If you've been experiencing slowdowns and stutters on your gaming PC in the last week or two, you may be getting increasingly frustrated and thinking, "maybe it's finally time to upgrade my RAM". Please, please, don't jump straight to that just yet, because it turns out that if you've had even one YouTube tab open, the website could be eating up 7GB or more of your existing memory and causing some big performance dips.

Especially amidst the current RAM shortages, when the best RAM for gaming can set you back more than a new CPU, you might be happy to learn that your current PC isn't giving up the ghost. In fact, it seems the YouTube bug has been causing problems all for a lot of people, with the first reports emerging on Reddit a few weeks ago.

From reading up on as many of the reports online as I can see, the memory-hungry glitch seems to be happening due to UI elements on YouTube video pages rearranging themselves behind the scenes. You may have encountered this if, like me, you frequently put your YouTube tabs on a second monitor, especially a vertical one where the usual space for a video window is less than usual.

When you resize a YouTube page, or just refresh it, the site's interface will start to repeatedly check if all of the buttons for its UI have space on their appropriate bars. But as more and more buttons have been added to these UI elements (like, dislike, hype, video settings, closed captions, clip, and more), they've begun having to hide themselves to prevent overlapping on the bars. When they then try to appear again, they enter a feedback loop which rapidly starts to use more and more of your PC's RAM, and even steal CPU power as well.

This has been noticed on multiple browsers, including Firefox, Edge, Chrome, and more, and isn't an indication that your RAM is giving out, or even that your CPU for gaming isn't capable of keeping up with modern-day demands.

This could, however, impact your PC's gaming performance if you like to have some YouTube tabs open in the background, or on a second monitor while you play games. Alternatively, people trying to livestream with some of the best streaming gear for gamers might notice some serious stutters and crashes if they have background music on while broadcasting.

It should also be said that while Mozilla's open-source bug tracking system found YouTube to be the culprit of this bug, and it is happening across multiple browsers, YouTube and Google haven't confirmed that the blame for it lies at YouTube's door. In fact, some early reports on Reddit point at a Firefox update causing stutters on other video services like Twitch, but given the widespread reports about YouTube being the culprit, this seems more likely.

I suspect this could be patched out of existence without a public acknowledgement, but it's worth knowing about the bug right now if you frequently leave YouTube tabs open while gaming.

If you do suspect your PC is slowing down, I regret to inform you that it is not the best time to go shopping for memory or storage devices. To make sure grabbing some new DDR5 is the right move for you, maybe have a gander at this article I wrote about when to upgrade your memory right now.

Also take a look at the best computer speakers, the best Alienware gaming PCs, and the best gaming PCs in the UK.

A sea of Nintendo handhelds, a crowd of locked-in Pokemon players, and enthusiasm to rival the crowds watching the main events that folks generally come to a huge Pokemon tournament to watch – I've never seen a shiny hunting event like this before, and unexpectedly taking part in it has given me a newfound appreciation for a community I've always sat on the outskirts of.

When attending the Pokemon Europe International Championships this year, I had a mission – watch VGC caster Charlie Merriman's retro shiny hunting challenge in person. It's starting to become a bit of a tradition now after its first appearance at one of the previous North America International Championships, bringing fans together to look for rare, sparkly Pokemon with alternate color palettes as a group, for one glorious hour of challenging those 1/8,192 odds.

I choose you

"We started over there under the premise of, if you got 8,192 people together, and everyone did one encounter, how many shinies would you find?" Merriman tells me. "Obviously, that's an impractical number, so we just gather as many people as we can and try to hunt for an hour and see how many we can find."

Despite spending literal hundreds of hours of my life looking for sparkly 'mons, it's never something I've ever participated in en masse in a group like this – I've watched more videos and streams than I can count of other folks' hunts and finds, but going into this, one thing I wasn't expecting was the sheer scale of the hunt. Heading toward the location, I anticipated stumbling across a small group huddled around a table, surrounding a pile of handhelds. What I found was significantly larger – spread across three long rows, with a crowd of over 70 active hunters armed with over 100 systems.

Nintendo DS and Game Boy Advance systems went on as far as the eye could see, with folks diligently racking up random encounters and recording how many pocket monsters they'd seen, and hoping that perhaps on the next one, they'd be able to contribute to the group's growing number of sparkly trophies. That's obviously easier said than done, especially in the games permitted for the event – Generation 5 and below – where the odds were as stacked against us as they could possibly be.

"I think shiny hunting in the modern games versus the older games, they are two fundamentally different activities," Merriman explains, asked about the appeal of traditional full-odds hunts. "These days, it's all about you're gonna get the shiny at some point, probably within about half an hour. Back in the day it was very much, the idea is that they're so rare that you probably have a playthrough and never find one. There will be the odd person who will just hit those 1/8,192 odds and get a shiny Pokemon."

So, with just an hour on the clock to find some shinies, the best way to boost those odds is simply by getting more people to join in. I'll confess, I initially wandered over to the group intending to be nothing more than an observer, but things quickly changed.

The hunt is on

It's at this point that I have to give my thanks to content creator Professor Rex and his brother, who, after speaking with me the day before, were quick to jump to the rescue after I admitted I had no consoles or games on me to participate.

Rex immediately produced a 3DS and New 2DS XL out of his stash of hardware for me to borrow, and given that I had a pair of hands that weren't doing anything, and there was no way I was denying my assistance to the cause.

With that, the stage was set – armed with a copy of Diamond and Pearl in each hand, I positioned myself on a bike in two patches of tall grass, hoping to net the team a shiny Shinx or Starly as a last-minute participant. While everyone remained focused, however, there was still plenty of time for chatter – folks told stories of their woeful shiny hunting failures, while others spoke about how they'd all met through Pokemon (one particularly sweet couple told me that they'd met at EUIC 2025, and were clearly still going strong on none other than Valentine's Day the year later).

The sense of camaraderie was intense – over the course of the hour, there were three glorious cheers as someone, somewhere amongst the sea of hunters finally found what we were all looking for. Reactions were instant and intense – the successful hunter would announce their find, and everyone else would erupt on their behalf.

Perhaps the very greatest moment came when streamer Simon "Shmon" Van der Borght – not the organizer of the event, but certainly its biggest hype man – ran into a shiny Trubbish when in the process of (jokingly) yelling at us all to hunt faster. The sheer bewilderment on his face as he realized what he'd done, followed by the widespread celebration as he loudly announced "SHINY," was one of my favorite moments of the entire weekend, and I can honestly say I've never seen anyone more excited to find a blue bag of trash.

It's this sort of excitement I like to cite when people ask me what the big deal is when it comes to looking for shiny Pokemon, given how long it can take to get any reward for your efforts. "It's easy to see shiny hunting and think, 'what is the point in this? It must be so mind-numbingly dull just doing encounters over and over again.' And I totally get that," Merriman admits.

"The secret is that the shiny hunting is the thing you're doing on the side, rather than the main activity. The main activity is watching a film, watching YouTube, listening to a podcast, listening to music," he continues. "Shiny hunting is just keeping your hands occupied, and then the encounters fly by, and before you know it, you might have this really cool thing that barely anyone else in the world has."

I feel similarly to him, as he explains that "the fact they've been lurking in these game cartridges just waiting to be discovered all these years is what appeals to me," but the event itself has also given me a different perspective on the community surrounding it. In that room, everyone mattered, and everyone's contributions were welcomed. Sadly, in the 196 encounters I accumulated, I wasn't able to beat those classic 1/8,192 odds myself, but I still felt a huge sense of accomplishment.

After all, that near-200 encounters contributed to a far larger number: a whopping 18,508 Pokemon seen over the course of an hour. With three shinies encountered – a Magikarp, Totodile, and Trubbish – as a group we collectively managed to come in under odds each time, and the shared excitement made everything worth it.

But what exactly is it about shiny hunting that brings folks together like this? Is it the reassurance of having that support in the face of adversity? Is it simply a case of everyone's hype feeding into each other and creating something that feels far bigger than it is? "I think part of it is that it's just, anyone can take part," Merriman says.

"Literally, you turn on your game, you run into some Pokemon, that's all you have to do. I think it's also definitely the nostalgia. I think this entire event is testament to the power of nostalgia," he continues. "I mean, yes, we're playing in the newer games, but you've got fans from eight to 88 in this venue, and it's wonderful to see how many people are getting involved. It's not just the shiny hunting, I think this is why Pokemon's popularity endures. There are so many ways to get involved."

Knuckle down in the best Pokemon games from across Nintendo's console libraries, from GBA to Switch.

"Hey, do you remember that Donald Duck game we used to play as kids?" My sister casually asks me, while watching Mickey Mouse Club House with my 10 month old niece. My eyes fog over. My heart races, and I'm seized by memories of a giant yellow bird hurling eggs at me.

Of course I remember Donald Duck: Quack Attack (or Donald Duck: Goin' Quackers if you're from outside Europe). How could I forget Donald Duck: Quack Attack? I don't think it's physically possible to forget the first game that ever truly scorned me and made me rage quit. Donald Duck: Quack Attack is worse than any FromSoftware title I have ever touched – it may look innocent from the outside but I assure you it's anything but.

"But Maddy, it's a Disney game, how bad could it be?"

Strap in and let me take you on a little journey through the horrors of this almost 26-year-old title.

Absolutely quackers

The premise of Donald Duck: Quack Attack is simple. Daisy Duck, who is now an investigative journalist, has been kidnapped by the evil magician Merlock because she went into his evil volcano lair on live TV and tried to tell the world his evil schemes.

Donald is racing against his arch-rival Gladstone Gander (an obscure character who I believe was only in Disney Comics, two episodes of Duck Tales and this game) to get Daisy back to safety. Luckily for Donald his friend Gyro Gearloose (another obscure Disney character) can get Donald to Daisy as he invented the brand new Gyro Gamma Tubal Teleport System – but it's too weak to reach Merlock's lair, so Donald must spend the game planting Gamma-Weather Vanes to boost its signal.

What ensues is essentially Crash Bandicoot via Disney. There are four worlds with four individual stages, plus one bonus one involving Huey, Dewey, and Louie which are only there if you really want 100% completion.

Much like Crash, it's a 3D platformer where you have to reach the end of the level, defeat enemies who are in your way and kill a big bad boss at the end to plant a Gamma-Weather Vane. It is a game for kids at the end of the day, so it has pretty simple controls and story, but oh boy is it anything but simple to actually play.

It may seem like I was hyping up the difficulty of this children's game by comparing it to the likes of Bloodborne and Dark Souls, and I really wish that was the case.

Here's the thing: I've completed those games. I have beaten bosses in the best FromSoftware games after hours of trial and error. I have come out of those titles with my head held high. But, and I'm ashamed to admit this, I have never bested Donald Duck: Quack Attack.

I know, I know, let's all point and laugh at me. Ha! Ha! I have never been able to beat a Disney game made for kids in my numerous attempts throughout the years.

Perhaps it's just me, maybe I just need to git gud. Or maybe it's the absolutely awful controls, camera and insanely large hit boxes for all enemies and harmful objects that are stopping me from completing this game.

The normal Crash-style sections are awful, as the camera constantly trails behind and struggles around corners. I can never actually tell how close I am to a hole or an enemy. I will die on the hill that Donald Duck: Quack Attack has the worst hit boxes in any video game I have ever played. Sometimes when I feel I am several steps away from an enemy I inexplicably get injured, causing Donald to fly off in a blind rage until he gets his hand on a milkshake.

Yes, that is how your health system works in this game. A little icon on the top right hand side of the screen shows a happiness meter for Donald, which is essentially your health bar. Get hit once and he becomes "Angry-Donald, hehe!!". This turns Donald into a cartoonish cloud of smoke who screams what I can only assume are the duck equivalent of expletives. This cloud of smoke makes you briefly invincible, which is nice – I'll give the game that. Get hit again though, and it's back to the start. That's right. Two hits and you're done for. Now I don't mean to sound like a baby, but it's that a little unfair for a kids game?

Then you have the side scrolling platforming sections, which are an absolute nightmare. The camera lags constantly, and Donald just seems to float around the place. I can never guess if the jump is actually going to land Donald on one of the platforms or send him into the abyss. The platforming is so difficult and precise that I fully expect to find a Dark Souls-esque message on the floor reading "Try jumping off" before I immediately fall to my untimely demise.

All of this cumulates into the absolutely gruelling boss fights. Forget Malenia, Blade of Miquella, she is absolutely nothing in comparison to Bernadette the Bird. This duck-chicken-thing was the bane of my life as a child. I hate her more than I hate the Godskin Noble, and that is saying something, because that roly-poly bastard still haunts my dreams.

Water off a duck's back

I've sifted through YouTube comments where people claim this game is easy, where the nostalgia wave hits and they say how much they love this game. I can't help but think they actually haven't picked this game up since they were seven. Watching YouTube playthroughs is one thing, actually picking up the controller and replaying it is another.

I was so confused about people saying it was easy that I actually sat my FromSoftware fanboy of a fiancé down and told him to play this game to see if I was just a bad gamer (I am, but that's not the point). He laughed, but after 40 minutes the laughter turned into despair, then despair to rage. He managed to reach the second boss fight, the Beagle Boys, before he rage quit and told me he never wanted to touch the game ever again. I have seen this man beat pre-nerf Malenia solo with a nasty bout of Covid. I have seen him power through some of the worst boss fights in FromSoft history and come out grinning. Yet, he was defeated by Donald Duck: Quack Attack.

Classic Disney games are a weird mix of pleasant nostalgia and pain. My father to this day still happily quotes the "OOF! What the!?" from the Mulan PC game in the part where you have a snowball fight. I remember happily baking cakes in My Disney Kitchen. But then when I think about the platformers Disney produced during this time I get a cold sense of dread. Many people bring up The Lion King for the SNES when they think about gruellingly difficult Disney games, but if you want something that'll make you fly into a blind rage like Donald, then try and get your hands on Donald Duck: Quack Attack.

Check out the best PS2 games of all time if you're hunting for more retro classics (ouch, I feel old)

The legacy of The Sims 2 has always fascinated me. At the tender age of 11 I spent much of 2006 trawling YouTube for Sims 2 fan creations, be it short original movies or narrativized takes on my favorite emo anthems. Almost every 30-something I speak to can relate. It's a unique shared experience that feels fundamentally 2000s, and I've not come across something quite like it since.

Still captivated by the Sims 2 music video subculture and its symbiosis with early YouTube, I wanted to catch up with the scene. Where are its creators now? Could the community still be out there some 23 years later? I put some feelers out on Reddit, expecting more nostalgia than active signs of life. Instead, I found a community more driven than ever.

Long ago...

With a plethora of free, fan-made mods available and with YouTube established a year after The Sims 2's 2004 release date, EA's life simulation game offered the perfect filmset. I haven't managed to track down the first ever Sims 2 music video or Machinima on YouTube but the earliest ones date back to 2006, when the first generation of Sims 2 fan media was born.

Through Reddit, I find Sims fans who share the same core memories – namely, watching fan-made music videos for Avril Lavigne's Girlfriend and Sk8er Boi. "This topic is probably my Roman Empire," Redditor such_a_sweet_sorrow tells me, detailing their first taste of fan-made Sims 2 videos on YouTube in 2008. A number of us worshipped jaydee227's incredible vid-ification of Helena by My Chemical Romance. I can still remember its custom content, including an uncanny recreation of the ballerina from the official video.

"[Helena] was so ahead of its time and I still don't know how some of the shots were pulled off," says creator simthesize. "When I saw it for the first time, my jaw was on the floor. It made me realize that virtually anything is possible in this game."

The slew of fan-made web shows, also known as Machinima, were just as foundational. To find out more, I reached out to Tori, known on YouTube as fenderchick2010, who was most active during that era.

"What made Sims 2 Machinima captivating is that it was largely made by teens, for teens," she reflects. Tori's first video was called Left Behind, an adaptation of the Left Behind: The Kids book series she created for a ninth grade school project in 2006. The video is no longer on YouTube, but Machinima fans might recognize her most popular work: the first episode of Cahuna Beach High, a Degrassi-like high school drama series. "I also made that in ninth grade, but was 14 by that point. It was the first Machinima video I created, other than the brief trailer, that was fully intended for an online audience."

The opportunity to build a strong following and community around a video game – especially at a time before algorithms, content creation, or a glut of social media – speaks to how unique and expansive EA's second-gen life sim was. As Tori puts it: "We went from observing the dollhouse in Sims 1 to living in the dollhouse in Sims 2."

While Tori remains active in the still-thriving Machinima community and is actively pursuing bringing her series to television, simthesize returned in a more casual capacity.

"I was around 12 when I made my first video using The Sims 2," he tells me. He'd been most active in the community between 2007 and 2009. "It was a total incoherent mess made up of random clips recorded in the lowest resolution possible. But I remember the excitement of just being able to do that – record scenes and combine them with some random song playing in the background."

In 2025, simthesize made his comeback with a frame-by-frame recreation of Evanescence's Bring Me to Life, inspired by his favorite FMV, regevaway's Everybody's Fool. "I wanted to see what it’d be like to make these videos as an adult, and it's been so much fun. It's become my main pastime now."

The pastime demands more than stringing clips together and calling it a video. This was (and still is) a cinematic artform in its own right.

Viewers grew to expect a sophisticated level of production as the Machinima community developed, with artsy camera angles, framing styles, and editing techniques raising the creative bar each year. The goal was to make something that made people wonder how on Earth you managed it with such little in-game utility – and most of the time, the answer was software Sony Vegas.

Thnks fr th mmrs

"Pretty much everything I did as a kid [were] random videos I made for fun, so while I remember that period very fondly and I was quite proud of some of them, it's nothing to write home about," says simthesize. "And of course, they were the videos that I cringed the most looking back at. For example, my most watched video ever ended abruptly mid-verse because I just ran out of clips to use and I didn't feel like going back into the game to record more."

Tori shares a similar fondness for her earlier work – specifically Bloom, a series about gifted teenagers in the late nineties. "Bloom Episode 1 is the work I'm most proud of. It's not perfect, but it's the best example of how my filming, editing, and writing skills have progressed over the years," bolstered by the "unique challenge of finding and making custom content for the series" given its 1997 setting.

"Sims Machinima is kind of a dying art, and that saddens me," Tori muses. She notes how technology has grown in tandem with Sims creative communities over the past three generations, with a trend toward Let's Play-style YouTube content and TikToks becoming the norm as of The Sims 4.

"Most 2000s Sims machinima creators never showed our faces: we existed as screennames with a Sims profile picture. Internet safety was drilled into us millennials, but Internet anonymity norms have changed. Younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha Sims fans seem more drawn to Sims influencer personalities than specific series, if that makes sense, and they want to feel like they know the simmer behind the videos."

Tori is holding fast to her roots, though. Bloom took "a few years to write, another year to prep, and months of filming and editing," but her goal for this year is to make the next nine episodes happen. "Bloom is a passion project for me, and I want to finish what I started. I don't think I've ever enjoyed creating a series as much as I've enjoyed creating Bloom."

Much like Tori, simthesize has ambitions to keep growing as a Sims 2 Machinima creator. He might've left some childhood projects unfinished, but his newer work – like Woohoo in the City – is a different story: "By virtue of being an adult I am much more intentional about them," he says.

The Sims-ification of Sex and the City was a much faster, enjoyable job than the Evanescence project. "There was a lot of overthinking involved, as I didn't want to walk away from the project feeling like I did a worse job than a 12 year old version of me would. Or even worse – that I abandoned it."

Dag dag

In the 20 years since Sims 2 took over the digital airways, a lot has changed. Game content creation is everywhere in 2026, and the advent of TikTok, YouTube shorts, and Instagram reels fundamentally changed how we consume it.

YouTube's enforcement of copyright protection played a role in this. By the time it was fully realized by 2009, many of our favorite FMVs were muted and eventually taken down. Though some were eventually reuploaded, the crackdown was enough for the trend to go out of style by the time The Sims 3 fully took off. Attention-grabby clips pulled from long-form Let's Plays are far less labor-intensive for the modern content creator – now a paid job –and require little to no modding, which EA has made harder to implement.

Ultimately, the dawning of new Sims generations slowly led to Sims 2 fading into the background. But despite all that, The Sims 2's role in shaping Tori, simthesize, and avid fans like me is hard to overstate.

"It dawned on me that I've been playing The Sims 2 on and off ever since 2004," says simthesize. "It's actually kind of a constant in my life."

Tori echoes the sentiment. "Sims videos remind fans of their youth, before they had jobs, bills, kids of their own, and more responsibilities. Societally speaking, older Sims videos remind people of 2000s Internet. YouTube was new, full of unpolished homemade videos, and less algorithm-driven than it is today."

"Social media felt simpler and actually social," she continues. "Monetization on early YouTube barely existed, and now, people often associate YouTube with influencers and podcasts. The 2000s were a simpler time in many ways, but I think we all say that about past decades!"

Machina and FMVs remain truly human initiatives, taking the freedom of sandbox gameplay and translating it to a tightly-executed entity of its own, enshrined digitally. I didn't make Machinima or own a computer powerful enough to download thousands of custom content items to make my own My Chem videos, but bearing witness to the rise of fan-made content and the primitive wonders of mid-2000s Internet feels like a reward in itself. Thanks for the memories, Sims 2 – they really were so great.

Still building your collection? Here are the best Sims 4 expansions to pick up right now in 2026!

Once the last of the zombies has been dispatched with a habitual blast of our shotgun, the noise of battle gives way to two lingering sounds: the splash of swamp water beneath our feet and the rumbling bass note of a jeep locked into low gear. We pick up our feet, aiming to catch up with the vehicle. But at the same moment, its wheels find purchase in the mud. The man in the driver's seat, Saber Interactive's chief creative officer, Tim Willits, is carried away towards the treeline.

"Tim," we ask, "where are you headed?" Checking the map, we see that he's making a beeline for approximately nowhere. The Hummer that houses our two other teammates, meanwhile, is en route to the next objective – a cultist camp in precisely the opposite direction.

"Oh, you're following me?" Willits replies. "Don't follow me – I'm clueless." We watch as he vanishes into the distance, and listen to the lapping of murky liquid against our boots. In spite of the phosphorescent red tentacles that tower over the swamps, everything is peaceful. And at least there are no witnesses as our own erstwhile ride, a police car, transformed from gleaming white to dark brown by the surrounding sludge and zombie blood, finally slips into the mire and is lost forever. With a little luck, by the time we catch up with our comrades they'll have forgotten to ask where we parked it.

Ride and die

Sludge is a central feature of John Carpenter's Toxic Commando. Set less than ten years in the future, the forthcoming co-op FPS from Saber Interactive is focused on a technology company called Obsidian (no relation to the California-based purveyor of the best RPGs) which drills into a remote forested region with the goal of harnessing the power of the Earth's core.

Reports of demonic shapes behind the eyes of its workers aren't heeded, and on October 29, 2033, the Sludge God reveals itself, promptly transforming the local human population into an army of mind-controlled undead.

"They were working on alternate technologies and energy sources, and they dug too deep," Willits tells us, carrying on the story. "They awoke something in the ground, and there was a huge coverup and concealment of the area. Obsidian CEO Leon Dorsey thinks that if he doesn't stop the Sludge God, it will break out of this containment zone and take over the world. Unfortunately, he doesn't have the best resources, and hires this motley crew to help him."

You arrive in the region along with three other mercenaries. Dorsey has promised you $250,000 for delivering a case of fuel to him, although there's some anxiety within the group about whether that's $250,000 for each person or in total, to be shared around. In the end, however, the squabble is academic since the mission goes south owing to the arrival of the aforementioned zombies.

"I could not have been more explicit in my instructions," Dorsey growls at the mercenaries as they regain consciousness following their initial encounter with the Sludge spawn. "Under no circumstances should you tamper with the egg. Instead, you killed its offspring."

With his tied-back grey hair and impatient stare, Dorsey bears a close resemblance to John Carpenter himself. The acclaimed horror director has long held a reputation for sharing unvarnished views. In a 2017 interview with the Guardian, he was asked how he feels about remakes of his films. "I love it, if they are going to pay me money," he replied. "I think everyone should pay me. Why not? I'm an old guy now and I need money. Send me money."

More recently, YouTube has become well stocked with shortform videos capturing the legendary film-maker's showdowns with rude fans, along with his impish takedowns of modern horror movies ("What did I like about The Substance? Zero. What did I not like about it? Everything").

Sure enough, Willits says there's a "surprising amount" of Carpenter in Dorsey. "One of our writers had the opportunity to spend some time and talk with him. There's definitely a little bit of Carpenter in Leon. He's such a pleasant man, he really is."

As for Carpenter's role in the shooter that bears his name, let's just say he isn't in attendance at Saber's daily standup meetings, which is perhaps to be expected of a 77-year-old man who has long expounded the virtues of his retirement. Nevertheless, when the studio first began work on Toxic Commando, it drew inspiration from the science-fiction cinema of the '80s and '90s, and decided that bringing Carpenter on board in at least some kind of official capacity made sense.

"There are things in here when you play that you'll see have been inspired by his action films," Willits says. "He's more of a gamer than I think most people realize, and he's definitely embraced working with us on this game."

Carpenter once remarked that he'd devoted his life to learning how to play Destiny 2, so it's not a great stretch to imagine that he might enjoy a co-op shooter in the mode of Toxic Commando.

"He's helped us with some story guidance," Willits says. "He's met with our writers. He's like: 'These are the things you need to focus on; these are the things that you need to explain more'. I would call it more like a mentorship."

Hands-on chaos

On first impression, Toxic Commando's story and premise don't stand out from other tongue-in-cheek horror games such as Dead Island and Back 4 Blood; given Carpenter's extensive influence on the shooter genre over the past three decades, we wonder whether he has inspired so many spiritual successors that it's hard for his own, actual voice to cut through.

And yet the director's contributions can be heard quite clearly within Toxic Commando's soundtrack. Carpenter was famously an early adopter of the synthesiser, and has provided scores for several of his own movies, doing much to define the eerie, pulpy tone of some of the best horror movies like Halloween, Assault On Precinct 13 and Christine.

He's written a lot of Toxic Commando's music with his son and regular collaborator, musician Cody Carpenter. "The stems and some of the music bits in the soundtrack that he worked on for us, we've been able to incorporate into our songs," Willits says. "That's why it has that Carpenter vibe when you hear it."

More than anything in the dialogue or story setup, it's these woozy, pitch-bent synths that place Toxic Commando firmly in the Carpenter-verse. We're particularly fond of the way Saber has diegetically integrated the music into the course of a session. Keyboard riffs don't only play during the loading screens, but emanate from the car radio as your teammates idle in their trucks, waiting for you to gas up their rides.

But after the delivery mission goes so horribly, gorily wrong, why are the mercs even back in the field? Like any benevolent CEO, Dorsey is strong-arming his employees via their health benefits: if they quit the job, he'll disable the high-tech vests that are protecting them from the zombie virus now swimming in their bloodstream.

"No doctor in the world can help you," Dorsey says. "As long as the creature lives, the infection is incurable, untreatable. Even the vests only buy you…" The scientist inhales through his nose and throws a hand in the air for emphasis. "A week." The $250,000 payment is thus rendered moot, as the mercs forcibly become personally invested in Dorsey's victory against the Sludge God.

Class act

The sludge infection, however, has a happy side effect, since it gives each merc their own superpowers. This is how Saber contextualizes Toxic Commando's four classes: the Medic, the Defender, the vehicle-focused Operator and the damage-dealing Strike.

We opt for the latter, and although special abilities broadly take a back seat to the guns, when the monster horde gets especially hectic we have a barrage of magical missiles we can use to clear the screen swiftly.

We're grateful, too, for the Medic's healing circle; when everyone's health gets low, we can all crouch around the healer like we're getting warm by a campfire and regenerate some life. Over time, the Medic's bonus vigour ticks down, rather like the overcharged health bar of modern Wolfenstein's BJ Blazkowicz.

Like all such abilities in Toxic Commando, though, healing can be upgraded between missions, so Medics can eventually hand their comrades more permanent benefits.

Each of the mercs has their own superpower-assisted role, then – but so do the zombies, the various special abilities of which become starkly apparent during a mission where we're defending a church. As the oncoming waves clamber over the railings, they're boosted by the hazmat-suited Skunks, who spread a gas that increases the strength of any nearby undead.

More immediately threatening are the Nukers, which look like sky lanterns filled with flames and are just dying to blow themselves up across the front of your vehicle – a nice, new, pearl-coloured police car, perhaps. And then you have the sneaky, slimy Stalkers, which lurk on the sides of the roads like walking spike strips, just waiting to wrap a tentacle around your wheel arch and bring you screeching to a halt.

We suspect there are other variants out there, with names we've yet to learn. At one point, while sitting in the back seat of a truck like a hapless child, we stare out of the window in horror as a well-shouldered monstrosity charges the vehicle. During another pitched battle, while reviving Saber creative director Jason O'Connell, the onscreen prompt to offer 'Help' suddenly turns to the considerably more alarming 'Ask for help'.

An enormous zombie, whose frayed form resembles a Hasselback potato, lifts us clean off the ground and holds us aloft like a screaming, thrashing ice-cream cone. You can find whole or partial analogues to many of these monsters in Left 4 Dead, which, more than a decade and a half on, remains the crucial touchpoint for all co-op monster shooters. But Toxic Commando feels like much more than a variation or a pastiche.

Saber's work on both Space Marine 2 and World War Z feeds into the swarm-based combat, but the studio has another, perhaps less-acknowledged string to its bow: detailed vehicle simulation.

More than a decade ago, a graphics programmer working at Saber on Halo's anniversary remake began a side project called Spintires. Pavel Zagrebelnyy had grown up in St Petersburg, the world's northernmost metropolis, and fallen in love with the old Soviet trucks and excavators operating in its swampy countryside. "I like the balancing of traditional challenges," he told PC Gamer in 2021. "The integration of physics and the feel of the wilderness."

Zagrebelnyy no longer works at Saber Interactive, but his very particular brand of offroad simulation has continued via SnowRunner, Expeditions and this year's RoadCraft, all of which focus on a slow-paced, sumo-like struggle between machinery and the wild. Only Toxic Commando, however, has sought to tie the two key strands of the studio's DNA together in a satisfying double helix, incorporating vehicles into the co-op shooting paradigm.

