Author: Game Infliction

We got our first extended glimpse at The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom gameplay this week, and while it largely focused on Link’s new fusion abilities, one returning feature set the internet ablaze as soon as it was confirmed: weapon durability. But while people were arguing about whether Breath of the Wild’s breakable weapons are good or not (spoiler: they are, and we talk in-depth about why on the latest episode of NVC), I am far more concerned about the future of another likely returning system – because let’s face it, Link’s cooking skills need sharpening.

While not explicitly shown during the gameplay video, all the telltale signs of cooking are back – Link had an inventory full of ingredients (some of which he was more concerned about strapping to his weaponry rather than roasting) and that signature wide cooking pot could be seen over a campfire in a cave that was briefly visited. There’s evidence the food system might have actually been expanded as well, since a cooking pot symbol in the UI now seems to be occupying “up” on the d-pad in the same way you quick-select your weapons and shields.

That’s great to see, because I have a serious love-hate relationship with Breath of the Wild’s cooking. It’s a surprisingly deep system full of fun experimentation and some seriously powerful buffs if you know what to throw in a pot. It also got me to actually care about all the little bits and bobs I was vacuuming into my back pocket as I explored Hyrule, with items I overlooked early on suddenly being worth their weight in rupees once I realized what they could be used to make.

However, the way you actually interact with your cooking options in Breath of the Wild falls regrettably short of its full potential. It is patently insane that the only way to cook is by slowly navigating your cluttered inventory, individually putting up to five items into Link’s arms, closing out, and then physically dropping them into a cooking pot – and Hylia forbid you add the wrong item or miss the pot and have to start all over again. You can at least skip most of the cooking cutscene that plays each time, but making more than a couple meals at once is a laboriously slow process.

It’s also nuts to me that there’s no in-game way to track what combinations you’ve already tried and what the results were, especially given how many ingredient options you have. I actually really love that you can find posters at different stables with meals for you to try making, but it’s wild that your options are basically to memorize them immediately or manually write them down if you want to retain that recipe longterm – and while you could take a photo, the album isn’t exactly designed for easy browsing either.

On top of that, as much as I loved experimenting with different combinations of ingredients to find interesting results, this system eventually becomes fairly easy to crack. While the idea of mixing and matching up to five items is charming, the truth of the matter is that you only need to use one when it comes to your healing and stamina options. Once you’ve boosted your stats enough, putting any single item that increases your max health or stamina into a pot (for example, Hearty Durians or Endura Carrots) will result in a meal that gives you a little bit of an extra boost while also completely refilling your natural max. That flattened out many of the “best” late-game cooking options for me, which can make the processing of roasting a bunch of single carrots even more tedious.

As I see it, Tears of the Kingdom has an opportunity to smooth so many of the bumps in a system I ultimately really like. Let me sit down at a campfire, open a cooking menu, and select individual ingredients in order to more quickly find out what their combinations result in. Better yet, save the meals I’ve already made in a recipe book and let me quickly cook them again (or in multiples) if I have the ingredients on hand. The issue of how food scales once you’re dozens of hours in is a harder problem to solve, and I’m not going to pretend I know how to do it, but even just improvements to the way you interact with a cooking station is something I’d take over weapon repair any day.

We haven’t seen much of Tears of the Kingdom yet, but this week’s gameplay left me extremely optimistic. I imagine there are some big surprises still waiting in the wings, but the fact that its fusion and Ultrahand abilities already seem to empower the way players experimented with (and even exploited) Breath of the Wild gives me hope that Nintendo could do the same with cooking. Because if we’re going to be able to strap a piece of meat to a sword and beat bokoblins to death with it, the least we can do is make it medium-rare.

Capcom has alerted Resident Evil 4 Remake players that a rare game-breaking bug has been found at the beginning of Chapter 12 that could stop your progress if you attack with your knife right after obtaining a key item.

Capcom shared the news on Twitter, saying that this issue affects players on all platforms and that it “intends to fix this issue in a future update and apologize for any inconvenience.” Luckily, the fix will allow players who were impacted by this bug to continue their current save.

As for the bug itself, Capcom has detailed what it is and how to avoid it in a non-spoilery way;

“A cutscene will play at the beginning of Chapter 12, after which the player will receive a key item,” Capcom wrote. “Please refrain from attacking with the knife until the notification for obtaining this item is displayed in the upper right of the screen.

“After obtaining the item, it will appear in the Key Items & Treasures menu in the attache case. If it has not appeared, please reload saved data from before the start of Chapter 12.”

This bug aside, the Resident Evil 4 Remake has been a joy for many of us to play. In our 10/10 Resident Evil 4 Remake review, we said it is “Only the most relentlessly exciting Resident Evil adventure of all time that’s been rebuilt, refined, and realised to the full limits of its enormous potential.”

For more, check out how to get the most money for your treasure and gemstone combinations, the news that RE4 Remake sold three million units in two days, and why getting the new bolt thrower is our most important RE4 Remake tip.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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

The Super Mario Movie is due to release next week, and Nintendo is celebrating by bringing Chris Pratt, Anya Taylor-Joy, Jack Black, and the rest of the voice cast from the big screen to the small screen.

