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The First Descendant Patch 1.0.2 Makes Some Big Changes — Here’s What It Does

The First Descendant developer Nexon has issued a significant update for its popular looter shooter and explained some of its thinking behind the game.

Patch 1.0.2, out now across PC, PlayStation, and Xbox, adds the promised matchmaking for hard mode Infiltration Operations, renames monster patterns, eases the punishing grind ever so slightly, and makes a raft of bug fixes. Other highlights include slowing down the speed at which the Instructor robot talks (which was too fast to keep up with, really).

As part of the patch notes, Nexon insisted it has no plans to nerf meta builds players are currently using to destroy bosses, called Colossi in-game, in just a handful of seconds. These sorts of builds, which revolve around character Gley and rare machine gun Tamer, were expected, Nexon added.

“It has come to our attention that the community is worried about possible nerfs to Tamer and Gley’s infinite magazine builds,” Nexon said. “This meta is very strong, but since it is within the scope of what the dev team has planned, there are no immediate plans to do so.

“In addition, some weapons are more powerful than Tamer and there are a variety of character builds that rival Gley’s infinite magazine, so please enjoy them fully. We’ve been looking forward to seeing Descendants use creative builds to take down powerful Colossi swiftly, so we’re quite delighted to see this in action now.”

The First Descendant will continue to communicate transparently and honestly.

There’s also an interesting note addressing community concern that the drop rates of certain much-needed items were not accurately displayed in-game. In short, some players felt that The First Descendant’s displayed drop rates were not the actual drop rates in gameplay, after many struggled to get these particular items as part of the free-to-play looter shooter’s punishing grind.

“We are well aware that as many Descendants begin farming in earnest, various discussions are taking place regarding drop rates,” Nexon acknowledged. “There is no variable drop rate system in The First Descendant. We are using the fixed rates displayed in the game.

“The dev team has reviewed the acquisition rates across all servers and confirmed that they are dropping according to the rates displayed. We are currently working on various measures to ensure the community can trust the dev team such as disclosing item drop amounts for each content. And we also prepare ways to improve the farming experience. The First Descendant will continue to communicate transparently and honestly.”

However, the patch does not address the The First Descendant’s ultra aggressive monetization, nor has Nexon explained the remarkable similarities between icons used in The First Descendant and Bungie’s rival looter shooter, Destiny.

Still, The First Descendant is pulling in players, with a peak Steam concurrent player count of 264,860 so far — enough to break into the top five most-played games on Valve’s platform. Microsoft and Sony do not provide player numbers for PlayStation and Xbox.

The First Descendant update 1.0.2 patch notes in full:

Content Improvements

– Added the ‘Start Public Operation’ function (matchmaking) to Infiltration Operations (Hard). ‘Start Public Operation’ is available even if you change the selected reward, but if you select an additional option, only ‘Start Private Operation’ will be available.

– Removed the sequential type Immunity Spheres from Named Monsters. They have been changed to either the default or extermination types.

# Director’s Comment

The Dev Team acknowledges the community’s concern about the monotonous patterns of Named Monsters and strives to enhance them.

In particular, we’ve noted that the pattern involving breaking spheres in a specific order isn’t appropriate for public matching and have decided to remove it immediately.

As new patterns are developed, we will soon update the patterns of existing Named Monsters one by one.

As Named Monsters frequently appear in Hard difficulty and Special Operations, we will continue working towards diversifying their patterns.

– Increased the quantity of rare basic materials dropped from Encrypted Vaults three-fold. The Elite Vulgus that appear in Field Missions and Infiltration Operations will now drop them too.

# Director’s Comment

The most efficient way to farm rare basic materials is still through Encrypted Vaults, but for those who prefer hunting monsters, we have updated Field Missions and Infiltration Operations to drop these materials too.

The Dev Team will closely monitor the overall farming status and do our best to create a joyful environment for all our Descendants.

– Reduced the time from two 90-second to two 60-second occupations for the Kingston ‘Vulgus Data Transmitter’ Hacking Mission.

– Improved the Battle Pass Battle Supply Shop button’s visibility by redesigning it in the format of the Bonus Shop banner.

# Director’s Comment

You can get season-limited skins for free from the Battle Supply Shop. Complete pre-season challenges to claim your special skins!

– Updated the Library window from closing when the map is opened and closed through the Acquisition Information pop-up.

– Improved the duration of party invitation messages to make them easier to confirm and accept.

– Improved the duration of the Descendant Instructor’s lines.

# Director’s Comment

Many Descendants have commented that the Descendant Instructor’s dialogue contains many useful game tips.

Currently, it’s not possible to revisit previous dialogues, but we are planning to fix this.

We will continue to make improvements so that Descendants can easily access the information they require.

– Moved the guide NPC you meet after first arriving in Albion closer.

Optimization Improvements

– [PC] Improved the stability of the shader preparation process by reducing the CPU load during shader generation.

Currently, we are actively monitoring this issue, and if you encounter issues with a 13th or 14th gen Intel, please refer to Intel’s official guide.

– [PC] Lowered GPU memory usage when set at High or higher quality.

– [PC] Fixed an issue where character skins were displayed abnormally in low graphics settings intermittently during extended play.

– [PC] Fixed a bug that allowed frame limits to be set when using Nvidia and AMD’s Frame Generation.

– [Common] Fixed an issue where shadows were intermittently displayed abnormally depending on the view.

– [Common] Made various other fixes for optimization purposes, and we will continuously monitor them.

Bug Fixes

(1) UI/UX

– Fixed an issue displaying unused items in the Library.

(2) Descendants

– Fixed an issue where Descendants could not get out of DBNO when their HP was below -100% from module settings.