"We had the exact same SnowRunner physics at first, but it was a little too slow," Willits explains. "So we made it slightly more accessible." It's certainly far easier to build up speed in Toxic Commando's vehicles, and not once do we find ourselves rolling down a hillside on our roof – a fixture fail state in Saber's previous simulations. Even so, the undulation and buoyancy that make SnowRunner's heavy machinery engrossing to drive is present and correct in Toxic Commando's trucks, ambulances and turbo-charged panda cars.

Route finder

The level design also leans on the openly traversible, vertiginous landscapes Saber learned how to build in the Spintires series and its spinoffs. When we sit down to try Toxic Commando, as far as we can tell our missions take place in a steep, sodden valley. Finding a route from one objective to the next often means plunging our ride down the side of a natural half-pipe, then fighting to retain the momentum as we cross a quagmire.

Not for nothing is sludge your designated enemy in this game. If you're thrashing your car at top speed, you can smash through zombies with ease, but muddy expanses regularly threaten to pull you to a halt, leaving you to defend a static point while under threat from another special undead, which Saber calls the Heavy. Worse, sludge acts as a supernatural summoning point. The longer you're trapped in it, the more zombies emerge from the muck around you.

When this inevitably happens, your best friend is the winch. As in SnowRunner and RoadCraft, you can unfurl it from the front of your vehicle at any time, and wrap it around solid parts of the terrain to pull yourself out of trouble. Saber has decorated Toxic Commando's environments with glowing, sac-like winch points, providing a readable visual prompt, but the cable can also be applied much more broadly – launching a winch hook at a teammate's truck to try to tug one vehicle with the other, and thereby save fuel, for instance. Even Willits and O'Connell seem uncertain of the device's limitations.

"Throughout the world there are stuck doors and bunkers and places that you can winch open," Willits says. In this way, your vehicles can be used to break down barricades and open up caches of loot. But you'll need to feed the trucks in turn, collecting spare parts for post-battle repairs and petrol cans to top up the tank.

Although in theory there's nothing to stop you leaving your cars behind (and you're encouraged to swap them for others as you come across them in the wild), each vehicle offers different benefits, and it's possible that you'll become attached to particular models. Cop cruisers, for example, come with extra ammunition for your guns, while the ambulance provides health boosts. If you find something with a mounted turret, it'll prove itself a godsend during the zombie sieges.

But the vehicles serve another purpose. Since they all have room for multiple mercs, they're a subtle incentive to stay together and lean hard into co-op. "Once you leave the group, the world definitely beats you up," Willits says. "When one of us wanders off and tries to do our own thing, we're punished for it." At the same time, he admits he wants to see players try to tackle the game on foot, just to see how it will transform the core experience. "There are a million things that you could do," he says. "I love the fact that there are so many gameplay systems working together that have been crafted and architected through years of development."

The gas cans whose contents keep your trucks on the road can also fuel car-mounted weapons such as the flamethrower, or be tossed into the back of your truck if you haven't yet decided what to do with them. Should the need arise, you can even hurl them into a horde of enemies and ignite them with a bullet. It's this kind of flexibility that can be missed by developers looking to recall the strengths of Left 4 Dead, but Saber appears to have kept it in mind since the beginning.

"You saw the chaos," Willits says. "You saw the randomness and the gameplay that just emerged. We're doing silly stuff with multiple cars and towing each other and throwing gas tanks."

It's robust technology, he adds, which enables player improvisation of this kind. "You can't script that out. That's just natural play, but you need to create an environment and a framework that allows for that. And that's what I think players really love when they play games. We've expanded not only the swarm tech, but the AI director."

The term 'AI director' was coined by Valve, referring to the system in Left 4 Dead which manages the frequency and form of enemy attacks, anticipating – and manufacturing – crescendos and lulls in the action. Many developers of co-op games have attempted to recreate Valve's defining, invisible auteur, but Willits believes Saber's version is especially sophisticated.

"It curates the Heavies and the swarms," he says. "It knows the state of the game. It knows what we're doing, it knows what we have, and it shifts and moves the combat to hopefully give us the best experience that we can have. I do think the AI director was picking on me."

In World War Z, Willits says, the zombie swarms were more predictable: "You always knew they were coming down this alleyway or over this section of buildings." The undead hordes of Toxic Commando are more erratic. "Just the randomness of having such a large area to play in has made the swarm tech and the AI director much more robust," Willits says.

Doomed

Is it a stretch to suggest the combat in Toxic Commando recalls the dizzying gunfights of 2016's Doom and its even more dizzying sequel, Doom Eternal? Maybe not, given the clutch of Id Software veterans installed alongside Willits in Saber's senior team.

"Jason O'Connell basically handcrafted most of Doom 2016 and Doom Eternal," Willits says. During our session, he is regularly taunted for his combat performance by Chad Eanes, Toxic Commando's assistant creative director, who also worked on Doom 2016 and Eternal as a level designer and producer. As a trio, Willits, O'Connell and Eanes have accrued almost half a century's worth of Id Software expertise.

"The group of us really do bring a lot of experience in firstperson shooters," Willits says. "Everything from how long you've got to hold a button down to what the dead zone is when aiming; how the weapons feel in your hand and the kickback, and how much damage one bullet creates compared to a rocket launcher. So it is decades of experience in design and planning and building worlds that I think helps us give guidance to all of our teams."

There are also echoes in Toxic Commando of the archetypal Doom plotline, which generally concerns humanity's desperation for energy at all costs. But where the game is most pleasantly reminiscent of Id Software's output is in its fondness for premise over story. This is a shooter that would rather players were bogged down in sludge than lore.

"To be honest, we had much more exposition in this game, and we've definitely trimmed it down," Willits says. "I think that we got to a nice, good spot. Our characters have personality, but they're not annoying. You can see that we have a game flow and a narrative to the experience, but it's not all up in your face. We want people to jump in with their friends, have exactly the same experience that we had today, and have a great time."

During the initial cutscene exchange with Carpenter's doppelgänger, just as the dialogue threatens to get lost in plot twists and scientific detail, mercenary Astrid places her fingers on her lips and silences the group with a sharp whistle. "This is a shitburger," she summarises. "Monsters are real. Maybe we're dying. Hell, he could be the goddamn devil. But if he's telling the truth, what choice do we have?"

"So," Dorsey retorts. "One of you knows how to think." We have a sense that Saber has its head screwed on right, too. This is a company that has consistently found success in one of the most crowded of genres, the co-op shooter, amid a growing crisis in game discovery. By folding in the niche charms of offroad simulation, it's now giving itself the best chance to stand out and strike gold again. Beneath Toxic Commando's mud, goop and ooze, there just might be something special.

Toxic Commando is just one of the upcoming PS5 games headed our way in 2026

Thomas Grip, co-founder of Frictional Games and the designer behind genre icons such as Penumbra, Amnesia and Soma, has a peculiar piece of advice for horror game creators: make it boring. "It's critical it's not too engaging," he says, "because then it's like playing Tetris while you're in the spooky mansion. The ghost is standing behind you, but you don't notice because you're too involved in the game of Tetris. You kind of want gameplay that is dull, repetitive or simplistic."

Brian Clarke, creator of 2022's The Mortuary Assistant (one of the best horror games ever) and now the in-development Paranormal Activity game, has a similar ethos. Explaining the tactics for building an effective scare, he says the goal is to focus the player on something innocuous and then suddenly break the silence.

"The key is that the player has something to do that distracts them from the elephant in the room," Clarke explains. "'I know there's something creepy in here – but I have to make sure that this swipe-card reader works'. The horror is almost secondary to the menial task."

This approach characterises a certain type of horror game. Think of Slender, where all you do is walk through a (very plain) forest and pick up eight pieces of paper.

The Five Nights At Freddy's series, especially the earlier games, is similarly routine: check the cameras, monitor the power supply and, if you need to, shut the doors. If survival horror dominated the '90s, then this subgenre, which DreadXP head of operations Henry Hoare calls "blue-collar horror", is one of the biggest today. "The player develops expectations in their mind," Hoare says, referencing other examples such as Lethal Company and Repo, "and then you can subvert those expectations."

Unearthing nightmares

Towards the end of the '00s and during the early years of the '10s, horror games, in the mainstream at least, fell out of vogue.

Beginning with Resident Evil 4, Capcom transformed its flagship horror series into an over-the-shoulder third-person shooter. While the 'action-horror' hybrid was an exciting prospect in 2005, after the dour responses to both RE6 and Dead Space 3, the subgenre lost some of its power. At the same time, Konami was farming Silent Hill out to third-party developers, with varying results – if Shattered Memories and Origins were mild successes, the prestige of Silent Hill was undermined by Downpour, Homecoming and the widely disparaged HD Collection.

But while horror struggled in the world of triple-A, it was gaining new life elsewhere thanks to an emerging cadre of middle-budget and independent developers.

Amnesia: The Dark Descent wasn't the first game to pit players against an invincible monster, with no weapons to defend themselves, but in 2010 it felt like a statement.

If horror had swung to one extreme, with too many enemies, guns and explosions, Amnesia dragged it back to the opposite pole: no resources, no combat. This purified subgenre – 'run-and-hide horror' – gained further traction thanks to Outlast, Layers Of Fear, Alien: Isolation and dozens more.

More recently, games such as Poppy Playtime and My Friendly Neighborhood – all inspired by the pioneering FNAF – have helped to settle and formalise another type of horror. The mechanics are straightforward; the story is drip-fed, and deliberately ambiguous.

If Twitch and YouTube Live also hit their strides during the past decade, 'mascot horror' has become the perfect streamer game, simple enough that you can easily talk and perform to the camera while playing, and with plenty of conjecture, lore and 'theorycrafting' to discuss with your viewers.

Combined with throwback horror games such as Crow Country, Back In 1995 and Signalis, and the sleazy splatterhouse work of developers such as Benedetto 'Puppet Combo' Cocuzza and Jordan King, the horror genre in 2025 comprises a rich combination of visual styles, mechanics and conventions – the traditional survival horror that predominated 30 years ago may still exist, but it's now complemented by several other horror types.

The genre's current popularity is the result of more than just range, however. Crow Country creative director Adam Vian puts it down partly to an inherent 'guarantee' that horror provides.

Sure shot

"A horror game is a promise of a meaningful, emotional something," he says. "It's saying: 'This is going to try and move you. You're going to be jolted by it'. It's also a counter to a bloated triple-A scene, where games are too long, and have too much 'stuff' in them.

"It's nice to make a game that has the scope of Resident Evil 2, something you can finish in two or three days, then maybe replay a few times. That's a model that we should never have abandoned."

So, how is it done? How do you craft a horror game, or, more specifically, the perfect scary moment? Think of the classics: the dogs smashing through the windows in Resident Evil; the mirror scene in Silent Hill 3; the dreaded Mr Tibbits' dead body fakeout in Condemned: Criminal Origins. Stark, sudden and almost certain to make you shriek out loud, these sequences also have something structurally and philosophically in common: they all catch you when your guard is down.

You might not think it, but rather than grotesque monsters or constant stress, one of the first keys to a successful horror game is creating a sense of calm. Developers need to lower your heart rate and keep you in a sweet spot where you're engaged, but not frustrated. That way, when they finally do spring a big scare, it has the maximum effect.

"You need a sense of place and a sense of tranquillity," Vian says. "The save room is there for the moment that you have to leave the save room. Without that, there would be no up and down, tension-wise – it would just be a flat line." "It's amazing how many 'cozy' places are perfect horror settings," Grip continues. "We spend a lot of our time making sure our environments are beautiful. We want to invite the player to stay there."

The element of surprise is also, of course, fundamental. A sudden stinger – a sharp jump scare, with a big noise and something leaping out onto the screen – may seem like a simple thing to create, but timing is everything. "It's good to ratchet up the tension to where the player expects something," Vian explains, "but don't give it to them at that point. Give it to them just after."

In Crow Country, Vian puts this theory into practice. One puzzle involves turning four gravestones so that each faces a specific direction.

While you're moving them, a grandfather clock is ticking loudly in the background, implying that, once the riddle is complete, something awful will be unleashed. Nervously, then, you align the headstones. The clock stops. And… nothing happens. But then, just before you leave the room – as you're still basking in a sense of relief – a giant monster bursts through the wall.

But this is a contained set-piece. If videogames are premised on freedom of exploration and player agency, and a good scare has to be carefully choreographed and authored, horror developers face an inherent challenge: how do you build the tension and then deliver the payoff at just the right moment if you also have to let the player roam? The Mortuary Assistant, with its bespoke 'Haunt System' created by Clarke, illustrates a convincing solution to the problem.

Clarke designed approximately 100 different possible scares, which reside in what he calls "a bucket" behind the scenes. As you're playing, depending on certain in-game factors such as your location, how far into the story you are and which scares you have or haven't seen already, these sequences may be pulled out of the bucket and "fire" on screen. As well as making each subsequent replay feel unpredictable, The Mortuary Assistant's Haunt System means players find the frights for themselves.

"In most horror games, you'll be doing something and then the camera is taken away from you, and that's the jump," Clarke says. "I wanted it to be like watching a movie and noticing something in the background. At the beginning of the game I'm pulling on small events, then I go to medium, then large, so you also have this growth. And there are other subsystems: even if two players get the same event, for one it might happen under the desk and for another it might be in the corner of the room. That's what gives it mystique."

Fear of the unknown

Which brings us to another pillar of horror – and perhaps the greatest creative challenge for horror developers.

Once again, they have to reconcile an essential conflict between the nature and language of videogames and what we traditionally find scary. Games are built on systems and mechanics: press X to jump; earn 10,000 XP to gain a new level; defeat the boss to get to the next world. If the rules are too loose or ill-defined, a game might feel frustrating.

But horror, in contrast, is often rooted in the unknown and unknowable. We fear what we don't understand and can't see – the bogeyman is scary precisely because he exists in our heads, where we can project onto him all our darkest, subjective, imagined terrors. Once the abstract becomes tangible, it loses its grip on our psyche. "You know there's something hiding behind the door," Grip explains, paraphrasing a famous quote from Stephen King. "You open the door and it's a ten-metre bug! And then you're like, 'Oh my god! I'm glad it wasn't a 30-metre bug!'"

So, how do developers balance the systemic with the speculative? How can you build a playable, non-frustrating videogame, with firm mechanics, while also stoking players' fears of the incomprehensible?

"You should put in systems so that players have something to push up against," Grip continues, "but you should never make them so clear and defined that it takes away the player's imagination. Players want to be immersed, and want to feel like 'This is a big monster and I'm really being chased', but also they want to optimise their play style and 'win' the game. When it works best, the player is achieving the most optimized gameplay by acting like they're immersed."

Grip uses the example of the first fight with Pyramid Head in the original Silent Hill 2.

Players have weapons, first-aid kits and a defined and consistent set of combat mechanics. When Pyramid Head attacks, you know how to defend yourself – press one button to aim, another to fire, and watch your ammo and health gauges. This constitutes the concrete, immovable, mechanical part of the scare.

But Team Silent also creates gaps in your understanding, gaps that your imagination can't help but fill with fear. Pyramid Head doesn't have a life bar. Though shooting it seems to have some effect, at the end of the 'battle' the monster doesn't run away; there's the sound of an air-raid siren, the bottom half of the room fills with a dark liquid, and Pyramid Head turns away from you and slowly walks into it until it's fully submerged, then vanishes. "The next time you meet Pyramid Head, it's like, 'Should I shoot it?'" Grip explains. "And dynamic choices make you the most anxious."

Do you leave the door open and pray Foxy doesn't kill you, or play it safe, burn through some power and risk a blackout before 6am? Should you go back and get some gasoline from the safe room, and maybe get chewed up by the zombies on the way, or just hope that you can get everything done in this area before this dead ghoul comes back as a Crimson Head? When you have to make a decision – when you have to act on something – you naturally feel more apprehensive and more scared.

Fifteen years ago, one of the most frightening things that horror developers could imagine was a monster that was unkillable; a game that flatly did not equip you to protect yourself or fight back in some way. But that creates a strange contradiction.

When you don't have any weapons and there isn't any kind of combat system, you also know, fundamentally, that you're never going to have to make an active decision – when confronted with an enemy, the only thing you'll ever be expected to do is to run away. If players only have a single choice, they're protected from any responsibility. Paradoxically, if you give players a weapon, it can make them feel a lot more vulnerable.

Where's my oar?

"If you don't have a gun, you kind of know, 'Well, I'll be fine'," Vian explains. "There's this bit in The Last Of Us Part II. There's no combat, but then the tension starts to increase and you start finding ammo pickups. You're thinking, 'The rules of video games mean I'm about to be attacked, because why else would they be giving me ammo?' You don't get attacked. But the fact they start giving you ammo makes it better."

"What makes cosmic horror scary is the idea that you have all the agency in the world, but good luck, because it won't help," DreadXP director Hunter Bond continues. "If you have all the tools you need to interact with the environment and we haven't obfuscated your abilities at all, and yet you still find yourself up against something that you can't reckon with, that feels like cosmic horror."

Perhaps run-and-hide horror, of the type popularised by Frictional Games, is less fashionable or subversive now. Lunar Software's Routine gives you a taser-style weapon for defending yourself. Even Amnesia has a gun these days, used to great effect in 2023's The Bunker. Other horror trends, however, are still going strong.

Although Dead By Daylight dominates the world of asymmetrical PvP horror, knocking to the wayside would-be rivals such as Killer Klowns From Outer Space and The Texas Chainsaw Massacre, the broader concept of co-op horror is being continually refined thanks to games such as Content Warning and The Outlast Trials. Mascot horror also appears to be alive and well: Five Nights At Freddy's: Secret Of The Mimic came out in June and chapter five of Poppy Playtime is ostensibly due in the near future.

Back to basics

Another horror subgenre is also still thriving. You might call it throwback horror, the 'Resident Evil-alike' or 'boomer' horror – think of Heartworm, Conscript, You Will Die Here Tonight, Hollowbody and, of course, Crow Country, games that have PS1-inspired visuals and make use of classic conceits such as fixed camera angles and limited inventory space.

At least to some extent, the success of these types of games is a byproduct of players' and developers' nostalgia. But there's more to this trend than hollow sentimentality. For some developers, making a game that looks like Resident Evil is just the setup for a bigger twist.

"I don't think that the wave of stuff inspired by the '90s is about replicating so much as following personal inspirations," Hoare says. "But it also speaks to something that horror is good at, which is subverting expectations. If players have nostalgia, they also have expectations for games of that time, and you can subvert those."

Jordan Mochi's Conscript may use the mechanical rudiments of survival horror, but they're redeployed for a story about World War I. Signalis, by Rose Engine, also has a lot in common with old-school Resident Evil and Silent Hill, but what we might derisively describe as the game's nostalgia baiting is really just the feed line for a more complex, and frightening, cautionary tale about dwelling on the past.

If one of the fundamentals of horror is taking something familiar and comforting (say, a nice suburban house) and turning it into a grotesque of itself (making it haunted by the ghosts of the family that was murdered there), the beloved games of our collective childhoods make fertile soil. It's what you remember fondly – but with rows of hidden teeth.

Looking beyond nostalgia and the throwback subgenre, however, there is a deeper and more complex 'need' for lo-fi or (apparently) low-budget visuals in horror games.

We go back to that idea of the power of the imagination. It's not about what we can see; we're scared of what we can't see. Modern, big-budget, quasi-photorealistic graphics fill in the details for us. Visuals that are lower in resolution or more abstract create cracks in our comprehension.

"I think when we hit PS3 graphics, all the mystery was gone," Vian says. "On the PS1 and PS2, things are kind of flickering and you can't see what it is exactly, and that's just scarier." "Those dogs, man," Bond says, thinking back to the first Resident Evil. "It's a dog-shaped blob. It's not rendered sharply. But it's achieving the most with the least."

Perhaps this is why there are so many independent and solo-produced horror games: if you don't have much money, or even much game-making experience, horror naturally lends itself to a rough and raw kind of design. You can play on the fond, childhood memories of players and also stir their imaginations with a low-res art style.

"Imagination drives horror," Sniper Killer and Night At The Gates Of Hell developer Jordan King says. "When describing my style, I just use the term 'low poly'. It's a quick and messy style but I think thematically it fits with the experience being presented."

Hoare has another way of explaining this. When we ask why horror is one of the most accessible genres for budding developers, and why players, more than forgiving them, actually relish and identify with certain technical eccentricities, he puts it simply: "Horror as a genre is more forgiving of the seams."

Guess who's back

Almost 30 years since Resident Evil formalized its most recognizable tropes, and a decade and a half after Amnesia gave the entire genre a soft, spiritual reboot, the horror game seems to be back in favour with gaming's mainstream.

Beginning with Resident Evil 7, a more traditionally designed survival-horror game, and following it with a trio of crowd-pleasing remakes, Capcom has carefully reestablished the core of Resident Evil – if Village strayed too far from the series' fundamental principles, the next upcoming horror game in the franchise, Resident Evil Requiem, already feels like an attempt at recentring things.

Silent Hill is also back, courtesy of The Short Message, the Silent Hill 2 remake and Silent Hill f, and there are even cautious attempts in the mainstream space to launch new horror properties, such as Cronos and Reanimal. If the general audience lost faith in the horror genre during the mid 2010s, it seems the successes of medium-budget and independent titles have incentivised a comeback.

"We released Crow Country in May 2024," Vian says, "and I'm not saying we caused anything, at all, but it feels like since then the floodgates have opened. It's happened on both sides of the coin. Indie horror is doing great and triple-A horror is doing great."

Alongside that optimism, though, Vian has cause for concern. Reflecting on how many horror games have been released in recent years – or even during the past 12 months – he's worried that Crow Country and its developer SFB Games may have been "on the last helicopter out of Saigon", and that the current popularity of horror games might not last much longer.

Jesse Makkonen, a solo developer whose work includes the trippy 2D adventure Afterdream and psychological horror series Distraint, is similarly cautious.

Despite receiving glowing reviews on Steam, his latest game, visual horror novel Without A Dawn, has struggled to find an audience since it was released in May. Though he has no illusions that the game is "a heavy experience, which surely puts many people off," Makkonen also says that it's getting harder for new titles to be noticed in an increasingly crowded horror genre.

"Since there are so many games coming out, making a successful one requires market research and a design tailored to the market, which I find incredibly uninspiring," he explains. "I've been just making the best games I can and trying to market them to the best of my ability. It's increasingly difficult to survive this way, though."

And is big-budget horror really 'back', or are triple-A developers still playing things comparatively safe?

In 1999, Silent Hill felt unusual, dark and experimental. It had a distinctive visual style and offered a fresh take on terror: where Resident Evil had been rooted in body horror and monsters, Konami's effort was psychological and surreal, and played on the twisted illogic of bad dreams.

It was a mainstream game, certainly, but one with bold ideas. We may be seeing positive signals from the likes of Capcom, Konami and the other major horror names right now, but some developers have yet to be convinced of the genre's big comeback.

Dull, repetitive or simplistic mechanics might be a good way to lull players into a false sense of security, but if we're talking about the long-term success and ultimate survival of the broader horror game genre, Thomas Grip thinks it's going to take more unconventional ideas to keep things alive. "I feel like we have a lot of lizard-brain stuff," he says. "Playing a lot of horror games now, they're fun, but not really saying anything. I would like to see more horror games where it's not just scary, but it's interesting."

"It's awesome to see more Resident Evil and Silent Hill, but they're all safe spaces that these developers have already established," Clarke concludes. "It lies dangerously close to remake after remake after remake. Until I see a big company make a brand-new horror IP that feels like it's really out there and trying to do something, I'll feel like we're heading down the same route and rehashing the classics. I don't know if I would call it a resurgence – yet."

Explore the best survival horror games of all-time if you're hungry for more chills and thrills (and inventory management(

As a sort of pseudo-sequel to Pokémon X and Y, Pokémon Legends: Z-A has reintroduced us to some familiar faces from the series' sixth generation of games. However, one face in particular is conspicuously absent: Lumiose City's "ghost girl."

That's what the fandom calls her, anyway. In truth, none of us know exactly who or what she is—which makes her all the more terrifying. But let's back up a bit.

For readers who haven't had the unsettling encounter etched into their memories over the past 13 years, here's some context. In Pokémon X and Y, there's an unassuming building in Lumiose City. On the bottom floor, office workers attend to their business as normal. It's only if you decide to take the elevator and explore the upper floors that the atmosphere takes a chilling turn.

(Pocket) monster under the bed

Upon reaching the second floor, your character stops in their tracks. The screen flashes black. A Hex Maniac trainer appears behind you on the elevator.

But this is no ordinary Hex Maniac. Her body is locked in an awkward walking frame, sliding into the room like a living glitch. She examines the player character closely, muttering a single iconic line that has transfixed players for over a decade: "No, you're not the one." Then, she slides out of the frame.

A moment later, player control returns to the character. Your natural inclination is to follow her, but on searching the room, she's nowhere to be seen. No one in the building references her or acknowledges her existence. There is a Hex Maniac NPC situated on the fourth floor of the nearby Hotel Richissime, waiting creepily for the elevator. While the implication could easily be made that she and the ghost girl are one and the same, there has never been any confirmation that the two are connected.

It's the kind of bizarre tale that, in the pre-Internet era, would have spread as an urban legend across school playgrounds in hushed tones, one that feels right at home among the creepiest of Pokémon copypastas.

Sure, the franchise has always had a macabre fascination with inserting ghoulish girls into unexpected places.

In Pokémon Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, a mysterious girl pops up in Elite Four Phoebe's room for several brief frames as the screen fades to black. There are also ghost girls in Pokémon Black and White and Pokémon Sword and Shield that curious players can interact with if they fulfill certain conditions.

However, those games provide enough context for players to piece together what their deals are. What makes the Lumiose City ghost girl so creepy is that, even 13 years later, we still have no context regarding her existence or intentions. Fan theories continue to circulate among the community to this day, seeking out any scrap of new or missed information that can help unravel the mystery.

Ripples through time

Not that there haven't been opportunities for Game Freak to throw fans a bone. We've heard rumors swirling around for years that it originally had intentions to create a third title – a presumed "Pokémon Z" – as was tradition for the series at the time, but decided to fast track the follow up titles, Sun and Moon, for the series' 20th anniversary instead.

The only other reference is in Omega Ruby and Alpha Sapphire, in which another Hex Maniac NPC delivers the same "Not the one" dialogue in a completely casual way. Is she the same girl? Someone completely different who happened to say the line? The world will likely never know.

Fast forward to Pokémon Legends: Z-A. As our first return to the Kalos region since X and Y, it was logical that it would showcase characters, locations and plot points from those games. Most notable is how the entire game takes place in Lumiose City, the city in which you encountered the mysterious ghost girl all those years ago. The pieces were in place to finally demystify one of the franchise's creepiest moments. And what did we get? Even more questions.

Much of Z-A's plot centers around the Z-A Battle Royale, in which trainers compete against each other to raise their ranks.

On reaching rank A, the event's organizers grant that trainer one wish within their power. Occasionally, NPCs mention their wishes, and one in particular says something curious: "I've gotta win to find out what that 'No, you're not the one' meant!"

Additionally, if you take one of the city's many cabs, your driver can reference the ghost girl, saying that he heard many identical stories of people encountering her on the second floor of that building. Interestingly, he states that the appearances stopped as soon as the city's wild zones were introduced, implying some sort of connection between her and the Pokémon that have begun appearing. He adds that stories have begun circulating of a girl randomly popping up in taxi cabs, saying "No, you're not the one either…"

Both are offhanded, missable lines that confirm several things. First, the player character from X and Y is far from the only person who has encountered the ghost girl. Second, she has some kind of connection to the introduction of Pokémon into Lumiose. Third, she's still out there in the city somewhere, searching for the mysterious "one" – but now, haunting taxi cabs instead of office buildings.

The mystery continues

At time of writing, the ghost girl is yet to be spotted anywhere in the game. That doesn't mean she isn't there. One of the fun things about Pokémon games is that you never know whether talking to a certain NPC or visiting a specific location at a certain time could cause something to trigger, even if you thought there were no unturned secrets left. But who knows? Maybe she's not in Z-A at all. Maybe Game Freak never even planned to put her in.

Game Freak knows what the Pokémon fandom is like. We've been picking things apart and spreading urban legends since the days of Red and Blue, such as finding Mew under the truck in Vermillion City or encountering mysterious Pokémon like "Mewthree and "Pikablu." The studio delights in seeing us craft wild theories and multi-hour YouTube videos about every little mystery. What could be more fun than creating an urban legend of their own and watching fans eat it up?

Honestly, I wouldn't be surprised if they never had a backstory for the ghost girl to begin with. Imagine a pair of developers sitting at their desks during the development of X and Y. On a complete whim, they program in a random creepy interaction with a glitched out NPC, throw in an intentionally vague, ominous line, then provide no context or follow up. Because they thought it was funny.

Then, years later, when given the perfect opportunity to follow up on the character, they throw in a handful of offhand remarks by NPCs simply to get fans foaming at the mouth again. If that was the case…that would be funny. Not particularly satisfying, but funny.

If the Lumiose City ghost girl isn't discovered in the main game, the last likely chance at her appearing will be in Legends: Z-A's Mega Dimension DLC. This will probably be the final content we get for the game, before priority shifts to Gen 10 next year. But even if the mystery is never solved, at least we can continue to have fun speculating – and give Game Freak something to laugh about.

The very best Pokemon games of all time, ranked

Can someone please tell me why I hadn't heard of Tides of Annihilation until literally two days ago? The stunning third-person action-adventure was announced during Summer Game Fest, apparently, but YouTube saw fit to recommend the trailer to me a few months later. I was already sold on the concept alone – apocalyptic London, modern day Arthurian knights, badass women in armor laying waste to monsters with vibrant magic-melee combos (including beating one hulking brute up with his own sledgehammer). But it was the cast list that sealed the deal for me, and now I can't stop thinking about it.

There's a new marker of quality assurance in video games these days, and her name is Jennifer English. From the reverberating success of Baldur's Gate 3 to this year's Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 already the favorite in many Game Of The Year conversations, everything English touches seems fated for success. As it so happens, she's starring as Gwendolyn in this particular new game, with her real-life girlfriend Aliona Baranova billed right alongside her as antagonist Mordred. The moment I heard their voices in the gameplay video, my prophecy was set. I put it before you, here and now, that Tides of Annihilation is going to be huge in 2026.

