Kingdom Hearts series writer and director Tetsuya Nomura says the script for the upcoming fourth entry in the series is almost twice as long as the last numbered entry, and yet there were still more parts he wanted to include but was unable to.

In an interview with Famitsu that's been translated by GamesRadar+, Nomura talks about the voice actors and recording schedule for Kingdom Hearts 4. The Japanese voice cast is apparently already complete, while the English cast is reportedly 60 - 70% through their parts.

This is particularly impressive given Nomura's comments on the length of the script he wrote for the long-awaited game. "The size of the script for this game is almost twice as big as that of Kingdom Hearts 3, so this made the [voice] recording schedule really difficult," he explains.

Despite the increased length of the script compared to its predecessor, there were still parts Nomura wanted to add but had to cut for time. "There were more parts that I wanted to include, but I was already pushing it," he says.

While there will be more dialogue than in previous entries, that doesn't mean the game will be bigger or longer. In fact, in the same interview, the director says the game won't feature a large number of Disney worlds, so the team is being selective about the number of different settings they show.

Kingdom Hearts 4 "will be ready well before the release date," Tetsuya Nomura says, as the JRPG's development is going smoother than it has "in the history" of the series

This week's big Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 showcase delivered a reveal no one expected from CD Projekt Red: an official remastered version of The Witcher 3.

Fit with everything from "improved combat" to stunning overhauled visuals, The Witcher 3 Remastered is one heck of a huge undertaking for the studio – but, apparently, it's got a bit of help from an unexpected source: a modder known as "HalkHogan" (brilliant, I know) over on Nexus Mods.

In case you don't recognize him by name, he's the mastermind behind The Witcher 3 HD Reworked Project NextGen Edition.

It's a mod that, well, upgrades and essentially "remasters" The Witcher 3 – but with CD Projekt Red's official remaster coming, fans understandably had concerns about the mod and how relevant it'll be (or what HalkHogan may plan to do with it).

Turns out it'll be relevant indeed… because it's being integrated into the actual game. The modder confirms as much in a new post over on the modding platform, and I am thrilled.

"It's been a while since the last news and I would like to clarify any questions and confirm that I am cooperating with CDPR on the Witcher 3 Remaster and my work will be officially available in the game on September 29th (on PC and consoles)," HalkHogan writes. "HDRP will no longer be needed."

If this is a dream, please don't pinch me. I'm getting a brand new remaster and I can scrap the one and only mod I ever used?

Much like CD Projekt Red, HalkHogan has also been hard at work to ensure everything going into the game from his end is pixel-perfect. "Almost all in-game characters, monsters, animals, vegetation, armors, and equipment for Geralt and Roach, and a large part of the environment, have been reworked," as he explains. "And I've put a lot of effort into ensuring the highest quality."

I have no doubts myself here, honestly.

I'm sure that the folks behind his mod's 725,582 downloads don't either – but I suppose we'll all find out next month, come The Witcher 3 Remastered.

The Witcher 3 Remastered tweaks combat "to be much more smooth and precise," as CD Projekt Red wants the 2015 RPG "to stand up to today's games"

Kingdom Hearts 4 leads Tetsuya Nomura and Tai Yasue are exceptionally confident that the game will meet its target of a 2027 release. The pair even make comments that development has been the smoothest in the series' history and that it will be ready well in advance.

The gaming industry is no stranger to delays, and when people have had to wait a particularly long time between games, it can be a blow to fans to see the release date pushed back. However, series director Nomura and co-director Yasue seem extremely confident that Kingdom Hearts 4 will make it out in time for its late-2027 release window.

In an interview with Famitsu, translated by GamesRadar+, the pair discuss the long-awaited fourth numbered entry's release date. "The team is very particular, sometimes they are more particular about things than even I am," says Nomura. "However, as I mentioned in the [D23] panel, the release window won't be delayed."

Yasue also chimes in with an update on development. "Progress is going smoother than it has in the history of the Kingdom Hearts series," he says. "I think you can rest assured about this." The pair have squashed rumors of a Kingdom Hearts 4 delay before, but this is the first time they've given such clear reasons for their confidence.

"It will be ready well before the release date," says Nomura. "We don't expect to even go into our buffer time. That's the reason I'm returning to Japan so quickly."

It's rare to see a release date given with such absolute confidence, so we can very much expect to see more from Sora before the end of 2027.

Disney isn't stopping with Kingdom Hearts 4 and a new anime, as "there are so many things we want to do" with the 25-year-old JRPG series

The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past isn't going to make the 11-year-old base game feel brand new, because it doesn't need to. CD Projekt Red and the Songs of the Past expansion's co-developer Fool's Theory knows The Witcher 3 is the ideal RPG experience, so Songs of the Past – due in 2027 – should enhance rather than overpower it.

It'll be like a pinch of salt. Fool's Theory CEO Jakub Rokosz explains to PC Gamer in a new interview, "I wouldn't say that [Songs of the Past] will feel different, simply because Witcher 3 aged really well, as a game."

"It's still very relevant," Rokosz continues to say about The Witcher 3. "It became a staple for RPGs back in the day when it came out, and even now, when you replay it, you don't really feel it's an old game." In this case, words like "back in the day" and "old" refer to the candied days of 2015, which, in video game years, isn't so gravely long ago. Some of the most essential video games in history, like Silent Hill, take nearly 30 years to get a remake, or they never do, and they're never blessed with belated expansions, or even just little botox.

So The Witcher 3 is lucky: it's young, and CD Projekt Red is making sure it stays beautiful. CD Projekt Red executive producer Jakub Kutrzuba tells PC Gamer The Witcher 3 remaster launching on September 29 should look like it "released in 2026."

"All the improvements make the combat much more smooth, much more natural," explains CD Projekt's joint CEO Adam Badowski. "You can change target while playing the animation or performing strikes, and it gives the game a kind of freshness."

GamesRadar+ managing editor Ali Jones got to taste a bit of those improvements during his scripted demo time with Songs of the Past at Gamescom 2026.

"Even this story-based section seems to fit seamlessly into the existing world of The Witcher 3, while the upcoming remaster's features push much of what made the original game so special even further," Ali writes in his demo preview. See? Enhance, not overpower. Any more than that, and CD Projekt Red would be ruining a great set of bones – and the developer knows it.

CD Projekt Red snuck 30 improvements into The Witcher 3 Remastered reveal, including "immersive meditation," new quest tracking, a loot rework, and Switch 2 exclusives.

Despite it being set to launch 12 years after the original game, The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past was apparently written well in advance of its reveal.

Speaking to Eurogamer, co-developer Fool's Theory CEO Jakub Rokosz explains that, "The story was conceived, way back when, in CD Projekt Red by Ola Motyka and Philip Weber." But the writer duo – who worked on the Witcher 3 base game – "had to put it aside for various reasons." Rokosz explains that, "stars had to align" for things to finally come to fruition, and Fool's Theory had to grow in size.

Rokosz says, "A few years later, the topic resurfaced and we started working on [Songs of the Past]. We've been digging deeper, and growing it since then, and that is how it came to be the expansion you see today."

Despoina Anetaki, senior quest designer at CD Projekt Red, explains that the Songs of the Past expansion is also motivated by a desire to flesh out Dandelion as a character, explaining, "We didn't have that much space to explore him, and now we have the space to explore him, tell his story, and see him more fully. In the books, for example, he has these more philosophical conversations with Geralt – now we get to actually see a deeper side to Dandelion in the game, too."

Songs of the Past is set to launch in 2027, and it will be the third expansion for The Witcher 3. Despite the somewhat random drop – you don't exactly see game expansions releasing over a decade later very often – it sounds just as meaty as the previous Witcher 3 expansions. Its new location Letten is described by CD Projekt Red as a "fully realized open world" in its own right.

Now, why not read our The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past preview?

The best Mortal Shell 2 weapons and sidearms, paired with complementary Tarstones and items, are essential for making it through this challenging Soulslike game - even the best Shell won't get you there alone.

Since there are a total of 14 sidearms and weapons to find (not including your starting arsenal), it might be hard to decide which to equip, and of course whether you prefer heavy weapons or light weapons might help you make your decision, but what I've listed below are what I consider the best overall Mortal Shell 2 weapons and sidearms.

Best Mortal Shell 2 weapons

The best Mortal Shell 2 weapons are the Axatana, and the Axe and Dagger.

Luckily, the Axe and Dagger can get you through most of the game and is an early weapon to find. You can get it by simply completing the Shrine of Trials Dungeon in the Mushroom Village. To get in, you'll first need to get the Mortal Shell 2 Chapel Key.

The Axatana, meanwhile, is much further on in the game. In fact, it's near the entrance to The Unfound Path - in other words, the endgame area. However, you can get the Axatana as early as you feel comfortable by speeding past enemies and following a specific path. I've got a separate guide on how to get the Mortal Shell 2 Axatana if you're interested. When you pick it up, you will be locked in a room with one enemy you must defeat, and you can of course use the Axatana to beat them, but I'd still recommend not going immediately. You should also go with the Tiel Shell, one of the best Mortal Shell 2 Shells, as you can use his Shadow ability to avoid some foes.

Both of these weapons are light and incredibly swift, which is why they dominate over the competition. The Axatana feels a lot like the Axe and Dagger to play, but deals a lot more damage even before upgrades at Franz' Tarforge, making is much better if you're willing to go and get it.

Best Mortal Shell 2 sidearms

The best Mortal Shell 2 Sidearms are the Forgotten Crossbow and the Caged Hystrix.

While each individual projectile of the Forgotten Crossbow does minimal damage, you can level up the weapon to deal additional blows, and it's speed and 'magazine', as it were', make it superior to some of the other harder hitting sidearms, like the Salvaged Trebuchaxe. This has absolutely been my favorite sidearm throughout, despite being an easy, early game weapon to obtain.

Meanwhile, the Caged Hystrix is a powerful rapid-fire sidearm that allows you to deal damage to more enemies faster. However, it doesn't seem to stagger enemies as much as the Crossbow, perhaps because each individual projectile deals far less damage, and is a bit sluggish to wield, so overall I still prefer the Crossbow.

Special mention goes to the Troubadour's Lute which is great fun to play with, especially if you like to play with the Riposte mechanic, and is also has great synergy with the Mortal Shell 2 Slayer Seal.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Elden Ring remains one of the most important and best RPGs of the decade and it's easy to talk me into replaying it. This made a new journey to the Lands Between on Nintendo Switch 2 enticing before I'd even touched the port. While early reports last year weren't exactly encouraging, I trusted FromSoftware to take its time and eventually deliver a conversion worthy of an Elden Lord.

After a more convincing showing in early 2026, we hoped for the best. Ahead of The Duskbloods' launch on Switch 2, the Hidetaka Miyazaki-led studio needed a major win that makes it clear Nintendo's latest console isn't getting second-grade material. Thankfully, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition makes an excellent first impression and feels perfectly fine to play... As long as you're happy with a conservative framerate lock and no major additions.

Tarnished, this port isn't

Despite its cross-generation nature and more than a few aging elements, Elden Ring wasn't a guaranteed win on Nintendo's second hybrid console. Whether it was the in-house engine's limitations or a lack of optimization, this (otherwise) excellent action RPG wasn't a great performer on PS5 and Xbox Series X. A constant 60 FPS lock isn't possible even on Performance mode, so everyone who played Elden Ring on consoles has gotten used to its unevenness.

This could've spelled doom for the Switch 2's Tarnished Edition. Yet the final result is visually convincing. Smart sacrifices prevent it from presenting a lesser version of the gorgeous world FromSoftware introduced in 2022. None of its visual identity is lost, and even with an obviously lower graphical preset when running it in handheld versus docked mode (compared in the gallery below), the final image output is shockingly sharp.

Though Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 lacks visual modes (or framerate targets), playing it handheld automatically cuts distant shadows, fog density, asset level of detail, lighting, and, of course, resolution. The overall visual features survive the transition, but lighting is an obvious change; the Lands Between seem a bit dimmer if you're not playing docked, at least when exploring outside.

The presence of so many visual changes versus a simpler resolution downgrade to hit a 30 FPS target – yes, as far as I can tell, it doesn't go higher than that – may be explained by the fact FromSoftware's engine isn't compatible with DLSS. Frustratingly, the press materials provided by Bandai Namco neither confirm nor deny what's happening under the hood, so I have to assume the lower graphical preset makes up for the lack of that upscaling crutch.

In any case, the resolution looks to be 1080p on both TV and the console's own screen. It's among the sharpest-looking third-party ports I've played so far on Switch 2 even in its more compromised form, that's for sure. In fact, I'd say it looks better than it did on Xbox Series S, which makes me think some sort of upscaling might be involved. As an extra, the HDR support, even on the Switch 2's below-average screen, gives a depth to darker areas and shaded environments that's often quite remarkable.

Delays and further optimizations have paid off

With a 30 FPS lock in place that generally holds steady, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition on Switch 2 actually feels a lot like playing Bloodborne on the PS4.

Well, except for the load times. On both the internal SSD and a microSD Express, the port is blazing fast to load from the main menu, and fast travel never takes longer than a few seconds. That comparison also means there's a hint of input lag to the experience. It's to be expected, but potentially frustrating for more competitive players.

During my time with the pre-release build, I explored three major areas of the map and cleared several bosses, up to the Raya Lucaria Academy area. Though I'd have liked to see an uncapped framerate option, I didn't feel like the 30 FPS lock was getting in the way of my enjoyment at all. This isn't the disaster other journalists experienced last year, that's for sure.

That conservative target is missed at times, though, as Stormveil's crowded courtyards and rooftops can trigger some frame drops. I think the suddenly higher NPC count might be the issue here, and Liurnia of the Lakes' reflective surface is as problematic as it was on other platforms.

Other obvious hits to the framerate come from abundant particle effects in fire attacks or dense smoke and mist. These are less noticeable in most cases, as they generally happen when you're getting toasted and are knocked down, but trained eyes will catch them. Overall, docked play seems sturdier, but when FPS drops happen, the console's own screen fares better once again. VRR and low framerate compensation to the rescue!

What's surprising is that I've also seen no major drops in open world boss encounters, which adds to my suspicion that nearby NPC counts putting extra pressure on Switch 2's so-so CPU are the culprit here. This has been part of a larger problem with Elden Ring that has affected other platforms since launch. Switch 2 just has less headroom to work with. Considering the faraway enemies are often seen with low-framerate animations, there might be something to this theory.

