Daniel Goldman of Kinjin Storylab, the creator of a number of award-winning stories, has announced that what he considers to be the best comic work of his career is making a comeback. Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business is an omnibus of the series and a fresh start for what's to come.

Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business is a collection of everything from the original Red Light Properties graphic novel in a hardcover book with a slipcase to keep it nice and secure. This collection is more than just what has come before; it includes 100 pages of comic books that have never been printed before. It's all coming to Kickstarter on October 1, 2024, for fans who love the series and comic book lovers who have yet to discover it to get their hands on.

Trust me, you're going to want to read this

Red Light Properties follows Jude and Cecilia. When they meet, sparks fly, and their future as an estate agency called Red Light Properties begins. Cecelia is the real business brain behind the operation. She manages their lives, including raising their child, getting in clients, pushing through every sale, and generally keeping life held together.

So what does Jude do? Well, he's got the ability to see dead people, and since it's previously haunted houses that Red Light Properties specializes in, he's got to keep up his end of the bargain and clear houses of spirits so they can be sold on the cheap to those who couldn't afford one otherwise. To do this, he needs to stay topped up on psychedelics, but that leaves him somewhere between reality and The Membrane that separates the physical world from the spiritual one. You can see how that could be a problem as a business partner, father, and husband, right?

Those who have followed the series for a while may know some of the stories included in this upcoming omnibus. "Goodnight Donnie Cheng," "Underwater," and even "Tight Shorts," which never made it off of Comixology, will all be included.

You can sign up to be notified of the Kickstarter's launch now. This will ensure you get an email as it goes live, so you don't miss out on any limited editions or early bird specials, which are always nice on new campaigns. I'd not heard about Red Light Properties before learning about this hardcover collection, but I love the concept and want to dive into all of it, which now I can do in Unfinished Business.

This Kickstarter is far from the end of the series. In spring 2025, Goldman plans on producing more Red Light Properties issues for fans to collect and read. If you've been looking for something new to add to your shelf, this is definitely one worth checking out when it goes live.

The post Red Light Properties: Unfinished Business brings the comic book back with 100 never-before-seen pages appeared first on Destructoid.

If you’re a Stardew Valley player on console or mobile, the long-awaited good news about the 1.6 update has arrived, and it's set to release on November 4. 

Like a baby that’s grown in the womb and is ready to be born, the release will come very close to nine months after it arrived on PC. 

This is great news, as now all players will be able to experience everything new that was added in the 1.6 update, and some of you can finally stop avoiding any and all spoilers. I tip my hat to any of you who have been avoiding any Stardew Valley guides because I’m not sure how you’ve managed it. 

This does pose a specific problem for some players who have been making the most of the Tea prices. You’ve got six weeks from the time of writing to get all of those Tea Saplings sold, or you’re going to half your profits thanks to a lovely price nerf introduced in 1.6. 

It is a shame that it has taken this long for the update to come to players on anything other than PC, and as yet there is no word from ConcernedApe as to the specific reasoning. Perhaps there never will be, and players in the comments of Ape’s tweet are simply overjoyed that they’re finally going to experience the update. 

The good news is two-fold. Firstly, thanks to the delay, there’s a guide available for everything you could possibly get stuck in with 1.6. Second, this means that ConcernedApe will be able to refocus his efforts on his next title, Haunted Chocolatier. He’s previously stated that he’s been unable to put any work on his next title due to the extra effort involved with porting Stardew to consoles and mobile. 

The post Stardew Valley 1.6 is coming to consoles and mobile on November 4 appeared first on Destructoid.

During the One Six Indie Showcase 2024, we were treated to a trailer for a brand new DLC for Rain World. This DLC, The Watcher, looks to take players to unfamiliar territory for a new Slugcat adventure, and fans want it to go as far as possible.

Eagle-eyed fans spotted several key details in the trailer for Rain World's The Watcher DLC, including a lack of Iterators, walking snails, and some fresh-looking animated backgrounds that hint at new environments. The franchise is known for an incredibly complex ecosystem that interlinks as you explore, with every environment impacting the other in some way. But fans want something that cuts deep from the DLC. A region or regions cut off from what we've seen before.

Where are the Iterators?

Long before the DLC's trailer was released, Rain World fans on the game's subreddit had been discussing what they wanted from it. User ANBpokeball sums up what a lot of other fans want. "Exploring new regions, seeing new creatures, meeting Slugcats other than the protagonist, and getting to meet one of the iterators other than Five Pebbles or Looks To The Moon."

This would be brilliant. Iterators are massive entities that house entire ecosystems. They're also said to create the rain that gives Rain World its name. In the base game and other DLC, you can see other Iterators in the distance when you reach the top of one, as high as you can go.

The featured image for this article shows a Slugcat at that point, and there's a shocking lack of Iterators. This hints that The Watcher DLC could be set at a different time, in a different dimension, or in a region separate from the rest of the franchise.

We can actually look to the Akupara Games page for the DLC for some clarity here. "Journey beyond to something, somewhere only ever glimpsed. When the world beneath your feet cracks and crumbles, will you hold on to all you once knew? Or dive into the unknown?"

It suggests we'll be somewhere in the Rain World series we've never actually been able to visit. Part of what makes the franchise so intriguing and gripping is its complex ecosystem that you sneak, run from, and fight your way through across many playthroughs.

From the sounds of it, I'd say we're heading to a dry location, somewhere the ground cracks and crumbles away from an Iterator. It could reveal the planet's past below the crust of dirt and away from the fairly familiar territories we've known around these large machines. Having played Animal Well earlier this year, I'm excited to play as another creature delving into the depths.

Fans want something new, and the trailer and description certainly make it look like that's what we're getting. We'll have to wait until March 28, 2025, to know for sure, and if you're new to the series, that should be just enough time to get caught up on everything you need to know before The Watcher DLC drops.

The post Rain World fans want new ecosystems and regions in The Watcher DLC appeared first on Destructoid.

As part of the celebration for Batman Day 2024, the official Sonic the Hedgehog social media accounts recently uploaded this fascinating animated short of Shadow fighting criminals while dressed up as Batman, and it took the entire internet by storm.

