Category: IGN

The 28th D.I.C.E. Awards have arrived and have celebrated the best of the best in the world of video games from 2024. While there were a lot of winners across 23 categories, Astro Bot won the night by taking home Game of the Year alongside Outstanding Achievement in Animation, Outstanding Technical Achievement, Family Game of the Year, and Outstanding Achievement in Game Design.

There were a few other games that won multiple categories, and Helldivers 2 came in second with four wins for Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition, Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design, Action Game of the Year, and Online Game of the Year. Balatro and Indiana Jones and the Great Circle also both brought home three wins.

In addition to honoring the best games of 2024, this year’s D.I.C.E. Awards also celebrated two individuals who both made a great impact on the video game industry. First up, former Executive Vice President of Operations for Nintendo of America was awarded the Lifetime Achievement Award for his time with the company and his support for the Starlight Children’s Foundation.

Next, Insomniac Games founder and president Ted Price, who recently announced his retirement from the studio, was given the Hall of Fame Award for all he has done for game development and “leading Insomniac Games for three decades and advocating for video game creators’ First Amendment rights.”

You can check out the full list of winners from the 28th D.I.C.E. Awards below.

Outstanding Achievement in Animation

• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
• Neva
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Outstanding Achievement in Art Direction

• Black Myth: Wukong – WINNER
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• LEGO Horizon Adventures
• The Plucky Squire
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II

Outstanding Achievement in Character

• 1000xRESIST – Watcher
• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH – Yuffie Kisaragi
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – Dr. Henry “Indiana” Jones – WINNER
• INDIKA – Indika
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II – Senua

Outstanding Achievement in Original Music Composition

• Astro Bot
• Helldivers 2 – WINNER
• Monument Valley 3
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Star Wars Outlaws

Outstanding Achievement in Audio Design

• Frostpunk 2
• Helldivers 2 – WINNER
• Monument Valley 3
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Still Wakes the Deep

Outstanding Achievement in Story

• 1000xRESIST
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – WINNER
• Metaphor: ReFantazio
• Still Wakes the Deep
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Outstanding Technical Achievement

• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle
• Senua’s Saga: Hellblade II
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Action Game of the Year

• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Helldivers 2 – WINNER
• Stellar Blade

Adventure Game of the Year

• 1000xRESIST
• ANIMAL WELL
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle – WINNER
• The Legend of Zelda: Echoes of Wisdom
• Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown

Family Game of the Year

• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Cat Quest III
• Little Kitty, Big City
• The Plucky Squire
• Super Mario Party Jamboree

Fighting Game of the Year

• Blazing Strike
• DRAGON BALL: Sparking! ZERO
• Mortal Kombat 1: Khaos Reigns
• TEKKEN 8 – WINNER
• UNDERDOGS

Racing Game of the Year

• F1® 24 – WINNER
• MotoGP™24
• NIGHT-RUNNERS™ PROLOGUE

Role-Playing Game of the Year

• FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH
• Dragon Age: The Veilguard
• ELDEN RING: Shadow of the Erdtree
• Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth
• Metaphor: ReFantazio – WINNER

Sports Game of the Year

• EA SPORTS College Football 25
• EA SPORTS FC 25
• MLB The Show 24 – WINNER
• NBA 2K25

Strategy/Simulation Game of the Year

• Balatro – WINNER
• Caves of Qud
• Frostpunk 2
• Tactical Breach Wizards
• Satisfactory

Immersive Reality Technical Achievement

• Alien: Rogue Incursion
• Batman: Arkham Shadow
• Skydance’s BEHEMOTH
• Starship Home – WINNER
• UNDERDOGS

Immersive Reality Game of the Year

• Alien: Rogue Incursion
• Batman: Arkham Shadow – WINNER
• Escaping Wonderland
• Skydance’s BEHEMOTH
• UNDERDOGS

Outstanding Achievement for an Independent Game

• ANIMAL WELL
• Balatro – WINNER
• Grunn
• INDIKA
• Mouthwashing

Mobile Game of the Year

• Balatro – WINNER
• Halls of Torment
• Monument Valley 3
• Paper Trail
• Wuthering Waves

Online Game of the Year

• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Diablo IV: Vessel of Hatred
• Helldivers 2 – WINNER
• Marvel Rivals
• Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2

Outstanding Achievement in Game Design

• ANIMAL WELL
• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Balatro
• Helldivers 2
• UFO 50

Outstanding Achievement in Game Direction

• 1000xRESIST
• ANIMAL WELL – WINNER
• Lorelei and the Laser Eyes
• Riven
• Thank Goodness You’re Here!

Game of the Year

• Astro Bot – WINNER
• Balatro
• Black Myth: Wukong
• Helldivers 2
• Indiana Jones and the Great Circle

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a writer for IGN. You can follow him on X/Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on TikTok.

We just got our first PlayStation State of Play for 2025 with several big announcements from Metal Gear Solid Delta to a new game from developer Housemarque. While the best part of any new showcase is new game announcements, release dates, and trailers, we know some announcements are bigger than others.

That’s why we’re giving you a chance to rank your favorite announcements from the recent PlayStation State of Play. Was it the first look at Saros? Or the new game from the lead designer of Grand Theft Auto? With over 20 announcements from yesterday’s showcase, look back at our Everything Announced post and decide which big reveal made the most impact on you.

As for me, the Metal Gear Solid Delta release date was probably my most anticipated announcement, but it was also really cool to finally get a look at the main character of Capcom’s upcoming Onimusha: Way of the Sword. And what’s more, it’s incredible that he’ll be modeled after one of my favorite actors, Toshiro Mifune.

So let us know how the State of Play news items ranked for you below.

Matt Kim is IGN’s Senior Features Editor.

If you want a single platform to play games at home and on the go, the Nintendo Switch has got your back. Even better if you’re a fan of Sonic: Ever since the Switch arrived in 2017, Sega has worked like clockwork to consistently release Sonic games for the hybrid console. Last year we got Sonic x Shadow Generations alongside the Sonic the Hedgehog 3 movie, so it’s safe to say Sega’s speedster is bigger than ever.

