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How to Buy These 3DS and Wii U Games Before They’re Gone Forever

Twelve Years after the doors of the 3DS and Wii U eShop opened, they are sadly closing for good.

Nintendo has announced that on March 27th, 2023, it will no longer be possible to purchase games digitally from that generation of consoles. But for months now, it’s been impossible to buy anything ever since they revoked the ability to directly add funds to your account, so we shouldn’t care about this announcement, right? Well, turns out there’s a completely valid way Nintendo has allowed you to still add funds to your account, and it’s super simple to do.

So here is how you can still buy 3DS and Wii U games before they are gone forever–plus some game recommendations in case you don’t know what to get.

How to Still Buy Games on 3DS and Wii U.

To start, you’re gonna need a Nintendo Switch, this is the key to all of this. Click on your personal user icon in the top left of the home screen, then scroll down to “Friend Suggestions.” You’ll notice icons for the 3DS and Wii U in the top bar. Go ahead and click “Next” in either tab and it will prompt you to sign in to your “Nintendo Network ID Account.” This was the 3DS/Wii U equivalent of the modern-day MyNintendo account that was used to tie purchases to your email.

Once you’ve linked your Switch with your Nintendo Network ID Account, you’re almost done! Next, go into the Switch eShop and click on the settings icon in the top right. Under the “Available Funds” section, you’ll see a little prompt saying “Merge Funds with Nintendo 3DS/Wii U.” Click this and you’ve done it! Now whenever you add funds to your Nintendo Switch eShop, they will also be available for use in the 3DS and Wii U eShops!

But which games are worth buying and what digital games will disappear forever once the store closes on March 27th? Don’t worry, we’ve got you covered. Here are some essential pickups now that you’ve made it back into the 3DS and Wii U eShops:

The Best 3DS and Wii U Games to Buy Before It’s Too Late

Dr. Luigi (Wii U)

Released during the Year of Luigi — remember that? — This entry in the Doctor Mario franchise starred our favorite green-hatted plumber. On top of the standard Pill puzzling we all know and love, this title included the “Operation L” mode which utilized L-Shaped pills. As far as digital-only first-party Wii U games go there aren’t too many to pick from, but Doctor Luigi is a welcomed surprise — And just like Mario, don’t ask him where he got his doctorate.

Fire Emblem Fates: Revelation (3DS)

Intelligent Systems decided to go the Pokémon route and split the 14th entry in the Fire Emblem series into two different games: Fire Emblem Fates Birthright and Conquest. One had Corrin choose their birth family, the Hoshido, while the other chose their adopted family, the Nohr.

But a third Digital only route was available in Revelation. This path was only purchasable after completing Chapter 6. This route has you choosing neither family and instead opting to build your army from the shadows in order to take down the threat causing both families to fight in the first place. Arguably the best way to play the game once the 3DS eShop closes, this essential title in the franchise will become unavailable to fans.

Virtual Console – DS, Wii, TurboGrafx 16, Game Gear, DSi

Back before Nintendo Switch Online, we had the Virtual Console. A system where you could buy retro games on the eShop from an assortment of consoles.

As of March 2023, certain consoles are not yet available to play on the Nintendo Switch. On the Wii U, you have DS, Wii, and TurboGrafx-16 games including The Legend of Zelda Spirit Tracks and Phantom Hourglass, Metroid Prime Trilogy, Animal Crossing Wild World, Super Mario Galaxy 2, and Bomberman ’93.

For the 3DS you have Game Gear and DSi ware including Dr. Robotnik’s Mean Bean Machine, Mario vs. Donkey Kong: Minis March Again!, Shinobi, and Dragon Quest Wars.

Pushmo (3DS)

Pushmo is a classic from this era of Nintendo. Solve puzzles by Pushing and Pulling the stage itself in order to save the children at the top. There were a total of four games in this mini-franchise, all digital only, so if you enjoyed the first entry, we recommend trying them all out.

Pushmo was a unique puzzle game but still had many modern-day staples including level creation, which made this an incredibly hard-to-put-down title.

Dillon’s Rolling Western (3DS)

If you love tower defense games, Dillon’s Rolling Western is just for you. Monsters are invading towns in the Old West, and it’s your job as the armadillo Dillon to prevent their efforts. This game mixed action with exploration and was essential for 3DS owners. There were a few sequels, and Dillon even appeared in Smash.

The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD (Wii U)

The next couple of games are available physically on the Wii U and 3DS but are gonna fetch you a pretty penny on the secondary market. So we recommend picking them up digitally.

First up is a game not yet on the Switch (hint hint Nintendo): The Legend of Zelda: Twilight Princess HD. This is an essential play for die-hard Zelda fans, especially if you’re gearing up for the release of Tears of the Kingdom.

If you were able to get your hands on the Wolf Link Amiibo, there’s a special dungeon called The Cave of Shadows. The farther you make it in, the stronger Wolf Link gets once you scan him into Breath of the Wild. And if you didn’t know this was possible, then surprise!

All Mainline Pokémon Games

Consistently, Pokémon games will be expensive no matter what console you’re looking at. The 3DS is no exception with Pokémon X and Y, Alpha Sapphire and Omega Ruby, and the Sun and Moon games still fetching for just under retail price.