Deepest, darkest knight

I'm not being dramatic. I'm merely going off a long list of trends and evidence that all seems to point to an inevitably gargantuan triumph.

First off, the Chinese gaming industry seems to be utterly booming right now. Our very own Golden Joystick Awards 2024 crowned Black Myth: Wukong as Ultimate Game of the Year for a reason last year, a game lauded for its stunning visuals and challenging Soulslike combat. Tides of Annihilation developer Eclipse Glow Games seem to be following in Game Science's footsteps in both of those regards.

The trailer and gameplay video expose the beautifully rendered city of London, "broken" amid a monster invasion that has shattered the world as it once was. Gwendolyn and her sidekick Niniane – I see you, Guinevere and Nimue of Arthurian legend – glide through the tattered streets nimbly, showing off the upcoming PS5 game's magical hack-n'-slash aerial combat in all its brutal yet balletic glory as Gwendolyn decimates her foes. It's the kind action I've been craving this year, refreshing amid the slew of recent Soulslikes and shooters, yet familiarly Devil May Cry-esque enough to make me sure that I'll love it.

That combination is the plat du jour for all successful new games. Much like how Expedition 33's JRPG-inspired combat and exploration captured the attention of so many of us, I have a feeling that Tides of Annihilation is bound to cast a wide net in bringing in fans of beloved games and genres while putting its unique spin on them.

Hack to the future

The excitement I feel and am seeing around Tides of Annihilation reminds me a lot of Crimson Desert in more ways than one, and again, it's down to the same-same-but-different effect.

The high-fantasy action-adventure was announced at the tail end of 2019, and as we learned more about protagonist Kliff and his monster-slaying calling as a lone mercenary, Witcher 3 fans rightfully flocked to it. As another hack-n'-slash title set to arrive next year – South Korean developer Pearl Abyss has locked in a March release date – the two seem almost prescient. Will 2026 be the year that combo-heavy games get to hog the spotlight for a little bit after all the juicy RPG goodness of late? Honestly, I think so. At least, until GTA 6 arrives in November to offer a more Western take on the action genre.

All signs point to Tides of Annihilation being primed for something special. The developers seem pretty sure of themselves, too. How many studios release a gameplay reveal alongside an announcement trailer, after all? And how many bad games has Jennifer English starred in over the last four years? That's right. If you don't trust me, at least trust in the work of God's favorite princess.

There are plenty of upcoming PC games to add to your Steam wishlist alongside Tides of Annihilation

YouTube has revealed new plans to tighten policies surrounding video game content uploaded to the platform – specifically when it centers around more controversial adult themes, including gambling and graphic violence.

As Valve faces the fire from both fans and developers alike following the new Counter-Strike 2 update, which left the community in shambles over skin prices and the entirety of Steam's marketplace crashing, other companies are taking a stand against gambling in video games – YouTube included. A new announcement, aptly dubbed "YouTube's strengthened approach to online gambling and graphic violence in gaming," reveals as much.

In it, Google explains its decision to change YouTube's guidelines: "Our policies are designed to evolve alongside the digital world. We're making these updates to keep pace with new trends, like gambling with digital goods, and to more closely align our guidelines for mature content with industry standards."

An outline of the coming tweaks is then provided, starting with "online gambling content" – specifically within the realm of video games.

"Our current policy prohibits content that directs viewers to online gambling sites or applications that are not certified by Google," it reads. "We're expanding our enforcement to now cover online gambling with additional items that have monetary value, including digital goods (e.g. video game skins, cosmetics and NFTs)." It's hard not to think of the ongoing Counter-Strike 2 skin fiasco, and the $6 billion market that Valve's cosmetics created.

"We're updating our approach to casino-style games where nothing of real-world monetary value is wagered or cashed out," continues the announcement from Google. "Content that depicts, promotes, or facilitates social casino sites will now be age-restricted."

Counter-Strike 2 isn't the only game in question here, however, nor are features like gambling and casinos. Titles like Grand Theft Auto 6 could also be affected by the new YouTube policies. That's because they're attempting to tackle "graphic content" like depictions of violence, too – especially when it involves "realistic" characters.

"In addition to our existing guidelines around graphic gaming content, we will age-restrict an additional small subset of video game content featuring realistic human characters that focuses on scenes of torture or scenes of mass violence against non-combatants," as stated in the new policy post.

YouTube will "consider several factors when reviewing this type of content," though, like duration, prominence, and, as mentioned before, the inclusion of "realistic human characters." It's safe to say games like GTA 6 don't exactly hold back when it comes to violence, and their characters are certainly "realistic" – especially when you consider its impressive new visuals, which add detail to everything from blades of grass to, well, people.

As for how this will all play out, YouTube expects that "most channels will experience little to no impact." Any content uploaded before November 17, which seems to be the date the new policies are officially rolling out, might be removed or age-restricted, but may also be edited ahead of time. Here's hoping we still see plenty of GTA 6 videos floating about later this year and beyond – although I could do with less Counter-Strike 2…

Take-Two CEO calls generative AI "the future of technology" that "will increase employment," months after saying GTA 6's "creative genius is human."

Approaching Resident Evil for the first time is a daunting prospect. Whether you've been admiring Leon, Chris, Jill, and Claire from a distance since the PS1 days, have caught snippets of some of the best survival horror games during YouTube Let's Plays, or if the Resident Evil Requiem trailer simply piqued your attention and you want to know a bit more about Capcom's legendary series, you've come to the right place.

I've tailored this spoiler-free Resident Evil beginner's guide for the sole purpose of catching you up ahead of perhaps the biggest upcoming horror game of 2026. If you're looking for a much more in-depth guide to pick apart the franchise's lore, our Editor-In-Chief penned an ultimate guide to Resident Evil for you to get stuck into. Here, though, I'll go through the franchise in its broadest strokes, pointing out overlaps in the lore between Resident Evil Requiem and past series instalments to help you decide where to start ahead of its launch – or, to help you go into Requiem with a little more context, at the very least.

What is Resident Evil about?

First, the headlines: Resident Evil – or Biohazard, in Japan – is a highly-successful survival horror video game series from Capcom that has seen several film and television adaptations since the first game launched in 1996. The focus was initially on the Umbrella Corporation, a company specializing in pharmaceuticals and bioweapons, and the Special Tactics And Rescue Services (STARS) division of the Raccoon City Police Department. Newer games in the series have broadened out from that tight focus in more recent years, though the links back to Umbrella are present throughout the series.

I won't spoil it for you, but STARS and Umbrella both are involved in the Raccoon City Disaster of 1998, when a bioengineered disease outbreak of something called the T-virus swept the American city and turned most inhabitants into zombies. The first game takes place a handful of months before the Raccoon City Disaster, Resident Evil 2 and 3 are set on the day itself, and the upcoming new game in the franchise – Resident Evil Requiem – is set 30 years later.

Resident Evil is credited as one of the games that cemented the popularity of survival horror in the late '90s and early 2000s, alongside Konami's Silent Hill franchise. Early games featured a host of what are now considered retro genre staples – fixed camera angles, inventory management, puzzles, and resource combination – while the slate of remakes kicked off with 2019's Resident Evil 2 Remake are defining masterclasses in how to modernize a classic survival horror game. It also features one of the most iconic and recognizable casts of characters in horror history, and those characters are largely the reason the series is still so beloved to this day. It's fair to say that Capcom has long been ahead of the curve when it comes to horror games, and Requiem looks like no exception.

Where to begin before Resident Evil Requiem

Everything I've seen and read about Resident Evil Requiem has me thinking that the most important games to play first would be the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes.

The two games take place on the same fateful night in Raccoon City, and with the iconic location also featured in Requiem, you'll get some important context from playing one or both of them. If you do only have time for one, Resident Evil 3 Remake is much shorter, though the second game is by far my favorite in the whole series so I'd be doing myself a disservice by not stressing how much I think you should play it. They're both on Xbox Game Pass, if that sways you at all.

Resident Evil 1 could also be important to play ahead of Requiem, given that some fans are theorizing the return of a side character – a mutated superhuman called Lisa Trevor – might be on the cards. That said, I'd probably suggest you watch her scenes on YouTube (or perhaps a video essay) instead of playing the whole game just to get the scope on her. She's in it for a handful of minutes at best.

Similarly, if you're super keen, you can also try and source a PS2 copy of Resident Evil Outbreak or look up relevant clips on YouTube. One of the characters in this canonical spin-off, Alyssa Ashcroft, is the mother of Requiem's protagonist Grace Ashcroft. Their family is, naturally, going to be central to the new game, so the more context you have on Alyssa's Raccoon City experience the better.

Failing all else if you're not willing to play anything and have an allergy to YouTube, you can always give the 2021 movie Welcome to Raccoon City a go. It's pretty faithful to the games in terms of timeline and canon events, merging Resident Evil 1, 2, and 3 together with a heavy helping of artistic license as far as characterization. Admittedly, that last reason is why I am so biased against it. Leon S. Kennedy is no bumbling fool, Wesker is not a himbo, and I will not be expanding upon that. That said, Welcome to Raccoon City is certainly better than nothing (it even has Lisa Trevor featured in it, as mentioned above) and is much more faithful to the games than the Resident Evil Netflix adaptation if you want to get up to speed ahead of Requiem. RIP, Lance Reddick.

What not to worry about before playing Resident Evil Requiem

As the ninth mainline Resident Evil game before even looking at all the spin-offs, you do not need to play every game and watch every film ahead of Resident Evil Requiem. The most recent two games, Biohazard and Village (yes, that's the one with the tall vampire lady) have very little to do with Umbrella and Raccoon City at face value, so I wouldn't priotize those unless you're looking to play one of the scariest horror games of all time. Without a doubt, it's Resident Evil 7.

You especially don't need to worry about catching any of the Paul W.S. Anderson live action movies if you're just getting ready for Requiem, since they don't follow the video game canon at all. The animated movies, most notably Dead Island, might be worth a watch if you want a little more color and context surrounding the series' most famous faces. However, with their presence in Requiem as yet unknown, I'd focus on my suggestions above and ignore everything else unless you have the next six months free.

What does the future look like for Resident Evil?

Well, your guess is as good as mine. Unlike Konami, whose Silent Hill Transmission and Press Play showcases help give players an idea of what's to come, Capcom is well-versed in keeping its plans under wraps. So much so that Resident Evil 9's much-rumored reveal at Summer Game Fest 2025 was as airtight as they come.

It's likely that the publisher will continue its remake series, with players clamoring for beloved spin-off (that really should have been mainline) Resident Evil: Code Veronica to get the modern day makeover following Resident Evil 4 Remake's 2022 success. But as far as the mainline series is concerned, I'll have to wait and see what state Requiem leaves things in when it launches in February 2026.

We're celebrating the best horror games of the near future with our Horror Special this summer

2025 is over the halfway mark, and I made the questionable decision to count up how many games I've managed to play in the past seven months. Apparently – not counting the many, many indie games I've dipped a toe into along the way – I've rolled credits on 13.

Of that baffling number, eight are RPGs. From Avowed to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 and Final Fantasy 16, I've put my emotions through the wringer in the name of experiencing some beautiful storytelling, vast open worlds, and the most momentous video game soundtracks in history. The not-so-minor snag in that otherwise fulfilling plan is that I am now suffering from the most aggressive form of RPG fatigue I've ever known.

Dry spell

My transactional relationship with RPGs is plain as day: I get to play a huge, detailed, time-sink of a video game, and I give it every ounce of my emotional energy in turn.

The result is that July has left me paralyzed by choice in the face of so many new games, yet wracked with numbing anxiety at the prospect of playing them. Enter my saving grace, Mortal Kombat 11.

I downloaded it on a whim. It was a Friday, and I was heading over to a friend's place that evening. His PS4 had just gone bust, so I offered to find something on Game Pass – the easy choice being Halo Infinite – and bring my Xbox with me. But while browsing the subscription service for the first time in ages, half-heartedly adding games to an ever-growing backlog that I certainly won't be clearing this year, the thought of diving into an online multiplayer FPS with a bunch of strangers while in this fragile state made me want to barf. A cursory flick through the local co-op section would soon reveal the perfect antidote.

Mortal Kombat 11 is a gory, violent, button-smasher of a fighting game that I've long admired from a distance. Specifically, all the gnarly fatality compilations on YouTube. I love me some overkill, and what could be more over-the-top than punching a guy's brains out through the back of his skull? It sounded like just the stress relief I might need to repair these frayed nerves. 48 gigabytes and two hours later, I was sitting on my friend's sofa and loading it up for the first time.

Round One

The comforting thing about jumping into a new game with an equally dubious friend is that you're both total beginners. We made the questionable decision not to waste time on the tutorials (it was 10pm and I am passionate about my Cinderella bedtime) and jumped right into a local co-op session.

It took me about three matches before I realized that you don't need to hammer A to jump in Mortal Kombat 11. Pushing the left joystick in upwards diagonals is, frankly, a marvel in simplicity, allowing me to put all remaining brainpower into testing out button combos and squeezing them into my short term memory where possible.

This proved a bit of a pointless venture when I realized that swapping characters means new combos to memorize, but that irritation quickly faded once I settled into a peaceful, toothy rhythm with my fighter-of-choice, Baraka. I've only just noticed that he's labelled an "antagonist" in the Mortal Kombat franchise, but in a way, all of them seem pretty antagonistic to me when I'm getting curbstomped through a cross-dimensional portal by a Black Panther-meets-Dr. Strange hybrid.

My friend and I sat there revelling in the joys of flying fists and bloodshed for what felt like five minutes. It turned out to be a full two hours. By then, I was well and truly hooked – even though I was cheating a little by looking up fatality combos. I've yet to uninstall Mortal Kombat 11 despite my Series S's meager memory already bulging at the seams. Instead, playing it each night has become something of a ritual.

I find a strange, dissonant serenity in it. Each punch brings me closer to nirvana, each satisfying spine snap heralding the return of my sanity as I revel in utterly heinous acts of video game violence. Is this the stress relief I've been missing out on after all these years spent sidestepping the perils of multiplayer games, wilfully ignorant of their cathartic properties?

It seems so. At the very least, I'm no longer flinching from playing anything that's not Hades 2 or The Sims 4, so I'm calling this a knockout victory. Whether I'll ever try out the online multiplayer component of Mortal Kombat 11, on the other hand… let's not get too hasty.

Check out all the upcoming Xbox Series X games yet to come in 2025, from Borderlands 4 to Octopath Traveler 0.

While Tony Hawk's Pro Skater series has been the dominant skateboarding game since the late 1990s, EA's Skate series carved out its audience by delivering a more free-form, laid-back skating experience, allowing players to build their cred in a semi-open world. Full Circle, the developer behind Skate's upcoming free-to-play reboot, see its comeback as a long time coming – but has other ambitions in mind as well.

With many of Skate's original developers involved, the upcoming Skate reboot – now simply called Skate – brings the series to an online, shared world experience where players will complete global challenges and modify the cityscape with new skating opportunities. Ahead of its early-access launch later this year, I played the opening hours of the new Skate game and spoke with head of creative Jeff Seamster and senior creative director Deran Chung about remaking Skate and how the growing Skate fandom on social media prompted the original developers to revisit the series.

Building a better skater

The premise of a city run by the skating community is one of the defining aspects of the series. Compared to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater and its arcade-style gameplay, Skate leans more into a sort of light realism for skating – but still features a healthy dose of over-the-top stunts that capture the thrill of growing as a skater.

For the reboot, the developers placed a keen focus on building upon the physics from Skate 3 while also enhancing the series' Flick-It system, an analog stick-based method for pulling off moves and other skills.

According to Full Circle, the Skate reboot was designed as a jumping-on point for newcomers to the series while also giving long-time fans a sense of coming back to a familiar series – and that involved revisiting what worked well in Skate 3.

"Coming back to this series [for this reboot], we needed to make sure it felt like Skate, which was everything," says Jeff Seamster, head of creative for Full Circle. "The feel of the game, of being on the board, is the epicenter of what this franchise is about. When we started, we reached a point where we had fully restored the entire Skate 3 engine and integrated it into the current Frostbite engine. Getting that feeling was important, and we nailed it. I know this is the best Skate has ever felt; it's the best it's ever played, and we're super excited for people to get their hands on it."

Much like previous games of the series, Skate has players take on the role of a new skateboarder in town, aiming to leave their mark. Set in San Vansterdam – an amalgamation of iconic cities like San Francisco, New York, and Los Angeles – the city has been reclaimed by the community from its corporate overlords and become a haven for skaters.

With the aid of technology to amplify their creativity and safety, the growing skate community in the city will work together to achieve goals that rebuild the town's reputation as the skate capital of the world.

The Skate reboot keeps the plot light and instead leans hard into the vibes of skate culture to shape a player's perspective of their growth in San Vansterdam. During my playtime, I got to explore the city and took on a set of stand-alone challenges while unlocking new cosmetics. These challenges included pulling off a set of tricks in succession without bailing, reaching certain tucked areas of the city, or simply pulling off solid runs to earn a top score. I botched several stunts, in some cases embarrassingly so, but I still rallied and succeeded with a run.

It was fairly standard in terms of the activities available, but what impressed me was the freedom I had to explore and take in the environment. What Skate does better compared to Tony Hawk's Pro Skater is offering a wider berth to explore the environment and build out your flow without the added pressure. I was able to practice at my leisure and explore new opportunities around the city, which was a great way for me to get reacquainted with the smooth, but still tricky physics-based movement and stunts. A particular hang-up I had was trying to nail a kickflip into a grind, which would usually result in an awkward face plant. .

But that sense of failure is all a part of the charm for the series – and the devs even state that "failure is fun" in Skate. What I liked about Skate's unique Flick-it control scheme, which is radically different from Tony Hawk's Pro Skater, is that it's so flexible and intuitive. I had fun just practicing my manual balance and transitions into ollies down hill while I was in between missions. It was fun just to explore, and the reboot also enhances this with improved off-board exploration, which includes some parkour traversal, along with the more over-the-top gliding and divebombing abilities for your custom skaters.

Gleaming the cube – with friends

According to senior creative director Deran Chung, Skate 3 found modest success in 2010, but its true success didn't come till years later. Eventually, many players – some of whom joined years later – would share stunt videos and trick exhibitions on social media platforms like TikTok and YouTube, leading to an increased interest in the game.

The social aspect of Skate, with players showcasing their outrageous stunts, along with the community trend of "tricklining," is a significant part of the reboot's shared world activities. However, ever since its announcement in 2020, there's been a sense of mystique, and some reservations surrounding the Skate reboot and its focus on an online free-to-play take on the series. That's something Full Circle has been aware of, which led to hosting a variety of playtests and other private community tests to gather feedback from fans ahead of the early-access launch.

"I would describe it as like a virtuous relationship of iteration, with the player community and us, because we're not the first game to incorporate player feedback and stuff like that," Seamster says. "We've kept this very tight relationship with that community to observe their in-game behavior and to see the way that the community is playing the game. We see players doing something tricky, and we're like, 'Is that what people are doing? Well, then, that's the thing to do. Let's make that.'"

For its developers, Skate is seen as something that players can pick up and play, then return to at any time to discover new activities. Skate will also feature cross-platform play and cross-progression for players, with the goal of providing ease of access to the game.

However, the larger pull of the next Skate will be how players explore the setting with others online. While I spent the majority of my time solo and to my own devices, I still observed other players making their way through town and pulling off tricks that I didn't think were possible.

One likely game changer in the shared world is the ability for players to add special skate objects, such as vert ramps, rails, and jump ramps, to the map at any time. Much like the custom skatepark from Skate 3, you can now place an additional object to the environment to customize it – and other players within the server will be able to use your objects and even add to it. I didn't see it used to its fullest potential, but I did observe other players adding ramps to extend their jumps to pull off even more outlandish moves.

From my hands-on experience with what will be available to players in the impending early access release, I found this take on Skate to be a faithful representation of the series and its focus on letting players build their style on their own terms. New Skate is wacky, but its focus on the physics and timing based mechanics really showcase just how remarkable the classic gameplay is.

However, compared to the previous games, the Skate Reboot adopts a more stylized and open-ended approach to being a skateboarder in a city, which I appreciated. In some ways, the town itself felt like a platform for players – solo or in groups – to come up with some wacky and gnarly stunts to pull off, and I dug how the reboot just let me have the run of the city to do whatever I wanted.

Over to you

Full Circle feels the lasting impact of the series has come from giving players space to test their skills and immerse themselves in the skateboarding community, which the studio hopes to replicate with the upcoming reboot.

"The fact that we've had an impact on skate culture at all is mind-boggling to me; it's one of the most validating things because we've worked hard on this series, and this game especially – we care a lot about this series," said senior creative director Deran Chung. "To have generations of people who learned about skateboarding through something that we created, and some of whom are now like pro skaters or just love skateboarding. As a result, it is enriching and feels like the best gift you could possibly receive. I would say what's changed most about this game compared to others is the weight of it. People love this thing and are very passionate about it, and it feels great to see people care."

Right now, Full Circle is actively taking feedback from the 100,000 players in the current private playtest who have seen the reboot evolve. From that position, the studio feels the upcoming reboot is the best the series has "ever felt."

"What we have now is, of course, not final," says senior creative director Deran Chung. "We say early access a billion times at this point, but it's not a final product. The most important bit for us was to nail the gameplay, which will continue to evolve, but for now, this is the best [a Skate game] has ever played.

"Like no one could debate me about that: this is the best Skate has ever felt or played. We have this great world that plays well, we have super fun characters, but lots of different things are still in flux and coming together. We've heard some of the feedback, and more than anything else, it just means that people care that much about the product, which we love and we appreciate. So you know, we've still got more to do, and we're still not finished just yet."

Check out all the new games we can't wait to see in 2025 and beyond.

You'd think that for a game franchise named after a specific location, Silent Hill would be the most important thing about Silent Hill f. In many ways, I think it is – not the place itself, but the distinct sense of place it cultivates.

With developer Neobards leaning into a "fresh but familiar" take on the format in Silent Hill f, and by uprooting us from the USA to Showa era Japan, the upcoming horror game is the loudest iteration of that philosophy yet. In short, Konami is bringing the series back to its roots as a Japanese-made franchise by physically taking us there. Even a cursory glance at the best survival horror games proves it to be dominated by distinctly Japanese conventions. Therefore, as an undefeated titan of the genre, Silent Hill f looks and sounds like the most Silent Hill game since the days of Heather Mason – and the keen sense of alienation is a huge part of why I'm so sure it will work.

Welcome home

It's a bold move from Konami. Silent Hill f essentially re-homes Silent Hill in a brand new country, let alone a new state. But the homecoming aspect is kind of a beautiful statement, with the series going back to the heart of survival horror.

Beauty itself is integral to Neobards' mission, with Silent Hill f built around the notion of "horrific charm" that is so key in Japanese genre cinema. It's this very charm that draws so many of us to survival horror, whether or not we know it, as is the prevalence of grotesque body horror and psychological themes prevalent among the best Silent Hill games and beyond.

This has carried across to the spate of horror remakes we've seen in recent years. Think of William Birken's trypophobia-inducing excess of glistening yellow eyeballs in Resident Evil 2, the grotesque silhouettes of Dead Space's necromorphs, or the unnatural, arachnoid jut of mannequin limbs in Silent Hill 2, and you could be watching one of Shinya Tsukamoto's finest (or Ringu, more appropriately, when it comes to the last on that list).

But while these Eastern sensibilities have been baked into many Western survival horror games over the years without being overt about it – like Alan Wake 2 for example – Silent Hill f wears that heritage with pride.

Set in the Showa era of Japan, somewhere between 1926 and 1989, the backdrop of Silent Hill f presents a "familiar yet alien" world, one still holding onto "customs and superstitions long forgotten," according to the recent deep-dive video on YouTube.

Gone are the rusty hues of the Overworld, the barren streets and urban decay of a forgotten American town. Instead, Silent Hill f is cherry blossoms and Torii gates, bright red blood and scattered schoolkids. Neobards describes how the goal here is to make Western players feel unsettled yet awestruck by the cultural differences, shown through architecture, language, and aesthetics, while those local to the Northeast Asian region might feel a creeping sense of twisted familiarity.

It speaks to the extreme care and attention to detail Neobards has put into crafting a distinct atmosphere in Silent Hill f, keeping to the series' core values despite the fresh setting.

Touchdown

That fresh setting is a victory for Konami. In bringing players to Japan for the first time in Silent Hill history, all while maintaining its stylized atmosphere, the series is achieving something it's been striving toward since 2004.

Silent Hill: The Room was the first time the publisher sought to separate Silent Hill "the game" from Silent Hill "the place." Instead of the town or a repeated cast of characters being the series' key lynchpin, it established a new normal: that Silent Hill's atmosphere itself is the unifying thread. Dread is palpable throughout Konami's survival horror legacy series, the oppressive atmospheres in each game memorable not for their visual significance, but how they make us feel. To me, Silent Hill f is just doing the exact same thing – except the visual signifiers are everything.

Silent Hill f's Japanese setting is more than a homecoming. It punctuates Konami's mission to evolve the franchise after 13 long years of dormancy, embracing Silent Hill's past and present in doing so. Of course, it had to stumble a little to get here. Our Silent Hill: The Short Message review sums it up nicely, but last year's bitesize P.T.-like walking sim was a major disappointment for myself and many other fans (I stand by my verdict of "subtle as a brick to the nose"). But now, consider the slate wiped clean. I'm glad to see Konami playing to its strengths without playing things safe.

So yes, maybe Silent Hill f is the biggest risk the publisher has taken in years – but I'm keen to see it pay off tenfold.

Check out all the upcoming PS5 games on the cards for 2025 and beyond, from Silent Hill f to Resident Evil Requiem

Even without skyscrapers, light pollution, and the near constant blare of lewd TV ads, the liveliness of the Kovirian marketplace in The Witcher 4's Unreal tech demo taps into the environmental buzz of Cyberpunk 2077. So much so that, after watching YouTube clips of players taking Geralt out for light strolls around some of The Witcher 3's most bustling haunts – Novigrad and Toussaint here, specifically – I'm struck by the almost eerie silence in comparison.

Maybe it's the rose tinted glasses of nostalgia, but I never noticed how quiet The Witcher 3 can be. Soft footsteps and the odd NPC bark aside, it seems these thriving townships suffer from a serious lack of actual thriving. Sure, it was (and still is) one of the best RPGs for a reason, but with The Witcher 3 having turned 10 this year, it's clear that CD Projekt Red has learned a lot of lessons since then. Specifically, around how to craft an environment – and the tech demo has me hyped for Ciri to get a taste of Night City's buzz

Night and day cities

As much as I love the "city of dreams,", it took the developer almost four years-post launch to achieve Cyberpunk 2077's potential.

Today, Night City is as immersive of a video game metropolis as you can get. Hundreds of NPCs crowd the streets from Heywood to Japantown and beyond, the roads teem with cars of all shapes, sizes, and engine, and sound is pretty much everywhere.

You can almost smell cigarette smoke through the screen, hazy and thick in the early morning air as a nightclub's rhythmic bass keeps the party going, or taste the oily scopdog being wolfed down by a nearby Tyger Claw seconds before getting shoulder-chucked by a dude in leopard-print hotpants. This thoroughly lived-in vibe is what makes Cyberpunk such an exciting place to escape to in a video game, and sadly, it's something we just did not get in The Witcher 3.

In the videos linked above, I was surprised to see how much I'd disregarded the lack of urban business in CD Projekt Red's most iconic RPG. One of them sees an NPC drinking silently and repetitively from a flask of wine, rooted to the spot, while a passing woman bemoans her husband's adulterous liaisons, all while Geralt simply walks past them like a ghost. Suddenly, a child comes running up beside him, causing a collision issue with the striding witcher as her character model seems to reverberate off Geralt's for a moment before coming unstuck and continuing on her travels.

In hindsight, the lack of bustle makes these cities feel a bit, well, dead. Thankfully, The Witcher 4 looks to change that.

Leaps and boundaries

This time around, bringing Night City's lively urban environments to The Witcher 4 seems paramount to CD Projekt Red. It's part of the studio's mission to deliver "the most ambitious, immersive Witcher game ever," harnessing the power of Unreal Engine 5.6 to do so.

In the short clip seen in the tech demo where Ciri walks around a marketplace in Kovir, that power is already evident – as are flavors of Night City's vitality. A tavern keeper is seen throwing an unruly patron out into the streets in what looks like a scripted environmental encounter, triggered by the player's proximity to a certain location. This reminds me of the Cyberpunk 2077 quest Don't Lose Your Mind, which kicks in only when observing a car crash while driving around Corpo Plaza's roundabout.

Not only that, the environmental noise is far more realistic. It's only an in-engine demo to showcase the technology, with an on-screen warning indicating that it's "not actual gameplay," but hearing fully-scripted NPC conversations happening while Ciri waltzes past is a far cry from the near deathly silence of towns in The Witcher.

It's too early to say for sure, but this small slice of progress tells me that CD Projekt Red is taking innovation seriously. With plenty of lessons learned through Cyberpunk 2077 and DLC Phantom Liberty, its design philosophy is a testament to the studio's immense growth, reminding us why The Witcher 4 is one of the most exciting new games on the horizon. Let's hope we get eyes on some actual game footage soon to see if it holds up.

There's plenty more upcoming PS5 games on the way besides The Witcher 4... though I'll admit, it's still my most wanted

Capping off a post-launch development journey which could rival actual early access games after "over 50 free updates," Lords of the Fallen version 2.0 recently added a boatload of new features and quality-of-life tweaks to a Soulslike action RPG that I previously rated as good but not great.

Billed as the definitive edition of the October 2023 release, 2.0 is crowned by something I desperately wanted on day one: "full shared progression co-op."

Co-op is something that Soulslikes have generally struggled with, and despite boasting of the best co-op in the genre, Lords of the Fallen redux left a friend and I feeling high and dry. You could play together, slightly more synchronously than in something like Elden Ring, but you couldn't truly progress together. Bosses and rewards were instanced, so any sort of co-op run required interminable hoop-jumping and reconnects.

