been canceled, but an issue with timing resulted in the game being delisted from retailers.

Earlier today, retailers like GameStop and others were delisting pre-orders for the upcoming Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake, prompting concerns the project has been canceled. IGN can confirm that the Remake is still in development, but has been further delayed out of FY23.

In a statement to IGN Ubisoft says, "The development of Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake will now be led by Ubisoft Montreal. We're proud of the work achieved by Ubisoft Pune and Ubisoft Mumbai, and Ubisoft Montreal will benefit from their learnings as the new team will continue the work to deliver a great remake."

Ubisoft added, "As a consequence, we are no longer targeting a FY23 release anymore and the game has been delisted. If players wish to cancel their preorder they are invited to contact their retailer. They will be updated on the project as the development is moving along."

This is not the first time the Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time Remake has been delayed. After being announced in 2020 the remake was set to be released in 2021 before being delayed to Fiscal year 23. The project also moved development teams from Ubisoft Pune and Mumbai to Ubisoft Montreal.

A new release window has not been revealed, but it looks like it will be some time before the Prince returns.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN's News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd.

The IGN Audience Is Primarily Excited for Resident Evil 4 Remake and Final Fantasy 16

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 11:27 AM PDT

From the long-awaited Final Fantasy XVI to indies like Stray and Rollerdrome, yesterday's PlayStation State of Play was filled with exciting announcements, and IGN readers voted for which games they're most excited for.

Following our poll with nearly 5,000 votes, there were a few clear winners from yesterday's event. Here's what our audience had to say:

Thanks to its host of exciting announcements, the latest State of Play has been a favorite for many — some have even called it the best State of Play yet.

While our readers selected the Resident Evil 4 remake and FF16 as the highlights, yesterday's State of Play gave way to many more announcements. Other fan favorites included a New Game+ update for Horizon Forbidden West, Season: A Letter to the Future, and a host of games for PSVR2.

Amelia Zollner is a freelance writer at IGN. Find them on Twitter: @ameliazollner.

PlayStation's Best State of Play Ever? - Beyond Episode 752

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 10:49 AM PDT

On this week's very special episode of IGN's PlayStation show, Podcast Beyond!, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Brian Altano, Max Scoville, and Jada Griffin to react live to the latest June PlayStation State of Play.

(Note: This episode was originally filmed during a live broadcast and has seen been edited and trimmed, so apologies for any skips or jumps you may encounter!)

The crew covers all of the surprise reveals, gameplay updates, and more as we discuss if this is PlayStation's best State of Play ever? We dive into the biggest reveals first, with Resident Evil 4 Remake, Street Fighter 6, and Final Fantasy XVI toplining our conversation. Brian shares his incredible joy about RE 4 getting the remake treatment, Jada discusses the surprising first look at Street Fighter 6's gameplay, the panel digs into the incredible FF16 trailer, and Max laments the lack of Avatar gameplay during the show.

But there's plenty of games to discuss that did show up, including an in-depth look at Horizon Call of the Mountain's PSVR 2 gameplay, as well as the other PSVR 2 announcements during PlayStation's State of Play and what we think they mean for the new VR headset's release date. Then, we discuss the rad lineup of indies coming to PlayStation, like Tunic, Stray, Rollerdrome, and Season in the coming months, along with others like Eternights. We also discuss Spider-Man Remastered's move to PC, The Callisto Protocol getting a release date, while offering up thoughts on why RE 4 Remake, Final Fantasy 16, and more were among our highlights from PlayStation's State of Play.

Follow us all on Twitter:

And if you're looking for more places to enjoy this PlayStation podcast show, check out Podcast Beyond! on all available platforms: https://linktr.ee/podcastbeyond.

Destiny 2: Where Is Xur Today? Location and Exotic Items Guide for June 3-7

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 10:49 AM PDT

The blackened skin tag champion, Xûr, is now live in Destiny 2 for the weekend until next week's reset. If you're looking to get your some shiny new Exotic armor or weapons for your Guardian, look no further.

Each week, Xûr has a random assortment of Exotic armor, one for each Guardian class, as well as a random Exotic Weapon and an Exotic Engram available for purchase. In addition to his Exotic wares, he's got a random collection of Legendary weapons and armor to deck out your Guardians.

We've rounded up all the info on Xûr for the week including where to find Xûr, which Exotic weapons and armor are available, as well as which Legendary weapons you should pick up, either for PvE or PvP.

Where Is Xûr This Weekend?

Xûr's location today can be found at Watcher's Grave on Nessus on June 3 through June 7. To reach him, travel to the landing point at Watcher's Grave. When you arrive, make for the red moss-covered tree straight ahead. Climb up the roots and you'll find Xûr waiting at the top to sell you exotic items and legendary weapons.

What Is Xûr Selling This Weekend?