A great alternative to scavenging the secondary market is to pick up these titles digitally, so you can experience generations 6 and 7 without the worry of missing out on the series’ first mainline 3D titles. Sorry, Colosseum and Gale of Darkness, you don’t count.

Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright: Ace Attorney (3DS)

Now we’re getting into big-boy territory. When two of the greatest gaming detectives finally came together in Professor Layton vs. Phoenix Wright Ace Attorney. Little did they know that it would cost over $200 for a physical copy on the secondary market.

Turns out the biggest crime was these prices. This game has you solving crime puzzles like Layton and proving your defendant innocent like Wright. If you’re truly itching to try out this legendary collab, our recommendation is to save a court load of money and pick it up for $30 instead on the eShop.

Xenoblade Chronicles X (Wii U)

Every Xenoblade Chronicles game is playable on the Nintendo Switch… all but one. On the short-list of Wii U games that have not been ported to the Switch is one glaring outlier in Xenoblade Chronicles X.

This game is completely isolated from the other entries in the franchise. However, there are still many familiar elements. Taking place on the uncharted planet of Mira, you are able to create your own avatar to serve as the protagonist. With the physical copy going for just over $60 price today, digital might be a safer option to ensure you have this in your library.

Persona Q: Shadow of the Labyrinth (3DS)

If you played the rereleases of Persona 3 Portable and 4 Golden, then you’re in for a treat. This handheld title followed characters from both games, dungeon crawling and fusing personas in a replica of Yasogami High School. You know, a typical high school day.

This game has a super cute art style, a killer soundtrack, and is only $20 bucks on the eShop. The sequel, Q2: New Cinema Labyrinth, includes Persona 5 characters and is significantly more expensive than the first game, so pick these up if you want before physical is the only way.

Lastly, I wanted to remind you to download updates for every 3DS game you can! Even if you don’t own the title, you’re still able to download update data just in case you decide to buy a game physically. Each update is really small in storage size, so that shouldn’t be too big of an issue. That way you’re guaranteed to play the most up-to-date version of any game.

Are there any game recommendations that we missed? Sound off in the comments below and help out a fellow 3DS and Wii U owner. These two consoles’ libraries are so incredibly rich with hidden gems that a lot of great games had to be left off our list. Kid Icarus Uprising is my favorite game of all time, plus DLC exists, so be sure to pick up these games before the eShop closes on March 27th.

Kalani Goda Newman is a producer for IGN.

7 Wonders Board Game Review (2023)

Civilization games have always been popular but they tend to be long and complex and thus hard to get to the table. 7 Wonders’ claim to fame is that it’s a card-based civilization game that you can teach and play to completion in well under an hour. Such is the appeal of this concept that since its release in 2010 it’s been showered with an endless parade of awards and sold so strongly that it’s had an overhaul reprint and a slew of expansions that have kept it relevant and popular to this day. It’s well on its way to becoming a classic board game.

What’s in the Box

Like a lot of high-concept card games, 7 Wonders comes in a big box that’s largely empty. The top layer of contents consists of two token punchboards, a rulebook and a pile of reference sheets. Beneath that there’s a storage tray that holds player boards, each printed with a different wonder of the world, a pad of scoring sheets, and some decks of cards.

Most of the space on the boards and cards is devoted to artwork, a pleasing blend of realism with a little bit of artistic licence.

See our picks for the best strategy board games.

If you’re wondering why a publisher would put such relatively meagre content into such a large box, the answer is marketing. Having a big box front makes your game stand out on the shelf, allowing it to compete with full-sized board games. And in terms of design and play testing, card games take just as much time and effort as board games of similar complexity so there’s an argument they ought to be treated on equal terms.

Rules and How it Plays

7 Wonders didn’t become popular purely because it condensed civilization games into a small space: on release, it was also very novel as one of the first games to make card drafting the core of proceedings. There are three ages to each game and at the start of each age, players get a handful of cards. They choose one to add to their civilization and then pass the rest to a neighbor, while they receive cards from their other neighbor. Then they choose a card from that selection, pass them on and so on until there’s only one card left.

The cards available vary by age but they all represent the trappings of a growing civilization. Age one cards provide things like raw materials and crafted goods alongside basic military and entertainment buildings, the latter of which score you victory points. By age two, most of the cards require that your civilization has some raw materials or goods available. 7 Wonders doesn’t track production: if you already have a card that produces something, it’s presumed available to help pay for other cards. Some structures can also be built for free if you have a prerequisite structure in the chain.

7 Wonders’ claim to fame is that it’s a card-based civilization game you can teach and play in well under an hour.

What if you don’t have the raw materials needed for a card? Well, if your neighbors produce it, you can give them coins to essentially “borrow” it for a turn. Getting coins is simply a matter of discarding a card on your turn instead of adding it to your civilization. This is one of the two small ways you can interact with other players in 7 Wonders, but it can be surprisingly effective. It’s painful to have to give up your cash to a competitor who’s doing well and in rare but vicious occasions you can starve your neighbour of a much-needed resource by simply choosing never to add it to your tableau.