– Fixed an issue where Kyle would occasionally go up into the air when using ‘Superconductivity Thrusters’ during ‘Repulsion Dash’.

– Fixed an issue where Esiemo could not get back up while using ‘Arche Explosion’ and being inflicted with Knockback.

(3) Modules

– Fixed an issue where the increase in Firearm ATK per stack in the ‘Sharp Precision Shot’ module was summed instead of multiplied.

(4) Equipment

– Fixed an issue where a weapon’s attribute damage did not apply damage over 100,000.

– Fixed an issue where higher values were displayed as the Ultimate (Gold) option despite the Reactor’s Skill Cooldown and Skill Cost stats being preferable with lower values.

– Fixed an issue where lower values were displayed as the Ultimate (Gold) option despite the Weapon Change Speed stat being preferable with higher values.

(5) Field

– Fixed an issue where ‘Amorphous Material Pattern: 118’ and ‘Shape Stabilizer Form 8’ were not dropped at ‘Frozen Valley: Vulgus Strategic Outpost’ in Fortress (Hard).

– Fixed an issue where Elite Vulgus in the White-night Gulch ‘Upper Hatchery’ Battlefield Missions did not drop rewards.

– Fixed an issue where monster spawning was interrupted at some Vulgus Strategic Outposts.

(6) Instance Dungeon

– Fixed an issue where Vespers resource box materials were dropped from Echo Swamp, Agna Desert, White-night Gulch, Hagios, and Fortress Infiltration Operation resource boxes.

(7) Research

– Fixed an issue where the core materials of Ultimate Descendants were incorrectly displayed as Rare instead of Ultimate Tier.

(8) Miscellaneous

– [French] Fixed an issue where the ‘Go to title screen’ menu was displayed with the same phrase as ‘Exit Game’.

– [French] Fixed an issue in the story where ‘Ultimate Chimera’ was used for ‘Dreadful Abomination’.

– [French] Added missing words in the probability display for Executioner Tier 3 Set 4.

# Director’s Additional Comment

It has come to our attention that the community is worried about possible nerfs to Tamer and Gley’s infinite magazine builds.

This meta is very strong, but since it is within the scope of what the Dev Team has planned, there are no immediate plans to do so.

In addition, some weapons are more powerful than Tamer and there are a variety of character builds that rival Gley’s infinite magazine, so please enjoy them fully. We’ve been looking forward to seeing Descendants use creative builds to take down powerful Colossi swiftly, so we’re quite delighted to see this in action now.

We are well aware that as many Descendants begin farming in earnest, various discussions are taking place regarding drop rates. There is no variable drop rate system in The First Descendant. We are using the fixed rates displayed in the game. The Dev Team has reviewed the acquisition rates across all servers and confirmed that they are dropping according to the rates displayed. We are currently working on various measures to ensure the community can trust the dev team such as disclosing item drop amounts for each content. And we also prepare ways to improve the farming experience. The First Descendant will continue to communicate transparently and honestly.

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.

Sony Opens Up the Concord Early Access Beta to All PS Plus Members

Sony has opened up the Concord early access beta to all PlayStation Plus members.

In a post on the PlayStation Blog, Alice Labrecque, communications manager at developer Firewalk, revealed details on the pre-download, when the servers go live, as well as PC system requirements for the team-based multiplayer shooter.

The Concord early access beta runs from tomorrow, July 12 to July 14, with the open beta running from July 18 to July 21. PlayStation Plus members need only look for the option to download and play the early access beta when they boot up their PS5.

Here are the global release times for Concord’s early access beta across PlayStation 5 and PC:

July 12

  • 10am PDT
  • 1pm EDT
  • 2pm BRT
  • 6pm BST
  • 7pm CEST

July 13

  • 2am JST
  • 2am KST
  • 3am AEST

If you are playing on a PS5 you can pre-download the Concord beta starting today, Thursday, July 11 from 10am PDT.

Pre-ordering any edition of Concord grants you access to the beta early access weekend, as well as four extra codes you can share with friends so you can squad up with your own crew and take on rival crews together. Extra codes will be for the same platform you pre-ordered on.

Meanwhile, the Concord open beta runs from Thursday, July 18, at 10am PDT to Sunday, July 21. You can pre-download on PS5 starting Wednesday, July 17 at 10am PDT.

Labrecque said during the early access beta and open beta, all 16 of the launch Freegunners (player characters) will be unlocked and available to play and customize. “Whether you want to snipe from afar, lock down an area, provide support for your teammates, or… just dive head-first into the fight, our roster of Freegunners has something for everyone,” Labrecque said.

Here’s what you can play in the Concord early access weekend:

  • Four maps: Freewater, Star Chamber, Water Hazard, Shock Risk
  • Three modes: Cargo Run, Clash Point, Trophy Hunt
  • All 16 Freegunners

The open beta weekend includes all early access content plus new map Bone Mines and mode Area Control.

It’s worth noting early access and open beta progress carries over between the weekends, but progress from either beta will not carry over to the official launch on August 23. There’s full crossplay across PS5 and PC.

As for rewards, you get the Frog Weapon Charm (Frog stands for “From Orbit to Ground” and is the name of the Northstar’s drop ship), a Star Flare Icon, and Business Card for taking part.

And finally, here are the Concord beta PC specs:

The Concord beta will also support:

  • 4K
  • Ultrawide 21:9
  • Uncapped framerate
  • KBM and DualSense Controller Support
  • Custom Key Mapping
  • FSR 3
  • DLSS 3.7

Last month, Sony said Concord’s $39.99 price point “provides the full experience.” Following Concord’s divisive reveal during Sony’s State of Play showcase in May, some had wondered whether the live service hero shooter would release in free-to-play form. Confirming Concord launches in both physical and digital standard editions for $39.99 / £34.99 / €39.99, Pam Piscitello, director of marketing and operations at developer Firewalk, said in a post on the PlayStation Blog that this full experience includes all 16 playable characters (called Freegunners in-game), 12 maps set on various worlds, and six team-based modes. This will expand shortly after launch with regular, post-launch updates for all players at no additional cost, Piscitello added.