Shadow not only looks absolutely amazing as Batman, but it also makes a lot of sense for him to cosplay as the Caped Crusader, seeing as both characters have similar designs and personalities. This is also great brand integration because Sonic X Shadow Generations is releasing on October 22, and Shadow will be the main antagonist of the third live-action Sonic movie, releasing on December 20. 2024 is the year of Shadow the Hedgehog.

The video itself is short but sweet, with detailed animation made by none other than renowned Sonic the Hedgehog artist Tyson Hesse, who confirmed on Twitter/X that he produced the entire thing with his wife. Sonic fans reacted to this short with both delight and surprise, since this is a crossover that nobody was expecting to happen, and it also inspired a ton of creative fan art and hilarious memes regarding the idea of Shadow becoming Batman.

There might be more to this Sonic the Hedgehog x Batman crossover

Fans were quick to notice that the upload of this animated short on DC's official YouTube channel is titled "DC x Sonic Partnership Teaser," which may have revealed that this is just the beginning and that both DC and Sega may have more plans for these two characters.

Batman has already crossed over with iconic IPs from other companies in his comic books, like the Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles or Predator. So it is possible that DC is planning a potential crossover comic series with the Sonic the Hedgehog franchise in the near future. On the other hand, some fans believe that Sega may add some Batman DLC content to Sonic X Shadow Generations after release, like a Batman costume for Shadow.

The post Sonic the Hedgehog celebrates Batman Day with a surprise crossover video appeared first on Destructoid.

In the Fall of 2022, Netflix and CD Projekt Red released Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, an animated prequel to Cyberpunk 2077 that became one of the year's biggest sleeper hits. During Geeked Week 2024, the two studios revealed they're getting back together to make another animated project set in the Cyberpunk universe.

Netflix's new Cyberpunk project won't be Edgerunners Season 2

The announcement came as a brief but stylish trailer that barely reveals anything about this new project. All we know with any certainty is that this new Cyberpunk project will again play out in the mechanized jungle that is Night City. The trailer's description also confirms that Netflix Animation will be involved, proving that this will be an animated production.

I'm not surprised that Netflix is bringing us more Cyberpunk animation. Cyberpunk: Edgerunners was an earth-shattering success, so much so that Cyberpunk 2077's 1.6 and 2.0 Patches added a plethora of Easter Eggs and references to it. I've binged the series three times since 2022, and I'm still reduced to a sobbing mess by the time I reach the last episode.

Unfortunately, whatever this new Cyberpunk series (or film) ends up being, it won't be a continuation of Cyberpunk Edgerunners. CDPR confirmed long ago that they had no plans to produce a second season of Cyberpunk Edgerunners, and I, for one, am perfectly okay with that. David Martinez and his crew's adventures ended on a heartbreaking but satisfying note, and it'd be wrong to take that sense of closure away by trying to continue the story.

While we won't get Cyberpunk Edgerunners Season 2, we've known that CDPR has been planning to make other animated projects set in Cyberpunk 2077's world. Hopefully, this new entry will be just as nova as Cyberpunk Edgerunners was.

The post Netflix and CD Projekt Red are making another Cyberpunk anime appeared first on Destructoid.

Netflix recently released an exciting new trailer for its upcoming Devil May Cry animated series that will premiere in April 2025. However, fans immediately noticed that Dante's voice sounded different from the games, where Reuben Langdon usually voices him.

After people asked Netflix about this on its social media, the company officially confirmed that Dante will be voiced by none other than Johnny Yong Bosch, who voices Nero in the Devil May Cry video games. However, Reuben Langdon did step up to show his approval of this new casting.

Langdon congratulated Yong Bosch on his personal Twitter/X account and remarked that he's already part of the Devil May Cry family, referencing his previous work as Nero in DMC4 and DMC5. After all, this young devil hunter is Vergil's son and Dante's nephew, so it's quite reasonable for Netflix to cast Yong Bosch as a younger version of Dante from a separate universe.

Yong Bosch responded to Langdon's blessing, by telling him, "You’ll always be my Dante", which proves that things are definitely quite amicable between the two actors. This interaction has endeared most fans and made them receive the sudden recasting in a more positive manner.

The Devil May Cry franchise is prone to recastings

The sudden replacement of Langdon as Dante is nothing new for the Devil May Cry franchise, seeing as he's not even the first person who voiced this character: Drew Coombs voiced him in the first game, Matthew Kaminsky in the second game, and Langdon took over the role from Devil May Cry 3 onwards. This isn't even the first time in recent years that someone else voiced Dante, with Jacob Browning voicing Dante in the mobile game, DMC: Peak of Combat.

There's no denying that Langdon's performance as Dante is incredibly recognizable and beloved, but since this is a character who is prompt to changing voices, this recasting should surprise no one. Not to mention that Yong Bosch's excellent work as Nero has already proven that he's more than fit to take up the mantle and breathe new life into this iconic devil hunter in the process.

The post Original Devil May Cry star gives anime’s new Dante voice actor his blessing appeared first on Destructoid.

The beloved Naruto series is celebrating a major milestone — its 25th anniversary — with a special promotional video released to commemorate the occasion. This iconic manga, which was first released in 1999, has since become a cultural phenomenon, and the anniversary PV is a heartfelt tribute to the maverick ninja.

The anniversary PV beautifully captures some of the most iconic moments from both Naruto and Naruto: Shippuden, taking fans through key battles, emotional scenes, and memorable characters that have defined the series. From Naruto’s early days as the underdog ninja in Konoha to his evolution into the Seventh Hokage, the video serves as a nostalgic trip down memory lane for longtime fans.

For the uninitiated, the story follows Naruto Uzumaki, an orphaned ninja ostracized by his village due to the powerful Nine-Tailed Demon Fox sealed within him. To gain recognition and prove his worth, Naruto dreams of becoming the Hokage, the strongest ninja in the village.