Judge this book by the cover

But the Tarnished Edition is still just Elden Ring on a new platform. There's nothing that makes it special or markedly different from other console versions, aside from a few extra goodies – sold as a minor DLC for other platforms – that feel like little goodbye gifts.

You could argue there's some value to the two new classes, but they're only a way to start with a different stat distribution and new armor pieces that you won't be using for too long. As for Torrent's cosmetics, they feel like a throwback to Oblivion's horse armor DLC moment. This also wouldn't fully be a complete port to a modern Nintendo platform without gimmicks, so it'd feel wrong not to mention that you can perform all of Elden Ring's emotes with motion controls if that's your thing. I don't care, but someone probably will. Real Wii-era vibes.

Still, Elden Ring Tarnished Edition is a huge reminder of how meaty the third-party support for Switch 2 has become in 2026. With Oblivion Remastered bringing another Bethesda heavyweight to the hybrid console and Diablo 4 likely coming sooner rather than later, there's no better piece of hardware to play modern open-world RPGs on-the-go.

It seems that Bandai Namco and FromSoft knew they had to get this one right. Despite some rough edges, this version of the massive action RPG stands tall beside the others – and I plan on replaying Elden Ring all the way through on Switch 2.

Elden Ring Tarnished Edition might just become one of the best Switch 2 games ever, but time and opinions will tell...

To get the Mortal Shell 2 Axatana without fighting any enemies (or at least very few), you'll need to know the exact route to take, and you should probably also use Tiel's handy Shadow ability in case you run into trouble.

With just these two things, though, you can have the incredibly powerful weapon in your hands much earlier than the devs intended (probably), if you kit yourself out with Tiel and follow the handy instructions below. You just need to have unlocked the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon first.

How to get the Mortal Shell 2 Axatana

The Axatana is without doubt one of the best Mortal Shell 2 weapons, but it is found at the very south of the map, near the endgame area, which might make you think it's one of the hardest to obtain.

On the contrary, unlike some others, this weapon is not hidden in a dungeon or behind a deadly boss but is just in a room, available to pick up easily and only guarded by a relatively easy foe. Even getting there isn't too hard if you know where to go, so if you want the Axatana early, here's how to get it:

1. Head to the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon once you've unlocked it via Mortal Shell 2 fast travel.
2. Run directly ahead down the Road to Absolution, through the castle ruins, until you get to the Bone Gate at the end, running past enemies on the way.
3. Keep running straight, using Tiel's ability to dodge the metal meatball if you need to, until you reach the locked gate at the end. Turn left.
4. Follow the wooden path and bridges, keeping left the whole time, until you reach another Bone Gate. On the other side, use the air stream on your left to travel up to the next level.
5. Now go right, up the ramp, then a quick right-left up another ramp, into the geometric stone area. Use the Bone Gate in front of you to get to the Forgotten Tower - you'll almost definitely need Tiel's cloaking ability here.
6. Enter the building and take the first right. Head up the stairs, and out of the hole in the wall at the top. Use this final Bone Gate to reach the Axatana room, by following the building round until you find the button to open a gate. Use this, enter the room, and dodge round the enemy to pick up the Axatana. Use it to defeat the enemy in the room, and you're done! Now you just have to make it back...

As you can tell from the instructions above, I'd recommend using Tiel, one of the best Mortal 2 Shells, to complete the journey, as you can use his cloaking ability to get around some of the bosses that are at a higher level than you if you're getting the Axatana earlier than intended.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Kingdom Hearts Collection 1 - 3 pre-orders have arrived physically on both the PlayStation 5 and Nintendo Switch 2, giving you the key to unlock and play almost the entire iconic game series.

Launching on October 8 later this year, this collection packs in everything from Kingdom Hearts Final Mix through to Kingdom Hearts 3 + Re Mind (DLC), so you can get caught up ahead of the release of Kingdom Hearts 4 in late 2027. Picking up either version of the game for $74.99 at Amazon in the US will also grant you access to exclusive in-game keyblades and a free exclusive poster too, though I can't say for certain that the alleged generative AI artwork will come with it.

The official listings box art fortunately no longer shows an image of Donald Duck with an inconsistent number of fingers and blurry clock towers. However, the marketing image of the poster attached to the Amazon listing bears a resemblance to that original (and questionable) artwork. On the positive side, this is a double-sided poster, so you can turn it around and display the art to the first Kingdom Hearts game if that's what you prefer. Bizarre artwork or not, I've gathered the best Kingdom Hearts Collection 1-3 shopping links below so you can have a simple and clean pre-order experience.

I have a sneaking suspicion that the marketing image showing off the double-sided poster just hasn't been amended alongside the box art for the Kingdom Hearts Collection. However, we'll have to wait and see come launch day on October 8, 2026, to know for sure.

I'm just thankful that the strange original cover, which Square Enix stated was the result of "human error" has been changed for the physical games themselves. Hopefully, that should result in no strange-looking clock towers once your copy arrives at your door this spooky season. That being said, whether any strange artifacts from the original cover art will be apparent at all remains to be seen. I'm still side-eyeing the entire illustration myself, which is why I've yet to pre-order the collection. Time will certainly tell.

As a heads up, it appears you can only get that poster if you pre-order the collection through US Amazon. However, you'll still get access to the Midnight Blue and Long Night platform-exclusive Keyblades (depending on the platform) and a reversible inlay, which includes a 25th anniversary design no matter where you grab your physical copy of the game.

• View all Kingdom Hearts games at Amazon

We're also rounding up the latest Stage Tour pre-orders, Marvel's Wolverine pre-orders, and Call of Duty Modern Warfare 4 pre-orders for you to check out.

CD Projekt Red dropped a brand new date in our Fall gaming diaries at Gamescom Opening Night Live last night; September 29. That's when The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt - Remastered lands on PC, PS5, Xbox Series X, and Nintendo Switch 2, but there's a nostalgic smell of pro-consumer moves in the air as well. The full remaster will be available as a free upgrade for anyone who already owns a copy of the game. To take advantage of that, though, you'll need either a physical or digital copy in your library.

Right now, The Witcher 3 Complete Edition (the base game seems to be unavailable) will run you $49.99 via either PlayStation or Xbox's digital storefronts, with Nintendo coming in at $59.99. We can easily do better than that. As if we didn't need another reason to dread the upcoming digi-pocalypse, physical copies will secure your game for a fraction of that price right now - of course, you'll need a console that can take a disk to benefit.

The absolute cheapest way to do it is via GameStop's pre-owned stock. There you'll find the PS4 base game (remember, all expansions are free now as well) for $6.99 with the Xbox version sitting at $4.99. You're spending a little more if you'd prefer a brand new disk - I'd recommend PS5 players head to Amazon for a $16.24 price tag while Xbox players are looking at $16.95 here as well.

The cheapest way to buy The Witcher 3 on PS5 / Xbox

Thankfully for PS5 and Xbox players, the original PS4 / Xbox One release is still floating around and it's still cheaper than the Complete Edition. Now that Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine are both free, players might as well opt for the original release to get their library sorted for the full upgrade.

The cheapest way to buy The Witcher 3 on Nintendo Switch

The Nintendo Switch version is a little spicier. Only the Complete Edition is available on Ninty's handheld, and prices have stuck a little closer to launch over the years. Combine that with the fact that GameStop's pre-owed copies are up in the double digits and Amazon's listings have ballooned in price and you're looking at a slightly heftier bill. You can still secure a cart (or a download) for less than the full $59.99 Switch 2 release, but the savings don't roll quite as deep as they do for PlayStation and Xbox fans.

Right now, the original Complete Edition is up at $59.99 on Nintendo's eShop, matching the same price as the (now available for pre-order) Switch 2 release. Most retailers come underneath this price right now, with GameStop still leading the pack with its pre-owned stock.

Of course, there's plenty more to look forward to. We're also rounding up the latest GTA 6 pre-order prices and showing you where to pre-order Marvel's Wolverine PS5 consoles.

What brings Geralt out of retirement for The Witcher 3: Songs of the Past? The last time we saw The White Wolf, at the end of Blood & Wine, he was preparing to settle down for his retirement in Toussaint. Now, he's been dragged to a whole new corner of the continent for a new expansion that CD Projekt Red says will rival The Witcher 3's original two. The catalyst, as with many of Geralt's (mis)adventures, is his chaotic friendship with Dandelion

Specifically in Songs of the Past, however, that's Dandelion in his role Julian Alfred Pankratz, Viscount de Lettenhove. At the start of my hands-off demo, Geralt has traveled to his friend's noble seat in Letten. Waking up after a wild night of partying to celebrate the Belleteyn, it's immediately clear that something is wrong. Dandelion is missing, he's lost his flute, and a threatening dream suggests to Geralt that this is no ordinary hangover.

Heading to Dandelion's family estate for breakfast, Geralt's fears for his friend are founded further by a heated conversation between his grandmother, and Dandelion's cousin, Lilla. She links Dandelion's absence with the details from Geralt's dream, pointing directly towards the mysterious Garden of Thorns and a scandal that engulfed a distant ancestor, and it's not long before Lilla and Geralt are riding off in search of Dandelion.

Thorny subject

In this scripted demo, there's relatively little chance to explore Letten itself, but lead level designer Miles Tost says it's a "fully realized open-world which you can explore freely". It's similar in scale to Blood & Wine, and there's a comparably dreamy, fairytale feeling to this new region to what we saw in Toussaint. At the same time, Tost says that there's a desire to bring this 11-year-old game into a more modern era. The new features that are launching with The Witcher 3 Remastered are most keenly seen in combat, but Letten also looks better than I remember the base game looking, with improved lighting and vastly denser environments bringing its villages to life even as you gallop through them.

That vibrancy is something The Witcher 3 has always done well, but it's clear CDPR has pushed it further here. Tost suggests that NPCs have more detailed routines and more dialogue. The world around Letten is teeming with the stories of the night before as Geralt rides Roach through its lakeside villages, inspired this time by the countryside of England and southern Poland. As the fog rises slowly off the lake and the sunlight diffuses gently through it as partygoers drag themselves back to their daily lives, Songs of the Past harks back to The Witcher 3's greatest strengths while bringing it forward into a new era.

That's felt later on too, as Geralt's monster-slaying silver sword is put to work. In the Garden of Thorns, it's very little time before the local flora and fauna turn against the new arrivals. All three fights I'm shown in Songs of the Past offer something fresh – even the one enemy type that's reminiscent of a Drowner or Nekker has a signature mechanic that requires Geralt to work around its core identity. Thankfully, Geralt has some new moves of his own. Some are subtle – improved combat animations and camera angles let his signature pirouette-style swordplay shine through while helping combat flow a little more naturally. Others are baked into the wider game – an overhauled upgrade system is now far more like an actual skill tree than a linear upgrade path.

Others still are new toys entirely. Geralt's chain – a nod to his very first adventure in the books and a mechanic cut from The Witcher 1 – is an alternative to the base game's crossbows. Flinging it out towards enemies drags them towards Geralt, closing gaps against ranged foes or, in this instance, dragging them out of their defenses to quickly dispatch them.

As Geralt and Lilla move through the garden, there's a sense of how it fits into the wider world of Letten and Songs of the Past. At one point, stumped by a riddle, we're shown a dialogue option that implies Geralt might have learned the solution from an NPC somewhere else in the world. Unwilling to dwell on the puzzle for too long, he hacks his way through the obstacle before him regardless, Doug Cockle's dry portrayal of Geralt's funnier side is as witty as ever. Later on, there's even a hint at a new romance, but we don't get to take that dialogue option, Tost explaining that he's Team Yen all the way.

The real test of Songs of the Past will come when we're let loose within its open world, that being the true test of whether CDPR has managed to recapture the magic of its RPG despite the intervening years. But, what I've seen so far is a very promising start. Even this story-based section seems to fit seamlessly into the existing world of The Witcher 3, while the upcoming remaster's features push much of what made the original game so special even further – and attempt to tighten up its weaker elements.

A new expansion a decade after the last update is the kind of thing very few studios would dare attempt. Even fewer would manage to pull it off. But, combined with the remaster's improvements, the scope of Songs of the Past currently looks set to make this a worthy new addition to The Witcher 3's enviable legacy.

Check out our best RPGs ranking to decide witch to play next!

The actual location of the new The Witcher 3 expansion, Songs of the Past, was revealed as part of Gamescom's Opening Night Live, and it's going to be a gargantuan adventure. Launching 12 years after the RPG's first release, the added gameplay is headed to the bard Dandelion's homeland.

Yes, we're headed to Lettenhove, an idealistic place on the surface that holds some mysteries underneath. "The idyllic realm of Letten is yours to explore," reads the description on the official site. "The homeland of Geralt’s greatest friend, Dandelion the bard, is steeped in rural tradition and full of buried secrets, bringing even more content to one of the most critically-acclaimed RPGs of all time."

This is interesting for several reasons. First, Lettenhove is barely explored in other avenues of The Witcher lore, such as Andrzej Sapkowski's books. It's somewhere CD Projekt Red can approach with complete creative freedom.

Then, there's the possibility this means Dandelion will be a major character. Geralt of Rivia will probably need a guide, right? Or at the very least, his old pal may want to drop in on some acquaintances given the chance.

The scale is another question. Coming so long after The Witcher 3, the expectation is for Songs of the Past to be bigger and more distinct than Blood and Wine. A developer at Gamescom explained further about what to expect.

"Letten is a fully realized open world which you can explore freely, and it's packed with new adventures for Geralt and new quests and characters that live up to our signature mature story," Miles Tost, lead level designer on The Witcher 4, during a gameplay presentation attended by GamesRadar+. "So NPCs like these are a great example of [how] Songs of the Past builds on The Witcher 3's community systems to make them more reactive and alive, and NPCs can now properly use vehicles such as cars, horses, or even fireboats, which is a small thing, but I think adds a lot."

We've known for some time the devs are looking at this as a bridge to The Witcher 4, and it seems like it's going to be a substantive re-entry to The Continent. Songs of the Past comes out in 2027.

Blizzard and CD Projekt Red team up for Diablo 4 Geralt skin and The Witcher 3 on Battle.net

Yesterday brought us Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026, which saw the reveal of various new games – and, perhaps most excitingly of all, a first look at The Witcher 3 Remastered as well as CD Projekt Red's new DLC for the RPG, Songs of the Past.