In the end, my friend and I decided it wasn't worth it and just beat the game separately, exchanging anecdotes as grimdark medieval pen pals instead. But no more. "Embark on a seamless co-op journey with Shared Progression Co-op!" developer CI Games implores in update 2.0. Here's the rundown, straight from the patch notes:

• Both players now save all mainline progress.
• Join a fellow lampbearer via automatic matchmaking or adventure with a friend (must be on the same New Game playthrough and have defeated a similar number of bosses, within a margin of one).
• Option to play standard co-op without shared progression.
• Both players can revive each other, collect 100% vigor, and loot in all online sessions.
• Full crossplay support via password matchmaking.

Okay, CI Games, I'll give it to you. This does genuinely sound like the best co-op experience in the whole genre. I'm eager to try it myself, especially because many of the game's plentiful previous updates already had me hankering for a replay.

I once described Lords of the Fallen as the most 3.5/5 game to ever get a 3.5/5, and its 64% positive Steam reviews (a whopping 24,390 of them) aren't undeserved, but I have fond memories of it. It's my kind of game, jank and all. With substantially less jank and markedly smarter features, it may one day reach the dizzying heights of mostly positive overall.

Elsewhere, this whopper of a patch refines combat and movement, tightens lock-on mechanics, adds a game-sharing crossplay friend pass to make co-op even more accessible, expands the character creator with more body types, and streamlines the UI. The new dynamic HUD, which can be totally disabled if you want maximum immersion and field of view, is another standout.

To the game's credit, this could've been another Code Vein (which I also enjoyed despite huge problems) that launched pretty janky and just sort of stayed that way, but Lords of the Fallen has demonstrably improved in the past year and change. It was always a heck of a lot better than the first Lords of the Fallen, that's for sure. Here's hoping the studio's next game can preclude the comeback arc by building on this evolution and folding in lessons like these before launch.

Even if it isn't a Soulslike, Phantom Blade Zero still wants to channel that "pre-Elden Ring" FromSoftware level design with secrets and layers.

Adding another feather to his already worryingly feathered cap, Old School RuneScape YouTuber Settled recently capped off an MMO challenge run, which began all the way back in late 2023, with a downright cinematic 68-minute video finale that's hit the OSRS community like a hurricane. With the video sitting at over 510k views after one day, the OSRS community attach rate on Settled content continues to embarrass even console pack-in games.

Settled is known for concocting custom rule sets that dramatically limit his options while playing new OSRS accounts and totally warp the way he plays the game. His breakthrough video series was arguably Swampletics, which locked his account to the swampy region of Morytania and forced him to get creative with limited resources, but he's also done fringe speedruns and a "Tileman" run where his ability to walk around the tile-based game was tied to how much skill experience he earned.

The rules themselves are absurd and eye-catching, but it's Settled's ability to collate and narrate these stories, while teaching viewers weird facts about OSRS and sneaking in increasingly elaborate animations and edits, that's built his 731k YouTube subscriber base.

Settled's latest series, "Nightmare Mode," required a custom-built plugin (by fellow OSRS sicko Gudi, who is no stranger to absurd OSRS nooks and crannies) that permanently deletes your account password if you take any damage whatsoever. If you're unfamiliar with OSRS combat mechanics and environmental systems, just know that it's alarmingly easy to take damage from all kinds of sources, from traps to random critters to hard-hitting bosses. Eating food (often seafood, funnily enough) to recover from damage is a core part of the game.

Playing OSRS without taking any damage, effectively setting your hitpoints to one, is like trying to find a needle in a haystack without popping the balloons covering you head to toe. This account is also an Ironman, meaning Settled can't trade with players and has to source all items himself. Naturally, this has required extensive planning and, the mother of all innovations, a lot of failure, to say nothing of the mechanical skill needed to use protection prayers to prevent unavoidable hits from actually dealing damage.

For some time, Settled has been playing his 109th Nightmare Mode account, and compared to some early setbacks and resets (the fence arc is a must-watch, and I'm not kidding), it's come impressively far.

Without taking damage, Settled has cleared the iconic Fire Cape Fight Caves challenge, to all and sundry a critical OSRS milestone, and built a solid collection of armor sourced from a dangerous minigame that's filled with chip damage.

With his final challenge, Settled set his eyes on the Colosseum, a relatively new combat gauntlet which puts players through multiple waves of enemies featuring myriad combat styles and special modifiers. The Colosseum was added to OSRS in early 2024 and is still generally regarded as one of the most difficult encounters in the entire MMO, on or near the level of the exhausting multi-wave Inferno which awards the coveted Inferno Cape.

Most players enter the Colosseum seeking money or the untradeable Dizana's Quiver, which boosts your ranged attacks significantly, but Settled was in it for the glory. The whole point of this series was to see how far a Nightmare account could go, and without wishing to spoil the 68-minute finale – packed with close calls and yet more cinematics for the OSRS YouTube hall of fame – he's certainly pushed it to a rare extreme.

New RuneScape co-op survival game debuts to 79% positive Steam reviews in Early Access, but it can't escape Valheim's shadow.

Time waits for no one – not even GTA 6. It's been almost 15 months since that first trailer broke across the internet like a burst dam, its contents soaking into the very marrow of Western pop culture and reflecting it back at us. The game's cinematic reveal seemed to have its finger on the pulse of everything 2023, from doomscrolling to twerking, showing off on social media, Instagram Lives, and even a surprise appearance from the viral Florida Joker. It felt oddly prescient. If Rockstar had been hard at work on this trailer for ages, how did it echo that moment in time so accurately?

But that was back in 2023. Just this morning I had to look up the trailer to rewatch it and remind myself what about it had us all feeling so seen by GTA 6 over a year ago. While the digital world hasn't changed that dramatically since December 2023, something about how current Rockstar is trying to be with its pop culture references has me concerned that GTA 6 might be DOA – dated on arrival.

#Relatable?

The thought struck me while watching a YouTube video about Two and a Half Men. Specifically, on the topic of how its showrunners deliberately avoided making timely jokes to prevent the show aging out of its own humor. The goal was to create a timeless sitcom, one that would be considered (subjectively) funny for years to come. It's the antithesis of what Rockstar Games has always done with Grand Theft Auto, and for once, that fact has me worried.

We all know Rockstar Games is good at satire. Poking fun at society while using humor to make thinly-veilled statements about it has long been GTA's modus operandi, allowing each instalment of the action series to tap into the zeitgeist and feel very much "built for" its audience at the time of release. But with that comes the very real risk of outdated references, and this time, I'm not talking about playing GTA Liberty City Stories 19 years later. Already, some elements of the GTA 6 trailer are at odds. The references can feel both too sharply related to its 2023 release, and too generally hinged on the current decade to feel all that precise. The combination makes its feeling of currency, in hindsight, a bit of an illusionary magic trick on Rockstar's part.

I can hardly blame the studio. It's been 12 years since GTA 5 launched, and compared to the five that separated GTA 4 from its next mainline instalment, the road to GTA 6 currently amounts to the longest development cycle for a Grand Theft Auto game in franchise history. This gulf of time makes it far too risky for Rockstar to go all-in on the meta humor where the erratic natures of social media and meme trends are concerned. It's especially true considering the smaller seismic shifts therein over recent months; a mass Twitter/X exodus for one, and the near-banning of TikTok in the US for another. With this in mind, the GTA 6 trailer becomes something of a time capsule to a simpler time – despite only having launched a year and three months ago. The exponential speed at which topicality fades into nostalgia is staggering, thanks in no small way to the Internet's "gift" of instant gratification. Yesterday's viral hit is today's nobody. I'd hate to see GTA 6 fall foul of that trap with all its meta references.

But as a cinematic introduction to GTA 6, there's no telling whether the game itself will actually feature any of the announcement trailer's content. Perhaps the Florida Joker will be nixed after having faded well into obscurity over the last 15 months, and perhaps Rockstar will find a clever way of acknowledging the "new" America in its game when it releases during President Trump's second term. That said, the keen, socially relevant edges of the trailer's cutting bite are slowly being dulled over time – and I hope Rockstar is lighting a fire under its own ass to swerve that risk.

GTA 6 will "push the limits of what's possible" in open-world games, says Rockstar co-founder

In my previous attempt at Prologue: Go Wayback!, the survival game from PUBG creator Brendan Greene's new studio, I thought I'd found the perfect spawn. After several runs where I'd frozen to death barely beyond my starting spawn, I found myself on a new expedition laden down with amazing equipment that would ensure I remained toasty warm all the way to my objective. Sadly, in my hubris, I elected not to pack a torch, and eventually starved to death, stumbling around, utterly lost, in the pitch black.

Prologue is unapologetically simple. In each game, you'll spawn in a run-down cabin in a river valley inspired by rural central Europe. Somewhere atop the valley will be a weather station, and it will be your job to overcome the terrain and the elements to make it there, managing hunger, thirst, cold, and your inventory as you go. In that sense, it plays much like many survival games. In two very important ways, however, it's unlike any survival game you've ever played.

The first of those, is that while it's simple, Prologue is also, according to creative director Scott Davidson, "as hard a survival game as you could make." Cold, hunger, and thirst will kill you almost instantly. Making a fire is not about selecting it from a build menu, but carefully arranging kindling and logs. Navigating the world is not a case of following a minimap, but of using a handheld map and compass to orient yourself within your environment. There's no real tutorial to speak of, and the few hints that might give you an advantage are subtly placed . And all that serves to exacerbate Prologue's other important development - that you'll never play the same map twice.

Brave New World

Prologue is the first step towards Project Artemis, the studio's lofty goal of creating a shared world thousands of square kilometers in size and capable of hosting millions of players. That project is still a decade or more away, but Prologue is the first real test of the tech behind it - procedural generation driven by machine learning, currently capable of generating 4.2 billion viable world seeds. No matter how far you make it to the station, success or failure will automatically generate a new world. There'll be no saving your progress in case something goes wrong, and no chance to study the world to get an advantage next time.

That variance isn't felt too keenly. As I played, the devs repeatedly invoked 'the oatmeal problem' of procedural generation - you can generate 10,000 unique bowls (or forests, in this case), but do they actually feel different to the person experiencing them? Not really. What billions of potential maps does ensure, however, is that when you get an advantage, you cling to it. A successful journey will last days in-game, multiple hours in real-time, and that's not the kind of investment you want to throw away because you did something stupid like deciding that your torch doesn't fit in your rucksack.

Shacking up

Prologue's goal is simple - cross the map to reach the weather station - but its world is deadly, and the keys to success in its emergent, simulation-driven world are not clear if you've not spent a lot of time honing your real-life survival skills in the wilderness. Even something as simple as reading a compass can be crucial to survival, but the game won't tell you how to do it. If you want to work out how to navigate, or build a fire, the devs' instructions are clear - go to YouTube, find out how to do it in real life, and then translate those skills to the game.

It's not a flawless comparison with the real world. In its search for systems-driven gameplay, the team is yet to iron out some of the jankier elements - my first attempt to start a fire ended in me shivering in a lean-to shack, a small pile of twigs and some singed cardboard scattered haphazardly around my feet.

That meant I'd lost runs to hypothermia. I'd also lost runs to crashes of this super early-access build, and I'd lost runs to getting lost in the dark thanks to nothing but my own hubris. It's not until stumbling upon a bugged bottomless can of soda (which I diligently let the devs know about first), that I really begin to make progress. With enough warm clothing to stave off the weather and enough sweet, carbonated beverage to keep my belly full forever, I knew it was a matter of when, not if, I would make it to the weather station.

Rocking out

Lacking confidence in my navigation skills, and with the forest too dense for the map to be of much use, I opt for a more basic form of orienteering. Confident that the accurately-modeled terrain tech would help me out, I head resolutely downhill, looking for water. After what feels like hours, I finally emerge onto the river bank. Yet, even being clear of trees doesn't help, the foggy weather rolling in still hiding the weather station. Using the compass to determine that the river runs north-west to south-east, I'm able to cross-reference the map to finally pinpoint my position. Freshly re-oriented, I set out anew. Eventually though, it's a different bug which brings this attempt to an end - I try to cross the river by jumping between rocks, but I find myself stuck in the game's geometry, where even fizzy pop is no aid.

Whether Prologue is 'fun' is a difficult question to answer. In its current state it's a punishing experience driven by clunky physicality that requires patient study to take advantage of even its more simple ideas. In many ways, it's a first viable product for which the eventual payoff is still years away. It is also, however, deeply compelling. In my interview with Greene, he's excited by the 'one more try' feedback, similar to that which preceded the success of his 'one more drop' battle royale experiment.

Even in the face of crashes and glitches (that are at the top of the devs' list of pre-release fixes), I'm on the same page – I desperately want to give Prologue on more go. Uncovering new gear, or working out how to actually light a fire and cook food is a thrill. Its slightly slavish attachment to emergent, systems-driven gameplay will turn some people off, but it feels like a survival fan's dream. There are issues to iron out, but for a game that might have been little more than proof of concept, there's the beginnings of a true wilderness experience in here that could take both the survival genre and open-world tech a huge leap forward.

"If we can do it… This will be something groundbreaking": PUBG creator Brendan Greene is five years into making a 10,000km "realistic Minecraft" – but there's still a decade to go.

You win some, you lose some. As 2024 draws to a close, the age-old adage could not be more true in the realm of horror games. Past years have seen us ushering in the survival horror renaissance, with 2023's Resident Evil 4 and Alan Wake 2 being the triple-A evidence markers that stand out in particular. But this year, the bloodsoaked battlefield that is the horror genre is looking a little different, and it's down to the immense risks developers and publishers are willing to take.

Granted, some of these landed better than others. But following a year where major remakes were king, I've seen a lot more going on in the realm of new horror IPs, daring sequels, and retro indies that have me most excited for the upcoming horror games of 2025. It all comes down to the fact that risk is the secret sauce that keeps the genre in a constant state of growth. The need to "play it safe" can throttle horror, keeping it rooted in time instead of evolving with the people who play it. My top three horror games of the year – Slitterhead, Silent Hill 2, and Senua's Saga: Hellblade 2 – prove this point in very different ways.

Roads untaken

One sequel, one new property, and one remake of a survival horror classic. That's an easy summary of how each of the above games feed into 2024's diverse horror portfolio. It's not the novelty factor that stands out to me, though, but how the developers of each one sought to push the genre beyond its existing boundaries by taking necessary risks.

As said in my Hellblade 2 review, Ninja Theory's haunting cinematic sequel pushes the technological limits of what the Xbox Series X is capable of. It's both a video game and a narrative experience, putting greater emphasis on the latter at times to create what many might (incorrectly) dismiss as a horror walking simulator with combat encounters. This is not necessarily a huge risk, seeing as Hellblade: Senua's Sacrifice follows a similar puzzle-centric structure, but the fact that so many hold that design factor against it is a point of interest to me.

Hellblade never pretended to be God of War or Assassin's Creed Valhalla. It is neither a Viking action game nor a Norse god power fantasy, but a deeply harrowing character study of a mentally ill woman facing horrors inside and out. I was glad to see Ninja Theory doubles down on those themes further in Hellblade 2, proving something poignant: horror is not meant to be approachable and easy to digest. It doesn't always have to be a high-octane combat thriller like the best survival horror games. Horror can have powerful, human stories as a central driving force, and there are too few of such games out there right now. By refusing to conform to genre conventions, Hellblade 2 stands out as one of the most important horror games in recent years – and there's nothing "safe" about it.

Underdogs

That said, Hellblade 2 was a known quantity from a Microsoft-owned developer, and thereby affords itself a degree of preconceived quality. The same cannot be said of November release Slitterhead, a fresh horror IP from a brand new studio.

Composed of ex-Team Silent creatives Keiichiro Toyama and Akira Yamaoka, Bokeh Game Studios' maiden voyage already had me chomping at the bit when Slitterhead was first announced in 2021. I had no idea what to expect of this grisly body horror game then, and nothing could prepare me for just how unique an experience it turned out to be.

Slitterhead's abject refusal to follow horror norms of any kind is largely what sold me on it, its dynamic combat system bolstered by a '90s neo-noir sci-fi narrative that always zigged when I thought it would zag. Much like Hellblade 2, Slitterhead wasn't the sleeper hit I considered it to be. But all of Bokeh's risks paid off to deliver a truly singular horror game, one that I can see finally getting recognition years from now when a slew of YouTube videos entitled "BIGGEST MISSED HORROR GEM OF 2024?" inevitably pop up.

Present from the past

On the other side of the risk-taking coin, we have Silent Hill 2. As a remake of a beloved classic horror game, the pre-release concerns were absolutely rife; from asinine griping over character remodelling to just how faithful Bloober Team would be to its source material, there was plenty more bad sentiment than good floating around it earlier this year. But Silent Hill 2 wowed critics and the public alike. Its biggest risk? Modernizing the gameplay in line with the third-person perspective popularized by the Resident Evil remakes.

In hindsight, making adjustments to conform with an industry standard is perhaps the least risky thing Bloober Team could do – what else is the purpose of a remake, after all? – but in reality, the decision carried a lot of weight. The fixed camera angles fed into the constant terror of the original, with something always lurking just beyond the player's field of vision. All other changes were made to accommodate this perspective shift, from more complex combat to reworked puzzles, expanded world exploration, and monster functionality itself. In a way, Konami took a risk not by innovating on the horror genre, but by rebuilding its most iconic game for an extremely critical audience and daring to stand by its decisions.

As 2025 looms in the shadows, promising a host of brand new nightmares like Directive 8020, I'm more optimistic than ever for this risk-taking trend to persist. Even games that fall flat of the mark feed into the evolution of the genre as a whole, stoking the decades-long cycle of invention and reinvention that keeps horror games – much like Frankenstein's monster – very much alive indeed.

From shooters to zombies, here are the best horror games to play next.

The survival horror renaissance is alive and well in 2024, and the latest proof is the fact that Alien: Isolation 2 is currently in "early development". Creative Assembly's modern cult classic is still a terrifying force to be reckoned with, its heart-pounding concoction of claustrophobic cat-and-mouse in an abandoned spacecraft proving prime nightmare fodder even a decade on. If the original Dead Space (and System Shock, to an extent) set the scene for deep space horror to take off, Alien: Isolation took those blueprints and bolted with them.

With the current trends leaning toward remake upon remake of the best survival horror games of yore, though, it's a relief that Creative Assembly is doing something different. Instead of rebuilding the 2014 original, fans are to be treated to a full-blown Alien: Isolation sequel – and hot on the heels of this summer's box office hit Alien: Romulus, the announcement couldn't have been timed better. There's not much else to go on just yet, but the raucously positive response from the horror community indicates to me that the genre might not be as stuck in the past as I'd feared. 

Ellen Ripley's believe it or not

You and I might consider Alien: Isolation to be a legendary survival horror game, but it didn't start off that way. That's because while critical reception seemed strong enough, with GamesRadar+ giving it a solid score in our Alien: Isolation review, it seemed a vast majority of mainstream gamers just weren't hungering for horror the way they are now. Let's Play content on YouTube allowed many to experience the terror without having to take part themselves, and what's more, it was the year of Far Cry 4, Dragon Age: Inquisition, and Dark Souls 2 to name a handful of 2014's superstars. With no shortage of games on the table for players to devour, Alien: Isolation would slink into the shadows, finding success in a passionate niche of the community instead of the bottom line.

Today, the landscape looks a little different. True, horror is still not the biggest genre in the industry, but its fans have grown louder as the community swells with each passing year. One large, Tyrant-shaped reason for the sudden increased appetite? You can thank the litany of remakes over the past five years. Leon and Claire returned to our screens in Capcom's Resident Evil 2 Remake in 2019, and suddenly, it seemed that atmospheric, nostalgic, run-and-gun horror games were cool again. You only need to look at Silent Hill 2's immense critical and public success this month, despite years of wariness from its dedicated fanbase, or Motive's thrilling Dead Space remake back in early 2023, to see the trend for yourself. The horror remake renaissance has been upon us for years now. That much is clearer than the starry skies above Raccoon City.

But Creative Assembly isn't following that herd in particular. Rather, it's doing an Alan Wake 2 and promising to deliver a brand new terrifying adventure, building on its legacy rather than reconstructing it piece by piece. In a world where new horror IPs are hard to come by in the world of video games, I'll take it. 

There's something special about a long overdue sequel that broadens appeal tenfold. Drawing in fans of the original is one way, sure, but more importantly, these sequels offer an entry point for new players to get on board too. With enough time having passed since the previous game, there's enough room for developers to rehash, revise, or reinvent a series in a sequel to ensure the new entry feels relevant to modern audiences. I might be alluding to Alan Wake 2 here – specifically, its musical means of recapping events for new players and those with fuzzy memories alike – but this isn't something we only see in horror. Take Dragon Age: The Veilguard, for example, and how Bioware's confirmation that only a few player choices will be carried across from Inquisition effectively positions the game as a great place to start for newbies. If Alien: Isolation 2 plays its cards just right, opening up the field to temper the familiar with the novel, it could end up being a horror game for the many instead of the few.

That said, working with a blockbuster Hollywood IP like Alien indicates a level of assumed knowledge on the player's part. Having even a basic grasp of the context, lore, and events of the Alien movies might be helpful, but it shouldn't be a barrier. The inclusivity of the horror community has always been its biggest strength, and when the time comes that we learn more about Alien: Isolation 2, I'm hoping to see more of that welcoming spirit as we take on the xenomorphs again – or perhaps something else? – more than a decade later.

There are plenty of upcoming horror games to jot down as well as Alien: Isolation 2, from Directive 8020 to Dying Light: The Beast.

The Elgato Prompter is the type of product that defines this brand. I first used Elgato products way back in 2015 when I bought its first-ever capture card, the Game Capture HD. Since then, streaming and content creation hardware has popped up from almost every gaming peripheral brand, but Elgato has always been the trailblazer, inventing never-before-seen products you wonder how anyone ever achieved success without.

Before this becomes a puff piece about Elgato, let me make clear that this manufacturer has not been my favorite in recent years. Innovation has often given way to iterative products that don’t offer people anything new, but still demand a higher price than rival companies. I understand that not every product Elgato makes can reinvent the wheel, but this is a wing of Corsair that’s at its best when it’s creating the first of something - products that have never before appeared on our best gear for streaming lists.

The Elgato Prompter is such a product. It feels as practical as the original Game Capture and as intuitive as the first Stream Deck. This is Elgato truly innovating, and despite a lofty price of $279.99 / £279.99, it’s something I’d even recommend to beginners. If you plan to present a script to camera often, this is a must-have device that has no true alternative.

Design

I’m not going to claim that Elgato invented the teleprompter. An inverted display and some reflective glass have been used since the dawn of television to make speaking directly into a camera lens feel more natural. For streamers and content creators, though, options are pretty limited. You can get something to set your phone in, or you can buy a tablet and attach it to a tripod. Alternatives on Amazon often feel so make-shift that they’re not worth the bother. Elgato has changed that by taking the traditional teleprompter and adapting it for the internet, making it the perfect solution for the masses. 

As you might expect, there are two main parts to the Prompter, a 9-inch display with a 1024 x 600p resolution, and then a reflective piece of special glass fixed above it. Behind the glass sits a housing for attaching a camera that will then, in theory, capture footage at the same quality it would usually. 

The “attaching a camera” bit is where discussing the design of Elgato’s Prompter gets quite tricky because there are so many moving parts that will differ for you depending on which camera and even lens you’re using. In the box, you get a slew of what Elgato calls step-up rings - special fittings that you can poke your camera through. To be precise, you get a 49, 52, 55, 58, 62, 67, 72, 77, and 82 mm ring, which gives you loads of leeway for adding different cameras.

If you’re using one of the best webcams, there’s a backplate that will help smaller lenses remain secure, as well as a fixing plate that holds them in place from below. There’s definitely scope for a lot of webcams to work, but, based on my testing with several different models, the overall design does feel more tilted at DSLR cameras and the shape of Elgato’s own Facecams, like the Facecam MK2.

Helpfully, Elgato also provides a handy USB-C to USB-A 3.0 cable, which has a right angle at the “C” end so it won’t pull at the prompter. I’ve also played around with the included shroud that comes in the box, which adds yet more versatility for lighting control. I did love that inside Elgato’s very sustainable packaging, you get everything you’ll need for setting up the Prompter, including mounting screws and a cleaning cloth. The only thing you’ll really need to buy separately is a tripod, but chances are, if you’re looking into buying a prompter like this, you’ll already have one.

Features

As is the case for all of Elgato’s products that aren’t capture cards, the Prompter is controlled through the brand’s Camera Hub software. This gives the Prompter its three distinct “modes”, all of which can be helpful depending on what you’re up to. The first mode is a straight-up display mode, which your PC or Mac will recognize by default. This is exactly what it sounds like - the Prompter will act as a defacto display you can position and configure how you’d like. It uses a panel with a 60Hz refresh rate, and for reasons I’ll come onto, I wish there were more options here. 

The second is the prompter mode. This loads up a script you add into the Camera Hub, and the display turns into what you’d expect of a teleprompter. What I really like in this mode is how many settings Elgato thought to include. Camera Hub allows you to control the brightness and contrast level of the display, the speed of the scroll, the margin size, and even the color and font of the text and background, which is huge for someone like me who has dyslexia. If you want the size of the text to be larger, you can change that as well to make it the most comfortable reading experience for you. When you paste a script into the software, it will automatically load into chapters that make clicking to different points in the script so much easier. Additionally, if you move your mouse cursor onto the prompter’s display, you can scroll up and down manually.

New settings for the Prompter mode seem to be in the works as well because even since I got my review unit, the ability for Camera Hub to scroll the Prompter’s text using your voice (and natural reading speed) has been added. I can’t wait to see what more utility comes later on.

The third mode is more useful for streamers, because it’s a chat window. In concept, you throw your Twitch handle into the settings menu, and the display will then let you monitor your Twitch stream’s chat. Viewers can feel as though you are actually talking directly to them if you do this because looking at the camera is looking at what they’ve been saying. Annoyingly, YouTube chat still can’t be integrated, which is a real shame. I have no doubt this is in the pipeline, but it’s taking a frustratingly long time to add.

Performance

Having a prompter this powerful has made creating my videos on YouTube so much easier. Before, I’d have to earmark the parts of my scripts I’d want to appear on camera for, memorize them, and then deliver them accordingly when laying down a voice-over track. This was fine, but a less-than-perfect solution. If I changed my mind later and wanted a different part of the script on camera, then I wouldn’t have the option on the cutting room floor. Now, I can deliver an entire script directly to the camera with all the expressions and eye contact I’d like, and I have so many options when it comes to editing. 

Not only that, but memorising parts of a script and practising delivery can be tricky and time consuming. The Prompter allows me to read more naturally, and if I want a different take, it’s easy to skip back a chapter and redo. Before having a Prompter to read from, I used to do this annoying thing where my eyes would already start moving away from the lens and toward my script before a natural cutting point. Now, the script and camera are one, so I don’t need inventive cutting to get around bad presenting.

Then, when you add the customization options, you get so much scope to make the Prompter feel like your own. As a dyslexic, I can find reading certain fonts harder than others, and coloring the texts or backgrounds can really help me. I love that Elgato has supplied that option, because so often dyslexic people aren’t thought of, and need to adapt to what everyone else can do easily. Being able to change font and margin size is a huge win too. Depending on the distance you are from your camera when recording, the margin on the prompter can make it obvious you’re reading - which viewers will be able to pick up on.

Now, I know this isn’t one of the best gaming monitors, but I wish the Elgato Prompter could change its refresh rate. I use a Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra because it’s probably the best webcam ever made, but at 4K, it can still only capture at 30fps. When you have a display projecting light at 60Hz up into a lens capturing at 30Hz, you can get a bad case of glare and flickering. Changing brightness and contrast levels can help, as can using the included shroud to block out other lighting sources. Nevertheless, this is a flaw for anyone not using a DSLR camera because it makes even the uppermost echelon of webcams feel troublesome. I also think there’s a slight disparity between the step-up ring that’s most appropriate for the Kiyo Pro Ultra’s and its actual size - and it wouldn’t surprise me if that’s the case for some of Elgato’s other rival products.

Zooming out, this refresh rate issue speaks to my wider issues with Elgato’s Prompter. As a content creation tool alone, this product is unmatched, but for its other use cases, I’m not sure it’s truly viable.

I was so excited to use the Elgato Prompter as a third display, but in all honesty, it isn’t really worth keeping it plugged in. As a USB-C peripheral with no HDMI or DisplayPort connectivity, it puts extra strain on your CPU, and even with an Intel Core i5-13600K, I noticed that extra bandwidth being used. Furthermore, I wish the prompter was a little bit larger. As a third display in combination with two 27-inch monitors, it ends up looking too small and awkward to actually use comfortably. Throwing a video call window into the Prompter’s admittedly crystal clear display is a great idea, but the application will appear so small that you’ll probably end up squinting at whichever colleagues you have on a call, which would look more unnatural than just having them sit on a display underneath your webcam.

If I use my Prompter as a display, it’s usually to keep a file window or Spotify open, giving me easy access at any moment. The file window option is especially useful for video editing so I could drag and drop things onto my timeline, but for the most part, I ended up unplugging because it was more trouble than it was worth, and it was churning my PC fans into a frenzy. This went for using the Stream Chat mode too, unfortunately.

I can’t help but feel a second edition of the Prompter which will inevitably arrive in the future would benefit from a larger size, more refresh rate options, and either HDMI or DisplayPort support.

Should you buy the Elgato Prompter?

If you’re a content creator, the Elgato Prompter needs to be something you’re considering. I’d argue it’ll make as much difference to your content as one of the best microphones for streaming and gaming - and I value those highly.

For streamers and remote workers, I’d say it’s less valuable than Elgato would have you think. It’s just a little too small and a little too demanding for the average user who probably already has a million USB peripherals providing them value. 

If you’re a YouTuber or somebody who finds themselves presenting a script to camera often, this is no short of a must-have. This is Elgato at its innovative best and a product that’s given my content creation setup a massive quality-of-life boost.

Admittedly, this isn’t a cheap piece of kit, but it’s something I’d prioritize if you want to come across naturally on camera while having the confidence that your viewers will be seeing an authentic version of you.

How I tested the Elgato Prompter

I integrated the Elgato Prompter into my gaming, content creation, and work-from-home setup for around two months before writing up this review. In that time, I’ve had extensive experience with all of its use cases, including videos delivered to camera, use of it as a display for PC, and as a chat window while live streaming. 

