The legends of Caves of Qud stretch back into the ancient times, through mists of lore, to a moment of destiny. That’s right – all the way back to 2007, when American team Freehold Games began development on this ambitious roguelike RPG. After a 17-year journey to version 1.0 in 2024, gathering a devoted PC following, this intimidating, systems-heavy cult classic has rolled a new character on Switch.
The game is set in the post-apocalyptic, science-fantasy land of Qud. It’s populated by factions with either allegiances or animosities, ridden with organisms that either tolerate or seek to devour you, and driven by either rich spirituality or advanced technology. The either/ors are key, because whenever you start a run in Qud, it recalculates the decisions that set the whole scenario going. Your quest, as a new adventurer, is simply to get out there and survive in an exceptionally vivid open world.
Our mutant arctic fox brings all her ninja assassin powers to the brawl. She swings her sickle-like kama around her, slicing foes with ease. She tosses kunai at close range to deal a major blast of damage. And the best part: she can briefly become invulnerable while targeting multiple enemies in rapid succession. Ninja powers that modify shuriken also affect her kunai, so try her out with the Ninja, Flame, and Water Powers for major impact.
Without further ado, here are some of the team’s highlights to watch out for:
Speed and power combos. Alopex is an agile and fast assassin – get in and out of combat to deal heavy damage then get back to safety. Play around with different Ninja Powers that modify her Kunai for extra elemental damage.
Power up with Artifacts. Alopex also comes with 5 new artifacts. The team’s particular favorite is Buddy the Wraith – the first ever companion in TMNT: Splintered Fate. Equip this artifact and Buddy joins you as an allied Utrom Wraith! Buddy levels up and evolves as you progress through your run – Buddy will pack a punch by the time you reach Shredder.
More Challenge. Alongside this update we have also introduced new 4-Pepper Challenges to the Arcade Mode. These will really ramp up the difficulty setting for experienced players. We have also added Ninja ranks, letting you showcase your victories with a new prestige system.
And to help you get the best out of Alopex and the new update, here are 5 top tips from the team:
Buff Alopex’s special. Alopex’s special hits several enemies. Elemental damage increases like Flame, Water and Utrom can add significant incremental damage to your special.
Use your special invulnerability. Alopex’s special also provides a brief window of invulnerability. Use it offensively and defensively! This can really help in causing an extra burst of damage while you’d be otherwise dodging and/or running away.
Beat the Mondo Metropoloso challenge (City 3). New Challenges require you to beat the Mondo Metropoloso challenge (City 3) before you can unlock them. Checking this box is a great way to start.
Max your Dragon Upgrades. These new challenges are harder than any other challenge that we’ve had in the game. Having fully levelled-up Dragon Upgrades is a great way to get ready for them.
Complete the campaign to help your ranking. The Ranking system updates with complete runs in the regular campaign and/or beating level-4 Challenges (new with this update). If you want to start with a higher ranking, completing the campaign is a great start.
With more heroes and challenges, now is a great time to jump into the portals of Splintered Fate. The Alopex Character DLC is available for purchase now, and the update with 4-Pepper challenges, ninja ranks, and more is free for all players. All content is available for Xbox Series X|S. Cowabunga!
Unleash Turtle Power!
Grab your friends, pick your favorite Turtle and jump into an adventure to save Master Splinter from the Foot Clan! Master ninja skills, unite in bodacious online and local co-op gameplay, and conquer iconic NYC locales.
Looking for a more immediate, high-intensity challenge? Dive into the brand-new Arcade Mode packed with unpredictable runs, the Hex and Flex system, new biomes, fearsome Wraith enemies, and even more chaotic fun with friends.
Bodacious Co-Op Gameplay
Brace yourself for fast-paced, roguelike action where no two runs are the same. With randomized power-ups, room layouts, and boss modifiers, the excitement never ends. Take control of all four Turtles, each wielding unique powers, and team up with friends for bodacious co-op gameplay. Explore iconic NYC locations, upgrade your Turtle powers, and prepare to face off against formidable enemies.
