Simulating the perils of being stranded on a desert island, the Robinson Crusoe board game series is a daunting epic. Like the many dangers that roam the island, the base game and its various expansions aren’t for the faint of heart. A dense ruleset and a wealth of mechanics await those looking to pick up Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island, as well as its various expansions. Those who stick with it, however, will be treated to one of the best cooperative board games money can buy.
Adventures on the Cursed Island is a thematic experience with intricate mechanics, and the subsequent expansions add even more depth. The Robinson Crusoe series doesn’t feature quite as many add-ons as some other popular games in the medium, but each package contains quite a bit of replayability in its own right. Completing the various scenarios within the base game is its own challenge, and it’s one players will find quite difficult.
The Base Game
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island 2nd Edition
MSRP: $70.00 USD
Age: 14+
Players: 1-4
Play Time: 60-120 mins
The only place to start with the Robinson Crusoe series is with the base game, as all future expansions require it. That said, rather than begin with the initial release, it is recommended to grab the second edition, which is the version currently in print. The first edition is fine if you find it at a good price from a secondhand seller, but the newer iteration features a much-improved rulebook along with updated artwork and components.
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island is an intricate cooperative worker-placement game in which players must survive a wide range of scenarios on a deserted island. In each round, players can choose what actions they wish to take to ensure survival, from exploring new areas to crafting tools or even hunting wild animals for food and resources. Players must also mind the group’s morale levels and any random perils they might encounter, such as weather, attacks, and other threats to general health.
Of course, mitigating threats and surviving are key, but so are taking actions to accomplish end-game goals. What makes Robinson Crusoe so difficult yet addicting is that it asks players to live in the moment and still plan for the future while also being aware that the next card could completely alter their strategy. Challenging games like this might put some perspective players off, but it only aids in Robinson Crusoe’s excellent theme of survival.
The first scenario is just beginning, too. Players can experience several stories within the initial box that involve volcanoes, cannibals, and even King Kong. Before moving on to other expansions, chances are you will be playing Robinson Crusoe for hours and hours between all of the built-in variability. Not to mention, actually beating one of the included scenarios will likely take most players multiple playthroughs.
Robinson Crusoe Expansions
Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales Expansion
MSRP: $50.00 USD
Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)
Lost City of Z Campaign
2 Standalone Scenarios
9 New Characters
10 Double-Sided Terrain Tiles
New Santity Mechanic
New Event Cards, Adventure Cards, Beast Cards, and Mystery Cards
While the base game falls firmly in the action-adventure genre, Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales adds a bit of spookiness to the survival title. Mystery Tales doesn’t simply dip its toes in the uncharted waters of the horror genre; it dives in head first. Outside of the new campaign and additional scenarios, one of the biggest additions to Mystery Tales is the new sanity mechanic, a staple in other scarier games. That’s not to ignore the sizable campaign and scenarios, which are drenched in horror, from its storytelling to the addition of new beast cards featuring werewolves and other terrifying creatures.
Like the horror genre itself, Mystery Tales is a bit divisive among the fandom. It’s not just the foray into the spookier side of medium, but it’s also the added mechanics that insert even more rules into an already difficult game. Still, if a deserted island with horror monsters sounds like something you’d be interested in, Mystery Tales is an easy recommendation. Not to mention, the additional content also works with the base game, so you can add even more dynamic encounters to scenarios from the original box.
Robinson Crusoe: Treasure Chest
MSRP: $29.99 USD
Components (REQUIRES THE BASE GAME)
5 New Scenarios
2 New Characters
More Than a Half-Dozen Mini Expansions
Custom Wooden Food Markers
New Event Cards, Adventure Cards, Beast Cards, and Mystery Cards
While the fanbase is somewhat split on Mystery Tales, players across the board agree that Treasure Chest adds more Robinson Crusoe goodness. Essentially, the Treasure Box is a hodgepodge of previously released content through Kickstarter and various other platforms. Still, for fans who weren’t keeping up with the slow trickle of content over the years, the Treasure Box is a great way to catch up in one neat package.
While there isn’t one killer app in the box, so to speak, there are plenty of great additions that add even more replayability to the base game. The new sailor and gamer characters, five new scenarios, new beasts, and over 90 new cards offer plenty of variability to the previous releases.
Robinson Crusoe: Book of Adventures
MSRP: $29.99
The Robinson Crusoe: Book of Adventures expansion is exactly what it sounds like; it’s a book packed with 50 different scenarios with various difficulties for players to enjoy. Like other expansions, the Book of Adventures requires the base game to be playable.
Robinson Crusoe – Collector’s Edition
MSRP: $79.99
The Robinson Crusoe – Collector’s Edition makes a compelling case for first-time buyers with its various stunning miniatures and its tutorial book reminiscent of Gloomhaven: Jaws of the Lion. One of the knocks against the Robinson Crusoe series is that it features a ton of rules, but the tutorial book walks players through how to play the game step-by-step in what is arguably the best onboarding process for the series yet.
Bottom Line
Robinson Crusoe: Adventures on the Cursed Island is a deep and complex survival adventure game for solo gamers or groups looking to get cooperative. Mystery Tales brings the franchise into the horror genre, and the Treasure Box adds even more replayability through various scenarios and mini-expansions. That said, the base game should keep players busy for quite a while on its own.
Luckily, many of the games and expansions listed above can often be found well under MSRP. To stay up to date on the latest sales, make sure to bookmark our board game deals page. For more titles for one player, see our recommended picks for the best solo board games.