In case you missed it, the showcase outlined some of what we can expect to see in the new revamped take on The Witcher 3 come its release on September 29, from "improved combat" to overhauled visuals – and much, much more.

GamesRadar+ got to hear more about it all from Miles Tost, level design lead on The Witcher 4, starting with how the combat system is indeed going "to be much more smooth and precise."

Tost shows it in action, too, and boy, is it smooth – and there's quite a lot at play that makes it so. "We updated the camera system, character animations, sign visuals, a lot of things to make it feel more modern," as the lead puts it.

There's "cleaner foliage, improved rendering and lighting, advanced ray tracing" as well – "it really, really tries to stand up to today's games," basically, and as much is obvious from what we witness of the remaster.

As per PC Gamer, CD Projekt Red had quite a lot in mind while tweaking The Witcher 3 Remastered's improvements – including new players.

Executive producer of external projects Jakub Kutrzuba states as much: "We're mostly thinking about new players, you know? We're looking at The Witcher from that perspective – so what would be the biggest pain points? What would a player expect to be changed in order to enjoy the game?"

And, echoing Tost's own words, what would The Witcher 3 feel like "if it was a game which released in 2026?" Well, there's the smoother combat – but there's also more player freedom.

"You can change target while playing the animation or performing strikes, and it gives the game a kind of freshness," for instance, as studio head Adam Badowski explains. And CD Projekt Red put a lot of work into this whole "freshness" thing.

"We put a lot of our time into how the game actually plays…" Kutrzuba confirms. "We went through all of them and asked ourselves, 'What can we do about it, without rebuilding the game from scratch?' And we have changed a lot… the game just plays smoother, you know? There's no immersion-breakers anymore."

I, for one, am thrilled to hear that. I mean, who wants their immersion to be broken in an RPG, right?

The Witcher 3 is already admittedly pretty good at handling that as it is now, so we're thrilled to experience how much better it might be come the remaster next month. Something tells me it'll be a massive leap, considering everything CD Projekt Red says.

Blizzard and CD Projekt Red team up for Diablo 4 Geralt skin and The Witcher 3 on Battle.net

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered was the big "one more thing" announcement closing out today's Gamescom Opening Night Live showcase, and while there's an extremely wide array of new features in this release, one stands out above all the others: better combat. The often limp, floaty fighting of the 2015 original has been a sticking point since launch, and it seems that's a key point of emphasis in this remaster.

"Feel every swing, sign, and dodge like never before," the remaster's official website promises in the "improved combat" section. "With revamped animations, brutal new finishers, and an adaptive camera, the action feels more dynamic, fluid, and kinetic."

All good stuff, even if it is a bit vague. The trailer is slightly more detailed, noting additions like "new Witcher signs FX" and "enhanced monster behaviors." Add to that "revamped mount handling" and "improved traversal and movement" and you have a game that should feel a whole lot better in its moment-to-moment action.

Of course, lightweight combat was never really an obstacle to my enjoyment of The Witcher 3 around its original launch, and it hasn't stopped the game from being widely regarded as one of the best RPGs of all time. But it's good to see that, if CD Projekt Red is taking the time to polish up The Witcher 3 for a new remaster, it's giving some extra attention to one of the game's weaker elements.

We should get a better sense of what to expect from these changes soon enough, as CD Projekt Red is hosting a series of streams offering a look at the upcoming Songs of the Past DLC as well as the new remaster features, and an extended demo will be presented to players at Gamescom. The rest of us will have to wait until September 29 to go hands-on with the remaster, which will arrive as a free upgrade to all existing Witcher 3 owners on current-gen platforms.

The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past DLC includes a nod to CD Projekt Red's original 2007 RPG and its source books as Geralt wields a new silver chain.

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered was the big surprise at Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026, with CD Projekt Red bringing a shotgun blast of upgrades to all players in a free update coming September 29.

The headliners include updated combat, enhanced visuals, and polished movement, but the remaster's reveal trailer also crammed in a staggering 30 improvements that sound mighty impactful. Depending on how you play or what you care about, these might even be among the most important bits.

Here's the list of additions and upgrades teased in the extremely brief "and more" section of the reveal trailer.

• Cross-platform mod support
• Immersive meditation
• Refined animations
• New quest tracking
• UI improvements
• Looting rework
• Refreshed motion blur
• New accessibility features
• Updated textures
• Foliage shading rework
• Tutorial modernization
• HDR improvements
• GTAO
• Improved menu navigation
• Ray tracing improvements
• Global lighting rework
• New shading model
• Subsurface scattering
• New tone mapper
• PS5 Pro support
• Xbox Play Anywhere support
• Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive features
• Nvidia DLSS 4.5
• AMD FSR 4
• Intel XESS 2.0
• Path tracing on PC
• Ray reconstruction on PC
• Raytraced hair
• Native DX12
• Rendering parallelization

Whew. I've parsed a lot of marketing gobbledygook in 13 years of game journalism, and this is one of those rare instances where the phrase "and so much more" actually feels pretty earned.

The shape and scope of a lot of this remains to be seen, and graphical bells and whistles like path tracing can be swept under the "upgraded visuals" umbrella, but this is a pretty substantial list. I'm especially excited by the new quest tracking, UI improvements, looting rework, and menu navigation. The combat and skill tree polish is nice in an obvious way, but depending on how they shake out, these UI fixes could have an even bigger cumulative effect on your average Witcher 3 playthrough.

The Witcher 3's Songs of the Past DLC includes a nod to CD Projekt Red's original 2007 RPG and its source books as Geralt wields a new silver chain.

Tonight's big Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 showcase provided us with a neat glimpse of many, many exciting new games underway – and, perhaps best of all, The Witcher 3's own big Songs of the Past DLC.

Yep, we actually have finally seen Geralt front and center in the DLC, and I couldn't be more excited after watching CD Projekt Red's new teaser trailer myself. It contains a first look at the protagonist wielding silver chains – a weapon he hasn't used since the opening of the original 2007 Witcher RPG, nearly two decades ago now.

It's kind of a huge deal, to say the least, seeing as we've only witnessed Geralt with a silver chain in that cinematic and in The Witcher books by Andrzej Sapkowski, where he used one against Adda when she was reborn as a Striga.

That's not all we see of Songs of the Past, either. Those Belleteyn theories that had folks convinced we'd finally get to experience the massive celebratory fertility festival (you know, Beltane, basically)?

It sure looks like they're ringing true, as Geralt can be seen in the midst of Belleteyn's festivities in CD Projekt Red's new trailer. Yet another first (sort of, anyway, seeing as we never got to actually wield chains ourselves) for Witcher gamers – and I'm so here for it.

The DLC isn't the only exciting news we got at Gamescom 2026 about The Witcher 3, however. We also got to see The Witcher 3 Remastered (yes, you read that right) in action, with all of its improved visuals, combat tweaks, reworked skill trees, and much more. It's never been a better time to be a Witcher stan, basically.

All of this and the fact that The Witcher 4 is still underway, too – along with the other upcoming CD Projekt Red games, of course. Please don't pinch me if this is all a silly little dream... I don't want to wake up.

The Witcher 3 devs tried to give NPCs "fear reactions" but it got cut after a few horrifying weeks when "women were just dropping their babies, left and right"

The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt Remastered is coming September 29, bringing sweeping graphical and mechanical improvements to the storied RPG. It will be a free upgrade to all existing owners on PC and consoles.

Developer CD Projekt Red announced The Witcher 3's surprise remaster at today's Gamescom Opening Night Live show alongside a brief look at upcoming expansion Songs of the Past.

Remaster may be selling it short. CD Projekt Red teases "upgraded visuals, enhanced combat, improved traversal and movement, new Witcher sign [effects], revamped mount handling, enhanced monster behaviors, skill tree revamp, transmogrification, expanded photo mode, new finishers, and so much more."

All The Witcher 3 expansions will also be included with the remaster, as everyone's getting Hearts of Stone and Blood and Wine for free today, August 25.

Level design lead Miles Tost took the stage at Gamescom to discuss this big Witcher push from CDPR. "You can tell that the team definitely poured their hearts into this one. It's this huge privilege for me to stand here and represent them," he says.

"Features! My favorite one is the visuals. New textures, updated rendering, advanced path tracing, foliage, you name it," he continues. "Geralt has never looked this good, even after all those years of retirement.

"The other thing, definitely: combat. It's more modern, smooth, and precise. We updated [the] camera, targeting system, added new animations, and what I like a lot, new finishers. And then, last one: The Witcher 3's a full-fledged RPG right? So we've completely revamped the ability system to give players more options."

Warlock, the next big D&D game to come after Baldur's Gate 3, just showed off nearly 10 minutes of its Dragon's Dogma-style gameplay – and I can't wait to play next year.

Archetype Entertainment and Wizards of the Coast have released a new trailer at Gamescom for their upcoming sci-fi RPG Exodus, confirming it'll release on April 7, 2027.

While surprises are a major part of Opening Night Live, one game we knew we'd be seeing more of during the Geoff Keighley-led showcase was Exodus, a Mass Effect-like RPG which is the debut title by Archetype Entertainment – a studio comprised of talent from Naughty Dog, Halo Studios, EA, and crucially, BioWare. However, I'm more sold on the game now after getting a closer look at Salt, one of the companions who just so happens to also be an octopus.

The Exodus Gamescom trailer showed Salt's combat capabilities, with the mech-piloting cephalopod serving as a sniper who can disorient enemies with ink, covering Jun as they traverse the battlefield. Plus, we got some backstory for the Octopus which got me a bit emotional.

Alongside more Salt, the trailer introduced Emrys – which a press release describes as "a member of the Deva, an enigmatic Celestial species defined by many consciousnesses." Emrys is set to take on a support role for the party by "launching Remnant Orbs that drain and weaken enemies while feeding the stolen power back into Jun as protection."

However, more crucially, almost three years after the game was first revealed, Archetype Entertainment has announced that the RPG will launch on April 7, 2027, on PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC (on Steam and the Epic Games Store).

Archetype has also announced that there will be incentives to wishlist the game, with the 1 million and 1.5 million wishlist marks unlocking cosmetic outfits for Jun and companions, respectively.

Check out our Exodus preview hub, where we report on hands-on gameplay and developer access to the upcoming space sci-fi RPG

King Legacy codes have been around for a long time now, but they are still useful in this popular RPG adventure as you sail the seas fighting pirates, dragons, and other enemies. Your search for a wide range of physical in-game fruits will take you all over the map, so any help is always welcome.

The promos that are currently active provide a variety of benefits, from a significant cash injection and some free stat resets so you can respec your character to a decent period of double EXP earning in this anime-flavored Roblox experience. If you're keen to hunt down that elusive fruit, then these are the codes for King Legacy and how to redeem them.

If you'd prefer some promos that provide rewards for all of your experiences, then we've got the Roblox promo codes covered as well.

All King Legacy codes

The following King Legacy codes can be redeemed in-game:

• 2MFAV – +1 Refund Stats
• FREESTATSRESET – +1 Refund Stats
• RainbowDragon – 100x Gems (Need to have unlocked Rainbow Dragon color before Update 7)
• DragonColorRefund – 50x Gems (10x Gems if your old color was original red)
• SKGames – 2x EXP for 30 minutes (Need to join the Sea King Games Roblox group first)
• WELCOMETOKINGLEGACY – 2x EXP for 30 minutes
• <3LEEPUNGG – 2x EXP for 30 minutes
• Peodiz – $100,000
• DinoxLive – $100,000

There are a decent number of active codes for King Legacy available, though none of them have been released recently. You can use them to get Cash and Gems, as well as stat resets that will get added to your menu. Note that the EXP boost periods stack and they only count down while you are in the game, so you don't need to worry about losing any benefits from them.

How to redeem King Legacy codes

To redeem King Legacy codes, you first need to tap the Menu icon to the right of the Health bar at the bottom of the screen, then from the row of options that appear above it select the Basket icon to open the Shop. Scroll to the bottom of that menu to find the Enter Code text box, then type in a promo and hit Redeem to receive your reward. Note that codes for King Legacy are case-sensitive, so you need to enter them exactly as we've written them in our list.

Expired King Legacy codes

• FIXEDBUG1003 – 3x Gold Keys
• Serpent10 – 10x Gems
• FreePterSpin – 10x Copper Keys
• EchoOfNine – 1x Gold Key
• Update8Release – 2x EXP for 15 minutes
• YT90KCELEBRATION – 5x Fortune Tales
• YT100KLEGEND – 5x Chronicles Lore
• FreeQuakeSpin – 10x Copper Keys
• EchoMelody – 10x Copper Keys
• RiseOfPhoenix – 1x Iron Key
• QuakeSurprise – 2x EXP for 15 minutes
• PvPArenaFun – +1 Refund Stats
• KioruV2PowerUp – 2x EXP for 15 minutes
• QuakeTsunamiBoost – +1 Refund Stats
• DragonColorsUnlocked – 1x Gold Key
• ThirdSeaAdventures – 25x Gems (Need to have unlocked Third Sea)
• Halloween2024 – 50x Candies, +1 Refund Stats
• Update7Release – 2x EXP for 15 mins
• TelekinesisFruitPower – 1x Iron Key
• EpicAdventure – +1 Refund Stats

There are plenty of expired King Legacy codes as they've been around for a long time now, but I've included the most recent ones above for reference. While the currently active promos have also been available for a while, don't risk leaving them unclaimed!

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Dokimon Quest, one of the more interesting and nostalgically gorgeous Pokemon-like games around, is totally free to keep on Steam. But you'll have to act fast if you want to join the 1 million people who have already claimed the pixel art monster tamer.

Developer Yanako RPGs made its throwback monster-collectathon available to Steam goers for the small fee of nothing just yesterday. The offer runs until tomorrow, so there's not long left if you want a free shot of GBC-era nostalgia heavily inspired by Evangelion. If that doesn't sweeten the pot, I don't know what will.

Since then, the developer revealed that over a million people have already grabbed the offer and easily smashed the turn-based game's concurrent Steam peak with a full day still left to go.

All this goodwill comes at a good time, too. A Steam page for Dokimon Quest 2 went live around the same time as well, this time promising an adventure set in Edo-period Japan with fresh monsters to fight against and train. New features include mounts, dungeons, more polish, faster battling, and updates to multiple corners of the game. I'm particularly excited to craft and collect furniture for the in-game house that's being added to the sequel.

