I recently spoke with No More Heroes creator Suda51 about a previously unexplained moment in Travis Touchdown history. Specifically, I found out the story behind Travis's unique look in the 2019 reveal trailer for No More Heroes 3.

Disheveled, bearded, and wearing a neck brace, this middle-aged gamer playing Ape Out wasn't the same man No More Heroes fans had grown to love. At least, not for the first few minutes. Shortly after this scene in the actual game, Travis hits a button on his Switch-esque Death Glove and suits up into Iron Man-style mecha armor before returning to his prior well-coiffed, fresh-and-clean look.

It's one of many surrealist, high-flying moments that are thrown at No More Heroes 3 players with little-to-no explanation. Fans of the franchise have more or less learned to just go with it when stuff like talking cats turn up, or previously buxom scientists turn into trees. Personally, I assumed the neck brace was there to help Travis heal from the beheading he received in Travis Strikes Again from John Winter, a character based on famed game developer Jeff Minter. As it turns out, there was even more to the story than that.

According to Suda:

"Oh yeah, I meant to mention this in Travis Strikes Again or afterwards, but in the years between that game and No More Heroes 3, Travis got jumped by Kimmy Howell. You know how she was stalking him in No More Heroes 2, and said she'd be back to kill him after she got stronger, before Travis spared her life. Well at some point between those two games, she hit him with a surprise attack, but he got away alive, and was healing up back at the No More Heroes motel. You're actually the first person from the press to ask me about this."

At this point, Suda's translator and friend James Mountain let me know that he'd actually asked Suda about this a while ago, but at the time he said "I don't remember." So I wasn't actually the first to ask, but I was the first to get an answer, which is fun.

It's also nice to get a little extra context for why Travis ends up having a final confrontation with Kimmy later on in No More Heroes 3. The two engage in a fierce rap battle, among other things, before drawing their laser swords for one last time. I was personally saddened to see the way things turned out between them, as I always hoped Kimmy would become a playable ally in the series someday. I see now why Travis wasn't feeling as forgiving.

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Earlier in the year (wait... it's still January?!) we mentioned how Hitman: Blood Money was making an appearance on the Switch. Well, that day has now arrived, and this special "Reprisal" edition comes with some features just for this port.

If you have a Switch and you're a fan of some of the more classic entries in the Hitman franchise, this one may be worth a look-in. It released on January 25 and, according to the Nintendo website, this version features "gameplay improvements inspired by later games in the series," including Instinct Mode.

It's also been given an "an artful redesign of a stealth-action classic," which has been specially adapted for the hybrid console.

Not bad for an 18-year-old game

The timing of this is pretty nifty (if you have a Switch, of course). With the Hitman: World of Assassination trilogy about to leave Xbox Game Pass, Blood Money - Reprisal will keep your thirst for Agent 47 well and truly sated.

Many consider the 2006 entry one of the best of the series. I only managed to play it for the first time a couple of years ago, and I can see the appeal. Personally, I'm utterly in love with the recent installments and will be sad to see them exiting Game Pass.

I'm also one of those rare specimens that actually really enjoyed Absolution. I understand the criticisms people had, but the fact that it was the first Hitman game I actually managed to get all the way through makes it special to me (you never forget your first).

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Splatoon 3 fans woke up to big news this morning. After initially being slated for Spring 2024, the second wave of the game's DLC is getting a bump up. It's now scheduled to be released toward the end of next month.

Splatoon 3 Sider Order is now confirmed to be heading our way on February 22. It's included as part of the Splatoon 3 Expansion Pass. The pass consists of the already released Inkopolis DLC and the upcoming Sider Order content. The Expansion Pass is currently listed at $24.99.

Today's Side Order release date trailer looks like it purposely evokes a Matrix vibe. We see Agent 8 fall asleep on a train just as the screen starts to glitch. It then quickly becomes overwhelmed by falling symbols that's quite similar to the Matrix series' green coding. We'll have to wait and see whether the sci-fi series is alluded to any further in the upcoming DLC.

Inkopolis reintroduced the first Splatoon game's main hub as an explorable area. There were some minor changes to the environment, but nothing radical. Side Order looks to be a much meatier piece of new content.

Side Order introduces a new location in the Spire of Order. In this single-player campaign, players will experience a challenge tower of sorts. You'll attempt to advance through the Spire of Order's various floors by taking on wave after wave of oncoming enemies. Nintendo says the new content is meant to be played over and over.

More single-player content for the "superb" Splatoon 3 is certainly something to be excited about. We'll see how it all comes together on February 22.

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Whether you simply forgot that the character was coming, or, it snuck up on you (because that's what he does), Solid Snake makes his Fortnite debut today.

We've known the character was coming since the Fortnite Chapter 5 launch trailer dropped in early December. But today, we now know exactly what the tactical espionage expert brings along with him.

With the character's inclusion, Fortnite will also be adding EMP Stealth Camo as a new item. It can render players nearly invisible for a brief amount of time. You can activate it as often as you like, though there is a cooldown timer you'll have to wait through in between uses.

When the EMP Stealth Camo is disabled, an EMP pulse is discharged that will damage nearby shields and bring any vehicles in the area to a screeching halt. You can find the cool new item in chests, on the ground, or by purchasing it directly from Snake himself with gold bars in-game.

Also being introduced to the battle royale is Snake's iconic cardboard box. These empty boxes are littered throughout the island. Some of them may contain special forces NPCs. Others will just be empty for you to take along with you. Just like the EMP Stealth Camo, you can find the cardboard boxes across the island randomly, in chests, or via purchase from Snake.

What Snake skins and items are in Fortnite?

As far as outfits go, we're getting ones specifically for Solid Snake's character. The standard Solid Snake skin is unlocked pretty early by completing page one of Snake's Quests. With it, you get the character's iconic look and can choose to toggle Snake's night vision goggles on or off. Completing page two of Snake's Quests will grant you the Old Snake skin from Metal Gear Solid 4.

Outside of skins, players can earn Snake's Stun Knife Pickaxe, Solid Profile Spray, ! Emote, and ! Banner. There's also an awesome-looking Tactical Advantage Loading Screen that fans are sure to love.

On top of those items, you can also collect the Metal Gear Mk. II Back Bling, Hidden? Emoticon, the really cool-looking Slider Glider, and a Snake Skin Wrap. The requirements of each can be found in the most recent Fortnite blog post.

Today's newest trailer also hints toward Raiden's upcoming inclusion to the Fortnite roster. There have been leaks recently suggesting as much, and the character can be seen towards the beginning of today's new footage as he snipes from afar protecting Snake.

If you have the latest battle pass, sneak on over to Fortnite and start working toward unlocking the greatest spy of them all. Solid Snake Quests end on March 8.

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We're getting closer to Princess Peach's next act on the main stage. Princess Peach: Showtime! is coming to the Nintendo Switch in March, and Nintendo dropped a new trailer today teasing what's on the way.

The leader of the Mushroom Kingdom leaves the crown behind and takes on a series of new roles in the upcoming title. Many of which you can catch in the new Princess Peach: Showtime! trailer below.

So far, we've seen Peach sport several different hats, including a cowgirl getup, detective 'fit, swordfighter ensemble, and even a patissiere costume complete with Yoshi's Cookie-inspired designs.

The gist of Princess Peach: Showtime! revolves around Peach and a few of her closest toads putting on a show at the famed Sparkle Theater of the Mushroom Kingdom. However, shockingly to everyone, some bad guys arrive to heckle the performers and put an end to the show.

Gameplay-wise, Peach will tackle a bunch of different roles as she travels from stage to stage in an effort to take down the nefarious Grape and the Sour Bunch. Yes, that is their real name.

To squash Grape and his crew, the Mushroom Kingdom Princess will take on numerous roles, including Swordfighter Peach, Patissiere Peach, Cowgirl Peach, Ninja Peach, Detective Peach, Kung Fu Peach, and likely several more that we haven't seen yet.

Princess Peach: Showtime! gives us the Princess' first solo outing since 2005's Super Princess Peach on the Nintendo DS. It's one of the better non-Mario Mario games out there. The character is long overdue for a new outing of her own, especially after the character's strong depiction in The Super Mario Bros. Movie.

Peach will look to make Grape whine and go home when Princess Peach: Showtime! raises the curtains on March 22.

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Much of the gaming world is holding its breath in anticipation of the Switch 2, or whatever Nintendo decides to call the follow-up to its hybrid console. For now, we know nothing about it, but it seems developers are already working on titles for the mystery machine (not to be confused with the van from Scooby-Doo).

According to the latest GDC State of the Game Industry survey (as spotted by VGC), about 8% of development teams are currently developing a project for the Switch successor. Considering around over 3,000 developers were asked, this equates to quite a few people saying they're working on something for the Switch successor.

On top of this, when asked which platforms people in the industry were most interested in as developers, 32% said the Nintendo Switch successor. This is above the Xbox Series X|S and the current-gen Switch, but just behind the PS5, which 41% are still interested in.

More are working on Switch 2 games than Amazon Luna

We've been getting hints here and there about the elusive system. Last year, it was rumored that the next Nintendo Switch had been demoed at Gamescom 2023, exclusively for developers.

Given what we've seen in the GDC report, it seems likely that the console must be in the works at this point. The Switch has been out since 2017 and even with the OLED edition launching in 2021, it feels like it's been coming to the end of its lifecycle for some time now.

Those who are said to be working on Switch 2 games are almost certainly being asked to keep mum about it. But with a decent number of dev teams saying they are involved in projects for the as-yet-to-be-announced Nintendo console, we may hopefully start to hear word about it soon. Hope springs eternal, and all that.