Now that the Switch 2 has been officially announced, it’s pretty much guaranteed more Sonic games are on the way. Thankfully, the Switch 2 trailer confirms the system’s backward compatibility, so your existing Sonic games aren’t going anywhere. For anyone looking to check out the modern era of Sonic (and friends), here are all the Sonic the Hedgehog games you can play right now as well as upcoming Sonic games we expect to see on the Switch 2.

How Many Sonic Games Are There on Nintendo Switch?

A total of nine Sonic games have been released for Nintendo Switch. This spans the first year of the system back in 2017 to the most recent game, Sonic x Shadows, released in October 2024. Keep in mind that this list below does not include the games available with a Nintendo Switch Online subscription.

Sonic Mania was developed by PagodaWest Games and Sonic fangame community member Christian Whitehead as a love letter to the classic Sonic the Hedgehog titles released on the Sega Genesis and Sega CD platforms. Taking place after the events of Sonic 3 & Knuckles, the game remixes eight iconic levels, including Green Hill Zone and Chemical Plant Zone, and introduces five new ones, including the glamorous Studiopolis Zone and the peaceful Press Garden Zone. This game also introduces a new troupe of Eggbots called the Hard-Boiled Heavies for Sonic, Tails, and Knuckles to beat.

Mania is considered one of the best Sonic games of the 2010s because of the experiment in allowing a group of Sonic fans to create a game other Sonic fans would love, the vivid neon graphics, and the new challenges present in every stage.

Sonic Forces (2017)

Sonic Forces makes Classic Sonic and Modern Sonic form a resistance against Dr. Eggman after he conquered most of the world alongside Infinite, a masked jackal who uses the Phantom Ruby to create doppelgangers and warp reality. The game switches gameplay modes between third-person Boost gameplay with Modern Sonic, side-scrolling gameplay with Classic Sonic, and a mode with the custom avatar character, which can be any animal you want, whose weapons use Wisp power-ups. Forces’ writing and lighting aren’t exactly the best in the series, but the game is still tolerable for some people.

Team Sonic Racing (2019)

Team Sonic Racing takes racing games to a whole new level by having players race with each other, not against each other. This game has a cooperative gameplay mechanic similar to Splatoon and Overwatch, using Sonic Heroes as a frame of reference, where you play in teams of three characters and work together to win each race, paying very close attention to your teammates’ performance and sharing Wisp power-ups with them to allow them to speed up and pull your ranks. Since most of the karts are sports cars, you can customize them with gold rims and paint your car any color you want West Coast Customs style.

Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 (2019)

Released a year before the real-life Tokyo Olympic Games was scheduled to begin (only to be postponed to 2021 in response to the COVID-19 pandemic), Mario & Sonic at the Olympic Games Tokyo 2020 brings the platform rivalry between the jolly red plumber, the speedy blue hedgehog, and their respective friends back to the world stage with new events, like surfing, skateboarding, karate, and sport climbing, and bonus features. The game includes a story mode that takes Mario and Sonic back to the Tokyo 1964 Olympics and their early 2D sprite selves, while everyone else works to help bring them back to the real world in the present day. You get the best of both eras and some history lessons about the Olympic Games in Tokyo to go with it.

Sonic Colors: Ultimate (2021)

Sonic Colors: Ultimate is a remastered version of the original Sonic Colors developed by Blind Squirrel Games for Sonic’s 30th anniversary in 2021. The remaster enhanced the graphics to brighten up the colors of Eggman’s interplanetary amusement park and the character models, introduced a new Jade Ghost Wisp to help Sonic phase through walls and ceilings, replaced the traditional lives with rescues from Tails, and introduced mini races against Metal Sonic. You can also collect Park Tokens to customize Sonic with the wackiest designs for his shoes and gloves.

Sonic Origins (2022)

Sonic Origins compiles the first four classic Sonic games released on the Sega Genesis and Sega CD and remasters them for modern consoles and the audience that plays on them, whether they’re veteran fans seeking a nostalgia fix or young fans who want to understand Sonic’s history. Players can experience the game in Classic Mode, which is the original format presented in a 4:3 aspect ratio, or Anniversary Mode, which replaces lives with coins and allows Sonic to use Drop Dash as he did in Sonic Mania. Each game in the compilation features new animated cutscenes at the beginning and end done by the incomparable Tyson Heese to connect all four games into a cohesive story, provided you play them in the original release order.

Sonic Frontiers (2022)

Sonic Frontiers is the first open-world game in the Sonic franchise – or should we say, “open-zone”? – born out of a trend of open-world games being styled after The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. Sonic explores the vast Starfall Islands to fight cybernetic enemies, solve various puzzles, and run through Cyber Space levels modeled after the levels from past Sonic titles in an effort to save his friends from the digitized dimension. Both veteran and new Sonic fans alike will enjoy running around the mysterious island set to a soundtrack that strikes a delicate balance between serenity and chaos.

Sonic Superstars (2023)

Sonic Superstars is a collaborative effort between Sega and Arzest to bring 3D graphics to a Classic Sonic game, a move that surprised everyone at the 2023 Summer Game Fest (including this author). With Classic Sonic being a CGI character on his own for the first time and classic levels getting revamped with new music and upgraded level designs, the game allows up to four people to locally play together as Sonic and his friends throughout 11 levels across the Northstar Islands and grants new powers for every Chaos Emerald they collect to overcome obstacles.

Sonic X Shadow Generations (2024)

Team Sonic’s latest is Sonic X Shadow Generations, a remastered version of 2011’s Sonic Generation that goes beyond graphical upgrades and quality-of-life improvements by including an all-new campaign comprised of reminagined Shadow stages from past Sonic games. The two campaigns combine for 15-20 hours of content across over 150 stages, leading us to say in our Shadow x Generations review that it “soars far and above previous enhanced versions we’ve gotten in the Sonic franchise.”

With so many great games coming down the pipeline, now’s a great time to hop on the Xbox Game Pass bandwagon. If some titles joining the catalog this year have caught your eye and you’re itching to join in on the fun, we have good news: You can score some savings on a three-month Xbox Game Pass Ultimate membership right now at Amazon, which is worth taking advantage of.