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.

BioWare Wants Dragon Age: The Veilguard Players to Find Out for Themselves Whether It Has Full Nudity

BioWare games feature implied nudity and sex scenes, as fans of the likes of Mass Effect and Dragon Age know well, but it sounds like upcoming action role-playing game Dragon Age: The Veilguard will take BioWare romance to a whole new level.

Game Informer confirmed topless nudity in the Dragon Age: The Veilguard character creator, which lets players customize their version of protagonist Rook. Veilguard game director Corrine Busche wouldn’t go as far as to confirm that this also means topless nudity features elsewhere in the game, but it very much sounds like that’s what players can expect. “This is a mature RPG,” Busche teased.

BioWare remained tight-lipped when asked if Dragon Age: The Veilguard also features “bottom nudity”, insisting it wants fans to find out for themselves, no doubt in romance scenes with the various party members.

There are obvious parallels to be made between The Veilguard and last year’s critical darling Baldur’s Gate 3. The latter became known not only for its deep romances (like in The Veilguard, Baldur’s Gate 3 player characters can romance any companion regardless of gender or race), but also for its sex scenes, including one involving a Wild-Shaping Druid that went viral.

Speaking to IGN last month, Busche said how sexually explicit the scenes are varies between characters. “Some of them are more spicy than others,” she said. “Just like real life, our companions have such diverse personalities. Some of them are more physical, more aggressive, and some of them are more… we have a gentleman necromancer, for instance, that is more intimate and sensual.”

BioWare has confirmed that The Veilguard will let you play as a human, elf, dwarf, or qunari. There are seven companions:

  • Harding (Scout)
  • Davrin (Grey Warden)
  • Bellara (Veil Jumper)
  • Taash (Dragon Hunter)
  • Lucanis (Assassin)
  • Emmrich (Necromancer)
  • Neve (Detective)

Veilguard launches 10 years after the third game in the series, Inquisition, came out, and 15 years after the first game, Origins. Last month BioWare fully revealed Veilguard alongside its new name, with new info on the character creator and an extended look at gameplay. As part of our Summer Game Fest coverage, we were able to learn a lot about how The Veilguard will handle romance and player choice.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard is currently slated to release on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC in fall 2024.

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.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake Details Revealed: New Story Elements, Graphics Modes, and More

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake features new story elements, Performance and Graphics modes on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X and S, and more.

Speaking to Famitsu and translated by @Genki_JPN on X/Twitter, Square Enix said the classic role-playing game’s remake features several improvements for modern players while staying true to the original.

Perhaps most notably, Square Enix is adding new story elements to Dragon Quest 3, and while it’s unclear how significant these will be, everything was supervised by series creator Yuji Horii.

On the technical side of things, the RPG will support 4K resolution on PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC, though console players must choose between it and a 60 frames per second Performance Mode.

Players can also choose between two protagonist appearances and three difficulty settings. Myriad quality of life features will also be available, including autosaves (though manual saves are still available), the ability to speed up battle with the shoulder buttons, two camera modes, a mini map which can be toggled on and off, and an NPC conversation log which saves the last 30 interactions.

Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake otherwise features towns which appear like miniatures in the overworld in classic RPG fashion, monsters which can appear in towns, a day and night cycle, and more.

The game was announced as a recreation of the 1988 original and launches November 14, 2024, meaning it will arrive more than three decades later. The HD-2D style was coined when Square Enix released Octopath Traveller for Nintendo Switch in 2018, which had 2D characters moving through high quality backgrounds in a tribute to classic turn-based RPGs.

Breaking numerical convention, Dragon Quest 3 HD-2D Remake will be followed up Dragon Quest 1 HD-2D Remake and Dragon Quest 2 HD-2D Remake at some point in 2025.

In our preview of the game, IGN said: “The HD-2D foundation once again proves to be nearly foolproof when it comes to recreating that classic charm and a great way to modernize an old RPG that many would not have otherwise revisited.”

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

George R.R. Martin Reveals New Covers for A Game of Thrones and Whole Song of Ice and Fire Series

George R.R. Martin has revealed a set of new covers for A Game of Thrones and the entire A Song of Ice and Fire book series.

Revealed on his blog, the stunning new covers “capture the vastness of Westeros and the dangerous journey readers will encounter.” The five books are available in a boxed set and will be available online and in stores in October 2024, though no price was revealed.

“There is a raw and gritty quality to linocut and woodcut art,” the post continued. “A certain starkness that seemed to fit the stories, and a long history to the art form that felt right for this world.

“This cover design process paired linocut artist Mark Seekins and designer Tim Green, with art direction from David G. Stevenson. They worked together to develop sketches and carve the designs into blocks of linoleum, where the raised areas were inked and pressed onto paper. The covers feature several colors, which required separate blocks for each color layer. The finished prints were then photographed and incorporated into the covers.”

This boxset doesn’t include the entire A Song of Ice and Fire story, of course, as Martin famously, perhaps infamously, has yet to finish the final two books.

The next entry, The Winds of Winter, is so far 10 years late and seemingly making slow progress. Martin said in November 2023 that he’d written 1,100 pages of the highly anticipated book, the same number he’d written a year earlier.

No writer is blessed with producing a perfect first draft, of course, and Martin’s “writing” of The Winds of Winter will also encompass re-reading, re-writing, editing, planning, and so on, so there’s still plenty of work to be done without actually increasing the page number total.