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Dead Tomb is a game that can spark your interest before you even start playing it. It’s based on a lost media game, Temporel Inc. Its progenitor was released on the Videoway content delivery system, which means it just disappeared when the service shut down.

Being the most complex game on Videoway, it had its fans, and they went to work remaking it by reverse engineering a recorded playthrough of it. I don’t have any firsthand insight on the Videoway, so I’ll again direct you to Hardcore Gaming 101’s write-up. Fans first recreated Temporel Inc. in Flash, and then Collectorvision created an NES port, which was released a few years ago on a cartridge by Limited Run Games under the name of Dead Tomb.

Now, 8-Bit Legit has released it on modern consoles, which makes the game much more accessible, as it should be.

Dead Tomb (Switch [reviewed], Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, NES)
Developer: Collectorvision
Publisher: 8-Bit Legit
Released: January 26, 2023
MSRP: $4.99

Dead Tomb is a verb-drive adventure game, which is sort of a halfway point between a point-and-click and a text adventure. To interact with an object, you pick a verb from a list. It’s a style of game most famous in Lucasart’s SCUMM titles, such as Maniac Mansion and The Secret of Monkey Island. 

You play as a time traveler from the future, who gets waylaid on a trip back in time and finds themself in ancient Egypt. You’re captured by Pharaoh Seti I's soldiers, robbed, and dumped in a pyramid. Your goal is to try and find a diamond used to power your time machine and escape.

It’s probably important to set your expectations with Dead Tomb. Maniac Mansion, this is not. It’s a much simpler and more linear experience. It’s not necessarily shorter (though it is quite short), but there is less chance that you’re going to become stuck or have to start over. There’s also far less backtracking involved, so it’s a bit more comfortable than Maniac Mansion, but also less complex.

That’s not entirely a bad thing. In fact, it’s a big part of Dead Tomb’s charm. Depending on your aptitude (and a bit of luck), you might still find yourself wandering in circles, occasionally trying to figure out what verb you need to use on a noun, but there’s usually a feeling of forward movement. Again, that’s going to depend on your adventure game literacy, but I definitely felt some momentum.

Where Dead Tomb can get a bit vexing is figuring out how it wants you to interact with the environment. You build up an inventory, but learning how to use it can be tricky, especially in the beginning. It’s not a matter of going into your pockets, pressing “use,” and rubbing it on something in the environment. Often, once it’s in your pocket, you need to approach something in the environment and select the right verb, at which point it says, “Pour ranch dressing on cheesecake.” It feels kind of backward and unintuitive. Then, by the time you get used to it, you’re done with the game.

While Dead Tomb is not terribly cryptic, there are spots that go against common logic. Early on, there’s a nail driven into the wall. If you try to take it, the descriptive text says it barely moves. You have to try and take it three or so times before it finally lands in your pocket. I don’t think this is the only time I’ve seen such a mechanic (and it only happens once in the game), but it's always interesting to me when a game requires you to fail in exactly the same way repeatedly before you meet with success. Video games have instilled in me the principle that if something doesn’t work on the first attempt, I need to try something else.

On the other hand, you don’t have to worry about death. I mean, you can die in sometimes hilarious ways, but then the game just prompts you to continue, and you start back where you were. It contributes to Dead Tomb being such a brief experience, but I think I prefer it to just repeating puzzle solutions until I get back to where I was.

It also allows you to test out obviously bad ideas just to see your character die.

I keep mentioning this, but it’s the brevity that bothers me most about Dead Tomb. As I said previously, you can complete Maniac Mansion in roughly the same timeframe, but that game has multiple solutions and gives you a variety of characters to put together a team from. Dead Tomb is linear. There’s only one way to solve it. There may have been a secret ending I missed, but I’m doubtful.

It’s certainly a fun game while it lasts. The breeziness of the puzzles and charming but unremarkable soundtrack make it a comfortable experience. I really enjoyed playing Dead Tomb, I’m not sure I’m going to remember the game will stand in my memory quite as much as the history behind it. At least the price for the digital version makes that kind of experience absolutely worth the recommendation.

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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There aren't many quality flight titles to choose from on the Nintendo Switch. But the console's library will be adding one this summer as Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is officially inbound.

Bandai Namco dropped a new trailer confirming the news today. The Switch port of the 2019 air combat sim looks solid in trailer form, but we'll have to wait until its July 11 release date to see if it runs as well as its PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One counterparts.

The Switch iteration of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown is the Deluxe Edition, which includes a trio of original aircraft sets, three additional single-player missions, two more real-world planes in the F-104C -Avril and the F-4E Phantom II, a music player mode, and added skins and emblems from prior entries in the Ace Combat series.

Destructoid considered Ace Combat 7 a return to form for the series in our January 2019 review. It was lauded for its meticulous detail of real-world aircraft, ambitious “airborne Metal Gear“ story, and a soundtrack that keeps your adrenaline pumping as you engage in epic aerial combat.

Four additional DLC packs are coming to Switch post-launch, all of which have already landed on the other consoles previously mentioned. They are the Original Aircraft Series Set, the Experimental Aircraft Series Set, the Cutting-edge Aircraft Series Set, and the Top Gun: Maverick Aircraft Set.

It's unclear whether these post-launch DLC sets will be included as part of the Deluxe Edition package or whether Bandai Namco will sell them as additional packages. But, guessing from the inclusion of the Top Gun: Maverick set, the content will likely be offered at a premium.

We'll see how the Nintendo Switch version of Ace Combat 7: Skies Unknown fares when it takes off on July 11.

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Long-time UK games retailer GAME won't be accepting trade-ins when February 16 rolls around, according to Eurogamer. GAME's parent company Frasers Group has officially confirmed its plans to remove the trade-in program to BBC News on Tuesday.

"As part of the integration of GAME, we will be phasing out the trade-in, pre-owned and Game Elite offerings in the UK over the coming months," said a spokesperson of Frasers Group to BBC News. This effectively hands off mainstream game trading to CEX, a popular used media retailer in the British Isles.

The remaining pre-owned stock that GAME has acquired will be available on store shelves while they last. It will be curious to see how long copies of disappointing titles like Anthem and old sports games will remain in GAME before it throws them out. Frasers Group hasn't given an official reason for this decision, but it's likely due to lacking sales in the used game market.

"PlayStation and Xbox were not as big a part of the sales as they were [due to supply constraints]," said GAME CEO Nick Arran to GamesIndustry.biz in 2023. "But our toy business really came into its own, with staggering numbers at Christmas."

GAME could be switching gears to toys and other similar goods like Pokemon cards instead of its video game titles as gamers look towards an all-digital future. Ars Technica reported in 2022 a 30% drop in available physical games from 321 in 2018 to 226 in 2021. It was also leaked that the next Xbox Series X refresh called Brooklin might be digital only.

Perhaps GAME sees the writing on the wall as the gaming industry slowly moves past a used game model, which used to have 100 million titles traded in every year in the US alone.

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8BitLegit has announced that Dead Tomb, a new NES game based on an old lost game, is soon to be released for Switch, Xbox, and the actual NES.

While Dead Tomb is a new NES game built from the ground up, it’s actually based on a game called Temporel Inc., which was a game for the Videoway, a very unique subscription-based content delivery system based out of Quebec, Canada. Among its features was the ability to play 8-bit games, which would be loaded into the system’s RAM, which, obviously, emptied once you were done.

Because no one actually owned the games that they were playing, and the service eventually shut down, there are no known copies of Temporel Inc. remaining. However, there was a recorded playthrough of the entire game, so fans were able to reverse-engineer and recreate it, first as a flash game and now as the NES remake, Dead Tomb. If you want more than a quick summation, Hardcore Gaming 101 has a fantastic write-up that covers everything in more detail.

It’s a pretty cool story, and it looks like a pretty cool game. It has you stranded in ancient Egypt, trying to escape from a pyramid. Its verb-based adventure style harkens back to the glory days of the LucasArts SCUMM Engine. It’s been developed by homebrew veterans Collectorvision (which owns the Acclaim brand).

Dead Tomb is coming to Switch, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and NES. It will be available for preorder on all platforms on January 19, 2024. The modern console version will be released on January 26. The NES version is scheduled to ship in Q3 2024 but is limited to 300 copies.

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Following Hydlide and Silpheed back in December, D4 Enterprise has released its next PC-88 port on Switch via their EggConsole line. This time, it's Märchen Veil (Part 1), initially released in 1985 for the PC-8801mkIISR.

If you’re unfamiliar with Märchen Veil, isn’t that just the best? Not knowing about a game that was just reissued? I actually do know Märchen Veil because of the Famicom Disk System version released in 1987. I don’t own it, but it’s one of the cheapest and most common games on the system, so I always see a copy when I’m looking for new ones to try. I haven’t bought it simply because I was afraid of the language barrier.

I bring that up because I wondered how D4 Enterprise addressed the language barrier since the story is told through cutscenes with Japanese text. The screenshot still shows the game’s text in Japanese, but I wanted to be sure, so I bought it and tried it out.

Did they translate this PC-88 game? No. It’s still in Japanese (also katakana, confusingly). To be fair, I don’t think it’s impossible to play for English monolinguists. No direction is given within the game; you just won’t understand the cutscenes. The story is of a prince who is changed into a hooved Pan-like creature and his quest to regain his human form.

Speaking of no direction, I started the game and walked directly into what looks like a kiddie pool and died instantly. It’s a game from 1985; it’s probably going to be pretty cryptic.