Exotic Engram

Coldheart - Exotic Trace Rifle

Oathkeeper - Exotic Hunter Gauntlets

  • 3 Mobility
  • 10 Resilience
  • 17 Recovery
  • 9 Discipline
  • 8 Intellect
  • 12 Strength
  • Total: 59

Ashen Wake - Exotic Titan Gauntlets

  • 9 Mobility
  • 8 Resilience
  • 18 Recovery
  • 13 Discipline
  • 2 Intellect
  • 14 Strength
  • Total: 64

Astrocyte Verse - Exotic Warlock Helmet

  • 3 Mobility
  • 16 Resilience
  • 11 Recovery
  • 7 Discipline
  • 14 Intellect
  • 9 Strength
  • Total: 60

The only good exotic armor rolls this week is the Titan's gauntlets, and unfortunately that exotic has never been very good, so you might want to skip on all three this week unless they're needed for collections. That said, with Solar 3.0, maybe it's time to give fusion grenades another try? Probably not.

However, with the rise of trace rifles, now might be a great time to pick up Coldheart if you don't have it already!

Exotic Weapons

Hawkmoon - Exotic Hand Cannon

  • Paracausal Shot
  • Polygonal Rifling
  • Alloy Magazine
  • Hip-Fire Grip
  • Textured Grip

Dead Man's Tale - Exotic Scout Rifle

  • Cranial Spike
  • Arrowhead Brake
  • Light Mag
  • Vorpal Weapon
  • Fitted Stock

The Dead Man's Tale roll this week is fairly spicy (Vorpal Weapon pairs quite well with it), so grab that if you don't have a great roll yet. Pass on Hawkmoon this week. We've seen better rolls!

Legendary Weapons

Lonesome - Sidearm

  • Corkscrew Rifling/Smallbore
  • Appended Mag/High-Caliber Rounds
  • Outlaw
  • Swashbuckler
  • Range Masterwork

False Promises - Auto Rifle

  • Arrowhead Brake/Extended Barrel
  • Alloy Magazine/Light Mag
  • Threat Detector
  • Sympathetic Arsenal
  • Stability Masterwork

Chrysura Melo - Auto Rifle

  • Hammer-Forged Rifling/Smallbore
  • Accurized Rounds/Alloy Magazine
  • Ensemble
  • Harmony
  • Accuracy Masterwork

Long Shadow - Sniper Rifle

  • ATB Long Range/ATA Scout
  • Steady Rounds/Alloy Magazine
  • Firmly Planted
  • Rampage
  • Stability Masterwork

Iota Draconis - Fusion Rifle

  • Corkscrew Rifling/Extended Barrel
  • Accelerated Coils/Ionized Battery
  • Under Pressure
  • Kickstart
  • Charge Time Masterwork

Honor's Edge - Sword

  • Jagged Edge/Tempered Edge
  • Burst Guard/Heavy Guard
  • Energy Transfer
  • Shattering Blade
  • Impact Masterwork

The Swarm - Machine Gun

  • Arrowhead Brake/Full Bore
  • Appended Mag/Tactical Mag
  • Surplus
  • Vorpal Weapon
  • Stablility Masterwork

Holy Crow! That Lonesome sidearm is a fantastic roll and you should pick it up if you've been searching for the ultimate sidearm to dominate in Crucible. The Swarm also has a pretty interesting roll this week and is a great machine gun, so grb that if you want. Aside from that, nothing really jumps out at me this week!

Warlock Legendary Armor

For Warlocks, Xûr is selling the Substitutional Alloy set which includes:

Substitutional Alloy Gloves

  • 8 Mobility
  • 2 Resilience
  • 19 Recovery
  • 16 Discipline
  • 2 Intellect
  • 13 Strength
  • Total: 60

Substitutional Alloy Chest Armor

  • 16 Mobility
  • 6 Resilience
  • 12 Recovery
  • 6 Discipline
  • 12 Intellect
  • 13 Strength
  • Total: 65

Substitutional Alloy Helmet

  • 2 Mobility
  • 10 Resilience
  • 16 Recovery
  • 8 Discipline
  • 19 Intellect
  • 2 Strength
  • Total: 57

Substitutional Alloy Leg Armor

  • 2 Mobility
  • 10 Resilience
  • 16 Recovery
  • 9 Discipline
  • 8 Intellect
  • 12 Strength
  • Total: 57

Substitutional Alloy Bond

Only the chest piece has any merit this week for Warlocks. Everything else is pretty awful, so grab the chest if you need it and move on!

