Cave Story and N to grow. With online distribution further helping games like Bastion, Journey and World Of Goo to flourish, the definition of the indie game became: a title with big ambitions and creativity grown from small budgets and teams.
It’s not entirely wrong, but it has obscured decades of hobby development that was once at the forefront – not just the stories of BBC Micro solo-development stars, but similar ones of hobby development from around the world. In Japan, the doujin markets of Comiket and beyond serve as a home for hobbyists to make, sell and share their creations. It is the doujin gaming scene that helped major studios like Fate/ studio Type-Moon, and franchises like 07th Expansion and Touhou Project, flourish in a way that would never be possible otherwise.
We take a deep dive into the decisions behind Destiny 2’s second Darkness subclass
Gameplay Features Lead Eric Smith talks us through Strand design choices
Check out early concept art for Strand supers and abilities
Late February saw the highly anticipated release of Destiny 2: Lightfall, the new expansion that signals “the beginning of the end” to the Destiny’s Light and Darkness saga. The campaign takes Guardians to the hidden city of Neomuna, nestled inside Neptune and undisturbed until the forces of the Shadow Legion arrive. It’s up to you and Neomuna’s protectors, the Cloud Striders, to defend the city.
Our Guardians also discover a brand-new power: Strand. They learn to wield this suspicious, stringy substance throughout the Lightfall campaign, and it manifests itself into a whole new subclass for Destiny 2 players, the first to be introduced since Stasis in 2020.
We wanted to learn more about this new subclass, how Bungie arrived at its design and how all of its elements weave together, and to dig deeper in, we spoke to Gameplay Features Lead Eric Smith to uncover how the new Darkness power came to be.
Strand Titan Super concept art next to the final product
Like every subclass in Destiny 2, Strand gives each of the three player classes—Titan, Hunter and Warlock—different abilities and one powerful Super ability tailored to each class. Beefy Titans gain the Berserker ability, summoning two giant hand-blades to cut down enemies, the sleek Warlock sends wisps of Strand coursing through baddies that explode into fierce Threadling enemies, and slick Hunters can use the Silkstrike skill to summon a long rope dart and thwip through their foes.
A Helping Strand
Strand focuses on traversal in a way that has never been explored in Destiny 2. Every character gains a grapple, which allows you to latch onto a surface or area and swing through the air, perfect for getting around quickly or solving tricky jumping puzzles. Smith tells us that the grapple sits at the center of the Strand class, and that it was made possible by the team’s exploration of the skill.
“The theme of the Strand damage type is all ropes and strings, so it just felt like a natural fit to put a grappling hook in there,” Smith says. “We did a lot of exploration of how the grapple should work, did we want it to be a burst of acceleration, or zipping from point to point, and we ended up in this place where, as players learn Strand, it’ll read your mind a little bit.”
“You can zip to a certain point if you’re looking straight at it, but you can also swing under it, you can throttle left or right or swing around it. We ended up with a really dynamic grapple we’re all very proud of.”
The grapple ability replaces the grenade slot for players using Strand, so it also needed some sort of damage capability to make up for the loss of that slot. The result is, what if you are the grenade?
“As it takes that slot, we wanted to give it an offensive utility,” Smith explains. “One thing you can do is grapple punch, which does pretty big area-of-effect damage. You can use the grapple to get out of bad situations, but you can also use it like you would a grenade to clear multiple enemies. I think there’s a learning curve to Strand that I’m excited to see players master.”
Strand And Deliver
During combat, Strand users can create Tangles by defeating an enemy that has been debuffed by another Strand ability. For example, Hunters have the Ensnaring Slam ability, which allows them to suspend groups of enemies in the air by slamming the ground. Titans can also suspend enemies with the Drengr’s Lash skill.
This Tangle can then be shot to cause an explosion, picked up and thrown at another enemy, or into the air to be used as a grappling point. Smith tells us that the passive Tangle skill felt immediately at home in Strand’s roster.
“Once we got that system in there and we had different perks triggering the Tangles, it felt like we were doing something different than the other subclasses,” he says. “It happens passively, and once you create a Tangle, there’s a branching decision-making point where you can choose what to do with it.”