The other, much simpler, interaction is through the military. At the end of every age, you compare how many military icons you have on your civilization’s cards with each neighbor. For each that has more than you, you lose a victory point. For each where you’re the victor, you gain points depending on the age, getting more as the game goes on. This is pretty toothless in terms of interaction but it can certainly swing games, especially the big age three bonuses.

In addition to the cards, each civilization starts with a wonder. Rather than playing cards or discarding them for coins, the third and final use is to use them to construct a stage of your wonder which, like card play, costs resources and offers rewards. Wonders, however, tend to have much higher requirements and much more impactful effects than cards. Most of them give you victory points or additional resources but some have more complex effects like building cards from the discard pile. The second edition has better-balanced wonders than the original, but they’re still not perfect.

Picking the right time to devote a card to your wonder isn’t straightforward: you need to trade off whether you’d rather play the card, whether you can afford it and what the possible ramifications are for future picks. And that, essentially, is the same smorgasbord of strategies you’ll be pondering on every card you play, deliciously varied with the shuffle on each game. It’s slick and strangely satisfying, especially the anticipation of waiting to see what might come around again, or fall into your lap in future ages. But it’s not especially demanding and that dichotomy is key to the success of 7 Wonders.

Wonders, however, tend to have much higher requirements and much more impactful effects than cards.

It’s also not particularly reliable or thematic. A lot comes down to luck of the draw or the luck of what other people choose to pass back to you, and there’s no sense that you’re building something coherent step by step. You can play the game with up to seven players and it barely takes any longer because the card drafting is simultaneous. But it works best at smaller player counts because otherwise any sense of being able to predict what might come around again is lost in the scrum. With its plethora of adding, checking and chaining buildings it’s also a lot less accessible than its bare-bones rules might make it seem.

Expansions

Due to the chaining rules that let you get certain cards for free, the expansions for 7 Wonders don’t actually mess very much with the card pool. Instead, each adds more wonders alongside a new board or mechanic that extends the game. While this approach adds interest and depth to the base game, it also reduces the accessibility that’s such an important part of its charm. So they’re very much an acquired taste and generally best reserved for seasoned fans.

Armadas is perhaps the best of them, although it’s also the most involved. It allows players to build ships which they can use to move and explore on a separate board in the hope of finding bonus resources. It also adds a second kind of military conflict where players total and compare their naval strength alongside the normal military from the core game.

Leaders and Cities are the two you’d most expect to see as expansions to a civilization-style game. The former offers a brief draft of leader cards before each age draft, which can give you more long-term strategic options to work with, in a primarily tactical game. The latter does add new cards to the main draft which have fun effects like avoiding the military race for one age or even making a neighbor lose coins. However, both also increase the amount of entropy in the game by adding more cards into the drafting mechanic that might or might not be an option for you just when you need them.

Edifice bills itself as a new expansion for the second edition but that’s not entirely true: it’s more of a distillation of the best bits of the Babel expansion for the previous edition. Alongside two new wonders it gives each age a “project,” a sort of vanity project that all the players can contribute to. You can do this only when you build a wonder stage and also have the necessary resources required by the project on top of those needed for your wonder. This gains you a pawn from the project and there are always fewer pawns than players.

If all the pawns are taken, the project is finished and all those who contributed get the printed reward. If it isn’t, then anyone who failed to contribute instead gets a victory point penalty. Of all the expansions, Edificies is the one that changes the feel of the game the most, giving it a much more concrete sense of interaction. There’s a clear race, with an attendant sense of urgency, within each age and it adds to the tactical timing of your decisions, too. It does so without excessive additional rules or randomness. So it’s a neat addition to the lineup, but it might be almost too transformative for newer players.

Where to Buy

Fortnite Creative 2.0 Teams Are Already Rushing to Remake the Original Fortnite Chapter

The race is on to recreate Fortnite’s original map using the popular battle royale’s newly revamped Creative Mode.

The teams are using the brand-new Unreal Editor for Fortnite — also known as Fortnite Creative 2.0 — which is a new add-on available for Fortnite on PC. As discussed during yesterday’s State of Unreal event, the Unreal Editor for Fortnite is for players to use for “designing, developing, and publishing games and experiences directly into Fortnite.”

The new tool runs in Unreal Engine 5 and builds on concepts from the existing Fortnite Creative toolset, adding new features for expanded custom content, modeling, textures, VFX, and more. It’s a total game changer for Fortnite creators, and we’re already starting to see some of the possibilities take shape.

Right after the Unreal Editor for Fortnite reveal, multiple teams started working to put the finishing touches on recreations of Fortnite’s original island.

One team, called Atlas OG Battle Royale, has already released a recration of the original Fortnite island.

Another team, called Reboot Royale, posted a video with footage from the new Unreal Editor, saying they were in the “the final preparations of publishing Reboot Royale for everyone to play.” The development screenshots and gameplay footage are an exciting proof-of-concept for Fortnite players about just how robust the new creation tools are.