Naruto, penned by Masashi Kishimoto, first debuted as a manga series in Weekly Shonen Jump in 1999. In 2002, the manga was adapted into an anime by Studio Pierrot, marking the beginning of its international success. The anime ran for 220 episodes, covering Naruto’s early years and his growth as a ninja. Its sequel, Naruto: Shippuden, continued the story from 2007 to 2017, with 500 episodes that focused on Naruto’s maturation and the climactic battles that decided the fate of the ninja world.

The franchise has also received a number of spin-off manga series, as well as movies and video game adaptations. The manga can be read on MANGA Plus and VIZ Media, while the anime is available for streaming on Crunchyroll.

The post Naruto receives PV in celebration of 25th anniversary appeared first on Destructoid.

Helldivers 2 fans are pretty happy with the game following the release of its 60-day update. Every buff and change feels solid. However, the massive improvement in gameplay has meant that frustrations with one item from the latest Warbond feel bigger than they actually are.

The Chemical Agents Warbond was released in Helldivers 2 a few days after the game's 60-day update. It brought with it a slew of chemical warfare-themed items like armor that looks like a hazmat suit, toxic gas-based Stratagems, and a healing sidearm called the Stim Pistol. But this last item, one that should help players out in a pinch, has become a slight source of frustration within the community. What should be a life-saver is definitely a meme at this point.

Stims only work if they hit

The Stim Pistol will provide a Helldiver with enough of a healing boost to survive their next hit. Provided the next hit isn't a Charger running them down or a misplaced Eagle 500KG Bomb. However, the healing a Helldiver is trying to provide their teammates won't work at all if they can't land the shot, and that's the toughest thing to do with this sidearm.

The problem is that it feels impossible to land a shot with the Stim Pistol. You can be in first person, aiming down sights, and have a Helldiver running right at you, but you'll still miss. It's definitely possible to land shots because I've seen players in the post-mission screens peppered with darts, but I have no idea how those darts found their mark.

If you've picked up the Warbond and are trying it out for yourself, you'll know exactly what I'm talking about. If you're waiting to pick it up later, all you need to do is take one look at the Helldivers 2 subreddit to understand what's going on.

The Helldivers 2 community isn't worried about the issues with Stim Pistols, though. If this had happened before the 60-day update was released, it might have been the straw that broke the camel's back. With such a slew of buffs making the game as enjoyable as it was upon release, the Stim Pistol's inaccuracy fades into the background.

I have no doubt that developer Arrowhead Game Studios will fix the Stim Pistol in a future update. But nobody is that bothered about it right now. We've been spoiled with impeccable gameplay, a new Warbond, and even fantastic Superstore items. The game is in a great place at the time of writing, and you can see that in the community's reaction to weapon inaccuracy now compared to what it would have been just a week or so ago.

The post Helldivers 2’s most helpful weapon has created a frustrating problem appeared first on Destructoid.

Minecraft developer Mojang and MOD Entertainment revealed the Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue in early 2024. The one-hour-long real-world activity had to be delayed, but now it's coming up for its Dallas launch on October 18, 2024, and all attendees can get their hands on an exclusive reward.

Anyone who buys a ticket and plays the Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue will receive an exclusive in-game cape for Minecraft that's half-villager, half-zombie. It looks pretty great and acts as a nice bonus that'll help the event last even longer in your mind when you see it each time you log in. You don't even need to visit Dallas just to get the cape because the entire thing is going on tour, meaning there's a good chance it'll turn up near you in the future.

Now that's a nice cape

In the Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue, iconic locations and creatures from the game are brought to life. You start in the forest, where you'll learn the ropes of how mechanics in this experience function. From there, you'll enter the village, where you'll pick up your quest and team up with other real players to complete your task. I'm going to go ahead and guess, given the experience's name, that you'll be rescuing a Villager.

There will be multiple biomes to explore and creatures to meet along the way. While you can gush over the dolphins, sheep, and pigs, the skeletons and spiders aren't so friendly. Luckily, the experience has everything you'll be used to from the game, so you'll be able to fend off any mobs.

The most interesting thing about the Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue is the Orb of Interaction. This is an object you hold and take with you throughout the story to interact with objects, enemies, and every biome as you would in the game. It's got some sort of haptic feedback built in, so I imagine it vibrates in specific ways for each type of interaction, but it should also change color depending on what you're doing.

Considering you can build an entire universe in Minecraft if you work hard enough, a 1-hour experience sounds a little small. However, you do get to chill out in the Trading Post with a memento afterward, so you might be able to make an entire morning or afternoon out of it if you want.

Of course, the long-lasting reward from the experience is going to be that in-game cape. Given that you can only get it from this touring physical event, I can see it being pretty rare and desirable. Between this and the fact that you can keep the whole experience to an hour if you don't want to spend an entire day on it, I think the Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue could be pretty popular, especially with fans who aren't excited for the movie.

The post Minecraft Experience: Villager Rescue is a real-life touring adventure with an exclusive in-game reward appeared first on Destructoid.

Despite developer Saber Interactive being hard at work making Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 as good as it possibly can be, it's managed to cook up a ferocious new game mode for World War Z: Aftermath. The new mode sounds like a tonne of fun, but only for those players ready to take on an impossible challenge.

Saber Interactive has been pretty busy over the last couple of months with the final prep and then the launch of Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2. On September 24, 2024, it's releasing a new game mode, Extinction Challenge Mode, for World War Z: Aftermath. This is the ultimate challenge for players, requiring skill, determination, and knowledge of every system just to have a chance at making it through a few checkpoints.

This new mode isn't built to be fun, it's made to push you

Extinction Challenge Mode for World War Z: Aftermath makes all zombies more aggressive and harder to kill as a baseline. There's usually a group of pretty docile or dormant zombies in each stage, regardless of difficulty. I imagine those are now gone, and needing to reload is going to be a bigger problem than it normally is with tougher and crazier hordes of undead throwing themselves your way.

The real run killer of this mode is that you're now dead after just one incapacitation. Usually, you can be revived at a few points throughout a level, but now it's only possible to respawn at checkpoints. Death is going to be more frequent because the mode also makes it harder to distinguish allies from enemies among the throng of bodies that's always around you.