Titan Legendary Armor

For Titans, Xûr is selling the Substitutional Alloy set which includes:

Substitutional Alloy Gauntlets

  • 12 Mobility
  • 6 Resilience
  • 9 Recovery
  • 12 Discipline
  • 7 Intellect
  • 9 Strength
  • Total: 55

Substitutional Alloy Chest Armor

  • 2 Mobility
  • 24 Resilience
  • 2 Recovery
  • 9 Discipline
  • 6 Intellect
  • 14 Strength
  • Total: 57

Substitutional Alloy Helmet

  • 13 Mobility
  • 2 Resilience
  • 14 Recovery
  • 6 Discipline
  • 25 Intellect
  • 2 Strength
  • Total: 62

Substitutional Alloy Leg Armor

  • 6 Mobility
  • 12 Resilience
  • 14 Recovery
  • 2 Discipline
  • 6 Intellect
  • 25 Strength
  • Total: 65

Substitutional Alloy Mark

Some spiky rolls for Titans this week, but only the leg armor feels like a must-have. The helmet is just so-so and the others are really weak.

Hunter Legendary Armor

For Hunters, Xûr is selling the Substitutional Alloy set which includes:

Substitutional Alloy Grips

  • 7 Mobility
  • 9 Resilience
  • 15 Recovery
  • 2 Discipline
  • 9 Intellect
  • 18 Strength
  • Total: 60

Substitutional Alloy Chest Armor

  • 2 Mobility
  • 12 Resilience
  • 18 Recovery
  • 2 Discipline
  • 19 Intellect
  • 9 Strength
  • Total: 62

Substitutional Alloy Helmet

  • 7 Mobility
  • 15 Resilience
  • 9 Recovery
  • 15 Discipline
  • 14 Intellect
  • 2 Strength
  • Total: 62

Substitutional Alloy Leg Armor

  • 2 Mobility
  • 13 Resilience
  • 13 Recovery
  • 2 Discipline
  • 6 Intellect
  • 22 Strength
  • Total: 58

Substitutional Alloy Cloak

All the Hunter armor is either mid or pretty weak, so sad to say you'll likely want to skip this week if you're one of our caped Guardians.

That's a wrap on Xûr for this week, Guardians! Hope you're all enjoying your adventures in the Witch Queen's throne world.

What did you think of Crow's redemption arc this week? Let us know in the comments!

For more on Destiny, check out some of the new weapons and gear you can find in The Witch Queen and read about how Sony's purchase of Bungie fits into its larger plans.

Travis Northup is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @TieGuyTravis and read his games coverage here.

Star Wars Video Game Face-Off: The Winner Revealed

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 09:45 AM PDT

Last week, in honor of Star Wars Celebration and the premiere of Disney+'s Obi-Wan Kenobi series, we asked you to help us decide which video game from that galaxy far, far away was the best of them all. Now, after thousands and thousands of 1v1 battles with matchups like Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order vs. Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy and Star Wars Battlefront vs. LEGO Star Wars: The Skywalker Saga, the ultimate Star Wars game has been chosen.

So, which competitor claimed the top spot for the best Star Wars video game and is prophecized to bring balance to the Force? Drumroll please...

As if there was any doubt, Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic has once again claimed the top spot of a list of best Star Wars video games. We also crowned KOTOR #1 on our ranking of Star Wars games, and it has impressively held on to that honor despite being originally released in 2003. The love for KOTOR may only get stronger in the future as a remake is currently in the works at Aspyr.

KOTOR's story, which is set thousands of years before the films, remains the high point for a quintessential Jedi journey that is filled with memorable characters, surprising twists, fantastic RPG mechanics, and much more. The competition was tough, however, as its 91.5% win percentage was only about 3% more than the second-place finisher - 2019's Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order.

Yes, a relative newcomer to the Star Wars video game world has risen the ranks and secured the #2 spot by winning 88.2% of its battles and holding off Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2: The Sith Lords, 2005's Star Wars: Battlefront II, and Star Wars: The Force Unleashed.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order was not only a very well received game (we gave it a 9/10!) that features Soulsborne-esque combat and Metroidvania elements wrapped up in Star Wars, but it also had the benefit of having its sequel - Star Wars Jedi: Survivor - announced during Star Wars Celebration and this Face-Off.

Rounding out the top 10 were 2004's Star Wars: Battlefront, Star Wars Jedi Knight II: Jedi Outcast, Star Wars: The Force Unleashed II, Star Wars: Republic Commando, and Star Wars Jedi Knight: Jedi Academy. All-in-all, seven of the ten games in the top 10 featured lightsabers, proving the ever-lasting appeal of that elegant weapon from a more civilized age.

On the other end of the galaxy, Kinect Star Wars placed last, which undoubtedly will make dancing Han Solo very sad. Kinect Star Wars only won 12.3% of its battles, which was just slightly worse than Star Wars: Super Bombad Racing's 14.8%.

Star Wars: Tiny Death Star, the mobile spin-off of Tiny Tower, placed right behind those two and just ahead of Star Wars: The Clone Wars - Jedi Alliance, Angry Birds Star Wars, Star Wars Uprising, Tales From the Galaxy's Edge, LEGO Star Wars: Castaways, Star Wars Pinball, and Star Wars: Battle Pod.