The Fortnite Chapter 1 map features locations like Greasy Grove, Pleasant Park, Retail Row, Fatal Fields, and more. The map was heavily updated and altered throughout Chapter 1’s 10 seasons, before Chapter 2 introduced an entirely new map.

Chapter 1 ended in late 2019, meaning it’s been years since fans have romped around the map responsible for Fortnite’s rise to popularity. It’s sure to be a nostalgic ride for anyone checking out either of these recreations.

For more, check out everything else announced during yesterday’s Unreal event.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN covering video game and entertainment news. He has over six years of experience in the gaming industry with bylines at IGN, Nintendo Wire, Switch Player Magazine, and Lifewire. Find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

The Best PS5 SSD Deals for 2023: 2TB SSDs from Crucial, WD, Samsung, and More Starting at $123

2023 might finally be the year where 2TB PS5 SSDs might actually be worth the upgrade. Last year, prices for 1TB PS5 SSDs averaged around $150, whereas 2TB SSDs hovered closer to $300. This year, we’re seeing 1TB SSDs trickle below the $100 price point and 2TB SSDs are under $200. The reason PS5 SSD upgrades are pricey is that you can’t use any old SSD and expect it to perform well on the PS5 console. You’ll want to pick up an PCIe Gen4 x4 M.2 solid state drive with a rated 5,500MB/s read speed to match the PS5’s internal drive. That means, for better or for worse, picking a top-shelf SSD.

Note that Sony recommends a heatsink attached to your SSD. Not all SSDs listed here have pre-installed heatsinks. For the ones that do, we’ll be sure to mention it. For the ones that don’t, all you have to do is purchase your own heatsink (we recommend this one for $10) and install it yourself. It’s very easy.

Crucial P5 Plus 2TB PS5 SSD for PS5 for $122.99

Constantly going in and out of stock

Crucial’s newest M.2 SSD meets all the requirements for your PS5 SSD upgrade. It supports transfer speeds of up to 6,660MB/s which is well above the 5,500MB/s minimum threshold. Yes there are faster SSDs out there, but if your intention is to put this in your PS5, then that extra speed is worthless because you’re bottlenecked by the original PS5 SSD. If you’re worried about opening up your PS5 case, don’t worry it’s very easy. Crucial has an official YouTube PS5 SSD install guide to see you through the process.

Samsung 1TB PS5 SSD for $79.99

Samsung SSDs need no introduction. They’ve made some of the most popular and reliable PS5 SSDs on the market. The 980 Pro has been out for a while now, but it’s still one of Samsung’s fastest M.2 PCIe SSD, with only the newly released 990 Pro being faster. It is fully PS5 compatible in terms of form factor and performance, with blistering speeds of up to 7,100MB/s. It goes toe to toe with other well-known options like the WD Black SN850 and the Seagate Firecuda 530.

WD 2TB PS5 SSD from $159.99

Amazon is offering a 2TB WD Black SN850X with preinstalled heatsink for only $179.99. The SN850X is the successor to the SN850 SSD. It has newer flash chips (BiCS5 vs BiCS4) and an updated firmware, which combined offer improved sequential and random read/write speeds. For PC gamers, there’s also an updated Game Mode 2.0 utility that’s designed to tune the SSD for better performance during gaming sessions.

Corsair MP600 PRO LPX 2TB “Optimized for PS5” SSD with Heatsink for Only $154.99

Corsair is a very well known brand for DIY PC builders. Corsair makes some of the best gaming products on the market, and that includes solid-state memory like RAM and SSDs. The MP600 Pro is the same super-fast M.2 NVMe PCIe x4 Gen4 SSD that’s marketed for enthusiast gaming PC builds. This one is “optimized for PS5” because it includes a rugged preinstalled heatsink that is slim enough to fit in the PS5 bay without any issues. Performance wise, the MP600 Pro matches the best SSDs out there with its 7,100MB/sec sequential read and 6,800MB/sec sequential write speeds.

Patriot Viper VP4300 2TB PS5 SSD for $142.99

Amazon is offering the Patriot Viper VP4300 2TB M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x 4 Internal Gaming Solid State Drive, which is compatible with the PS5 console, for only $142.99. This makes it definitely the lowest price we’ve seen for a brand name 2TB PS5 SSD, especially since this one even includes a slim aluminum heatshield. The VP4300 is an M.2 2280 PCIe Gen4 x4 solid state drive with rated transfer speeds of 7,400MB/s read and 6,800MB/s write. That makes it well above the PS5’s recommended 5,600MB/s speed requirement.

More PS5 SSD Deals

There may be other SSD deals out there, but these are the PS5 SSDs we’ve tried ourselves and highly recommend. They also double up as outstanding boot drives for your gaming PC, in case you don’t need additional storage for your PS5 console.

How easy is it to install the SSD?

It’s extremely easy! Removing the case cover is completely toolless. In fact, the only screw you have to remove is the one that keeps the cover for the SSD bay in place. You don’t even put it back when you’re done. Sony has a quick and easy YouTube video guide.

What if the SSD I bought doesn’t have a heatsink?

Sony recommends you install an SSD that has an attached heatsink. If the SSD you purchase doesn’t include one, it’s simple enough to buy one for about $10 on Amazon and add it yourself. Most of these heatsinks are just attached using an adhesive like thermal tape.