I adore World War Z: Aftermath. I love the progression systems it has, and every mission on every difficulty feels just right. Seeing Saber Interactive continue to support it because of its players gives me hope that I'll be playing both it and Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 for years to come since the developer's latest game has a similar progression path for you to follow.

Saber Interactive initially released World War Z in 2019 before launching a current-gen version, World War Z: Aftermath, in 2021. It's been supporting the game ever since with a regular flow of content updates for both in-game skins, Twitch Drops, and much more. It's had a pretty stable fan base since launch thanks to receiving new features that feel as good as Helldivers 2's 60-day update but without the low points.

The Extinction Challenge Mode is just the latest example of what this developer is capable of when it's allowed to listen to a community and act on the feedback it provides. I can't say I'm excited about the prospect of dying over and over in this game mode, but I'm so happy that there are still fresh experiences to be had in one of my favorite games.

The post World War Z: Aftermath’s new Extinction Challenge Mode wants you to die appeared first on Destructoid.

Back in September 2023, Netflix announced that the beloved Capcom game franchise Devil May Cry is getting a new animated adaptation. During Geeked Week 2024, Netflix followed up with an exciting reveal: the animated series is set to premiere in April 2025.

Alongside this announcement, a brand-new teaser trailer was released, giving fans a first look at some of the show’s action-packed sequences.

Produced by Netflix, the series promises to offer a fresh take on the iconic action-adventure game. Animation is being handled by Studio Mir, renowned for its stellar work on projects like The Legend of Korra and Dota: Dragon’s Blood.

The story will center on Devil May Cry’s iconic characters, including Dante, Vergil, and Lady. According to Anime News Network, the first season will consist of eight episodes, which should set the stage for what is expected to be a multi-season saga. Furthermore, Netflix confirmed that Johnny Yong Vosch, who voiced Nero in Devil May Cry 4 and Devil May Cry 5, will be taking on the role of Dante in this adaptation.

This is also not the first time Devil May Cry has been adapted for the screen. In 2007, Madhouse produced a 12-episode anime series based on the game. Released on home video by ADV Films and later Funimation, the anime gained a following and was made available on streaming platforms like Crunchyroll in 2017.

The post Devil May Cry animated series to premiere in April 2025 appeared first on Destructoid.

Half-Life was initially released in November 1998 and has shaped the games industry as we know it in many ways. While it's been extensively remastered by fans and has dozens of mods or side stories to play, there was still a version no one could access. That is, until now.

LambdaGeneration, one of the largest Valve game communities, recently announced that a pre-gold build of Half-Life is finally available for anyone to download and play. The build is from October 1998, which is just a month before the full game's actual launch. Fans are incredibly excited about the release because, while it's likely very close to the final build everyone got on release day, there could be subtle, hidden changes that are always fun discoveries when looking back at older titles like this.

The flying scientist is back

You can download this pre-gold version of Half-Life from the official Archive.org page and try it out for yourself. The page has many useful tips for getting the game to run, which will definitely be needed if you're trying to play on a modern PC.

This build is technically what you'd call a beta build. It's from a point in development before the game went gold, which is when the developer is happy with the code and can have it printed onto discs and shipped.

As such, it might contain bugs, glitches, and a few features that you can't find in the final game, including that one that took Valve 25 years to fix. This could include different skins for enemies, entire rooms, or items that have been left in place for testing before being removed for the final build.

Some elements of game development were very different in 1998. For example, it wasn't uncommon for a game's final code to have to be hand-delivered to manufacturers or publishers. Despite there only being a month between this build and the final version of Half-Life, many changes could lie in the code, and it'll be exciting to see what hardcore fans dig up.

There are also many versions of Half-Life and the other games in the series that you've likely never heard of. One of the rarest is Half-Life: Uplink, which was a demo distributed with magazines ahead of the game's release. I think this just goes to show that no matter how many versions of a game you own and how much you research it, there's always something new to discover.

At a time when Half-Life: Alyx is the latest game in the series, and we're all gagging for Half-Life 3, this is a welcome new release. Even if it's yet another version of the first game. I first played Half-Life on PS2, but I remember the game's PC launch and the various big box releases you could get. Given their price now, I wish I'd bought them.

The post A new pre-gold build of Half-Life has just been released appeared first on Destructoid.

Last September, Eiichiro Oda himself announced that Tony Tony Chopper will appear in season two of Netflix's live-action adaptation of One Piece. Now, the streaming giant posted a video that finally revealed how this iconic character will look, and fans have responded very positively to it.

As part of its Geeked Week event, Netflix published a video of the main cast of One Piece doing a table read of season two's script. At the end of said video, Iñaki Godoy (who plays Monkey D. Luffy) says, "I can't believe who is here to make their debut in Season 2". The camera then turns to reveal Tony Tony Chopper sitting on the table, although the audience can only see his back and the top of his head, including his antlers and his iconic pink hat.

It is immediately evident that Netflix brought Chopper to life with CGI, and the design showcased in this first look is surprisingly faithful to the source material. This reveal got quite a positive reception from fans on social media, who praised Netflix for seemingly doing the character justice and claiming that they can't wait to see how his face looks. Many people even compared him to the main character of the film, Detective Pikachu.

Chopper, Robin and Crocodile are arriving in season 2 of One Piece

The other big reveal regarding Netflix's One Piece during Geeked Week was the official announcements of the actors portraying Miss All Sunday and Mr. 0 (better known as Nico Robin and Sir Crocodile) in season two.

Lera Abova, a Russian actress and model who made an appearance in the show Pitch Perfect: Bumper in Berlin, will play Robin, and Joe Manganiello, an American actor who played Flash Thompson in Sam Raimi's Spider-Man and Deathstroke in Justice League, will play Crocodile.

Both actors took the stage during Netflix's presentation, and fans are evidently satisfied with the casting. Chopper, Robin and Crocodile will make their long-awaited debut in One Piece season 2, although Netflix still hasn't confirmed an official release date.

The post Netflix reveals the first look at Chopper in One Piece season 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Netflix has dropped a new "Special Teaser" for the upcoming Squid Game: Season 2, and the roughly one-minute video actually gives us quite a bit of information about the upcoming season. If you want to go into Squid Game: Season 2 completely blind when it drops on December 26, you might want to skip it. But if you're like us and looking for any more Squid Game goodness, here's what we've gathered from the teaser.