The original Dokimon Quest isn't being left out in the cold, either - that, too, received a really hefty update to coincide with its free-to-claim offer. For the first time, PC players will be able to trade creatures and battle against other players' teams by generating codes - a feature that won't be coming to the game's console ports. "This is by far the most exciting thing to go into this update," the mostly solo dev writes in a recent blog post, explaining that any online functionality that's more souped up would require a substantial amount time and funding to pull off.

Other additions include a tutorial fairy who clears up some of the game's more obtuse mechanics, new background art for battles in certain biomes, a completely remade quest log, and much more.

Pokemon Winds and Waves might not have turn-based battles as Game Freak veteran hints the combat system "could change" thanks to Pokemon Champions

Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones are required to fully level up your Tarstones, but, while they're super easy to get, they're also incredibly easy to miss. So, if you're looking to upgrade Tarstones and don't have any of these Tarcores in your inventory, here's where you should go - it's more than likely you've got some waiting for you.

How to get Tarcores in MS2

Mortal Shell 2 Tarcores are earned by upgrading Tarstones, but they don't appear automatically in your inventory. Instead, you must collect them from the outlet in the front of the Tarforge.

If you've already upgraded Tarstones in Mortal Shell 2, but don't have any Tarcores in your inventory to level them up even further, head back to Franz, and you should find plenty of the resource sitting in the mouth of the Tarforge where you left them.

Since you need six Tarcores to level up each Tarstone to level three, there is no way to get enough Tarcores in one full playthrough to upgrade all of the Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones. Instead, you'll need to complete the game in New Game Plus multiple times to be able to level up every stone, so make sure you choose carefully which you want to upgrade in your first playthrough.

Once you've figured out which Tarstones to upgrade, make sure you're also using them with the best Mortal Shell 2 Shells, and pick up the Genessa Shell if you haven't already. If you're on your second playthrough, maybe consider using the Mortal Shell 2 Slayer Seal or upping the difficulty, instead.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

You can upgrade Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones to level three, with each level requiring different materials. You'll also do so in different areas of the map, as upgrading Tarstones to level one happens passively, as long as you have the specific Tarstone equipped.

However, the higher you upgrade your Tarstones, the harder it gets, and you won't be able to fully upgrade every Tarstone in one playthrough, so you'll have to choose which you want to upgrade carefully. While you think it over, here's everything you need to know about upgrading Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones.

Mortal Shell 2 Tarstone upgrades

To upgrade Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones, you must first have them equipped. Equipped Tarstones will passively upgrade to level 1 as you earn XP. Only then can you upgrade them to level 2 at the Tarforge using 100x Coins.

To upgrade Tarstones at the Tarforge, you'll first need to give Etching Needles to Franz. If you haven't got this yet, find out where to get it in our guide to Franz and his Tarforge.

To upgrade Tarstones to level 3, you must again equip your level 2 Tarstone and earn enough XP to unlock the level 3 upgrade. Return to the Tarforge and upgrade your Tarstone using six Tarcores.

It's impossible to earn enough Mortal Shell 2 Tarcores in one playthrough to upgrade every Tarstone, so you'll want to test out the best Mortal Shell 2 Tarstones first, and figure out your favorites (or just use those recommended in my guide!).

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

After defeating the Tar Golem in the prolgue, there are ten major Mortal Shell 2 bosses, with a bunch of other mini-bosses, dungeon bosses, and arenas along the way. One of the most complicated things about this Soulslike game is its map, and sometimes it's hard to know which way you should go and which areas you should visit first, so I'll tell you the best order to defeat the Mortal Shell 2 bosses and where you'll find them.

All Mortal Shell 2 bosses in order

These are all the Mortal Shell 2 bosses in order and their locations:

1. Magdalena, the Lady of the Woods - Glutted Mire
2. The Lost Child - Sanguine Caverns
3. The Nameless Captive - Prisoner's Domain
4. Droeg, The Conqueror - Conquered Temple
5. Hexapod - Withered Shoals
6. Sir Isaac, the Scholar-Prince - Faded Citadel
7. The Monolith - The Unfound Path
8. The Malborn Offspring - The Unfound Path
9. Orrem, The Discarded Golem - The Unfound Path
10. Zmey, The Unbidden - The Unfound Path

The first six bosses are found inside Corrupted Gates, which open as you you collect more Ovum from cleansing Beacons. You can do them in any order, but the difficulty increase between them and the areas in which you'll find them means you should complete them in the order above.

The final four bosses are all found in the Unfound Path late-game area, which can only be accessed once you have returned 168 Ova to The Marrow Keep. At this point, you'll be able to access The Unfound Path directly from The Marrow Keep.

You won't want to tackle some of these bosses until you've found your favorite of the Mortal Shell 2 Shells and leveled up it and your Harbinger using Glimpses and Gloom.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

CD Projekt Red has confirmed that it currently plans to release The Witcher 4 in 2028. Joint CEO Michał Nowakowski says that the game will not be shown at Gamescom this week, but he does give fans some superlative teasers about the RPG's scope and ambition.

"Our team here at CD Projekt Red HQ is hard at work on a brand new saga, one with Ciri at the helm," Nowakowski says in a video message shared with fans on social media. "We have more than 500 incredibly talented developers working to create something truly special for you. The Witcher 4 features a huge and immersive open world, intense and action-packed gameplay, and a deep, impactful story that we hope will stay with you for a long time."

While we will see The Witcher 3's new expansion, Songs of the Past, at Gamescom Opening Night Live on August 25, Nowakowski confirms as part of this message that The Witcher 4 will not be at the show.

To our beloved fans, players, and community:As we near #gamescom in just a few days, CD PROJEKT RED Joint-CEO Michał Nowakowski would like to personally invite YOU to join us there, and hear about the future of The Witcher franchise!

— @thewitcher.com (@thewitcher.com.bsky.social) 2026-08-24T17:03:17.915Z

"Simply put, this is our biggest, boldest, and most ambitious game to date. Now, I know you're eager to learn when it's coming. That's the question we're hearing from you all the time. So while we're not showing The Witcher 4 at the event, and we're not ready to share an exact date, I can tell you this… The Witcher 4 is targeting a 2028 release window. I know it's a bit of a wait and you'd love to play it sooner, but let the team cook. It will be worth the wait."

Put some extra emphasis on "targeting" there, because given the scale of AAA game development, it would almost be more surprising if CD Projekt Red is able to finish the game by this initial target date. The studio delayed Cyberpunk 2077 no fewer than thee times, and given its state at launch, it probably should have been delayed even further.

I've no doubt that CDPR wants to avoid another Cyberpunk situation, so I'd expect the studio to take every second of time necessary to ensure that The Witcher 4 launches in the best state it can. And while 2028 might seem miles away, look at it this way: The Witcher 4 will probably still come out before The Elder Scrolls 6.

Gamescom Opening Night Live 2026 predictions: 5 games we'd like to see.

"Why should I play Baldur's Gate 3?" Is a question that I surprisingly hear quite a lot. Despite Larian Studios' game being highly acclaimed and recognized as one of the best RPGs of all time, there are still people put off by its massive world and (admittedly) complex character builder. However, after seven playthroughs and over a decade as a D&D fan myself, I firmly believe that Baldur's Gate 3 is the perfect opening for folks who have no knowledge of the Forgotten Realms beforehand.

Of course, DnD fans will love Larian Studios' masterpiece as well, but it acts as a great gateway for non-tabletop gamers to experience one of the longest-running and most popular RPG franchises in existence. D&D has been around since the '70s and is an intimidating beast, so seeing Baldur's Gate 3 using it as a base for its gameplay and story can feel like you're going to be buried by a tsunami of lore, mechanics and never-ending homework. But that's far from the truth, and hopefully I can convince you of that.

Below I have rounded up five reasons why everyone should play Baldur's Gate 3, whether you know D&D or not. I've taken my own experiences and my non-D&D playing team mates' thoughts into account, so hopefully, no matter what viewpoint you are coming from, you'll feel confident about venturing into one of the best CRPGs by the time you're done here.

Why you should play Baldur's Gate 3

A beginner-friendly system

In the world of tabletop RPG systems, Dungeons and Dragon's 5th Edition is one of the best for new TTRPG players in general. A lot of its mechanics, especially combat, are simpler than past editions, as it is less dense in crunchy features, and leveling up offers limited choices that also affect the overall complexity. Basically, D&D 5e still has a ton to keep track of, which will ask for your attention, but it doesn't throw the whole kitchen sink at you either. CRPGs are intimidating, but I had no issues recommending Baldur's Gate 3 to my non-D&D-playing friends when I learned that it used most of the D&D 5e rules. Baldur's Gate 3 uses a modified version that actually makes it even more simple for newbies too.

Firstly, spellcasters can now change out spells without long rests, and don't need certain components for some. The action economy in combat is also made a lot clearer, and if you are a damage-dealing Cleric main like myself, summoning spells like Spiritual Weapon don't require you to use a bonus action on your turn anymore. As a seasoned D&D player, Baldur's Gate 3's simple system had me trying classes and builds that I had never looked at before. I didn't feel like I needed my encyclopedic knowledge about Clerics to succeed. It's a game that doesn't punish you for getting to grips with it as you go along at your own pace.

Non-combat options

A lot of non-D&D players, or potentially turn-based gamer newbies, can get intimidated when looking at the combat in Baldur's Gate 3. After all, this is a CRPG, and that means every move is strategic. Your actions are class and level-dependent, there are actions, bonus actions, and environmental debuffs to affect you. And I haven't even gotten started on spell slots and cantrips if you pick a magic-using class. However, one of the beautiful things about Baldur's Gate 3 is that if you don't want to engage in high-stakes combat all the time, you don't really have to.

I personally love playing as a Bard in the game, and during my first playthrough, without any guides, I still managed to talk my way out of three major boss fights in Act 2. In fact, during The House of Healing mission chain, I didn't have to kill a single person, I just got lucky with my rolls and convinced them to do my job for me. When massive boss fights can be brushed off with high charisma, Baldur's Gate 3 gets significantly less intimidating and a lot more approachable to first-time role players and non D&D fans. Non-combat routes also let you see a part of the D&D experience many don't fully appreciate without first-hand knowledge: how it isn't always about combat, as the gift of the gab can lead to exciting and hilarious situations. So if you're a little daunted by the combat, I highly recommend playing or multiclassing as a Bard, Paladin, or Sorcerer.

Well-written (and hot) characters

If you aren't sold on the concept of playing one of the best D&D games out there, perhaps I can persuade you with an attractive vampire, or a broody stunning cleric? Baldur's Gate 3's companions are some of the hottest in the game, made not only attractive by character designs but also by their amazing backstories and character development. Let's be honest, romance and flirting mechanics make any game better. It adds an extra human element to a story and makes the world feel richer as relationships form, progress, and possibly crumble due to bad choices. Romance is also easy to invest in, and when you are unfamiliar with the world of the Forgotten Realms, having personal connections is an easy way to get drawn in, D&D knowledge or not.

Although I do love Baldur's Gate 3's combat, the main thing that really pulled me in during my first playthrough was how attached and invested I became to the whole party. I had a crush on all of them by the end, and still plan to romance them all (after my sixth Astarian run, I swear). If you love romantasy, or just great writing in general, but are nervous to stick your toes into this game, I really hope you take the plunge, because you'll get to experience growth, tragedy, sweet moments, and full romantic arcs with some spice sprinkled in. It's one of the best RPGs with romance out there, and after you've spent hours in the character creator making the next top model of the Forgotten Realms, having a group of hot singles after your attention is no bad thing.

Replayability

Before I played Dungeons and Dragons, I was intimidated by the concept of getting something wrong my first time, and messing up the game for myself and the rest of the party. And after talking to fellow D&D fans, I know that I'm not alone in that initial experience. However, Baldur's Gate 3 (aside from offering a single-player mode to figure things out in peace) really does show you how there is no wrong way to play this game, and encourages you to keep finding new ways to solve conflicts or discover alternative story paths.

Every conflict and interaction in Baldur's Gate 3 can be approached in multiple ways; there are around about 17,000 ending variations, after all. There really is a feeling that you can do what you want as you talk your way out of combat, use a bunch of barrels to explode a goblin fortress, or get unique dialogue options based on the class you decide to pick. So not only do you really get your money's worth as you're incentivized to replay and experience a totally different viewpoint of the story, but the game comfortably lets you experiment and discover the joys of roleplaying in a D&D setting without worrying about having to prove yourself, or "get things right" based on preconceived tabletop woes.

Mods

Baldur's Gate 3 is a modding playground, and it's super easy to use (even if you've never used mods before), thanks to the in-game mod manager. Using mods, you can tailor your experience further. So, if you're worried about some kind of D&D mechanic popping up, or if there is a feature that bugs you (e.g. carryweight, or certain classes), you can opt to customize them in and out of your game as you please. Certain mods can just make life easier for you, too, with gear made readily available to you from the get-go, for example.

As a Sims 4 player, I love exploring character creator mods, and as a seasoned CRPG player, I also love upping combat challenges with mods like "Stronger Bosses and Enemies". Then on the sillier and more whimsical side of things, there are mods in Baldur's Gate 3 that let you play as everything under the sun (our Jasmine Gould-Wilson enjoys being a Kuo-Toa every now and again). Modding also allows you to make the game more like D&D if you find yourself enjoying that aspect and want a more faithful set of system rules and spells. Both fun and practical, what more could you want?

For more, check out our list of the best ways to replay Baldur's Gate 3, or look at our recommendations of the best games to play like Baldur's Gate 3 next.

The Elder Scrolls 6, rumored to be called Sentinel, will be out… Uh, at some point, despite being teased back in 2019. Uncertain title aside, one of the very few things we do know about The Elder Scrolls 6 is that it will be running on yet another incarnation of Bethesda's proprietary Creation Engine, as will Fallout 5 after that.

Ah, the Creation Engine! The foundational code for every game Bethesda has made since Skyrim – and arguably earlier, having been built off elements of the code used for Fallout 3 in 2008. I'm not here to litigate whether that's overall a good thing for Bethesda's work. Creation Engine has its advantages and disadvantages, like any engine, some of which impact players and others that benefit those on the development side.