For more deals, take a look at our daily deals for today.

The Lord of the Rings: Gollum Is a Tale of Two Smeagols

If you’re anything like me, when you first heard that a game set in the Lord of the Rings universe following the exploits of Smeagol was being developed, you were skeptical. Though vital to the story of Middle Earth’s conflict with Sauron, he’s largely a one note antagonist who is present for as long as necessary throughout the books, and no longer. At least that’s what I thought going in. But my brief time with The Lord of the Rings: Gollum makes a solid first argument that the lost journey of the third “hobbit” could be just as interesting as Frodo and Bilbo’s. Much of the new story blends seamlessly into the well-established lore, but it’s Smeagol’s relationship with his suppressed alter ego that keeps the journey compelling.

A big selling point for me was the possibility of following the footsteps of Middle Earth’s greatest misfit and watching him duel with himself. The body of the man is piloted by two minds, the naive and placid Sméagol and the selfish and malicious Gollum. Whenever he’s guided to make a choice, they’re usually from either perspective. Does Sméagol answer a question honestly and earnestly, or does Gollum lie and insult the inquirer? The developers told me that these choices do add up, and eventually you’ll find yourself in positions where one personality will dominate the conversation based on your preference of one over the other.

This isn’t a standard morality system as you’ve seen in games like Mass Effect, as not every choice Sméagol makes will keep him out of trouble. Sometimes the obsessive self interest of Gollum will keep him out of chains. This expresses itself in interesting ways while you explore the world too. In one chapter, you’re escorted into a spooky keep somewhere in Mordor by an imposing orc. He walks back to his post and gives you strict orders to stand still and wait for a gong. A good Sméagol would have nervously waited, but as a shifty little Gollum I attempted to escape. He’s quite the climber, with the platforming feeling largely like the Uncharted variety of ledge grabbing, vine scaling, and acrobatic swing jumping. It was a little jarring at first to see him move so video game-ly, considering my impression of the character established from the books and movies, but after a while his almost supernatural scampering feels right. This mixed with its approach to combat – to discourage it at every turn in favor of stealth and trap laying – combined to lock you into a style of play that feels appropriate for the sort of creature who lives in the shadows of bigger, scarier things and lives to tell the tale.

This isn’t a standard morality system as you’ve seen in games like Mass Effect, as not every choice Sméagol makes will keep him out of trouble.

At the end of the above section, after traipsing over jagged scaffoldings and tip-toeing through laboratories and offices full of very important and conspiratorial looking objects, I met a creeper named Candle Man. His poise and intimidation factor made him right at home on the cliffs of Mt. Doom, so I assumed this was a character from a book I’d missed like The Silmarillion. I was corrected by Damiri Knapheide, Loremaster to the Daedalic development team, who assured me that he and several characters I had met in the roughly hour-long demo were creations for this story. Established characters like Gandalf the Grey make an appearance as well and are written and performed in a way that feels spot on to the characters we know and love.

Does all this make a cohesive experience that justifies taking another trip into the well-worn territory? There isn’t enough in the demo to be certain, but The Lord of the Rings: Gollum does at least make a good first impression, outlining a solid case for piloting one of the strangest and yet most important characters in the lore. Hopefully the final product, launching on May 25th for PC and consoles, melds the split personality choices, parkour, stealth, and story into a project you won’t want to throw into a volcano.

Bloodborne Is Like Parenting… No Wait Hear Me Out

It’s difficult, but deeply rewarding. It’s a lot easier when you have help. You can’t pause it. And at some point, you WILL ask, “wait, what am I supposed to do with the umbilical cord?” Am I describing Bloodborne… or parenting? Or both?

We’ve all heard something difficult described as “The Dark Souls of ____” – but hear me out: the first thing you do in Bloodborne AND as a parent is stumble out of a hospital terrified at what happens next and with no clear instructions about how to approach it. In both cases, this terrifying new scenario is the result of some reckless behavior involving bodily fluids.

Early on, it’s not easy – it can be frustrating, confusing, scary – and everybody’s talked it up so much that you might feel like there’s something wrong with you personally for not immediately loving it… and if we’re being honest, a lot of people DO give up and just walk away.

However, a special camaraderie is formed among those who have overcome the many challenges surviving the hunt and/or raising a kid, and complete strangers are often quick to help each other out, whether they’re being summoned to help beat The Blood Starved Beast, or coming to the rescue when another parent ran out of wipes.

For some, going through the whole ordeal once is enough, while others are immediately ready to do it again. Whether you’re starting a new game plus or having a second kid, there’s an increased challenge on a strictly mathematical level; in Bloodborne, the enemies have more HP and do more damage; with a second kid, that’s twice as many mouths to feed. However, some find the second go much easier, since this time around you know exactly what to do. Plus, all your experience and most of your equipment carries over. Y’know, unless you sold your Kirkhamer or donated those swaddles.