Return of Gi-hun (and Player 456)

Even though Squid Game: Season 1 ended with the main character Seong Gi-hun planning to head to the United States and never return to the madness that is Squid Game, we quickly realize that's not the case. Even though Squid Game: Season 2 takes place three years after Gi-hun won Squid Game, in the teaser we see Gi-hun once again waking up in the infamous room full of stacked bunk beds with other contestants which confirms what many have suspected: For one reason or another, Gi-hun is once again a contestant in Squid Game.

Oh, and he's once again rocking the Player 456 jumpsuit. Assuming the second season's challenge also consists of 456 players like the first, that makes it highly unlikely that Gi-hun just so happened to randomly get the number in back to back Squid Games. And in the teaser, Gi-hun wakes up in the room of beds seemingly surprised to be there. So what does this mean? It's highly likely that someone—perhaps even the Front Man, In-ho, from Season 1—is messing with Gi-hun for some reason.

However, it's also possible that the teaser is intentionally misleading its viewers into thinking Gi-hun is surprised to be there. Perhaps Gi-hun has intentionally returned to the game with the goal of seeking revenge, or perhaps Gi-hun has returned to the Squid Game in the role that Oh Il-nam, the old man, played in Season 1: not as an actual contestant, but a "hidden player" for one reason or another.

Plenty of New Games

As expected, it looks like the contestants in Squid Game: Season 2 will have some all-new games to endure for their chance of winning 45.6 billion won. Throughout the teaser, we get brief flashes of various game rooms and challenges that are taking place, including once again an arena of sorts with a retractable roof hidden amongst the treetops of a remote island.

One of the flashes we see is a dirt or floor with two big rainbow circles on the ground, with contestants pouring into the game room from a single door. It's way too early to tell, but some of the new games even appear to be inspired by games from the original Squid Game season like "Red Light, Green Light" and even the final challenge, aptly titled Squid Game.

Second seasons are always very hit or miss, but it at least looks like Squid Game: Season 2 is similar enough to Season 1 that fans wanting more should be happy. We'll know more soon as Squid Game: Season 2 is set to release on Netflix on December 26.

The post Squid Game: Season 2 just got a “special teaser” and it reveals quite a bit appeared first on Destructoid.

The big buff patch that arrived this week for Helldivers 2 apparently introduced a new bug that allows players to fly across the map. Man, what is it with emotes in Helldivers 2 and their ability to let players defy gravity with such confidence?

Players on the official Helldivers subreddit recently revealed the exploit. In a short video clip, a player rhythmically taps the Emote button to, well, teabag through the air with the greatest of ease.

According to the poster, the exploit was unintentionally discovered when they were trying to make use of a different exploit tied to emotes. In July, players learned that emoting while hurtling through the air may prevent lethal fall damage. It looks like it's not just the weapons that got buffed by the patch.

Arrowhead can work on the Jump Pack later

Anyone who has played games long enough will understand that updates and patches can lead to bugs. Helldivers 2 is certainly no stranger to the idea. The game typically experiences issues brought by patches, ranging from new bugs to crashes. In this case, the bug was likely introduced by the new emote wheel function that was added by the update. I'd take surprise flying powers over a new way for the game to crash any day, thanks.

The bug will likely get fixed eventually. Emoting to prevent fall damage is a glitch that has remained, likely due to the Arrowhead CEO enthusiastically endorsing it. But flying for free isn't something I can see remaining in the game. If anything, those averse to gravity will have to wait for a Jump Pack buff, which is in the plans according to creative director Johan Pilestedt.

Until then, I expect to see my fellow divers tea-bagging their way across the land to power-squat on Shrieker Nests with authority. If we can't win this war with weapons, we'll do so with Slavic intimidation.

The post Forget the Jump Pack, the Helldivers 2 buff patch is letting players fly appeared first on Destructoid.

I’ve got a real good news/bad news situation for you, but brace yourself because – if you’re most people who read this site – the bad news is going to blow away all the good. Ready? The good news is Sega has revealed it is bringing Rent-A-Hero back. The bad news is that it’s going to incorporate NFTs.

Yes, Sega is partnering with a Korean company, Line, and more specifically Line Next, “LINE’s venture dedicated to developing and expanding the NFT ecosystem.” We don’t have a lot of information about it aside from a tweet and press release from the company (spotted by Time Extension). Mostly we know that it’s going by the name of Rent A Hero Z and SEGA created a theme song for the project Master Hiro and Takenobu Mitsuyoshi.

If you’re not savvy, Rent A Hero is a Japan-only Mega Drive/Genesis RPG. It was later remade on Dreamcast (later ported to Xbox) as Rent A Hero No. 1, also only released in Japan. If you’ve never heard of it, that’s understandable. However, even over here in North America where we never got an official release, it’s a beloved property. 

I think this announcement is an important indication of Sega making good on its strategy of prioritizing live service and Web3 titles and leveraging its existing properties to do it. I was very skeptical when they announced the return of games like Crazy Taxi and Shinobi. While Shinobi seems like a faithful new entry, the new Crazy Taxi looks to be poising itself as a multiplayer game, and is, in all likelihood, going to be liveservice with cosmetic microtransactions. And that’s being optimistic. It could easily also have Web3 elements on top of that.

It’s great to see Sega return to classic licenses, but their goals eliminate all of my enthusiasm. I’ve wanted a new Crazy Taxi for a long time, but if it’s a GaaS, I’m out.

No release date or platforms have been announced for Rent A Hero Z. More is expected to be revealed at the Tokyo Game Show.

The post NFTs in Rent A Hero Z proves you should be careful what you wish for appeared first on Destructoid.

One-upping 2020's Microsoft Flight Simulator seemed pretty challenging, considering just how advanced that game was back in the day, but the 2024 version of Microsoft Flight Sim aims to do so with gusto. And, according to the latest news, it won't even punish your PC for trying to run it.