Bobby Anhalt is a contributing freelancer for IGN covering board games and LEGOs. He has more than 8 years of experience writing about the gaming industry with bylines at Game Rant, Screen Rant, TheXboxHub, and Ranker. You can follow him on Twitter.
On July 8th, EA and Respawn Entertainment introduced a new Apex Legends Battle Pass system for Season 22. But after many of the new Battle Pass changes proved unpopular, Respawn is apologizing for its handling of the shift, and making some changes in response to criticism.
The initial Battle pass changes meant that instead of a single season Battle Pass, there would be two Battle Passes for each split of the season and neither would be able to be purchased with the premium in-game currency, Apex Coins. As a result, players could no longer spend Apex Coins from the previous Battle Pass on the next Season. EA did clarify that players could unlock the first half of Season 22’s Premium Battle Pass rewards by completing a set of challenges in the first two weeks of launch, but no further details were explained at the time.
Splitting the Battle Passes into two also meant doubling the cost of the total money spent for the full season adding up to $20 for both Premium and $40 for the Premium+. This was met with negative feedback from the community and Apex Legends’ Steam store page has been flooded with 76,872 mostly-negative reviews at the time of writing this article.
Today, July 24th, Respawn released an update changing the structure of Battle Passes, apologizing for poor handling of the previous announcement. The Battle Passes remain at two for each season but the latest changes restore the ability for players to purchase the Premium Battle Pass with 950 Apex Coins.
There are now two new Battle Pass tiers called Ultimate and Ultimate+. Ultimate is nearly the same as the Premium, but costs $9.99 USD and cannot be purchased with Apex Coins. It gives players all the Premium rewards and an additional instant unlock of eight Apex Packs and 1,200 Crafting Materials.
Ultimate+ is the highest tier of the Battle Pass including all the previous rewards seen in Ultimate and Premium but with double the Exotic Shards, two exclusive Legendary skin variants, eight Apex Packs, 1,200 Crafting Materials, ten Battle Pass Level unlocks, and the unlocking of every Legend in the game. It costs $19.99 and also cannot be purchased with Apex Coins.
Respawn also stated that with Season 22, through the first split, every player would be able to earn the Premium Battle Pass by completing a series of simple in-game challenges.
Battling Over Battle Pass
IGN was able to sit down with Steven Ferreira, Apex Legends Game Director, to speak about the amended Battle Pass plans and how decisions like these come to be internally and what Respawn’s plans are for the Apex community going forward. Responses have been lightly edited for brevity and clarity.
IGN: Why did you make the Battle Pass Changes?
Ferreira: Our Battle Pass has been the same for a long time. And for a while now we’ve seen and been able to track data on how many players are engaging with the Battle Pass, but also how the players value the content that’s in the Battle Pass.
Those were two areas that we wanted to address with a new design for Battle Pass. That was the motivation here in terms of updating the design. One of the things that we’re trying to do is make Apex more accessible. When we look at the Battle Pass that we had previously, a 90-day Battle Pass tuned for engagement in that timeframe, typically because of that long tail and wanting to balance it well for the entire spectrum of players and engage with the Battle Pass, meant that it was hard to grind through the Battle Pass over 90 days.
What we were seeing was that the majority of our players were not. They weren’t engaging with it in that time, and they were engaging for a lot shorter amount of time, which is reasonable, right? The idea that players are only playing Apex and nothing but, is not reality and it’s not how… You know? We don’t just play Apex and I don’t expect that the rest of our community does either.
The idea that players are only playing Apex and nothing but [Apex] is not reality.
Finding something that felt like it was better tuned again in a more accessible way to the majority of our players was kind of key. And so just like in season 20, we moved our ranked season from the full season back to a season split structure. The same thing with the Battle Pass was a natural progression for us to do that as well. And so the intention there is that you can still unlock the equivalent amount of cool content and stuff, but you can do it inside of 45 days. And you get a faster and a better pacing and cadence of engagement with the Battle Pass over 45 days versus 90. So that was the first thing. And like I said, what we saw in the data was that majority of players were not unlocking everything that we had in the Battle Pass in that time.
And so this is the hope of having more players engage fully with the entirety of the Battle Pass in 45 days. The second piece that I touched on was that the content, once players unlocked it, I would say the vast majority of it, players were not engaging with. In that we didn’t see players equipping that content. And so it was a bunch of things in the 90-day Battle Pass that players were unlocking, but then not really realizing the value of it. Or at least to them, they were telling us in their usage data that they weren’t getting of it. So one of the things we did was try to reconfigure the Battle Pass to focus on content that we were seeing players equip, or content types that we were seeing players equip, versus not equip.
Additionally around that goal, the other thing is that in terms of what we feel that players were getting value from, was the things that they were allowing them to make choice. And that’s why you’ve seen a shift focus towards currencies and things that’ll allow players to choose where do they want to spend that, what do they want to spend it on. As opposed to, we’ve made 110 levels versus bespoke content to unlock.
IGN: So with the Battle Pass changes, is that something that Respawn decided on or was that something that EA had pushed for?
Ferreira: No, that was something that we designed. Like I said, the primary challenge that we looked at was too few players are engaging with the Battle Pass in a meaningful way and getting the value out of it in terms of, like I said, what we were seeing in terms of equipping the content that was being unlocked. And we felt that it was almost creating a system where it was like, you engage with the Battle Pass designed this way because we’ve been doing it for so long. Having 20+ seasons of the system working, generally speaking, in this way, was a long time without actually addressing: is it working or is it not? And what we had seen for quite some time, was that it was increasingly so, not fulfilling in our definition what players were getting value from.