Martin said in October 2022 the book was around three quarters of the way done, noting he’s completely finished some characters’ stories but still has others to weave throughout them. The overall progress of The Winds of Winter has become somewhat of an ongoing gag within the fiction community though, with even Martin himself getting in on the joke.

An estimated release window for The Winds of Winter was first given in 2011 when the previous book, A Dance With Dragons, was released, and Martin said it would take three years to finish at a good pace. That set expectations for a 2014 release date, but year after year, and delay after delay, Martin still isn’t ready to release the penultimate A Song of Ice and Fire entry.

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

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League Goes Free via Amazon Prime

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is one of three extra games to be offered to Amazon Prime members at no additional cost on Tuesday, July 16 and Wednesday, July 17.

Rocksteady’s controversial DC-themed live-service shooter joins Chivalry 2 and Rise of the Tomb Raider as Epic Games Store games available to download for a limited time: for 48 hours only from July 16 at 12am PT / 3am ET. It’s worth noting Rise of the Tomb Raider: 20 Year Celebration, which is the version offered here, includes the base game and Season Pass content.

But Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League is the headline as it goes free via Prime Gaming half a year after launch and hot on the heels of the delay of Season 2, which adds Mrs. Freeze as a playable character, to the end of July.

Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League was of course panned by critics upon launch and has extremely low player numbers on Steam. Some of the frustration stems from Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League not being another Batman game from Rocksteady, despite being set within the Arkhamverse. The developer’s single-player Arkham series is much-loved by fans, with 2011’s Batman: Arkham City in particular held up as one of the greatest, if not the greatest, superhero video games of all time. Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, on the other hand, is a live service third-person shooter in which Batman is a villain. Soon after the game’s February 2024 release, publisher Warner Bros. admitted the failure of Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League contributed to a $200 million hit to revenue.

Last month, Warner Bros, told IGN that Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League will see out its first year of support, but declined to comment on what happens afterwards.

Prime Day’s Prime Gaming Lead-up titles already include Deceive Inc., Tearstone: Thieves of the Heart, The Invisible Hand, Forager, Card Shark, Heaven Dust 2, Soulstice, Wall World, Hitman Absolution, Call of Juarez: Bound in Blood and Call of Juarez available to claim now, and Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic 2 – The Sith Lords, Alex Kidd in Miracle World DX, Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge, and Samurai Bringer, all available to claim starting today, July 11.

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.

Nintendo Is Teasing an Unsettling New Horror Game With a Creepy Smiling Man

Nintendo really woke up this morning and chose chaos by dropping a deeply upsetting short teaser for what seems to be a new horror game. We’re not sure of the title just yet, but it might be called Emio, or possibly Smiling Man.

What the heck was that? Nintendo fans are baffled. There are almost no details as to what this “Emio” thing is. Apart from the trailer, the only other info we have is that Nintendo tweeted about it across its U.S., Europe, and Japanese accounts this morning with the hashtag #WhoIsEmio?. There’s an official Nintendo website, too, which just features the creepy dude standing there and occasionally, briefly, changing his expression. And we’ve confirmed that the kanji in the background of all these teases reads “laughing man” or “smiling man.”

So why is everyone so worked up about this? It’s not necessarily that there’s anything abnormal about teasing a work of horror like this. Plenty of films and games have played up horror elements by being deliberately vague and sudden in their reveals. But Nintendo is, uh, not exactly known for that kind of thing! It’s just out of character for them to surprise drop a trailer for what seems to be an M-rated horror game on a random Wednesday morning with no other context.

We don’t even know who’s making Emio. People are speculating that based on the fact that it has an official Nintendo website, this may be a first-party game, which would be even more out of character for Nintendo. That said, a number of individuals have pointed out on social media that noted horror developer Bloober Team announced just two days ago it was working on something called “Project M,” which is apparently coming to Nintendo platforms and is expected to be announced this year. Could this be Project M? Or something else entirely?

Whatever the case, we’ll have to wait to find out, but the prospect of a new horror game made by Nintendo, of all companies, is an exciting one to imagine. Until then, we’ll have to make do with Luigi’s Mansion 2 HD.

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

San Diego Comic-Con 2024 Panel Schedule: The Boys, Transformers One, and More

San Diego Comic-Con is back in full force this year (and so is IGN’s livestream), taking place from July 25-28, and we’re just starting to get a good idea of the movies, TV shows, and games that will be holding panels this year.

Headlining the early announcements are movies like Transformers One and TV series like The Boys, The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power, Rick and Morty: The Anime, Dexter: Original Sin, various Star Trek shows, and more. And although it hasn’t been officially announced yet, Marvel Studios is expected to return with another jam-packed Hall H panel, which has been held on the Saturday evenings in past years.

This year’s convention should be a return to form after SDCC 2023 was heavily impacted by the writers’ and actors’ strikes, making it difficult for most big stars to appear and promote their upcoming projects. 2022’s convention saw panels for Marvel, DC, HBO, Prime Video, and much, much more.

