Category: IGN

Tekken 8 had a big Evo. Bandai Namco announced a new free single player story expansion, and a partnership with Nike and Chipotle. There was an incredible Grand Finals that saw Arslan Ash prove to the world that he is still the king of competitive Tekken. And there was also the return of arguably the most iconic and recognizable character in Tekken Lore – one that we were told was dead dead, like, for realsies this time – Heihachi Mishima.

During the show, I got a chance to sit down with Tekken series director Katsuhiro Harada, producer Michael Murray, and game director Kohei Ikeda, to pick their brains about Heihachi returning to Tekken, how the game is performing six months in, and much more.

So, to start this off, why did you lie to us? How is Heihachi coming back from the dead and what made you want to bring Heihachi back as the third DLC character for Tekken 8?

Katsuhiro Harada, Tekken 8 Series Director: [I] didn’t mean to lie or anything about that. It was… Tekken 7 really focused on the story arc between Heihachi and his son, Kazuya, and so, we really wanted to show that kind of final conclusion, and he seemed to die at that point. Right?

But then, after that happened, Tekken 8 was released, and we put a lot of effort into the story and the fans really seemed to be engaged with that. And as that was happening, we were kind of feeling that the players kind of missed him as well. Obviously, we did, too. So, it was kind of decided later on that we would do that.

So, it wasn’t a lie. And then, also, the timing is right since it’s the 30th anniversary of the franchise. And so, we need all three of the Mishimas. This is the most iconic in the series. Right?

Kohei Ikeda, Tekken 8 Director: So, after the fact, we did kind of make the preparations, you know, Reina, kind of that link that she has to Heihachi. And then, also the logo, the 30th anniversary. If you look closely at it, you can see that it’s comprised of Devil’s wings, two different styles, but if you take a step back and look at, it actually looks like the silhouette of Heihachi’s face. Right? So, we were doing some of the preparations in the background.

I know it’s early, but can you tell us a little bit about how this Tekken 8 version of Heihachi will be different from previous iterations, and maybe, how he’ll use heat to his advantage?

Ikeda: Like you imagine, it is a bit too early to be talking many details about his character, but to give some hints, he’s a very powerful play style throughout the series, so we tried to recreate that in Tekken 8. So, the focus is on that. But also, if you saw that a story hints about the monks and the footage and what he has to do with them, that maybe will dictate some of his move set as well.

So, there’s some hints there. We hope that you’ll look forward to hearing more about it.

So, another thing that you’ve announced is this partnership with Chipotle and Nike. Can you talk a little bit about how both those deals came about?

Harada: It really is several different cases. Sometimes, they approach us, other times, it’s something that we ask of them. But there needs to be the right conditions such as it’s a win for us, it’s a win for them. But more importantly, a win also for the fans.

For example, with the Nike thing, Nakatsu and I are both big sneaker… Myself and him, our fans, but there’s a lot of people on the team as well that love Nike. And so, it just happened that that’s something that there’s a lot of sneakerheads in the fighting game community as a whole.

And then, also on the Nike side, we found out they really knew about Kazuya’s being a sneakerhead, and we had a lot of fighting game fans on the Nike side. So, it was a win-win for everyone. And then, also, Chipotle as well, they’ve been supporting the fighting game community. It’s a good match with gamers and their franchises.

And then, also, if it’s something the fans are enjoying, obviously, that’s good for us from our side as well. So, it came about that, hey, that’s a win for everyone, let’s do it. Although the start is different, the conditions are pretty similar.

So, we’re half a year into Tekken 8’s life cycle. How happy are you with how the game has been received by fans, and then, separately, how have the sales so far met with your own expectations?

Harada: After the game released, it’s been six months, like you said, we’re happy with how the title’s performing. It’s continuing at a faster pace than Tekken 7.

Also, considering that compared to the other fighting game titles, we haven’t done the previous generation of hardware. It’s only on the current generation. So, that considered as well, I think it’s doing well.