IGN: So then with looking at the analytics of people equipping things in the Battle Pass versus what they didn’t, is there going to be less of say, gun charms or maybe blue tier skins that people aren’t like super into for weapons or characters?
Ferreira: Yeah, that’s right. So what we found was that the majority of the rare items and the stuff that was like the trackers, and as you said, gun charms, et cetera, that we were just not seeing the pickup from the majority of players on equipping and using of those things. So they unlock them and they keep unlocking them, season over season, but nobody’s actually using those items. And so our focus was to shift development of that content over to content that players are actually equipping, and then do find valuable. And like I said, moving some of that over into unlocking currencies that’ll allow you to choose what are the things you want.
IGN: Do you know what kind of challenges we’ll see in the Battle Pass? Are they going to be like the dailies?
Ferreira: The challenges change and have changed, and so I don’t know what the specific challenges are. We’ll share more of that obviously when we get closer to season launch. But yes, the intention is that not that these aren’t really hard. Again, our goal here is to push towards a more accessible design for Apex. And so, same thing goes with this, is that the goal is that more people will try it. And the reason that we go, just to be fully transparent with this, is we’ve tried other kind of systems for letting people try it out and feel what it feels like. And sometimes we’ve done, is just log in and get this unlock immediately.
What we found is that sometimes people will just log in and get that unlock immediately, and then they won’t actually try it. And I really, really want our community to play the Battle Pass and feel what the new feel of the Battle Pass is and what the rewards are within the Battle Pass. And so in this way it won’t be difficult to accomplish the challenges. They’re going to be very basic to your point about how dailies are set up. But there will be a few basic challenges to encourage the community to actually try out the Battle Pass.
IGN: What about the other concerns about the state of Apex that players have aside from the Battle Pass?
Ferreira: So the other piece to this that I think has been a clear part of what we were seeing from the community feedback is this concern that because we’re doing this stuff that we’re not addressing other things that matter to players, right? Which obviously couldn’t be farther from the truth, whatever matters to players, matters to us by definition.
And we take that seriously, there’s obviously a part of crafting the experience that we as game developers care about and want to create something for players that they’ll enjoy. But this is a live game and we’ve always felt that part of that experience means that part of this game is not just our game, it’s not the devs game, it’s the community’s game. And so when there’s something that matters to the community, by definition matters to us.
And so there’s a couple of things that came up that I think were common threads in the feedback and a lot of the responses that I read through was “Why are we working on this instead of working on things like solving for cheaters, solving for the health of the game, solving for game stability, competitive integrity?”
We want to make a commitment to the community that we’re going to do better at sharing what is actually going on.
These are all things that honestly make up the majority of what we think about and work towards day in day out on Apex. But the reality is that a lot of these things are long-lead time initiatives. They are complex problems for us to address. And they’re not just like, oh, here’s a problem, here’s a band-aid solution. We actually look to implement solutions to this as part of the experience.
And so I think one of the things that we haven’t done well and again, going back to what I kicked the conversation off about is that we don’t really share what we are doing. And so we want to make a commitment to the community that we’re going to do better at sharing what is actually going on.
We have things that are coming out in the upcoming season and we have things that are a long lead time in our road map that span out multiple seasons. They are all focused exactly on the things that the community’s concerned about, but we never talk about them and we never acknowledge and have a conversation about the things that we’re trying and doing around those topics.
So I think as we get closer to the launch of the next season, we’re gonna make an effort to put a focus on that and actually share with the community what we’re actually doing across those things that I think, understandably so, the community feels we’re ignoring. But I just want an opportunity to reassure the community that that is not the case, that these are top priorities for us.
IGN: So then based on things that you have changed now (with the Battle Pass) and that you do want to be more transparent with players, how do you think that you would go about doing an announcement like this in the future if there were to be more battle past changes?
Ferreira: Yeah, that’s a fair question. I think this is the kind of thing where again, we went off of the data and something that we had been looking at for many months as to what was the right way to do this. But I think there are tools that we use regularly for things in our game, like focus groups and community conversations. We bring people in to give season previews and things like that.
And I think this is the kind of thing that we could have slowly rolled out and gotten more community engagement in and feedback through those kinds of channels that we’ve got in place.
We’re very careful about how we were doing this to make sure that we had what we believe to be a better experience for players. But just dropping this onto the community without engaging the community in the process of designing this, I think, for something that clearly the community cares about it as much as the Battle Pass, was a misstep on our side.
IGN: You speak about wanting to make Apex more accessible about wanting to give all players a great experience in Apex. And you did speak about obviously looking at hackers, but what can you say about if the team is looking at trying to appeal to a more casual audience because a lot of people do feel that the game has gotten more competitive and we have seen this issue before with Titanfall 2 where the skill gap just jumped and it kind of alienated a lot of people. But is there an internal discussion on how the general casual audience can be brought back in?
Ferreira: When I say accessibility, I think that I use that term as a pretty broad umbrella. And this is one of those when we break it down to how we actually solve for that in designing the game, they are two different things because it is a challenge.
It’s not an easy thing to solve by any means but I would describe it as probably one of our, if not our top priority in solving for the game right now. The reality is that Apex is a competitive experience and always will be that’ll never go away. It’s why Apex is fun, in my opinion, this is part of the DNA of the core experience that we have.
But some of it is that the on ramp to becoming good is too steep and too difficult and some of it is that the game is designed a little bit too much towards competition such that we do let that kind of run away and that skill gap, as you pointed out has become quite vast, over the last five years.
I have a bunch of ideas of how we’re going to address that and it’s going to touch on what I would describe as probably every part of our game. I’m actually excited to say it is coming up in the next season, that we’re gonna be talking about very soon.