You can learn more about that deal, what’s coming soon to Game Pass, and the big releases still to come below.

Navigate to:

• Best Xbox Game Pass Deals
• What’s Coming Soon to Xbox Game Pass?
• What Games Are Leaving Xbox Game Pass?
• Biggest Games Releasing on Xbox Game Pass

Best Xbox Game Pass Deals

In an era of live services, MMOs, and generally disconnected online experiences, the idea of local multiplayer is quickly becoming a rarity. And while we have seen a handful of great couch co-op experiences pop up here and there, such as TMNT Shredders Revenge, Overcooked, and Hazelight Studios’ very own It Takes Two, I can’t think of anything I’ve played recently that resonated with me quite like Split Fiction. From its plethora of varying gameplay types, such as a twin-stick shooter, a pinball inspired puzzle platformer, and in one instance, a hot dog simulator, to its dazzling graphics and believable character dialogue, Split Fiction is looking to not only be another standout title in a year full of promising releases, but something that anyone who’s looking for a fun and unique local multiplayer game should pencil in on their gaming calendar.

In Split Fiction you play as either Mio or Zoe, two aspiring writers who are chosen to take part in an early test of a machine that will bring their stories to life. From what I saw, this plot device not only helps build the world of Split Fiction, but also provides a perfect excuse to seamlessly transition between its sci-fi and fantasy settings. During the few hours I got to play, jumping back and forth never felt forced or tedious, and while I’m admittedly not the biggest fan of fantasy unless the word “Final” is attached in some way, I never found myself getting bored of Zoe’s fantasy worlds. This was supported by Split Fiction’s well-written and believable dialogue between characters, which helped convince me that I was watching two real people who are polar opposites interact with each other in their own make-believe worlds.

If you played Hazelight’s previous games (It Takes Two and A Way Out), you probably have a pretty good idea of what’s in store for you with Split Fiction. A shared multiplayer experience on either the same or a split screen that’s full of cleverly designed puzzles that require teamwork and communication, all wrapped up in a nice-looking and well-written package. What sets Split Fiction apart from other couch co-op games is its clever integration of numerous gameplay styles, keeping the experience fresh and engaging.

In fact, the variety of gameplay styles in Split Fiction is easily its most standout feature. And during my brief time with it, it was clear that this isn’t another standard two-player puzzler or beat-’em-up experience. Hazelight obviously took its time to refine the variety of gameplay types in here, because nothing felt like it was rushed or created in order to add variety for the sake of variety. One standout moment for me was a section where Zoe and Mio have to snowboard their way out of an active warzone, which felt more like a blend of Sonic Adventure Battle and SSX than your typical on-rails downhill spectacle. In this moment, Split Fiction introduced a points mechanic where I had to compete against my partner, performing as many grinds, grabs, and flip tricks as possible while trying to avoid death. While this mechanic has been done before in more games than I can count, the fact that this instance is just one of dozens really shows the potential of fun things to do in Split Fiction.

That’s not to say they were all hits, though. One section had us playing a hybrid of a platformer and pinball where I was controlling the ball and my partner was controlling the pinball paddles. This required some precise timing on both of our ends, and it was a creative way to introduce a slower puzzle mechanic to a game that has a surprising amount of action in it. While I found myself getting a bit frustrated whenever I messed up a badly timed jump, the satisfaction I felt once my partner and I finished any of the campaign’s collaborative tasks really elevated the experience.

And just to be clear: Split Fiction is 100% a collaborative experience that keeps you on your toes throughout; single-player is not an option. But unlike most co-op games where both players need to fight a screen full of enemies or break a bunch of blocks in order to progress to the next level, Split Fiction requires a heavy amount of teamwork and critical thinking from both players in its heavy action as well as its mellower puzzle sections. Throughout my demo time, I found myself communicating more with my partner and working together to try to figure out the puzzles and bosses because, refreshingly, Split Fiction does not hold your hand whatsoever. Thats not to say this is suddenly a soulslike in terms of difficulty, but there wasn’t a moment where the UI pointed us in the right direction or gave us a hint on what to do. Which is kind of the point of Split Fiction and co-op games as a whole, and definitely made my demo a really fun and rewarding experience.

In a time where every game can either be played solo or is completely full of NPCs or people online who don’t really want to interact outside of a few words here and there, Split Fiction really looks to raise the bar in what a co-op experience can be. I appreciated everything from its interesting use of multiple gameplay styles spanning across many genres, to its cleverly written dialogue and beautiful-looking worlds, plus the fact that it requires you to actively play with someone else and think outside of the box to solve its puzzles. And in a year packed with dozens of promising releases, Split Fiction is definitely looking to set itself apart from the pack in a way that few games can.

If you have a soft spot for retro-style games, you might already be keeping an eye on Takaya Imamura’s upcoming adventure game OMEGA 6: The Triangle Stars. That game is based on a manga series created by the former Nintendo art director, and now Dark Horse is bringing that manga to the US for the first time.

Check out the cover art to OMEGA 6 below:

HBO is still working on several more Game of Thrones spin-offs including one “very promising” show focused on the Targaryen line, though nothing has been greenlit as of yet.

Francesca Orsi, head of drama series and films at HBO, suggested to Deadline that, despite both current Game of Thrones spin-offs — House of the Dragon and A Knight of the Seven Kingdoms — focusing on Daenerys Targaryen’s ancestors, the next furthest along show is too.

“We have other spin-offs that we’re working on right now, one of which — which I won’t get into — is very promising, and is still the Targaryen line,” Orsi said. “There’s a number of other spin-offs. We can’t really guarantee what’s going to go forward, but we are very big budget on the other ones.”

HBO isn’t just looking to expand Game of Thrones with further television series but also in the full scale movie space, as HBO and Max CEO Casey Bloys said in November it’s working to get a film off the ground with George R.R. Martin.

A series isn’t fully official until its greenlit, however, as HBO has so far developed myriad shows that never saw the light of day.