And then, also from the community’s perspective, the game has been released and it was supported a lot by new players. Some of the people who’ve been with the series for a long time, they voiced some concerns, et cetera, at the beginning, but those opinions changed over the time.

We’ve noticed, during tournaments progressing, et cetera, people have more time with the game, even the more advanced players kind of got a handle on it. And so, their opinion has seemed to change in the past three months, was what he was saying.

Michael Murray, Producer: And I would add the same. We had to make a brand new game. It had to feel like a proper installment. So, Nakatsu and his team really changed the game system a lot, and really clarified the key concepts of the characters and their strengths and weaknesses.

And also, we did an update recently that addressed some of the things that the older players didn’t like. Maybe, enhancing some of the defensive options, et cetera. So, I think the game’s really in a good place currently.

Many of the core mechanics of Tekken 8 have changed since the game was first revealed. Specifically, I remember how the heat mechanics worked a little bit differently when I first saw it. Now that you’ve had six months since release and have heard feedback from both casual players and top-level pros, do you envision any more sweeping changes to the core systems in Tekken 8 or even some new additions?

Ikeda: Like you said, we’ve made some changes to the heat system after release. The reasoning being that, although the concept was clear and we felt we achieved it, that it was very fun to be on the offense and to open up your opponent and to be able to do damage, et cetera, was quite exhilarating, but we realized that some of the elements that people liked about 3D fight game, being able to have defensive options of side stepping or using that 3D environment to your advantage strategically was a little bit weaker perhaps in past installments.

So, with the update like we were mentioning, we enhanced those features a little bit more. So, we currently think that the game is in a good place and there are no further… we’ve already announced this to the player base as a whole, but we don’t plan on making any sweeping changes to the game system itself. We plan on proceeding with this. Although we’ll continue to be fixing bugs and things like that.

And also, like we talked about today, more about the product as a whole, adding new features or making quality of life improvements, trying to make it the best Tekken we can since it is, after all, the 30th anniversary of the series.

So, Tekken has historically been a series that has included some kind of off-the-wall characters like Gon, Mokujin, Roger, Alex and Kuma, and Panda. Since Tekken 6 though, it’s only really been Kuma and Panda representing that kind of character archetype.

Do you think Tekken, as a series, has largely outgrown those types of characters, or is there a chance that we could see those characters come back?

Harada: So, the strategy, the thinking behind the franchise hasn’t changed. It’s not like we’re intentionally removing those characters per se, but if you really take a close look at how they were back in those iterations, it was more of like they were… We call them compatible characters in Japanese, which means like the move set is another character and it’s just the skin is different, right?

There are many of those characters in the past, not just the animals that you mentioned. And over the series, we’ve tried to flesh them out and to do away with that portion. So, making sure that each of the characters are unique. So, even if you have Kuma and Panda, their moves might be slightly different or the Rage Arts or whatever, they’re their own unique character.

That was the main thinking behind that. It wasn’t intentional that the other characters are not making an appearance. That said, in order to get everyone’s favorites, and then, also include characters like that, we’d have to have a roster of like 60-some characters, which just isn’t viable from a launch, and then, also, for the player base to learn how to play against that number of characters is a lot.

So, we wouldn’t say they’re not going to make a appearance ever again. That’s just the current state.

Guest characters have been an important trend in fighting games, and Tekken, obviously, no stranger to them. What are your thoughts in general of having guest characters in your games, and do they come with any sort of unique challenges that, maybe, the average Tekken fan might not think about as just, from the perspective of a fan?

Harada: There [are] some things that maybe are behind the scenes that most people won’t notice – there’s got to be a variety of conditions that align. We want that particular character in our game is the start. Does that IP owner want their property in our game?

And then, maybe, both say, yeah, that’s awesome, but there’s a timing, like for our franchise, when do we want that character to appear? And for them, maybe, they’re like, no, we have plans, we can’t have it until later. Or we have plans that are coming later, so it has to be right now. And then, the fans want to see that in the game.