The Tangles are just one aspect of Strand that works to make it a more collaborative subclass for Guardians playing together. For example, because a Guardian’s grapple ability has no cooldown if it’s used on a grapple point, the Hunter can use their Widow’s Silk ability to create a grapple point that another teammate can use without expending their own grapple ability. Smith explains that as Strand develops, the team wants to create more opportunities for fireteam members to combine their unique skills.
“We wanted players to blaze a trail for their teammates, to help them with jumping puzzles, and that’s something we’re planning to double down on in the coming Seasons,” he says.
Guardians can use Tangles to swing around, or shoot them to cause an explosion
Release The Threadlings
The Strand subclasses introduce Threadlings—small creatures formed from Strand that will scurry off and attack whatever is in range. Smith tells us that this was one of the more difficult abilities to nail down, due to Destiny 2’s turbulent terrains and dynamic environments.
“The Threadlings are what we call ‘ground follows,’ because they’re restricted to crawling on the ground, and we have a lot of surfaces in Destiny 2 where it can be difficult for a player to use them effectively,” he explains. “They have a pretty long tracking range so they can follow an enemy and then stop and jump which gives them some verticality, but we’ll be tuning how they work as time goes on.”
The team also had to balance how much damage Threadlings can do and how often they’re active, not just in PvE modes like the campaign, but in online PvP, where the smallest amount of damage can dramatically change the game.
“Too many Threadlings in PvP would feel frustrating to play against, so it was a balancing act of letting players have maximum fun while not destabilizing PvP modes.”
Strand abilities release Threadlings (pictured) that can damage enemies
This balancing act was also important during the design of the three main class Super abilities, and Smith details the level of work and the spread of disciplines that must be involved in the creation of one.
“Anytime we make a new Super, we come up with a list of possible designs, and we trim that down to what’s realistic,” he explains. “But there are a lot of decisions, it’s animation, it’s VFX, design, engineering, audio—so many things have to come together, and then you have to balance the Super itself across so many game modes.”
You can check out some of the unused Super ideas in the images below, but Smith did tell us that the Warlock Super ability almost ended up with tentacles that sprout up and lash out at enemies. The actual Warlock Super, Needlestorm, which lets players unleash a barrage of spikes onto enemies, is still equally as cool.
Concept art of early Strand abilities
With Strand explored in detail, we were left with just one question: Why did the team choose green for the subclass color? Smith tells us that on the hunt for the perfect hex code, the team wanted to ensure every class is both immediately identifiable and aesthetically pleasing.
“We had a handful of options, but green felt the most distinct,” he tells us. “It just worked really well with the Strand theme. We kind of saw it as green ball of yarn, and wanted you to think of that every time you walk past yarn in a store.”
Lightfall players unlock Strand permanently at the end of the Lightfall campaign, and from there, can unlock Aspects and Fragments that allow them to really personalize the subclass to their playstyle, be it keeping distance or smashing straight into the action.
Last Friday also saw the release of Root of Nightmares, the brand-new raid packaged with Lightfall, so be sure to get swinging through Neomuna to unlock those Strand abilities and get equipped to confront the ancient threat growing at our doorstep.
Destiny 2: Lightfall is available now on Xbox Series X|S and Xbox One.
Pre-order to instantly unlock a new Exotic Ghost and Legendary emblem.
Includes Lightfall, the new raid, and a Season Pass for Season 20.
Campaign
In a Neptunian city under siege, find strength in your fellow Guardians as the end to all things approaches—the Witness is here. Arm yourself with new rewards and unlock new Dark powers to triumph in Lightfall’s unforgettable Legendary mode.
Strand
Harness Darkness and pluck at the threads of reality with this new subclass. Flow through the city with newfound speed as you grapple from building to building. Every class can tap into this new element, but it’s up to you to create the perfect build.
New Destination
Travel to Neptune and discover a neon metropolis unlike any you’ve explored in Destiny 2. Meet the Cloud Striders, join the fight against the Shadow Legion, and prevent devastation in the technologically advanced secret city of Neomuna.
105 GB hard drive storage space required as of November 10, 2020. Subject to change. Requires broadband internet. After November 10, 2020 see www.destinythegame.com/size-requirements for current requirements prior to purchase.
Destiny 2 may contain flashing patterns and images that may produce adverse effects for a small percentage of people sensitive to them.