On the other hand, as a Westerner without much experience with the PC-88, the EggConsole line is pretty exciting to me, with or without translations. The series is a spinoff of D4 Enterprise’s Project Egg service, and a number of the planned titles have already been announced, such as the PC-88 version of Ys and A Ressha de Ikou.

I’ll keep you updated, simply because this interests me and I want to. For now, EggConsole Märchen Veil is available on the Nintendo Switch eShop.

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After targeting iOS and Android devices in November, Hitman: Blood Money - Reprisal has a new console on the hit list. The upgraded version of the 2006 stealth classic is coming to the Nintendo Switch eShop on January 25.

Like the iOS and Android versions, the Switch iteration will see vast improvements over the initial title that launched on PC, PlayStation 2, Xbox, and Xbox 360 in 2006. Some of which you may notice in the Switch release date trailer below.

Feral Interactive handled the iOS and Android ports of Hitman: Blood Money - Reprisal, and they're taking care of the Switch version as well. The game's visuals haven't changed much since 2006, but there are a lot of quality-of-life features being introduced to make Agent 47 feel a bit more modern.

Instinct Mode, something that was introduced to the Hitman series later on, is incorporated into Reprisal. It helps players out by highlighting important mission objectives and targets on the level's map so you have a clearer idea of what you're being tasked with and where you should be headed.

2006's Blood Money didn't have a mini-map for players to utilize, but Feral Interactive implemented one to aid moment-to-moment gameplay in Reprisal. It's dynamic too, showing instant feedback for Agent 47 as NPCs grow suspicious of his actions.

The controls have been reworked too since the initial PlayStation 2 and Xbox/Xbox 360 releases of Blood Money. This will surely make playing through the stealth title's 12 replayable sandbox missions much smoother on Nintendo's hybrid console.

While the iOS and Android versions of the game launched at $19.99, the Switch iteration of Hitman: Blood Money - Reprisal is being listed at $29.99 on the Nintendo eShop. But those who head over there and preorder before the game's January 25 release will earn themselves a 16% discount, knocking the overall cost down to $24.99.

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The holidays are a wonderful time to spend with family, but when I'm not sipping on that sweet hot cocoa or playing charades like a bumbling buffoon, I'm catching up on my excessive backlog of video games. This year, I decided to finish my trip to Hogwarts.

Note: There are spoilers ahead for Sebastian Sallow's storyline in Hogwarts Legacy.

Going back to Hogwarts

Hogwarts Legacy has been a touchy subject for many, and honestly, it's put me off playing the game throughout 2023. The criticisms of the universe's creator, J.K. Rowling, are well-founded. I'm bisexual and part of the LGBTQ+ community, but to me, the Harry Potter series is more important than her; it was a huge part of my childhood. The holidays are also a time when my parents watch the movies, so it's always something in the back of my mind during that time of year.

After a year of heavy guide writing, I decided to return to the Scottish highlands and finish my fifth year at Hogwarts. The game's visuals and storytelling entranced my family. However, it wasn't what they expected as they witnessed the end of Sebastian's dark storyline. Oh, and it was also fun to flip over a cow.

Did you finish a backlog game during the holidays?

With so many 2023 releases like Starfield or Baldur's Gate 3, games will fall by the wayside, especially if you have Xbox Game Pass. We all have busy schedules, so getting one or two weeks off is a blessing. That's why it's so fascinating there are trophy and achievement hunters out there who finish a game to completion.

The patience and the reluctance to buy new games are something to be admired. However, as a guide writer who has to stay current, I move on from games I love, which can be heartbreaking. It's part of the job, especially as a freelancer.

Have you conquered a backlog game over the holidays? Were you able to defeat the Mongols in Ghost of Tsushima or finally finish every world in Super Mario Odyssey to completion? Let us know in the comments below.

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Prepare your heart, because EastAsiaSoft is bringing two of the Hakuoki games to Switch as part of Hakuoki: Chronicles of Wind and Blossom. It will bundle together 2017’s Hakuoki: Kyoto Winds with 2018’s Hakuoki: Edo Blossoms.

Back in 2020, I was still poking away in the background of Destructoid, waiting to get my big break and find my place. During that time, I did a series of nine articles on my personal blog covering dating sims and romantic visual novels. I only stopped because I had exhausted my enthusiasm for the genre, but I still had a list of games to try out, and among them was the Hakuoki games.

The Hakuoki games actually date back to the PS2 in 2008 with Hakuoki: Shinsengumi Kitan. The pair of games in this compilation, Kyoto Winds and Edo Blossoms, are remakes of that game, splitting it in half and expanding it. As such, it’s optimal to have both games together as they’re a complete, singular narrative.

If you’re wondering what the hook is here, it’s that your character is out to date the members of the historical group, the Shinsengumi. If that sounds familiar, the Shinsengumi were the focus of the story of Like a Dragon: Ishin, with characters from the Yakuza/Like a Dragon series standing in for the historical figures. The Shinsengumi was a real group that existed during Japan’s Bakumatsu period and into the Boshin War. Here, however, they apparently fight demons.

I never got around to the games, but they’re pretty well-respected otome romantic visual novels. If the fact that they’ve been remade isn’t evidence enough, the series was spun off into an anime series, as well as a stage production, apparently.

The individual Hakuoki games are available on PC via Steam. Hakuoki: Chronicles of Wind and Blossom will arrive on Switch sometime in 2024. According to the press release, this is an “updated version” that includes “revised text.” A special physical version will be available for preorder on play-asia.com on January 11.

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It's the beginning of a new year, and despite being a weaker month usually for releases, there's a selection of highly anticipated January 2024 games to look forward to. From intense fights in Tekken 8 to the calmer, puzzle-based Another Code: Recollection, there's something for everyone.

Another Code: Recollection (Switch)

Publisher: Nintendo
Developer: Nintendo
Price: $59.99
Release Date: January 19
Trailer

It's a delight when a lesser-known game gets another chance on a newer platform. Another Code: Recollection includes two DS and Wii puzzle games (one never released in North America) about Ashley, a 13-year-old girl looking for answers. She's uncovering the truth about her parents as you solve puzzles on the stunning remote Blood Edward Island. There's new voice acting, visuals, and music to make the game feel more modern on the Nintendo Switch.

The Last of Us Part II Remastered (PS5)

Publisher: PlayStation
Developer: Naughty Dog
Price: $49.99 (or $9.99 for the PS4-PS5 upgrade)
Release Date: January 19
Trailer

Naughty Dog, whether you like it or not, is releasing a new remastered version of the PS4 game The Last of Us Part II. Thankfully, it won't be full price. If you have the PS4 game already, the upgrade only costs $9.99.

Despite the apprehension, this game does have a bunch of new features. First and foremost there's the roguelike survival mode called No Return. There will be plenty of enemies in your path, and a return to some familiar settings throughout the series so far. It will be all randomized.

We'll also gain access to the Lost Levels that lets us play early development workings from the game cut from the final product. Another impressive feat is that the game outputs 4K in Fidelity mode, adding higher quality visuals on-screen. Despite it being a remaster, it's arguably one of the most anticipated January 2024 games, due to the series' prestige alone. It's a shame the multiplayer game was canceled, however.

Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth (PS4, PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Publisher: Sega
Developer: Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio
Price: $69.99
Release Date: January 26
Trailer

The turn-based RPG antics of Ichiban and his friends return in Like a Dragon: Infinite Wealth. He'll be exploring Hawaii, battling thugs, and starting up a new village in a new Animal Crossing-inspired side mode. It has also been teased that this could be Kazuma Kiryu's farewell to the series as he's battling cancer. Get the tissues ready if you play this game.

As always, expect some drama and some bombastic comedic moments in Infinite Wealth just like past Yakuza and Like a Dragon games. If you play the last entry The Man Who Erased His Name, you can play a demo right now.

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC)

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Ubisoft
Price: $49.99
Release Date: January 18
Trailer

Prince of Persia: The Lost Crown is looking like a promising revival of a beloved Ubisoft franchise. This one's taking a 2D Metroidvania route with astonishing bosses, plenty of time powers to unlock, and exhilarating platforming from what the trailers have shown so far. "The combat system in The Lost Crown is extremely fluid and fast-paced," said our preview. Sargon has a quick light attack, a heavy attack that takes longer to perform but deals more damage, a block, and a dash-style evade."

The combat looks fast and deadly with combos that have you soaring across the sky and crushing your foes to the ground. Hopefully, this game will live up to its potential when it releases on January 18.

Tekken 8 (PS5, Xbox Series X/S, PC)

Publisher: Bandai Namco
Developer: Bandai Namco
Price: $69.99
Release Date: January 26
Trailer

The epic fighting game series returns for this generation with Tekken 8. The visuals are enhanced, the stages are destructible, and the new Heat system will heighten each battle greatly. There will be 32 characters at launch.

Tekken 8 looks incredible. "The environments are filled to the brim with detail," said our preview. "The puddles in the New York stage reflect the lights from Times Square’s advertisements, and the lighting from the neon signs stands out sharply on screen."

Unlike many other fighting games at launch, Tekken 8 is packed with content from day one. The story continues six months after the events of Tekken 7 as Jin and Kazuya fight it out in an awe-inspiring clash. There's also the all-new Arcade Quest, which has you playing as your own avatar and unfolding a narrative as we battle it out among a series of arcades. It sounds like a great way to learn the game for newcomers to the series.

Honorable mentions

There are even more January 2024 games to expect, including another fighting game and a new Tamagotchi game exclusive to iOS platforms.