It’s addressing some of that head on and it’s setting up some of the foundational pieces that I think will make apex innately more accessible to a casual player. I would say that probably the focal point of the next season is tackling a bunch of this and making the game more accessible to casual players.
Apex Legends Season 22 “Shockwave” launches August 6th, 2024 with detailed patch notes on upcoming changes releasing August 5th.
Stella is a Video Producer, Host, and Editor at IGN. Her gameplay focus is on competitive FPS games and she’s previously reviewed Apex Legends, Hyper Scape, Halo Infinite Multiplayer, and Battlefield 2042. She regularly hosts and shoutcasts competitive Apex Legends and Halo Infinite tournaments when she isn’t streaming on her Twitch channel after work outs. You can follow her on Twitter @ParallaxStella.
Ever since Warzone launched in 2020 players have complained about the Gas Mask animation getting in the way of actually seeing what’s going on. Now, with the launch of Season 5, Activision has finally done something about it.
Warzone Season 5 launches today, July 24, and brings with it this much-needed improvement. Developer Raven Software’s patch notes detail the ‘Dynamic Gas Mask Overlay Quality of Life’ change:
“The gas mask overlay will now fade in and out depending if you’re in gas or not,” Raven explained. “This way, players can equip the gas mask at any time without having their vision impacted.”
The battle royale’s gas mask, which, as you’d expect, lets players breathe within the damaging gas as the circle of play shrinks, had an equip/unequip animation that would trigger whenever the wearer would move in/out of the gas. It had the habit of getting in the way of the action at the worst possible moment (during a firefight), forcing players to store it in their inventory and manually equip it when needed.
Now, this issue should be a thing of the past, leaving those with the gas mask free to equip safe in the knowledge that doing so won’t harm their chances of victory. Players have reacted positively to the change, which comes over four years after Warzone’s record-breaking launch.
It only took 4 years and 3 months but it has finally happened in Warzone hahahaha
Elsewhere, Season 5 makes big weapon balance changes and other user interface and user experience improvements. The update comes ahead of the launch of this year’s mainline Call of Duty game, Black Ops 6, and its integration into Warzone.
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.
The action adventure remaster from Suda51 (No More Heroes, killer7) and Shinji Mikami (Resident Evil, God Hand) launches then across PC via Steam, PlayStation, Xbox, and Nintendo Switch.
Shadows of the Damned launched first in 2011 on PlayStation 3 and Xbox 360, developed by a Goichi “Suda51” Suda-led Grasshopper Manufacture. It stars demon hunter Garcia Hotspur, who, alongside sidekick Johnson the skull, battles through Hell to rescue his girlfriend from Fleming, the demon king of Hell.
Hella Remastered expands on the original with new costumes, a New Game+ Mode, and 60fps/4K support. A Grasshopper Direct showcase is set for July 31, and will feature producer Shinji Mikami and Suda51.
Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered new features:
New Costumes: In addition to Garcia’s iconic jacket, “Purple Reign”, there are now four new costumes to choose from:Placa Garcia, Ocho Corazones, Demonio Garcia and Kamikaze Garcia.
Now includes New Game+ Mode: A feature requested since the original release, the Hella Remastered edition includes a New Game+ mode! This mode carries your weapons and upgrades over from your last playthrough into a new game, jam-packing those replays with hella power.
60fps/4K Support: Hell has never looked so good. Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered lets you experience the game in silky-smooth 60 frames per second, as well as supporting resolutions up to 4K, allowing you to appreciate every bone fragment and blood splatter.
(Switch supports up to 30fps; 4K is supported on PS5 / Xbox Series X / Steam only.)
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.
RuneScape is undoubtedly one of the biggest and most popular MMORPGs ever released, even setting a Guinness World record in the process. Now, after 23 years, this sprawling fantasy universe is finally making the jump to comics, and IGN can exclusively reveal the full details about RuneScape: Untold Tales of the God Wars.
First, check out the slideshow gallery below for a look at the various covers for RuneScape: Untold Tales of the God Wars, and then read on for more details about the new series:
RuneScape: Untold Tales of the God Wars is a four-issue series produced in collaboration with Jagex. The series is written by Ryan O’Sullivan (Void Trip) and illustrated by Sid Kotian (Gambit) and Daniel Bayliss (RuneScape FCBD Edition). Cover artists include Kotian, Alan Quah, Ivan Shavrin, Alex Moore and RuneScape’s lead concept artist Dave Barker.
As the title suggests, Untold Tales of the God Wars delves deeper into the God Wars dungeon questline from the game, which deals with an epic battle between four factions for control of the mythical Godsword, a blade capable of slaying a god. The series focuses on Maro, a character caught in the middle of this violent conflict, and who yearns to break free from his master’s control.
RuneScape: Untold Tales of the God Wars #1 will be released on October 9, 2024. Each physical copy of the series will come included with a DLC code for 200 Runecoins to use in the game. You can find preorder links for all the variant covers below:
Davide Soliani, who spearheaded the successful Mario + Rabbids series of games, has left Ubisoft after 25 years.
In a social media post, the former Ubisoft Milan creative director said he had left the company “to embark on a new adventure,” but failed to say what’s next.
Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle is an enormously successful Nintendo Switch exclusive that fused Nintendo’s Mario and Ubisoft’s Rabbids franchises in turn-based tactics gameplay. The 2017 game would eventually be played by over 10 million people, Ubisoft said.