Bungie, Inc. makes no guarantee regarding the availability of online play or features and may modify or discontinue online services with reasonable notice at any time. Using the software constitutes acceptance of the Destiny Software License Agreement available at www.bungie.net/sla.
Magic: The Gathering has been doing a lot of Universes Beyond crossovers, from Warhammer 40,000 to Street Fighter, but its next might be one of the most exciting yet. The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth will be a full, draftable card set legal for play in Magic’s Modern format. We have an exclusive look at the first cards to be revealed from it, including both Gandalf the Grey and The One Ring itself, as well as some insight from the team at Wizards of the Coast.
Watch the reveal video above or flip through the gallery below to see for yourself:
Illustrated by Veli Nystrom, The One Ring is a 4-mana legendary artifact that’s indestructible and gives you protection from everything until your next turn – as long as you cast it, that is, so no shenanigans where you can blink it for endless protection here. The One Ring also taps to draw you cards at the cost of life later. The more times you tap it, the more cards you will draw, but also the more damage you will take at the start of your next turn, which seems like a delightfully flavorful way to express the tempting but costly power of using The Ring. I also like the idea that not using it doesn’t actually stop you from taking damage each turn… so after all, why shouldn’t you tap it again?
On a lighter note, a cycle of full art basic lands will feature art from different sections of Middle-earth’s iconic map. Art Director Ovidio Cartagena tells me this was one of their very first ideas for the set, saying “Middle-earth has such a specific geography, and it is of course one of the genius details of storytelling that influenced a lot of subsequent works in fantasy and science fiction. That approach told us not only the challenges and natural obstacles the Fellowship had to traverse in this story, but also is linked to the rich and mythic history of Arda in the previous ages. Making those maps as full art lands compliments the card illustrations to create an immersive experience for players.” The artist for these lands, Devin Rue, may also be a familiar name to any Critical Role fans, as they create the maps of Exandria for that show as well.
The showcase frame is meant to express what happens “inside” the Ring.
The last new card we get to reveal is Gandalf the Grey, who you might notice is actually blue-red. That certainly caught me off guard initially, but it does make sense in the context of Magic, where Wizards are mostly commonly represented in the blue-red color pair. Illustrated by Aaron Miller, Gandalf the Grey is a 5-mana legendary Avatar Wizard, and in typical red-blue fashion, it triggers whenever you cast an instant or sorcery spell. That ability lets you pick once from four different effects: tapping or untapping a permanent, dealing 3 damage to each opponent, copying an instant or sorcery, or (presumably your last choice) putting Gandalf back on top of your deck.
You may also notice the rather prominent glowing sword in Gandalf’s hand, which Vice President of Game Design Aaron Forsythe confirmed is his signature weapon, Glamdring, with Cartagena teasing that “I think fans are going to be pleasantly surprised to find many of their favorite artifacts from Lord of the Rings in the card set.” No word on whether or not Glamdring might get an equipment card of its own or anything, but he did tell me that they had a lot of fun coming up with new interpretations of the legendary objects from the War of the Ring and keeping them consistently recognizable throughout the set.
We also got a glimpse of Gandalf’s epic confrontation with the Balrog on Anato Finnstark’s art for the showcase ring treatment of Gandalf the Grey. Not so much of a triumphant portrait, Cartagena says the circular shape of this set’s showcase frame is meant to express what happens “inside” the Ring, saying it symbolizes “the power that the quest for the One Ring can have in the different characters’ internal struggles.”
While that’s it for new cards, we were also given a first look at another of Gandalf’s incarnations as the much more stern Gandalf the White. Now I genuinely don’t know anything else about the card, but I’m certainly getting some (purely speculative) planeswalker vibes from Magali Villeneuve’s shining rendition. Gandalf also has a third card in the previously shown art for Gandalf, Friend of the Shire – when I asked Cartagena why Gandalf had so many renditions in the set, he told me that it gives them an opportunity to explore the character more, and that “Tolkien’s rich storytelling allowed us to explore how Gandalf (and others) present themselves to different allies and at different times throughout the story.”