Cancelled series so far include a prequel based on an in-world apocalypse called The Long Night, which HBO scrapped after spending $30 million on a pilot episode, a show called 10,000 Ships which would focus on a sea-faring city, a mysterious Braavos series which Martin plans on continuing in writing form himself, and a sequel starring Kit Harington as Jon Snow.

Martin recently appeared to tease a return of Arya Stark actress Maisie Williams too, though nothing has been said officially about such a comeback.

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

Let’s get the comparisons out of the way first; Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds feels closer to the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed era of games as opposed to the more recent Team Sonic Racing, but has taken advantage of the enhancements that Team Sonic Racing brought to the table. While I’ve enjoyed both formats, the three-character mechanic of building a team to work together to coordinate racing and drift lines is gone. Instead, CrossWorlds goes back to Mario Kart’s everyone-for-themselves format. Like Mario Kart, it shares some similarities, from the items on the courses to the various shortcuts and cart customization. However, while it shares some DNA, Sonic Racing: CrossWorlds evolves beyond what we’ve gotten from its now 11-year-old competitor. Now, one area that CrossWorlds may come up short in compared to Team Sonic Racing is so far, there is no sign of an adventure mode, but this was an early look, so that might be one of the many reveals that the team is saving for later.

While many elements mimic its competitors, the green and red rocket-powered gloves bounce off walls or home in on opponents, being the most one-to-one example to the shells in Mario Kart and the customizable car parts and wheels like we got in MK8. There is still enough here to help CrossWorlds stand apart from the crowd, though. Plenty of the elements core to Sonic games, such as the various wisp powerups like drill and tornado ability, knock other racers away and defend you from incoming attacks. There were also magnets you could throw out as hazards, which pull enemies towards them if they get too close, and their ultimate rubber band item to help those in lower positions catch up, the Monster Truck, which turns your car into a massive monster truck that knocks enemies away and allows you to drive over all terrains without penalty.

Beyond the items Sonic Racing CrossWorlds is all about – well, crossing worlds, with each race separated into the traditional three laps. Still, each lap feels different, thanks to the marquee CrossWorlds mechanic. At the end of the first lap, whoever is leading the pack will determine which course the second lap will take by driving through one of two giant travel rings that transport everyone seamlessly once they arrive at that point. The options for these are randomized, and sometimes, one of the options itself is a randomizer, so not even the leader will know what to expect if they choose it.

During my demo time, my second lap took me across stages themed with things like dinosaurs, pirates, or lava, where we spent most of the lap in a plane, another mechanic that I will get to later. There are also modifiers for the second stage, called frenzy, that will alter the lap, such as placing moving boost gates along the entire lap or granting a maximum boost gauge after drifting for only a split second and making the whole lap feel like I was back in the days of the snaking that plagued and ruined Mario Kart DS. Thankfully, frenzy modifiers are random, and across my 15 or so races, the instant boost frenzy only happened once – so I’m not worried at all about it becoming an issue in CrossWorlds.

After finishing the second lap, another transport ring seamlessly sends players back to the original course, but with some minor but effective changes to the course layout in key areas. Courses like Metal Harbor evolve, where you have to drive around the outside of a rocket launchpad on lap one, but on lap three, the rocket has launched as it did in Sonic Adventure 2, replacing it with a steep Half-pipe ramp that allows players to perform as many air tricks as possible to gain a considerable speed boost when landing on the opposite side. And that’s just one example! In another course with water segments, I saw gates open, allowing access to shortcuts or supercharged item boxes with a higher chance of granting better items. CrossWorlds is also hiding shortcuts around the map as well as shortcut rings that activate on the final lap tha would temporarily send me to another world. These secret rings are powerful shortcuts as they extended my lead in races or helped me catch up and made it more challenging for other racers to target me with their items. I don’t know what forces were causing these rings to appear as I raced, but they were worth the effort of being ready to take them.

Like the Sonic & All-Stars Racing Transformed games, portions of laps, or sometimes entire laps, place you in a plane or boat instead of a car. All of these vehicles have a unique identity, and while they share similarities, they have mechanics to help them stand out from one another. In addition to the standard drift mechanic you get in a car when transformed into a boat, you have a charge mechanic that jumps it out of the water, giving another opportunity to perform air tricks for speed boosts, which can help you regain some speed after hitting a hazard or being tagged by an enemy’s attack. While planes offer more routes than the other vehicles, they do so only if you spot the alternate paths, like a chain of boost gates underneath the road on Magma Planet where you need to dodge waves of magma to maximize the planes advantage. The variety of vehicles and paths gave me nostalgic notes of figuring out the best routes based on the vehicle I was in like I did in Diddy Kong Racing from my Nintendo 64 days but with all the updates to the formula you would hope for in a game released nearly two decades later.

While I was playing, I spotted some incredible inclusions spanning multiple generations that longtime fans of Sonic will be excited about. The roster of characters shown so far ranged from the expected heroes and regular all-stars Sonic, Tails, & Knuckles to less frequently playable characters like Cream, Omega, and even Zazz from Lost World. The rider you put behind the wheel also has unique stats that will affect how they drive each car, and even rivals like Sonic and Shadow have similar yet different stats, such as one having more speed while the other having more power or boost. Vehicles fall into five classes: speed, acceleration, handling, power, and boost, all of which have high stats in the matching category with the looks to match it, and I could quickly feel the change in my car as I swapped between them.

When racing in my power vehicle, which I had customized to look like a bulldozer, I felt thematically appropriate as I bullied other racers all while stealing their rings and giving myself a speed boost thanks to some gadgets I had installed, which I will also get to in a bit. Characters and types of cars have the most significant impact on your vehicle’s stats, which you can then modify by changing individual car parts like the wheels, and more. I picked my favorite Shadow and raced in four of the five vehicle types, all of which worked well enough to where I finished in first place for 75% of my races and top five in all of the rest except for one (where a well-timed item hit me and caused me to miss a ramp and fall off the map in the final stretch of a race). Along with changing out parts for stats, you can also deck out your car with decals and change the colors and materials to your heart’s content. Combining your character with car customization allows you to make your vehicle your own.