Hi all folks. After 25 years, 11 of which beautifully spent working with Nintendo on Mario+Rabbids along the company of our incredible community of players, I have decided to leave Ubisoft to embark on a new adventure. I can’t say more now. Thanks a lot for everything, truly 🙏❤️ pic.twitter.com/nafgBC2bu8
Soliani was thrust into the spotlight after he wept during the Mario + Rabbids reveal at Ubisoft’s E3 2017 showcase. His reaction, which you can see in the video below, has gone down as one of the all-time great E3 moments, a rare look of genuine pride and relief captured in the audience of a show normally given over to strictly controlled marketing beats.
Kingdom Battle’s successor, fellow Switch exclusive Mario + Rabbids Sparks of Hope, performed less well upon its 2022 launch. Ubisoft boss Yves Guillemot later revealed his regret at launching the game on the Switch instead of holding it back for the console’s successor, saying Sparks of Hope would have likely performed better if it had not released on the same platform as the first game, given they offer similar gameplay experiences.
“We had already released a Mario Rabbids game [on Switch], so by doing another we had two similar experiences on one machine,” Guillemot told GI.biz.
“On Nintendo, games like this never die. There are 25 Mario games on Switch. Nintendo [has advised] that it’s better to do one iteration on each machine,” Guillemot continued. “We were a bit too early, we should have waited for [the next console].
“Because you could play a great game. And we think it will last for 10 years, because we will update it for the new machine that will come in the future.”
Ubisoft Milan, which is currently supporting the development of other Ubisoft games, such as Massive Entertainment’s Star Wars: Outlaws, waved goodbye to Soliani in a series of tweets.
And we hope that he will like what we will work on in the future, as we will definitely keep in mind his best teaching: surprise players with unexpected experiences!
“Don’t cry, Ubisoft man!” We joked with Davide a lot about that meme.
Davide and the teams at Ubisoft Milan still share the same quest — to make gamers have fun, scream with delight, and dream – but we will now be on a different path.
Before the tears at E3 2017, the announcement of Mario + Rabbids Kingdom Battle, and the crazy idea… pic.twitter.com/uNji1B6nOX
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.
The First Descendant developer Nexon has released update 1.0.4 across PC via Steam, PlayStation 4 and 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X and S alongside the patch notes, below.
The patch tweaks the popular ‘Valby run’ farming method. Set in The Fortress Outpost on hard mode, the Valby run involves destroying generators and damaging the boss enough to trigger its ball immune phase, then using the character Valby’s ability to deal continuous damage while moving around the outer ring of the arena in an endless loop. With the Valby run farming method, players were able to gain hundreds of thousands of in-game gold and loads of XP in just a few minutes.
The First Descendant update 1.0.4 patch notes in full:
Content Improvements
Module storage limit has been increased from 1,000 to 1,500.
Cooldown for “Vulgus Strategic Outpost” has been reduced from five minutes to one minute.
Spawning time between monster respawn has been increased, and the reward amount has been adjusted at the “Vulgus Strategic Outpost.”
Void Fragments will now drop when defeating monsters in Special Operation. There will be the most void fragment drops at the Special Operation “Neutralize Void Experiment.”
Using “Mark for Arrest” item obtained from Special Operation will grant 10 times the usual amount of gold. When “Mark for Arrest” is used from ‘consumable’ tab, it will convert to 100,000 gold, and “High-Value Mark for Arrest” will convert to 1,000,000 gold.
“With this adjustment, the reward amount at Fortress outpost has been reduced,” The First Descendant director Joo Min-seok explained.
“However, to ensure that ‘Valby run’ remains a popular hunting ground like Ambush Point and Refined Run, we have set the reward efficiency significantly higher than originally intended. We hope to provide numerous farming spots in The First Descendant, each with unique characteristics and usefulness to different Descendants. Instead of reverting Valby run to its original design intent, we have adjusted it to offer similar efficiency to other high-reward hunting grounds.
“Additionally, we have shortened the cooldowns for all outposts so that players can play them more frequently without deliberately failing and no longer need to search for outposts with shorter cooldowns by moving around the map. We have also added gold rewards to Special Operations and adjusted four types of Void Fragments to be randomly dropped, allowing players to choose and utilize various hunting grounds.
“Through issues like the Fortress Outskirts and Valby run, we are learning what kind of playstyle our players enjoy. The experience of sweeping through and farming monsters is of significant value in our game.
“Your feedback and interest are what drive the continuous improvement of The First Descendant. We will always listen to your feedback and improve the game.”
The experience of sweeping through and farming monsters is of significant value in our game.
Joo Min-seok also offered a week five preview for The First Descendant, which goes live next week and adds a new Descendant called Luna. The details are below:
The First Descendant week five update patch notes preview:
Sea of Emerald, “Ultimate Valby”
Finally, the Magisters have completed the ultimate project for Valby. This ultimate equipment, called “Sea of Emerald,” has fulfilled Valby’s long-held desire. It is a nano suit that replicates Valby’s former body color and texture. Although covered in a thin layer, Valby feels like regaining a long-forgotten part of herself.
Ultimate Valby’s Modification Modules
Spiral Tidal Wave: Replaces the Bubble Bullet, which was difficult to aim, with a projectile that flies straight. Spiral Tidal Wave attracts the impurities of Gluttony, making it an excellent choice for intercepting Gluttony.
Hydro Pressure Bomb: Instead of “Plop Plop,” it leaps forward and deals damage to enemies around the landing area. The more enemies in the laundry state, the more powerful the damage, making Hydro Pressure Bomb a strong finishing blow. Instead of diving into the water, leap joyfully forward!