I admit I've found Bethesda's games in recent years to have a clunky, archaic quality that's getting less charming every time. I can't say how much of that is down to Creation Engine itself and how much is just Bethesda's notorious jank, but it's high time that Creation Engine gets pushed to its limit in the next Elder Scrolls game to deliver a more refined action experience.

Very gouda

One defense of Creation Engine that I've seen often is regarding its memory and the way it handles object placement.

Yes, loading screens on every door might be a bit tiresome to some, but that compartmentalization of data (as I understand it), means you can do the whole "place 1000 cheeses and/or sweetrolls on the king's head" shtick, and Skyrim will remember the exact location of every single one for the rest of your playthrough. It'll even make a fair attempt at mimicking the physics involved in large cheese piles!

While this elasticity is definitely good for modders, I don't think Bethesda has fully taken advantage of this quality when it comes to the vanilla gameplay experience yet. Yes, it's noticeably there when a grenade blast flings loose objects around in Starfield. But it's often tertiary, if involved at all.

Meanwhile, look at Half-Life 2 as a counter-example. When Valve debuted its revolutionary physics engine, the system was completely built around players understanding and exploiting it, whether in combat, exploration and puzzles.

On an interactive gameplay level, the physicality of Creation Engine is largely used for interior decorating, letting players hang dragon bones and digital clocks on shelves in their bases, knowing they'll still be there when they get back. And yes, that's a good thing for a very specific type of role-player, but for the rest of us who are here to stab dragons, Creation Engine doesn't feel like it's extrapolating the full potential of what's there.

To be clear, I'm not arguing for or against it. But if we are still using Creation Engine, it's time to really use it. To design puzzles that involve laying out items, to emphasize the telekinetic magic that throws things around, to work out the physics to such a degree that players can tangibly benefit from understanding and exploiting it. If nothing else, it'll make Bethesda's work feel richer than ever, without losing the qualities that the fans love.

For inspiration, check out our list of the best RPGs!

If you've lost your Shell in the Mortal Shell 2 prologue, I have some bad news for you - you can't get it back. It's okay though, this is meant to happen. Elsewhere in the game, though, you can get your Shell back, swap it out for others, and upgrade it - it's your most important weapon, after all.

If you're stuck without a Shell, though, here's what you need to know about getting it back, including what happened to Harros, your tutorial Shell, in case you missed it.

What happens to Harros Shell in Mortal Shell 2?

Once Harros is killed during the Tar Golem cutscene, you cannot get him back.

In case you missed something, a cutscene plays out at the end of the Tar Golem boss fight during which the giant foe destroys the Harros Shell once and for all. This is supposed to happen and takes place regardless of whether you defeat the Tar Golem or not.

If you don't defeat the Tar Golem, Harros steps in to save you, the Harbinger, defeating the Golem on your behalf. As he turns his back, thinking himself safe, the Tar Golem stabs him in one final act.

Meanwhile, if you do defeat the Tar Golem in Mortal Shell 2, the enemy will carry out his final attack anyway, still destroying Harros' Shell and leaving the Harbinger without one.

Progress through the rest of the prologue without your Shell and you'll eventually find yourself in the Marrow Keep, at which point you meet Zhirelle and can locate eight Mortal Shell 2 Shells that you can keep.

How to get Mortal Shell 2 Shells back

Any of the eight Shells you obtain after the prologue are yours to keep, but you can still lose them in combat. Once you take enough damage, the Harbinger is forced from the Shell, and you'll only 'die' if the Harbinger then also reaches zero health, with your Shell therefore providing an extra 'life', as it were.

When your Shell is lost during combat, you can revive them by visiting any Beacon on the Mortal Shell 2 map. This returns your Shell to you at full health, and also refills any abilities and your Mether's Pulse.

Alternatively, you can get your Mortal Shell 2 Shell back by attacking enemies with melee attacks. Performing melee attacks as The Harbinger fills a gauge on the bottom right-hand side of the screen. When this reaches 100%, you can summon your Shell back, but only at part health. You can then use Mether's Pulse - if you have any charges - to heal them. Levelling up your Harbinger using Mortal Shell 2 Gloom gradually increases the amount of base health your Shell has when it respawns.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Duskfade is a new indie love letter to some classic PS2 action platformers, Kingdom Hearts included. And, now, a Kingdom Hearts modder had made the Kingdom Hearts-like even more like Kingdom Hearts.

The developers of Duskfade have been pretty open about their inspirations in the past. It's a fast-paced action game where you swing a big sort-of Keyblade and fight shadowy, sort-of Heartless enemies across bright levels, with some light RPG progression and platforming sections in between.

Heck, there's even a handful of overt Kingdom Heart references littered in the game itself - one achievement is literally called Heartless, for example. b despite all the references and influences and similarities, Duskfade is still distinct enough to be its own thing... until one modder got involved, that is.

Modder Dallin1016 recently dressed up the game's main character Zirian in the iconic red outfit that Sora wore in the first Kingdom Hearts game. The mod (here on NexusMods) also comes with the option to replace Zirian's spiky hairdo with Sora's, and another mod completes the package by replacing Zirian's legally distinct Keyblade with an actual Keyblade.

Together, the mods turn Duskfade into an even cozier throwback for fans of the Kingdom Hearts series. Squint hard enough and you might not even be able to tell the difference - the distinct lack of Donald quacking every five seconds might be a giveaway, to be fair.

Modder Dallin1016's put in a bunch of good work elsewhere, too. One work-in-progress mod adds in Wuhu Island from Wii Sports Resort, of all things, as an explorable map in Duskfade. Another of their Kingdom Hearts 3 mods calls itself the most cursed one in series' history, and I really can't argue with that. Please, just look at Jigglypuff's head transplanted onto Davy Jones' body.

Duskfade itself is pretty great with or without the mods - on Steam, the game has an 89% 'Very Positive' rating. A great appetizer before Kingdom Hearts 4 comes out next year, I reckon.

Kingdom Hearts 4 lead Tetsuya Nomura plays 4D chess, potentially drops hints his canceled Final Fantasy game could somehow connect to the next RPG

Baldur's Gate 3 is finally seeing Divinity: Original Sin 2-style custom campaigns coming to fruition, as one new mod adds just that: a solid six-hour custom campaign.

Yes, you read that right. A Dream of Silence: ReVamped, as it is oh-so aptly dubbed over on Nexus Mods, adds an alternate campaign to Larian Studios' beloved Dungeons & Dragons RPG.
The mod is an adaptation of a browser-based text adventure by Abigail Corfman (which you can still access over on her official website), starring none other than my favorite of all the Baldur's Gate 3 companions: the ever-beautiful vampire elf Astarion, of course.

The mod's campaign is around six hours long in total, featuring four different endings, six new companions complete with unique dialogue lines and rewards, "more dynamic combat and boss fights," and, perhaps most excitingly, "a kitty that potentially accepts scritches."

Plus, you get to rescue Astarion from a nightmarish take on Cazador's already vile mansion (or choose not to and opt for a different path, I suppose). Sign me up, stat.

Sadly, it's only available for PC players right now, but that doesn't take away how impressive the custom campaign's emergence is.

Early last year, modders said custom Baldur's Gate 3 campaigns with "levels and lands comparable to the Skyrim modding community" could come in 2025 thanks to Patch 7 and its capacity for "level editing, save editing, and more" – but not too much has actually happened in that regard.

Sure, we've got projects like Return to Candlekeep underway, but it's been a long road, and limitations like multiplayer restrictions haven't exactly helped.

A Dream of Silence: ReVamped sparks hope for other custom campaigns later down the line, and I know I'm personally keeping my fingers crossed for even bigger projects in the same vein. Could you just imagine all of the possibilities…?

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33's Clea actor finds it "fascinating" that RPG fans give her character "more grace" than Baldur's Gate 3's Lae'zel.

Welcome back to the GamesRadar+ RPG Club! This third meeting takes place in the earliest reaches of Act 3, with my Baldur's Gate 3 no weapons run getting deadly serious now that I'm in the biggest section of the game. As a result, I've been forced to confront more than just Ketheric Thorm and the Avatar of Myrkul – who was easily dispatched after I freed Aylin on my first turn by Misty Stepping over to her cage. My biggest question now is how my current party will survive one of Act 3's most punishing coded events.

Looking between Lae'zel, Halsin, and Gale, I feel a stone in my gut. My party has grown strong, even with my no weapons run barring us from using anything handheld. I was loath to part ways with any of them, but I know that the Murder God's favorite is about to infiltrate my camp and kidnap someone.

As soon as I claim victory over Myrkul's Chosen – here's how Act 2 went for me – I start planning. That means guessing s who might be on Orin's chopping block and preparing my party accordingly. It's time for a strategic break, so consider this my once-per-act respec being used in one go.

Quest Log

Sneak attacked

The start of Act 3 was a nasty shock during my first playthrough, where I'd finished up at Moonrise Towers at a paltry level six. I'm feeling much better about my chances as a level eight sorcerer now. Which is why I'm almost relishing taking my first Long Rest in Rivington and being interrupted by a Githyanki ambush.

I prepare by going around the camp and reshuffling my active party members. I opt for an even split between spellcasters and unarmed melee specialists: Lae'zel, my open-hand monk, pairs nicely with Karlach the barbarian, and I'll need Shadowheart on hand to dole out the heals. It's a particularly mean fight, albeit one that puts my challenge to the test by reflecting it back at me. All of the Gith are monks, just like Lae'zel, and it's nowhere near as much fun being on the receiving end of a resonating Ki blast.

My first attempt is a write off; my party accidentally jumps into the battle ground one by one instead of all together, leaving Karlach and Lae'zel out of the initiative roll entirely while Shadowheart and I get absolutely bodied. The Emperor is little help, and before long, I'm reloading my save to coordinate entry to the battle properly.

I put a focus on Karlach and Lae'zel reaching higher ground as soon as possible, throwing the Gith across the astral prism while Shadowheart casts Sanctuary on herself and buffs the party from a safe distance. Meanwhile, I'm all about the massive AOE spells. Say hello to my little Fireball, everyone!

But the ambush is only the start of my troubles. As soon as we arrive in Rivington, I do my usual rounds of the lively crossing town – and run into Bhaal's Chosen, Orin, twice. First, masquerading as a snooping journalist, and secondly, as the shopkeeper of an armory. She laughs in my face, waves off my victory against Ketheric by saying something mean and cryptic, before vanishing into a puddle of viscera.

Orin is one of my favorite villains in video game history. She's also the most annoying. As Enver Gortash – the Chosen of Bane, God of Tyranny – later informs me after I bear witness to his grand coronation, Orin has already kidnapped one of my companions and is masquerading as them back at my camp.

Truthfully, I am miffed. I'd forgotten that this happens so early on in Act 3's proceedings, and it sends my nerves into overdrive. Immediately, I pray Orin hasn't taken Lae'zel.

My Gith monk just started getting good after our party leveled up following the astral prism attack. Perhaps Orin, in her infinite magnanimity, might've gone for Halsin instead? Or maybe even Yenna, the orphan child who invited herself to our camp during our second Long Rest in Rivington and now cannot stop going on about having brought her own paring knife (who gave the child a knife? Why are we okay with this?).

Tanked it

I managed to avoid dealing with my little Orin problem until two or three long rests later. Pursuing a maligned quest involving a necromancer mummy, whose goodies I had designs on for Gale, I headed into Baldur's Gate's sewers without thinking twice. Big mistake. "Lae'zel" came hobbling out of a fetid underground tunnel and soon shapeshifted back into Orin the Red.

Well, damn. I don't think I've ever triggered the imposter reveal this early on in any of my Baldur's Gate 3 playthroughs, and now I'm down the most powerful tank in my party. It's especially miserable, since I don't tend to rescue Orin's captive until I'm starting to wrap up my time in the game. If I'm to make it through all that Act 3 has to offer without Lae'zel at my side, it's time to respec my party accordingly.

Instead of fashioning myself another monk – that just feels like cheating, okay? – I leverage some newfound assets. Jaheira is a druid, much like Halsin, and I want to keep her as such for narrative reasons. That said, I respec her subclass into Circle of Spores to complement Gale's own necromantic flair.

Between them, they now can spawn near endless zombies and ghouls anytime I choose. It's also time to make Shadowheart a Light Domain cleric now that she's turned her back on Shar's trickery, while Astarion gets a few warlock levels to beef the bard up a bit with some eldritch blasts for good measure.

With Karlach now my one and only melee tank, it's time to bid farewell to the ways of the Berserker and respec her back to the Giant subclass. I need to prioritize high DPS to compensate for the loss of Lae'zel's fists of fury, so I make sure to stack her strength score up to 20 at a base level and make use of her collection of Cloud Giant Strength potions, which take her up to 27. Then, I turn to my own character – sweet little Zeraphina, the draconic sorcerer who could. And still can. For her, no changes – only vengeance for the loss of Lae'zel.

I really did squander Lae'zel when I had her, and I can't lie and say that she was a staple in my party throughout the journey so far – that honor goes to Karlach, Gale, and Shadowheart for the most part.

But much as her absence is felt, leaning into magical combat has been eye-opening. It's certainly helpful when my whole party can misty step anywhere they like whenever I please, not to mention how keeping my party far from foes means I have no real need for a melee tank anyway. Paired with some fancy new Spore Druid armor for Jaheira and the Robes of the Weave for Gale, I'm cleaning up Act 3 like the most dedicated barmaid at the Elfsong Tavern. A dedicated barmaid with a penchant for summoning zombies, of course.

And yet, there's more to come. Slowly but surely, I'm rebuilding my party for the final battle brick by brick. Hopefully next time I check in with you, I'll have bested that brain for good – with or without Lae'zel.

Just as I get out of my car in Cyberpunk 2077, I receive a text message from Panam. Given that I've clocked a little over 1,000 hours in CD Projekt Red's RPG at this point, it's one I'm no stranger to, but it still hits me like it's the first time. "You were right, V. It's good being back with your people," the message begins. "In NC I felt like the loneliest person in the world."

A photo of Panam and the Nomadic Aldecaldos accompanies the text, and while they're all sitting around a fire, the warmth of the snapshot comes from the found family portrait it captures. As I take in the image again, I'm reminded of why I'm so consistently drawn to the Nomads as a group above all.