Many of these games in the bottom ten were non-traditional entries (mobile, arcade, kinect, VR, etc.), perhaps showing Star Wars fans are looking for a more standard approach to their games, despite some of these entries still having some fun gameplay to offer.

Are you wondering where your favorite Star Wars video game landed, like maybe Star Wars: Jedi Power Battles? (It placed, in my humble opinion, way too low at #46!) For all the rankings, you can check out the full list of where all 64 Star Wars video games that competed in this Face-Off ended up.

For more on Star Wars, check out our roundup of all the announcements from Star Wars Celebration, our review of episode three of Obi-Wan Kenobi, and how Star Wars Jedi: Survivor picks up from Fallen Order.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

PS5 Has Passed 20 Million Units Sold, and Sony Says It Will Ramp Up Production This Year

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 09:05 AM PDT

The PlayStation 5 has now surpassed 20 million units sold worldwide and Sony has promised to significantly increase its production efforts within the next six months.

Sony executive Veronica Rogers told gamesindustry.biz that the company is "planning on a significant ramp-up in PS5 production this year" and is "working endlessly to make sure that PlayStation 5 is available for everyone who wants one."

As noted by industry analyst Daniel Ahmad on Twitter (below), the PS5 hit 20 million units in one year, six months, and 22 days (568 days in total) meaning it's fallen slightly behind the PS4's record of hitting 20 million units in one year, three months, and 14 days (471 days in total).

That being said, the PS5 has encountered significant production issues due to component shortages that have plagued the video game industry and beyond, forcing Sony to re-evaluate its sales forecast for the year in February.

The company announced in its latest financial earnings results that 19.3 million PS5s had been sold by the end of the 2021 financial year, meaning the console fell short of its original sales target by 3.3 million units. Its goal for this financial year, however, meaning from April 2022 to March 2023, is to sell an ambitious 18 million units, tying in with Rogers' comments today about significantly increasing production.

Sony's chief financial officer Hiroki Totoki said earlier this month that this number was based on the "current visibility into parts procurement", however, meaning the company is still expecting component shortages to be an issue over the next year.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Sonic Frontiers: Combat Gameplay – IGN First

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 09:00 AM PDT

IGN has more Sonic Frontiers gameplay for you today, this time focusing on combat. In the above video you'll see Sonic battle big bad guys and absolutely gargantuan bosses. And clearly, Frontiers doesn't simply have one-hit-kill enemies that serve as mere speed bumps as you zip through the stage. You'll need to use Sonic's speed and skills in order to outsmart and outmaneuver his foes out in the open zone.

If you missed our world gameplay reveal earlier this week, featuring you first long-form look at Sonic Frontiers' open-zone gameplay, take a look below:

We'll have much more on Sonic Frontiers as our month-long IGN First coverage rolls on, including the world's first hands-on preview, interviews with the game director and Sonic Team boss, and more. Check back on Tuesday for the next drop!

Ryan McCaffrey is IGN's executive editor of previews and host of both IGN's weekly Xbox show, Podcast Unlocked, as well as our monthly(-ish) interview show, IGN Unfiltered. He's a North Jersey guy, so it's "Taylor ham," not "pork roll." Debate it with him on Twitter at @DMC_Ryan.

Hardspace: Shipbreaker Review

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 08:58 AM PDT

It's one thing to blow up a spaceship; it's another to dismantle it piece by piece, systematically reducing it from a hulking barge to a pile of valuable scrap. There's a great sense of satisfaction in doing that job well, especially when performing it efficiently requires careful planning and carries a not-insignificant risk of killing yourself in a wide variety of ways in the process. Hardspace: Shipbreaker does a fine job of empowering us to carve up these gigantic space turkeys like every day is Thanksgiving and smothers it in a thick blue collar gravy, but it does wear thin with time. By the end of its campaign, the repetitive objectives and intentionally slow progression made shipbreaking start to feel like exactly what it's simulating: hard labor.

Almost immediately upon stepping into the vacuum of space, an excellent tone is set with twangy music that takes me back to an early scene of the pilot episode of 2002's Firefly, where the crew raids a derelict ship for valuables by cutting through the hull and floating away with them. Swimming through a shipyard with a full six degrees of freedom feels serene and control is smooth, thanks in large part to the brake button that allows you to come to a stop more or less whenever you like (as long as you don't run out of thruster fuel). Physics aren't truly Newtonian, in that objects will eventually slow to a stop, but innertia is a powerful force to be reckoned with in both your own movement and when moving objects around. And while the graphics and lighting aren't cutting edge by any means the spaceship designs are distinctive, often asymmetrical, and interesting – if I hadn't already known that the developer, Blackbird Interactive, is also at work on Homeworld 3, it would've been easy to guess.