The last bit of customization comes from another mechanic called the gadget panel. It’s a powerful tool for changing how people race, granting abilities like an increased chance of getting certain items, adding a fourth level to the drift boost gauge, or granting you rings for performing specific actions. Every ability costs anywhere from one to three slots, and your panel to install them consists of two rows of three for a maximum of six slots. I started with only two slots, but after a few hours of racing, I increased this to five, giving me more options to slot in new abilities that changed how I approached races. Early on, I had opted for an ability that allowed me to grab rings from a greater range, which took up a single slot, but later on, I swapped to a pair of two-slot abilities that would give me a boost when colliding with others racers while also stealing 10 rings from them to help me reach my top speed sooner and also slowing my competition. Fortunately for my competitors and unfortunately for me, they caught on to my antics thanks to the ability to see other racers’ builds before a race, and shortly after implementing that strategy, nearly everyone else copied it, plunging our races into chaos like a 12-player game of bumper cars. Needless to say, this was a ton of fun as we all kept trying to ram into each other to get out in front of the pack.

Even though it was just a short test drive with my favorite hedgehogs and friends, I am eager to see what else hasn’t yet been revealed. The racing felt snappy and responsive, and each car customization operated as I expected. I felt like a superstar hitting enemies with the well-timed items I unleashed, and the new CrossWorlds mechanic was a blast, allowing me to learn courses while keeping each race feeling fresh, as I never knew what to expect on the second lap of every race. There’s a lot more left to learn about Sonic’s latest racer, but so far, so good.

FromSoftware has become a leading developer of action RPGs, crafting a number of unforgettable journeys into grimdark lands filled with horrors and wonder in equal measure. But, despite its unrivaled approach to level and lore design, FromSoft’s lasting legacy will likely always be its bosses: deeply challenging, typically horrific foes that push your skills to the very limits.

For its next game, Elden Ring Nightreign, FromSoftware is going all-in on the bosses. This roguelike-ish co-op game is fully combat focused, with each of Nightreign’s runs pitting players against an increasingly difficult set of bosses. And, as the first trailer revealed, some of those bosses are returning foes from the Dark Souls series, including the majestic Nameless King.

With all this in mind, we asked ourselves: what are the best boss fights FromSoftware has made? We considered battles from across FromSoftware’s “Soulsborne” style games – Elden Ring, Bloodborne, Sekiro, Demon’s Souls, and the Dark Souls trilogy. We assessed not just the challenge of each fight, but every element of the battle: the music, the setting, the mechanical complexity, the lore significance, and many other details. What follows are our 25 favourites, based on all those criteria.

This isn’t a list of the most difficult bosses. This is a list of the greatest bosses in FromSoftware history.

25. Old Monk (Demon’s Souls)

Conceptually, the Old Monk from Demon’s Souls is one of the coolest ways FromSoftware has tried to push its vision of PvP multiplayer invasions. Instead of a traditional, computer-controlled boss, the Old Monk has the chance of being puppeted by another player. While the level of challenge the Old Monk poses largely depends on the skill of the summoned player, this unusual event nonetheless does a good job of reminding you that enemy players can appear in your game at any time, even during a boss fight.

24. Old Hero (Demon’s Souls)

While many of its bosses have been totally eclipsed by more elegantly designed foes in subsequent games, Demon’s Souls’ puzzle-style showdowns remain fascinating highpoints in FromSoft’s library. Old Hero is the best example; a tall, glowing, hard-hitting ancient warrior who is completely blind. He flails out in all directions, but his inability to track you by sight makes avoiding his blade practically trivial. However, while he can’t see you he can hear you, and so the clash against Old Hero becomes a quasi-stealth experience. It’s hardly a difficult fight, settling into a pattern of sneaking into position, striking the Hero’s ankles, and then silently holding back until he resets his patrol. Despite this, Old Hero stands as a unique event in FromSoft history, and laid the groundwork for esoteric bosses like Elden Ring’s Rennala and Sekiro’s Folding Screen Monkeys.

23. Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon (Dark Souls 2: Crown of the Sunken King)

Dragons are typically some of the toughest bosses in FromSoftware’s games, but early dragon fights in games like Dark Souls and Demon’s Souls felt more like prototypes compared to some of the epic dragon fights that appear in newer games. A turning point for fantasy’s iconic winged beasts, when dragon fights truly began to feel like epic clashes, came in Dark Souls 2’s Sunken Crown trilogy with the battle against Sinh, the Slumbering Dragon. With swelling music accompanying this monstrously difficult fight in the depths of a poisonous cavern, Sinh is the template for how cool and terrifying all later dragon fights feel in FromSoftware games.

22. Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos (Bloodborne)

While you must put down a number of eldritch creatures during your journey through Yarnham, none reflects Bloodborne’s relationship with the works of Lovecraft quite like Ebrietas, Daughter of the Cosmos. A mass of tentacles, growths, and wings, she’s the creature worshiped by the Healing Church and the origin point of Blood Ministration. In short, she’s a key reason for why the events of Bloodborne take place. While she doesn’t quite prove as fearsome as her backstory may suggest, she nonetheless provides a thematically-rich showdown; her most devastating attack sees her rip open the cosmos to fire volleys of arcane energy, while her regurgitated blood inflicts Frenzy; a status effect that slowly drives you insane by inflicting the Eldritch Truth upon your mind. As we said, it’s Lovecraft as hell.

21. Fume Knight (Dark Souls 2)

Arguably the most difficult fight in Dark Souls 2, Fume Knight combines speed and brawn. He dual-wields two weapons; a long-sword for speedy attacks, and a hulking Buster Sword-style blade for heavy damage. He’ll later combine the two into one giant flame sword that you do not want to get on the wrong end of. While the Fume Knight’s difficulty makes him stand out, he’s also very fun to fight. FromSoft’s duel-style fights typically pit you against either a speedy knight or a heavy, but Fume Knight combines both in one flame-wielding package.

20. Bayle the Dread (Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree)

The fight against Bayle the Dread is memorable enough on its own, what with being one of the hardest bosses in a DLC featuring some of the toughest bosses throughout all of Elden Ring. But what really elevates it and sends it over the edge, making it one of the best fights throughout the series, is your NPC ally, Igon. His guttural cries of sheer hatred for Bayle, both in the leadup to the fight and the fight itself, are just so unforgettable, and add another layer of excitement in an already incredibly exciting face-off against a hideous dragon.

