Author: Game Infliction

One Legend of Zelda cosplayer struggling to unsheathe Link’s sword has received advice from an unlikely source: Smash Bros. creator Masahiro Sakurai.

Cosplayer Sakigake posted some sleek images of their Breath of the Wild Link outfit on X/Twitter before showing the impracticalities of pulling a sword from a scabbard on one’s back. “It was impossible,” they said. “I will practice.” As spotted by Automaton, however, Sakurai appeared to save the day, revealing how he and his team at Nintendo fixed this issue in the Super Smash Bros. games.

“In Smash Bros. Ultimate, Link pulls the scabbard down when sheathing his sword,” Sakurai said. “That alone didn’t quite reach the mark, but I think that’s as far as we could go with our ingenuity and still replicate the action and equipment from the original.”

スマブラSPのリンクは､納刀時に鞘を下に引っぱるようにしました｡
それだけではまだ届かなかったのだけど､原作のアクションと装具に合わせるのであれば工夫はここまでかなあと｡ https://t.co/hVlmYte0C7

— 桜井 政博 / Masahiro Sakurai (@Sora_Sakurai) November 12, 2024

Sakigake and Sakurai continued their wholesome interaction, with the cosplayer saying they’d use Super Smash Bros. as a reference going forward. Sakurai responded again too, complimenting Sakigake’s Link cosplay. Check out how Breath of the Wild Link gets on in Super Smash Bros. Ultimate in the video below.

Sakurai seems to be enjoying his time outside of video game development, having also run a YouTube channel talking about his work until very recently. This wrapped in October, with the famed developer leaving YouTube while teasing a mystery new game.

Whether or not it’s a Smash Bros. entry remains to be seen though, as Sakurai has previously said he doesn’t know how to make a game bigger and better than the one on Nintendo Switch.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelance reporter. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 has a new update (patch 4.5) out now across all platforms, adding the hotly anticipated Neo-Volkite pistol to the game.

Saber Interactive’s explosive third-person melee / shooter set in Games Workshop’s grimdark sci-fi universe set records for a Warhammer video game upon its release in September, and has sold an impressive 4.5 million copies so far. Saber has continued to update it since, with today’s patch notes revealing yet more balance changes ahead of a larger update set to add Dark Angels cosmetics.

Let’s start with the Neo-Volkite pistol, which is a powerful thermal ray weapon that shoots lethal beams that burns enemies to ash. It’s available now for the Assault, Vanguard, and Bulwark classes, but is limited to Operations mode only. Operations is the three-player co-op focused PvE mode designed to be played long-term after the campaign is completed.

Unlike other weapons, the Neo-Volkite pistol blasts a heat ray onto your enemies, dealing accumulative thermal damage. Focusing on one enemy ramps up the damage until it generates a localized explosion for huge damage to your target and all nearby enemies.

The Neo-Volkite pistol makes its entry in the #SpaceMarine2 armoury

In Operations, blast heat rays onto your enemies, inflict accumulative damage and blow up those xenos! pic.twitter.com/HmkZEjPmBi

— Focus Entertainment (@Focus_entmt) November 12, 2024

Publisher Focus Entertainment said it’s limiting the Neo-Volkite pistol to Operations mode for now “as we continue to experiment with balancing in PvP.” It will be added to Eternal War mode in Space Marine 2’s next major update alongside a new Operations map, a new enemy, and the Dark Angels cosmetics. Until then though, you’ll be able to try it out against your friends in the Battle Barge’s Sparring Arena.

Moving on, there are a number of balance changes for Operations mode only, including buffs to the Plasma Incinerator, Bolt Sniper Rifle, Occulus Bolt Carbine, Bolt Carbine SMG, and the Auto Bolt Rifle. There are general fixes and tech improvements, too.

In September, Saber Chief Creative Officer Tim Willits told IGN how the breakout success of Space Marine 2 had “changed everything” for the company. Eagle-eyed fans have spotted the Space Marine chapter now all-but confirmed to get a cosmetic pack after the Dark Angels, too.

Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 Update 4.5 patch notes:

BALANCING TWEAKS

Weapons (Operations mode only)

PLASMA INCINERATOR

👉 Slightly reduced amount of heat generated by normal and charged shots for versions:

– Master-Crafted – Alpha

– Salvation of Bakka – Alpha

– Gathalamor Crusade – Alpha

👉 Fixed a bug that would cause several versions not producing heat at all.

BOLT SNIPER RIFLE

👉 Fire rate increased from 50 to 60 rounds per minute.