Don’t brag about your accomplishments; saying it’s easy benefits no one and makes you sound like a jerk

Maybe through some combination of skill or luck, you found this infamously harrowing challenge to be a walk in the park. That’s great! By all means, share your tips and tricks with newcomers. Even better, offer some assistance. Whatever you do, don’t brag about your accomplishments; saying it’s easy benefits no one and makes you sound like a jerk. If you really insist on making it a contest, that comes later. In Bloodborne, it’s PVP. In parenting, it’s pumping points into your kid’s insight and enrolling them in AP classes and extracurriculars. Either way, it involves sinister bells ringing.

In any case, whether you’re a hunter braving the cosmic horrors of that great nightmare frontier, or a parent running on three hours of sleep, may you find your worth in the waking world. Don’t give up! A hunter is never alone! …Er, parent. Whichever.

Elden Ring Gets Ray Tracing on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC

Elden Ring now has a ray tracing graphics option for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and S, and PC versions of the game, courtesy of patch v1.09.

The update was pushed out earlier today, March 23, to all versions of the game, though the new ray tracing feature won’t be available on PlayStation 4 or Xbox One.

Ray tracing can be toggled on and off via the game options menu on console and via the graphics menu on PC. Bandai Namco also cautioned in a post on its website that both frame rate and resolution “may be impacted while playing with ray tracing on”.

Along with the new ray tracing option, the v1.09 patch brought a slew of bug fixes and balance adjustments to the game that affect everything from attribute scaling and buffs, to attack speeds and Ashes of War.

A number of PvP specific nerfs have also been introduced, as has an invincibility window for players respawning in the colosseum. The full patch notes are available below.

Last month saw the reveal of the upcoming DLC expansion Shadow of the Erdtree, which followed the announcement that Elden Ring has officially sold over 20 million copies since its February 2022 launch.

IGN gave Elden Ring a 10/10 in our review, describing it as “FromSoftware’s largest and most ambitious game yet” that we’ll be looking back on as a title “that moved a genre forward”.

Elden Ring v1.09 Patch Notes

New feature

  • Ray Tracing support has been added for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X and PC versions
  • Ray Tracing can be activated in the settings menu:
    • PS5 / XSX: Game Options > Ray Tracing
    • PC: Graphics > Ray Tracing Quality

Please note that performance – such as frame rate and resolution – may be impacted while playing with Ray Tracing on. The minimum and recommended technical specifications to use Ray Tracing can be found at the end of the patch notes.

PvP-exclusive balance adjustments

The adjustments in this section do not affect single-player or cooperative play.

  • The Inescapable Frenzy incantation power and grab angle have been increased.
  • The Lifesteal Fist skill power, range and grab angle have been increased.
  • Decreased the power of two-handed jumping attacks.
  • Decreased the power of heavy and heavy running attacks of Fist and Claw weapon types.
  • Decreased the power of the Founding Rain of Stars spell.
  • Decreased the spell enhancement effect of the Terra Magica spell.
  • Decreased the damage and poise damage of the Wave of Gold skill when hitting an opponent over a certain distance.
  • Decreased the effectiveness of the Determination and Royal Knight’s Resolve skills.
  • Decreased the effects of the Contagious Fury skill of the Jellyfish Shield.
  • Decreased the effectiveness of the Claw Talisman.
  • Decreased the effectiveness of the Lord of Blood’s Exultation Talisman.
  • Decreased the attack power buff granted by the White Mask head armor.
  • Decreased the jumping attack damage buff granted by the Raptor’s Black Feathers armor.
  • Decreased the damage buff granted by Magic-Shrouding Cracked Tear, Flame-Shrouding Cracked Tear, Lightning-Shrouding Cracked Tear, and Holy-Shrouding Cracked Tear when activated with the Flask of Wondrous Physick.

General balance adjustments

  • Added an invincibility window when respawning in the colosseum.
  • Increased the scaling of the following attributes when infusing weapons with certain Ashes of War:
    • Magic / Fire / Flame Art / Lightning / Sacred
  • Increased the attribute scaling of the following weapon types:
    • Colossal Sword / Great Axe / Hammer / Flail / Great Hammer / Colossal Weapon
  • Increased the speed, range and recovery time of some attacks for the following weapon types:
    • Great Hammer / Great Axe / Great Sword / Curved Greatsword
  • Flail weapons changes:
    • Increased the speed of some attacks.
    • Reduced attack recovery time.
    • Increased poise when using two-handed attacks.
  • Increased running attacks speed and reduced attack recovery time for the following weapon types:
    • Straight Sword / Curved Sword / Katana / Twinblade Sword / Axe / Hammer / Halberd
  • Increased the first attack speed for the following weapon types:
    • Straight Sword / Curved Sword / Whip
  • Increased the speed of guard counters for the following weapon types:
    • Straight Sword / Great Sword / Colossal Sword / Great Curved Sword / Katana / Twinblade Sword / Axe / Great Axe / Flail / Great Hammer / Spear / Great Spear / Halberd
  • Reduced the attack recovery time for Whip weapons.
  • Increased the damage of Claw weapons.
  • Added Holy damage and Faith scaling to the Great Club.
  • Increased damage negation when blocking Holy damage and decreased damage negation when blocking damage from other affinities.
  • Increased the effectiveness of the Twinblade Talisman.
  • Slightly reduced rolling travel distance for light equipment weights.
  • Decreased the hitbox size for some attacks of the following weapon types:
    • Thrusting Sword / Heavy thrusting Sword / Spear / Great Spear / Halberd