Build Your Power
Master the powers of water and fire, utrom and ooze, light and darkness, robotics and -most importantly- Ninja to create unique and bodacious builds for your Turtles. Every run brings new challenges and opportunities – explore and perfect your favorite builds, and combine them with allies to conquer your enemies.
A Thrilling Story
When Splinter is kidnapped by Shredder, mysterious portals appear across NYC and the Turtles will battle to recover their father from the clutches of the Foot Clan. However, an even greater threat lingers in the shadows…
With additional settings, balance and tuning enhancements for PC, Splintered Fate promises to keep you engaged in the FIGHT, ADAPT, REPEAT portal loop. Be ready to restore peace to the city!
It always comes back to Chloe Price and Max Caulfield. Through several games, branching narrative series Life is Strange has explored the consequences of love, friendship, and community, but the duo’s bond remains the beating heart of the overarching tale.
As Life is Strange: Reunion is said to be the final chapter in Max and Chloe’s story, it’s no surprise that both characters have returned, thanks to the cumulative events of Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Although some of the more significant decisions you’ve made from the first game, such as Max and Chloe’s relationship and the fate of Arcadia Bay, have carried over as well.
I spent some time with the game to dive into why fans should be excited about the partners-in-crime getting one last chance.
Some more familiar faces return
It’s not just about Max and Chloe making their comeback. Many characters from Life is Strange: Double Exposure appear, with Moses, a graduate, as a focal point because he is one of the victims of a fire that Max is trying to prevent. Dr. Yasmin Fayyad and her shapeshifting daughter Safi are present too, but Max’s friend Amanda was very much the focal point of the demo’s opening minutes. Which led to…
Ready to Rewind again?
My first task in the demo was to save Amanda from a demoralising heckler during her stand-up routine at the Snapping Turtle campus bar. It was a gentle reintroduction to Max’s Rewind ability, as once I failed my first attempt to stop the jeering troublemaker, I rewound our encounter with L1. Using the information I learned in our previous conversations, Max was able to talk to him again and make up a story that forced him to leave.
Max’s ability can be accessed at any time, but fundamentally, its use in the demo was to get around tight-lipped people, such as realizing that spilling beer over Double Exposure’s disgraced university professor, Lucas, is the only way to get a sneaky peek at his hidden documents.
The revelations from that action led Max to investigate the unsettling Abraxus House, triggering a more action driven use of Rewind. After bumping into another familiar character, journalism student Loretta, the two women were trapped in a creepy basement, under threat of discovery. Using a broom to barricade the door proved useless, but Rewind allowed me to find a far sturdier metal crowbar.
But the danger wasn’t over yet. With the house due for early demolition, I then had to use Rewind to find and disarm all the detonators in the right order under a strict time limit, a fun sequence that showed off the potential for where the game might go later on.
Chloe’s Backtalk returns
Given that Chloe is playable, it’s only fair that her dialogue-puzzle-based Backtalk ability from Life is Strange: Before the Storm is here, too. Although its introduction in the demo focused less on withering sarcasm to get her way, and more on charismatic persuasion by bending the truth.
After sneaking into the Snapping Turtle and then later being caught by security, I was asked to prove Chloe’s university credentials or risk her getting banned from campus. The Backtalk overlay popped up, offering a selection of replies under a time limit, with some responses carrying future consequences.
The key to successfully answering lay in the scene’s prior setup, with the game giving me a chance to observe items around the bar and interact with others for information, I had to remember to make my lie sound convincing. So don’t worry if you’re put on the spot – as long as you’re paying attention and quick on your fingers, Backtalk is a blast.
Both Max and Chloe are playable
Becoming both characters in the demo created an interesting situation when they were reunited at a climactic point of my game time. Rather than forcing me to choose who to control or keep them entirely separate, Reunion allowed me to decide what each character said to the other, shaping the ebb and flow of their conversation and creating immediate cause and effect in their dialogue.
Their journals are the perfect catch-up tool
We also have access to both Max’s and Chloe’s journals, which provide backstory and world-building through their scribbled thoughts, stickers, and other ephemera. The same menu allowed me to read incoming text messages between characters, along with their previous texts, providing a rich insight into their prior relationships.