So, there’s a variety of conditions that have to occur before all of this can work out to be in the game. And then, I was just mentioning that, even if that happens, which is the hard part, right, and then if you’re using a famous character that has a well-known actor attached to it and their schedule is insane, you have to be able to find time to get them into the studio to record voice lines and things like that.

So, there’s so many obstacles that have to be overcome for that to happen. So, it is quite a challenge.

I wanted to ask you if you are familiar with the recent rise of creator-led team tournaments like the Sajam Slam, which, I know you had a thing with yesterday. And the CR Cup. Have you checked any of these out, and what do you think of the team format of having teams that are led by professional players, but then, the teams themselves are mostly made up of non-FGC streamers, YouTubers and other content creators?

Harada: [I do] watch those events, and [I’m] a fan of some of the YouTubers or streamers as well that maybe might not be a FGC person. So, [I’m] aware of it, and [think] it’s really a great thing that’s happening.

Because you have these pros who know their games quite well, but you have the streamers who haven’t, perhaps, played some of these games, and they all have their own communities who, maybe, don’t play fighting games that are, then, become interested because of their favorite streamer.

Another thing that’s quite interesting that happens is that, even if some of these people watch that stream and they find it interesting, maybe, they’re not even motivated to play the game themselves, but they still enjoy watching it and being a part of the audience and enjoying that experience. So, that’s a cool thing to see fighting games reaching a new audience, but maybe, they’re not playing it. That’s still cool though.

Murray: I would say the same thing. I mean, I’m a close friend of Sajam and some of these people, and we’re not directly involved that often, although we did make an appearance, it’s great to see what they’re doing with the game and to see the journey.

For me, especially, I was watching LilyPichu and to see her start off with no knowledge of Tekken, and then, she just becomes so engrossed and I see her face, the hurdles that beginner players face, and then, she overcomes them as she’s playing people online, and, then to see her face new problems as an intermediate player and to see that journey is really cool.

And to see her community experience that and grow with her is just totally awesome.

I want to just really quick touch on how it was launching on console and PC without an initial arcade release, and how has that changed development and post-launch updating?

Harada: Back in the day, it was, I guess, you could say a bit easier, because we started off the arcade iteration which just includes the battle portion of the game. So, that allowed us to put some time into polishing that portion before moving on to the console in which you start adding the various modes and other features that the console version received.

But since we don’t have that now, it’s like you have to provide everything from the start. You have to do the brand new game systems, all the stuff that goes into the console version. You have to polish them at the same time, as well as, create it.

And it’s really intense. That said, back in the day with the arcades, there wasn’t a worldwide connected internet and the fan base and all that. So, the communities were really localized and to get feedback, it was very hard. You’d have to pretty much go to that location.

Where now, although we have to create everything at the start and it’s quite intense, we’re more easily able to get feedback from the community because they’re connected to each other across the world. And it’s easier to access some of the more advanced players as well to get their feedback with the game. So, that does help. So, there are the challenges and drawbacks.

And then, also, the feedback, it’s easier to get, but you’re kind of overwhelmed by it, because before, you’re looking at just the battle portion for the arcade. But when we released Tekken 8 without an arcade version, you’re getting feedback about the balance of the game, the brand new system, some kind of characters.

Maybe, one of the features of the game, the people. There’s so much that encompasses, that it’s quite difficult to sift through it, and then, decide what do you prioritize, because we can’t do all of it at once, right?

Final question, I’m asking this to all the fighting game developers and producers that I’m talking to. But what do you believe is the next step forward for the fighting game genre?

We just kind of overcame Netcode with most games coming out now having rollback Netcode. What do you envision as any sort of new innovation or technology that you think could improve the genre and bring it into a new era of fighting games?

Harada: Like you said, there’s been various changes like rollback, et cetera, that have changed, but what [I’m] looking for in particularly is more of the community aspect and how that changes. Because we’ve seen a change outside of games, just the internet as a whole, in how people interact with each other and make friends, et cetera, that, perhaps, that will, somehow, make its way into fighting games.