Shigeru Miyamoto appeared in a special April 1st Nintendo Direct to announce that “your favorite Mario games” will be adding a special “movie mode” featuring the voice talents of the Super Mario Bros. Movie cast. Supported games include Luigi’s Mansion 3, Mario Kart 8, and even the original Super Mario Bros. for the NES.

Activating the new “movie mode” will replace the existing voices with movie cast members, or if there are no voices, add them in. Want to hear “Mushroom Kingdom, here we come!” after Mario clears a level in the original Super Mario Bros.? Now you can!

“It’s a whole new way to enjoy the Mario games you know and love,” Miyamoto said.

‘A dream come true’

In a statement released to the media, Pratt expressed his excitement over having his voice appear in the original Super Mario Bros.

“This is a dream come true after spending hours of my life stomping on Koopas,” Pratt said.

Pratt’s appearance alongside a star-studded cast include Seth Rogen and Jack Black sent shockwaves through the gaming industry when it was revealed. Anticipation has only grown since then, to the point that some analysts think it may be the highest grossing movie of 2023.

The Super Mario Bros. Movie releases April 5. As for the Mario DLC featuring their voices, a release date has not yet been revealed.

Alongside revealing that the legendary DK Rap from Donkey Kong 64 will be featured in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, Seth Rogen has also jokingly called it “objectively, one of the worst rap songs of all time.”

Rogen, who voices Donkey Kong in The Super Mario Bros. Movie, appeared on the film’s official Twitter to share the exciting news and react to watching the original DK Rap from the opening of 1999’s Donkey Kong 64.

DK Rap is straight-up ???#SuperMarioMovie pic.twitter.com/SVKzaTSB7z

— The Super Mario Bros. Movie (@supermariomovie) March 30, 2023

Rogen also confirmed that his version of Donkey Kong will be introduced with the DK Rap in the film before calling it, as previously mentioned, “one of the worst rap songs of all time.” However, he finds more things to love as the song continues and even gives it a “10/10 bananas” rating at the end.

Grant Kirkhope, who was the composer of Donkey Kong 64 and the person responsible for the DK Rap, responded to the video in the best way.

“If you’d told me in ’97, when I wrote the worst rap track in the history of rap tracks, that it would go on to be in a Mario Bros movie I’d [sic] would’ve burst with excitement! Long live the DK Rap!” Kirkhope wrote.

Fans won’t have to wait long to see the DK Rap come to life on the big screen as The Super Mario Bros. Movie will be released in theaters on April 5, 2023.

For more, check out Rogen’s comments on how he’d be “excited” to voice Donkey Kong again after this film, why Mario voice actor Chris Pratt said to “get ready for a lot of these movies,” and Keegan-Michael Key on how he maintained Toad’s high-pitched voice throughout the movie.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

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

Today, Studio WildCard announced that Ark 2, the sequel to 2017’s Ark: Survival Evolved, is getting delayed a second time into 2024 – but in the meantime, a next-gen version of the original game is coming out in August to keep us busy.

In a community blogpost offering a development roadmap, Studio WildCard explained that the reason for Ark 2’s delay to next year was due to challenges working with Unreal Engine 5:

“Our goal is to make ARK 2 the best game it can be and provide a truly exceptional and rewarding experience for players. Unreal Engine 5 is incredibly new technology to us (and all developers), and we aim to use this cutting-edge tech to its fullest potential while creating a game with never-before-achieved scope at Studio Wildcard. As we learn more about the engine and develop the sequel, we have adapted our workflows and adjusted our pipelines to accommodate this new next-generation paradigm, and because of everything that involves, we need more time for development.”

Additionally, Studio WildCard acknowledged that these challenges also mean that Ark 2 will not be backward compatible. So that means no release of Ark 2 on Xbox One or PS4.

But there’s some good news for Ark 1 fans. Because Ark 2 has “some pretty significant design changes from the original game” and may not appeal to those who prefer “Souls-like combat, primitive-only weaponry, and strict third-person mechanics – and an overall “very serious” tone,” Studio WildCard is releasing a current-gen version of Ark 1 on PC, Xbox Series, and PS5 in August of 2023 “to ensure that fans can continue to enjoy the ARK they know for years to come.”

It’s called Ark: Survival Ascended, and comes with The Island, battle royale spinoff Survival of the Fittest, and “all the ‘non-canon DLC maps'”. As well as graphical and performance upgrades, it also includes cross-platform multiplayer and cross-progression, and cross-platform modding supported by Overwolf.

That’s a lot of content, but the purchasing scheme is a bit confusing. Xbox Series X, S, and PC players can only get it by purchasing the Ark Respawned Bundle for $49.99, which includes both Ark: Survival Ascended and Ark 2, and will grant access to an exclusive one-month closed beta of Ark 2 in 2024. The bundle will only be available for the first year after launch of Survival Ascended, after which both games will be available separately.

Meanwhile, PS5 players can purchase Survival Ascended as a standalone game at launch for $39.99. DLC packs will also be available separately on both platforms.

Finally, Studio WildCard has a new canonical story DLC planned for release in Q4 of 2023 including four new creatures.

Ark 2 was first announced via a fancy Vin Diesel cameo at The Game Awards back in 2020, at the time with a 2022 release date, but it was later delayed into 2023. We gave the original Ark: Survival Evolved a 7.7/10 review, praising its strategic moments and combat but noting its AI bugs and grind.

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