The plot isn't at all subtle about its comical corporate dystopia where workers are kept in indentured servitude to a tyrannical interstellar business empire that exploits them relentlessly, even resurrecting them after accidental deaths on the job so that they can continue to work off their crushing debt. There are a few good lines in there, such as a low air warning coming with a reminder that oxygen deprivation can cause a loss of company profits, but it's largely on the nose and its humor relies entirely on that simple setup. The story that plays out over unskippable audio is equally one-note, with your faceless, mute character's crew of salvagers being basically forced to unionize to fight back against their corporate overlords. There are twists, but they're so clearly telegraphed that there's not much by way of memorable moments or surprises, and the supervisor villain is a standard-issue middle-management caricature. Outside of that, there's a fair amount of world-building lore to be found in emails and data drives you can retrieve from salvage missions, though I never came across anything revelatory.

Explosive decompression can blast you into walls with enough force to splatter you like a bug on a windshield.

Dismantling a large spaceship in zero gravity is definitely a rewarding exercise. It boils down to zapping yellow bits that join hull plates together with your cutting laser, then using your handheld tractor beam and deployable tethers to toss chunks of scrap and machinery into whichever of the red, blue, or green ports in the surrounding space station you're told to. While certain materials can be cleaved apart freeform with your laser's wide beam mode, most of the cutting has a paint-by-numbers feel to it because only those cut points can be disintegrated. However, upon approaching a new ship you do have to worry about explosive decompression which – if you cut into a hull improperly – can not only launch precious salvage out into space and destroy sensitive equipment, but also blast you into walls with enough force to splatter you like a bug on a windshield. Making sure to separate out different types of components takes a keen eye and the use of your suit's sensor views if you're trying to get the absolute maximum out of every salvage operation – that's something I wish could be automated to a certain degree, because it's frustrating to be penalized for missing a single light fixture or neglecting to manually detach every last computer console and door control aboard before you toss a chunk of hull into the furnace, and it becomes a chore to then hurl each of those small pieces into their own receptacle individually.

Where shipbreaking gets more complicated is when you're handling the valuable reactor, which is very much like disarming a bomb. While a Type 1 reactor can simply be grabbed and tossed into the recepticle before it goes critical, more advanced versions have an order of operations that must be completed first to maximize the amount of time you have between when it's detached from its housing and when it goes boom, causing an explosion that makes my GeForce RTX 3080 cry "uncle" as it tries to keep up with all of the resulting chunks of shrapnel. That has the same tension as figuring out whether to cut the red wire or the yellow wire on an explosive first, and mistakenly firing your cutting beam at a fuel line that hasn't been flushed yet can instantly vaporize you (sometimes a bit unfairly, if you ask me) and spray tiny fragments of the ship's hull everywhere. But pretty much everything is spelled out for you if you know where to look in the tooltips that pop up when you target something, so it never felt obtuse.

What Shipbreaker desperately needs to keep things interesting is different objectives.

There are several different classes of ship to dissect, each of which has its own layout, reactor configuration, and peculiarities you must learn to disassemble them efficiently. That's a good initial challenge, but what Shipbreaker desperately needs to keep things interesting is different objectives within that – beyond simply breaking a ship down into its parts – and those rarely pop up. I enjoyed it most when I was given a secondary shopping list of parts to acquire to work on a side project, but that only goes so far and is even removed entirely for the third act for story reasons that don't replace it with anything else to do. Also, when mysterious "ghost ships" arrived to be disassembled I was intrigued… but was let down when it turned out to be what amounted to barnacles that must be lasered off before turning in a piece of salvage. (The music takes on a nice spooky tone for those, at least.) Even when you unlock the remote-detonating demolition charges, nothing really changes because those simply allow you to destroy cut points that are rated too high for your laser – and I didn't encounter more than a handful before I unlocked the charges.

As time went on in my 35-hour playthrough I wanted more variety and more pressure, or more ways to subvert the authority of the evil corporation through sabotage or other covert action, but it never came. Unlike that scene from Firefly where Mal, Zoe, and Jayne have to improvise to get back to Serenity before an Alliance ship catches them in the midst of their illegal salvage operation, in Hardspace there's never any tension or reason to hurry beyond the threat of meaningless fees. The ships may be varied in shape and size, but every salvage operation takes place in the same spacedock facility and you're always alone, never at risk from anything but your own carelessness. It isn't until the final mission that the objective is shaken up at all, and that's in the most basic of ways, with only one iteration on that idea to play with. It took me 25 ships to complete the story, with each one taking an average of an hour and a half to hack to pieces – and that, frankly, was about twice as many as I'd have expected given the amount of content here.