You can take photos at any time
Similar to previous games in the series, there are photo hotspots to uncover in Max’s scenes, for collectible compositions that save in her journal. But pressing up on the D-pad at any time while you’re controlling Max reveals a much-requested addition to the series – the ability to take an in-game photo whenever something catches your eye.
Your personal snaps won’t be saved to Max’s journal, but are shareable with friends and via social media with a long press of the Create button.
My short time with the game left me eager for more as Max and Chloe’s adventure together was just starting to heat up. March 26 is when we’ll all be able to experience the likely heart-wrenching decisions of what comes next when Life is Strange: Reunion launches on PS5.
In a surprise announcement this morning, Insomniac Games has revealed the release date for Marvel’s Wolverine. It’s coming on September 15, 2026.
This comes from a post shared across social media by Insomniac, reading: “Let’s cut to the chase: Marvel’s Wolverine launches September 15, 2026.” A six-second teaser accompanied this:
It’s a sudden, welcome release date announcement after expectations rose for a Wolverine appearance in a State of Play earlier this month, only to have those expectations disappointed when it did not show up.
Wolverine has been a bit of an elusive game since its initial announcement. The game was first teased at The Game Awards was back in 2021 with a brief cinematic reveal. It then went dormant (save for a leak associated with a massive Insomniac hack in 2023) until last year, when we saw our first, gory trailer for the game revealing various locations, as well as Wolverine’s actor: Liam Mcintyre, known from Gears as JD Fenix.
We also got more information at the time from the PlayStation blog, referring to the game as a “global thriller” and naming some of the familiar characters he will encounter in his adventure, such as Mystique and Omega Red.
Wolverine will launch exclusively on PlayStation 5.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
The new Dead By Daylight chapter, All-Kill: Comeback, will add the game’s first urban map, which will include a two-story nightclub and plenty of neon lighting. The Trickster’s Delusion Map is part of the new chapter that launches on March 17, along with new survivor Kwon Tae-young, and an update to K-pop Killer the Trickster himself. If you can’t wait, today marks the launch of the PTB for the new chapter on Steam.
“Woven by The Entity from The Trickster’s twisted subconscious, the new area features shops to browse, a marketplace, and a two-story nightclub, along with scattered details reflecting the Killer’s erratic state of mind,” reveals developer Behaviour Interactive.
“Voice acting for KPop Demon Hunters deepened my appreciation for how much storytelling can be communicated purely through tone, breath control, and texture. Without physical performance to rely on, your voice becomes the entire emotional instrument. In a game like Dead by Daylight, that responsibility is amplified,” he explained.
“As a consultant, I wanted to ensure that the cultural references remained authentic. As a voice actor, I focused on making every breath, every strained scream, and every moment of fear feel grounded within the brutal, high-stakes environment of the Entity’s realm.”
The Trickster’s update is focused on the Killer’s gameplay, with a new Style Rank system “rewarding creativity, aggression, and momentum as The Trickster builds towards unleashing his Main Event and a barrage of blades.”
Other adjustments players can expect to see are a new Aura Accessibility feature, refined perk descriptions are also getting an overhaul for readability.
Rachel Weber is the Head of Editorial Development at IGN and an elder millennial. She’s been a professional nerd since 2006 when she got her start on Official PlayStation Magazine in the UK, and has since worked for GamesIndustry.Biz, Rolling Stone and GamesRadar. She loves horror, horror movies, horror games, Red Dead Redemption 2, and her Love and Deepspace boyfriends.
As if we didn’t have enough to deal with between despotic regimes, habitat collapse, and dodgy new technologies, Konami are on a mission to turn everywhere into Silent Hill. The recent Silent Hill f took place in a fictional Japanese town from the 1960s. The forthcoming Silent Hill: Townfall unfolds in Scotland. Konami have recently made ominous noises about taking the series to Central or South America.
The implication is that Silent Hill is a transferable metaphor, glomming onto unsuspecting nowherevilles worldwide. Well you can keep your filthy free association, Konami. A line has to be drawn. A line will be drawn here. Please find below a list of places that would never, ever turn out to be Silent Hill.
Resident Evil Requiem director Koshi Nakanishi has revealed that Capcom was initially unsure whether Switch 2 would be powerful enough to run its new survival horror blockbuster.