Notably, the developer Asobo has been showing off just how impressive Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024's full 3D landscapes, gameplay features, and content are from the very start. This implied an extremely hefty list of PC hardware requirements, but the official listings are somewhat humble.

Now, obviously, the targeted 'Ideal Spec' for this game is basically top-of-the-line stuff, with 64 GB of RAM in town and the excellent RTX 4080/14700K combo. Yet, if you're just aiming to play the game and enjoy the planes themselves, you're going to able to do so on the ageing RX 5700 GPU. Astonishing stuff, really.

Official hardware requirements for Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 are now in

While it's always worth keeping a pinch of salt in hand when it comes to official system requirements, the stuff Asobo's shown off here is promising indeed. It suggests that the game is going to be particularly RAM-hungry, though somewhat forgiving on the GPU and CPU side of things. Let's be honest here: that Ryzen 5 2600X is getting a tad long in the tooth in 2024.

Storage-wise, too, this infographic is fairly surprising as it suggests the new Microsoft Flight Sim is going to be better at content compression than its predecessor. It's a steep difference, as the 2024 version of the game requires a relatively meager 50 GB of free space, while the 2020 build asked for thrice as much space by default, at 150 GB on day one.

As Microsoft Flight Simulator spans literally the entire planet, this time rendering it all in some seriously impressive detail, not a lot of that goodness can fit in those 50 gigs by default. To compensate, the game instead streams content from Microsoft's own servers, which means you'll need an Internet connection as well. Asobo specifies that a 10 Mbps Internet connection should do the trick well enough, though obviously the faster you trawl the net, the better.

If the bit that concerns you is that Microsoft Flight Sim 2024 is nowhere to be found on Steam, I wouldn't worry too much. One of Asobo's senior community managers recently stated that the game would be live for pre-order on September 26, well ahead of its November 19 release date. So, Asobo is getting to it, and the latest Flight Simulator absolutely is coming to Steam.

The post Microsoft Flight Sim 2024 PC system requirements revealed, and they’re actually not too bad appeared first on Destructoid.

Helldivers 2 is an online PvE game, where the E part is generally made up of hundreds of pissed-off bugs or gun-wielding robots. It's a hard game for those who seek challenge, but the latest buff patch may be making things too easy for some players — and the CCO agrees.

Developer Arrowhead Games released the largest patch yet for Helldivers 2 on September 17, 2024. It reworked enemies and applied massive buffs across the game's vast array of weapons and Stratagems. Guns hit harder, and bugs die faster than ever. In an attempt to balance things out, Helldivers take more damage to their limbs and torso. But for some, the overwhelming power may be a bit much for even the hardest difficulty setting.

Helldivers 2 could get a new difficulty level following the patch

The CCO of Arrowhead and the Helldivers 2 creative director Johan Pilestedt agrees. Taking to X, he asked followers for their thoughts on the new patch. Many were elated, telling Pilestedt that Helldivers 2 is better than ever. But there was at least one who said the game needed an even harder difficulty.

"I agree," Pilestedt replied. As for the name of this proposed new mode, he posted replies that covered "Extra super helldive" and "Extra Super Duper Helldive," with the latter being his own suggestion. I'll throw my hat in the ring and vote for "Super-De-Duper Helldive."

The user isn't alone in this sentiment. Some in the Helldivers subreddit have said the patch makes the game easier for them. Naturally, this sparked a response from many who disagree, and think the game feels more balanced with Arrowhead's "glass cannon" approach.

Personally, having played some hours fighting bots and bugs in Helldive, I think the difficulty is at a good spot. While I'm not a big fan of getting RKO'd by a random Hive Guard from behind, the weapons and reworks feel great.

The game is also still difficult, at least in my experience. I have only won about half my missions since the patch. But I'm chalking that up to relearning the game more than putting the fault squarely on the update. Maybe when the Super-est Helldive arrives, complaints about the challenge will decrease. But who am I kidding?

The post Some Helldivers 2 players feel game needs a higher difficulty after the buff patch, and the CCO agrees appeared first on Destructoid.

I don’t know what’s real anymore. Sega and Ryu ga Gotoku Studio have announced that the next game in the Like a Dragon/Yakuza series will be Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. The twist is that this one looks like some sort of fever dream where Majima becomes a pirate.

To be fair, this isn’t the first time that the series has gone deep into left field. Yakuza Dead Souls had the cast fighting zombies, after all. And in order to keep development time and costs down, the company frequently reuses old settings in new ways. Perhaps they were mulling over what else they could do with their massive Hawaii map and somehow decided on this.

The story shows Majima waking up on the beach of Rich Island with no memory of what happened. One thing leads to another, and he just kind of beats up the right people and winds up with a pirate ship. He and his crew decide that they’re going to search for a legendary treasure, which I’m sure is what most people would do if they found themselves in possession of an antique warship. There is also a pirate city called “Madlantis,” so how awesome is that? The trailer is a whopping 7 minutes long and covers all the important parts.

There are parts of Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii that seem familiar. For example, the bike courier mission from Infinite Wealth shows up in the trailer. The combat seems to be the classic real-time beat-’em-up style rather than the turn-based of the more recent core titles, and you can switch between “Mad Dog” and “Sea Dog” fighting styles.

I was wondering what ife at sea is like, and apparently, there are “exhilarating real-time cannon battles.” It sounds like you battle the enemy ship until it’s ready to board. The marketing information does mention that you “explore the open sea,” but whether that’s a map system or actual ship steering isn’t entirely clear.

Yeah, didn’t see that coming, but I’m on board. Get it? Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii will release for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on February 27, 2025. As Sega commonly does, there is a rather sizeable Deluxe Edition with included DLC available.

The post Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii casts Majima as a pirate and I’m speechless appeared first on Destructoid.

The latest update from EA about the mysterious Project Rene is here, and with it has come a huge amount of controversy. It’s been revealed that The Sims 4 is going to remain the focus of the series and that Project Rene, widely believed to be the codename for The Sims 5, will instead be a multiplayer game.  

If that news doesn’t fill you with confidence about the future of the life simulation series, you’re not alone. Fans across the globe have not been taking the news well, with thousands of players making their opinions heard on all corners of the internet.