Keep in mind that official announcements have only started to roll out, so there’s still plenty that will be revealed in the coming days. We’ll update this article as they come in with panel times and official description, but in the meantime, here’s everything we know so far:

Thursday

10:30 a.m. – 11:30 a.m. – Avatar: Braving the Elements – Live! with Janet Varney & Dante Basco: Jump into the amazing world of Avatar with Janet Varney (the voice of “Korra”) and Dante Basco (the voice of “Prince Zuko”), co-hosts of Nickelodeon’s award-winning, official companion podcast – Avatar: Braving the Elements. Join us as we revisit some of the most iconic scenes from the animated series with special guests: Greg Baldwin (voice of “Uncle Iroh”), Michaela Jill Murphy (voice of the original “Toph”), and Cara O’Neil (Dark Horse Comics). We’ll also talk about the latest and greatest happenings in the Avatarverse and put our super-fan trivia skills to the test – you won’t want to miss this chance to join friends, benders, and non-benders alike to geek out about All. Things. Avatar! (Room: 6BCF)

11:45 p.m. – Transformers One (per Deadline): Stars Chris Hemsworth, Brian Tyree Henry, and Keegan-Michael Key, director Josh Cooley, and producer Lorenzo di Bonaventura will show off some exclusive footage and more. (Hall H)

1:00 p.m. – 2:00 p.m. – Celebrating 25 Years of Nickelodeon’s SpongeBob SquarePants: What’s funnier than 24? 25! Nickelodeon is celebrating SpongeBob SquarePants’ landmark 25th anniversary with a panel that will take fans down to Bikini Bottom and beyond for a special look at its iconic origins, including a live cast table read of “Help Wanted, exclusive content, and the nautical nonsense to come. Join the legendary voice cast Tom Kenny (SpongeBob), Bill Fagerbakke (Patrick), Carolyn Lawrence (Sandy), Rodger Bumpass (Squidward), Clancy Brown (Mr. Krabs), and Mr. Lawrence (Plankton), along with executive producers Marc Ceccarelli and Vincent Waller and special guests as they celebrate one of the most popular characters and beloved animated series of all time. It’s going to be the Best Day Ever! Moderator: Good Burgers’ Ed (Kel Mitchell). (Hall H)

1:45 p.m. – 2:45 p.m. – First Look at Peacock’s Horror-Thriller Series Teacup: Join executive producers James Wan and Ian McCulloch and stars Yvonne Strahovski, Scott Speedman, and Chaske Spencer for an exclusive sneak peek at Peacock and Atomic Monster’s upcoming original horror series Teacup – a terrifying tale following a disparate group of people in rural Georgia who must come together in the face of a mysterious threat in order to survive. (Ballroom 20)

2:15 p.m. – 3:15 p.m. – Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles – Cowabunga! From the studios that brought audiences the Mutant Mayhem film, the all-new Paramount+ original series Tales of the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles explores the adventures of everyone’s favorite pizza-loving heroes as they emerge from the sewers and onto the streets of NYC. Join the voices of Leo, Raph, Donnie, Mikey and special guests, as well as series producers, for an exclusive panel featuring never-before-seen content moderated by host, writer, podcaster and stand-up comedian Claire Lim. (Room: 6BCF)

3:00 p.m. – 4:00 p.m. – Behind-the-Action of Peacock’s Gladiator Epic Those About to Die: Dive into the Roman Empire’s explosive intersection of sports, politics, and dynasties as featured in Those About To Die with an exclusive behind-the-scenes look at the making of the Peacock series alongside executive producer/director Roland Emmerich and stars Iwan Rheon, Sara Martins, Moe Hashim, Jojo Macari, and Dimitri Leonidas. (Ballroom 20)

Friday

10:00 a.m. – The Boys: Join showrunner and executive producer Eric Kripke and the series’ stars for a post-season finale celebration. Hear from the cast and creator about the head-exploding, jaw-dropping fourth season, along with behind-the-scenes secrets, favorite moments, and thrilling surprises. Based on The New York Times best-selling comic by Garth Ennis and Darick Robertson, The Boys is a fun and irreverent take on what happens when superheroes, who are as popular as celebrities, abuse their superpowers rather than use them for good. It’s the powerless against the super-powerful as The Boys embark on a heroic quest to expose the truth about The Seven. (Hall H)

11:00 a.m. – Adult Swim’s Common Side Effects Series First Look: Come experience the side effects of an incredible panel discussion about Adult Swim’s highly anticipated new series. “Common Side Effects.” From executive producers Mike Judge and Greg Daniels, and creators Joe Bennett and Steve Hely, this comedic thriller follows two former high school lab partners who take on big pharma and government agencies as they try to bring a medicine that cures everything to the whole world. Co-creator Steve Hely and writer/director Sean Buckelew will join the series voice cast including Martha Kelly, Emily Pendergast, Joseph Lee Anderson and Dave King to discuss the new series. (Indigo Ballroom)

11:05 a.m. – The Lord of the Rings: Rings of Power: Join the series’ showrunners and cast as they give an inside look into the highly anticipated second season, premiering August 29, 2024 on Prime Video. Get ready to experience stunning visuals, thrilling surprises, and unique insight into the darkness that has returned to threaten all of Middle-earth this season. (Hall H)

12:00 p.m. – Adult Swim’s “Rick And Morty: The Anime” Series First Look: Go further into the multiverse of Rick and Morty with the new series “Rick and Morty: The Anime” as it lands at San Diego Comic-Con. Writer/director Takashi Sano, producers Joseph Chou and Takenari Maeda, and Adult Swim’s head of action and anime Jason DeMarco will share details about the intergalactic adventure and show you the inner workings of the new series on Adult Swim. (Indigo Ballroom)

1:00 p.m. – Adapting Fan Favorites: A Conversation with Prime Video’s Adult Animation Creators: Join executive producers Robert Kirkman (Invincible), Vivienne Medrano (Hazbin Hotel), Travis Willingham (The Legend of Vox Machina), and Kyle Hunter (Sausage Party: Foodtopia) as they discuss adapting some of the most popular comic books, crowdfunded gems, films, and more into successful television series, give sneak peeks into upcoming seasons, and share exclusive news from each of their respective series. (Indigo Ballroom)