In a dystopian setting like Night City – where ruthless gangs such as the scavs kidnap and harvest people, and cold corporations care only for raking in more eddies – the Nomads exist on the fringes of the neon-tinted metropolis. There, they can give you something more valuable than any souped-up cyberware: a sense of belonging. No matter how many times I play, the Aldecaldos and their found family dynamic are the highlight of my experience as V, and the group are partly why I've come to the conclusion that the best Cyberpunk 2077 lifepath is Nomad.

Outsider No More

Every lifepath in Cyberpunk 2077 offers something I enjoy from a role-playing standpoint. I love the way playing as a Street Kid often gives me the upper hand when I'm dealing with the many rival gangs that populate Night City. Being a Corpo, on the other hand, can give V an entirely different vibe and viewpoint, and it's fun to try and channel the ruthless edge so many corporations have .

But the Nomad lifepath is the most satisfying from a role-playing and story perspective overall – particularly when it comes to the Aldecaldo questlines. After leaving the Bakkers who were once your Nomad clan before they decided to join Snake Nation, V is now adrift with no backing or support system to speak of. As the codex shards you can find in the world will tell you, to be a Nomad is to adopt a lifestyle built upon family and freedom, and you protect your family and clan first and foremost. So, being a Nomad like V who's without one is a very lonely and vulnerable position to be in.

This background makes it all the more meaningful when you meet the Aldecaldos. Fiercely supportive and loyal to one another, they represent something V's lost: family. To want to belong is universal, and it's easy to get attached to the Aldecaldos because of the way they can give you that. Once you help them out, they have your back no matter what, and isn't that what family should be all about? Night City is a lonely place, after all, regardless of which V you're playing, and the Nomadic group really do feel like they bring some light and love to an otherwise harsh world.

Since I'm something of a virtual gearhead who loves driving in games, I also have a natural affinity for the Nomads as a group and lifepath. Aside from being your ride or dies in a familial sense, they also deeply care about the actual rides they drive. As Mitch, one of my favorite clan members, puts it, "those wheels are our life". Not only do they rely on their vehicles out in the Badlands, but they also customize them as though they're an extension of themselves. I immediately connected to this idea, and I love that in the lifepath, you get a set of wheels that feels personal to you, too, which you can even reclaim later on – it's such a welcome role-playing touch.

The Star

The characters who make up the Aldecaldo family are really what hooks me in time and again. The way Cyberpunk 2077 introduces you to the Nomads through Panam brilliantly establishes the hardships of going it alone, what the group are all about, and how much the Aldecaldo's care when it comes to a member of their clan. Having stepped away from the family, Panam is on a similar road to you when you first meet her. But as you help her out and get to know her, you can play a part in re-establishing her connection with the Aldecaldos.

Sometimes hotheaded, obviously lonely, but with so much strength and heart, Panam is a beautifully flawed, relatable character I quickly got very attached to, but I can honestly say I felt a kinship and fondness for all of the Aldecaldos in their own right. Throughout their questlines, they banter with one another, have disagreements, and share intimate, fond moments like any real family, and I always just want to spend more time with them.

While the Nomads' found family bond and the lifepath resonate, the role they play in Night City is also quite fascinating. I was reminded of this fact last year, when I had the chance to sit down and talk with lead writer, Tomasz Marchewka, for Cyberpunk 2077's five-year anniversary. Diving into the antagonistic setting, I couldn't pass up the opportunity to talk about the Nomads and express my love for the group. While I said that in some respects, they feel like they rebel against the city by going their own way, Marchewka explained that they're such a vital part of it – even if they're on the outside of things.

"When you think about it for a second, Nomads are crucial to make this ecosystem [in Night City] work," Marcheweka said. "Yeah, they seem to be outside of the city, but the city wouldn't be itself without Nomads running around bringing stuff from the other places with them, being the link between different cities. They need to be there. They are part of the ecosystem. They are kind of the blood flow, like they make the system run from under the hood. Using that metaphor, they are the engine of things. So the city wouldn't be itself without them, even though they seem detached, it's not that easy, they are connected to it."

I really love this idea that they're the "blood flow", or "engine" of the city who keep things running, even if it's from "under the hood" or out of sight. As an in-game shard details, it's said that it's actually "thanks to the Nomads that the cities were rebuilt after the wars and catastrophes that marked the first half of the 21st century", meaning that many cities wouldn't remain without them, even if they often seemingly exist outside of them. The opening of the Nomad lifepath even sees you smuggle something into Night City, which speaks to Marchewka's note about "being the link between different cities".

As you can probably tell I've thought about all of this too much, and dissected my attachment to the group a lot, but if nothing else, that speaks to how deeply invested I've become in the Nomads across my many playthroughs. Ultimately, the main reason for that will always come back to that photo from Panam. The Aldecaldos are a family – V's family – and I'll forever want to sit beside the fire with them.

Phantom Liberty didn't change my mind about the best Cyberpunk 2077 ending.

Tetsuya Nomura's been sliding Final Fantasy Versus 13 references through the backdoor of Kingdom Hearts for years. And in the most on-brand move for the puzzling developer, even his clothes are now potentially dropping hints about how the canceled Final Fantasy game could connect to Kingdom Hearts 4.

Last week put an end to the Kingdom Hearts 4 news drought with Square Enix announcing that Pixar's Coco will feature in the game, alongside playable King Mickey sections that are more focused on papercraft puzzles than the series' signature floaty combat.

But perhaps the most notable and brain-scratching tidbit actually came from a shirt that series co-creator Tetsuya Nomura wore to a D23 panel discussing the game. Stick with me now. His plain black shirt had one simple logo printed on top: 'Black Honey Chili Cookie.'

Real sickos might recognize Black Honey Chili Cookie as a fashion brand that appears in NEO: The World Ends With You, a beloved but overlooked JRPG that Nomura was heavily involved in as well. Of course, characters from the original The World Ends With You game have appeared in the Kingdom Hearts series before. Since The World Ends With You is set in Tokyo and Kingdom Hearts 4 sends us to an alternate version of the city, there's a very real chance those characters could return in next year's sequel.

How does any of this relate to Final Fantasy Versus 13, the game Nomura was supposed to direct before it was repurposed into Final Fantasy 15? Well, here's where we enter a potentially fruitless rabbit hole.

The in-game shopkeeper of the Black Honey Chilli Cookie store is called Hiromu Takahara. Not so coincidentally, Hiromu Takahara also happens to be the name of the in-real-life fashion designer behind Final Fantasy Versus 13's (and Final Fantasy 15's) cast of characters. Hiromu Takahara's inclusion in The World Ends With You was a heart warming tribute to Tetsuya Nomura's once creative collaborator at the time – the Black Honey t-shirt is potentially something more.

Wouldn't you have guessed it? Things get even more loopy from here. In the days since Kingdom Hearts 4's Coco trailer, series fans have been combing over every frame for clues and found striking similarities between the city guards in Kingdom Hearts 4 and Final Fantasy 15. The design of the military airships in both games are almost an exact mirror of each other, too.

YouTuber The Night Sky Prince theorizes there's a method behind the madness and there might even be some parallels between Kingdom Hearts 4's narrative and the story Final Fantasy Versus 13 was supposed to tell. A foreign invasion of Kingdom Hearts' Tokyo could be what spurs the series' shadowy Heartless to begin wreaking havoc in the city, in the same way that the Empire of Niflheim spreads their own daemons across Final Fantasy 15 world, on top of whatever meta clues Nomura may sneak into the game.

While the theory is convoluted and requires a lot of background knowledge to understand, I'm convinced because it's also perfectly in line with Kingdom Hearts' already twisty-turvy, sometimes non-sensical lore. It wouldn't be the first time Nomura's referenced FF Versus 13 with all the subtlety of a bulldozer, either – the man seemingly can't let go of his baby. But I also wouldn't rule out the possibility this is all just a red herring that Kingdom Hearts fans, me included, are reading way too much into, as usual.

Whether the references are just references or something more remains to be seen. We'll find out when Kingdom Hearts 4 "100%" comes out next year.

Kingdom Hearts 4 references a bit of OG lore so obscure I wouldn't have blamed Tetsuya Nomura for forgetting it.

While EA is largely known as the sports, Battlefield, and Sims factory these days – they also occasionally allow BioWare to release an RPG if the studio does so quietly enough – the studio's catalog includes many, many more franchises. What's going to become of all those IPs after the Saudi Arabia-led buyout of the company? Well, maybe some of them can be sold off to more attentive homes.

That's an idea posited by Emmanuel Rosier, who served as a high-level manager at EA for the better part of a decade, apprising the company of industry and market trends likely to affect their fortunes. Now he's the director of market intelligence at the third-party industry analysis firm Newzoo, and recently spoke to PC Gamer about the situation EA now finds itself in.

"They have a lot of dormant IPs that have not been used for so many years," Rosier says. "You know, they have IPs like Ultima, they have IPs like Wing Commander and this and that, and it's not being used at all. So the question is, would some of them be maybe sold, or will they hire studios to leverage these IPs? Because we see every day the importance of IPs."

EA's taking $20 billion in debt as part of the buyout, and it's widely expected that mass layoffs are going to be a big part of getting that debt under control. Selling off old IPs could be a way to get the cash flowing in a hurry, and as much of a struggle as it's seemingly been for BioWare to even get Mass Effect 5 made, I have my doubts that anyone's going to be able to convince the higher-ups at EA – never mind the even higher-ups in the new ownership group – to sign off on a big-budget revival of an even older series.

"I think there are plenty of IPs like that at EA that nobody cares about at this moment," Rosier says. "I think probably they will leverage that either by just selling it or trying to find external studios that can work on that. Maybe mobile games."

I don't know about that whole mobile games idea – the last time EA translated a classic series into a mobile game, we got Command & Conquer: Rivals. That game was, by many accounts, pretty good, but it left traditional RTS fans feeling burned, and the backlash was so severe that EA built a lavish remaster of the original games as something of a make good.

Ultima and Wing Commander, specifically, are every bit as foundational to their respective genres as Command & Conquer is to RTS games, and the fact that they're sitting in some grand EA vault like the artifacts in Raiders of the Lost Ark is hard to swallow. Never mind the likes of SimCity, Burnout, Dungeon Keeper, Populous, SSX, Spore… the list goes on and on.

I'm not one to demand revivals of every old game, as I do think old franchises have often already had their time to shine. But the fact that so many of these games aren't even available on Steam these days, with their legacy left to wonderful fan patches and sketchy abandonware sites, hardly seems right.

Many of the best RPGs available today simply would not exist without Ultima's influence.

Fallout co-creator Timothy Cain, whose most recent portfolio entries include the likes of The Outer Worlds 2 and its predecessor over at Obsidian Entertainment, thinks developers have a lot to learn from bad games – not just successful titles.

It's a tale as old as time, as Cain describes in his latest YouTube video (below). A game becomes a smash hit – think anything from indie to AAA, Meccha Chameleon to Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 – and the industry goes wild with copies or clones, attempting to recapture that same success.

This might even lead to other folks copying the bad aspects of "good" games. As Cain puts it, they may "blindly copy" them. These bad aspects could be obvious, and so they're not often overlooked – but "bad" games are, on the other hand, and that takes valuable lessons away from aspiring devs, according to Cain.

"In general," as he says, "bad games are ignored, especially if they weren't part of a popular franchise and or never sold very well." This checks out. When they're sequels of "good" titles, they're not as oft forgotten.

But, "there are so many games out there that one game came out, it wasn't very good, and it was forgotten," Cain explains, concluding, "and I'm saying you could learn a lot from games like that."

Honestly, I get what he means. I'm immediately reminded of that quote about those who don't learn from history being doomed to repeat it, and of the concept of survivorship bias – the overarching theme of the Fallout mastermind's video, actually.

In his own words, "the whole point of this video was [to] please remember about survivorship bias. The qualities of successful games… may not be those qualities which made them successful. And conversely, look at failed ones because some of the things that they share in common may be the reason that they failed."

It's a much-needed message for the industry (and any outside of it as well, for that matter).

Comments see viewers agreeing with Cain, too. "It's the slow path to eventually making the same video game over and over again," reads one. Another adds, "such a simple concept, but you're totally right, they don't ever analyze what makes a game bad."

Fallout co-creator says turn-based and real-time RPGs both have "loud vocal advocates" who won't play anything else, so devs can't please everyone.

EA, the publisher behind games like Battlefield 6 and The Sims 4 and parent of Mass Effect developer BioWare, is on many a player's mind right now following the $55 billion deal that saw its buyout – one that might spell disaster for Mass Effect 5, apparently.

Although we don't know too much about the next Mass Effect game as BioWare has been too "busy" to share its progress, it's been underway – or at least in some sort of pre-production state – since its reveal way back in 2020.

It's safe to say that all of this doesn't exactly inspire the greatest confidence in folks… and neither does the fact that a trio of private investors led by Saudi Arabia has just acquired EA, to put it lightly.

Former senior manager at EA Emmanuel Rosier, who now works as the director of market intelligence at industry analyst Newzoo, explains how he feels about BioWare following the recent buyout in a new interview with PC Gamer.

"They've been struggling as a studio, as a brand have been struggling in recent years, and I don't know if they [EA] will keep funding that one," he states. "I think that's the biggest question mark for me."

So, what about Mass Effect 5, then? "I will believe it when I see it, the next Mass Effect game, let's put it that way," Rosier says. "I've worked many years with BioWare, sometimes it can stretch for years and years until something comes." That checks out.

After all, Dragon Age: The Veilguard took nearly a decade to develop – and also suffered a rework of sorts as well. It's hard to tell what'll happen with the new Mass Effect, put simply.

"I think everything can happen at this moment," as Rosier concludes. "They [EA] can pull the plug very, very easily. And if the new investors, they don't have that many feelings about the history of the portfolio, they will take the most financially sound decision most probably."

I hate to say it, but I do fear the former EA lead is right here – anything could happen, and it's likely that profits are being taken into account above… well, everything else.

Only time will tell what the fate of Mass Effect 5 will truly be, but I'll be keeping my own fingers crossed that the new RPG from BioWare ends up coming to fruition someday – with a teaser (anything at all, please) sometime soon, to boot.

EA devs feel "the threat of layoffs at all times," especially after Saudi Arabia acquisition: "It's hard to see how teams or games that underperform wouldn't be dissolved"

Kingdom Hearts lead Tetsuya Nomura says that Pixar's Coco was chosen as a Disney world in Kingdom Hearts 4 as it was the best fit for Sora's story.