Sims fans are not happy that Sims 5 isn’t in any future plans

It’s led to plenty of players proclaiming the current iteration of the series is the worst so far, like this Twitter post:

With over 11,000 likes, it seems the opinion is a popular one, with the sentiment echoed by posts like this saying that Sims 5 could be the make or break of the franchise, but without it, the series has nowhere left to go:

R/thesims, one of the most popular subreddits for the game, has also been blowing up with similar posts, like this one saying they don't think they can take the many more years of content planned for the fourth installment:

With the number of upvotes and replies, many players seemingly feel the same. 

We’ve talked about how expensive The Sims 4 is before, and with the announcement that EA plans to further develop the game for years to come, that price will only increase. Many players have come out to say they feel the fourth game has lived far beyond its expiration date, and they can’t take more of it.

Some players even believe this is the nail in the coffin of the franchise as a whole:

We’ve talked about how expensive The Sims 4 is before, and with the announcement that EA plans to further develop the game for years to come, that price will only increase. These popular posts agree that EA is simply wringing the game for as much cash as possible and cares far more about the money than the series itself. 

Although it seems the most popular reactions have been negative, it’s not all doom and gloom. Some Simmers like say that as long as development for Sims 4 continues, they’re not heartbroken about not having a sequel:

The Sims has remained at the top of the life simulation game genre since its debut in 2000, and only time will tell if this decision to not go forward with The Sims 5 and instead focus on the current installment and spinoffs will keep it there. 

The post The Sims community is in shambles after EA announces Sims 5 isn’t happening appeared first on Destructoid.

Party for Introverts has announced that their narrative vampire adventure, Cabernet, will arrive on October 24. It will be released on Steam.

In Cabernet, you play as a newly turned vampire who has to incorporate themselves into a bunch of aristocrats. They call it a narrative RPG, but I think they mean it’s more of a social RPG in the sense that you get to put points into four categories of snobbery and can leverage them in conversation. There are also transformations, and you can eat the rich. It’s pretty rad.

I previewed Cabernet over a year ago, and I dug it. It nails the worldbuilding, and the conversation system is pretty boss. My biggest concern was that this sort of game is deceptively ambitious. It takes a lot of planning to make a “choices matter” of this complexity. When you show a slice of the first hour-or-so of a game like this, it hasn’t even left the runway. After that, it becomes more sprawling and entangled, and it can be difficult to manage.

That doesn’t mean that it can’t be done, and Cabernet hasn’t actually given me a reason to believe it won’t. I’ve been surprised by a few games recently that have similarly taken on difficult formulas with success, so I’m hoping this will be another case of that.

We’ll all find out when Cabernet launches on PC October 24, 2024.

The post Vampire social RPG Cabernet uncorks the bottle this October appeared first on Destructoid.

Developer Mega Cat Studios announced today that its long-in-development 16-bit top-down RPG shooter Lethal Wedding is moving into a new phase of development since it was announced back in 2019. Perhaps the most interesting aspect of Lethal Wedding is its platforms: Sega Genesis and Mega Drive.

I'm not as familiar with the Genesis and Mega Drive as our very own Zoey "Retro Queen" Handley, but for even a layman like me I'm immediately getting Zombies Ate My Neighbors vibes from Lethal Wedding, so sign me up.

According to Mega Cat Studios, the story of Lethal Wedding kicks off after a drug ring of criminal clowns crashes a bachelor party and kidnaps your groom the day before the big wedding. Of course, it falls to the players, the bride-to-be and her mother-in-law to rescue him from the psycho circus performers. You know, just another day.

Lethal Wedding features couch co-op, over 25 upgrades, over 30 levels, fully animated cutscenes, and an innovative "Vow System" that gives you the option to earn upgrades at the expense of taking on new challenges in the ultimate risk vs reward situation.

Mega Cat Studios will be taking Lethal Wedding to Kickstarter on November 4 ahead of its Sega Genesis and Mega Drive release.

The post Lethal Wedding gives me serious Zombies Ate My Neighbors vibes, coming to Sega Genesis and Mega Drive appeared first on Destructoid.

Developer Arrowhead Games made good on its promise, launching the biggest patch yet for Helldivers 2. Weapons were buffed, enemies were reworked, and my precious Eruptor got its groove back (welcome back, shrapnel). But most of all, the community appears happy and players are returning.

"This is honestly the best patch ever," reads the headline of a post on the game's official subreddit. Such headlines have become more frequent, drowning out the cascade of posts written by frustrated community members. It feels like it's been a long time coming.

Members of the Helldivers 2 community have been vocally quite unhappy with how the game has been managed. In the last several months, many have bemoaned weapons nerfs and reworks. Players have suggested that the constant patches and updates harmed the effectiveness of weapons and stratagems, reducing their options when dealing with heavies such as Chargers. As disappointment reached a fever pitch, some players even decided to do the unthinkable: Turn treasonous.

What a difference it's been since the patch dropped.

Helldivers 2 players return, as memes replace discontent

Players on the community subreddit and X have been heaping praise on Arrowhead following the patch. The difference has been night and day. I visit the Helldivers subreddit several times a week and, until recently, it was mostly me doom-scrolling like I was punishing myself by hopping on X. It's quite the change, seeing angry posts get replaced by joyous applause.

Johan Pilestedt, the CCO of Arrowhead, took to X to ask for everyone's thoughts on the patch. While there was at least one saying it was too late, others' replies were certainly more positive.

"I haven't had this much fun with the game in months," reads a reply by X user Swany. "I think you guys really knocked it out of the park."

Things aren't perfect yet, however. Some are concerned that the game is easier now that weapons are more powerful. On a more serious note, there are still many countries that have been locked out due to a PlayStation Network account requirement. It's been months, and there hasn't been much word of a fix.

But, for the most part, things seem to be on the rise. Players are returning to the game, with SteamDB showing a steady rise to 68K players on Steam. It's a big jump from the game's lowest point of 15K players in early September. The in-game player count is even more impressive, with around 90K players reported the night the patch landed.