A New Descendant, “Luna”
The Mad Artist Luna has returned to Albion after a long wandering performance. Luna’s synthesizer gun becomes more powerful when fired in rhythm, enhancing allies’ abilities based on the performance. When Luna dances to upbeat music, allies’ skill power increases, and when dancing to relaxing music, allies’ mentality recovers and resource consumption decreases. Invite everyone to Luna’s concert. Unfortunately for Virgus, it will be their last stage, but Luna’s performance is just beginning!
Luna’s Modification Modules
Nimble Footsteps: Enhances Luna’s mobility and amplifies the effect range of her performance, allowing for more effective ally support.
Noise Surge: Transforms Luna from a supporter to a combat dealer. Dashes towards enemies in rhythm, dealing damage to nearby enemies. When the inspiration gauge is full, summons a stage to recover mental strength and shields. Provide enemies with a terrifying musical experience with Noise Surge!
Gluttony
The mutated Devourer-type Gluttony is a giant that indulges in Void Energy. It is equipped with systems to mine Void Energy and a cooling system to cool the heat generated during this process. To counter Gluttony, you need measures to withstand its cooling performance and the judgment to exploit its greedy temperament. Intercept Gluttony and collect new ultimate weapons and external components.
New Ultimate Weapon “Peace Mediator”
When meditation is necessary to bring peace to Ingris, the new ultimate weapon Peace Mediator is the perfect solution. This powerful hand cannon is effective even with single shots but can unleash a burst of bullets to deliver powerful firepower under the right conditions.
New Ultimate Module “Arche Concretion”
Provides Arche Concretion effect, which increases defense and mentality when using skills but decreases movement speed and attack power. It is particularly useful for Luna and Ajax and can be a good choice for players who want stable skill use. Your choices are free; combine various Modules to create your unique build.
Balance Adjustments
In the week five update, we have decided to make balance adjustments for some Descendants and Ultimate weapons.
First, we are adjusting Valby, Blair, and Freyna, who use AOE as their main skills. We hope to see these Descendants more effectively dominate the battlefield, creating large AOE zones and leisurely watching enemies fall from the rear. Look forward to improved performance for these wide-range covering Descendants.
Additionally, there will be improvements to Ultimate weapons that enhance critical hit chance and damage. Enduring Legacy (machine gun), Secret Garden (tactical rifle), and Nazeistra’s Devotion (hand cannon) will be improved to boast more powerful firepower with critical settings.
Moreover, Greg’s Reversed Fate (tactical rifle) will be adjusted to activate its unique effect in more chances. We are also improving the functionality of single-shot weapons, allowing players to choose between single-shot and rapid-fire modes. Please look forward to it.
Lastly,
There will also be more improvements for convenience to be included in the week 5 update. Plus, new cosmetics that many players have been waiting for will be out, so please wait just one more week!
Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.
In a report from Wired on the impact of generative AI on the video game development industry and concern among many within it about the threat to their livelihoods, it is alleged that Activision “made an AI-generated cosmetic available for purchase on the Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 store.”
The cosmetic in question is not named in the article, but it is linked to: the Yokai’s Wrath bundle released in December 2023. The store did not disclose any use of generative AI for this bundle.
This bundle was sold for 1,500 COD Points, the premium virtual currency sold for real-world money that generates hundreds of millions of dollars for Activision each year. 1,500 COD Points is approximately valued at $15.
It’s worth pointing out that Wired did not specify which part of this bundle was AI-generated, or indeed whether all of it was. The bundle contained a number of virtual items, including an Operator skin, a weapon blueprint, a calling card, a weapon sticker, and a loading screen, all below.
IGN has asked Activision for comment.
Wired pointed out that Microsoft, which owns Activision Blizzard after its $69 billion acquisition of the company last year, cut 1,900 staff from its gaming business just months after Activision sold this skin. The report alleged that 2D artists’ jobs are being replaced by AI at the company.
“A lot of 2D artists were laid off,” one anonymous Activision artist told the site. “Remaining concept artists were then forced to use AI to aid in their work.” Activision employees were allegedly “made” to sign up for AI training, with its use promoted throughout the business.
Generative AI is one of the hottest topics within the video game and entertainment industries, which have both suffered massive layoffs in recent years. Earlier this month, Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa was asked about the company’s initiatives involving AI. In response, Furukawa said generative AI can be used “in creative ways,” but said its use “also raise issues with intellectual property rights.”
A lot of 2D artists were laid off. Remaining concept artists were then forced to use AI to aid in their work.
Generative AI thus far has drawn criticism from players and creators due to a mix of ethical issues, rights issues, and AI’s struggles to produce content audiences actually enjoy. For instance, Keywords Studios attempted to create an experimental game internally using entirely AI. The game failed, with Keywords citing to investors that AI was “unable to replace talent.”
Video game console makers Microsoft and Sony are all-in on AI. Microsoft, for example, is reportedly making an Xbox AI chatbot to automate support tasks such as game refunds, deal with broken consoles and subscription issues, and answer questions about error codes.
Meanwhile, head of PlayStation Productions and head of product at PlayStation Studios Asad Qizilbash weighed in on AI to say its use in video games is important to Gen Z and Gen Alpha gamers who seek “personalization across everything.”
“For instance, non-player characters in games could interact with players based on their actions, making it feel more personal,” Qizilbash said. “This is important for the younger Gen Z and Gen Alpha audiences, who are the first generations that grew up digitally and are looking for personalization across everything, as well as looking for experiences to have more meaning.”