• Tamagotchi Adventure Kingdom (iOS) - January 4
• Laika: Aged Through Blood (Switch) - January 11
• Sovereign Syndicate (PC) - January 15
• Bulletstorm VR (PS5, PC, Meta Quest 2) - January 18
• Turnip Boy Robs a Bank (Switch, PC, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S) - January 18
• Enshrouded (PC) - January 24
• Apollo Justice: Ace Attorney Trilogy (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC) - January 25
• Under Night In-Birth 2 [Sys:Celes] (PS4, PS5, PC, Switch) - January 25
• Rugby 24 (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, PC) - January 30
• Palworld (PC) - January

The post Most anticipated games – January 2024 appeared first on Destructoid.

Did you know that D4 Enterprise is releasing Japanese PC-88 games on Switch? It hasn’t been going on for long, but I just learned it now, thanks to Hydlide. D4 has added two titles to their EggConsole lineup, with 1984’s Hydlide and 1986’s Silpheed.

The PC-88 is a Japanese home computer, similar to the Commodore 64 or Apple II. While we never got it over here in the West, it was extremely popular in its home country. Because of this, there are very few ways for Anglophones to really experience them. The fact that someone is porting games from the platform to Switch is pretty exciting to retro explorers such as myself.

Hydlide is an interesting, but kind of dopey, game that was ported to the NES but originally released on the PC8801. It’s an action RPG that predates both Dragon Quest and The Legend of Zelda. It’s a pioneer! Though, it’s also not a great one. Still worth experiencing for the historical context and its overall importance in the genre. It's the same reason you might play the original Ultima.

Silpheed, on the other hand, is a scrolling shoot-‘em-up. For 1986, it feels so ahead of its time. It uses a lot of 3D effects and has some pretty rocking music. It was ported to other microcomputers at the time, got a semi-sequel on the Sega CD, and lived on through entries on the PS2 and Xbox 360.

Beyond these two games, you can also find Xanadu, Relics, and Thexder already available as part of the EggConsole series. Each one runs for $6.49, which strikes me as a good price. The only thing to note is that parts of these games are still in Japanese, but it appears that all of the important stuff is in English.

The post Two new EggConsole PC-8801 games hit Switch today, Silpheed and Hydlide appeared first on Destructoid.

A Hunter x Hunter fighting game is officially in development, as announced by publisher Bushiroad at Jump Festa 2024. It's being worked on by DNF Duel and Tatsunoko vs Capcom developer Eighting.

According to Gematsu, more details will be shared at Bushiroad New Year Grand Presentation 2024, which occurs on January 6. The announcement was made at the publisher's booth in Jump Festa 2024 on Friday. No gameplay or even screenshots has been shown as of the time of writing. No platforms have been announced either.

Bushiroad has games based on other anime properties, including Goblin Slayer, Miss Kobayashi's Dragon Maid, and Shin Chan. This Hunter x Hunter game seems to be the publisher's first fighting title on consoles, but it has released a mobile wrestling game in the past based on NJPW.

There's also a Macross game from this company heading to consoles and PCs on January 25 called Macross Shooting Insight.

The last Hunter x Hunter console game takes us back decades

The last Hunter x Hunter console game takes us all the way back to 2001. It's called Hunter x Hunter: The Stolen Aura Stone. It never received a North American release, sadly.

Developed by Konami, The Stolen Aura Stone is a card game RPG that has your character try to get back the Aura Stone from the Phantom Troupe. The battle system revolves around a rock, paper, scissors style with three different types of moves: regular, special, and counter. It also revolves around your character's Nen type and power, like the anime.

In a 2019 review, YouTube channel Gaming Through The Ages says the battle system "has the potential to seem quite convoluted and fairly unapproachable until its idiosyncracies are understood."

Given the critical success of DNF Duel and Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3, hopefully that means Eighting can make a stellar Hunter x Hunter game after all these years.

The post DNF Duel developer Eighting is making a “full-scale” Hunter x Hunter fighting game appeared first on Destructoid.

There are very few years that aren't "winners" for Nintendo. You can set your watch to the publisher putting out at least one Game of the Year nominee annually. Now, it's time to decide the best of 2023.

Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom

Obviously, all eyes are going to be on Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. As a follow-up to Breath of the Wild, it was expected to deliver: But I don't think anyone could have anticipated just how much it would iterate upon the fantastic framework we already got with the launch of the Switch in 2017. People may have been worried that Tears would operate like an "expansion pack" to the 2017 modern classic, but those fears were completely unfounded.

We also got a new Fire Emblem game, another Pikmin entry (which might be the best one to date), a slick remaster of a great Kirby title, a killer Xenoblade Chronicles DLC, and Paranormasight. 2023 was packed and succeeded in hitting us across the head with a steady stream of prior-delayed games at once.

Super Mario Bros. Wonder

Super Mario Bros. Wonder has been called "the best Mario game since Super Mario World" by many and is the perfect prescription for folks who have been burned by the constant deluge of the "New" subseries series. Although most Mario games are shoo-ins for nominations, this one feels different.

Fire Emblem Engage

Any given Fire Emblem game is going to appeal to certain types of people, but this one grabbed me really early on. It helped that the DLC leaned into the whole "all-stars" angle, and brought multiple generations of the series together in one bright and accessible entry.

Pikmin 4

I can't say enough nice things about Pikmin 4. When I was playing it, I couldn't stop. There's so much to do and explore, and just when you think it's over, the game completely opens up. Oh, and it's still incredibly cute.

Paranormasight

You can always count on Square Enix to surprise us, sometimes in the most unlikely way possible. One month I looked up and realized "wow, there are multiple Square-backed RPGs coming out this month, and I haven't heard about any of them for weeks." Paranormasight crept up on a lot of us but managed to leave an impact on most of the staff. Once this game gets running, it doesn't let up.

Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe

Kirby's Return to Dreamland is low-key one of my favorite Kirby games, and I was happy to see it return, with some bells and whistles, in 2023. There's not much to say about Kirby that hasn't already been said: it's comfort food at worst, and in the case of Dreamland Deluxe, it's a high bar that hearkens back to the era of Kirby Super Star.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed

I have an entire room of my house that's littered with just Xenoblade pictures, and I really need to up my game and get some Xenoblade Chronicles 3 scenes in there. Future Redeemed was a fantastic bit of DLC that both continues the story of the third core entry and ties the entire universe together.

Check out the nominees below, and come back next week for our full reveal!

Here are the nominees for Destructoid’s Best Switch Game of 2023:

• Super Mario Bros. Wonder
• Pikmin 4
• The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom
• Paranormasight
• Kirby's Return to Dreamland Deluxe
• Fire Emblem Engage
• Xenoblade Chronicles 3: Future Redeemed

Our final results will go live next week, starting on December 18 with the winner of Best Indie. Stay tuned throughout this week for the rest of our nominees, as we build up to the Overall Game of the Year award on December 22!

The post Nominees for Destructoid’s Best Switch Game of 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

Following uncomfortable close to the Xbox and PlayStation Year in Review roundups, Nintendo has provided its own.

Like most other year-in-review wrap-ups, Nintendo shows you the number of hours played on your Switch (Switches, if you’re fancy), what games you prefer, and further breakdowns beyond that. Unlike the PlayStation round-up, it doesn’t try to tell you your horoscope; instead, it just gives you the facts. I’m going to take a guess here, but it’s statistically likely that your top-played game this year was The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Mine is, and I didn’t even finish it.

Here are some more Year in Review facts about me, which you can totally skip if you don’t care. I put in 295 hours across 58 games. I mostly play on PC and retro consoles these days. Aside from The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, my top played games are Pikmin 4 (which I still haven’t finished post-game on) and Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse. Hey! I really like those games.

There are some good memories here. I can’t believe I only played 6 hours of Metal Slug. That’s more than the 2 hours I put into Super Mario Wonder. I can totally believe I put 14 hours into Paranormasight. Did you know I played through the entirety of Metroid Prime Remastered in 14 hours before I reviewed it? What I really learned here is that I spent quite a few months of this year feeling depressed and burnt out between deep dives of review games. What a year!

You can stare into your soul, if you want, by just going to this page here and checking your Year in Review. You can even tell Nintendo what your favorite game this year was. Don’t disappoint them!

The post Nintendo is the latest to jump into the Year in Review 2023 party appeared first on Destructoid.

Vampire Survivors' Adventure Mode just dropped, adding a new reason to drop a couple dozen more hours in. Unlocking it is a little weird and inconsistent between players, but it is a fun time when it's playable.

Although described as a "narrative" mode for the reverse bullet hell, the story's regulated to a short text box shown when selecting a stage. You don't even have to play as the story's protagonist and can choose from a limited roster of the game's cast. Unlocking some of these is important to the story, with others having odd requirements.

Unlocking characters in A Garlic Paradise

A Garlic Paradise is a light-hearted tale of the elderly Poe embarking on a journey to find the titular Garlic Paradise. As overpowered as Poe's default garlic weapon can get, his lower starting health can lead to more deaths that would have otherwise been avoidable.

Thankfully it's easy to get most of the playable characters by his second stage and all by the third. To simplify things, I'll start with non-stage-specific characters before going into the ones locked to certain stages.

The tree Peppino is the first potential unlock that isn't stage-specific but is possible to obtain within the first stage. All players need to do is evolve the garlic weapon, which is conveniently Poe's default weapon. Here's everything needed to evolve it:

• Max-level Garlic (Poe starts with this)
• Pummarola (red heart upgrade that recovers a certain amount of HP per second)

The garlic is now the Soul Eater, and Peppino is unlocked! Zi'Assunta's a bit more involved but not by much. The easiest way to unlock him is by evolving the Vento Sacro which requires:

• Bloody Tear (evolved whip with hollow heart upgrade)
• Max-level Vento Sacro

Together these evolve into Fuwalafuwaloo, which is as useful as it is a mouthful to say. Once it's obtained, Zi'Assunta becomes playable.