19. Father Gascoigne (Bloodborne)

Every FromSoft game has a proving ground moment relatively early on. These boss fights challenge your grasp of the game’s mechanics, and if you can’t overcome them, then that’s likely where your playthrough ends. Bloodborne features perhaps the best of this particular style of boss with Father Gascoigne. If you just mindlessly strike at him, he will counter you with a gunshot and use a visceral attack for huge damage. And if you just try to just rely on your reflexes and dodge his attacks, he will likely outlast you thanks to how little damage you do and how few healing blood vials you likely have. To take on Gascoigne, you need to learn how to use the environment to your advantage, to not get greedy with your offense, and ideally how to use your own gun to parry his slower attacks – all of which are crucial skills that you’ll need to know for future, harder fights in Bloodborne.

18. Starscourge Radahn (Elden Ring)

Elden Ring is bursting to the seams with sweeping spectacle, but not many of its encounters come close to facing off against the scale of Starscourge Radahn and his vast festival battlefield. The oversized, maniacal experimenter of gravity magic may cut a slightly comical figure atop his tiny-by-comparison steed, but the last thing you’ll be doing is laughing when he’s plunging down to earth like a meteor hellbent on your destruction…

While a patch dropped in Elden Ring’s earliest days means he no longer offers the same level of ludicrous challenge he once did, the battle against Radahn is still a fight that stands as one of Miyazaki’s most inventive. The ability to summon in numerous NPC companions you’ve met along your journey adds a real sense of “epicness” to the battle as well, as the likes of Blaidd, Lionel the Lionhearted, and everyone’s favourite big pot lad, Iron First Alexander, join the fray. It’s an encounter worthy of the Festival of Combat’s name, and one that ends in one of the most (literally) earth-shattering moments of Elden Ring, revealing a whole new layer to FromSoft’s masterpiece.

17. Great Grey Wolf Sif (Dark Souls)

FromSoft’s games are laden with melancholy, but few moments reach the heart-tugging heights (depths?) of being asked to strike down Great Grey Wolf Sif. Artorias’ loyal oversized canine companion, Sif can be found guarding the grave of its fallen master, wielding his large greatsword between his jaws. This may not be Dark Souls’ most challenging encounter, but it is one heavy with atmosphere and story implications. All this can’t help but leave an emotional imprint on those who take part in it. As such, it remains one of the series’ most enduring moments, and a reminder that FromSoft’s worlds and characters are rarely presented as morally black and white. Instead, they’re forever grey.

16. Maliketh, the Black Blade (Elden Ring)

If you want an example of one of, if not the most purely aggressive bosses in Souslike history, look no further than Maliketh. Even in his bestial first phase, he rushes towards you, darting in and out of the fight, tossing rocks at you even as he dodges away. But the real terror begins when he throws away his robe and reveals his true form: Maliketh, the Black Blade. He doesn’t even restore his health, but it never feels like he’s coming into the battle at anything less than 100% because it’s so hard to actually find opportunities to hit him. His combos are long and have multiple follow ups that are easy to catch you by surprise if you’ve not committed every precise pattern to memory. Despite this difficulty though, Maliketh remains one of the most memorable boss battles throughout all of Elden Ring for how high intensity the whole fight is, right from the get go.

15. Dancer of the Boreal Valley (Dark Souls 3)

Dancer of the Boreal Valley is a visually stunning, technically unique boss fight. Wielding a pair of curved blades, this giant armored boss utilizes her long limbs and erratic fighting style to keep players on their toes. Unusually timed animations mean you never know when she’s going to strike, nor from what distance, making it hard to predict her moves. But Dark Souls 3’s animation team deserves extra credit for creating such an eerie figure whose dance-like movements certainly live up to her name.

14. Genichiro Ashina (Sekiro)

The first time players face off against Sekiro’s Genichiro Ashina, the battle takes place in a field of reeds on a moonlit night. While the boss fight will likely last only a few short minutes, it is one of the most memorable fights in the entire game. That’s until you face him again atop Ashina castle, where you’ll face one of the most epic duels in FromSoftware history. Crossing swords with Genichiro Ashina will require all your strength and guile, and learning to deflect literal lightning back at your foe is perhaps Sekiro’s mythical swordsman fantasy at its most potent. Ultimately, though, this fight is a test to see whether you grasp Sekiro’s key concepts of parrying and deflecting. Because if you’re not prepared for Genichiro, you’re not prepared for Sekiro.

13. Owl (Father) (Sekiro)

As Sekiro’s storyline begins to branch in its final act, progressing towards the Purification ending involves killing Wolf’s imposing and traitorous father, Owl. The fight’s emotional blows are second only to its physical ones, as Owl is one of the most aggressive and hardest-hitting bosses in the entire game. He has an arsenal of lethal gadgets up his sleeve, hurling handfuls of shuriken as he leaps through the air and casting trails of thick smoke and sparks that conceal his long-reaching sword strikes. Despite his heavy, muscular physique he’s surprisingly quick, especially during the fight’s second phase when he’s able to make use of a spectral owl to teleport across the arena. Murdering your father is a difficult thing to do, but when the fight’s as thrilling as this one, the feeling is not entirely unpleasant.

12. Soul of Cinder (Dark Souls 3)

If there’s a boss who can represent the very essence of Dark Souls through aesthetics alone, it’s the Soul of Cinder. The final boss of Dark Souls 3, this manifestation of every Lord who linked the Flame takes the form of a grimdark knight shrouded in fire. Its amalgamation nature means it fights with an unpredictable array of styles. One moment it could perform a deadly pirouette with an elegant curved sword, and the next close the distance between you with a piercing spear lunge. It’s the fight’s second phase, though, that really locks Soul of Cinder into the history books. Unleashing heavy, multi-strike combos with a flaming blade, his attack patterns recreate those of Gwyn, the Lord of Cinder and final boss of the original Dark Souls. And so the trilogy ends in a beautiful, haunting reflection of its seminal first outing.