Having been a content creator for YouTube for a while, I was able to compare my time spent testing the Prompter with my years of not having it, and I enjoyed being able to test out how the different settings in the Elgato Camera Hub changed my experience. You can compare my on-screen delivery in this video where I didn’t have the prompter with this one, where I did use it. 

For more on how we test gaming and streaming tech, check out the full GamesRadar+ Hardware Policy. 

A prompter isn’t the only thing that’ll make a difference to your content-creating setup. Check out the best ring lights for streaming, the best green screen, and the best streaming mixers. 

In an era littered with impossibly shiny live service games, there's something comforting about a little old- school jank. Enter: Greedfall 2. As I arrive in an old building in Western Paris, a barrage of rain pelting the  cavernous fifth floor windows, I put on my headphones and find myself whisked away to the fantastical jungles of Teer Fradee. It's a land-filled with skill trees, dialog choices, and ropey AI. But what this early build lacks in polish, it more than makes up for with ambition.

The brainchild of Parisian studio Spiders, 2020's Greedfall arrived seemingly out of nowhere. An intriguing blend of fantastical beasts, malevolent magic, and uncomfortably authentic 18th century colonialism – and yet against all odds, the gritty RPG was a sleeper hit. Shipping an impressive 2 million copies, Greedfall’s unique blend of action RPG and gritty questing struck a rare chord, offering a welcome throwback to the PC games of yesteryear. If this is the first that you’re hearing of Greedfall, fear not; Greedfall 2 is a great place to start. 

Character building

More prequel than sequel, Greedfall 2's prolog takes place three years prior to the events of the original, and despite missing the first game in a pandemic-filled haze, I still feel right at home in Teer Fradee. As I roam the tropical fantasy locale with my suitably derpy character-creator-conceived warrior – a time honoured RPG tradition – I quickly became entangled in Greedfall's BioWare-esque web of dialog choices, beckoning quest givers, and strategic, party-led combat. 

Where the original casts players as an invading noble dispatched to the newly-colonized Teer Fradeen, Greedfall 2 flips the script, placing you into the leather-bound shoes of a native struggling with how best to respond to the onslaught of rapidly arriving foreigners. Should the clans befriend their strange new arrivals and learn from their tech? Or should they be feared?

"It is fantasy, but really it's based on history," explains a smiling Jehanne Rousseau, co-founder and CEO of Spiders and lead writer for Greedfall. "Greedfall is more George RR Martin than Tolkien, a story about political schemes and murders rather than elves and dwarves. There are no knights or noble archetypes here – it's a world that's more dirty than heroic."

Rousseau sports a grin that rarely fades throughout our chat, and given the journey she's been on, it's not hard to see why. Cutting her teeth as an artist on '90s Gameboy tie ins, Rousseau has shipped everything from Inspector Gadget tie-ins on Gameboy Colour to Splinter Cell on the ill-fated Ngage. Yet despite working as both an artist and a producer over the years, Rousseau's true calling was always writing.  Filling her downtime scribbling campaigns as a D&D and Cthulhu games master, she'd pen scenario after scenario for her friends. Now, 25 years later, a world that Rousseau dreamed up has become beloved by millions.

"I remember the day of Greedfall's release," Rousseau reflects. "I was terrified. Literally terrified. I took the day off and I told the team, "I don't want to hear anything about what is in the press, [or] from socials, I just don't want to hear anything!" A deeply personal project, Rousseau couldn’t bear the idea of Greedall failing. Luckily, she didn’t have to. "Then finally, our musician Olivier called me and said, 'you can come out of hiding - it's okay. Everything is going fine!'"

Fight or flight

Part Avatar, part Assassin’s Creed 3, even in its pre Early Access state, Greedfall 2 is a world that feels wonderfully lived in, a tale that's steeped in the kind of texture and nuance that can only come from a creator that lives and breathes their fiction. "It's really exciting to go back to a world and do a sequel for the first time," Rousseau beams. "I've got hundreds of notes that I took while designing the first game, of all these other countries, of what different people were up to – many things that were never seen in the first game. And now, finally I can show you!"

Made by a team of less than 100 people, Greedfall 2 is the kind of AA project that feels refreshing in an industry that can feel creatively risk-averse at times. Still, if you're a fan of the original Greedfall, there's likely one major change you'll be wary of: the new combat. While its predecessor saw you take on man and beast in real-time battles, its sequel instead opts for a 'real time and pause' combat system; one that, if YouTube comments are anything to go by, has divided fans.

"It's true that it's a huge change," Rousseau agrees on the shift in combat styles. "But I think that subconsciously players were asking for these types of controls. It's now more consistent as a [party-based] team game – you've got your team of characters that will evolve together, some will die, some will leave, but it's still a team."

For Rousseau, it was clear that the combat in the original was the weakest link. "We were happy with the first game, but the combat was the thing that [players] were more critical about. People were saying we've got these companions, and they're just messing around. You're doing your own fight, and [your party is] always in the middle of what you're trying to do." That, to Rousseau, was disheartening. "The companions are really important in the experience of Greedfall – people liked to have them around, to share stories with them, to romance them and to use their skills and talents during dialog options, but there was this strange feeling that we are doing everything with them except fighting."

Go forth

Even in this slightly shaky pre-release state, I have fun with the 'real time and pause' approach to battles, happily switching between characters mid-skirmish in order to save a party member from certain death. It's fiddly and a bit hectic, but with the right amount of spit and polish, it's an approach to combat that could lend itself well to the party-first story that Greedfall 2 is aiming to tell.

While I embark on a variety of quests, I soon find myself relying on the dice roll-esque quality of my chosen character stats in order to see me through. Venturing through the mountains, I discover two of my clansmen howling in pain, ensnared in bear traps left by the invading foreigners. My first attempt at liberating them goes well, and one grateful kinsmen thanks me as he leaves, leg happily intact. The second of my friends? Less lucky. As I try to release his ensnared leg from its metal claws, my rudimentary skills fail, and the trap clamps shut, spraying the poor trapped man with a fountain of blood as he screeches in pain. Uh, sorry mate!

There is a lot going on in Greedfall 2, and while it still has a way to go, its scope is certainly impressive. After a Summer Game Fest that showcased the best and brightest in the indie and non-blockbuster space, Greedfall 2 slots perfectly into the landscape. Combining high fantasy elements with real-world historical contexts, Greedfall 2 tackles a refreshingly weighty breadth of themes, and that is to be applauded. Much like Baldur’s Gate 3, Greedfall 2 is launching first via Early Access, arriving on PC this summer. Rousseau tells me that the EA release will contain approximately 30% of the full game, lasting around 10-15 hours, with the full fledged launch arriving on PC in 2025, flanked by PS5 and Xbox versions. In other words, there’s more than enough time to transform this sequel into the kind of epic tale that it deserves to be, and with this much passion behind it, I'm hopeful that Spiders can fulfil its RPG destiny.

Greedfall 2 is just one of the many upcoming PC games to get hyped about this year.

"I often say that my computer raised me." Chantal Ryan's sentiment might ring true for many of us, and that intimate relationship is something that fuels her. "In many ways," she explains, "darkwebSTREAMER is a love letter to the old internet, which was really my era. It's almost like my town, my neighborhood, the street where I grew up."

Right down to its eerie promotional website, HTML codes hand-written by Ryan just as she did as a 10-year-old part time web designer in the 90s, darkwebSTREAMER is an analog horror game rooted in the oldest, gnarliest corners of the internet. The idea came to Ryan in a dream, but making it was always going to be an unconventional experience. 

"I was not a game maker," she confesses, describing her craft as being primarily an experimental horror writer, creative, and poet. "I had this fully-developed vision of this game come into my head. So it was more of an, 'oh shit, I've got to figure out how to make video games so I can make this'." But there's more to darkwebSTREAMER than paranormality and weirdos on the internet; it's about secrets, and venturing to the deepest parts of your psyche (as well as the dark web) to uncover them.

Plumbing the depths 

The phrase 'dark web' is one most of us have been taught to fear. Supposedly brimming with all manner of illegal activity, unsavoury individuals, and horrible things being done to good people, it makes sense that few feel they've the stomach to face it. While we are probably right about that, Ryan sees it differently.

"Dark web is a personal reference for me," she says. "The Tor network, which is the dark web that we speak of, is actually a very chaste version of what we think is this dark internet full of secrets. I really, genuinely feel that the 90s web era was the real dark web, before Google came in. Things weren't really indexed in the same way that the Tor network isn't really indexed. So you had to really dig around." As an example, Ryan tells me how she's "95% positive" that she saw infamous German cannibal Armin Meiwes at work on one such dug-up forum. Specifically, "the post that Armin had made, and the response from the person whose name I can't recall, who ended up being eaten." Her wide eyes reflect the computer screen before her, casting a glare over both our faces on this patchy video call. The clock hits 1am, and you know what? I'm inclined to believe her.

In short, not only has Ryan visited the dark web herself, she's played around with it. "I actually have websites hosted on the Tor network that are for people to find," she smiles. "I love to seed mysteries across the world."

Cannibals in search of their next consenting victims aside, Ryan's unique take on an indie horror game has led her to confront other sorts of demons – and I'm not talking about the ones with pointy horns. "Demons...are metaphors in a way," she muses. "I always describe [darkwebSTREAMER] as a psychological horror game. I don't mean psychological horror like 'oh no, I'm afraid of the demon', I mean, we're really investigating the darkness of humanity when we are exploring these websites. We're exploring what you, as the streamer, are willing to do to yourself for the people in pursuit of social clout. It is that observation of the internet past and the darkness of that space as well as contemporary darkness around us, almost like a collective loss of humanity in the objectification of ourselves in pursuit of subscribers, capitalistic gains, or social credit."

So, what does it feel like to play darkwebSTREAMER and experience this heavy metaphor at work via a simulated 90s computer screen? Ryan describes the game as a "narrative roguelike" of sorts, where no two one-hour playthroughs will ever be the same. 

Method and the madness 

Achieving a narrative, text-heavy game with so many different outcomes and pathways sounds exhausting, especially from a two-person team. The workaround is "an AI system that generates narrative in order to populate these [online] worlds," she says of the procedurally-generated internet that became the game's claim to fame right from the get-go. "I've always been fascinated by AI. I've always been really enamored with things that talk back." 

In creating darkwebSTREAMER this way, Ryan has come up with a "procedurally-generated roguelike" experience that deals less with RNG as it does with actual user input. Basically, the dark web you experience in-game is listening and responding to choices that you make.

"In theory, people can say the same sentence 100 different ways depending on who they are, their personality, their cultural, linguistic, geographic backgrounds. So I kind of just took that logic and I was like, 'I'm sure I can write a system that enables people to say the same thing in very different ways depending on their personality'." These language generation tools aren't the ones you might be thinking of when it comes to the AI sphere. "It's all ethical," Ryan says. "It's all handmade datasets, and the only hallucination is our intended hallucination. So it's very video game-functioning and appropriate."

In playing your character a certain way, darkwebSTREAMER allows you to lean into the RPG elements and craft who you are. That means that there are many different ways your character might respond to the dark web and its contents, depending upon where you go clicking. 

Much as in a roguelike, "the internet is the dungeon," explains Ryan. "A lot of the choices you're making will depend on what you find online, what websites you find, or which services you access. Did you find a doctor? Did you find a therapist? Did you find a demonologist? Or a witch? Or an antiquarian? Did you find this weird-ass marketplace? There's tons and tons of pages, and you're not going to find all of them every time. You're strategizing based on what is available to you during your playthrough, which will radically change the kind of story experiences you're having."

With no playable darkwebSTREAMER demo currently available to the public, I had to ask Ryan what the general reception has been so far from the lucky few who've gotten to play it at events. "I genuinely had no idea how people would receive the game," says Ryan of the first time she publicly showed the game at  PAX 2022. "I had some presumptions. I was like, this game probably won't sell very well, it's very reading heavy." But then, something happened that got her "anthropologist brain turning".

"I remember multiple times just turning around and realizing there were crowds, thick crowds of people around us, people craning to get a look at this game. I watched people queue for an hour to play, and people were bringing their friends back. And then their friends were bringing back friends. It was bizarre." Not only did everyone want to play darkwebSTREAMER, but a lot of them were happy to merely watch. In some ways, that's even weirder. But is it?

Fear itself 

This voyeuristic element of watching others in positions of fear and discomfort is interesting in itself. "I thought to myself, 'What is it about this text-based game that is really turning people into spectators and getting them so invested?' I think it's because so much of it is psychological, and it's very personal in many ways." Personal, yes, but it's also topical. How many of us have watched a Let's Play on YouTube, or subscribed to a Twitch channel to watch other people play games, horror or otherwise? 

When it comes to horror, Ryan and I agree on the strange level of protection that comes with being the observer rather than the observed. "People enjoy watching what kind of violence other people are going to experience. It's the threat of violence or conflict, and they're interested in the psychological effects and implications of what's going on. Maybe I'm very biased because like I'm really into that shit," she laughs. "Maybe there's a totally different reason people would literally crowd to watch [darkwebSTREAMER], but I did not expect that. It was almost like a performance art scenario, even though I conceived it very much as a private, in-the-dark experience, alone and quiet with your thoughts. That's still my favorite way for people to play it."

darkwebSTREAMER proves that what makes horror such a magnetic, emotional game genre isn't always jump-scares, monsters, or creepypastas found on some long-forgotten subreddit. Fight-or-flight triggers a unique response in all of us, toeing the precipice of life and death. Maybe existential horror is its only true form? That seems to be the case for Ryan, anyway. 

"I am the most immune horror person ever. I love horror because I seek that feeling of fear.  One of my favorite things to do is to go to the ocean and swim out as deep as I can, like way farther than anyone else around me, and I'll swim until I have no idea how deep it is below me, and I just exist. I'm in between here and the sky and the depths of the ocean, and I have no idea what's below me." Ryan admits to living in a "very shark-y place" in Australia, with a low yet very real risk of getting chowed down. "There's a feeling of safety in statistics," she jokes. 

"But this small possibility, knowing that things aren't in my control…I always feel most alive when I'm in that environment of suspended animation. I feel deeply alive when I know that there's the possibility of death. And that is, I think, what, partly what horror does for me, is when when it happens, the feeling I seek is that feeling of there being more to this world than meets the eye. Yes, that's scary, but also very invigorating and exhilarating. "

It's a perfect allegory for what she witnessed at PAX 2022. "Some people love to be in the ocean, with the fear of god-knows how much water is below them, and some people like to watch a video about someone doing just that. It's two very different kinds of people. The ones I get sad about are the people who won't engage with it at all. It's almost not being a good neighbor, to turn a blind eye from our mortality." At the end of the day, for Ryan, "being a horror artist is exactly that: it's about standing with people and holding their hand in the face of things that are scary. It is refusing to abandon people who don't have the choice in facing down scary things, and choosing to stand in solidarity with them instead."

Check out some of the awesome upcoming horror games still to come in 2024 and beyond, from Killer Klowns to Silent Hill 2.

Crammed into a computer shop in Rotterdam, Benjamin van Hemert waits anxiously. It's February 2017, and over a hundred people have arrived for a launch party, celebrating the culmination of six months' work on a game design course. Van Hemert and his team are all still students, but they're proud of what they made and are keen to put it out into the world – and specifically onto Steam. The team have opted for a free release, in the hope that the low barrier to entry will help net them the 1,000 downloads needed for a passing grade. 

Less than two hours later, Van Hemert's mind has been blown – We Were Here has already racked up seven times their target. "That's when I started feeling, OK, maybe I should've asked for money for this," he smiles. Making games had been a dream for Van Hemert since he was first given a Game Boy as a toddler; he'd taken game design as a minor, just one part of his wider multimedia degree. But this small success could change all that. "This might actually be a step into the games industry," he remembers thinking. And more than that, We Were Here's success provided a launchpad for an entire studio, one that quickly made its name as the go-to for virtual escape rooms. 

Yet despite the logic underpinning its games, the 'Mayhem' part of the studio's name is apt, betraying the chaotic work environment that defined its early years. That resulted in a six-month production pause in 2023 after most of the team had completed work on The FriendShip, as the former students and the team that had grown up around them tried to right the ship. Now, fresh off the launch of that title, the first in a planned series of bite-sized releases, we find a studio in the midst of transformation, overhauling its structure, workflow and culture. "Energy and excitement have returned to [the studio]," executive producer Geoff van den Ouden tells us. 

Or anywhere

Few people have better insight into the studio's evolution than Van den Ouden. A former lecturer at the Rotterdam University Of Applied Sciences, in 2006 he co-founded a game design and development module – the very same one to which Van Hemert and co would sign up a decade later. After a six-week initial bootcamp period creating a 2D mobile game, this team of 15 students began brainstorming their end-of-term project. "We looked at the requirement list for how to get the highest score in the minor and we just started ticking off boxes," Van Hemert laughs. 

"Multiplayer: check. Online multiplayer: check. Virtual reality: sure, check, let's do that too!" It's an admirably gamelike approach to scholarly attainment, and one that soon collided with another piece of campus inspiration. Van den Ouden recalls walking down the empty hallways of the university after a long day, only to find laughter and light pouring out of one of the classrooms assigned to his students. The cause of their late night? Keep Talking And Nobody Explodes, a cooperative game in which one player defuses a bomb while their partner attempts to read instructions from a physical manual. The team landed on their own particular fusion: a kind of virtual escape room, played in first-person, which requires two partners to communicate verbally in order to solve puzzles of which they can each see only one half. 

Van Hemert and his team tested out puzzles in person, locking participants in separate classrooms with winter coats and walkie-talkies – an image that will be familiar to anyone who has played the We Were Here games. Similar tricks were employed when showing their eightweek prototype to professional game developers, with students hiding outside to knock on the door at a key point in the demo. Van den Ouden had reservations over the scope of the project, but couldn't help but be impressed. "We wanted to make projects that could live up to real-world [standards]," he says of his course. "This was the first team that really believed in their own project." After months of discussion post-launch, and with the encouragement of their teachers, six members of the original student team decided to found Total Mayhem Games in 2017. "It was the first time that we said to students: don't graduate," Van den Ouden says. "'You now have momentum, you have a name, your downloads are increasing every single day – you need to do something with this. If you're going to wait six months, your moment is gone.'"

Missing the majority of their original collaborators, including their 2D artists, the six set up shop in a rented basement beneath a lawyer's office, living off funds raised via friends and family. "We had to sneak up into the lawyer's office to quickly go to the bathroom and then sneak back down – we didn't even have front-door keys," Van Hemert recalls. "We lived like rats in the building." Despite these inauspicious surroundings, the team soon got to work on a sequel, brainstorming new puzzles to accompany unused ideas from the first game. But without the rigid structure and timelines imposed upon them by their lecturers, they lacked discipline, an issue compounded by their rapidly dwindling funds. "Looking at your wallet emptying, being a broke student living off student loans – which keep piling up – and you haven't even finished graduating yet," Van Hemert remembers. "It was scary." 

We Were Here Too was released almost exactly one year after the original game. Not that its creators had much of a chance to celebrate, however, polishing the game until an hour before release and leaving their own launch party early so they could fix bugs. Yet the sequel delivered on the potential of We Were Here in at least one crucial way: it wasn't free to download. "It started generating the funds we needed to keep going," Van Hemert says. "That was an insane morale boost." ffice in Rotterdam, adding a handful of employees to their ranks. Creative director Ruud Renting initially joined the studio as a 3D artist at the beginning of development on We Were Here Together, a role that has only expanded with time: his responsibilities now include animation, writing and voice acting. As with many others at the studio, this is Renting's first professional game development job, which he reckons has lent the group a helpful outsider perspective. "You're not bound by these rules that are taught in school," he says. "We had no idea, so why not just do what we think is cool? That's basically how we always try to do it." 

It paid off, Together's launch paving the way for yet another growth spurt. The team's headcount grew to 18 as it prepared for its most ambitious project to date, We Were Here Forever. "Both our games and our studio grew exponentially – we kept doubling ourselves," Van Hemert says. "We wanted [Forever] to be even better, even greater." This led to some of the series' most creative puzzles, ranging from macabre puppet dioramas to labyrinths of interlinking portals. "Every time you enter a new room, we have to make a completely new game," Van den Ouden says. "There are new rules, a new challenge – everything is new." But even as they swap war stories about failed puzzle concepts or lament the challenges of asymmetric game design, our interviewees light up with enthusiasm when discussing their creative process. Van Hemert sums up the aim simply: "We want people to be dazzled."

Beneath the surface

Underneath all these advancements, though, remained the horizontal management structure inherited from the studio's beginnings. "We needed overhead, planning, actual direction, [which] we lacked," Van Hemert admits. After working with the studio on and off during its early years, Van den Ouden formally joined the team during the development of We Were Here Together, taking a more direct role in overseeing his former students. Nonetheless, Renting describes the development of Together as "utter chaos", something made manageable only by the studio's small headcount and the limited scope of its games at the time. By the time it was working on Forever, things were rather more complicated. "At some point, this structure doesn't work any more," he says. "You need to start creating a hierarchy, otherwise it breaks down. Nobody had any experience running this whole thing." These problems were compounded by the arrival of COVID, and the resulting lack of face-to-face interactions, while the boundary between the developers' work and personal lives became increasingly blurred. "We had a need for managers, for human resources people," Renting says, "but that wasn't implemented." 

Renting speaks to us three months after returning from a year-long burnout period (something he partially attributes to living a "rockand-roll lifestyle" during the pandemic). The studio he has rejoined has undergone some significant changes during that time, having appointed a new board in early 2023. Each department now has dedicated managers and directors, Van den Ouden tells us, while HR professionals and a coach were brought in for consultations. "We paused production for six months to redefine our processes," he says. "This period wasn't idle – it focused on optimising [our] workflow, communication, and documentation." As the studio prepares for another relocation, this time to a new office space in central Rotterdam, Total Mayhem has found a fresh focus. "The daily way in which you communicate and do things with your colleagues is way more important than the product," Renting says. "We really want to take care of each other." 

With a solid foundation under its feet for the first time, the team has returned to its roots in other respects. The FriendShip, the first instalment in a new We Were Here Expeditions subseries, stripped the lengthy campaign of Forever down into something shorter and more streamlined, and was released as a standalone freebie on PC and consoles, at least for a limited time. And so, more than six years on from that pivotal launch party in Rotterdam, Van Hemert once again found himself watching his team's game become an overnight sensation, surpassing three million downloads within four days of release. And while there's no lack of ambition for the future – Renting is dead set on further expanding the universe of We Were Here, a process that began with a live-action YouTube series released alongside Forever – Total Mayhem's real goal is to continue exploring the particular niche its founders first stumbled across in their student days. "This is what we do," Renting says. "We do it really well, we keep doing it better and better, and we love doing it." 

This feature originally appeared in Edge magazine. For more fantastic features, you can subscribe to Edge right here or pick up a single issue today. 

To be fair to Nightghast, I'd been exploring the darkest pockets of its abandoned country house setting for a full 20 minutes before encountering its first shameless jump scare. It's also worth noting up front that despite taking my time with Playstige Interactive's first-person exploratory horror game – launched last week on PS5, PS4 and Nintendo Switch – I reached the end credits in less than an hour. The game's modest length is reflected in its £2.49 / $2.99 price tag, which, admittedly, was enough to inspire me to buy. 

And I'm glad I did. Nightghast wears its inspirations firmly on its cobweb-covered sleeve, while also feeling like a lesson in genre successes. Yes, Nightghast borrows heavily from some of the horror sphere's biggest hitters, but it also does so in a tightly-contained way that walks the line between influence and imitation with precision. 

Tip-toeing on the shoulders of giants

"I have received an invitation from a widow named Mildred Bartgis, who resides in the countryside," reads the blurb on the Nightghast PlayStation Store page. "She claims that her house became haunted after her divorce. She insists that an entity by the name of 'Schnabelperchten' is angry with her because her house is never clean enough. Perhaps, due to her depression after the divorce, she has become obsessive-compulsive."

"However, I'm not a psychologist, so I'm not concerned about her mental state. This case is perfect for me as it holds many paranormal clues. I must search her house to determine whether it is genuinely haunted or not."

A strange invitation to a haunted location? That's Silent Hill 2 ticked off the list. A first-person investigation of a country house in disrepair? There's P.T. and Resident Evil 7. Myriad trinkets, battered photographs, wandering apparitions, jump scares, incongruous puzzles and genre tropes by way of blood-smeared hallways, doors randomly creaking open independently, and inexplicable power cuts? I mean, that could be a whole host of horror games, but there are definitely Layers of Fear vibes throughout in your bid to get to the bottom of what the hell is going on in Nightghast. 

Movement in Nightghast is a little stilted as you stumble around the country house's dimly-lit hallways and darkest recesses, and there are scores of items that can be examined for no reason beyond satisfying curiosity. But where the game shines is in its OG Alone in the Darks-style memos, newspaper snippets and police reports that serve to fill in some of the blanks around the hows and whys of Mildred Bartgis' story – and likewise why you're so invested in her unsettling tale. 

Throughout its short run time, I made some off-the-cuff presumptions as to where the story was ultimately heading, most of which I got wrong. This is testament to the efficiency of which Nightghast weaves its narrative, rarely offering more than required while leaving plenty of room for speculation and dead-end guesswork. Again, given how compact Nightghast's story is, it's difficult to share more here without spoiling its main beats, but the fact that this game flies so closely to so many other horror games and still leaves scope for misinterpretation speaks volumes for its execution.

I once argued that horror games are best served on handheld consoles (more specifically, I pined for Dying Light to scare me on the toilet), and I reckon experimental, narrative-led indie ventures like Nigthghast fit that rhetoric perfectly. Having watched a handful of PS5 let's plays on YouTube, Nightghast definitely looks a little sharper on Sony's flagship hardware, but for me there really is something to be said about playing games of this nature in a dark room, with your headphones on and your nose just a few centimetres away from the screen; soaking up every horror trope and leaning into every single cheap jump scare.

Check out what else we've been enjoying in our Indie Spotlight series, or see out what's on the horizon with our roundup of upcoming indie games. 

Towards the end of last year, I wrote about rediscovering the 33-year-old console RPG I spent a year renting from Blockbuster Video after it (optimistically) promised 300 hours of game time. Indeed, Sword of Vermillion – the Sega Mega Drive/Genesis role-player from 1992 – had eluded me for years simply because I could not remember its name. I'd poured dozens of hours into a game that felt years ahead of its competitors, and yet it was the passage of time that'd allowed it to escape from my memory for more than three decades.

I return today with a similarly personal revelation – but instead of rediscovering a game whose title I'd completely forgotten, I'm here to extol the virtues of a game I once loved but had simply forgotten existed: The Legend of Dragoon.

Legendary

Those familiar with Japan Studios' bygone role-playing classic might wonder how I could possibly forget. The Legend of Dragoon has since accrued a steadfast cult following since its release at the turn of the millennium, and, as of last year, is now available to play on PS4 and PS5 via the PlayStation Store. But when The Legend of Dragoon first arrived (1999 in Japan, mid-2000 in the US and early 2001 in Europe), it did so in the looming shadow of the Final Fantasy series. The latter made its first significant strides into the western market with Final Fantasy 7 in 1997, Final Fantasy 8 the following year, and Final Fantasy 9 the year after that again. For many, myself included, these games marked the entry point to fully-3D JRPGs on PlayStation's debut console, and so whenever a new face pushed itself to the top, making a splash was easier said than done.

The Legend of Dragoon sought to do so, however, in its opening 30 seconds. Against a whimsical piano melody underpinned by strings and a snare drum, a CGI intro depicted a city burning to the ground. Buildings were obliterated by raining fire, the glass facing of a clock tower was smashed from the inside out, and plumes of thick smoke bellowed before a full moon. An armored cavalry stormed the town's dusty thoroughfare before dismounting, placing a glowing marble above the forehead of a sleeping woman, draining her memories (I think), and then throwing her in jail. It all looked positively beautiful – up there with the best visuals I'd ever seen at that point in time. And I was totally hooked.

Even in today's polished and buffed retrospective iteration for modern hardware, The Legend of Dragoon looks like a late '90s/early 2000s 32-bit JRPG in its minute-to-minute makeup – with its blocky, polygonal sprites, and sprawling to-scale world maps – but every time it serves a CGI-powered cut scene it dazzles. I'll often look back at the games whose visuals once bowled me over way back when and question how I was ever so impressed; but I must admit, The Legend of Dragoon's cinematic shorts still look lovely in 2024. 

Perhaps that's nostalgia talking, but something that I'm certain is still worth shouting about today is The Legend of Dragoon's combat system. Its tactical trappings let you transform into dragon-like Dragoons to unleash extraordinary powers, while pitting myriad combinations of three combatants with a variety of link-up abilities against foes never gets old. Throw in a genuinely intuitive QTE system – where attacks can leverage "additions", that let you line up blue squares on-screen to deal progressively meatier blows – and every fight, no matter how big or small, feels worthwhile. Story-wise, The Legend of Dragoon's high fantasy, world-saving conceit is hardly unique in the grand pantheon of JRPGs new and old, but its pre-rendered environments perpetuate a charm long lost in modern endeavors. The now defunct Japan Studio has since played a hand in everything from Bloodborne to Rain, Wild Arms and Ghost of Tsushima, but I'd argue Dragoon's world is as enticing as any of the developer's biggest hitters. 

And so, if you're a fan of old school role-players, or are curious about what you might have missed a quarter of a century ago, I highly recommend picking up The Legend of Dragoon. It's £8/$10 on the PS Store if you fancy it, or free to download if you're already paying for PS Plus Premium. Moreover, there are loads of longplays on YouTube too if you'd rather simply watch along. "You are free to sever the chains of fate that bind you," so read The Legend of Dragoon title screen, underscoring the typically overzealous call to arms of turn of the millennium RPGs. That's a wee bit too rich for my blood, but I am once more starting The Legend of Dragoon afresh on PS5 in 2024 nevertheless.   

Check out some of the best JRPGs of all time

Blood. Lashings of the stuff. Rivers of crimson flooding Elden Ring from pillar to post, so deep that you'd be forgiven for thinking you're in the Lovecraftian throes of Bloodborne's Yharnam. But you're not. I'm not. I'm just about 400 hours lost in the Lands Between across multiple saves. And this one's my absolute favorite. 

