The Nintendo Switch 2 version of Hogwarts Legacy will include sharper visuals, faster loading times, and make use of those all-new mouse controls, too.
As demonstrated in an all-new comparisons teaser trailer, while players of the original game had to sit through loading screens when players moved in or out of Hogsmeade, the Switch 2 version enables players to transition seamlessly from area to area.
That’s not all, either. Playing on the Nintendo Switch 2 also boosts frame rate, textures, shadows, and even the color saturation of Hogwarts and its surroundings — you can see it for yourself in the trailer below:
As for mouse controls? We’re intrigued, too. For now, though, developer Warner Bros. isn’t ready to expand on that, but we wonder if the new mouse functionality could be used while spell-casting perhaps.
Much like other Switch 1 games, players with Hogwarts Legacy on the OG system will be able to upgrade to the new, improved version for $10.
Hogwarts Legacy is an immersive, action, open-world role-playing-game set in the 1800s wizarding world. Beginning as a fifth year, players embark on a journey through new and familiar locations, explore and discover magical beasts, craft potions, master spell casting, upgrade talents, and customize their character to become the witch or wizard they’ve always wanted to be. It’s coming to Nintendo Switch 2 the same day the console releases, June 5.
We had an amazing time with Hogwarts Legacy, awarding it 9/10 in the IGN Hogwart’s Legacy review, writing: “in almost every way, Hogwarts Legacy is the Harry Potter RPG [we’ve] always wanted to play.”
Vikki Blake is a reporter, critic, columnist, and consultant. She’s also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.
Details from 89 million Steam accounts have reportedly gone up for sale on the dark web. Since RPS’s dedicated tech team have just informed me that the dark web is not the thing you get when you click ‘incognito tab’ and is actually potentially much scarier than that, you might want to consider changing your password. Or maybe not. As I say, it’s all alleged at this point.
Eagle-eyed Helldivers 2 fans have spotted what looks like a leak from PlayStation that suggests players will end up fighting back against the Illuminate on the streets of Super Earth.
This week, developer Arrowhead launched the full Illuminate invasion, adding new enemy types in the process. The in-universe wording of the invasion suggested the Illuminate were heading straight for Super Earth, and now a leak coming out of the official Czech Republic Threads account suggests that the Illuminate will not only make it to our home planet, but we’ll have to fight them off there.
Redditor xTekshi spotted the now-deleted post, which spoke of a “Heart of Democracy” update coming on May 20. While Heart of Democracy is referenced in the official working around this week’s update, neither Sony nor Arrowhead have confirmed it in relation to a May 20 release.
Adding further fuel to the fire is the fact a May 20 release would fit with the timing of the end of the current Major Order.
Official Playstation account for the Czech Republic dropped info on the next title update. “Heart of Democracy” – May 20th#Helldivers2pic.twitter.com/gelJbnYMqR
This all feels pretty much inevitable, and that’s the wording Sony and Arrowhead have used for this update (“High Command believes this Fleet’s ultimate objective to be the invasion of Super Earth itself” and “Battle on Super Earth is inevitable”).
So, fans think the Czech account accidentally leaked Helldivers 2’s next major update, and with it plans to fight on Super Earth itself. If true, this would be a significant upgrade for the explosive third-person action game, which currently includes alien planet maps only. Playing on Super Earth would certainly offer something different.
Warning! Spoilers for Helldivers 2 follow:
Now, in a recent development, gameplay of Super Earth Mega Cities has leaked online, via social media account IronS1ghts and their YouTube channel. The gameplay shows Super Earth as a destination in Helldivers 2. You’re able to choose from a variety of city missions, as you can on other planets (“York Supreme” is a city in North America).
On the surface we see future Earth urban areas, with the Illuminate invasion ongoing. SEAF (the equivalent of the national guard or militia) soldiers are fighting alongside the Helldivers. For me, this reminds me a lot of Halo 3: ODST, with the Covenant invading Earth.
How is this gameplay possible? Apparently the Super Earth content is in the Helldivers 2 game files already, waiting to launch.
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
Speedy fender-bender ’em up Wreckfest 2 has added two new cars to its roster of smashmobiles alongside two new tracks, including one track from the first game that’s been given a “makeover”. The racing game is still in earliest of access, so this only brings the total number of vehicles up to six, and the selection of tracks is still limited too. But it’s the start of what developers Bugbear see as steady progress, with more cars and courses set to come next month.
Square Enix has released its financial results for FY2025, detailing a rather middling performance for the company with a distinct lack of major releases.
The good news is that its HD Digital Entertainment sub-segment (i.e. the big games we’re all interested in) turned a profit, but only because a combination of lower development and marketing costs mixed with higher-than-expected sales of Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake effectively outweighed the higher net sales from the previous year. So, in short, Dragon Quest saved the day.