Other characters are even easier to unlock, with it being possible to get six in stage two: A Rough Awakening. For most of these characters, the only requirement is finding their default weapon in the stage, and these are all by the stage's starting area.

• Gennero's knife is northwest
• Imelda's magic wand is northeast
• Pasqualina's runetracer is southwest
• Antonio's whip is southeast

Unlocking the other characters doesn't take much more effort either, with six potential unlocks in stage two: A Rough Awakening. Pugnala's in a coffin to the northeast, labeled as a question mark on the map and in-game is presented as an arrow with the coffin's symbol. Last but not least, O'Sole the dog's only requirement is surviving for 15 minutes.

The only character locked to stage three, titled Risky Woods, is Dommario. He's a lengthy trek south in a coffin by a Greed upgrade, and getting him also unlocks the next stage.

Once he's unlocked, there's a decent chance you unlocked all the characters in this adventure. It'll probably only take a few hours, and you don't even need to see all the stages!

Unlocking characters in World of Light and Dark

Vampire Survivors' other base game adventure, called World of Light and Dark, is where it takes time to unlock everyone. It took me a while getting everyone, but honestly, it's a venture worth taking.

Unlocking Suor Clerici is pretty simple. She's in a coffin located in the southwest corner of the stage Deep Lore, and it takes no time getting to her since the stage is small. Giovanna is a similar story since she's located in another coffin east of the player's starting position in Inlaid Library, but is more of a trek. There isn't any need to worry about missing her as the stage is a never-ending hallway.

Pugnala is also in this adventure and is also located in another coffin. Also like A Garlic Paradise, she's in an open forest way to the northeast of the player's position. I'm not sure if it was just me or if it's by design, but I had a harder time getting her here than in A Garlic Paradise.

The ball with character unlocks gets going on the stage after the Mad Forest, called Gallo Tower. Here it's possible to unlock three more characters, but it'll probably take a couple of runs to get everyone.

Krochi's probably the easiest character to get in Gallo Tower. He's in a coffin located south of the starting area and surrounded by crosses.

Further south of him is a weapon called the Song of Mana. Picking this up unlocks Poppea and the Song of Mana for all characters in the adventure.

Concetta is the last character in Gallo Tower, and unlocking her is odd. You need to travel north for a while, and when the coffin is located directly east, you need to go just west toward a glowing mirror. The coffin Concetta is in is just through this magic mirror.

Yatta Cavallo's coffin is similarly confusing to find on first impression but isn't too bad. He's located in the Astral Stair, whose gimmick initially seems to be that its doors send players wherever. Thankfully it's far simpler than that as each door sends you to another room directly east and there's a north and south end.

Where you need to go is the last door on the left when walking north. After taking two more doors on the eastern end of a room, you should end up in a room full of chairs that come to life. The south end of this room is where you'll find Yatta Cavallo's coffin.

There's finally Zi'Assunta in Cappella Magna, otherwise known as World of Light and Dark's last stage. He's just a decent trek south of the player's starting position, so it's a matter of surviving until you get to him.

With that, all characters in Vampire Survivors' base game Adventure Mode are unlocked! Getting everyone isn't too hard, but it is a time investment.

The post How to unlock characters in Vampire Survivors Adventure Mode appeared first on Destructoid.

To this day, I love getting together with my buddies and having a jam session in Rock Band 4. So when Epic Games announced Fortnite Festival, I was hyped. But upon finding out there wasn't support for our plastic guitars and drums, not so much.

Luckily, Epic Games knows that there are plenty of would-be rockers out there just waiting to jam out in a new way. And the publisher confirmed that for the dozens of us, implementing peripheral support is a "priority."

Within a Q&A style posting on the Fortnite website, the development team addressed several topics. When asked "Does Fortnite Festival support instrument controllers?" the development confirmed that compatibility isn't available at launch. However, the team stated "it's a priority for the team and currently under development. We'll have more to share in 2024."

Epic Games purchased Harmonix (the developers of the Rock Band series and several of the original Guitar Hero games) in November 2021. Fortnite Festival appears to be the lovechild of that marriage.

Harmonix was still an independent studio when they released Rock Band 4 in 2015. At the time, they partnered with Mad Catz to manufacture a fresh set of instruments for the series' fourth installment. But production on those instruments ceased years ago, and now they're very hard to find in the wild or extremely expensive to purchase used online.

Now that Harmonix is backed by a financial juggernaut like Epic Games, the big question is whether the publisher will manufacture a new set of peripherals to sell to fans. Otherwise, anyone who wants to purchase a second-hand guitar, drum set, or keyboard is likely to have to spend a pretty penny.

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We're now a day away from players being able to jump into the world of Lego Fortnite for the very first time. We still have a ton of questions, but some of them may have been answered thanks to today's lengthy Lego Fortnite cinematic trailer.

It runs over two-and-a-half minutes long and provides a pretty good idea of what Epic Games is trying to accomplish with the new game mode. It seems less like another battle royale, and more like a Minecraft-inspired world building game.

The trailer follows the Brite Bomber character, one of over 1,200 Fortnite skins that are getting a Lego makeover. As we see her traverse this new Lego-themed land, we get a general idea of what Epic Games and Lego are collaborating on to create.

Brite Bomber finds a dilapidated tower with a crafting bench and quickly creates an axe so she can get to work. She harvests trees in the area to gather wood for building structures. With that, she's able to craft a cabin for shelter and build a fence to hold her newly found Lego sheep. There's even a garden that she throws together to begin growing crops for later use.

As night falls in the trailer, you can hear sinister howls in the distance. Brite Bomber runs back to her cabin and utilizes the crafting table yet again (now in her freshly made log cabin) and crafts a wooden crossbow for self-defense. Lego Peely is now with her and crafts a wooden sword for good measure.

When the team returns to their village, we see it's now evolved into a bustling town with dozens of inhabitants, herds of animals, numerous grocery stands, and plenty of impressive structures. It's here, perhaps, that lets us assume that Lego Fortnite may well indeed revolve around a multiplayer component. Up to this point, Epic Games has been coy about confirming these details.

What kind of dangers are in this new Lego Fortnite world?

As the trailer heads toward a finish, a hot air balloon (Lego Fortnite's take on the Battle Bus?) departs with our team toward what appears to be the Grand Glacier area. The balloon passes the icy peaks and instead lands in a desert biome further beyond. Brite Bomber and her team head into a cave where they find skeletons mining the molten area we saw in the new mode's initial reveal. Again, it has Minecraft vibes, similar to finding a hostile area filled with creepers, skeletons, and zombies.

It appears that boss creatures are confirmed in this Lego Fortnite world too. The team is discovered within the cave and is quickly confronted by a skeletal dragon-looking creature. Everyone pulls out their crafted weapon of choice, and the fight is on.

You can't help but watch the Lego Fortnite cinematic trailer and tell yourself that this is essentially Minecraft in Fortnite. Whether that's an accurate take or not, we'll find out tomorrow. Lego Fortnite launches on December 7, as one of several games coming to Fortnite this week.

The post The Lego Fortnite cinematic trailer spotlights crafting, building, and survival appeared first on Destructoid.

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion was a pretty weird game when it came out in 2000, and it’s an equally strange pick for a remaster. But it had to be done. Nightdive knew this. They knew that the N64 trilogy (if you exclude the multiplayer-focused Turok: Rage Wars) had to be completed.

It couldn’t have been an easy task. While Turok: Dinosaur Hunter and Turok 2: Seeds of Evil had PC versions they could pluck from, Turok 3 remained exclusive to the N64. Thankfully, Nightdive’s wizardry has only become more potent over the years, and because of their work porting other N64 games like Doom 64 and Quake 2 (64) to their proprietary KEX Engine, they were able to reverse engineer Turok 3 to save it from the suffocating tomb of the console that birthed it.

Still, it’s a damned weird game.

Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (PC [Review], Switch, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S)
Developer: Nightdive Studios, Iguana Entertainment
Publisher: Nightdive Studios
Released: November 30, 2023
MSRP: $29.99

Part of what makes Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion so strange is that it’s unfortunately very normal. The first two Turok games were practically their own flavor of first-person shooters. The genre was still in its toddler stage, so the rules weren’t quite yet written. The levels were sprawling and confusing, and while it had a similar formula to the spawns of Wolfenstein 3D, they were anarchic mish-mashes. The punks of the burgeoning FPS genre.

It helped that the people behind Iguana Entertainment were rather adept with the N64’s notoriously difficult hardware. Each of their games has interesting technical flourishes, with Turok 2: Seeds of Evil sometimes being referred to as the best-looking game on the console (at the price of draw distance and framerate). Though they had been transitioned to the more dull corporate moniker of Acclaim Studios Austin, that technical trickery is still present in Turok 3.

However, that punk approach to the FPS formula was completely lost. In 1998, Half-Life rewrote the FPS playbooks, and developers were abandoning Wolfenstein 3D’s key-hunt approach. In its place were much more linear experiences that allowed easier storytelling. Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion wants to be Half-Life so hard you can see the vein bulging from its forehead.

The game kicks off with a rather elaborate cutscene showing the previous Turok, Joshua Fireseed, being killed and passing the mantle on to his siblings, Danielle and Joseph. They’re tasked with defeating Oblivion, which is maybe some malevolent force of evil, but it might also be some sort of alien army. The story stops making sense really quickly. Maybe you need to read the comic books.