In a new Creator’s Voice episode posted to Nintendo’s YouTube channel, Nakanishi said the game’s development team had been “skeptical” about Switch 2’s ability to run Requiem after first seeing its form factor — but quickly decided it would be able to run the full game “as-is” after doing a “triple take.”
“The Nintendo Switch 2 system has improved graphical specs, so we wondered if Requiem could run on it — and it did, with ease,” Nakanishi said. “When we, the dveelopment team, first saw it in our hands, we were skeptical too, so we had to do a triple take.
“We thought to ourselves, ‘Oh, is this really running on Nintendo Switch 2?'” he continued. “It all worked so smoothly that we decided to just go ahead with the game as-is and make it for the system. With specs like these in handheld mode, it looks great.”
Resident Evil Requiem launches this Friday, February 27 for PC, PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S and Nintendo Switch 2 on the same day. While many recent Resident Evil games have found their way to Nintendo platforms, Requiem marks the first time since 2012’s Resident Evil Revelations that a new entry in the series has debuted on a Nintendo console at launch.
“It’s been a really long time since we’ve had a new Resident Evil game released on a Nintendo platform on the same day as other platforms,” Nakanishi noted, “so I’m hopeful that this will give people who don’t normally play Resident Evil a chance to try it out. I would be happy if these people could realize things like ‘So this is what Resident Evil is like as a game’ or ‘This is what’s interesting about it.'”
Separately, Nakanishi confirmed that a classic enemy from earlier game Resident Evil: Revelations was actually based on a foe from The Legend of Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link. The armored Scarmiglione, pictured above, moves its shield-like arm to block your aim — a tactic Nakanishi says was copied from Zelda’s knights (technically they’re called Iron Knuckles) who also moved their shield to stop Link’s arrows.
“Actually, when I was making Resident Evil Revelations, there was an enemy called a Scarmiglione who carried a shield, and if you aimed at them, they would move the shield up and down,” Nakanishi revealed. “The truth is, this enemy was inspired by the armored soldier from Zelda 2: The Adventure of Link. This is the first time I’ve said that.”
“I feel like GameChat was made just for Resident Evil’.
Nintendo has released a new Creator’s Voice video, this time focused on Koshi Nakanishi, the director of Resident Evil Requiem.
With the game launching later this week on 27th February 2026, the video focuses on providing an introduction to the story along with the wider franchise itself. It also goes into how easy it was to develop Requiem for the Switch 2, with Nakanishi-san promoting features like GameChat for those who might be a bit too scared to play on their own.
A Chance to Win A Super-charged Forza Horizon 6 Inspired Japanese Adventure Curated by Sung Kang
Sung Kang, Actor, Director and Car Enthusiast
Summary
Xbox has teamed up with actor Sung Kang to celebrate the upcoming Forza Horizon 6 with the Horizon Passport Sweepstakes, an epic super-charged adventure in Japan.
The Horizon Passport Sweepstakes is curated by Sung Kang, with exclusive experiences inspired by Forza Horizon 6 and Japanese car culture.
Enter the limited-time sweepstakes for a chance to win a spot on this once-in-a-lifetime trip.
As a lifelong car enthusiast, storyteller, and someone who has spent countless hours working in garages and chasing that perfect drive, I’m beyond excited to share something truly special with the Forza and car community.
In Forza Horizon 6, you’re a tourist soaking in the sights of Japan, surrounded by Japanese culture, racing towards the goal of attending the Horizon Festival. We wanted to bring this to life for the fans, so I’ve teamed up with Xbox, Playground Games and Turn 10 Studios to create the Horizon Passport Sweepstakes, a once-in-a-lifetime experience curated by me, Sung Kang.
Forza Horizon is all about freedom, community, and the thrill of the drive. The Horizon Passport Sweepstakes takes winners on an epic super-charged adventure in Japan, packed with exclusive activities.
Cruise in a JDM car at night
Drifting Masterclass with Drift Icons
Tuning & Livery Design at Liberty Walk
Auto Retail & Museum Tour
Tokyo Drift Location Tour—in the Tokyo Drift cars
Walk & Snack Tour with Sung Kang
Go head-to-head with a Sumo
Exclusive advance screening of Sung Kang’s new film ‘Drifter.’