2:30 p.m. – Like a Dragon: Yakuza: Join series lead Ryoma Takeuchi, producers, and a surprise A-list star from the cast, as they share an exclusive first look and delve into the creation of this adaptation based on SEGA’s iconic game loved by fans globally. Fans will walk away with an exclusive souvenir from the panel. (5AB)

5:45 p.m. – 6:45 p.m. – Dexter: Original Sin: Dexter: Original Sin cast, showrunner and executive producers discuss the upcoming prequel to the fan-favorite series Dexter. Join showrunner and executive producer Clyde Phillips, executive producer Scott Reynolds and cast members Christian Slater (Harry Morgan), Patrick Gibson (Dexter Morgan) and Molly Brown (Debra Morgan) as they share what to expect from the new series and unveil a few exciting surprises. Moderated by Dexter: Original Sin special guest star, Sarah Michelle Gellar. (Ballroom 20)

Saturday

10:00 am – My Adventures with Superman Screening Presentation and Panel: Join executive producers Jake Wyatt, Josie Campbell, Brendan Clogher, and voice cast members Jack Quaid, Alice Lee, Ishmel Sahid, and Kiana Madeira as they answer your burning questions from season two. Plus get the early scoop on all the action, comedy, and romance that awaits Clark, Lois, and Jimmy in season three. Airing on Adult Swim, “My Adventures with Superman” is produced by Warner Bros. Animation. (Indigo Ballroom)

1:45 p.m. -3:15 p.m. – Star Trek: The fan-favorite STAR TREK universe panel returns to San Diego Comic-Con, featuring exclusive back-to-back conversations with cast and producers from Star Trek: Strange New Worlds, Star Trek: Lower Decks, Star Trek: Starfleet Academy, a Hall H welcome to new cast members from Star Trek: Section 31, plus reveals and surprises you won’t want to miss! Moderated by award-winning filmmaker, director and executive producer Justin Simien. (Hall H)

2:45 p.m. – Batman: Caped Crusader: Join executive producer Matt Reeves and cast members Hamish Linklater, Jamie Chung, and Minnie Driver for the world-premiere screening of the upcoming and highly anticipated series followed by a moderated Q&A where they will discuss their characters and tease key storylines in the upcoming season. From Warner Bros. Animation, Bad Robot Productions, 6th & Idaho, and based on DC characters, the series is a reimagining of the Batman mythology through the visionary lens of executive producers J.J. Abrams, Matt Reeves, and Bruce Timm. Batman: Caped Crusader executive producers also include Ed Brubaker, James Tucker, Daniel Pipski, Rachel Rusch Rich, and Sam Register. (6BCF)

6:45 p.m. – From: MGM+’s FROM unravels the mystery of a nightmarish town that traps all those who enter. As the unwilling residents fight to keep a sense of normalcy and search for a way out, they must also survive the threats of the surrounding forest – including the terrifying creatures that come out when the sun goes down. Join executive producers Jeff Pinkner, Jack Bender, John Griffin and the stars of the series Harold Perrineau, Elizabeth Saunders, Catalina Sandino Moreno, Eion Bailey, and David Alpay for a sneak peek at the new questions and threats that await the townsfolk in Season 3. (Indigo Ballroom)

Thumbnail credit: Daniel Knighton/Getty Images

Alex Stedman is a Senior News Editor with IGN, overseeing entertainment reporting. When she’s not writing or editing, you can find her reading fantasy novels or playing Dungeons & Dragons.

PlayStation Plus Game Catalog Additions for July 2024 Revealed

Sony has revealed the full line-up of PlayStation Plus Games Catalog additions for July2024, which includes Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion, Jackbox Party Pack 9, and more.

Announced on the PlayStation Blog, a total of 13 games are joining the library, and they’re all available at the PlayStation Plus Extra tier. They’ll be available July 16, 2024.

This is one of the more varied line-ups in recent months, as alonogside fantasy role-playing games like Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion comes beloved shooter Remnant 2, party game extraveganza Jackbox Party Pack 9, and more.

PlayStation Plus Games Catalog Additions for July 2024

Remnant 2 is a fan favorite shooter designed to be played solo or in a party of three. It earned a 9/10 in IGN’s review. “Where Remnant: From The Ashes was a strong first draft, Remnant 2 is a revolutionary sequel and a sterling manifesto for the looter-shooter soulslike,” we said.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion is the PS4 and PS5 remake of the RPG originally on PlayStation Portable. “Even when its portable roots occasionally distract, Crisis Core –Final Fantasy 7– Reunion is the best way to play one of the PSP’s most beloved games, almost completely modernizing its graphics, combat, and music in the process,” IGN said in our 8/10 review.

Switching genres again, Mount & Blade 2: Bannerlord is the sequel to the acclaimed medieval combat simulator. “Though lacking in some technical polish, Mount & Blade II: Bannerlord is a very satisfying early access strategy battlefield,” IGN said in our 8/10 review.

The Jackbox Party Pack 9 brings more no-controller necessary party game fun to PS4 and PS5, as a group can instead join each game using their phones. The games are wild and wacky in a sort of Cards Against Humanity turned digital format.

Pathfinder: Wrath of the Righteous brings the beloved tabletop game to PlayStation where the player embarks on a journey to a realm overrun by demons and rise to power by choosing one of six available Mythic Paths. It earned an 8/10 from IGN too.

Travis Touchdown returns to Santa Destroy after a ten-year absence in No More Heroes 3. It’s “an amusing but extremely uneven sequel, with its entertaining bosses separated mostly by poor performance and barebones tedium,” IGN said in our 6/10 review.

From the same franchise comes Travis Strikes Again: No More Heroes Complete Edition. This one “has Suda51’s eccentric charm, but the repetitive hack and slash gameplay doesn’t feel nearly as great as previous entries in the series,” we said in another 6/10 review.