While previous Turok games were set exclusively in the Lost Lands, a place where time has no meaning, Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion starts off on Earth. I think. Also, it’s the future, maybe.

You get the choice to play as either Danielle or Joseph, and while the bulk of the game remains the same regardless of the choice you make, their paths diverge in some places to focus on different gameplay. Danielle has a grappling hook, while Joseph is 15 and still hasn’t hit puberty, so he can fit through small paces. Their weapons also vary in some places. It’s not much, but it does make further playthroughs more worthwhile.

But while the first two Turok titles were fast-paced affairs where you blew away hordes of enemies, Turok 3 slows things down so it can tell you a hilariously awful story. The first whiff of Half-Life you get is running into a guy who shows you the way down a completely linear corridor, climbs up a ladder, and gets eaten. The next level is set in some sort of military research facility where the still living scientists opine that all their research is ruined and their colleagues are dead. The second stage is Black Mesa, is what I’m saying. Even the soldier dudes move in similar ways to the Marines in Half-Life.

But it’s the shooting that suffers the most. Rather than constantly swimming upstream against hordes of foes and running at about 50mph, they’re much more sparsely scattered about. They die very easily, perhaps to make up for the inaccuracy of the N64 controller, so you wind up spending a lot of time exploring empty environments. Also, neither Danielle nor Joseph can reach the speeds of Tal’Set’s amazing stride.

It at least stops being a direct attempt at copying Half-Life after the second level. There’s even a section pulled from Turok: Dinosaur Hunter that you walk through as if to say, “Look at how much more lifeless our levels have become after just three years!”

At least the weapons are still as varied and exotic as they’ve ever been. The celebrated cerebral bore is back, and in the later levels, you’re always tripping over ammo for it. It’s a fire-and-forget sort of weapon that launches a drone that drills into the heads of your foes before detonating. It’s injury and insult in one package, a very video game weapon.

I mean, really, I got by with the pistol, rifle, shotgun, rocket launcher, and cerebral bore combination, but that small selection of useful weapons is still more impressive than most. 

If there’s one place Turok 3 improved it’s with storytelling. The characters are lip-synced and have legible facial expressions, which was impressive to see on the N64. However, their faces also sometimes contort in disturbing ways, which hasn’t been helped by the polishing strokes that Nightdive made to their models.

But the story. Gosh, the story. I don’t even know where to begin with it. The bizarre revelation and cliffhanger right at the end is especially going to live with me for a while.

Say what you will about Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion in its original state, Nightdive did right by it. They had to reverse-engineer it by pulling it from its cartridge and extracting everything from the compiled program. Then, they rebuilt it in the KEX Engine. While they were at it, everything got touched up. This went beyond simply improving the models without altering the visual style like they did with the Quake remasters. They also improved the resolution of all the textures.

I’m impressed. I asked Nightdive how they managed to improve the resolution of the textures, as they were no doubt heavily compressed for the N64. “No AI,” I was told. “Artists.” The team found the original source for the textures wherever they could. However, even then, they touched some up by hand and recreated ones that they couldn't find.

Turok 3 doesn’t exactly look new. Not at all. Not even slightly. But it looks less like a ported N64 game and more like a remastered PC game from the early 2000’s. You wouldn’t guess that Nightdive didn’t have access to the source files.

Well, except for the voices. Geez, you can still hear the N64 muffle all over them. Well, except for the opening porch scene.

Some cut content has also been restored, and Nightdive also added environmental props to try and make things seem less lifeless, but they really didn't jump out at me. Probably a good thing.

As much as I’ll always give Turok 3 flak for its eagerness to follow in Half-Life’s shoes, I find a lot of charm in its ineptitude. It was also the only game in the series that I completed in my youth without using cheats. That’s maybe because it’s less than five hours long and could be completed in a rental period, but still, I’ve never hated it.

It’s just amusing to see such a loving remaster of a game that is mediocre in the most charitable of terms. With the attention Nightdive has given it, you would swear it was a classic. And I love that. I wish more publishers and developers had the guts to dredge up the forgotten dregs of the past and not just repackage them but restore them for a new audience. I was prepared for Nightdive to take a pass at remastering Turok 3 because it would be financially unviable. It wasn't the smart thing to do. It was the right thing to do. So, they forged onward and made it happen with their signature flourishes. Respect from top to bottom. Certainly makes it difficult to slap a score on it, though.

Now, what about Turok: Rage Wars?

_{[This review is based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

The post Review: Turok 3: Shadow of Oblivion (2023) appeared first on Destructoid.

It's not time to barrel roll; instead, you should be celebrating by eating a Swiss roll as Nintendo Switch Online has added a bunch of adorable Holiday profile icons. You can use your silver coins on the service's dedicated app to get them.

The Happy Holidays section of the Missions & Rewards tab has a bunch of festive Mario icons, as well as characters like Link, Isabelle, a Splatoon Inkling, and Pikmin for 10 Platinum Points each. Icons aren't the only gifts available on this tab. You can get some lovely holiday backgrounds with festive colors and patterns.

You'll want to be quick, however. These seasonal rewards will only last until December 25 at 4:59 p.m. Pacific. Make sure you get on the Nintendo Switch Online app and redeem them before it's too late.

Take advantage of the Switch eShop holiday sale, too

Beyond these holiday profile icons, there's also a winter sale going on in the Nintendo eShop. Until December 3, you can get a 33% discount on games like Luigi's Mansion 3 and Super Mario Odyssey. Bayonetta 3's 30% off too. One of my favorite Nintendo games of the year Fire Emblem Engage (yes, it did come out in 2023!) has a 30% discount as well.

The post Nintendo Switch Online adds cute holiday-themed profile icons appeared first on Destructoid.

The December 2023 games lineup involves us turning into blue aliens and harnessing the powers of a flour golem. We'll also be helping our favorite Disney characters with farming and other tasks.

Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora - PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, Amazon Luna

Publisher: Ubisoft
Developer: Massive Entertainment
Price: $69.99
Release Date: December 7
Trailer

The Division developer Massive Entertainment is behind the open world of Avatar: Frontiers of Pandora. You'll be exploring the beautiful Western Frontier, a new area inspired by James Cameron's box office breaking movie series. Available on December 7, this FPS has us playing as a Na'vi raised to be a warrior for the RDA but freed after 15 years. We'll be fighting back as we "reconnect with [our] lost heritage," according to the game's official website.

"It’s clear this is an open-world Ubisoft game, but there’s enough different there to make it feel like a fresh experience as well," writes our own Steven Mills in a preview of the new Ubisoft title.

This game seems similar to the Far Cry series as you craft your own gear, gain access to a variety of weapons like shotguns and assault rifles, and take over outposts. Hopefully the game will be more interesting than the first movie's Unobtanium storyline.

Born of Bread - PS5, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Switch, PC

Publisher: Dear Villagers
Developer: WildArts Studio Inc.
Price: $24.99
Release Date: December 5
Trailer

Getting anxious for the Paper Mario: The Thousand Door remake? You'll want to check out Born of Bread while you wait. It has a vibrant art style, a similar turn-based combat system, and a story that seems just as silly. "Born of Bread puts a twist on turn-based combat tropes with a fun interaction system that will test your reflexes," says the game's Steam page. "This interactive system also features a weaknesss and resistance system that makes battles more strategic."

The RPG seems memorable, as evidenced by our preview from PAX East earlier this year.

The combat system reacts to the timing of your button presses like the Paper Mario games that many enjoy. You'll also be solving puzzles with each character's abilities as you explore this world. It releases on December 5.

Disney Dreamlight Valley (1.0 release) - PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Switch, PC

Publisher: Gameloft
Developer: Gameloft
Price: $39.99 and higher
Release Date: December 5
Trailer

The 1.0 release of Disney Dreamlight Valley and the expansion A Rift In Time is finally arriving on December 5. This game is similar to Animal Crossing, in which you're befriending Disney characters, harvesting crops, and finishing side quests along the way like making dishes for Ratatouille's Remy. You're also upgrading shops and other resources available to you. Somehow, there's an intriguing storyline that meshes all of these Disney icons together and have it make sense.

It's a relaxing adventure, especially for those who love almost every Disney movie like me. You may want to get the Gold Edition, which comes with the DLC A Rift In Time and 5,000 Moonstones, one of the game's currencies. And yes, it won't be free-to-play, unfortunately. I guess it's something else Eeyore can complain about.

Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince - Switch

Publisher: Square Enix
Developer: Square Enix
Price: $59.99
Release Date: December 1
Trailer

Heading to the Switch exclusively is Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince, the next entry in the long-running JRPG series. Similar to the Pokemon series, you'll be collecting monsters and training them. As the story proceeds, the game's environments will change from Spring to Summer and so on.

Synthesizing two monsters to make more powerful allies returns, too. "Players can experiment and eventually unlock over 500 monsters, including franchise favourites, dark lords, and completely new creatures," says Square Enix in a press release. The game's also online, so you can compete against your friends and foes throughout the world. I'm excited, but man, I'll skip over the Overture theme if it plays after it playing in so many trailers. Nevertheless Dragon Quest Monsters: The Dark Prince releases on December 1.

Sonic Dream Team - iOS, Mac, Apple Arcade

Publisher: Sega
Developer: Sega Hardlight
Price: Free with Apple Arcade subscription
Release Date: December 5
Trailer

Last up is the Blue Blur himself, Sonic the Hedgehog in Sonic Dream Team. This time, you can play as six different characters, including Sonic, Amy, Tails, Cheese, Knuckles, and Rouge. In this 3D platformer, you're trying to jump and spindash your way through Eggman's nightmare dreamscapes.