Ashes of War adjustments

  • Lifesteal Fist
    • Increased target grab range.
  • Surge of Faith
    • Increased projectile generation speed.
  • Flame Spit
    • Increased the guard speed and blocking amount of the skill.
    • Adjusted the angle of the fireball.
  • Tongues of Fire
    • Increased the guard speed and blocking amount of the skill.
  • Great Oracular Bubble
    • Increased projectile generation speed and reduced the recovery time.
  • Viper Bite
    • Reduced the time before rolling is possible after using the skill.
  • Shriek of Milos
    • Increased close range poise damage.
  • Spearcall Ritual
    • Increased projectile generation speed.
  • Cursed-Blood Slash
    • Increased projectile generation speed and reduced the recovery time.
  • Gold Breaker
    • Reduced the recovery time.
  • I Command Thee, Kneel!
    • Increased attack generation speed.
  • Starcaller Cry
    • Increased the speed of follow-up attacks.
  • Spinning Wheel
    • Increased attack generation speed.
    • Added a roll & heavy attack cancel timing while using the skill.

Bug Fixes

  • Fixed a bug where the Scarlet rot status buildup was not properly reflected when giving the Antspur Rapier a Cold affinity.
  • Fixed a bug where the Scarlet rot status buildup was not properly reflected when giving the Rotten Greataxe a Blood affinity.
  • Fixed a bug where some attacks of the Partisan, Death Ritual Spear, and Lucerne had unexpected Physical attack scaling.
  • Fixed a bug where the Nightrider Glaive did not increase the damage of horseback attacks.
  • Fixed a bug where the Duelist Greataxe and Rotten Greataxe did not increase the damage of charged attacks.
  • Fixed a bug where the Roar Medallion Talisman effect didn’t increase the power of some incantations.
  • Fixed a bug that reduced the power of some skills while under the Golden Vow effect.
  • Fixed a bug that caused the effects the Determination and Royal Knight’s Resolve skills when casted from a left-handed weapon to be added to other skills casted with a right-handed weapon.
  • Fixed a bug that reduced the critical hit power of right-handed weapons while having Determination or Royal Knight’s Resolve active on a left-handed weapon.
  • Fixed a bug where status build-ups were unintentionally added to some Weapon Skills
  • Fixed a bug where the power and special effects of a left-handed weapon could be added to a skill cast with a right-handed weapon.
  • Fixed a bug that caused an equipped Sacrificial Twig to be consumed when a player died in the Colosseum.
  • Fixed the camera positioning when respawning in the Colosseum.
  • Fixed a bug where a player could receive credit for a kill in the Colosseum when dying due to the Death status effect, instead of the player who inflicted that status effect.
  • Improved stability in Colosseum matchmaking.
  • Fixed a bug related to level correction when an invader used the Phantom Bloody Finger.
  • Fixed a bug that could cause disconnections with other players in certain locations during multiplayer.
  • Improved online multiplayer stability.
  • [PS4] Fixed a bug that occurred when using the Finger Severer on summoned NPCs while offline that could cause the game to crash.
  • Fixed a bug related to some enemies not rendering or behaving as expected.
  • Several performance improvements and other bug fixes.

Ray Tracing Technical Specifications

Minimum:

  • OPERATING SYSTEM: WINDOWS 10
  • PROCESSOR: Intel Core i5-10600K or AMD Ryzen 5 3600XT
  • MEMORY: 16 GB RAM
  • GRAPHIC CARD: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti, 8 GB or AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT, 12 GB
  • RECOMMENDED GRAPHICS SETTING: 1080p – Low quality – Low Ray Tracing

Recommended:

  • OPERATING SYSTEM: WINDOWS 11
  • PROCESSOR: Intel Core i7-10700K or AMD Ryzen 7 3800XT
  • MEMORY: 16 GB RAM
  • GRAPHIC CARD: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070 Ti, 8 GB or AMD Radeon RX 6900 XT, 16 GB
  • RECOMMENDED GRAPHICS SETTING: 1080p – High quality – High Ray Tracing

Anthony is a freelance contributor covering science and video gaming news for IGN. He has over eight years experience of covering breaking developments in multiple scientific fields and absolutely no time for your shenanigans. Follow him on Twitter @BeardConGamer

The Lords of the Fallen, Sequel to Lords of the Fallen, Renamed Lords of the Fallen

The Lords of the Fallen, the long-awaited sequel to 2014 Souls-like Lords of the Fallen, has now been renamed… Lords of the Fallen.

As reported by PC Gamer, the name change was subtly baked into a technical showcase released on March 22 (below). This means the sequel now shares the exact same name with the original game despite only being released around a decade apart.

A similar naming debacle happened in February with Layers of Fear, as a remastered collection of the series was originally called Layers of Fears before the second S was also dropped.

The Lords of the Fallen sequel was re-revealed at Gamescom 2022 after years of troubled development spread across several different studios.