If you’re hungry for more, you won’t have to wait long, as a WeeklyMTG livestream on Tuesday, March 10 at 10am PT will have further details and reveals from The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth (which is available for pre-order now). In the meantime you can read my full Q&A with Wizards of the Coast down below, or if want to see some more fancy showcase versions of cards from Magic’s most recent set, you can watch me unbox the Phyrexia: All Will Be One Compleat Edition bundle.
IGN: With all the past Universes Beyond cards, you’ve been able to bring the exact likenesses of iconic characters or actors into Magic: The Gathering’s art style, but this set is a bit different. What were some of the challenges of making new interpretations of characters that fans may be familiar with some other version of, and how did you go about making them recognizable but still your own?
Ovidio Cartagena, Art Director: There have been many interpretations and likenesses for the characters in The Lord of the Rings throughout the years. The fanbase for this world has only grown in the last two decades, and this version seeks to reflect that growth. The main challenge was balancing the familiarity, timelessness, and deep reverence of the original Lord of the Rings with a modern sensibility. The Lord of the Rings is about the different peoples of Middle-earth coming together to fight Sauron, finding strength in their diversity. We worked really closely with the dedicated people at Middle-earth Enterprises to reflect that sensibility while staying true to the original vision, and it was certainly a challenge to strike the right balance. I believe what the teams have delivered not only walks that line well, but creates a deep, immersive experience that fans of both Magic and The Lord of the Rings will love.
“Gandalf the Grey is the quintessential fantasy wizard”
Okay, I am going to address the elephant in the room: Gandalf the Grey is blue-red! I imagine it’s tricky to design a card for a notable character with a color in their name, as well as to make art that then still has to show all those colors. Could you tell me a bit about why he is blue-red and how it affected his look?
Aaron Forsythe, Vice President of Game Design: It is true that certain color words in characters’ names can complicate design decisions just because those words have such powerful associations in Magic. But thankfully, “grey” is not one such word! There are actually several versions of Gandalf in the set (including Gandalf the White, whose color identity will not surprise you), and we show him at different points throughout the story by making him different colors. Gandalf the Grey is the quintessential fantasy wizard, so it made sense for his card design to be blue-red as those are the colors that do the most “wizardy” things in-game. As for how that color choice influenced his art, we did ask for his sword, Glamdring, to have bluish energy, and the setting of Moria lends a red glow to everything. Aaron Miller did a great job infusing those colors into the piece while leaving his costuming the traditional grey that is so iconic for Gandalf.
Cartagena: Gandalf’s sword Glamdring was something we thought about from very early on in the creative visual process. I think fans are going to be pleasantly surprised to find many of their favorite artifacts from Lord of the Rings in the card set.
Was it fun to get to design your own takes on famous Lord of the Rings weapons or artifacts like The One Ring in addition to their wielders?
Cartagena: Of course! In order to have storytelling in the illustrations, objects had to be consistently recognizable throughout. The process of designing weapons, equipment, armor and of course characters was very fun! For decades, many of us have been imagining different ways the legendary objects from the War of the Ring could be depicted. We had that in mind from the very beginning of concept art creation, and it was very interesting seeing the various proposals artists made.
Can you tell me about what led you to this look for the showcase frame and why it was ultimately the right one?
Cartagena: In early conversations, we discussed the power that the One Ring would have over different characters in the story. The One Ring offers you conflict but also misleading promises. Tom Jenkot and his team came up with the awesome showcase treatment, with the circular shape expressing what happens “inside” the Ring, and of course symbolizing the power that the quest for the One Ring can have in the different characters’ internal struggles.
You’ve said there are actually at least three Gandalfs in this set (Gandalf the Grey, Gandalf the White, and Gandalf, Friend of the Shire). Why give him multiple cards, and how did you go about approaching the looks and designs of these cards differently?
Cartagena: As an artist and art director, having different Gandalfs in the set gives us a chance to further explore the character in his various presentations. Tolkien’s rich storytelling allowed us to explore how Gandalf (and others) present themselves to different allies and at different times throughout the story.
“We have been having fun pushing the envelope in creative ways”
Why did you decide to feature maps of Middle-earth on the full art lands for this set?