From the trailers and screenshots, it looks like a solid 3D entry, despite being exclusive to Apple Arcade. It's far more interesting than Sonic Superstars, that's for sure. It will be available on the subscription service on December 5. Hopefully this game heads to consoles soon after.

Honorable mentions

This month isn't just some RPG goodness and the lightning quick speed of Sonic and his friends. There's far more than that. Who knows? There might be some shadowdrop surprises at The Game Awards. The honorable mentions include:

• Batman: Arkham Trilogy (Switch) - December 1
• SteamWorld Build (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, Switch)- December 1
• A Highland Song (Switch, PC) - December 5
• Enclave HD (PS5) - December 5
• Arizona Sunshine II (PC, PSVR2) - December 7
• House Flipper 2 (PC) - December 13
• Bulletstorm VR (PC, PSVR2) - December 14
• Granblue Fantasy Versus: Rising (PS4, PS5, PC) - December 14
• Pokemon Scarlet & Violet: The Hidden Treasure of Area Zero (Switch) - December 14
• Raccoo Venture (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, Switch, PC) - December 14
• Paranoid (PC) - December 14
• Trinity Fusion (PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC) - December 15
• Resident Evil 4 (iOS) - December 20

The post Most anticipated games – December 2023 appeared first on Destructoid.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is indefinitely an improvement over the original. Like Aang learning all four of the elements, developer Fair Play Labs has created a more comprehensive package for this game.

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 (PS4, PS5 [reviewed], Xbox One, Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PC, Nintendo Switch)
Developer: Fair Play Labs
Publisher: GameMill Entertainment
Released: November 7
MSRP: $49.99

Fun Smash-like gameplay, elevated from the first

Every character's moveset has been recreated from scratch (except for a handful of moves sticking around). That effort from the developer has paid off. While the gameplay isn't as refined as its contemporaries, each special attack feels more suited to the platform fighter genre. Both Korra and Aang use all of the elements rather than just one as well.

The new characters also bring some entertaining elements to the game. Azula unleashes her lightning and flame-focused attacks in an acrobatic fashion. Meanwhile, Jimmy Neutron's moveset revolves around his gadgets and his pet robot dog, Goddard.

Despite many positives, the game still feels somewhat awkward. Jumping in the air still feels floaty, and the impact of some moves feels too muted. What does help the gameplay, though, is the addition of the dodge roll and shield. They add more strategy to the overall flow and fit right in. Each character's shield looks different, as opposed to the Super Smash Bros. series. Garfield, in this instance, hugs a pillow.

Unfortunately, while playing the Arcade mode, the AI can be dumb. It jumps off the stage and accidentally falls to K.O. itself. This has happened around three to five times during my time with Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2.

A graphical upgrade

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 looks far better than the first game. The characters are more expressive, and the lighting upgrade is gorgeous. For example, SpongeBob grins when he lifts his two hands up for an upward attack. Aang also looks angry whenever he charges an earth attack.

I love fighting on Jellyfish Fields because it's so vibrant and brighter than the original. You can see the sunlight glimmering within the water. Additionally, you'll notice Bikini Bottom in the background. This amount of detail wasn't in the original. The graveyard stage also looks stunning with a darker atmosphere and a hint of light from a lamppost.

However, there are still some issues to address. Most "Final Smash" attacks that have been added to the sequel seem rushed and don't have the animation quality of the overall game. Aang's Final Smash attack, for example, lacks the impact of the four elements fusing into an almighty beam. On the other hand, there are some funny final smash attacks, like Ren blowing up the entire planet and Reptar rampaging through a burning city.

While the overall game looks much better than the first, there are some technical issues. In one instance, the victory screen didn't show the character, and I had to restart the game to get back to the menus. Some of the hitboxes are also too big, leading to less exciting and frustrating matches.

New modes in Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2

There's a single-player story mode that features rogue-like gameplay. Danny Phantom villain Vlad Plasmius has corrupted characters across the Nick universe. To save them, you'll need to defeat them in combat. Each run lets you purchase upgrades with the currency you gain. These are fun as you gain a damage percentage and use buffs.

Part of what makes buying upgrades fun is the interaction between characters. For example, the Cabbage Merchant gets freaked out by Aang and Azula showing up. If you've watched the show, you'd know the Last Airbender ruined this poor guy's shop (by accident) while getting chased by the Firebenders.

The bosses are a bit of a mixed bag. They can be fairly tough and have certain interesting patterns to avoid. However, I found that too many of them stood still for a long time, letting me take out a quarter or even a half of their health before they activated another attack. As a result, I didn't feel satisfied after taking out the bosses.

However, it is funny to see Aang commenting that he's unhappy about taking out a spirit like SpongeBob SquarePants' Flying Dutchman.

Overall, this mode had me playing the game for hours in one sitting. I loved getting new characters for this campaign and evil costumes for the roster.

Finally! A good platform fighter that has great online!

I've played Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 with a friend of mine from the other side of the continent. I live in Western Canada, and my mate is from an Eastern U.S. state. Thankfully, while playing this game, it was as if he was playing next to me. The connection is flawless, and I'm so happy to play a platform fighter with him. He refuses to play Super Smash Bros. Ultimate with me due to the sloppy connection.

Unlike the last game, this sequel supports cross-play. This means someone on the PS5 can check out the game with a PC player. You'll need to copy a password down, and then you can join your pal in a lobby. It works well, but you have to make sure that crossplay is on. For some reason, my Eastern American friend had the crossplay feature off by default.

There's full voice acting, but man, the music's just okay

One of the major complaints of the original game, when it was released, was that it lacked voice acting. It was later added in an update, but the second game received this feature from day one. Most of the actors, like Rob Paulsen and Billy West, reprise their roles, and they sound fantastic. There are some unique voice lines in the campaign as well, which is a neat touch.

Unfortunately, the so-so music doesn't match up to the outstanding voice acting. While it gets the general gist of the atmosphere around the stages, most of the tracks bore me. There are some standouts, though, like the Jellyfish Fields and Campaign themes. The second is grand and epic, while the first maintains the charming vibes of the SpongeBob SquarePants show. I also like the mariachi-fueled "Miracle City Volcano."

It would be neat if the next game could get the official music from each of the series rather than making original tracks that fail to meet the mark.

Perhaps GameMill Entertainment could hire composers to remix memorable songs like Avatar: The Last Airbender's "Peace Excerpt" or SpongeBob SquarePants' theme music like Nintendo does with Super Smash Bros.

Is Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 worth playing?

Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 is worth trying out. The new movesets make this game more exciting than the original, and the online netcode is surprisingly stellar. If you want to check out All-Star Brawl 2 alone, the campaign mode is compelling enough to play it for hours. While the music is disappointing to listen to, the new voice acting does add so much to the game.

[The publisher provided one PS5 code and one PC code to the writer]

The post Review: Nickelodeon All-Star Brawl 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

10 islands enter, one island wins. The Game Awards' Geoff Keighley has orchestrated an in-game opportunity in which players can now vote on the battle royale title's best user-created island of the year.

The announcement came from Keighley this afternoon. In collaboration with Nighttimes and Studio 568, the partnership has created a hub world that Fortnite players can travel to to vote in-game on what they believe is the best original locale out there.

The in-game experience is something The Game Awards creator, Geoff Keighley, has been excited about for years:

"Ever since I hosted Live From Risky Reels in Fortnite in 2019, I’ve been thinking about ways The Game Awards could bring our celebration inside the games we play every day," said Keighley in a press release. "Our Fortnite island is the first experiment in this direction, and I’m particularly excited to help shine the spotlight on the amazing user-generated community around the world."

The Game Awards Island, located in-game at 0853-1358-8532, features 10 creator-made islands that can be voted on once a day per Epic ID. After players finish voting, they can explore the custom island to find Game Awards statues scattered throughout. If all of the statues are found, players will enjoy a nice XP boost for their efforts.

The Game Awards Vote in Fortnite event begins today and runs until December 6 at 6:00 p.m. PT. The winning island will be revealed the following night, December 7, during The Game Awards live and within The Game Awards Fortnite island. For more The Game Awards coverage, check out all of this year's nominees here.

The post The Game Awards is hosting a vote for best user-created Fortnite Island inside Fortnite appeared first on Destructoid.

A new Indie World Showcase from Nintendo has arrived here at the end of 2023, spotlighting the independent projects headed to the Nintendo Switch. Sorry Silksong fans, today was not your day.

Despite the noticeable lack of Hollow Knight updates, though, there were quite a few games that caught my eye. This didn't feel like a big showstopper, but it's definitely tacked a few more games onto my watch-list. And heck, with a few available today, it's added onto my increasingly large 2023 backlog.

Here's all we saw at today's Indie World Showcase.

All announcements from the November 2023 Nintendo Indie World Showcase

• WayForward is preserving more of Shantae's legacy with Shantae Advance, an updated version of the lost-in-development GBA game Shantae Advance: Risky Revolution. This layer-shifting, world-spinning adventure is set to arrive in 2024.
• Core Keeper looks to bring some co-op mining and base-building next summer on the Nintendo Switch. It looks fairly in-depth, for those looking to dig into a co-op adventure with friends.
• For something a bit different, On Your Tail blends mystery with card systems, all set in a world full of anthropomorphized animals. Take or leave the art style, but it's certainly distinct. That's set to hit Switch in 2024.