Earlier this year, EA boss Andrew Wilson told the investment community that “more than 50% of our development processes will be positively impacted by the advances in generative AI.” Wilson, who oversees EA Sports FC, The Sims, and BioWare games, added that AI will make game development “more efficient”, revealing that the EA Sports FC developers can now make stadiums in six weeks rather than six months.
The Witcher voice actor Doug Cockle has also expressed caution and frustration at the growing presence of AI within the video game industry, calling it “inevitable” but “dangerous.”
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.
Nobody Wants to Die starts at a drive-thru theater, our protagonist James taking in a black and white movie with his wife Rachel. You spend this peaceful moment joking around with her through conversation options amidst the pouring rain, but that respite is quickly destroyed. Rachel vanishes and the scene zooms out to reveal the dark, 24th century hellscape where James lives. It’s a great setup, showcasing everything you need to know about this moody cyberpunk detective noir. The world might be familiar, but the developers at Critical Hit Games have managed to fill it with fun details and a few moments that flip your expectations. Unfortunately, that strong start doesn’t quite hold up throughout Nobody Wants to Die’s roughly six-hour runtime; there’s a bit too much hand-holding during its investigation scenes, and it’s missing important features that would make its branching story structure easier to explore. But what it might lack in polish it makes up for in style.
Nobody Wants to Die is a story you’ve probably seen before: James is a detective with a tragic past he doesn’t remember, and who drowns himself in booze to dull the pain in a city full of flying cars, giant holographic ads, and buildings so tall you can’t see the ground. When he’s pulled into a case that ends up being bigger than he could’ve ever imagined, both his will and his skills as a detective are put to the test as he gets caught in a conspiratorial plot. On paper, it looks pretty basic; maybe even outright boring. And there are moments where it does stick to that script a bit too much.
But this isn’t just any detective story; it’s a cyberpunk neo-noir that isn’t shy about its artistic and narrative influences. There’s a lot of Altered Carbon in its premise, specifically in how people can swap bodies after death (or just whenever they want). The sleek, jaw-dropping aesthetic is very reminiscent of Blade Runner, but with a 1950s Dark City pastiche instead of a Japanese one. It’s also not hard to see some Cyberpunk 2077 here, both in its basic cyberpunk elements and in how you can reconstruct crime scenes with gadgets that run on technobabble. Of course, there’s also the early 20th century detective noir of it all — complete with femme fatales, constant rain, lots of alcohol, and monologues from James that straddle the line between perfectly melodramatic and a bit too over the top. It’s true greasy, wet pulp.
Critical Hit Games wears an “eat the rich” attitude on its sleeve. The body swapping system seemingly allows for immortality, but you have to purchase a subscription when you come of age. If you can’t afford it, you’ll get arrested, with your brain put into “bank” storage; if you’re rich, you can just buy new bodies and switch out whenever you want. Sadly, the class warfare this concept enticingly establishes is mostly just used to move the plot along. It’s more an opportunity to call the rich “assholes” rather than make a more complex point about that inequality and why it exists.
Odd aesthetic details are all in service of the compelling atmosphere.
Despite taking a lot of its elements from other places, the developers have added a lot of their own unique details. We’ve seen body swapping in cyberpunk fiction before, but I don’t think I’ve seen a system that outright says how many disadvantages that can have if you get a body that was addicted to drugs or has allergies. I also love how James’ apartment building is such a shithole that he has to summon a shared bathroom to use, which leads to a hilarious interaction with a neighbor who was still bathing.
There are also tiny aesthetic details that don’t make much sense, like how many locks require you to input a numbered code with a rotary dial. Why is a world in the 24th century not utilizing computers more? How is James able to find a drive-in theater that plays nearly 400-year-old black and white movies? These odd tidbits are all in service of the compelling atmosphere, and it’s super easy to accept them when you can tell the Critical Hit Games is having a lot of fun just putting anachronisms together in new ways.
The setting and world-building pieces pay homage to the 1950s and film noir, but that doesn’t mean it’s held on a pedestal. Many of James’ monologues and musings about the grimy lives of others, the oppressive system they all live under, and the violence he has to face are overtly poetic and corny, and sometimes he or other characters — especially his partner, Sara — call him out on it. Sara is a great foil for James; they have compelling platonic chemistry, with her talking him through the case and his thoughts through a receiver in his ear, and he does the same for her.
With multiple dialogue paths to choose from in most conversations, you can either take a serious route during your investigation or go for the stupid answer – that could be listening to your corrupt police chief boss or ignoring him and stealing evidence. I played my first run straight, and while not every choice was “morally” correct, the darker tone felt genuine to James. I leaned into the silly options on my second playthrough and it created hilarious moments, like how James is afraid of the light from his UV detection tool because they cause cancer. He’s the kind of guy who sits on neon signs outside his apartment on the 500th story of a building, drinking or smoking (do not play this game if you’re afraid of heights) as a melodramatic loner, and Nobody Wants to Die takes every opportunity to make fun of him for that.
This combination of new and old creates a pulpy mix of scenes that can swing wildly between depressive retrospection, outright tragedy, and self-aware nonsense, and it all somehow never feels out of place. In fact, Nobody Wants to Die’s dedication to that tonal dissonance is largely what lets it stand out despite its very obvious homages.
Nobody Wants to Hold Your Hand
While Nobody Wants to Die wants you to play out a neo-noir detective fantasy, there are some limits — namely in how it lets you solve cases, which isn’t much at all. Most of the actions you’ll take outside of the branching dialogue boil down to the detective work itself, which involves surveying a crime scene, gathering evidence, using futuristic tech to reconstruct gruesome, gory murders so they play out in front of your eyes, and then putting it all together with an evidence board.