11. Sister Friede (Dark Souls 3: Ashes of Ariandel)

A brutal endurance test across three distinct phases, Sister Friede is arguably the most punishing boss fight in the entire Dark Souls series. Hidden away in the Ashes of Ariandel DLC, Friede is a scythe-wielding nun that fights with such relentless aggression that the most difficult thing is not so much staying alive, but finding the opportunity to deal even a single point of damage. She fights alone in the fierce first and third phases, but it’s the middle phase where things really get going. Friede awakens the ginormous Father Ariandel, who drags himself around the area while spilling great tides of searing flame from his massive bowl. Overcoming both Ariandel and the frost-casting Friede simultaneously is a song of ice and fire for the ages.

10. Orphan of Kos (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)

Bloodborne’s most infamous foe, Orphan of Kos plagues the nightmares of all who have faced it. The grotesque, shrieking offspring of a dying Great One, the Orphan is a terrifyingly fast boss. After closing the distance with a spry leap, it attacks tirelessly with lengthy, unpredictable combos that are difficult to parry and leave practically zero room for error. Oh, and if its corpse-like form wasn’t gross enough, it wields its own solidified placenta as a weapon, hurling pieces of it at you as if they were organic grenades. It truly is the thing of nightmares.

9. Malenia, Blade of Miquella (Elden Ring)

No other FromSoft boss has defined the cultural zeitgeist like how Malenia, Blade of Miquella did. That was a clear shift in the gaming community when players steadily started to discover her hiding spot at the bottom of Elden Ring’s Haligtree. Arguably the 2020 Game of the Year winner’s most challenging fight, and if not definitely one of its most memorable, the clash against Malenia takes place over two punishing stages that put all of your dueling skills to the test. If your name isn’t Let Me Solo Her, that is.

The first is a sword-centered face-off in which the legendary twin of Miquella, who brought Caelid to ruins through an unleashing of scarlet rot, aims to skewer you with her mesmerisingly deadly waterfowl dance maneuver. If you manage to weave yourself in and out of her flurrying swipes you’ll meet her second form: the beautifully destructive Goddess of Rot persona that unleashes sparkling red plumes that eat at your health bar. Malenia’s a mighty challenge to take down, but also a boss fight filled with visual spectacle and rooted in a deep story attached to the shattering of Elden Ring’s world.

8. Guardian Ape (Sekiro)

Sekiro’s Guardian Ape is undoubtedly the most comedic foe on this list. As you’d expect of a giant monkey, this mighty beast lashes out with a primal rage, its gangly limbs flailing outwards in order to sweep you off your feet. But between those strikes are moments of gleeful toilet humour, as the Guardian Ape farts poison gas in your face and slings stinky mounds of poop across the battlefield. It’s delightfully silly stuff.

But the Guardian Ape is also the dirtiest trick FromSoft has ever pulled, and not because of all the feces. With the ape’s head severed from its neck, it seems like the fight is over. The “Shinobi Execution” graphic even appears, which always marks the end of a tough battle. And then the Guardian Ape stands up, its head grasped in one hand, the sword that decapitated it in the other. And then you must survive a frenzied fright with the Ape’s shrieking, reanimated corpse. There’s never been a table flip quite as effective as this one.

7. Knight Artorias (Dark Souls: Artorias of the Abyss)

Artorias the Abysswalker is a truly tragic figure within Dark Souls’ lore. Possessed by the essence of darkness and forced to abandon his friends and compatriots, Artorias is a great piece of Dark Souls writing. Not only that, he’s also an exhilarating boss fight. After dying again and again to Artorias’ rapid attacks and tricky combos, by the time I defeated him I felt like I should start recording my gameplay like SunhiLegend. Moreso than any other fight, beating Artorias feels like a rite of passage for anyone looking to embark on the path of mastering Dark Souls.

6. Nameless King (Dark Souls 3)

The Nameless King is an example of a perfect Dark Souls boss. He’s undeniably one of Dark Souls 3’s most difficult foes, but nevertheless puts up a fair and measured fight. His lightning-wreathed lunges and explosive slams are clearly telegraphed, and you don’t need superhuman reflexes to counter him. What you do need is endurance, persistence, and flexibility, as this long fight of two halves presents a duo of unique challenges. The first phase is a gold-standard dragon duel, with the King riding atop his fire-belching, constantly mobile wyvern. With his mount defeated, you move onto the grounded second phase in which you go toe-to-toe for the thrilling finale. Fought atop Archdragon Peak within the eye of a storm, Nameless King provides an unforgettable spectacle soundtracked by one of the series’ best ever musical themes. This really is almost as good as it gets.

5. Dragon Slayer Ornstein and Executioner Smough (Dark Souls)

The first time you encounter Ornstein and Smough, you might think to yourself, “Two on One? That doesn’t seem very fair.” What’s funny, then, is that after you finally manage to kill one of them, the other absorbs their fallen ally’s power, restoring all of their health, and becomes a tougher version of what you’ve already been fighting, no doubt prompting you to think, again, “Wait, that doesn’t seem very fair!”

Ornstein and Smough established the very template for this kind of double boss fight, and it’s one that FromSoftware loves to include in virtually every one of its games released since Dark Souls. None have quite reached the level of notoriety as Ornstein and Smough, though. It’s an unforgettable fight on its own, but its influence on the genre as a whole is what truly makes this battle so special.

4. Ludwig, The Accursed/Holy Blade (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)

Ludwig is arguably Bloodborne’s most complex boss. He constantly evolves throughout the fight, making use of new moves as you chip deeper into his health bar. Across both phases he’s able to command a total of 23 unique attacks, many of which are unleashed with such ferocity that even a minor error can leave you crushed beneath Ludwig’s hooves. To defeat him you need to fully embrace Bloodborne’s trademark aggression and speed, particularly in the first phase, in which Ludwig leaps around like a frenzied Buckaroo. Alongside being a serious challenge, Ludwig is a great encapsulation of Bloodborne’s tragic lore. He’s the Healing Church’s first hunter, now mutated into a horse-like, multi-limbed eldritch horror thanks to his dangerous obsessions. Proudly wielding Yarnham’s version of FromSoft’s recurring Moonlight Great Sword, Ludwig is one of the studio’s greatest creations.