Don't you just think the Scarlet Rot is fascinating? I ask my girlfriend, who literally could not care less as she shakes her head and reminds me she's trying to watch Guy Ritchie's new thing on Netflix. But Miquella… I trail off as she shoots me a thousand-yard stare that'd leave even Malenia quaking in her greaves. I've been warned about this, you see. Several times. However I'm starting to think my infatuation with Elden Ring's twisted sickness cult has become more than an obsession. I think it might now be part of my personality. And now I'm seeing red in an entirely new way. 

Bloody heaven  

Elden Ring devotees have of course been singing the praises of bleed builds since the game landed in March, 2022. But as hype continued to rise around the incoming Shadow of the Erdree DLC – following its official announcement last year – and as rumors continued to suggest Miquella's story would be the basis for it, I began flirting with the idea of investing time in this particular play style. We now know that, indeed, Shadow of the Erdree will explore Miquella's story, which will inevitably dig deeper into Malenia's background, the motivations of Mohg, Lord of Blood, and, very possibly, the origins of the Scarlet Rot.  

From a narrative standpoint, I can't wait to learn more about all of the above – but from a practical point of view, the thought of digging into Miquella's world inspired me to finally  discover what all the bloody hype around Elden Ring bleed builds is all about. And I can't believe what I've been missing. 

Besides having the potential to be ridiculously OP, everything about my new favorite Elden Ring build oozes cool. After scouring the interwebs and YouTube for advice on how to cobble together the best bleed set-up (huge shoutout to Titus Actual – this article isn't sponsored, but their content is well worth a sub in my opinion!) I learned that stats of 50 Vigor, 30 Endurance, 65 Strength, 20 Dexterity, and 50 Arcane were golden; with my weapon of choice being the Marais Executioner's Sword, dropped by the Elemer of the Briar boss up at The Shaded Castle. Not only is its two-handed animation properly bad-ass, it also hits enemies for 12-shots with every powerful swing. 

Seppuku is likewise my go-to skill, which I now know is essential for bleed builds. As an Ash of War, Seppuku grants the Blood affinity and Seppuku skill where you plunge your blade into your stomach, in turn increasing its attack power exponentially, and also improving your chances of landing the Blood Loss status effect on foes. You can find Seppuku on the frozen lake to the east of the Freezing Lake site of grace in the Mountaintops of the Giants zone via an invisible scarab. This, partnered with Royal Knight's Resolve, has made me unstoppable, making the arduous journey to the dungeon at the back of Volcano Mansions for this skill totally worth it. 

Armor-wise, I took a leaf straight from the above-linked Titus Actual's book and sought out the White Mask found in Mohgwyn Palace. Part of the War Surgeon set, the White Mask is a lightweight helm that raises attack power by 10% whenever blood loss is in the vicinity, dropped by an invader down in the Palace's blood lake next to the giant crows. I understand that Blaidd's armor set is considered the best relating to its poise buffs, but I just couldn't face killing that loveable rogue. Instead, I opted for Raptor's Black Feathers for a Game of Thrones-like feel, and the 28-Poise Bullgoat Greaves that are as cool as they are functional. With a Strength-Knot Crystal Tear and Thorny Cracked Tear combo in my Flask of Wondrous Physick, and I've found myself to be absolutely formidable. 

Again, so much so that I cannot stop talking about it. To anyone who'll listen. My mum when I'm round with the kids. My dad when we're at football. Random strangers – I heard two boys talking about Football Manager in the shop down the road from my house the other day, and chimed in with a Hello Fellow Kids-like interruption, asking if they play Elden Ring. They didn't. I was distraught. My poor suffering girlfriend has had enough, to the point where I'm no longer allowed to utter the words elden or ring or Scarlet Rot in the house ever again. 

That's what she thinks, at least. Elden Ring's Shadow of the Erdtree DLC is due on June 20, 2024. Its story is rooted in the cursed blood that flows like an undercurrent around the Lands Between, and the custodians who've lionized it in the action role-player's lore. I am but a town cryer to that end, an undercover reporter who's too far gone on the other side of the fence. Bloody hell, pardon the pun, I'm losing the plot. But I wouldn't have it any other way. My family would. But I wouldn't.  

From Skyrim to Elden Ring and even Final Fantasy 7 – my favorite RPG magic spell has never once let me down.

Future Games Show Summer Showcase returns on Saturday June 6, 2026 - hosted by actors Troy Baker (Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle) and Alix Wilton Regan (Lara Croft - Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis).

Watch Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2026 on June 6 right here

The 2-hour broadcast features world premieres, exclusive trailers and stealth demo drops, plus the extended gameplay reveal of sci-fi action-adventure RPG Exodus, immediately following Future Games Show Summer Showcase.

FGS Live From Los Angeles, hosted by the FGS editorial team, will air after the Exodus extended gameplay reveal and features more world premieres, deeper dives into the games featured in the main show and news from the summer events.

See a preview of the FGS Live From Los Angeles line-up right here.

Future Games Show is one of the best ways to discover new games, with our 2025 shows reaching over 150 million total views. Future Games Show viewers were first to see big games such as The Expanse: Osiris Reborn, Halloween and Hell Let Loose: Vietnam; alongside  exclusive updates regarding Pragmata, Resident Evil: Requiem and The Blood of Dawnwalker, plus much more.

Read on to find out everything you need to know about the Future Games Show, including how to watch the Future Games Show Summer Showcase and more.

• Follow Future Games Show on X / Twitter
• Follow Future Games Show on YouTube
• Follow Future Games Show on TikTok

How to watch

How to watch the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2026

The Future Games Show Summer Showcase returns on Saturday June 6 to highlight the most exciting games launching in 2026 and beyond, with world premieres, demo drops and developer deep dives featuring across a 90 minute+ show.

The show is directly followed by our sister-broadcast, FGS Live From Los Angeles, with more world premieres, over 20 exclusive trailers, and news direct from the Summer Game Fest activities.

You can watch the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2026 by subscribing to FGS's YouTube channel, FGS's Twitch channel, our Facebook page, Twitter / X, and the website, GamesRadar.com.

Watch:
Saturday, June 6
12 PM PDT / 3pm EDT / 8pm BST / 9pm CEST

You can also watch a selection of translated (via captions) feeds in Simplified Chinese, Korean, Japanese, French, German, Spanish, Polish, Portugese, Thai and English, by selecting your choice of live captions from our YouTube Live page. Simply choose the International Feed and make your choice of language.

Who will host?

Who will host the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2026?

Actors Alix Wilton Regan and Troy Baker will co-host the Future Games Show Summer Showcase on Saturday, June 6. 

Alix Wilton Regan is an award-winning British actor and producer. She is the voice of Lara Croft in the upcoming Tomb Raider: Legacy of Atlantis and has also appeared in Cyberpunk 2077, Dragon Age: Inquisition and more.

Troy Baker is an award-winning American actor and musician best known for his roles including Joel in The Last of Us, Higgs Monaghan in Death Stranding, and Indiana Jones in Indiana Jones and the Great Circle.

Who hosted the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2026?

Devora Wilde (Lae’Zel in Baldur’s Gate 3) and Shai Matheson (LEGO Batman in LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight) hosted the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2026.

Devora is best known for her breakout role as the Githyanki warrior Lae’Zel in Larian’s RPG epic, but your ears may also know Wilde from her work on Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, Split Fiction, Metaphor: ReFantazio, and Wuthering Waves. 

Shai is the voice of LEGO Batman in Traveller’s Tales' upcoming love letter to the caped crusader. But it’s unlikely this will be the first time you’ve heard his iconic voice. Matheson previously brought Sylvando to life in the English dub of Dragon Quest XI: Echoes of an Elusive Age and appeared in Wuthering Waves as Scar. 

What games?

What games will feature in Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2026?

You can look forward to over 40 exclusive game trailers, including world premieres, demo drops and in-depth interviews.

Confirmed titles include Halloween: The Game, Clive Barker's Hellraiser: Revival, The Pines, Aniimo and WARDOGS.

And that's not all! Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2026 is directly followed by an extended gameplay reveal of sci-fi action adventure RPG Exodus.

FGS Live From Los Angeles will directly follow the Exodus extended gameplay reveal, with even more world premieres, developer interviews and news from the summer gaming events in the City of Angels.

All you need to do is stay tuned after the Future Games Show Summer Showcase to watch another 25+ amazing new games.

GOG.com and Epic Games Store join Future Games Show Partners Network

GOG.com, Epic Games Store, GINX TV, Weibo, Netease CC, WeChat, Douyou and more joined an ever-growing list of official Future Games Show partners for our Spring Showcase on March 20.

They join our biggest ever distribution network including Steam, YouTube, Twitch, X, TikTok, IGN, Gamespot and our sister brands gamesradar.com and pcgamer.com.

GOG.com (Good Old Games) is a digital storefront with a focus on game preservation, or in their own words: "A home for building and playing your curated game collection, GOG is a digital distribution platform that puts gamers first and respects their need to own games." In other words, they restore and update classic games like Diablo, Swat 4 and Dragon Age.

Viewers saw an exclusive announcement of some very exciting new (well, old, but classic) games coming to GOG.com in the Spring Showcase on March 20.

How to co-stream

How to co-stream the Future Games Show

We're thrilled to welcome new streamers and creators to our FGS Co-Streamer program and all you need to do is sign up via this short form. We give all partners an exclusive asset pack, and the occasional bonus, including game codes subject to the titles in each show.

• How to Co-Stream the Future Games Show

Take Part

How to take part in the Future Games Show

Working on an exciting new game? Join a roster of exciting titles that debuted in the Future Games Show, including The ExpanseL Osiris Reborn, Painkiller, Immortality, En Garde,, The Case of The Golden Idol, LEGO Bricktales and many more.

If you're interested in being part of the show, you can fill out our updated FGS Game Nomination form or contact the FGS team directly via email:

Nominations are now open for our Gamescom event in August including our FGS Live From and FGS Best Of shows.

For editorial inquiries:
James Jarvis, Executive Producer (james.jarvis@futurenet.com)
Ben Malley, Producer (ben.malley@futurenet.com)

For sponsorship Inquiries:
Melissa Makhmaltchi, Commercial Lead (US), melissa.makhmaltchi@futurenet.com
Kevin Stoddart, Commercial Lead (UK) kevin.stoddart@futurenet.com

• How to take part in the Future Games Show 2025 - Nomination Form

No title is too big – or too small – to take part: we're looking for cool, interesting games that will delight our audience.

Simply get in touch via our nomination form or through the email contacts above to be in consideration for our upcoming roster of digital showcase events.

Steam Page

Future Games Show Steam page

You can check out all the games from each Future Games Show broadcast by visiting our Future Games Show Steam sale page which is updated after each event.

Developers and partners can get in touch via the contact addresses above to discuss how you can appear in the Future Games Show and on the event's Steam page.

What is the Future Games Show?

A brief history of the Future Games Show

The Future Games Show has reached over 400 million viewers since its debut in June 2020 with a mission to celebrate the most exciting, unusual and innovative upcoming games across all formats.

With previous show partners including Warner Bros. Entertainment, Team17, Koch Media, Konami, Sega and many, many more, you can expect diverse game genres - from puzzlers, to shooters, and beaver-led post-apocalyptic strategy games - with a focus on new gameplay footage and fresh developer insight.

The Future Games Show runs three shows a year, the Spring Showcase in March, a summer showcase event in June, and a Gamescom show in August.

We can't wait to partner with even more publishers and developers to share their exciting new games with the Future Games Show audience.

Here's everything you need to know about the Future Games Show so far, including previous hosts, contact details for how to pitch and appear in the show, plus more on how how to wishlist and play games from our event, via the Future Games Show Steam page.

Future Games Show: Game Announcements Recap

If you want to dig into all of the reveals across the history of the Future Games Show, you can check out a list of our ‘everything announced’ articles below:

• Everything announced at the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2023
• Everything Announced at the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2023
• Everything Announced at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2023
• Everything Announced at the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2022
• Everything Announced at the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2022
• Everything Announced at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2022
• Everything Announced at the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2021
• Everything Announced at the Future Game Show Summer Showcase 2021
• Everything Announced at the Future Games Show Spring Showcase 2021
• Everything Announced at the Future Games Show at Gamescom 2020
• Everything Announced a the Future Games Show Summer Showcase 2020

What is the Future Games Show?

GamesRadar Presents: Future Games Show (FGS) is our premier digital showcase event, which debuted in June 2020 at E3, originally hosted by Nolan North and Emily Rose from the Uncharted series. Our truly multiformat showcase has now debuted its ninth event - spanning PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X / S, Xbox One, Nintendo Switch, PC and mobile platforms - focusing on the most exciting, quirky and original games of 2022 and beyond.

The Future Games Show's mission is to help fans discover something new with our carefully curated selection of games. We focus on bringing you gameplay clips, developer walkthroughs, and world premieres. The Future Games Spring Showcase 2022 featured a Virtual Show Floor exhibition, containing games that will have playable Steam demos available right after the event. Also returning was the 'Ones to Watch' montage of exciting upcoming games and quirky indies.

Future Games Show previous hosts

The God of War stars Christopher Judge and Danielle Bisutti, aka Kratos and Freya, hosted the Future Games Show Powered by Mana on Wednesday, Aug 24.

The Future Games Show in June 2022 was hosted by Denise Gough and Doug Cockle from The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt. Our Spring Showcase event was broadcast in March 2022 and hosted by Ashly Burch (Aloy, Horizon Zero Dawn and Tina, Tiny Tina's Wonderlands) and John MacMillan (Varl, Horizon Zero Dawn).

In our Gamescom 2020 event, the hosts were the iconic pairing David Hayter and Debi Mae West, who voiced Solid Snake and Meryl Silverburgh respectively.

Hayter told GamesRadar: "Games… have changed. They’re no longer 8-bit side-scrollers, played under synthesized, electric-piano theme songs, but massive worlds of fantasy into which players can escape and explore for months at a time. In this era of the Foxdie Virus, we need these games more than ever. Which is why I’m teaming with my favourite former rookie, Meryl Silverburgh, to host the next episode of the Future Games Show. So grab your cardboard box, put on your stealth camo, and make sure that safety’s off… It’s showtime."

GamesRadar will bring you all the news and videos from the Future Games Show as the next-generation consoles enter their second wave of exciting new titles.

Some people get adrenaline from going for a jog, but I felt sick with it after besting Dettlaff in The Witcher 3 for the first time. The high vampire boss fight has been the thorn in my Mastercrafted Wolven Armor since 2021, when I caved and finally bought all of the game's DLC after coming down with COVID. Dettlaff quickly became the cause of all my witchering strife, and the very reason I have opted to just start a new playthrough time and time again rather than put myself through the shame of it. I've spent three years resolutely avoiding that final rendezvous at Tesham Mutna, and for three years, I've lived with my private shame.

This week, I decided that I'm sick of giving up on a game I adore because of my own frustrations. At first I toyed with starting a Blood and Wine-only new game slot, but my abandoned save file from May 2021 taunted me like a playground bully, daring me to finish what I'd started. Imagine my surprise when I loaded back in and realized that maybe Dettlaff wasn't the problem, and my terrible build was.

Skill tree issue 

The fight against Dettlaff feels almost like a Soulslike for how punishing it is. Playing The Witcher 3 on regular mode had never posed too great (or little) a challenge up until the late-game stages of Blood and Wine, where I found myself feeling totally terrible at a game I thought I enjoyed. As a result, I never did get to see Geralt retire to his quiet life at Corvo Blanco with Yennefer – and that fact has haunted me ever since.

I honestly have no idea what I was thinking back in 2021. Having loaded back into an autosave file just before intervening between Regis and Dettlaff, I see that I have all my best gear equipped – the Manticore Armor set, superior vampire oil for my silver sword, plenty of decoctions and potions at my fingertips. But as I throw myself once again before Dettlaff, only to quickly die again and again during his second phase, I finally think to check my skill tree and mutations. And oh boy, okay, now I see the problem. 

My abandoned Geralt still had 23 ability points to use. Apparently, at some point during this epic 140-hour playthrough, I'd simply stopped acknowledging Geralt's skill tree and decided to just wing it. Again: what on earth was I thinking back in 2021? No matter, I tell myself. I can fix him.

Following hours of trial, error, and YouTube videos, I formulate a plan for each of Dettlaff's three stages. First, I make sure to swig both a Leshen and Griffin decoction as well as a Tawny Owl potion. I also make sure I have Enhanced Black Blood at my fingertips, just in case. When it comes to the build, I opt for something very sign-heavy. Igni, Yrden, and Quen will be key for me in each respective stage of the fight, so Supercharged Glyphs and Quen Intensity are mandatory. I also activate the Euphoria mutation to increase my sword damage in line with each point of toxicity – and given all the witcher potions he's ingested, Geralt is looking pretty toxic. Pair all this with the best (and least-broken) sword in my inventory and that Manticore Armor set, and I'm actually feeling half okay about my chances against Dettlaff three years later.

En garde

With the power of Igni, I dance through the first round by dodging Dettlaff's attacks and chucking fire in his eyes. I seize the opportunity to get a few healthy stabs in while he's grumbling about his burning peepers. This stage was never the issue for me though, if I recall correctly; it was all about the second. 

As Dettlaff transforms into some fleshy bat-monster thing, I back myself right up and quickly switch my sign to Yrden. From here, I need to think fast: Dettlaff has a three-part attack pattern, usually kicking off with his extremely tricky to avoid barrage of bats. It tends to knock about 60% off my health every time and I absolutely hate it. He then follows this up with either a rush attack or an aerial one that seems to stake you with a pillar of blood.

Yrden is my absolute savior here. Thanks to Supercharged Glyphs, I am able to quickly chuck down a protective warding right before Dettlaff rushes me, knocking him to the side and causing him to lose extra health while I chip away at him with my sword. The bats are by far the hardest to dodge, and to get the timing right, I find myself having to count out loud. But between the Yrden strategy and these carefully timed dodge-stab-dodge patterns, something incredible is happening: a cutscene. A merciful cutscene, signifying the start of Dettlaff's third battle stage. My heart is in my throat, and I can feel my hands getting shaky. I've never been so close to defeating this bastard of a vampire. Now, victory is in sight.

The first time I reach Dettlaff's third stage, I die in one hit. Typical, but understandable, since I'd forgotten to swap over to Quen. I take a more aggressive approach in this round compared to the last two, focusing my attacks on the three pulsating hearts while ignoring the bloody visage of Dettlaff that follows me around. My Quen shield lets me tank it through his powerful blows, and I can just recast it again and again as needed. Amazingly, this actually works. I spam Quen and keep wailing on the hearts, angling myself so that my sword strikes might also hit Dettlaff as well as my main targets. This goes smoother than I'd expected it to, and within a minute, it's all over.

Defeating Dettlaff was a dizzying experience after all these years, especially after being confronted with my unspeakably bad build. Even more fulfilling, though, was the chance to see Geralt finally get a happy ending. I'd never gotten to see the true ending of Blood and Wine before, and yes, I managed to get the good endings for both the royal sisters and Geralt himself. I too feel ready to resign myself to a vintner's life in Toussaint after all the emotional, mental, and psychic damage that Dettlaff has dealt me over the years, but at the same time, I'm struck by an emptiness. What is life without the challenge of a great foe lingering overhead, after all? I guess I'll have to set my sights on a new unbeatable nemesis. Malenia, you're probably next.

Playing a drunken Geralt in The Witcher 3 is actually OP? Apparently so.

Silent Hill 2 released in September 2001 to critical acclaim. Praised for its exploration of psychological horror in a medium that had otherwise been bereft of this style of storytelling up until that point, its endings were determined by many, seemingly innocuous actions – such as how players interacted with specific objects found in the game, and even how often they healed protagonist James Sunderland. 

There are certain intricacies there, that while not unique to Silent Hill (Fatal Frame did something similar with triggering specific events and ghost encounters to impact its endings), made Silent Hill 2 a standout title of its generation. But the success of Silent Hill 2 has been something of a double-edged sword for the franchise and its community. Later entries in the series, even by Team Silent (the developers of the Silent Hill series up until Silent Hill 4: The Room), were met with mixed responses as it delved back into the more cult-focused folk horror of the first game.

When Konami eventually handed the franchise over to developers outside of Japan, reception to the series and the new direction it was headed in was far from positive. Even Silent Hill: Shattered Memories, which was a new take on the first Silent Hill game but veered more into psychological horror over folk horror, was viewed as divisive among critics and fans. It seemed as though nothing could live up to the expectations Silent Hill 2 had set for the series – and this sentiment seems to have endured even to this day.

There was some skepticism among the community when it was announced Bloober Team – the studio responsible for The Medium and Layers of Fear – would be developing the Silent Hill 2 remake. Users took to social media to voice their concerns, stating that the Polish outfit's previous body of work was too overt in its messaging to capture the more "subdued" horror elements of Silent Hill 2. And even the Japanese-developed Silent Hill: The Short Message has been met with a distinctly negative response due to its lack of subtlety in its themes and general presentation, despite sharing more similarities with Silent Hill 2 than other entries in the series. Additionally, there remains division among the community as more and more footage of the Silent Hill 2 remake trickles out to the public, and conversations about The Short Message continue to endure on social media.

There was a classic here

Would-be Silent Hill 2 remake players have pointed out that despite the inclusion of "You Reap What You Sow" written on a wall in the Silent Hill 2 remake combat trailer, the original game had similar graffiti that more or less confirmed James (and the game's other characters) had entered are their own personal hells. Other players have noted that Silent Hill 2 was probably more overt than they remember – and I'm inclined to agree with that sentiment. Don't get me wrong, I'm a little skeptical of whatever the Silent Hill 2 remake may or may not be, but it's been a good five or so years since I've properly played the original game.

The first time I played Silent Hill 2 was when I was 17 years old (my first foray with the series was Silent Hill 4: The Room at 13, which remains my favorite to this day), and the impression the game made on me then was wholly different from when I played it years later as a 24 year old. While my understanding of the narrative has remained unchanged, the plot itself is extremely straightforward with little room for interpretation, and I recognized that as I grew older my perception and understanding of its themes changed. That's more or less the beauty of Silent Hill 2, and other psychological horror games that have followed in its wake. But it's also the very thing that makes it such a hard game to emulate, or even follow up. 

Now, this can be said for any kind of media we encounter as a child, teenager or young adult. What we experience and how we experience changes with our own understanding of the world. The experience and examination of Silent Hill 2 would not be the same for me now as it would have been when I was a child. And I think this is something that has been forgotten in the discussion of the franchise – both with the original release of Silent Hill 2, the freshly released Silent Hill: The Short Message, and the upcoming remake from Bloober Team.

Through all of this, Silent Hill 2 probably isn't the game you remember it being for that very reason. Your understanding of the genre has probably shifted since. You might be in a different place in your life where a monologue just hits differently than it might have a few years ago. Or maybe your experience was informed by something external, like a YouTube essay that you may no longer agree with upon a second, third, or fourth watch. 

Which is to say: what Silent Hill 2 brought to video games was revolutionary at the time, but time has passed and we've gotten older. It's no doubt a classic, beloved by so many, but I do wonder if more of us dusted off our PS2 consoles and booted up the game – would we realize that the themes were more overt than we initially thought? And would we then be more open to the other experiences the series has to offer without looking back over 20 years into the past? Time with inevitably answer that question one way or another.   

Here are the best horror games to scare your socks off with right now 

"What are we doing here again?" This is the question I keep asking my friend as we explore Redfall in all its strangeness. At the time of writing, we've completed about two thirds of last year's critically-panned first-person shooter, and I still have no idea what is happening. I'm told there is an overarching story taking place, one that necessitates a bunch of teenagers doing the hard work on behalf of the comparatively useless adults left holding down the fort. That's nice and all, but I'm largely just here to shoot things and chat shit with my buddy.

Maybe it's the freeze-frame style voiceover "cutscenes" sitting in lieu of full animation. Maybe it's the fact that I am obsessed with Arkane's stylish goth-chic vampires and would rather not kill them. Whatever the reason is behind my inability to get involved in its story, though, I have to confess that I'm having a great time using Redfall as a private playground to hang out in now that it's been patched up to the point of being actually functional.

Back to the street

Redfall is a game I was so excited for, and yet never ended up playing after hearing how categorically broken and janky it was on day one. Between the gameplay clips I suffered through on YouTube and our Editor-In-Chief's bleak experience in her Redfall review, I conceded defeat before even trying it out. I largely agree with Sam's take – one year on, Redfall is still a far cry from being the most inventive FPS ever, comprising a handful of cookie-cutter mission formats underpinned by an uninspired storyline. 

But what it lacks in originality is made up for in a world that is so ridiculous, it becomes accidentally satirical. Suffice it to say: I'm not playing Redfall because it's a good game, but to test the bounds of its mediocrity and revel in the weirdness.

First things first: character selection. After a spot of debating, I opt to play as telekinetic medium Layla, with my friend Rhys loading in as boy genius Devinder. Neither one of us is expecting a lot from this game, but we quickly settle into its comfortable, predictable routine. Fast travel across the map, fight cultists, stake vampires, and fast travel back to the base – it's all pretty samey. The looter-shooter approach to weapon drops means that I still check each and every pile of ash after dusting a vamp, despite how most of them only offer up wedding rings or pearl necklaces to be sold for profit. The best guns can be looted from Rooks, a type of supercharged vampire that hunts you down after you slay enough "special" bloodsuckers. You know when a Rook Storm is coming because a meter will pop up and warn you that the "vampire gods are watching". It's just as hilarious as it sounds, because what vampire gods are you talking about, Redfall?

The laughs don't stop as we delve further into this odd little town. Surrounded by frozen oceans and populated by wooden NPCs, it proves a delightful place to make fun of. When I look at the ground as Layla, I find I have no actual body. There's a bizarre bug that makes our characters fall down and stand up over and over again whenever we walk around safehouses. We watch in horror as a Bloodbag (the explosive Redfall equivalent of Left4Dead's Boomers) gets essentially milked by a weirdo cultist. Oh, and one of the NPCs gives birth in a hospital and wears her baseball cap the whole time – even while lying down on the gurney. 

It sounds bizarre to say it, but all these little oddities and lingering bugs are what makes Redfall stand out to me at all. The story and characters are extremely forgettable, and the environments risk feeling lazy as a consequence of its own gimmick – there's only so much hazy red skyline I can take. Redfall is technically bland and unimpressive, yes, but that somehow only highlights its unrefined charm.

When played like Call of Duty with vampires, Redfall can be a very good time. As far as multiplayer shenanigans go, I daresay that I actually would recommend playing it in 2024. Going it solo might be a weird choice; even if the enemies' strength and numbers were scaled in line with your party size, I just don't think there's as much fun to be had without someone on the other end of the line to share in all its weirdness. In terms of stability and functionality, two things it lacked at launch, Redfall should be solidly playable now for most of us. It's been a liferaft for me as I wait for the Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League server issues to be remedied, and at this rate, I'll likely be one of the rare few to finish it out of choice.

Check out the best FPS games ever for some less contentious options, from Far Cry 3 to Destiny 2.

The drunk guy in the nightclub toilet told me to check GameStop on Fifth Avenue. Despite his state of inebriation in the wee hours of Saturday morning – his slurred speech barely audible against the muffled bass and piano loops booming from the main room – he was clear that the bargain bins at the video games store might, just might, contain one or two rogue copies of Suikoden 3. In a similar state of insobriety, I hugged the stranger with open arms, offered thanks, and staggered back onto the dance floor. 

No matter what, I was now definitely going to pick up an NTSC-region PS2 to complement my PAL console back home in Scotland. I checked my watch: just after 5 o'clock in the morning. Dutch DJ Ferry Corsten still had another hour of his set left to go. I was flying home to Glasgow at 4pm later that day. And GameStop on Fifth Avenue didn't open for another few hours.

Play it again

I discovered the Suikoden series by accident. After my 12th birthday way back in 1998, I used money from my family to buy NanaOn-Sha's rhythm game, PaRappa The Rapper on PSOne. I hated it – so much so that I traded it in at my local video games store just a few days later. I hadn't heard of Suikoden before then, but its gorgeous box art caught my eye, and its promise of waging war against a corrupt empire and building an army of 108 playable characters captured my imagination. Having not long finished Final Fantasy 7 for the first time, my experience of JRPGs was limited, but I fell in love with Yoshitaka Murayama and Konami's flagship role-player from the title screen onwards. 

Fast forward a couple of years, and Suikoden 2, a game that's now widely considered to be one of the best JRPGs of all time – one I've since likened to Pokemon-meets-Game of Thrones in more recent years – arrived on European shores. Building on everything its predecessor put in place and then growing it beyond recognition, the sequel is to this day one of the best games I've ever played; with over a hundred playable characters, each with an array of bespoke weapons, armor and magic, and a suite of heartfelt and sophisticated backstories to match. 

When Suikoden 3 was announced in 2001, I was beside myself. The first of the series to land on PS2, the third entry was also the first to adopt 3D graphics – against the first two games' Alundra-style 2D visuals – and the first to weave its narrative around not one, not two, but three separate protagonists. Even from early screenshots shared in print magazines at the time, it was also clear a number of returning characters featured, both good and evil, and I could not wait to get lost in another high fantasy foray with magic and dragons and epic turn-based battles. That is, until it was announced as a US and Japan region exclusive. And then on July 11 (Japan) and October 24 (US) in 2002, days that should have been celebratory became days of mourning. 

Suikoden 4 and Suikoden 5 landed in Europe in 2004 and 2006 respectively – the latter of which is the series' last mainline entry – and I jumped on them, playing and replaying both games shortly after completion. As you might imagine, each Suikoden game exists within the same shared universe and extended timeline, and while each game is pretty much standalone in narrative terms, I always felt like I had a glaring blackspot in my series knowledge. Fan-run websites such as Suikosource helped fill the gaps – it's worth noting that Suikoden 3 predates YouTube by a few years – but nothing beats getting your hands dirty with the real thing. 

The same principles here apply to consumer-to-consumer sites, the biggest and most recognized of which is, surely, eBay. I knew what eBay was during the early-to-mid 2000s, but I didn't start using it with any degree of regularity until into the 2010s. That said, I did check for NTSC-region PS2 consoles in, I want to say in 2003, maybe 2004-ish, but any that were available, once I also factored in shipping, VAT and customs tax, were well out of my price range.