How all the gadgets work is a bit confusing at first, but by the end of the first case, you fall into a routine. Use the Reconstructor to reconstruct events, fast forward or rewind through the three-dimensional footage to find new evidence or leads you want to pursue, analyze those pieces, and pull out your supplementary UV light and X-Ray to dig a little deeper. All of the data you gather will then be presented on the evidence board, where you can draw conclusions through a little activity where you’ll similarly be told outright if you’re guessing right or wrong.
It seems simple enough, and it is, especially because there are very few instances where you go about it on your own. You’ll usually get a prompt or a piece of dialogue that tells you exactly what to do, which tool to use, and how to think. You’re very much dragged through the story and forced to watch it play out instead of doing your own detective work, which removes any sense of accomplishment. There isn’t a time limit, nor is there fear you’ll miss an important clue. It can also be annoying when the figures moving throughout your reconstructions get in the way of your tools, blocking your view and causing you to make frivolous mistakes as you complete a series of mouse clicks to activate them.
The choice to remove all your agency during these investigation phases does at least allow you to experience the story more closely, since you don’t have to focus on other areas, like actually solving a case yourself. That’s especially true in how certain events impact each other to create more conversation options, but the rigid structure does also lessen the impact of your investigation quite a bit.
Thankfully, the dialogue system is worth paying attention to. It’s not the most robust I’ve seen, but there’s enough choice that you feel like you have a semblance of control over James and his actions while talking. His core personality never changes, but you can decide whether he answers Sara honestly about evidence he chose to steal from a crime scene, drink and drive, comply with the police, or even shoot somebody. How impactful your choices are varies, and there are multiple endings despite the story always arriving at the same tense confrontation, but Nobody Wants to Die understands that it’s about the journey. The final payoff is also satisfyingly dark, letting you ruminate on your choices – sometimes to the point of absolute despair.
Nobody Wants You to Save Your Game
If you’re invested enough to see all the different outcomes, you can start again on a new save file, but Critical Hit Games didn’t make it easy to run through a second time. While not giving you the option to manually save is a great way to make you sit and think about the consequence of each choice, it does make it quite difficult to see everything. There isn’t any new game plus or chapter select after your first playthrough, either. If you want to fast forward through long conversations, you only have the option to spam a skip button, which you have to click for each line of dialogue, and you can’t skip cutscenes at all. So if you want to experience the different endings, you’ll pretty much just have to play through the entire campaign again.
Granted, Nobody Wants to Die is only five or six hours long, and depending on the ending you get, there’s plenty of motivation to hop back in. I got a particularly bad ending that, to me, felt like the worst possible outcome for the story, so I of course wanted to see if I could get anything else — maybe something that didn’t make me feel dead inside (pun intended). Starting from scratch wasn’t a total slog, since I made new choices that unlocked conversations or paid off differently down the line. Still, I eventually looked up a compilation of all the endings, and while there are certainly happier ones than the initial one I got, none of them are “perfect.” James’ story is about a past that slowly emerges to haunt him, and your player skills aren’t going to stop his bittersweet conclusion.
The decision to not include these replayability features is an interesting one, as many branching narrative games want you to feel the weight of your choices but also give you the opportunity to change them. I have to give the developers credit on making such an audacious move, but does it make Nobody Wants to Die more “enjoyable,” whatever that vague term means? I’m not sure. Maybe I would feel differently if I got the “best” ending on my first try, but it feels like there should be an option to help speed up additional playthroughs after the first at the very least.
Humble Games has announced plans to restructure amid what it is calling “challenging economic times for indie publishing,” with several former employees reporting that they’ve been laid off. According to Polygon’s Nicole Carpenter, the layoffs affect 36 workers. [Disclosure: IGN Entertainment and publishing label Humble Games operate under separate divisions of the same parent company, Ziff Davis. Charity bundle platform Humble Bundle remains a subsidiary of IGN Entertainment.]
The announcement was part of a statement from Humble Games, which was published on Linkedin in the wake of several workers confirming their layoffs on social media. The statement emphasized “the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects” while saying that the restructuring does not impact Humble Bundle.
In these challenging economic times for indie game publishing, Humble Games has made the difficult but necessary decision to restructure our operations. This decision was not made lightly; it involved much deliberation and careful thought, with the goal of ensuring the stability and support of our developers and ongoing projects. Additionally, the restructuring of operations at Humble Games will have no impact on operations at Humble Bundle.
We are acutely aware of the profound impact this decision has on our team members at Humble Games and deeply empathize with everyone affected. Our team’s contributions have been world-class and invaluable, supporting the launch of our games since we started publishing in 2017. We are committed to navigating this transition with as much empathy and understanding as possible.
Supporting our development partners and assisting former team members remains our top priority. We are committed to making this transition as smooth as possible for everyone involved. Thank you for your support and compassion during this challenging period. It is deeply appreciated.
Reached separately for comment, a Ziff Davis representative shared the statement posted above and said that the company is “not shutting down but is undergoing restructuring,” and that “all past and ongoing projects and upcoming releases are not affected and will continue to be supported and published by Humble Games.” The representative said they could not comment on the number of staff affected or remaining.
Humble Games is an indie publishing label with a portfolio including Bo: Path of the Teal Lotus, Signalis and Stray Gods. Several developers who worked with Humble Games expressed sympathy in the wake of the layoffs.
“My sincerest best wishes to all the former Humble Games staff, several of whom helped make [Unsighted] what it was,” wrote Unsighted developer Fernanda Dias. “Thank you so much for working so hard on so many amazing games. This is incredibly heartbreaking news holy shit.”