The fees you incur by moving slowly are meaningless because Hardspace's economy makes no sense. For the entirety of the campaign you're trying to work your way out from under a mountain of debt $1.2 billion tall, which means that unless you're keeping careful tabs on your ledger you might not even notice the dent that a $10 million haul makes in the total. It certainly drives home the story's point about being effectively trapped in this Sisyphean servitude forever, especially when you finish a shift and are presented with a screen tallying up the charges you've incurred – such as equipment rentals and administrative fees – that take a sizable chunk of your earnings back. At the same time, when the number is so big it makes decisions like whether to buy equipment repair kits for $9,000 or to wait as long as you can to top off your thruster fuel for $10,000 per charge seem utterly inconsequential (unless you're competing on the scoreboards for every penny in the free-play mode). You're already deep in the hole and can never run out of money to spend, so what's a little more? Besides which, it's not like you have a choice of whether or not to buy oxygen for $16,000 per tank anyway – the alternative isn't great.

You're always alone, never at risk from anything but your own carelessness.

So while it purports to be all about money, and that's what's constantly shown in the largest fonts at every opportunity, in reality, Hardspace's true currencies are the two types of points you earn for filling each increment on the salvage bar. One of these lets you improve your tools with mostly dull, incremental upgrades like better cooldown speeds, capacities, and durabilities that don't do much to change how you play, while the other ranks you up, which in turn unlocks new upgrades to be purchased and progresses the story. It's oddly camouflaged, though I suppose you could interpret that as a message that money isn't what's really important.

But if that's so, what's with the time limits on shifts? Every time you go out into the shipyard you're given a 15-minute countdown within which you're encouraged to do as much work as possible, and at the end you're booted back to your dormitory. Then you can simply go back to the ship you were working on in the next shift (or move onto a new one if you're satisfied you've done all that's worthwhile) with the only cost being the monetary fees associated with each outing. That makes the entire concept of getting pulled out for the end of a shift feel as pointless as the money does, and the fact that you already have to return to your base every few minutes to restock oxygen and thruster fuel makes it just another annoying interruption. Sure, your living quarters have a nice lived-in feel and it's a nice touch that you can customize it with posters you pick up from the ships you're salvaging, but it's off putting to go from the freedom of zero-G movement to the oddly constricted movement system where you can't even walk freely, only move from station to station.

It should be noted that you can turn shift timers (along with oxygen and fuel limits) off in the non-standard Open Shift mode, and if I were to play through the campaign again I definitely would.

Final Fantasy 16: Square Enix Shows Off New Characters and Screenshots

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 08:16 AM PDT

Square Enix has profiled two key characters from Final Fantasy 16, and shown off the game's world of Valisthea in new screenshots.

Following on from its gameplay trailer reveal and release window announcement in the PlayStation State of Play yesterday (June 2), Square Enix shared even more from the game in a blog post.

Unlike protagonist Clive Rosfield - firstborn son of the Archduke of Rosaria - the first new character introduced doesn't have quite as fancy a title. Hugo Kupka is a "permanent economic adviser", but thankfully for players is also host to the Eikon (the game's name for summons) Titan to keep things interesting.

"Once a nameless foot soldier in the Republican Army, his awakening as Dominant of the Eikon Titan thrust him to the forefront of Dhalmekian politics," the post reads. "It was here he used his newfound position as the most powerful man in the republic to exert influence over both the nation's armies and its policy making - amassing a personal fortune in the process."

Money and power aren't everything though, as the second new character, Benedikta Herman teaches him these "are far from all the world has to offer",

Harman "emerged from the storm of youth cold-hearted and ruthless" and is Dominant (she hosts a summon) of the Eikon Garuda, Warden of the Wind. This is paired with her talent for swordplay and subterfuge, making Harman one of the best informers around.

"It is on a mission to find the elusive second Eikon of Fire that she crosses paths with a like-minded Clive and is forced to face her past," the post adds.

The new screenshots (above) focus on the western fantasy-blended world of Valisthea in which Final Fantasy 16 is set and its various landscapes, cities, and creepy tombs.

Following the trailer being released, producer Yoshida Naoki said Final Fantasy 16 will have "high-octane battles featuring our protagonist Clive Rosfield wielding a full arsenal of attacks unique to the game's many Eikons."

Though the game is now playable from start to finish, Square Enix's all-star development team are taking until summer next year to get everything right.

The Final Fantasy 16 reveal was the first of many in PlayStation's State of Play, but for everything announced, including Resident Evil 4 Remake and Horizon: Call of the Mountain gameplay, check out IGN's full round-up.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Insomniac's Spider-Man Games Have Sold Over 33 Million Copies

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 08:12 AM PDT

Insomniac Games has revealed that its Marvel's Spider-Man games have sold over 33 million copies worldwide as of May 15, 2022.