It’s back on track, however, and a first look at its gameplay was released in December last year. Developed in Unreal Engine 5, the RPG promises tough as nails combat in a dark fantasy world, taking place 1,000 years after the events of the original game.

The new Lords of the Fallen doesn’t have a release date yet, but is coming to PlayStation 5, Xbox Series, and PC.

In our 7/10 review of the original, IGN said: “Lords of the Fallen has fun combat and a good spin on Dark Souls’ skill system, but its hero is overpowered.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer and acting UK news editor. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

Atari is Acquiring System Shock Developer Night Dive Studios

Atari has entered an agreement to acquire Night Dive Studios. This agreement would support Atari’s retro-focused growth strategy and provide access to Night Dive’s IP, which includes System Shock, as well as utilize the studio’s proprietary KEX engine and publishing capabilities.

Chairman and CEO of Atari Wade Rosen said in a statement: “Night Dive’s proven expertise and successful track record in commercializing retro IP are well-aligned with Atari’s strategy and I am confident that their combined talent, technology, and IP portfolio will contribute to Atari’s future success.

“Night Dive and Atari have a long history together and we know that Atari shares our passion for retro games and our focus on producing high-quality new and remastered games that do justice to the original IP,” added Stephen Kick and Larry Kuperman of Night Dive. “As we look to grow our business and expand our capabilities, we could think of no better long-term partner than Atari.”

The acquisition is expected to close in April 2023. Night Dive Studios is currently working on a remake of System Shock, which was delayed from its original release date in March to now May 30 on PC. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S versions will follow after its launch on PC, but no date has been solidified yet. The game’s Kickstarter page first launched back in 2016.

In IGN’s System Shock remake preview, we said: “With the short time I had with System Shock Remake, I could see that Citadel Station feels like a character unto itself, and I’m looking forward to taking a deep dive into and learning the mysteries that lurk within.”

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

Crash Team Rumble Hands-On Preview

There’s something about the wild, deranged look in Crash Bandicoot’s eyes that tells me he’d be perfect for a chaotic, competitive multiplayer game, and clearly I’m not alone. After sitting down with the people at Toys for Bob to howl and hurl trash talk at one another for an hour as we played their upcoming Crash Team Rumble, it’s clear they’re onto something. The over-the-top world of Crash Bandicoot fits very nicely with the surprisingly nuanced competitive slugfest they’ve created, and I was hooked after the first scream-inducing match.

Crash Team Rumble is a 4v4 brawler where teams compete to be the first to score 2,000 points in the form of Crash’s iconic wumpa fruit. To do so you’ll need to smack crates, slap other players, make use of power ups, and of course, master platforming. That’s all with the goal of gobbling up as many wumpa fruits as possible to stash into your team’s bank before some heartless goon stomps on your head and takes you for all you’re worth.

If you’ve ever played Killer Queen, then you’ll feel right at home with a lot of Crash Team Rumble’s formula, which allows for multiple strategies to put you on the path to victory. You can play it slow and steady by depositing wumpa fruits into your team’s bank until you’ve racked up enough points, or you can multiply your wumpa-depositing potential by capturing the level’s Boost Zones. Or, if you’re like me and just want to grief your opponents, you can camp out on the enemy bank and relentlessly kill opposing players to slow down their own harvest. Unlike Killer Queen, a mix of each strategy will likely be required, rather than achieving victory by pulling off just one. Every match then becomes about prioritizing the right strategies and communicating with your teammates to emerge with a winning formula.

To that end, each of the five characters have lots of options to help you crush the competition, whether it’s double jumping, sliding, spinning, or other unique abilities like Crash’s mid-air dash and extra powerful slide attack, or Doctor Cortex’s ability to turn opponents into harmless little critters for a time. Crash and Tawna are well-rounded Scorers, who excel at grabbing wumpas and depositing them at the bank. Meanwhile Coco and Doctor Cortex are Boosters, experts at controlling Boost Zones that earn you multipliers for any wumpas deposited while they are held. Finally there’s Dingodile, who is the sole Blocker, intended to simply stop the enemy from scoring by being a big, scary DPS machine.

“the sort of glorious mayhem that reminds me of my childhood days yelling at my friends during Mario Kart 64 or Smash Bros.”

As your team scrambles to carry out their strategy, you’ll also have to contend with power ups and modifiers within each level. One level has a giant UFO that rains death upon the opposing team once summoned, while another has beach balls that can be used to increase your team’s mobility and deal extreme damage to anyone in your way. With so much to think about and numerous things that can go very wrong or very right for each team, the result is the sort of glorious mayhem that reminds me of my childhood days yelling at my friends during Mario Kart 64 or Smash Bros. and it’s really hard to put down.

One match I was able to win by simply beating up the enemy team so much they had a hard time depositing anything into their bank, while another I racked up tons of multipliers by capturing Boost Zones so we were able to bank 2,000 wumpas in no time at all. Many matches were extremely close calls, but even when they weren’t the energy in the room was hilarious and infectious.

After a short time with it, I’m confident I’ll be putting some time in with Crash Team Rumble during its beta next month and when it gets its full release in June.