Hideo Kojima’s Japanese radio podcast KOJI10 has been giving listeners insight into how the Metal Gear Solid and Death Stranding creator thinks. In the most recent broadcast (Episode 17), Kojima shared his thoughts on how time passing in real life can be used in video games. Not only did Kojima comment on time-related mechanics he has implemented in past games, but he also revealed concepts that he hasn’t used yet. This includes an idea that he scrapped from the upcoming Death Stranding 2: On The Beach.
Kojima is no stranger to gameplay mechanics that make use of your console or PC’s internal clock as a timer.
He starts out by mentioning two examples from 2004’s Metal Gear Solid 3: Snake Eater on the PS2. To add to the realism of surviving in the jungle, the fresh food you had acquired would go off after a few days had passed in real life. Eating rotten food could make Snake violently sick, or you could turn spoiled food into a novel weapon by throwing it at hungry enemy soldiers.
Kojima also made use of the system clock for MGS3’s cat-and-mouse boss battle against elderly sniper The End. “Although he is a really tough boss, if the player waits a week, The End will die of old age,” recalls Kojima. Indeed, if the player loads their in-battle save at least one week later, they will be treated to a cutscene in which Snake discovers that The End is dead.
“I’ve thought about having characters’ hair grow in games,” Kojima reveals. “Originally in Death Stranding 2, I was going to have Sam’s beard gradually grow out over time, and the player would have to shave it. If they didn’t, Sam would end up looking unkempt,” he explains. “However, as Norman Reedus is a big star, I didn’t want to make him look uncool!” Despite this, the director says it is still something he might add to another game one day.
Kojima also comes up with three game concepts that have the passing of time in real life as a major mechanic. The first is a kind of game of life: “It starts out with the player being born, you’re a child and then gradually over time you become an adult. In the game, you fight various enemies. Like with the previous example (MGS3’s The End), if you keep playing the game, you will become a 70 or 80 year old man. However, at this age you will be weaker, your eyesight will worsen. When you are a teenager you’ll be able to run faster but by the time you reach 60 you’ll slow down a bit,” Kojima explains, revealing that although your character will be in better physical condition when they are younger, they will have more knowledge and experience when they are older. This aging will affect your strategy as to how you deal with enemies. “But no-one would buy it!” Kojima adds, however the other people on the podcast expressed enthusiasm about playing such a “Kojima-like game.”
Another idea he mentions is a game where you are creating something that takes time to mature, such as wine or cheese. This requires the player to continue gradually playing it over a long period of time, and sounds like it would work as a background/idle game.
On the flip side, Kojima also proposes a “forgetting game” that the player would have to “play through quickly.” In this concept, the main character gradually forgets important information and abilities if you take too long a break from the game. For example, if you don’t play every day, the main character will gradually forget things such as “how to fire their gun or what their job is.” This forgetfulness builds up until finally the player is unable to move. “Players would have to take a week off work or school to play it,” Kojima laughs.
Verity Townsend is a Japan-based freelance writer who previously served as editor, contributor and translator for the game news site Automaton West. She has also written about Japanese culture and movies for various publications.
So there’s a passage in biographical novel The Moon & Sixpence where art connoisseur Dirk Stroeve spends months helping painter Charles Strickland recover from a life-threatening illness. Once well, Strickland returns the favour by promptly nicking Dirk’s wife Blanche. Strickland eventually leaves her, Blanche gargles acid and dies, and a hangdog Dirk returns to the apartment to find Strickland’s nude painting of Blanche, mocking his heartbreak. Manic and inconsolable, Dirk grabs a paint scraper and flings himself at the painting ready to destroy it, but can’t. He’s overcome by an appreciation for the work; in awe of the object that mocks him.
I get it, really I do. I’m standing before horrible strategy gameAnoxia Station, with my paint scraper, ready to gouge a hole in it for making me feel like shit. Stressed. Anxious. Irritated. Exhausted. When Anoxia Station wants to tell you that temperature has dropped to dangerous levels, it shoves a steamy, cracked-ice overlay on screen that’s so opaque it makes interacting with the game a chore. I should be furious.
It might be incredibly late in the Switch’s life to be doing this, but Nintendo will allow fans who visit its new store in San Francisco to fully customise the colour of their brand-new Switch OLED.
“Bring a piece of Nintendo San Francisco home with you”.
Nintendo is opening its new San Francisco store in the US this week on 15th May and if you do plan on taking the trip there, you’ll able to pick up one of five minature “sculpture replicas” based on the same statues in Nintendo’s stores.