Deadcraft is a simulation and action role-playing game where players must craft to survive. Battling through the apocalypse sometimes means using whatever scraps one can find to make weapons. Other times it means enlisting a loyal undead to assist in building and running an entire factory of grotesque machinery.

Steep is the totally radical extreme sports game from Ubisoft which lets players explore the Alps and Alaska. “Steep is a fresh extreme sports journey through a huge map, slowed only by dull paragliding and a lack of progression,” IGN said in our 7/10 review.

Job Simulator is a comical PlayStation VR2 game where players take on the role of a futuristic human in a world that’s seen robots take on every job. “Job Simulator is a VR funhouse that’s all about goofy experimentation, interactivity, and laughs,” IGN said in our 7/10 review.

Summoner is a classic PlayStation 2 RPG where players take on the role of Joseph: the key to an ancient prophecy who has the power of the summoner. Joseph must search the corners of the world for the five rings that will unlock his true power.

Beloved action plarform Ratchet and Clank: Size Matters also comes to PlayStation Plus this month. This one earned a 9/10 review from IGN, with the PSP game letting players take on intergalactic adventures and new worlds.

Finally, Jeanne d’Arc is a strategy RPG from Level 5 where Jeanne d’Arc escorts players into a fictionalized version of 15th century Europe as they take part in a mystical journey inspired by the heroics of Joan of Arc.

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

Elden Ring’s Igon on Recording His Role in the Erdtree DLC and Meeting Miyazaki: ‘It Was Epic in There’

Richard Charles Lintern remembers what it was like to meet Hidetaka Miyazaki. Though he had never heard of the man until the day he recorded his voice role in Elden Ring, the game director made one heck of an impression:

“I walked in the [recording studio], and there were at least 12 or 15 people in the room,” Lintern recalls. “Mr. [Hidetaka] Miyazaki was there. So we shook hands, but he largely didn’t communicate with me in English. Other people did…a man called Adam Chapman, who was the voice director on the piece for me, works with a company called Fire Poets – I want to sing his praises just for a moment or two, because it’s quite intimidating when you walk into that room and there is clearly a god of the gaming world there.

“Now, I’m not entirely stupid, but I had not heard of Mr. Miyazaki before. I didn’t know the game, and I didn’t know the status of the game, and I didn’t know his status. But when I walked into the room, his status was very clear, very clear immediately. Everyone was very friendly, but at the same time, I could see that this was a bigger deal than I’d imagined it was going to be. And Adam, to his immense credit, took me under his wing and said, ‘Look, this is what they’re going to look for. This is what you need to do. Be open to moving in different ways with the character. No one’s quite sure what they’re going to end up with, but it’s a journey that we go on together.’”

Lintern was there to record the role of Igon, a new character added in Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree who’s become a beloved community icon thanks to Lintern’s performance. Specifically, everyone loves a monologue he delivers when summoned to aid the player in the fight against Bayle the Dragon, an absolutely massive beast who Igon utterly loathes.

“CURSE YOU, BAYLE!” the monologue begins. “I hereby vow! You will rue this day! Behold, a true drake warrior! And I, Igon! Your fears made flesh! Solid of scale you might be, foul dragon, but I will riddle with holes your rotten hide! With a hail of harpoons! With every last drop of my being!”

While the Elden Ring community has made dozens of memes of Igon, Bayle, and the above monologue, until I spoke to him last week, Lintern was largely unaware of how much the fans adored his performance. In fact, he hadn’t even seen the final cut of his monologue, didn’t know what his character Igon looked like, and had absolutely no clue why he was so pissed off at this Bayle fellow. All he knew was that his experience performing in Shadow of the Erdtree was one of the most intense and unusual roles in his acting career.

From 0 to 5,000

Richard Charles Lintern is an English actor with a robust resume across film, TV, and theatre. He’s perhaps best-known for his work at the English National Theatre and the Royal Shakespeare Company, and on TV as Thomas Chamberlain in BBC series Silent Witness. He’s also no stranger to voice acting, having taken on numerous roles over the past decade. But Elden Ring was his very first time performing in a video game.

“I had never engaged, or been used, or tried to be used, or even thought of myself as a possibility for use in voice work in the gaming world,” Lintern says. “And once you open that door, it’s been a real revelation for me, actually. I’ve been astonished about how worldwide it is, how enormous it is. I had kind of imagined that the world of TV and film and theater was the largest grossing, or most important, or whatever. And my eyes have been opened, not even by the work on Elden Ring, but by the response to it, and the scope of the reach, and the contact that these stories, these worlds have with people all over the world has been a real revelation for me, and really, really interesting.”

Lintern isn’t clueless about video games, to be clear. He has three sons, and he’s played games with them, including various Star Wars entries, Super Mario, GoldenEye 007, and others. But he tells me he had never really engaged with games where you “disappear into a fantasy universe” until his role in Elden Ring. Lintern says he’s still a bit confused as to why they picked him, saying that he feels his sample clips are a far cry from the work he ended up doing as Igon.

“Even though I’m an actor and you’re expected to be able to adapt to the character that you are playing, usually that adaptation is from zero to ten, or zero to seven,” he says. “In the case of the character that I played in Elden Ring, it was from naught to 5,000. He was a long way away. He was either dead, or dying, or recovering.”

When Lintern first received his lines for Igon, he says they were “largely incomprehensible” to him. He understood that his character was in pain, and kept threatening someone named Bayle, but that was it.

“Largely with voice work, the characterization, or the work is done on the day in the studio,” he says. “If I’m doing a documentary voice, I will have a conversation with the producer. Someone will say, ‘Well, we need a voice with gravitas,’ or, ‘We need a voice with a little bit of sympathy,’ or a smile, or whatever it happens to be. But that work is largely done on the day. There’s not much you can do prior to the actual meeting, other than turn up on the day sober and in good health, basically. And then you get on with it.”