• My first big pleasant surprise of the show is Howl, a gorgeous-looking strategy game about a hunter and some wolves. Everything about this seems super interesting, and you don't need to wait to try it out. Both the full game and a demo of Howl are available on Switch today.
• The Star Named Eos is a photography-driven adventure title arriving in spring 2024. Definitely seems like those that love narrative adventures should keep an eye on this one.
• Space-management roguelike Backpack Hero is heading to the Switch later today. I've played the demo of this on PC, and it's really fun. Definitely one to pick up if you like roguish games or autobattlers.
• Here's another pleasant surprise: Blade Chimera looks like a 'Vania fan's type of game. While the setting is very neon and futuristic, the action reminds me of Deedlit in Wonder Labyrinth. Keep an eye out for this in spring 2024.

• I'll pay attention any time that Inkle's name is brought up, and A Highland Song is indeed an Inkle project. A story about a girl exploring the Scottish highlands, this certainly has a memorable aesthetic and mood. Look for that to hit Switch on December 5.
• Moonstone Island has just about every genre buzzword you could feasibly smash together: creature collecting, card battles, farming, life-sim, and more. It sounds like a lot to juggle all at once, but hey, if someone can pull it off, it could be special. We'll find out when Moonstone Island hits Switch in spring 2024.
• Enjoy solving murders? Then Death Trick: Double Blind might be one to watch. This mystery adventure is from some self-professed fans of the genre, and it's got quite an art style to match its macabre subject matter. It's due out in 2024, but a demo arrives for Switch later today.

• Outer Wilds: Archaeologist Edition finally sets a date for December 7, with a physical version out in 2024. Do I need to tell you this? Play Outer Wilds. Do it already. Seriously.
• The sizzle reel closes out our show kicks off with a series of trailers and dates:

  • Planet of Lana - Spring 2024
  • Enjoy the Diner - Later today
  • Heavenly Bodies - February 2024
  • The Gecko Gods - Spring 2024
  • Passpartout 2: The Lost Artist - Later today
  • Urban Myth Dissolution Center - 2024
  • Braid, Anniversary Edition - Spring 2024

That's all for today's show. Not quite a blockbuster, but a good few games that I'm keen on following towards their eventual release dates. Anything catch your eye? Let us know down below.

The post Everything shown at today’s Nintendo Indie World Showcase appeared first on Destructoid.

The Persona series has its fair share of spinoffs. In fact, there are now more Persona offshoots now than mainline Persona games, and that’s where Persona 5 Tactica finds itself: a new take on some familiar territory, showing the Phantom Thieves in a more strategic light.

For Tactica, this means adapting the mechanics of Persona not to fighting games, dancing, dungeon-crawling or musou, but to tactics. And it does work well, even when its best sides take a little while to appear.

Persona 5 Tactica (PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, Switch [reviewed])
Developer: P-Studio/Atlus
Publisher: Sega
Released: November 16, 2023
MSRP: $59.99

Persona 5 Tactica is very much a side story. So really, don’t expect too much in the way of a “sequel” or new piece of info here. The Phantom Thieves, while hanging out in the Leblanc cafe, get pulled into a strange new dimension similar to (but different from) the Metaverse, called a Kingdom.

Viva la revolution

After a run-in with the ruler of this Kingdom’s ruler Marie, the empress charms everyone but Joker, Morgana, and newcomer Erina. The first Kingdom mostly involves recovering your friends, building up rebel forces, and taking down Marie while trying to find a way home. More twists, and further Kingdoms, await beyond that; but I’ll leave those story details for players to discover.

What’s important to note is that a lot of Persona 5 is here, but in a surface-level fashion when it comes to the story and characters. The social links have been discarded, in favor of side-stories called Quests, but even then, they’re not deep dives into any of these characters’ stories. I imagine someone who, for some reason, picked this up without playing Persona 5 might feel a bit lost.

Much of Persona 5 Tactica’s story so far feels like more time spent around the Phantom Thieves. And in some ways, I guess that’s fine. Their antics can still get a chuckle out of me, and their dynamic is still enjoyable, after all the hours I dumped into the original Persona 5. 

Some of the what-if scenarios, like a section where Joker can daydream about marrying one of the team members (including some not romanceable in the base game, a big win for all Ren x Ryuji shippers), are enjoyable. And Erina, the new ally who joins the playable cast, is already a strong addition to the crew.

But while fighting game players might gel with just the mechanics of Persona 4 Arena, I’m not sure if Persona 5 Tactica could hold open the side-door for prospective series newcomers in the same way. Then again, I could see someone picking this up just because they want a new tactics game with a distinct Persona flavor to it.

Tactical decisions

And really, the tactics are a big draw of Persona 5 Tactica. And when they click into place, they’re really interesting. By adapting the concepts of Persona 5 into a tactics setting, P-Studio and Atlus focus in on the One More and extra turn functions. It’s a key part of Persona’s combat identity, so it makes perfect sense. Catching an enemy out of cover lets characters get an extra turn, extending their possible movement range and setting up more damage; fully down an enemy and form a triangle around them, and you can commit to a Triple Threat, an all-out attack on everyone caught in the middle.

It can sound complicated when laid out in text, but it’s pretty straightforward in practice. Melee attacks and Persona skills offer opportunities to displace foes and move them out of cover, as do environmental hazards. So it’s easy to get into a rhythm: knock them out, knock them down, form the triangle and strike.

Initially, this is the whole routine, and early levels don’t always do the best job of spotlighting the flexibility of these systems. A few fights can feel a bit repetitive or rigid, as it feels like you have one game plan to work with, and things only start to open up later, as you get more varied skills and abilities. 

I felt it the most when Persona 5 Tactica introduced me to the Follow-Up Attack: if I knocked an enemy off a ledge towards an ally below, the ally would perform an extra attack and I’d get a One More on the character that did the launching. It’s a crucial, engaging tactic that emphasizes the benefit of elevation control, but it arrives a good deal of the way into Tactica’s missions. It's a neat element that I wish Tactica had handed to me much earlier.

Characters in Persona 5 Tactica have a decent amount of variety, each bringing their own style of magic and weaponry to the field. Guns matter a good deal more here than it felt like they did in Persona 5, as different fire types can alter firefights; Haru launches grenades that hit an area, while Ann’s SMG can blanket a small area in bullets. I did find myself leaning more towards the mobile members of the crew, as having movement options feels paramount here. But I have spent some time making sure I know how every member of the Thieves lineup fights.

Getting familiar with that variety is important too, as Persona 5 Tactica encourages the player to swap up their roster mission-over-mission. Each excursion into the world might entail several maps of fights, and Phantom Thieves get a boost to their numbers if they’re joining off the bench. It’s a smart, neat way to encourage swapping around party members and experimenting with compositions. The Voltage abilities, super skills that can unleash damage and unique special effects on the field, add another dimension worth considering too. Abilities like Carmen’s bomb attack or Erina’s banner made those characters regular roster inclusions all by themselves.

Magic feels a bit strange here; maybe it’s the Devil Survivor fan in me talking, but I missed some of the elemental weaknesses that usually play a significant role in SMT and Persona games. Persona skills instead provide different effects. Bufu can freeze, or Frei can vortex enemies in, or Psi can lure enemies out. Some feel extremely powerful, others less so, but a few didn’t feel quite as conducive to the rack-em-up, tear-em-down set-ups of Triple Threats as others.

Your own personal Persona

Character customization is where I feel Persona 5 Tactica is falling a bit short for me. New guns are just number boosts, and so are a lot of the skills you can spend GP on. Several different nodes, in fact, offer either upgraded versions of a skill you already know or a boost to that family of skills (i.e. Agi Boost). There are some deeper character customization options, but I was hoping for something that could give me a way to define how I, personally, play Joker, for example, rather than further enforcing a set way to play Joker.

The way Tactica handles Personas themselves, though, is much more interesting. In the world of Persona 5 Tactica, every member of the Phantom Thieves gains access to a sort of Wild Card, allowing them to equip an additional Persona alongside their main one. This means every character can gain access to interesting abilities tacked onto those Personas, opening up cool ability combinations. Some of my favorite demon skills lean into these, offering Passives that can boost your damage when targeting multiple enemies, for example. It’s a smart move that makes for some really interesting character building, as you rack up a big collection of demons to fuse.

Where Persona 5 Tactica shines brightest is in its Quests, those side-story activities I mentioned before. Story missions are often pretty straightforward and really didn’t offer me too much challenge playing on Normal. But the Quests are like little tactical problems, with the better ones reminding me of chess puzzles. They might ask you to reach the goal with a character in a single turn, or find a way to wipe out all enemies in the time allotted, while posing limitations on which characters you can field.

These sections highlight where Persona 5 Tactica feels the most rewarding: the moment when a plan has come together, your perfect turn has been mapped out, and you execute in one fell swoop. Mapping out the way in which I could precisely position my units to knock out the enemy with no damaging reprise feels great.

My greatest hold-up, however, is that Persona 5 Tactica is not always at that peak. And I think for as often as I’ve had extremely rewarding tactical solutions so far, I’ve had a fair few missions that felt routine. With the way Tactica has been introducing new mechanics to my tool kit, I’m hopeful that it’s a backloaded tactical experience. For someone fairly new to the concepts Tactica is introducing, it might even feel like a welcome easing into the waters.

Where it stands now, Tactica is criss-crossing back and forth, oscillating between strong, interesting tactical puzzles and routine missions, with some cool story moments and fan-pleasing gags added for good measure. It's solid enough as-is, but we’ll see if, once over what feels like the halfway mark, Persona 5 Tactica picks up some downhill steam.

The post Review in Progress: Persona 5 Tactica appeared first on Destructoid.