Speaking at the Kingdom Hearts D23 panel (via Genki_JPN on Twitter), after the reveal that The Land of the Dead from Pixar's Coco is the first Disney world featured in the upcoming Square Enix RPG Nomura spoke about world selections.

"Whenever I do have a chance to decide that we absolutely need to include a certain world. I generally think about how well it synergizes with overall the main story progression with Sora" he explains. And that with Kingdom Hearts 4, Nomura adds, "when I thought about the themes, we felt that Coco would be the best world that would help achieve that goal."

Spoilers for Kingdom Hearts 3 (and potentially 4, I guess) to follow.

Okay, so from my understanding as someone who has not played Kingdom Hearts 3 yet (I'm trying to make my way through all of the non-numbered entries between 2 and 3 as intended) Sora sort of dies at the end of the game by being banished from his reality, before awakening in the realistic world seen in trailers for Kingdom Hearts 4, this is known as the Quadratum, which acts as an afterlife.

Not only that, but fans speculate Sora has lost his memories in Kingdom Hearts 4, due to him fainting when seeing visions of Goofy and Donald. This then ties into the Coco world. The latest trailer opens with Hector explaining that people disappear from the afterlife when forgotten (like in the film), which seems like a pretty intentional thing to open with, especially if this theory is true.

Part of the reason the first Kingdom Hearts is my favourite in the series is mostly down to how much the Disney side was integrated into the main plot – which is something I've seen as a major complaint with Kingdom Hearts 3 – so if that's the case again with 4, it's certainly an exciting prospect. But at the same time, I really want the most esoteric crossovers possible to happen with Disney's massive library. Give me an Arlen, Texas world where Sora teams up with Hank and Bobby Hill to stop the heartless from taking over Strickland Propane, I beg of you.

Kingdom Hearts 4's Goofy and Donald are playable for the first time ever, and Mickey's Paper Mario-style sections are "very different from Sora's adventure"

To get the Mortal Shell 2 Genessa Shell, you cannot simply find her around the map as you would the other eight habitable Shells. Instead, you must head to a very specific dungeon where you will obtain an item by defeating Sester Secundus, and then return that item to Sester Genessa in her arena in the Marrow Keep.

It's likely that you'll find this item simply by progressing the story, so if you want to back out now and unlock Genessa at your own pace, then this is your chance to do so. Otherwise, I'll walk you through exactly how to unlock Genessa, so you can equip and start upgrading her as soon as possible.

How to get Genessa in Mortal Shell 2

To get the Genessa Shell in Mortal Shell 2, you must locate the Sester's Censer in the Revenant Graves area, interact with it to enter the dungeon, and defeat the boss within. Then, you must take the Censer, your reward for winning the battle, the Genessa in the Marrow Keep.

You can see the exact location of the Sester's Censer in the image above, and it's easiest to access from the Outskirts of Mammon Beacon. From there, head southeast to the middle of the three bone gates, use it traverse across the gap, then climb the stairs to the large arena area, where you'll see the ghostly red apparitions of other Sesters.

Upon interacting with the Sester's Censer, you'll be warped inside the Censer itself where you must defeat Sester Secundus, a fairly easy boss. For winning, you'll receive the Censer itself, which you can then return to Genessa, thus unlocking one of the best Mortal Shell 2 Shells for use.

From here on in, if you want to equip the Genessa Shell then return to her arena, as you won't be able to switch to her in Zhirelle's chamber, like the other Shells, whose locations you unlock using Mortal Shell 2 Gloom.

Don't forget to head to the elevator room of the Marrow Keep to unlock one of Genessa's Mortal Shell 2 Shades - as long as you have a Blackmarrow key to hand. Plus, while you're at Genessa's arena, check out the secret room and Commune with Chaos. Finally, find out how to get your Mortal Shell 2 Shell back in case you lose Genessa.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

There is sadly no Mortal Shell 2 Glimpse farm available in the Soulslike game, as the currency is finite, and primarily available through cleansing Beacons. This isn't great news since Glimpses are required for bonding with and upgrading Shells, and there aren't quite enough of them to fully upgrade every Shell.

That means you need to take care when spending Glimpses, considering your options carefully. While Glimpses are no longer required to find Shells, you do need plenty of them to bond with Shells, thus improving their stats and allowing you to upgrade their abilities, and you can't refund them, so do so with your favorite Shells first. If you need more Mortal Shell 2 Glimpses and aren't sure where to get them, here's what you need to know.

How to get Mortal Shell 2 Glimpses

There are three main ways you can obtain Glimpses:

• Cleansing Beacons.
• Exploring behind Cleansed Gates.
• You can purchase one from Merrick in the Marrow Keep.

You can also occasionally find Glimpses by exploring the rest of the world, but they're fairly rare.

The good news is that you can get more in New Game Plus, and you carry your Shell progress through with you, so, as you'll read below, it'll take a few playthroughs to fully upgrade all your Shells. Perhaps one playthrough will give you a chance to try out another difficulty, like the Mortal Shell 2 Slayer Seal.

Check out my guide on the Mortal Shell 2 length to see how long this all might take you.

How to spend Mortal Shell 2 Glimpses

Considering how to spend your Glimpses is incredibly tough knowing that you can't unlock and upgrade all eight Shells. Each Shell requires upwards of 20 Glimpses to fully upgrade them, meaning you'd need well over 100 to fully bond with each Shell, and there are believed to be just over 90 from one playthrough, meaning you can only upgrade three or four Shells. Since there is currently no Glimpse refund system, it's essential that you choose carefully, perhaps using my best Mortal Shell 2 Shells guide for advice.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

If you're wondering whether you should feed Gorf in Mortal Shell 2, then read on, as this seemingly unimportant character has far more to offer than your first meeting might suggest. It's not all about Gorf, either, as another interesting NPC is crucial to this quest.

When you first meet Gorf near the Widow's Overlook Beacon, he'll ask you for a Weltcap in hope of healing his mystery malady. He's really not feeling well, and you'll find plenty of these red mushrooms as you explore, so you should hand one over. This isn't the last of it, though, and you'll need to get an interesting lady named Hilga involved if you're going to heal him once and for all.

How to complete the Mortal Shell 2 Gorf questline

Yes, you should feed Gorf, and you'll get a valuable Marsh Pearl in return. In fact, to complete the full Mortal Shell 2 Gorf questline, you need to feed him multiple times and speak to Hilda in the Mushroom Village. There are more Marsh Pearls in it for you.

If you don't want me to spoil it for you, that's all you need to know. Each time you interact with either one of the NPCS, you must leave the area to trigger their next action, so it makes sense to simply alternate visits between them until the questline is concluded. You can either do this naturally while you progress through the game, or use Mortal Shell 2 fast travel to complete heal Gorf quickly.

If you want a walkthrough of the whole mission instead, here's exactly how to complete the questline and heal Gorf:

1. First, feed Gorf a Weltcap Mushroom. Speak with him again to collect a Marsh Pearl, which you can sell to Merrick at the Marrow Keep for 2,000 Coins.
2. Then you'll need to return to Gorf twice more, each time gifting him Common Moonshine.
3. The next time you visit Gorf, he'll give you a Poisoned Dagger that has been used to injure him.
4. Take this to Hilga in the Mushroom Village, at the location below.

5. While you're doing all this, check in with Hilda multiple times as well.
6. As soon as you've reached the right place in both storylines, you'll be able to give Hilga the Poisoned Dagger.
7. Now, if you return to Hilga's home, she'll have left you a note vaguely informing you that you'll know where to find her. Of course, she'll be with Gorf.
8. Head back to Gorf to find the two characters together and give Gorf another bottle of Moonshine.
9. Next time you return, Hilga will be gone, but Gorf will have been healed. He'll gift you another Marsh Pearl.
10. Return to Gorf's lair twice more and see the fruits of your labor. I won't spoil the ending for you.

If you have any problems completing this questline, you must cleanse the corruption near Hilga's home, which you can only do once you have claimed enough Ova to unlock the Mether's Breath.

Essentially, all that's in the Mortal Shell 2 Gorf questline for you is a few Marsh Pearls, but they are worth a good few thousand Coins all in all, and a handful of Mortal Shell 2 Gloom. For me, it's more about the beautiful, if a little weird, love story - a nice interval to all the fighting and monsters.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

After 11 years, The Witcher 3 might finally let us experience Belleteyn firsthand in new DLC, Songs of the Past – if a Gamescom booth from CD Projekt Red offers anything to go by.

Belleteyn has sadly only been mentioned by the developer in The Witcher 3 thus far, as a massive celebratory fertility festival with food, drink, love, and you name it (think Beltane, its real-world Gaelic counterpart).

Interestingly enough, however, it is the birthday of Yennefer, and in The Witcher books, Geralt believes it's also around the same time that Ciri herself was born… so, yeah, it's a pretty big deal.

Why do we think we might get to witness Belleteyn in all of its glory come Songs of the Past, though? Well, it just so happens that Gamescom 2026 is upon us and CD Projekt Red's booth artwork at the annual event appears to show a scene from Belleteyn – fire, festivities, and the like by the water.

It's already caught the eye of excited fans, too, with one post on X reading, "That looks like Belleteyn." Indeed, it does.

Over on Reddit, theories are running wild as well, as a picture of the Gamescom booth has folks convinced it is, in fact, referencing Belleteyn.

The top response literally just says "Belleteyn," so there you have it. Another chimes in, "Looks like there might be Belleteyn festivities artwork on the left side," further solidifying that the festival is what's on all of our minds – but this isn't the first time it's presence in Songs of the Past has been proposed.

A solid five months ago now, a separate thread on the website saw somebody note, "I noticed an X post, it talks about Geralt's sword (surprisingly his THIRD sword here since he already has two on his back) being the exact same one he had next to him during Belleteyn, which is a major spring and fertility festival that corresponds to the real-world Celtic Holiday of Beltane."

This older theorizing stems from older Songs of the Past artwork showing the sword.

So, could this all truly tease some sort of Belleteyn festivities in Songs of the Past? I certainly hope so, but I suppose only time will tell – and the DLC is set to launch in 2027.

The Witcher 3 devs tried to give NPCs "fear reactions" but it got cut after a few horrifying weeks when "women were just dropping their babies, left and right"

Kingdom Hearts lore is extensive, convoluted, and confusing. I don't mean that as a dig – I am a Metal Gear fan, after all – but even after playing every game in the series, I've still got to read a half-dozen wiki pages and watch a few lore videos before I start remembering the specifics of any given plot beat. That's why I'm so impressed that Tetsuya Nomura and the rest of the devs have managed to remember a small, but key detail about Heartless behavior in Kingdom Hearts 4.

The first Disney world announced for Kingdom Hearts 4 is Pixar's Coco, In the recent D23 trailer, we see a pair of Heartless emerge and start creeping toward the film's protagonist, Miguel, who is the only living person in the vicinity – they completely ignore the other denizens of the Land of the Dead.

A couple of days after that trailer debuted, a Kingdom Hearts fan called Noir LilBomber tweeted a theory: "One thing me and my friends noticed in the kingdom hearts 4 trailer is that the heartless only appear to react to Miguel and not the other characters. This is in line with the Ansem report from KH1 that stated the heartless only react to LIVING test subjects."

This theory started getting shared pretty widely among the fandom, and yes, that detail goes back to Ansem's Report 4, which appeared in the first Kingdom Hearts game. "The Heartless appear in groups, and are multiplying rapidly. I've provided them both living and nonliving samples," the report goes. "They've responded only to the living."

This detail actually manifests in a more meaningful way in the OG game, too. When Sora and the crew first arrive in Halloween Town, the Heartless are basically inert, and don't attack the largely undead Nightmare Before Christmas characters there. It's only after Skellington and Dr. Finkelstein build an artificial heart for the Heartless to pine after that they turn violent.

So it's entirely consistent with established lore that the Heatless appearing in the Land of the Dead are only interested in the one living being they see: Miguel. Honestly, bravo to Nomura and the rest of the crew. I doubt many would've noticed if that detail was swept under the rug, but the devs are clearly committed to making sure even the most obscure bits of Kingdom Hearts lore live on in the long-awaited sequel.

These are the best RPGs you can play today.

Earlier this week, Bethesda Game Studios fans feared the worst for their mods as the studio revealed that it would be launching a brand-new Fallout 4 update with "Creations improvements" – and, much to many fans' dismay, another for Skyrim later on down the line.

Well, the Fallout 4 patch has officially landed, and surprisingly well, quadrupling the number of mods players can have and more – and along the way, so has Bethesda's first tease of what's to come to Skyrim, its more fantastical RPG.

"On Thursday, August 20, we will deploy a patch to The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim Special Edition that will increase console mod storage limits and bring more Creations improvements," it reveals in a new post online.

It continues, delivering the news I'd argue we all wanted to hear: our load orders will not be broken by the update… ideally, anyway. "While this update should not affect load orders," as Bethesda writes, "we do encourage players to log into your save game if you haven't done so in a while as a precaution."

I, for one, will certainly be doing so – but I'm thrilled that the Skyrim patch isn't coming with the same sort of warning the Fallout 4 one did.

Unsurprisingly, though, folks are still worried. As one person comments, "Ah nah man. My perfect load order gone." Others are simply curious about the update, and how closely it'll resemble the Fallout 4 patch, which upped the mod limit by a lot.

A fan asks, "Will this allow custom file type and assets for creations on PlayStation as well? Akin to how the recent Fallout 4 update allowed?" Hopefully, anon. Hopefully.

Various replies show that players are far more positive about the Skyrim update than they were the Fallout 4 patch initially (likely because the latter has launched and Bethesda is saying this one shouldn't bust our load orders), with one reading, "THANK YOU! I was hoping this update was coming."

I do personally wonder how much those "mod storage limits" will be increased myself, honestly – but I suppose I'll find out for sure tomorrow.

Here's everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6 if you're craving something new from Bethesda – we certainly are.

You'll find the words "Commune with Chaos" in Mortal Shell 2 upon discovering a secret room in the Marrow Keep, and it's likely you already have if you're here. Instead, what you're struggling with is actually being able to commune with chaos if nothing happens when you interact with the chalice in front of you.