Cartagena: That is a great question! This was one of the very first ideas for the set, even before we had illustrations, and it came from our creative director, Jess Lanzillo. Middle-earth has such a specific geography, and it is of course one of the genius details of storytelling that influenced a lot of subsequent works in fantasy and science fiction. That approach told us not only the challenges and natural obstacles the Fellowship had to traverse in this story, but also is linked to the rich and mythic history of Arda in the previous ages. Making those maps as full art lands compliments the card illustrations to create an immersive experience for players. Those arts were commissioned by Sarah Wassell, who worked with Deven Rue on this treatment.
Is the fact that the Mountain has primarily green art rather than red a concern or a consideration at all when designing lands like this? I’m curious if your philosophy around land art color has evolved at all in recent years, as it seems like y’all have been having fun pushing the envelope.
Mike Turian, Product Architect: We have been having fun pushing the envelope in creative ways to show off our most fundamental piece of Magic, Basic Lands. Basics offer a great way to show off the creative setting and backgrounds of the world we are in. From Full-art Constellation lands highlighting the beauty of Theros to fun expressions of our Magic partnerships, such as the Godzilla basic lands, we are always looking for ways to bring the universe we are visiting to our players. With The Lord of the Rings: Tales of Middle-earth, we were inspired by the novels, to create our own maps of Middle-earth that blended the vast lands traversed by the Fellowship on their journey with our own Magic Basic Lands. To be authentic to what a map would look like, we choose colors that would most strongly resonate and then used our Magic frame and mana symbols to communicate gameplay information.
Tom Marks is IGN’s Deputy Reviews Editor. He loves card games, puzzles, platformers, puzzle-platformers, and lots more.
Lightyear Frontier, a sort of Stardew Valley but in space, in which you bring agriculture to an alien planet with a big multipurpose mechatractor suit, has been delayed. It was supposed to come out, well, sometime around now (Spring 2023) but developers Frame Break announced the delay with a statement on Twitter – including that they “can’t commit to a launch window right now”.
Resident Evil 4: Remake’s demo has a secret cheat code that lets players unlock the demo-exclusive brutal Mad Chainsaw difficulty.
As shown by Jigzaw Killer on YouTube, players must go to the main menu in the demo with the “Main Story” choice highlighted. Then, hold L1 and R1 and press up, left, down, right, Square, Triangle, Circle, X, X on PlayStation, or hold LB and RB and press up, left, down, right, X, Y, B, A, A on Xbox. This will bring up the option to select Mad Chainsaw difficulty mode for the playthrough.
Before this cheat was discovered, Mad Chainsaw difficulty only appeared to unlock by chance, as the game would said: “You must wait until Mad Chainsaw Mode is triggered again for subsequent attempts.” This difficulty increases enemy damage and health, as well as changes their placements in the game and makes them even more aggressive.
Additionally, the chainsaw-wielding Dr. Salvador will come equipped with a flaming chainsaw this time around. There are also no checkpoints, so if players die during this playthrough it’s a complete game over.
The difficulty option might keep fans entertained until Resident Evil 4: Remake launches on March 24. Though the game is fully single player, Capcom has announced that it’s working on a Day One patch to improve the game’s rain effects that fans found to be too distracting.
In IGN’s Resident Evil 4 remake preview, we said: “It was always going to be hard for any newer game in the series to experience quite the same technical jump that the Resident Evil 2 remake did. But so far Capcom seems to be making smart choices in what it iterates on for Resident Evil 4. It feels as if it’s trying to find that perfect balance between tribute and innovation.”
George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. He’s been writing about the industry since 2019 and has worked with other publications such as Insider, Kotaku, NPR, and Variety.
When not writing about video games, George is playing video games. What a surprise! You can follow him on Twitter @Yinyangfooey
Dead Island 2, because most zombies are quite shambly – I encountered many a rich-person decor. Last week, I was given a preview build of the upcoming first-person zombie-smasher and played about the first five hours of it in single-player, taking in sights like a community of gated millionaire mansions, a slightly less palacious but still ridiculous neighbourhood, and an upmarket hotel styled after the famous Beverly Hills Hotel. They’re all full of weird stuff.
There’s a panic room where a guy turned into a zombie mid-demo tape recording. Actress Emma, who you’re battening down the hatches with, has a truly awful full-length Burt Reynoldsian portrait of herself. A shared house called the GOAT PEN, where a team of influencers all live together, has a set for a video series called LIT OR SH!T, and a whiteboard with the script for an apology video. I ask the game director David Stenton if it’s low hanging fruit, or if there’s no such thing with Hollywood rich people. “Of course, it’s low hanging fruit!” he says, laughing. “And also, there’s no such thing.”