And there’s kind of earlier iteration of fight launch in Tekken 8 that you can experience that to some degree. But then, also, just the way that you play the game. For example, currently, it’s… Normally, a one-on-one match is maybe ranked or something like that, where maybe we start to see more of a team-based battles, which are quite popular in areas like Japan.

Just seeing the way that people interact with each other in a fighting game, not just directly in the battle is something that will probably evolve. Maybe, perhaps, the way that you cheer on someone in a fighting game. You’re not playing directly, but you’re still enjoying it as you watch them. Or maybe, the way that you interact with that certain group who are playing the games online in some kind of a lobby, et cetera. These are the areas he thinks will maybe see changes in the future.

Ikeda: There’s a lot of possibility in the AI features that we included. For example, in Tekken 8, we can play against more refined CPU character because they mimic tendencies, et cetera. But the AI characters, the Ghosts example that we have, there are various uses, it’s not just to battle against them. It helps point out your flaws and help you practice and enhance your weak areas. Or maybe, it’s a AI version of yourself and allows you to more take a step back and see your own weaknesses more effectively.

And so, it kind of complements what Harada was talking about, that online community and how you interact with them. But then, you also have this kind of AI companion to help you in your journey as a player, and they’re kind of interwoven as he sees it.

Harada: Maybe, from the AI players, when you beat them, they’re going to start sending you salty messages like real players. [laughter]

Murray: I agree with Nakatsu, that I think the fun part of fighting games, and Harada mentioned this, is not going to change. It’s that chess between you and your opponent. But we see that, it’s often hard to get people who have no knowledge of fighting games to get to that step where they find out why fighting games are so amazing.

So, I think like Nakatsu and his team, some of the things that they’ve done with AI characters, or… I don’t think he talked about it today, but the replay against you and opponent where you can see that, but then, you can practice a certain iteration, I think those kind of things where it helps people get to that point where they can enjoy the chess is some of the evolution we’re going to be seeing as well.

Mitchell Saltzman is an Senior Producer at IGN. You can find him on twitter @JurassicRabbit

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

Robinson Crusoe: Mystery Tales Expansion

Robinson Crusoe: Treasure Chest

Robinson Crusoe: Book of Adventures

Robinson Crusoe – Collector’s Edition

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

The Gas Mask Animation is Gone https://t.co/OI90iR0LRD

— James – JGOD (@JGODYT) July 24, 2024

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.

Shadows of the Damned: Hella Remastered has a release date: October 31, 2024. Yep, that’s Halloween.

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:

• Runescape: Untold Tales: God Wars #1 (Cover A Alan Quah)
• Runescape: Untold Tales: God Wars #1 (Cover B Shavrin)
• Runescape: Untold Tales: God Wars #1 (Cover C Barker)
• Runescape: Untold Tales: God Wars #1 (Cover D Kotian)
• Runescape: Untold Tales: God Wars #1 (Cover E Moore)

In other comic book news, Marvel is shifting to the New Republic era with its latest Star Wars series, and the TMNT and Naruto franchises are crossing over.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

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

— Davide Soliani (@DavideSoliani) July 24, 2024

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.

But now it’s our time to cry. ❤️ pic.twitter.com/9W4vdZXbjV

— Ubisoft Milan (@UbisoftMilan) July 24, 2024

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

— Ubisoft Milan (@UbisoftMilan) July 24, 2024

Wesley is the UK News Editor for IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

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.”

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!

Nexon’s free-to-play co-op focused looter shooter has enjoyed enormous popularity with over 10 million players in just 10 days. But it has been heavily criticized for its ultra aggressive monetization, which includes the cost of Ultimate versions of its playable characters. Last week, IGN reported on one player who spent an eye-watering 200 hours to unlock every Ultimate Descendant currently available in the game without paying money.

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.

Activision reportedly sold an “AI-generated cosmetic” for Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 3 in late 2023.

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.

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.

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.