This trip was created for Forza Horizon and car fans, and is our way of saying thank you and celebrating the community.
Simply wishlist Forza Horizon 6and submit an entry form at www.forzahorizonsweepstakes.com for your chance to win an epic trip to Japan with me. The sweepstakes runs from today through March 23, 2026. No Purchase Necessary. Age 21+. For official rules and eligibility details, visit here.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach is making its way to PC! On behalf of the teams at Nixxes and Kojima Productions, I’d like to share the details on PC system requirements with all Porters that will start their journey on March 19.
With its release on PlayStation 5, Death Stranding 2 established itself as an award-winning graphical showcase, with highly detailed landscapes and photo realistic characters. At Nixxes, when bringing games over to PC, we take pride in delivering a smooth experience with the best possible visuals on a wide variety of hardware.
Death Stranding 2 for PC offers a range of Graphics Presets from Low to Very High, catering to both budget gaming PC’s and high-end systems. We’ve also added a Portable preset, aimed at handheld gaming devices, for those Porters who want to “keep on keeping on” while on the go.
To ensure you are well prepared for the delivery of Death Stranding 2 PC next month, we’ve created an overview with our hardware recommendations for a variety of presets and resolutions:
Category
Minimum
Medium
High (Recommended)
Very High
Graphics Preset
Low
Medium
High
Very High
Avg Performance
1080p @ 30 FPS
1080p @ 60 FPS
1440p @ 60 FPS
4K @ 60 FPS
GPU
NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660
AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 12GB
AMD Radeon RX 6600
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3070
AMD Radeon RX 6800
NVIDIA GeForce RTX 4080
AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT
CPU
Intel Core i3-10100
AMD Ryzen 3 3100
Intel Core i5-11400
AMD Ryzen 5 5600
Intel Core i7-11700
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
Intel Core i7-11700
AMD Ryzen 7 5700X
RAM
16GB
16GB
16GB
16GB
OS
Windows 10/11 (Version 1909 or newer)
Windows 10/11 (Version 1909 or newer)
Windows 10/11 (Version 1909 or newer)
Windows 10/11 (Version 1909 or newer)
Storage
150GB SSD
150GB SSD
150GB SSD
150GB SSD
Performance-enhancing options*
The PC edition of Death Stranding 2 launches with support for NVIDIA DLSS 4, AMD FSR 4 and Intel XESS 2. Both upscaling and frame generation options are available for all technologies.
For the first time on PC, you’ll find Pico as an option in Upscale Settings. This “Progressive Image Compositor” is developed by Guerrilla for the Decima engine and is the same upscaling technology that’s used for Death Stranding 2 on PS5. Pico upscaling can be used with all supported graphics cards and can be combined with the various options for frame generation offered in the game.
All upscaling options can be used in combination with Dynamic Resolution Scaling, or with an upscaling quality setting of choice to improve performance. Native AA options are also available for maximum fidelity.
Ultrawide views
Sam’s second adventure can be enjoyed on PC with ultrawide aspect ratios. All cutscenes in Death Stranding 2 are meticulously crafted to be displayed in a 21:9 aspect ratio, for a true cinematic experience. Gameplay extends even further, filling up the whole screen when using a 32:9 display.
An ultrawide monitor is not required for an ultrawide experience: players with high-resolution 16:9 monitors, can enable widescreen aspect ratios in the Display Settings, to experience the broader field of view. An option to play Death Stranding 2 in 21:9 ultrawide aspect ratios is also coming to PS5 via an update at the same time as the PC release.
PlayStation logo inspired Porter wear
We can also confirm that the previously announced Porter Suit: Link and Patch: Link, both inspired by the PlayStation logo, will be rewarded to all PS5 Porters via an update when the PC version launches. PC Porters will get access to these items as a bonus reward for connecting their account for PlayStation.
Death Stranding 2: On the Beach for PC is now available for pre-purchase on Steam and the Epic Games Store. We can’t wait for Porters to find out if we should have connected, next month.