"I'd like to pause and express Insomniac's profound gratitude for those of you reading this post who have already purchased and played the PlayStation console versions of Marvel's Spider-Man (PS4) and Marvel's Spider-Man: Miles Morales (PS4, PS5)," explains Insomniac's Ryan Schneider in a PlayStation Blog post. "Let me tell you, there are a lot of folks to thank for your passionate support!" It's unclear whether this sales milestone also counts Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered on PS5.

However, the series will continue to sell now that both Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered and Spider-Man: Miles Morales are coming to PC. The former launches on August 12 while the latter will be released later this fall.

The PC versions of the games are handled by Nixxes, a studio specializing in PC ports that Sony acquired last year. "I am extremely pleased with our collaboration with Insomniac on the Marvel's Spider-Man series, the shared support provided between our teams and their dedication to quality above all is inspiring," says Nixxes founder Jurjen Katsman. "It allows our team to leverage our technical expertise and focus on creating the best possible PC experience that takes advantage of all the exciting possibilities the PC platform has to offer."

In our Marvel's Spider-Man Remastered review, we said, "The gameplay itself feels largely unchanged, but that still leaves you with a spectacular Spider-Man adventure, with all its additional content, that's also one of the best superhero games ever made, and a visual treat to kick off the PS5 era."

Insomniac is also currently working on a sequel to Marvel's Spider-Man that is slated to release in 2023.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Sega Announces Mega Drive Mini 2, With 50 Games Included

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 07:42 AM PDT

Sega has announced the Mega Drive Mini 2 which comes with more than 50 pre-installed Mega Drive and Mega CD games (Sega Genesis and Sega CD in North America).

Sonic CD, Virtua Racing, Silpheed and more are all included in the ¥9,980 (around $76) price alongside a new Mega Drive port of Fantasy Zone, which was never released on the original console. Sega is instead porting (presumably) the Master System or arcade version to Mega Drive using its sequel, Super Fantasy Zone, as a basis, and has promised other arcade ports that it described as "mysterious new work".

As reported by Video Games Chronicle, the console was announced during a Japanese live stream and is expected to be released on October 27 in Japan, though an international release hasn't been confirmed as of yet.

The original Sega Mega Drive Mini was launched in 2019 with 42 games, including some that never properly arrived in the west, and it appears its sequel will also grant access to some previously difficult to get games.

It released during a craze of retro consoles being released such as "Classic" editions of Nintendo's NES and the original PlayStation, but IGN said the Sega Mega Drive Mini was the best one to be made so far.

In our 9/10 review, IGN said: "The SEGA Genesis Mini isn't perfect, but it's as close to perfect as any retro all-in-one mini console has come so far."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Devolver's Summer Showcase Coming June 9, With Host 'Mecha' Suda51

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 07:00 AM PDT

Devolver Digital has just announced its summer showcase event, and this year, it's all about the countdown.

The 'Devolver Marketing Countdown to Marketing' will be held on June 9 at 3pm Pacific / 6pm Eastern / 11pm UK, and will apparently center around the 30 minutes of the countdown that typically takes place before a big showcase. It will also be hosted, incredibly, by "mecha" Suda51.

If you've seen Devolver's shows in the past, you probably have a good idea of what the deal is here. But if not, Devolver shared a little teaser:

Don't fret if you were hoping for actual game announcements though, because Devolver is promising "at least four video game announcements" during the event. Last year's show revealed games including Trek to Yomi and Wizard with a Gun, as well as showed more of Inscryption, Death's Door, and several other games.

Devolver's showcase takes place shortly after Summer Game Fest Live that same day, which is itself following the Upload VR showcase. For a full rundown of everything to expect from the Summer of Gaming 2022, we've got a full calendar here.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Resident Evil 4 Remake: Fans Spot Potential Connections to Resident Evil Village

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 06:40 AM PDT

Resident Evil 4 Remake was only revealed during yesterday's PlayStation State of Play, but fans have already dissected the trailer and found potential connections to Resident Evil Village.

Perhaps the most obvious link between the two games was spotted by kaijumediajames on Reddit (below), who showed the similarities between a carving in the new trailer with Mother Miranda's cult symbol from Village.

The following paragraphs contain minor spoilers for Resident Evil Village.

The two images are definitely similar, and given that Resident Evil 4 takes place more than 20 years before Village, and therefore before the death of antagonist Mother Miranda, it's definitely possible that Capcom could link the two games (especially since we know they're "reimagining" the remake's story).

Further connections were noted by lejitness on Reddit who compared an image of (probable) antagonist Saddler in the trailer with one of Mother Miranda's forms from Village (below). Interestingly, this scene appeared directly after the cult symbol appeared on screen.

The post also points out that Plagas - the parasites which turn the villagers in Resident Evil 4 nasty - are also quite similar in concept to the Caduo from Village, another parasite that Mother Miranda researches and infects her own set of villagers with while trying to revive her daughter.