3. Slave Knight Gael (Dark Souls 3: The Ringed City)

Few fights feel as truly mythical as the showdown with Slave Knight Gael. The final boss of Dark Souls 3’s The Ringed City DLC, he more than lives up to the task of being the trilogy’s concluding challenge. In the fight’s opening act he crawls around, beast like, swinging his blade in heavy, imprecise arcs. But come phase two, Gael takes on the strength of the Dark Soul itself. He stands upright, his cloak billowing like the wings of a fallen angel. Armed with a terrifying array of abilities, from clouds of spectral skulls and lighting strikes to a machinegun-like crossbow, this fallen knight really is the ultimate test of skill. And, thanks to Gael’s story being so intricately entwined with the entire canvas that is the Dark Souls story, besting him feels like a momentous occasion. Soundtracked by an orchestra and choir going the whole nine yards and fought on a battlefield that’s essentially the ashes of existence itself, Slave Knight Gael is Dark Souls’ finest ever boss.

2. Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower (Bloodborne: The Old Hunters)

“A corpse should be left well alone.” With those words, Lady Maria of the Astral Clocktower catapults her way into the top tier of FromSoftware’s greatest bosses. In her horological throne room, you’ll face one of Bloodborne’s most technically accomplished duelists. Dodging her twin swords and pistol is tough enough already, but as the music ramps up and she begins to channel her blood powers, the fight reaches greater and greater levels of intensity. Dodge, parry, and attack until finally you slaughter your foe. The song ends and the curtains draw. Lady Maria, take a bow.

1. Isshin, the Sword Saint (Sekiro)

The intricate complexities of its focused combat system sets Sekiro’s boss battles apart from their peers in the wider FromSoft library. Sekiro really is the best swordplay simulator around – a whirlwind of exhilarating parries and viciously sharp strikes – and so it’s perhaps only logical that its climatic clash stands as the very best boss fight FromSoftware has ever made. Isshin, the Sword Saint is everything that makes Sekiro so special, all wrapped up in a four-phase battle that’ll have your heart beating faster than it ever has before.

Technically two fights in one, Sekiro’s final clash begins with one last duel against Genichiro, who is ritually torn apart to resurrect his grandfather, the legendary warrior Isshin. And legendary really is the word; Isshin dominates a beautiful battlefield with a variety of techniques that pull on almost every single tactic you’ve mastered across your journey. You’ll need to counter piercing thrusts from both sword and spear, block bullets from a surprise pistol, and even deflect searing bolts of lightning in the fight’s final moments. Isshin is relentless in his offense, but there’s a precision and elegance to this fight that turns the whole thing into a deadly dance. It’s intimate and controlled and measured in a way few FromSoft battles are, and conquering Isshin provides an unmatched feeling of accomplishment. The Sword Saint may not be discussed as widely as iconic foes from Dark Souls, Elden Ring, and Bloodborne, but his downfall is, at least as far as we’re concerned, FromSoftware’s finest boss battle.

Victory achieved. Prey slaughtered. Enemy felled. Our choices and ranking of the top 25 FromSoftware bosses is complete. Did we miss one of your favourites? Let us know your picks in the comments. You can also rank these 25 bosses yourself using the IGN Tier List tool below.

This list was compiled and written by Simon Cardy, Matt Kim, Mitchell Saltzman, and Matt Purslow.

Embracer has hailed the success of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, confirming it is near the 2 million sold mark.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 sold 1 million copies just a day after launch, and has now nearly doubled that figure 10 days later.

It’s an incredible sales success for developer Warhorse Studios’ medieval Europe action role playing game sequel, which launched on February 4 across PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X and S. Embracer said Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 did particularly well on Steam, where it saw over 250,000 peak concurrent players. For context, the first Kingdom Come: Deliverance hit a peak Steam concurrent player count of 96,069 seven years ago.

It’s worth noting that Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2’s actual peak concurrent player count will be bigger, given the game launched on console as well as PC. However, neither Sony nor Microsoft make player numbers public.

Embracer, which owns Warhorse Studios via its subsidiary, Plaion, said Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 “has been initially successful, not only in terms of player and critic reception, but also in terms of performance.”

“This reflects the dedication and hard work of our development studio, Warhorse Studios, and our publisher, Deep Silver,” Embracer CEO Lars Wingefors said.

“It is our strong belief that the game will continue to generate substantial revenues over the coming years, highlighting the exceptional quality, immersion and appeal of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2. Warhorse Studios has a robust roadmap, including updates and new content over the next 12 months, ensuring an engaging and continuously evolving experience for the community.

“We are immensely proud of the teams involved in the successful release of Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, which has significantly outperformed our expectations so far,” Wingefors added.

Other than Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2, Embracer has Killing Floor 3 due out later this quarter (January to March 2025).

Embracer said it has more than 5,000 game developers working on its upcoming games, with 10 triple-A games due out over the next three financial years (FY 2025/26, FY 2026/27, and FY 2027/28). Eight of these are from internal studios, two from external studios.

In FY 2025/26, Embracer has two triple-A games scheduled to be released towards the end of the financial year. Mid-size releases include Gothic 1 Remake, REANIMAL, Fellowship, Deep Rock Galactic: Rogue Core, Titan Quest II, Screamer, Echoes of the End (working title), Tides of Tomorrow, Satisfactory (console) and the full release of Wreckfest 2, alongside a similar number of mid-sized games yet to be announced.

Embracer has endured a tough time in recent years, laying off thousands of staff and selling a number of its studios, including Borderlands maker Gearbox and Warhammer 40,000: Space Marine 2 developer Saber Interactive. It still owns Metro developer 4A Games, which is working on a brand new game in the series.

Getting started in Kingdom Come Deliverance 2? Check out our advice on Things to Do First and How to Make Money Fast Early to get you started, or head to our Walkthrough hub for a step-by-step guide to the main quest. We’ve also got guides for the myriad Activities and Tasks, Side Quests, and even Cheat Codes and Console Commands.

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.