Victory

And so, in 2008, following a close family bereavement, my mum, dad, girlfriend and I booked up for three nights in New York. With my parents traveling on to Boston after that, and my girlfriend and I heading back to Glasgow, we spent the first three days speeding round the Manhattan tourist circuit – from the Empire State Building to Staten Island, Little Italy, Central Park and more. By the end of it, we should have put our feet up on the final Friday night… but then I discovered the aforementioned DJ Ferry Corsten was playing at the nearby, now shuttered Pacha nightclub. 

It was there in the throes of the party – punctuated by loud music, strobe lights and smoke machines – that I got chatting to that random stranger in the toilet about video games. We spoke about our favorites from over the years, our preferred genres and best-rated series. I mentioned Suikoden and how I always lamented not being able to play the third game from six years earlier in 2002, to which the stranger simply said: "Have you tried GameStop on Fifth Avenue?"

I hadn't, of course, but suddenly my mind was racing. I concocted a plan on the spot: I'd go to GameStop for it opening its doors, I'd grab a US region PS2 console, and I'd raid the bargain bins for a discarded copy of Suikoden 3. Surely it was fitting given that I picked up the original Suikoden second-hand all those years ago in a video games store, right? I'd then travel home to Scotland and play Suikoden 3 and fall in love with it in the exact same way I had all the other games to that point. 

And that's exactly what I did. I stayed till the club's 8am curfew, long after the headline DJ had left. I dragged my girlfriend straight down to GameStop on Fifth Avenue in last night's clothes, I waited for the manager to arrive and open up, I grabbed a second-hand US region PS2 and… drumroll… did not manage to pick up a copy of Suikoden 3. I was gutted.

What I did do, though, was try eBay again for the first time in years. It took a bit of digging, but I managed to get a second-hand copy of Suikoden 3, plus VAT, plus shipping for under £50 (which, at the time, was probably around $80). I played Suikoden 3 to death, and it was glorious – so much so that it's now my favorite JRPG. I love Suikoden 2, and I love Chrono Trigger, Final Fantasy 7 and Final Fantasy 8, but Suikoden 3's story, characters, and sheer weirdness, for me, puts it just above the rest. 

If you fancy checking it out, know that Suikoden 3 hit PlayStation's digital storefronts in all regions in 2015, and that it's also getting a beautiful HD fan-made remaster. I'd love to re-experience that feeling of playing it for the very first time – and I'd endure another six-year wait, a transatlantic journey, a drunken conversation, and a sleepless night in the Big Apple all over again in a heartbeat.  

Lose your leisure time to the best RPGs waging virtual wars right now 

Erica Lindbeck, the voice actor behind Futaba Sakura in Persona 5, has deleted their Twitter account following a public argument over AI-generated voices. 

Erica Linbeck’s voice work can be heard in dozens of anime series and video games, including Hi-Fi Rush, Tell Me Why, and more, but she’s most recognised for her role as Persona 5’s resident hacker Futaba, also known as Oracle. Things went south earlier this week when a video surfaced online which had the AI-generated voice of Futaba “singing” a Bo Burnham song called Welcome To The Internet. Of course, the video’s AI-generated Futaba likely used and manipulated dialogue that Lindbeck had recorded for the Persona games.

Lindbeck had publicly asked for the video to be removed, and the original post was deleted from YouTube. However, plenty of channels have since reposted the AI cover and many more Twitter users pushed back on Lindbeck’s original request with criticism, leading to her removing the account entirely. 

AI-generated art isn’t a new controversy, but the recent argument reignited the debate as prominent voice actors and game developers weighed in with their own opinions, both in support of Lindbeck and against the use of AI-generated voices. 

Writer and narrative designer Anna Webster said “Voice actors are additional collaborators on a project, not a weird sock puppet to say what you want!” She continued to say that “stealing someone’s voice” is both “unethical” and “just plain weird.” Webster also mentions the idea of character ownership: “The moment one of my characters gets recorded, I no longer see them as ‘mine’... voice actors bring their own expertise and creative vision to the character.”

Spectacular Spider-Man actor Josh Keaton also jumped on the discussion to say: “Erica is a wonderful person and doesn’t deserve any of this.” Replying to one of the comments, Keaton continued to say “There are no two sides about it when it comes to theft,” while discussing those who use AI programs to (re)generate voices. 

Many other fans and actors came out in agreement with Keaton’s comments. Spider-Man (the game) actor Yuri Lowenthal retweeted the comment with, “Seconded.” Another fan chimed in to say that people who want to hear Futaba sing should “hire an actual voice actress.”

AI voices and deepfakes have been raising controversy for many months now. Skyrim porn mods were recently in the spotlight as a growing number of mods cloned the performances of real actors to use in inappropriate contexts, without consent. 

AI-generated art seems to invite serious questions about ethical consent and legal ownership. Valve recently said “there is some legal uncertainty relating to data used to train AI models,” meaning that AI tools frequently infringe on existing copyrights.

Despite those moral and legal question marks, gaming’s major players are now exploring controversial AI tech.

A Red Dead Redemption modder has remade Chuparosa in the style of Red Dead Redemption 2, and now we want that rumored remaster more than ever. 

YouTuber 'Basement Gamer Bros' has shared footage of a mod that gives us a glimpse into what a Red Dead Redemption remaster could look like. Fans of Rockstar's Western title will already be very familiar with Chuparosa, a settlement in Red Dead Redemption, but they've probably never seen it looking as good as this.

At the start of the video, we get a brief look at how Chuparosa originally looked in the first Red Dead Redemption game, which makes the reveal of its Red Dead Redemption 2 makeover even more dramatic. Thanks to its brand-new lighting, Chuparosa feels so much more immersive - I can tell how hot the town is just by how it appears on screen. 

As the video explains, the video's uploader wasn't the one to create the mod, and it isn't available to download, so we'll have to settle for experiencing it only through the video for now.

Seeing Red Dead Redemption looking as good as it does in the video has got to have fans excited about the possibility of a remaster. Unfortunately, at the time of writing, Rockstar has yet to confirm whether we're actually getting a Red Dead Redemption remaster, as much as we'd all love for it to be the case. 

If you haven't been keeping up, the rumors surrounding a possible Red Dead Redemption remaster have been in full force lately - mostly due to a new rating for Red Dead Redemption in South Korea. This was already exciting enough, but Rockstar parent company Take-Two Interactive's latest financial report also increased fans' hopes after it revealed that it plans to "launch two new iterations of previously-released titles" before the next fiscal year.

Although getting a Red Dead Redemption remaster would be great, it's probably best to lower your expectations for now. Around this time last year, it was reported that Rockstar had canned a Red Dead Redemption remaster, so it's possible that we're all keeping our fingers crossed for something that's not even in development anymore. 

While we wait for a remaster, find out what else you can play with our games like Red Dead Redemption 2 list. 

Nintendo has sprinkled characters' official ages around in various games before - a trophy in Smash Bros. Melee reveals Mario to be 26, for example - but never Bowser and Bowser Jr. However, both characters' official ages have been ever-so-subtly confirmed for the first time, and the entire Mario canon has been thrown into chaos.

As spotted by MarioBrothBlog, Nintendo recently published a video on its official YouTube channel teaching you how to make a Nintendo account. And of course, because everything - including boring instructional videos - has to be extremely cute and on-brand in Nintendo world, the examples they show are for Bowser and his son, Bowser Jr. As we're walked through the account creation process, you can clearly see both characters' birthdays, which would be a much less significant story if the information didn't conflict with everything we know about the Mario series. 

According to Nintendo, Bowser was born on February 5, 1989, making him 34 years old at the time of publication. Meanwhile, Bowser Jr. was apparently born on March 3, 2010, meaning he just turned 13 years old a couple months back. 

This makes no sense. I remember being introduced to Bowser Jr. back in 2002 with Super Mario Sunshine, which would suggest he can't possibly be any younger than 21. Likewise, Bowser made his first appearance in 1985's Super Mario Bros. 38 years ago.

Look, I don't like to be reminded how much time has passed since all of these dates either, but we need to get to the truth here. If Bowser is only 34 and Bowser Jr. is just 13, then how could they have existed 38 years ago and 21 years ago, respectively? One possibility is that those games actually take place in the future - after all, it's not like either game ever specified a time setting.

Or maybe time doesn't move at all in the Mario universe. That would explain why none of the characters seem to ever age, despite the decades we've known them. Another theory is that there's a Mario multiverse in which every game is a separate and distinct universe, but then why would Nintendo reveal this new information without the context of any one game? 

Of course, the only real answer here is that Nintendo put  very little thought into revealing this pair of birthdays and how they fit into established Mario canon, likely because Mario canon is at best a bunch of nonsense. Bowser is 34 and Bowser Jr. is 13, no matter how much conclusive proof to the contrary we as fans can present. As long as Nintendo owns the IP rights, it makes the rules.

Here are the best Switch games to play and forget any of this happened.

A Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom out-of-bounds video has shown what happens to Hyrule when Link uses the Ascend ability. 

As highlighted by Twitter user and YouTuber Boundary Break, Nintendo uses some game development trickery to get Link to Ascend through surfaces in Tears of the Kingdom. According to the tweet below, when Link ascends, the world around him is removed and replaced with a green cube. Okay, that's a pretty straightforward way of explaining it, but it's basically what happens behind the scenes of the game. 

Boundary Break gave more context and demonstrates what they mean by this in the video on the topic. In the video, it's revealed that the world around Link is "culled out" during the move so that it's mostly invisible. In the replies to Boundary Break's tweet, many people theorized that this was a subtle loading screen, however, the YouTuber instead theorizes that it is "so that this effect can play out without clipping," making it as smooth as possible.  

Although incredibly interesting to The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom players, it seems this technique is just standard practice for game developers. Boundary Break has also suggested that this technique could be used to "adjust" the level of detail in the game, which is possibly why some sections that require Ascend take much longer than others to release Link on the surface. 

This is just one of many discoveries fans have made in Tears of the Kingdom so far. Shortly after its release earlier this month, one player realised that the Octoroks have become even more generous than they were in Breath of the Wild. Instead of inhaling Link's damaged weapons and spitting them out a little shiner, the Zelda enemies now do the same thing however return the weapon to Link with slightly raised stats - which is great for us but probably not so great for the Octoroks themselves. 

Speaking of Ascend, take a look at our Zelda Tears of the Kingdom depths guide to find out how to make the most out of this ability. 

A 52-year-old from Nagoya, Japan is facing charges of illegally uploading and monetizing gameplay videos to a public YouTube channel.

As Japan Today reports (via GamesIndustry), the charges stem from Shinobu Yoshida's alleged uploading of three gameplay videos from the Japanese visual novel Steins;Gate: My Darling's Embrace. The game was originally released on Xbox 360 back in 2011 and most recently re-released Nintendo Switch, PS4, and Windows in 2019. Police say the videos uploaded to Yoshida's YouTube account were monetized and had been collecting ad revenue. Perhaps also related, one of the videos is purported to have revealed the game's ending.

Yoshida is said to have also uploaded videos from the Steins;Gate anime adaptation as well as the Spy x Family anime, but those don't appear to be related to the charges being brought.

As Japan Today explains, non-monetized gameplay videos from Japanese YouTube accounts are commonplace and so far have yet to be subject to legal action, but Steins;Gate rights holder Kadokawa felt this case warranted charges because it's related to a visual novel, designed to be watched without interaction from the player. In theory, that would make any YouTube upload, particularly one containing the ending to the story, a "far more viable substitute" to actually buying the game. 

Yoshida has since said that he "knew it was illegal, even as I was doing it," and Japan's Content Overseas Distribution Promotion Organization (CODA) said in a separate statement that, "in principle," any use of gameplay videos should require permission from the rights holder.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild was a failure for Nintendo when it was in the playtest phase.

Nintendo's developers rarely give interviews or presentations, but the latter happened a few years ago at the Computer Entertainment Developer's Conference in Japan. Unfortunately, the presentation on Breath of the Wild's development was never put online, or translated out of Japanese for a worldwide audience, but now Game Maker's Toolkit on YouTube has successfully pulled new information from that talk, right before The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom's launch.

You can see the fruits of the channel's labor just below, as they've spent months cultivating and translating documents and writeups from the event. Game Maker's Toolkit can now reveal Breath of the Wild actually flopped in its playtesting phase at first, when Nintendo was prototyping its open-world design to take the series in a new direction.

The playtests were a disaster because the vast majority of players stuck to a rigid route. Around 80% of players saw a Sheikah Tower in the distance, and stuck to a road leading directly to the destination, never veering away from the well-trodden path. Nintendo was aiming for the exact opposite of this - an open world that encouraged exploration and experimentation.

Nintendo deemed this a serious problem, and set about fixing it. What they came up with was the 'triangles' theory - blocking the player's line of sight to the horizon with smaller barriers and obstacles like hills or trees, to entice the player to explore around the obstacles to see what they were hiding, gradually getting a better view of what they were obscuring.

The playtesting results from this ideology were fantastic, and Breath of the Wild's open-world formula was born. It's fascinating to know that Breath of the Wild, arguably one of the most influential games from the past decade, completely fell flat during its first phase of playtesting, and forced its development team to adapt and come up with a workaround that would end up making it beloved for millions.

As for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, the sequel finally launches tomorrow on May 12 around the world.

You can head over to our The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom pre-order guide if you're looking to put down a last-minute reservation for Nintendo's latest.

Hogwarts Legacy fans are currently mourning what could have been, as it's revealed the game once had a reputation and morality system that was cut from the final version. 

As highlighted in this Reddit post, one Hogwarts Legacy player has discovered cut content hidden in the magical RPG's files. YouTuber GrandTheftDiamonds has found a number of unused ideas in Hogwarts Legacy's code, most interestingly though, they found traces of a reputation and morality system.

Just like the post explains, at one point developer Avalanche Software created a reputation and morality system, similar to the Karma system in Red Dead Redemption 2. According to the video, players could lose House Points for doing specific things, for example casting Avada Kedavra would cost you 100 points, casting Imperio would cost 50 points, casting Confringo would add up to 25 points, and more. 

So how do Hogwarts Legacy players feel about missing out on all of this? Well, if the comments of the Reddit post are anything to go by, it seems players' main concern is how many points they would have lost for casting the spells mentioned above. A lot of fans believe that the consequences for using those spells are fair, however they don't agree with the fact that Confringo would cost you 25 points. As one player put it: "I'd be fine with all that except for the Confringo penalty... it's just so much more useful than Incendio."

Others have also pointed out how this system wouldn't work very well as the spells are often used to fight bosses and other enemies - so would students still be penalized for that? "If I'm using Confringo to do a Merlin Trial I fail to see how that's a points deduction," one Reddit user says, "what if I'm using it on a poacher who has tried or done the fire tornado thing on me? Or on a boss? They're all supposed to be the villains to be defeated, the bad guys."

Elsewhere in Hogwarts Legacy's files, it was discovered that a number of spells were also cut from the game. The video claims that spells such as Accio Maxima (summoning spell), Aguamenti (water-making spell), FiendFyre (a powerful fire spell), the Bat Bogeys curse (a spell that turns bogeys into bats), the tripping curse (self-explanatory), and more all failed to make it into the final build of the game.

As well as all this, the video also claims that a number of activities were also cut from Hogwarts Legacy including the ability to cut class, the option to be the class clown, the ability to commit crimes (like theft, breaking and entering, etc.), the choice to bully your classmates or protect them from bullies, and even the ability to study, gossip, and get drunk. All of these things make Hogwarts Legacy sound like a completely different game. 

There must have been a good reason for Avalanche Software to leave these features out of Hogwarts Legacy, and like the video disclaimer says, this is just speculation based on things found in the game's files, so take it all with a grain of salt. Who knows, maybe we'll end up getting some of them back later down the line. For now, though, we'll just have to settle with not being punished for casting deadly spells. 

The release of Hogwarts Legacy has been the subject of criticism and debate due to J.K. Rowling's public stance on gender identity, which continues to challenge the inclusivity at the heart of the Harry Potter community. Here is our explainer on the Hogwarts Legacy controversy.  

While some fans have been enjoying Hogwarts Legacy since February, those using last-gen hardware have had to wait a few extra months. Fortunately for those playing on PS4, the wait appears to have been worth it.

The magical Harry Potter spin-off launched on PS4 just today, and players have been quick to share how pleasantly surprised they are by its performance

Twitter user @SynthPotato describes it as a "great port", adding that "it actually runs shockingly well, holding a locked 30FPS throughout!"

A YouTube video by ElAnalistaDeBits, which you can check out below, gives you a visual indication of how the PS4 and PS4 Pro compare to the PS5 in terms of resolution, draw distance, lighting and shadow effects, reflections, textures and more. Obviously, the PS4 and PS4 Pro don't quite offer the same quality regarding visuals or performance as their bigger brother, but the difference isn't as glaring as you might expect.

As the video shows, the PS5 has a native resolution of 1800p in Quality Mode, while the PS4 Pro runs at a native 1080p, and the vanilla PS4 version runs at a native 900p. As for FPS, the PS5 can run at 60 FPS in Performance Mode and a solid 30 FPS on both the base PS4 and the PS4 Pro. Unlocked, it can reach around 50 FPS on the base console and 60 FPS on the enhanced model. 

In the comments, players praise the developer for putting in the effort for those playing on PS4. One writes, "Very impressive. Massive respect for the devs for not releasing it along with the current gen version. Looks like the extra time working on the last-gen version paid off."

Another adds, "This is a feel-good story. A developer actually taking the time to ensure previous-gen versions of a clearly current-gen game function properly instead of shoving it out day and date with the other versions. And it's a good game at that. Good on you, Avalanche and WB."

A third says, "The months delay really came to fruition, they did a great optimization on the PS4, I didn't expect it to be able to keep locked 30FPS let alone have a performance mode with unlocked frame-rate (and I think it's amazing that it stays very close to 60FPS a few times) the team really did a great job."

Sadly it's not all good news as the loading times exceed 40 seconds on the last-gen versions while PS5 fans need only wait around 5 seconds to get back to the action. Yet, all things considered, it's an impressive display for a console that first launched ten years ago. 

The release of Hogwarts Legacy has been the subject of criticism and debate due to J.K. Rowling's public stance on gender identity, which continues to challenge the inclusivity at the heart of the Harry Potter community. Here is our explainer on the Hogwarts Legacy controversy. 

New Tears of the Kingdom footage has emerged from Nintendo's Japanese YouTube channel.

Earlier today, the Nintendo Japan YouTube channel uploaded the video below, a brief overview video providing a look at some of its more family-friendly games. This includes The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which actually debuts some brand new footage in the trailer.

Throughout the various snippets peppered in the trailer, we can see Link cutting down a tree, and constructing a spear with a mushroom on the end using the Fuse ability. This latter feature has done down weirdly well with Reddit fans of Tears of the Kingdom, who can't wait to get their hands on what they're basically dubbing a glorified kebab.

There's also an intriguing new Fuse creation shown off in the form of a handheld cannon. We can't imagine what Link would've used to construct this creation, but it looks deadly, although Link does it to attack a Stone Talus in the footage above, which probably isn't going to do a lot of damage unless he nails the weak point on the back of the creature.

The new footage is debuted in blink-and-you-miss-it snippets, but it's still worth watching all the same. As we creep ever-closer to Tears of the Kingdom's final launch next month on May 12, we're not going to get many more chances like this to glimpse features of the Breath of the Wild sequel before launch.

Check out our The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom pre-order guide if you want to reserve your copy for the cheapest price available.

The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild now has online multiplayer thanks to YouTuber PointCrow and a dedicated group of modders, but Nintendo's already taking action to try and stop the publicity.

Back in November 2021, PointCrow offered a $10,000 "bounty" for any mod team up to the task of implementing multiplayer for Breath of the Wild. By July 2022, modders AlexMangue and Sweet had claimed the bounty and gone to work for PointCrow, developing the mod to the point where they were publishing lengthy gameplay demonstrations of it in action.

On April 4, that mod finally became available to the public through PointCrow's Discord server. Within days, Nintendo had begun to issue copyright strikes against PointCrow's videos promoting the mod. After an appeal, PointCrow said on Twitter that these videos "are still visible for you to watch - however, they are not monetized. Hopefully Nintendo releases these claims, as I significantly transform their work and my videos are under fair use."

In the hours since PointCrow made that tweet, one of the mod videos - the original one from July 2022 - has gone missing again, with a message that it's gone "due to a copyright claim by Nintendo Co., Ltd," the company's main Japanese branch.

The mod itself is still available, and while it doesn't quite match what you'd expect from a full-featured multiplayer version of Breath of the Wild, it's still very impressive. The mod works through Wii U emulator Cemo and supports up to 32 players through a variety of game modes. You can run around Hyrule together completing the in-game missions, or take advantage of the sandbox for alternate types of multiplayer fun.

The limitations are all about world sync. Different players will be able to see each other as you'd expect, but enemy positions and AI states don't currently line up - so you'll sometimes see players fighting enemies that don't appear engaged to you. The developers are still working on the mod, and naturally intend to implement those kinds of features.

Well, Nintendo's not making another official multiplayer Zelda anytime soon, but at least we've got Tears of the Kingdom on the way.

A lawyer has outlined the reason beloved JRPG Mother 3 will most likely never see a Western release in its current form.

First, some set-up. Last year, former Nintendo of America president Reggie Fils-Aimé revealed to Bloomberg that "business needs" stopped the release of Mother 3 in the West. In short, Mother 3's music features some copyright infringement, which a lawyer now believes will stop it ever releasing in the West, at least in its current form.

That lawyer goes by the persona "Moon" on YouTube, and they recently uploaded a video delving into Mother 3's complicated legal situation. It's long, but it should help you to properly understand the legal standings surrounding music licensing and Mother 3, and why it might never receive a localization thanks to modern music copyright laws.

Almost unbelievably, the key obstacle stems from a lawsuit filed by the family of soul singer Marvin Gaye against Robin Thicke and Pharrell Williams. That lawsuit alleges that Thicke and Williams' 2013 hit 'Blurred Lines' copied Gaye's 1977 song 'Got to Give it Up'. The landmark case was earth-shattering for the music industry,  as while musical similarities were noted, significant portions of the defence hinged on the suggestion that a musical 'feel' couldn't be copyrighted. 

With the awarding of $4 million to the Gaye estate, that suggestion was rejected, and this is the scenario that Mother 3 now finds itself in. Previous Mother games slotted into an intellectual properly law loophole to get around sampling, but Mother 3 doesn't. The game makes countless musical references throughout its soundtrack, including to the Batman theme, The Beatles, Michael Jackson, Baby Elephant Walk, and even Beethoven.

Mother 3's music is so integral to the game, that it would be theoretically impossible for it to release in the West without falling afoul of the current music copyright laws. Therefore, the game would have to dramatically change its musical references were it to launch in the West, a likely expensive process that could cover the "business needs" that Fils-Amie claims held up its localization in the past.

It's a hell of a lot to process, and potentially disastrous news for Mother/Earthbound fans who've been desperately hoping for a Western release of Mother 3 for over a decade. A Mother 3 producer did previously call for its localization after Earthbound's re-release on the Nintendo Switch, but this video reveals it's very unlikely to ever happen.

This is all to say that Mother 3 might never release in the West because of Robin Thicke's Blurred Lines. Jesus Christ. 

Head over to our upcoming Switch games guide for a look ahead at all the titles that definitely are coming to Nintendo's console in the near future. 

Over the past year, YouTuber Jirard 'The Completionist' Khalil spent $22,791 and uncountable hours purchasing and downloading every single game on the Wii U and 3DS eShop ahead of the shutdown of those two services later this month. This is an absurd quest that no one should ever undertake. But according to video game historians, it could also be the only legal path to preserving any of these games in the years to come.

Last year, Nintendo announced that it would be shutting down the Wii U and 3DS eShops on March 27, 2023, just as it had shut down the original Wii Shop Channel back in 2019. You'll still be able to download any games you'd previously purchased through those stores for the foreseeable future, but if you want to make any additions to your digital library after that point, you're outta luck. And as we've seen with those digital Wii games, you might not be able to count on those redownloads being constantly available even before they're officially shut down.

The Completionist video on the whole effort to buy all those games is documented in the video below, and it's worth a watch just for the ridiculous roadblocks that stand in the way of simply purchasing these games as an end user. The digital stores no longer accept credit cards, so you have to buy physical eShop cards from retail stores. Retail stores have security measures in place to keep you from buying thousands of dollars worth of gift cards. Nintendo will only let you keep a balance of $250 in your account, so you have to slowly redeem those cards one by one. The Wii U will only let you keep a certain number of games installed at a time, regardless of the storage space available. And on and on the list goes.

Khalil was able to do all this because he had a team backing him up through the long hours and, as a well-known YouTuber, was able to offset some of this absurd expense by taking on additional sponsorships. Time and money are both precious resources, and they're resources that organizations like the Video Game History Foundation do not have infinite supplies of. Admirably, Khalil intends to donate these consoles and storage devices to the VGHF, and the group already has plans - or at least hopes - for how to turn it into a legally accessible video game library.

The elephant in the room, of course, is that all of these games have already been 'preserved' and made available to anyone who wants to access them - illegally. In the minds of players who don't care about breaking the law, this talk of 'losing' games is silly. Preservation is effectively a solved issue, since it's no secret that all these games are already available on the darker corners of the internet, right?

Well, that line of thinking becomes an issue for historians who are making efforts to see that gaining access to these games is no longer illegal. Ars Technica ran a feature last week breaking down how the VGHF and other groups are gunning to build an online library that would let you legally check out digital games to play online, but game industry lobbyists are pushing hard against that idea - despite the fact that libraries already allow check-outs of other types of media like books and films.

The Wii U and 3DS libraries that Khalil built, contained on the consoles and storage media shown above, will be stored with the VGHF, though for now the only thing the organization can do with them is invite researchers and historians to its physical location to see the games. But the organization is making its own efforts to change the law to allow wider lending access to these games.

VGHF co-director Kelsey Lewin says on Twitter that "there’s a very big thing that we’re working on changing (with the incredible folks at the Software Preservation Network). You know how you can rent eBooks and movies from libraries? Not just your local ones, but places like archive.org? Well, you should be able to rent video games that way too. Remotely. Using emulation, even!"

In other words, the VGHF is aiming to change the law so that lending libraries for these digital games can go public. But even if the organization successfully changes the law so that they can lend digital games, copyright holders might still pitch a fit if the games in the library are obtained through illegal means. As Lewin explains, "the specific problem that Jirard’s quest here solves is that WHEN these laws change… they’ll need some legally bulletproof, cleanly obtained ROMs to start from."

Again, a history foundation is spending its time lobbying for a legal change that would allow them to create a public video game library, and the only reason it even has the possibility of including digital 3DS and Wii U games as part of that library is because a YouTuber spent over $20,000 and a year of effort to archive all those titles before legal access to them was killed off.

That is some hot garbage. The industry is actively lobbying against historical preservation efforts even as it continues to cut off legitimate ways to access its classic library. Nintendo's shutting down its aging stores, Sony and Microsoft are playing chicken with doing the same, and publishers like EA are cutting off access to their old library piece by piece. Microsoft seems to be the only one willing to put in effort to keep its library easily accessible to modern audiences - the Xbox Game Pass push benefits hugely from an extensive back catalog, after all - but even that is far from a complete look at Xbox history.

In this particular instance, Nintendo could choose to give historians access to a catalog of its digital library, but it won't - presumably because its lawyers have decided that an iron grip on its IP is more important than any civic-minded support of preservation efforts. Historians and activists have access to far fewer resources than the corporations that control legal access to these games, and it's terrible to see flaming hoops they have to jump through just to try to make things better for the future.

If you want to do some last-minute shopping, these are the 10 games to download before the Wii U and 3DS eShops close down.

When I read about PSVR 2's Cinematic Mode, I think, like a few people, I got a touch confused by it. Sony described it on the PlayStation Blog as viewing non-VR content on a "virtual cinema screen", which immediately evoked ideas to me, and a surprising number of news articles, that you'd be sat in a virtual theatre, awkwardly looking around at empty seats while playing your favorite PS5 games.

We'll call it assumption, confusing language, or me being a bit of an idiot. I had even done a brief look-around for details on the first PSVR's cinematic mode, seen enough YouTube videos about a downloadable cinema app, and taken Sony's wording for it. Regardless, it all seemed a bit sad, potentially creepy, and honestly, kind of weird. Why would I want to use one of the best VR headsets to hire out a virtual cinema screen when I have a perfectly comfy gaming setup at home?

However, when I looked around the PS5 UI and VR menus during my PSVR 2 review testing time for signs of a "cinematic mode", I couldn't see anything. Because it turns out, it's more of a passive state that PSVR 2 goes into when not playing a VR-specific game, or when navigating menus. Without further ado, I booted up God of War Ragnarok on PSVR 2's OLED display, and began to play.

I turned my head right, and then left. There were no empty cinema seats or a weird distance between me and my game - it was right in front of me, with a highly adjustable slider in the menus I could use to make it smaller or larger. Suddenly, some 50 hours into Ragnarok, the game was coming to life in whole new ways, and it was then that I realized - this might be how I get the most use out of my PSVR 2.

The launch window issue

Affording games at the moment is pretty tough, and if I have to weigh up getting a AAA non-VR title, or splashing out the cash for what will likely be a much shorter VR experience, I'll end up never using PlayStation's pricey headset. What's more, the lackluster launch lineup for PSVR 2 is one of the platform's biggest weaknesses. Cinematic mode, however, gives me the option to make any game I play VR, if even in a lesser capacity.

I easily put about an hour into playing Returnal using Cinematic Mode, without a phone buzz or annoying distraction to take me out of it. The haptic feedback in that game is already astounding, but it hit a whole lot harder when I was locked into the experience. Hopefully I don't sound too clichéd here, but it was as though time was moving differently. That highly-immersive hour with Returnal strapped to my eye balls felt a lot more like 20 minutes. From now on, Cinematic Mode might just be the way I choose to experience the biggest single player titles I get my hands on. It allows for play in an all-encompassing way which makes the PS5's best hardware features work in perfect harmony.

Not just fun, useful too

Depending on your gaming setup, that fancy display might come in incredibly handy for you. With it being an OLED panel, PSVR 2 could offer you more color-accurate graphical display than you're used to if you can't afford one of the best gaming TVs, for example. 