Mario Day may have passed, but many of the deals are carrying on. One of its best this year was the Nintendo Switch Mario ‘Choose One Bundle’, which you can still access! For $299.99, the bundle includes both the Mario Red console and a Mario game of your choice. In regard to the latter, your choices include Super Mario Odyssey, Mario Kart 8 Deluxe, or New Super Mario Bros. U Deluxe. Below, you can see links to where each of these bundles can still be purchased.
Nintendo Switch Mario ‘Choose One Bundle’ for $299.99
The Super Mario Bros. Movie Ticket Pre-Sale
In the spirit of Mario beyond Mario Day, there are still several more deals to check out (including a new LEGO Super Mario Dry Bowser Castle Battle expansion set), but more importantly, The Super Mario Bros. Movie tickets are up for pre-sale. If you’re looking to pick up tickets for Nintendo and Illumination’s upcoming film (which releases on April 5), head to the link below to reserve them.
This is an excellent time to pick up a Nintendo Switch, especially with games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom on the horizon, which you can preorder here. You can also pick up the physical version of Metroid Prime Remastered for the Switch and see a full list of other upcoming Nintendo Switch games for this year here.
If you want to see even more gaming deals outside of what Nintendo has to offer, make sure to visit our Daily Deals page to see everything from sales on Dead Space Remake to what’s in Capcom’s sale. The latter features a sale on Resident Evil Village as well, which is the latest mainline Resident Evil game and worth adding to your collection before Resident Evil 4 Remake releases on March 24.
Hannah Hoolihan is a freelance writer who works with the Guides and Commerce teams here at IGN.
A Super Mario 64 speedrunner has managed to do the impossible and get the “Impossible 1-Up” in Cool, Cool Mountain without dying.
Using a TAS (tool-assisted speedrun), Alexpalix1 — also known as PaLiX — demonstrates that it is actually possible to survive grabbing this extra life, provided you have a few hours of spare time as well as do precision-perfect wall-jumping (via GamesRadar).
Warning: Full spoilers ahead for episode 8 of HBO’s The Last of Us.
HBO’s The Last of Us episode 9 has arrived and we finally get to see the conclusion to the first series. But how close does the show compare to the game?
To help answer this question, we’ve gathered images from episode 9 of HBO’s The Last of Us and put them next to stills from Naughty Dog’s The Last of Us game to see how faithful the adaptation is. Check out the slideshow, or watch the video above to see the scenes from both the show and the game in action.
In our The Last of Us episode 9 review, we said “The season one finale of HBO’s The Last of Us is a thrillingly faithful adaptation of one video games’ greatest endings, even if it doesn’t pack quite the same punch as the original. Pedro Pascal excels in Joel’s defining moment, displaying both the tenderness and brutality we’ve come to expect from Ellie’s protector. Wonderfully shot and hauntingly soundtracked, it’s an ending that will long linger in the memory of those first experiencing it, and one that ultimately sticks the landing on the comparatively shorter runway that’s been built for it..”
Nintendo has announced its server maintenance schedule for the next few days and today (13th March) is set to be a big one.
The maintenance officially began earlier on this morning (or yesterday, if you are in North America) with Nintendo working on the save data cloud for Nintendo Switch Online services. This level of tweaking is set to continue across several of the company’s other servers over the next 24 hours, with the risk that these may become temporarily unavailable while the work is taking place (thanks, Nintendo Everything).
Cave Story and N to grow. With online distribution further helping games like Bastion, Journey and World Of Goo to flourish, the definition of the indie game became: a title with big ambitions and creativity grown from small budgets and teams.
Lightyear Frontier, a sort of 
Dead Island 2, because most zombies are quite shambly – I encountered many a rich-person decor. Last week, I was given a preview build of the upcoming first-person zombie-smasher and played about the first five hours of it in single-player, taking in sights like a community of gated millionaire mansions, a slightly less palacious but still ridiculous neighbourhood, and an upmarket hotel styled after the famous Beverly Hills Hotel. They’re all full of weird stuff.