It's never clearly explained how Saddler learned of the Plagas in the original village, so the fan theory emanating from the Reddit post is that Mother Miranda, while researching parasites in Europe, turned Saddler onto this species and therefore triggered the events of Resident Evil 4.

Village was used as a connection point for several parts of Resident Evil lore, essentially explaining the origins of Umbrella and the story that sparked the entire franchise. The Duke from Village also refers to Resident Evil 4's merchant as his old friend.

Fans will just have to wait and see if these theories turn out to be correct but they have plenty of time to continue speculating as the remake isn't expected to release until March 24, 2023.

We don't know much else about the game at the moment, except that Leon's jacket is a real-world thing that you can buy for $1,500. We did receive other Resident Evil news at PlayStation's State of Play, however, as VR support was announced for Village.

For more on that and everything else announced during the showcase, check out IGN's round-up of the event.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Resident Evil 4 Remake: Leon's Jacket Is a Recreation of a Real-Life $1500 Product

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 04:48 AM PDT

Resident Evil 4 Remake's existence was finally confirmed yesterday, and it turns out the new version of Leon Kennedy's iconic jacket is also totally real.

As spotted by eagle-eyed Reddit user redgrave187, the small print in Resident Evil 4 Remake's reveal trailer states that Capcom got permission from clothing firm Schott N.Y.C. to use their real jacket in-game. The US government clearly pays well, as the sheepskin leather bomber jacket costs a hefty $1,495, though perhaps no price is too high for quality clothing during a mysterious parasitic outbreak.

While Leon chose the classic brown look, the jacket is also available with gold accents or in straight black - perhaps a suggestion for some DLC costumes , given that Capcom likes to pepper them throughout its Resident Evil remakes.

Fans are only treated to a couple of looks at Leon in the trailer but Capcom did reveal Resident Evil 4 Remake's release date to be March 24, 2023. Following the success of the Resident Evil 2 and 3 Remakes, and given how beloved the original Resident Evil 4 is, fans have been longing for a remake announcement since rumours began in early 2020.

The official announcement promises a reimagining of the game's story, while rumors have suggested the remake will focus more on horror. Regardless, Resident Evil 4 creator Shinji Mikami just hopes it's good.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Final Fantasy 16's Lead Developers are an All-Star Line-Up, Including a Combat Director from Devil May Cry 5

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 04:03 AM PDT

Final Fantasy 16's development team consists of an all-star line-up, with several industry veterans from not just the Final Fantasy series, but Dragon Quest and Devil May Cry .

Shared on the game's Twitter (below), Final Fantasy 16's combat director, Ryota Suzuki, was a gameplay lead on Dragon's Dogma, an effects designer on Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, and a designer on Devil May Cry 5. It seems fair to say that the action elements of the new RPG come with some pedigree.

Producer Naoki Yoshida, while most known for turning Final Fantasy 14 Online from a dead-on-arrival game into an incredibly successful MMO, has also worked on Dragon Quest X and Dragon Quest Builders, and director Hiroshi Takai has plenty of JRPG chops having previously worked on Final Fantasy 5, SaGa Frontier, and The Last Remnant.

The Final Fantasy 14 experience goes deeper as creative director and screenplay writer Kazutoyo Maehiro and art director Hiroshi Minagawa worked on the game with Yoshida, alongside character design lead Kazuya Takahashi who also worked on Final Fantasy 12 and Tactics.

The game's music is being composed by Masayoshi Soken, who created most of the music in Final Fantasy 14 and its expansions plus the Nanashi no Game series and music from Mario Sports Mix.

PlayStation's June State of Play showed a new trailer for Final Fantasy 16 and revealed its release window as summer 2023 for PS5 and PC after a lot of teasing from Yoshida.

The producer has been fairly open about its development timeline though, saying in July last year that the story and English voice over was almost complete but the game was later delayed as a result of COVID-19.

This Final Fantasy news was just one of several announcements made at the State of Play, with everything else you need to know available in IGN's round-up of the event.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

IGN UK Podcast #647: Some Great New Star Wars? Stranger Things Have Happened

Posted: 03 Jun 2022 02:00 AM PDT

Hello there! Yes, we're talking about Obi-Wan Kenobi this week and it's fun first three episodes. There's yet more Star Wars to tackle as well with the reveal of Star Wars Jedi: Survivor and the first trailer for Andor.

Stranger Things is back and arguably better than ever and Cardy and Dale have been watching it while Joe has been playing Card Shark, a game all about cheating at cards. Oh, and Dale's been playing another new horror game called Madison. There's a lot, plus another round of everyone's favourite new Endless Search game.

Want to get in touch to talk about digging graves? Or maybe Elden Ring? Feel free to send us an email at ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast #647: Some Great New Star Wars? Stranger Things Have Happened
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