In Cinematic Mode, content is only displayed at 1920×1080, but with OLED power, more pixels per eye, HDR, and 120Hz frame rates, it feels a lot more than that. Again, if your TV doesn't have that kind of refresh rate, this is another huge benefit of playing non-VR games in Cinematic Mode. Both Returnal and God of War looked absolutely stunning with the headset on - as though they were displayed on one of the best PS5 monitors. Contrasts levels were jaw-dropping, and since it was right in front of me, I got to appreciate so many tiny details I hadn't picked up on before.

For folks who live with a significant other or flat mates that are always pining for use of your TV, PSVR 2's cinematic mode could be life-changing. You can willingly yield a communal space's TV without having to give up your gaming time. Just throw on the headset and continue to enjoy whatever game you like while the TV is in use. Having said that, you might want to move the PS5 into another room to avoid being filmed, poked, or otherwise made a mockery of.

The good news is, moving the PS5 and PSVR 2 into another room is entirely possible. PSVR 2 doesn't need a secondary display to work, so you can plug the PS5 into the mains, connect the headset via USB-C, and you're good to go without an HDMI device plugged in.

Cinematic Mode is, without doubt, my favorite thing about PSVR 2 so far. If you don't have a great selection of VR games to experience, Cinematic Mode allows you to experience the best PS5 games in a totally new way, without any distractions to take you out of them. In my opinion, this adds some serious value for money to an admittedly pricey piece of gaming hardware.

Want to stick with TVs and monitors for now? Take a gander at the best TVs for PS5 and Xbox Series X, the best 120Hz 4K TVs, or the best high refresh rate monitors.

The woes of struggling zombie survival game The Day Before show no sign of letting up, as the developers have announced they're attempting to contain an advertising scam around the project.

Earlier this week, fans noticed various messages suggesting that developer Fntastic was offering YouTube advertising opportunities around the game, with influencers able to start requesting early access keys. All of that was in spite of a nine-month delay over a trademark dispute that has led much of the community to turn against the game, branding it a scam that's never existed to the extent that its developers have previously claimed.

Over on the game's Discord, the game's developers say those messages are not legitimate. A statements reads that "it has come to our attention that several influencers have received communication from individuals pretending to represent Fntastic." The statement claims that these messages are "fraudulent," and encourages anyone contacted to notify the game's moderation team "so that appropriate action can be taken."

While the illegitimate messages are aimed primarily at content creators rather than fans, the game's community has been largely unsympathetic. The recent delay coupled with an overall lack of transparency, as well as uncertainty within the game's moderation team that the project even exists, means goodwill for the game has all but dried up for many. Some fans remain confident that Fntastic has continued its work in good faith, but for a game that was one of the most-wishlisted games on Steam – until that aforementioned trademark dispute saw it removed from the platform – it's a dramatic fall from grace. 

Here are some of our picks for the best MMORPG you can play right now.

Like getting into any new hobby, there are lots of potential setup costs when you first seek out the best live streaming gear for gamers. Whether you're looking to start a Twitch channel, make gaming videos or reviews on YouTube, or you just want to be able to record gameplay clips as you go, there's a lot of equipment to think about. Companies that make streaming gear will tell you their devices are must-haves, and professional streamers are usually paid to tell you what you should buy. I'm here to give you some unbiased opinions.

Depending on what platform you play games on, what PC hardware you're rocking, and your budget, your streaming equipment requirements will vary. Sure, you can opt for a simple streaming setup, and these days you can get by as a beginner with streaming directly from a console - even without a capture card. As soon as you want to take live streaming or content creation seriously though, you'll probably want to invest in a proper loadout of gadgets that'll help make things easier and better for your audience.

I've tested loads of streaming gear over the last decade, from capture cards to audio mixers, to lights, and webcams. I know where you can save money when you're starting out, and I know what equipment will actually make a pro's life easier. I've listed some of the essential gear for live streaming below, and found you a beginner, mid-range, and pro-grade recommendation for each one.

The quick lists

Microphones

Editor's note: In my eyes, this is the most essential bit of gear besides your personality, and whatever platform you're running your games on. Especially if you're just starting out, there are areas where you can save your money - your mic is not one of those areas, and I'd recommend you dedicate a big chunk of your budget to getting a good mic.

Controllers and audio mixers

Capture cards

Also in this guide: Best webcams | Best accessories & gadgets | FAQs

Best microphones for streamers

The best microphone for beginners

Blue, which has now been absorbed into the larger Logitech G brand, is very well known when it comes to streaming mics, and for a good reason - they were masters of the craft when it comes to bang for buck. The budget Yeti Nano (the scrappy younger sibling of the larger Yeti range) is very impressive. It packs the accessible price tag of the entry-level Snowballs mics into a really professional package that sounds almost as good as any USB mic you'll find.

Hitting hard with great audio and a dual condenser setup, it perfects the Yeti formula while reducing that microphone's cost. It's a whole lot smaller and lighter, too; the Nano is half the weight of the original Yeti, making it much more portable than its counterpart. Thanks to a plug-and-play USB connection, you can be recording in no time. Annoyingly, as the mic has aged, its micro-USB connection is getting more annoying to deal with.

This is an amazing option for those who want to take advantage of Blue Yeti quality without forking out the cost of a full-sized one. If you're a beginner and you can find this on the shelves, it's all the microphone you really need. Its mute button is a handy feature too if you don't have a streaming mixer. The newer Logitech G Yeti GX now exists, but for us, the best value still lies with the Nano. When that changes, we'll let you know.

The best mid-range mic

The reason I'd recommend this mic to you is that it has both XLR and USB connectivity. There are a couple of hybrid mics on the shelves these days, including the popular Shure MV7+ and the Maono PD200W, but I'd argue the Rode PodMic USB cuts them both down with a great mix of price, performance, and ease of use. The MV7+ is often found $100 more expensive than this, and while Maono has fancy wireless connectivity as a secret third option, if I were starting out today, I'd focus on the audio quality that Rode can offer.

I used the original PodMic for around three years during my stint at university, during which, we used these mics in our student radio station. The PodMic USB sounds just as good as you'd expect any RODE product to. There are crisp, clean audio profiles to be had here, and although it'll teach you mic etiquette, it's extremely usable if you're just learning the ins and outs of how to speak into a mic. Being a dynamic microphone, it benefits from a focused, directional pickup while ignoring unwanted noises from elsewhere in your gaming room.

The included windsock sleeve rejected plosives without making you sound muted, and if you graduate to using a mixer like the RodeCaster Duo, you'll be set up with awesome compatibility and preset audio profiles for it. One thing to note is that, despite an internal shock mount, we did find that the PodMic USB is susceptible to desk bumps and knocks.

Regardless, if you want something with USB-C connectivity along with futureproofing for an XLR setup later down the line, this is an astute pick. These days, you can often find it on sale for around $193, but its full price of ~$209 isn't going to be a bad investment either.

The best microphone for pros

For professional-grade gaming content creators, there's no better mic than the Shure SM7dB. You've likely seen it used by podcasters and professional YouTubers, and that's for good reason. The audio quality of this mic is silly, but to be fair, so is its price.

The SM7dB adds a pre-amp into the product that fixes one of the main gripes people have with the still-popular SM7B. While this version of the mic is a bit more expensive and a bit longer, I'd argue it's worth it to add more versatility to your audio loadout.

With that pre-amp already in there, there's no feeling that you need to crank up the gain to get the best quality out of it, and the additional pickup settings could come in really handy for recording different types of audio, or just tailoring it to your voice.

Granted, this expensive a microphone isn't going to be for everyone, and since it has a bit more of a learning curve than other mics, I'd only really recommend it to people who are looking to seriously invest in their content, and make a go of it professionally if they haven't already.

The best mixers and controllers

The best controller and mixer hybrid

Perhaps the most versatile version of Elgato's Stream Deck is the Plus model, which has eight programmable keys, a touch bar, and four volume dials. This means you can use it as a streaming controller, but also use it to control your audio mix for a fully all-in-one package.

Channelling the power of one of the Stream Decks is as easy as dragging and dropping actions within Elgato's Camera Hub software, and that doesn't change with this model. Once mapped to your desired functions, the slightly smaller buttons on this version of the Stream Deck are still safe from accidental clicks thanks to their 5mm of travel. The dials are well designed too, with a grippy texture and just the right amount of tension for twisting them. The touchbar feels responsive, which is reassuring when it's not something Elgato has dabbled in before.

Anyone not looking for audio controls who just wants more control keys might be better served by the original Stream Deck, or its larger model. However, if you're bought into the wider ecosystem of Elgato products, the Stream Deck Plus makes for an excellent tool for bringing them all under one umbrella.

The best jack of all trades

The Rode Streamer X is one of the streaming market's true jack of all trades. Sitting atop your desk, it can assist you as a capture card, an audio interface, or a stream controller. For a pretty reasonable price, that's not a bad bargain in the slightest. For content creators looking to streamline their setup or beginners who want to consolidate costs, this is a great pick.

The Streamer X doesn't look ready to mix down loads of audio samples, but a simple two knob setup allows you to adjust the gain of your microphone and headphone levels, and for many, that's all that will really be needed. In terms of connectivity, there's a combo XLR and 48V Phantom Power for XLR microphones, there's HDMI in and out, there's dual USB-C connections for your PC audio, and an additional USB-C port for powering the device. Of course, the iconic RODE SMART pads are where switching streaming scenes comes in.

Like any jack-of-all-trades, you may find that the Streamer X comes up short if you want full use of it as any one of its three objectives. As a capture card, there's 4K passthrough, but there's no HDMI 2.1 support. That means that high frame rates on the capture side aren't going to be possible for you, which could make or break it for competitive gamers.

Still, this is a device to buy if you stream console gameplay and want to save money on three separate devices. Admittedly, you're going to run into roadblocks by not having one of each gadget, but depending on your content and setup, this could be all you need.

The best streaming mixer

There simply is no better streaming mixer on the shelves today than the RodeCaster Duo. A slightly smaller version of the full-blown RodeCaster Pro 2, this is every bit as powerful, and even has more usability for streamers specifically. With four physical faders, two more virtual ones, SMART pads you can program as different stream scenes and sound effects, two XLR inputs, and two USB-C inputs, there is honestly no other mixer this powerful.

Those two USB-C inputs can be used by one PC, giving you dedicated faders for music, game audio, chatting with friends, and your own microphone's gain level. In a dual PC setup, that secondary USB-C connection can go into your gaming PC to give your gaming audio its own spotlight. On the routing side of things, the Duo nails it thanks to the custom routing options you can assign to all of your audio channels. Mix Minus means you'll never create a feedback loop again, and the ability to set this up according to your needs makes this a versatile mixer.

Rode also has a library of audio effects you can apply to your microphone, or across all channels. Ducking profiles can come in super handy to make sure you always come in on top of your other stream audio.

The only setbacks here are that the USB-C outputs are recognized by the PS5, but the two devices are annoyingly incompatible. This is something Rode wants to fix, but until the problems are sorted this isn't necessarily what we'd recommend for console streamers. Of course, the other drawback here is price, because you do admittedly pay for the power the RodeCaster Duo gives you.

The best capture cards

The best capture card for beginners

The NZXT Signal HD60 isn't trying to be anything fancy - it's a lot more scaled back than its competition from Eglato and AverMedia. That doesn't matter if you're a beginner though, and in fact, it may help you to navigate a complicated streaming setup with less of a learning curve.

This is a simple 1080p capture device with 4K passthrough, and it'll kick a solid 60fps at your display while recording up to 1080p 60fps gameplay footage. There isn't even dedicated software you have to use or have running in the background (like the other brands enforce upon you after taking your money). There's compatibility with NZXT Cam, but the creators of this device know that you almost certainly want to use this with OBS or Streamlabs, so they cut out the middleman and let you get stuck in.

And perhaps most importantly for beginners, it's kind on your wallet, costing under $100 / £100. With how much you may need to spend to get off the ground with streaming, this is excellent for the money.

The best capture card for pros

The AverMedia Live Gamer Ultra 2.1 is the last word in external capture cards these days. It takes the great features set down by the last-gen's Elgato HD60X and boosts them to today's standards. Full warning: this isn't going to be needed for everyone, but if you want the best of the best for recording and streaming gameplay, look no further.

You get up to 4K60 capture here, as well as VRR passthrough of up to 144Hz. HDR and Ultrawide monitor support are standout features and a slew of in-software recording options give it versatility. Annoyingly, the companion application, RECentral 4, doesn't have any color grading settings and doesn't let you change the captured image settings. Fortunately, these things are set pretty well out of the box.

Its design bucks a few trends, especially since most capture cards don't put a lot of effort into the looks department. The Live Gamer Ultra 2.1 has a gentle RGB array on its front that you can sync with your PC's RGB. There's also a practical horizontal design that helps cable routing.

This card performs brilliantly when recording footage, and its passthrough lacks no detail compared to using a regular HDMI 2.1 cable. Speeds were a similar story - it was so easy to use this with Streamlabs OBS, with no delay to speak of. Captures are crystal clear with really vivid colors, and besides some lacking clarity when recording multiple files back to back, it's excellent. If you play competitively and don't want to compromise on your 4K components, this is a superb option. Just keep in mind that Twitch still has no ability to make use of 4K streaming capabilities.

The best internal capture card

The Elgato Game Capture 4K Pro is the latest internal capture card from Corsair's content creation arm. This slots straight onto a gaming PC's motherboard through a PCIe 2.0 x 4 slot (like a GPU slot), so no need for any dangling USB cables.

To tell the truth, the 4K Pro is only an incremental update over the brand's last few internal capture cards. Those were already so futureproofed that the rest of the brands in the space have been catching up. Speaking of futureproofing though, this new version supports up to 8K60 passthrough, which is so good no one will probably need it for the next three to five years.

For your money, you also get VRR passthrough, and multi-app support so you can stream and record to separate apps at the same time, which is a big deal for console gamers trying to route audio in funky ways. Anyone miffed by AverMedia's lack of contrast and saturation sliders will be pleased to know you can tweak your image settings with this card thanks to Elgato's 4K Capture Utility.

With that said, we are a bit disappointed that this costs the same as AverMedia's best external option, all the while, not offering half as many recording options. You can record great footage with this card, but only at 30fps or 60fps at 720p, 1080p, 1440p, and 4K. Admittedly, that's a lengthy list on its own, but for this sort of asking price, why not opt for even more?

It's really up to you whether an internal capture card will save you much trouble. This is a great option, but externals might actually give you more versatility these days.

The best webcams for streaming

Sequels are so hard to get right these days. Particularly when one comes out hot on the heels of something as good as the Razer Kiyo Pro, which we deemed the best webcam on the market before this arrived.

The Kiyo Pro Ultra had a lot to live up to, and we're pleased to say it smashed through what was expected. This is by far the best webcam money can buy right now. Other than a seriously steep price of admission to the tune of $300 / £300, this trounces all other rivals before or since. There's just no arguing with the quality this thing captures.

Up to 4K in 30fps is all most people will ever need, but it is a shame 4K60 isn't possible for those pairing it with a next-gen capture card. Lesser resolutions still look stunning though, and can record at a wider range of frame rates. Even without a ring light, the images are so well-balanced. Low-light scenarios were a big point of attention for the designers at Razer, and beyond going for a much more expensive camera that isn't designed to sit atop a monitor, I haven't seen one as good as this in low light.

This is a webcam for content creators that will roll a DSLR camera and face-cam into one package. As a result, you'd be hard-pressed to find a pricier webcam, and unless you really need the best of the best, it isn't necessary to spend this much.

The Logitech StreamCam is aimed squarely at the amateur streaming market. More specifically, it's focusing on members within that market running high-quality machines that can really push this device to its limits.

With footage captured at up to 1080p resolution at 60fps, you're getting particularly impressive video quality here, all running silky smooth and taking advantage of additional software features like backlight correction, center framing, and image stabilization.

You may need to fiddle with a few of these settings to get everything working just right for you, dropping down the framerate to allow the center framing to react quickly, for example, but if your PC can withstand the considerable power draw this webcam requires, this is an amazing piece of kit.

This is what we'd recommend for beginners at the moment, although the webcam offerings from various brands have been expanding this year, so it might not stay our beginner's pick for long.

The Insta360 Link is the best of the bunch when you look for a tiny 4K webcam that has a lot of AI features inside it. For such a small camera, it packs a lot of power and a myriad of features inside it. It's up there with the Kiyo Pro Ultra, and might even be more feature-rich as a product. Its image quality is just a tad off that monster though.

I find it really hard not to humanize this webcam's design. Like Obsbot's Tiny 4K range, it resembles a tiny WALL-E, with all the animated expression a single tiny eye can give it. It's so weirdly cute, and its impressive movement speed exudes a giddy excitement that's hard to come by.

It's not all looks though, the Insta360 Link is packed with great-performing features for content creators and remote workers. AI facial tracking, 4K resolution, whiteboard mode (for presenting during video calls), and clever gesture controls are just the tip of the iceberg. DeskView is also a thing, so if you want a funky camera mode to unlock for your chat so they can watch your hands instead of your face - this versatile cam is for you. That could even be good for animators or artists streamers too

Of all the webcams with AI facial tracking I've seen, the Insta360 Link is the best, and most natural. Admittedly, this is one of the pricier webcams you can go for, and most people don't need this many features. If you can afford it though, this is a webcam that won't let you down.

The best streaming accessories

The Elgato Prompter is a versatile tool for content creators that has more to it than meets the eye. On the outside, it's a great teleprompter that will help anyone deliver more fluid, well-presented pieces to camera. Under the surface however, it hides some of its best uses that will help you connect with your audience more.

This clever reinvention is a miniature version of what TV stations have always used. It's a small digital display pointed upward at a piece of reflective glass, behind which, lies your camera. Thankfully, there's some versatility baked in here, and in the box are loads of "Step-up Rings" that will provide the perfect fit for your webcam or DSLR to work with in it. You also get the single cable you'll need to connect it to your laptop or PC, a braided USB-C to USB 3.0 cable with a right angle at the USB-C end. This is an accessory that's been crafted with care, even down to its sustainable packaging.

As versatile as it is in its design, it's just as well thought out in the software department. Prompter features three distinct modes that will help you in general use and content creation tasks. Prompter mode is as you'd expect, with loads of different ways you can customise text, its color, its scroll speed, and even the background hue. This is great for reading straight to camera, and it's the main use you'll get out of it. Then, there's chat mode, which integrates what your Twitch audience has to say straight onto the display. This works wonders when you're live and you want to talk directly to your viewers.

The final function is Display mode, which essentially allows you to use the Prompter as an additional monitor. This can be really helpful for remote workers, because you can have an extra window constantly open, or even set up your video calls in the Prompter's display, never again having that strange eye contact disparity.

The Prompter Elgato has created is one of the best tools any content creator can have in their box, especially those wanting to take their production standards to the next level. Just keep in mind that USB-C connection can be CPU-intensive.

The Lumecube Ring Light Pro is more than an Instagram influencer's ring light. This is a versatile tool that's begging to be used by more content creators. It's a great size at 17.5 inches since it's big enough to light bigger scenes, but not overbearing or difficult to maneuver.

The light itself is excellent for balancing out shots, and when paired with a webcam like the Razer Kiyo Pro Ultra, you get impeccable results. Being able to control the temperature of the light, in particular, is a very nice feature. Natural light from a window can be a really nice inclusion in your shots, and trying to balance it with cold lighting without a key light can be difficult. In an ideal world, for the money you pay, I'd have liked an even broader color range, but that is why key lights exist.

One of the best things about Lume Cube's Ring Light Pro is how well and how easily it controls. The back of the ring features an LCD display which shows you how the battery life is lasting, as well as what settings the light itself is shining at. As if that wasn't enough, you also get a handy remote control so you can adjust light levels and temperatures without having to leave the shot. That's super useful, and if you make content as a 1-person crew worth having.

For your money, you do get an awful lot here - there's a convenient carry case, a great stand that can tilt, and extend, and the ring light itself has bundled options for mounting smartphones and cameras. All-in-all, this is a super ring light for content creators.

While they aren't necessarily an essential part of the streamer experience, a good green screen can go a long way to upping your production quality. That's where the Neewer Collapsible Backdrop comes in. It's affordable and portable and has a pop-up design. Unlike some other green screens, this model unfolds and then can be mounted in multiple ways to the included stand, either horizontally or vertically, to fit your camera setup.

The best thing is the price here, as depending on size, the Neewer Collapsible Backdrop starts from around the $50 mark. You've also got the option of either green or blue, as it is reversible, meaning that you can choose which color is easier for you to chroma key out in editing, or before your stream goes live.

For a higher-end green screen option consider:

When you have game audio, background music, your own mic's volume, and a discord call to manage, streaming demands some powerful audio gear. While any gaming headset of your choice will help you out, Razer's in-ear monitors will be the most precise, powerful, and comfortable tool to use.

Your eyes don't deceive you, these are in-ear monitors, not gaming earbuds. This is the type of audio device that rock stars use on stage to hear the music being played over the noise of the crowd they're playing for. But the Moray in-ear monitors are designed for gaming, and are comfortable enough to be worn for long sessions.

Inside these powerful little audio devices lies two drivers. One is for bass tones which are well suited to gaming, but there's an acoustic driver in there too that will ensure accuracy in higher and more subtle registers as well.

These are the only audio device I use when I'm on stream - there is simply no better way of balancing multiple audio sources than with these in your ears. Just be prepared to turn down the volume slightly - these things funnel noise right to your eardrums, so be careful.

FAQs

How to start streaming with no equipment

If you're looking to dodge those setup costs and just find out whether or not this whole live stream malarky is fun or not, maybe just start streaming with the basic gear you have first.

As long as you have a means of recording and broadcasting footage, and something for speaking into, you'll be able to put a make-shift stream together. In other words, with a PS5, Xbox Series X, PC, and no more than a gaming headset, you'll be able to start with no trouble.

How to live stream directly from Xbox Series X / PS5

Live stream on PS5:

On PS5, it really is as simple as pressing the "Share" button found on the DualSense controller when in-game. This brings up a menu that allows you to screenshot, record, or start streaming footage directly from the console. You'll need to link your Twitch or YouTube gaming account through the drop-down menu, which can be done by pressing the respective icon.

An option will come up that says "Link with Twitch", and from there, the easiest way is to follow the prompts on-screen until you're given a QR code and an 8-digit set of letters and numbers. A web address will come up to activate your Twitch account, which you can either punch into the address bar of your phone or computer or scan the QR code. Once you've entered the code, you'll see a prompt that says "Your Accounts are Linked" and confirmation that your Twitch account is now set up on PS5.

Linking YouTube Gaming works exactly the same way, but with fewer steps. Simply press "Link with YouTube" from the drop-down menu, and then you'll be presented with the PS5's web browser version of the YouTube sign-in screen. From there, all you have to do is enter your account details, and everything else is taken care of.

You're ready to live stream!

Live stream on Xbox Series X:

On Xbox Series X, you first need to download the Twitch app from the Microsoft Store. Opening that up will bring up a sign-in screen with a website address you need to follow along with an 8-digit code. Simply punch the string of letters/numbers in on either your PC, tablet, or smartphone's web browser, and it's all linked up. Once everything's activated, you'll find your account signed into the app.

To live stream gameplay, press the "broadcast" tab from the top menu. You'll then be greeted with a list of options to suit your gameplay streaming preferences, with controls to alter your camera position, broadcast bar position, and then your audio levels. The most important things to consider are your bitrate and the stream resolution, though. You'll need a strong Wi-Fi connection or to be wired in via Ethernet to stream 1080p or higher resolutions. After that, if all looks good to you, press the "start streaming" button, and have fun.

How to live stream on a PC

This may be easier than you think, and if you've never done it before you might be surprised at how minimal the load for it is on your PC components. Most gaming PCs these days are more than capable of running a game and also broadcasting it, especially if you have a graphics card from the last five to seven years. Graphics cards these days have recording and live streaming capabilities baked into their drivers, so the demand on your PC's components are very low.

The first step is going to be making sure your graphics drivers are up to date, so head into either the Nvidia app, AMD Adrenalin software, or the Intel Arc equivalent, and check your drivers are the most up-to-date version. Then, you'll want to head into the recording and live streaming settings menu, and configure the settings for the broadcast you want to put out. This includes resolution and bitrate, and if you're just looking to record gameplay without going live, you might want to pay more attention to your audio settings.

Then, we'll need to get you some streaming software. For most folks, the best option is going to be OBS, but for beginners getting into streaming, OBS Streamlabs is a user-friendly option.

You'll want to create a "scene". This is a buzzword for a group of media outputs that you want your audience to see in your stream. You can drag and drop, you can resize, but for beginners, you just want to make sure your gameplay window, your mic, and your game audio are all there. If you have a webcam, you'll want to add this as a source too.

It's then about linking your account to the software, making sure the settings work for YouTube or Twitch, and hitting the go-live button.

You'll need to be comfortable should you want to stream for long periods, that's where the best gaming chairs and best cheap gaming chair deals come in. Additionally, should your space need an overhaul, the best gaming desks should be your next port of call.

Nintendo has gone on another emulation-related DMCA spree, but this time the company's target is, uh, let me check my notes here… ah, pictures of Switch games.

SteamGridDB is a site where users can upload custom images built for use in the Steam library. Many of the images take the form of alternate headers or box art for games that are already on Steam, so you can customize how those games appear in your library. But SteamGridDB is primarily used when you add a non-Steam game to your library - such as, for example, a console game you're playing through an emulator.

Switch emulators have gotten particularly robust over the years, and they've become particularly desirable since the launch of the Steam Deck - clearly, even somebody at Valve had been making use of a Switch emulator on the handheld. Nintendo hasn't been happy about that fact, even been going after YouTube videos demonstrating how to install Switch emulators to the device.

Now, they've issued a DMCA takedown notice against SteamGridDB for images related to six Switch games: Pokemon Scarlet, Pokemon Violet, Splatoon 3, Xenoblade Chronicles 3, Super Mario Odyssey, and The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. The announcement was made on the site's Discord channel (via GBAtemp).

Some users are already attempting to reupload the affected images, though it remains to be seen how long they'll remain in place. Others are uploading goofy DMCA-friendly versions of the box art.

Again, SteamGridDB only hosts images for you to import into your Steam library. The site does not host the ROM or ISO files you'd need to actually pirate a video game. The selection of games affected by the DMCA notice is pretty strange, too - there are hundreds, perhaps thousands of other Nintendo games represented on the site, many of them on Switch. It simply seems Nintendo is taking whatever strange, small steps it can to keep its biggest Switch games from being associated with Steam or the Steam Deck.

These are the best Switch games you should definitely never-ever attempt to run on anything but a Switch.

Update: The YouTuber who was thought to be the reason behind Sonic Frontiers being review-bombed has offered their take the incident, claiming that it's not their fans at all, and laying the blame on Sonic fans. 

Earlier today YouTuber Video Game Dunkey took to Twitter to claim "Sonic fans are review bombing their own favorite game to make my fans look bad." Dunkey claims that the usernames were a dead giveaway with several having names such as "DunkeyLover2005" or "Dunkeyfan123."

In a follow-up tweet, Dunkey explained more by saying: "In the end, way more positive reviews are being left than negative (and it is 90% Sonic fans leaving both), and my intention was never to send review bombers." 

Another tweet then followed: "I just wanted to make an entertaining video on a game I didn't really like, and I was shocked by the user scores so I included it. I can't be alone in feeling crazy when seeing them."

Original story: Sonic Frontiers is getting review-bombed after YouTuber Dunkey posted a negative review of the new platformer.  

Dunkey is, if you're unfamiliar, a YouTuber with a huge following, at over 7.2 million subscribers. When the content creator posted their Sonic Frontiers review yesterday on November 13, it didn't take long for the video to storm past one million views, giving audiences a look into Dunkey's experience with Team Sonic's new adventure.

That experience was markedly negative, as you can tell from the video review itself just above. Dunkey isn't having any fun with Sonic Frontiers at all, showcasing the very worst elements of the new game, such as invisible walls and progression systems, for his huge audience to see.

This was shortly followed by Dunkey's viewers review-bombing Sonic Frontiers on Metacritic. As you can see in the tweet just below, hordes of Metacritic users are review scoring Sonic Frontiers as a zero out of 10, even in some cases writing that Dunkey's review prompted them to give out such a negative score.

What's more, most users posting the overly-negative reviews freely admit they haven't even played Sonic Frontiers. Plenty of the reviews write about how the game looks from trailers and pre-release footage, as well as Dunkey's reviews honing in on the worst parts of the game (in the YouTuber's opinion).

However, this review-bombing hasn't actually harmed Sonic Frontiers' overall Metacritic user review scores. Heading over to Metacritic, you can see that all versions of the new game sit at above an 8.0 for their review scores, with the lone exception being the Xbox One version, which is currently at the 7.8 mark. Dunkey's fans might want to see Sonic Frontiers drop its user review scores, but it looks like the reviews haven't actually made an impact.

Check out our Sonic Frontiers Fast Travel guide for how to unlock one of the more essential features of the new adventure. 

An Epic Games contractor serving as a Fortnite community operations manager has been suspended following accusations of black market dealing.

The Russian contractor is being accused of generating and selling Minty pickaxe codes on the black market, leaking payouts from Creator maps, helping to boost their friends' Discovery maps, and trying to edit other Discovery maps with the intention of having them removed. 

In a more comprehensive account of the contractor's alleged misdeeds (which we aren't linking as it may contain sensitive personal information), it's also claimed that Creator tags were removed to prevent creators from receiving due compensation.

The Fortnite News Twitter account tweeted out some of these claims on Thursday, adding, "Epic have already taken down multiple videos regarding this topic." Indeed, Twitter user @ItsADAMO_ tweeted a YouTube video calling on Epic to look into the situation, but the video appears to have been hit with a copyright claim from Epic itself and taken down.

The Epic Games Newsroom has now publicly acknowledged the claims. In a response to a Fortnite News Twitter thread about the allegations, Epic confirmed that the contractor's access to Fortnite's systems has been blocked while it investigates. It also affirmed that the aforementioned video was taken down over privacy concerns.

"We have blocked this contractor’s access to Epic’s systems while we actively investigate these claims," the tweet reads. "The video was taken down because of the sensitive personal information included about creators in the Fortnite community."

The Epic Games contractor in question has seemingly deleted or privated their social media profiles following these claims and Epic's statement. We've reached out to Epic about the status and scope of its investigation, and we'll update this article if we hear back.