In that regard Lintern’s work as Igon started off completely normal. But his day in the recording studio was anything but.

Exploding Into Elden Ring

Given the very, very small number of lines Igon has in Elden Ring, Lintern expected his recording session, taking place at a studio in Central London, to be short, maybe 40 minutes. It was not. He recalls being in the booth for maybe five or six hours, and that he had to return a week later to a follow-up session. “It was epic in there.”

“I would perform one of the lines,” he recalls. “And then there would be a quite extensive conversation between Mr. Miyazaki and various other people around him in the room. Largely, I think the way things worked was, one of the other people would then speak to Adam, and explain what direction Mr. Miyazaki wanted to move in. But he, the mysterious figure in the center of the room, was very much in control of the entire operation.

“I remember thinking when I left, A, I’m exhausted. That’s never happened to me before. I’m absolutely, my voice is wrecked and I’m physically exhausted, and I’m emotionally exhausted as well. B, that was quite an experience. There were a lot of people in there…We were doing lines hundreds of times, literally hundreds, because if I was there for five hours, the actual total amount of lines that I spoke, I could’ve done in seven minutes.”

For Lintern, Elden Ring was an “eye-opening” experience, one that’s led him to appreciate the emotional possibilities offered by video game stories. But even though he went through a wide gamut of different types of expression, he notes that never once was he asked to bring his emotional levels back down, or temper or mute them in any way. He says every single note he received in that five hours was along the lines of “Do you have more? Can you explode?”

“I’m standing there with my arms outstretched,” he recalls. “And I think at the time, I don’t think I even knew that Bayle was a dragon. I think I might’ve thought Bayle was a person. Anyway, I can’t remember, but I’m giving it as much as I possibly can, vocally, emotionally, neck stretching, vocal cords ripping, everything. And then we would come back, and then there’d be silence again, during which I’d have a glass of water. And then we’d come and do it again with a tinge of sorrow, or with a tinge more rage, or slower, or faster, or whatever it happened to be.

“The attention to detail that was given to the character and the performance was pretty much greater than anything I’ve experienced before,” he adds. “Comparable with characters in Shakespeare that I’ve played and stuff. People were taking it extremely seriously.”

Too Angry to Die

At this point in our interview, Lintern asked me to explain his character to him – who he was, and how the player interacted with him. I explained that Igon is an NPC the player meets by a roadside who is clearly in great agony when he’s encountered. Unfortunately, there’s not much the player can do about Igon’s pain.

“You can’t heal me? You can’t give me water?” Lintern asks.

Sorry, Mr. Lintern, no.

In subsequent encounters it becomes clear that Igon is absolutely furious with a character named Bayle. The player will eventually learn from other sources that Bayle is a massive dragon – and not just any dragon, he’s widely regarded as the absolute worst dragon, one that even other dragons loathe. Igon, a guy who kills dragons and eats their hearts for a living, really wants to eat Bayle’s heart. But when we meet him, he’s already tried and failed, with Bayle leaving him injured, agonized, and near-dead. When Igon sees the player is capable of killing dragons, he throws in his lot with them in hopes of getting revenge. It’s basically Captain Ahab and Moby Dick, with Igon’s monologue giving off big “From hell’s heart I stab at thee” energy. Igon even uses a harpoon in battle! Lintern appreciates the comparison.

“A quest of the soul, a quest of morality, and strength, and pain, and terror, and doom,” he observes. “And an enemy that is so huge that you can’t even comprehend it, but for some reason, the bravery of the individual comes through and manages to triumph over it.

An enemy that is so huge that you can’t even comprehend it, but the bravery of the individual comes through and manages to triumph.

“Or, this is the other thing. I remember feeling rather foolish at one point, about an hour or two in, there was one line where I said something like, ‘You are defeated. I triumph over you.’ And then the next line on the piece of paper was, ‘So you have defeated me.’ And I remember saying something like, ‘I think there’s a mistake on the script thing here, because one minute he wins and the next minute he loses.’ And there was this awkward pause on the other side of the screen. And eventually, someone came back to me saying, ‘It’s a video game, Richard. Sometimes you defeat the beast, and sometimes the beast defeats you. We need both options.’ I hadn’t thought about that.”

I eventually show him images of Igon (“I look like a kind of broken down, scarecrow kind of guy.”) and the enormous Bayle. Bayle elicits quite the reaction from Lintern: “How on earth? Do you fight alongside me? How does that work?” I explain Elden Ring’s boss fights and its summon system that allows us to fight alongside Igon, but Lintern remains impressed anyone can beat such a massive dragon even with Igon and all his harpoons at their side.

I can’t help myself – I show Lintern a couple memes of Igon, including one of my absolute favorites:

“Man literally too angry to die,” he reads. “Is that me? That’s genius.”

I’m not the only one who’s been showing Lintern Igon memes. He tells me his son keeps sending references and asking him what “Curse you, Bayle,” means, but up until now Lintern hasn’t had a helpful answer. Lintern tells me he knows better than to name search himself online, but between his agent and his son, he’s seen enough positive feedback to know his role was well-received. And he’s certainly up for more video game roles in the future, he says, even if the intensity level is similarly dialed up to 5,000.

“I remember thinking for quite a few days afterwards, ‘That was quite an intense experience,’” Lintern concludes. “It was very mysterious. Mr. Miyazaki was a very mysterious character, but it was enjoyable. It felt creative, and it felt engaged. And I didn’t quite know what I was doing, but I knew that I’d had fun doing it. Put it that way.”

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.