👉 Headshot bonus increased from x2 to x2.5.

OCCULUS BOLT CARABINE

👉 Scope added

👉 Headshot bonus increased from x1 to x1.33

BOLT CARABINE (SMG)

👉 Adjusted damage falloff curve: Base damage increased by 50% for the first 10 meters, after that, the damage drops to the original pre-patch value.

AUTO BOLT RIFLE

👉 Max ammo increased by 1 magazine for each version.

GENERAL FIXES

– Fixed a bug causing unlocked DLC cosmetic items to get locked again after a restart.

– Fixed a bug causing the Sniper perk “Targeted Shot” to not work after swapping weapons.

– Fixed a bug causing the Sniper invisibility not getting removed after a shot in rare cases.

– Fixed a bug preventing players from muting the others in PvP.

– Fixed several perks not triggering correctly from enemy kills.

– Fixed a bug that prevented certain weapon perks from triggering correctly when reaching a specific HP threshold.

TECH IMPROVEMENTS

– Crash fixes and general stability improvements.

– Fixed server disconnects with unstable user connection.

– General connectivity improvements.

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.

In The Valley of Gods, the hotly anticipated follow-up to Firewatch from developer Campo Santo, was put on hold after Valve acquired the company back in 2018. Now, years later, it remains on hold, but one Valve developer has given fans a glimpse at what might have been.

Announced during the 2017 Game Awards, In The Valley of Gods is set in Egypt during the late 1920s. It stars Rashida and Zora, a pair of documentary filmmakers who accidentally made it big with a hit movie but have since seen their careers go off a cliff. They reunite years later after receiving information about the lost Tomb of Nefertiti, with a goal of reigniting their careers by documenting their trip to Egypt.

Valve visual effects developer Matt Wilde took to Bluesky to publish a six second water test created by Camp Santo before the studio’s move to Valve. It shows the player character bobbing in impressively realistic water while looking out from inside a cave at the other protagonist from a first-person perspective. “I do often tend to work on liquidy things,” Wilde said.

Matthew Wilde, the Valve developer behind the water shader for Counter-Strike 2, has shared a rare gameplay footage. It shows the water technology that was tested for In The Valley of Gods before Valve acquired the company Campo Santo. Team shelved the game not so long after… pic.twitter.com/wIs6Im8KYx

— ‎Gabe Follower (@gabefollower) November 11, 2024

That’s a reference to Wilde’s work on Valve’s 2020 virtual reality exclusive Half-Life: Alyx, which caught attention for ultra realistic liquid in glass bottles. More recently, Wilde worked on Counter-Strike 2’s water and effects.

Spent a good chunk of lock-down doing this important work. Boozy liquid shader, now available in the latest update for Half-Life: Alyx pic.twitter.com/Iw9h98pmEg

— Matthew Wilde (@skilful) May 28, 2020

Wilde’s In The Valley of Gods clip obviously sparks questions about whether Camp Santo / Valve will one day return to the game. “To fans looking forward to In The Valley of Gods, it’s probably clear that the optimistic ‘2019’ at the end of the announcement trailer isn’t going to be accurate,” Campo Santo co-founder Jake Rodkin said when it was announced that In The Valley of Gods had been put on hold.

“In the end, Valve Time makes fools of us all. But yes, developers from the former Campo Santo team have joined other projects at Valve, including Half-Life: Alyx.

“So to answer your question as of today, In The Valley of Gods development is on hold — but it certainly feels like a project people can and may return to. And when that happens, we’ll find an exciting way to let fans know.”

It’s worth noting that In The Valley of Gods’ Steam page is still live — with a December 2029 release window. Perhaps that will end up being true.

Image credit: Matthew Wilde / Bluesky.

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.

Hideaki Itsuno, famed former director of the Devil May Cry and Dragon’s Dogma series, has joined Tencent Games subsidiary LightSpeed Studios.

Itsuno, who left Capcom earlier this year after over 30 years at the Japanese games company, announced the formation of a new developer called LightSpeed Japan Studio, with offices in Tokyo and Osaka. Most exciting for fans, however, is Itsuno’s plan to focus on developing original AAA action games, something he built his career doing at Capcom.

Itsuno’s long list of credits includes the likes of Rival Schools, Power Stone, the Devil May Cry series, and most recently, the Dragon’s Dogma games. He was the director of Dragon’s Dogma 2, which launched earlier this year and goes down as Itsuno’s final game for Capcom.