Fortunately, there is a very simple fix for this, and it's intentional - it's not a bug. So here's how to commune with chaos in Mortal Shell 2, after which you'll find a special - but not game-changing - key.

Mortal Shell 2 'Commune with Chaos'

To Commune with Chaos in Mortal Shell 2, you must have the Slayer Seal in your inventory. You don't need to have it equipped, you simply must pick it up, at which point you'll be able to find out the secrets hidden in this previously locked dungeon.

This is easy to miss, as some people are intentionally avoiding the Slayer Seal with no intention of using the item. After all, this Seal reduces the game difficulty significantly by offering some seriously powerful buffs. More importantly, equipping the Seal disables achievements, so it's understandable that you may not want to pick it up.

However, there are not one but two failsafes in place to prevent you accidentally equipping the Seal, so go and pick it up, head back to the goblet, and you'll now be able to commune with chaos. If you need to know where to find the Seal, check out my standalone Mortal Shell 2 Slayer Seal guide.

Meanwhile, if you found yourself here by mistake and need to know where to find this mysterious chalice, then descend the ramp into Sester Genessa's arena in the Marrow Keep, turn left when you reach the bottom, and head to the block of stone in the wall with an engraving marked on it. Hit this wall with your weapon and a chamber opens up, inside of which you'll find this chalice and be able to commune with chaos yourself.

It's here you'll also be able to unlock the Mortal Shell 2 Genessa Shell, one of the best Mortal Shell 2 Shells at your disposal.

© GamesRadar+. Not to be reproduced without permission.

Earlier today, a new report claimed that PlayStation is planning a substantial rework of Horizon Hunters Gathering, responding to poor playtest feedback for the multiplayer spin-off by stripping the live-service elements in order to make it more of a traditional co-op game. That report also has some bad news for fans of the traditional Horizon games: Horizon 3 is apparently still years away.

The "majority" of developers at Guerrilla Games are still working on Horizon Hunters Gathering, according to Jason Schreier at Bloomberg. That leaves a very small team planning the next single-player Horizon game, which is apparently still years away from being finished.

That's pretty much the same story that's been reported since February, when Horizon Hunters Gathering was first announced. Even then, Schreier was reporting that the majority of Guerrilla was working on the multiplayer spin-off, leaving Horizon 3 on the backburner. It seems that hasn't changed, even as the studio finds itself forced to pivot from the initial plans for Hunters Gathering.

Five years separated the launches of Horizon Zero Dawn in 2017 and Horizon Forbidden West in 2022, and it's looking like there might be an even longer wait before Horizon 3 rolls around. I'd even hazard a guess that we won't be buying Horizon 3 on a physical disc.

PlayStation has made a big push into live-service games over the past few years, and during that span we saw the launch and immediate shutdown of Concord, a middling response for Bungie's Marathon, and the death of Destiny 2. The publisher's biggest recent multiplayer hit is certainly Helldivers 2, which wasn't even developed internally. It's tough to put that context out of mind when another multiplayer experiment is dragging resources away from one PlayStation's biggest single-player franchises.

"Single-player, narrative-driven gaming is here to stay," ex-PlayStation boss says: "It's how we built this business. That's what sustains it."

Fallout 4 fans have been bracing themselves for the worst this week after Bethesda Game Studios announced an update with "Creations improvements" and more to come later to Skyrim, too – but, as it turns out, the patch isn't all that bad.

As Bethesda outlines in a new post over on Twitter, the new Fallout 4 update – which did indeed roll out yesterday as planned – contains various bug and crash fixes, as well as changes to the Creation Kit.

Perhaps most notably, however, it increases "the BA2 archive limit from 256 to 1024 to better accommodate larger collections of mods." In other words, the patch essentially quadruples the amount of Fallout 4 mods we can have.

That's a pretty solid improvement, if I do say so myself – one that's perhaps even worth the script extender and load order breaking a bit post-update, as they always do. I'm not alone in thinking so, either, as a thread over on Reddit proves.
Fans are largely pleasantly surprised, to say the least. "Wait holy shit this is actually a goated update just for the BA2 limit," reads one comment. "Now I can't wait to start a new playthrough!"

Another user exclaims that the "BA2 limit was out of left field and massive," as folks explain it "literally quadruples the engines mod count," which, you know… is kind of a big deal.

Plus, the update also apparently allows mods on PlayStation consoles to employ the use of custom assets – something fans have been asking Bethesda to implement for years now, as replies on a separate thread point out. Good news all around, eh?

For those of us who prefer Bethesda's more, erm, fantastical games, Skyrim's update sounds as though it'll be similar, increasing mod limits for console users and such – a nice change of pace to the studio's usual disappointing (sometimes, downright upsetting) patches.

Here's everything we know about The Elder Scrolls 6 if you're craving something new from Bethesda – we certainly are.

It seems we might be waiting a while to hear anything substantial about The Elder Scrolls 6 from Bethesda. To help with the anticipation, a group of devs known as NerveLabs took it upon themselves to make a new installment in the series themselves, and it's already faring quite well on Steam.

The game is called The Lantern of the Laughless Saint, and it takes a hefty amount of influence from the third Elder Scrolls game, Morrowind. It's got the mid-2000s aesthetic, the slightly strange fantasy vibe, and the heavy emphasis on exploration, along with some tongue-in-cheek humor and Myst-like esoteric lore.

"No one chooses to come to this island," the narrator says in the opening of the main trailer. "You wake from the same dream." Ominous, foreboding, and distinctly inviting.

The game's Steam store page says it's "built around exploration and connection," with the idea being you just sort of roam around to find out what's going on, or where you have to go.

"You learn the land by walking it, following rumors, reading scraps of burned history, and meeting lost souls who wandered to the ends of the Earth, following the same feverish dream of a light buried beneath the Tower," the game's description continues.

Intriguing. In a brazen bit of marketing, another trailer literally says this game exists because the devs got bored waiting for the sequel to Skyrim. "Fuck you Todd Howard," the video says. NerveLabs even shared this on the Oblivion subreddit, because what has being coy ever gotten anyone?

The Lantern of the Laughless Saint has been in early access on Steam for two days now, and the player reaction is already 86% positive.

"This game has heart and soul not seen in many releases today. It feels like the Bethesda of old," reads one fawning review. "CAN YOU DO THAT TODD, HUH????" says another.

Many buyers warn of performance problems, which are to be expected from an indie studio that's just released something in beta. But if you want those strange Morrowind vibes, this might be worth your time.

"Please stop": Skyrim and Fallout 4 players fear the worst as Bethesda has another go at "Creations improvements."

Horizon Zero Dawn and sequel Horizon Forbidden West spin-off Horizon Hunters Gathering is reportedly taking on a new shape following ill-received playtests.

Horizon Hunters Gathering, a project from developer Guerrilla Games and publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment, has been in the works for a little while now. Guerrilla unveiled the game as a live service multiplayer spin-off back in February, at which point it was reported that "most of the studio" was on the new title (much to the dismay of folks hoping for a Horizon threequel, unsurprisingly).

It doesn't seem to be going all that well so far, however.

According to a new report from Bloomberg, unnamed sources familiar with the project's current state allege that PlayStation has been reworking it since June after receiving poor feedback following private playtesting – perhaps the second round of playtesting that rolled out in May.

Supposedly, the devs and publisher are transforming Horizon Hunters Gathering into a more "traditional" co-op experience with a story mode… and much smaller scope.

BREAKING: PlayStation is rebooting the online game Horizon Hunters Gathering after negative playtest feedback. New plan is smaller scope, more traditional co-op multiplayer, no more live service.Yet another entry in PlayStation's ongoing live-service struggles: www.bloomberg.com/news/article...

— @jasonschreier.bsky.social (@jasonschreier.bsky.social.bsky.social) 2026-08-19T16:04:34.727Z

What that means precisely is unknown, but at the least, the game doesn't seem to be entirely scrapped – yet, anyway.

As per the report, Sony apparently told Guerrilla that devs would have until the end of December to change things for the better and impress higher-ups with the game. That's not all, either.

Apparently, many of Horizon Hunters Gathering's current devs will end up reassigned to a separate project (although there's no title provided here).

Bloomberg states that a representative for PlayStation has declined to comment. There's also no solid word from Guerrilla itself, but it's disheartening to read nonetheless.

It hasn't exactly been an easy time for live service games recently, with failed and axed projects from Sony popping up left, right, and center. I'm immediately reminded of the supposed live service God of War spin-off and, of course, The Last of Us Online.

As for what's next for Horizon Hunters Gathering, it's hard to tell. Here's hoping that either the dev or publisher provides a bit of information itself soon.

Horizon Steel Frontiers is coming out in 2027, publisher confirms, while we still wait for news on Forbidden West sequel.

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain has weighed in on the different reasons why devs might opt for turn-based or real-time combat in their games, and while both have their place (and dedicated fans), he reckons that for some RPGs, the choice should be obvious.

As spotted by PC Gamer, Cain discusses the matter in depth in a new video on his YouTube channel (below). He acknowledges, of course, that there are pros and cons to both types of combat.

Real-time combat, for example, is more fast-paced, and "a lot of people just like that better," Cain says. "They think turn-based is too slow. They hate when they're just sitting there waiting while the enemies all take their turns, and [are] like, 'Why am I here?'"

This type of combat also "allows for player reaction," meaning that dodging or blocking an attack, for example, are down to you as the player to do the correct inputs at the right time. In a similar vein, this means that "offensive and defensive abilities are used at the same time" rather than on separate turns. Cain also reasons that real-time is a great choice for first-person games.

However, there are also issues with it. For example, he says, "I frequently see rules designed for turn-based being used in real-time games with no change."

In Baldur's Gate 1, which uses real-time-with-pause combat, he says he'd often get "annoyed" when he'd cast a fireball, only for the enemy he was aiming for to move out of the way of the target area and one of his own characters get in the way. On that note, turn-based combat is a lot more tactical than real-time, he says – there's a lot more strategy than in a real-time game where "prediction is more chaotic and positioning is way less reliable."

Cain continues: "Both sides, real-time and turn-based, they have their loud vocal advocates, to the point where some people will only play real-time games and some people will only play turn-based games. So don't think you're going to pick one of these and [be] like, 'I have solved the issue.' There will be a group that goes, 'Oh, I won't play your game because you picked this combat.'"

With that said, there are ways to reduce the issues of each genre, he says, such as real-time-with-pause, or adding ways to speed up turn-based combat. In recent years, we've seen many major JRPGs add time-saves to turn-based combat, for example, like Metaphor: ReFantazio's insta-kills.

But even if there's no perfect solution that everyone is going to love, there are some rules that can be applied when it comes to determining which kind of game should be given what type of combat, Cain suggests. "If you decide you want it to be a first-person RPG, you almost certainly want it to be real-time. But if you want to do an old-school party-based isometric RPG, you probably want to be turn-based, or at the very minimum, real-time-with-pause," he says.

For devs, he argues, "it depends on which of those solutions ameliorates the problems you dislike the most and leaves problems that you don't really care about."

Fallout co-creator Tim Cain says Morrowind on Xbox changed everything for console RPGs: "It stunned me."

There's a lot going on in The Witcher 3, but for as much as we see in Geralt's quest, there's plenty that didn't make the cut. One mechanic was a way for NPCs to show they were afraid of something, which got the cutting-room-floor treatment because people were, um, throwing away their children.

Philipp Weber, a quest designer on The Witcher 3, explains what happened. "Because we were focused on the countryside, it was easier for players to become curious," he tells Edge magazine.

"If a village only has eight houses, people will want to see if the people truly exist in the world or if it's just fakery," he continues. "Lots of people nowadays are interested in those kinds of details, and it really came to haunt us."

In 2026, creating scripts and pathways for a small rural community would be easy, but in 2012, it was a whole process. "We were more focused on simulating their proper day and night cycle," he remembers. "And when it came to actually reacting to the player there wasn't that much detail."

Rather than giving each a particular cycle, they made them rotate between particular activities. One might be cutting wood, then might go inside to eat, or walk elsewhere. This made places seem bustling, and prevented NPC congestion. "For the 50 sailors at Novigrad harbour, for example, we made 200 possible spots, so even if all 50 were active at the same time, they would have options," Weber says.

But then, once it came to making these characters terrified of something, it all went awry. "Our NPCs were supposed to have fear reactions," he reveals. "They would drop what they're currently working on, that thing would fall to the ground, and they'd run away, afraid. The problem was that one of the 'works' that mothers could do was to hold and cradle a baby. For a few weeks, women were just dropping their babies, left and right."

That's hilarious, in a particularly morbid kind of way, but definitely not ideal for the vibe CD Projekt Red was going for. Thus, it wound up being taken out entirely. I can only imagine how that looked to the team when they were playing. Personally, I think they could've left it in, just to see what players and reviewers would've noticed.

The Continent could use more laughs, is all I'm saying! I wonder if they figured this out for The Witcher 4 - guess we have to wait to find out.

The Witcher 3 lead says designing for player curiosity "really came to haunt us" when making sure it felt like "people truly exist" in the RPG's villages

Chief creative officer of Walt Disney Animation Studios Jared Bush is giving fans faint hope regarding a Kingdom Hearts movie.

When pressed by IGN on whether a Kingdom Hearts movie could happen, Bush replied, "I'd say I am always excited to hear what people are passionate about. We have a very bright future of new projects coming out, different ways of putting material out into the world. I'd just say nothing is impossible."

Even without a Kingdom Hearts movie on the horizon, we're currently living through the most active production cycle the franchise has seen in decades.

At D23, Kingdom Hearts 4 was officially locked in for a 'late 2027' window and a delay is "not happening." We even caught a glimpse of a Coco-themed world for Sora to fight his way through, with creator Tetsuya Nomura teasing the fourth mainline entry in the series will feature something that didn't make it into Kingdom Hearts 3.

"When it comes to the overall game design, for Kingdom Hearts 4 there's actually an idea that we had since Kingdom Hearts 3, that we weren't able to realize just because of certain difficulties," Nomura said during D23's Deep Dive into Kingdom Hearts panel. "But we were able to realize that with this installment. For us, we think it's a very, very exciting idea and so I do hope people look forward to it."

A Kingdom Hearts anime is also in the works at Disney, with Nomura pointing fans towards the first piece of key art if they want a "hint" at what the original story will be about.

For more, check out the new anime in the works, plus everything announced at D23.