Things are looking up once again for the game. Today also marks the launch of the new Premium Warbond, Chemical Agents. So far, it seems like another hit for Arrowhead. Let's hope the momentum continues.

The post Helldivers 2’s buff patch seems to be a hit, with the community rejoicing and players returning to the game appeared first on Destructoid.

Black Mirror, Charlie Brooker’s dark anthology series, is returning for its seventh in 2025. Netflix is sharing more details on the season as part of its Geeked Week, and they’re very exciting for long-time viewers.

Black Mirror has been a personal favorite since season one, and the series always shoots straight to the top of the “most watched” list on Netflix whenever a new season airs. Although we don’t have a confirmed release date yet, we do know a little more of what to expect, and who’s making an appearance among the cast of season 7.

Sequels, the final frontier

First and foremost, just to get this out of the way right now, "USS Callister" is indeed getting a much-hoped-for sequel episode in season 7. Although no details have been given, Brooker and the creative team behind Black Mirror have confirmed that one episode will be a direct follow-up to season 4’s opening episode.

"USS Callister" immediately became a fan-favorite, and hopes for a sequel have stirred ever since season 4 aired in 2017. 

In case you haven’t watched it (in which case you definitely should), "USS Callister" is centered around Robert Daly. He’s a gifted programmer who, out of frustration through what he feels is lack of recognition, sets up a Star Trek-esque simulation and things soon start to go wrong, in true Black Mirror style, for everyone involved. It’s worth watching, regardless of the promised sequel.

Stars are already signed on for Black Mirror season 7

The cast list for season 7 was revealed in the above “data drop” asset, although I’d be really impressed if you managed to see all the names that featured. Just in case you were unable, here’s the list in a much more permanent format:

• Awkwafina (Jackpot!)
• Milanka Brooks (Mum And I Don’t Talk Anymore)
• Peter Capaldi (Criminal Record)
• Emma Corrin (Deadpool & Wolverine)
• Patsy Ferran (Firebrand)
• Paul Giamatti (The Holdovers)
• Lewis Gribben (Blade Runner 2099)
• Osy Ikhile (Citadel)
• Rashida Jones (Sunny)
• Siena Kelly (Domino Day)
• Billy Magnussen (Road House)
• Rosy McEwen (Blue Jean)
• Cristin Milioti (The Penguin)
• Chris O’Dowd (Bridesmaids)
• Issa Rae (Barbie)
• Paul G. Raymond (Horrible Histories)
• Tracee Ellis Ross (Black-ish)
• Jimmi Simpson (Westworld)
• Harriet Walter (Succession)

These are the lead cast members, but there will be others who appear alongside those already named. I’m excited to see what role Peter Capaldi plays, and Chris O’Dowd has been a personal favorite of mine ever since The IT Crowd, so this definitely has served to stir up my excitement for the upcoming season 7. 

The post Black Mirror returning to Netflix in 2025, with a USS Callister sequel episode appeared first on Destructoid.

Developer Digital Extremes has revealed some of the quality-of-life improvements coming to Warframe with its Koumei & the Five Fates update. Interestingly, there's a huge focus on streamlining the game for newcomers, something Warframe has seen a lot of over the last couple of months.

The Koumei & the Five Fates update for Warframe launches in late 2024 and brings with it a new Warframe for players to master, as well as additional story content to dig into. However, in a recent blog post, Digital Extremes showcased how this update will also make the game more approachable as a newcomer. The game has seen loads of people join after leaving Destiny 2 following Bungie's layoffs, so this update couldn't come at a better time.

Demystifying the basics

There are loads of quality-of-life changes in this update that I wish I had when I was first getting into Warframe, but it's good to know they'll be there for new players. For example, stats have been shifted from your starter Warframe to make things a bit less overwhelming when jumping into the experience as a fresh player. A few other things, such as opening hacking puzzles and the time to intubate your first Kubrow have had time reductions to get you into the game and help you understand it much faster.

There's also going to be much more guidance in the game. A good example of this is when you come to sell unmastered items. You'll soon be greeted by a popup that tells you it's better to hit Rank 30 with it before selling it so your Mastery Rank benefits as much as possible from your time played.

New abilities that you unlock will now have their input shown alongside their information on-screen when you first unlock them. I can't tell you how many times I've thought that it's great I have a new ability for a Warframe that I have no clue how to trigger.

What might be the best improvement, though, is Relic breakdowns. This is a small tab that'll appear when you hover over a Relic, displaying the owned and crafted status of their rewards. Relics are an abuse mechanic in Warframe, but they're essential to unlocking Prime Warframes without spending real-world cash, so they're a necessary evil. Soon, they'll just be a little less evil to work with.

It won't end with Koumei & the Five Fates either. Digital Extremes has explained that future updates will tackle other systems such as the Star Chart and understanding the order of main and side quests. Once you're into Warframe, these don't pose much of an issue at all, but they're definitely a barrier to entry that would be hard to push past without the game's incredibly helpful community on hand.

The post Warframe’s Koumei & the Five Fates will bring essential QOL improvements for newcomers appeared first on Destructoid.

Developer Visionary Realms revealed today that its upcoming fantasy MMORPG, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen, is set to enter Early Access in December 2024 after over a decade of development. Visionary Realms believes launching in Early Access will give players access to the game world of Terminus ahead of its 1.0 release and allow them to help shape Pantheon.

Originally announced in January 2014, Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen has been developed as an MMORPG seeking to bring back the heavy emphasis on social aspects that seem to be mostly forgotten in modern-day MMOs. The goal is to give players the desire to group up with others and work together to overcome challenging encounters, be it in PvE or PvP.

The developer, Visionary Realms, was originally founded by legendary MMORPG developer Brad McQuaid, who served as Chief Creative Officer on Pantheon until he passed away in November 2019. After failing to reach its funding goal via Kickstarter—though it did raise over $460,000 of its $800,000 goal—Visionary Realms began funding the MMORPG through its own website.

Even though not all content will be available in the Early Access release, the amount of available content does look beefy. Players will be able to level up to Level 40 while exploring six unique zones, each with their own content and adventures. In terms of character, players can choose from six different races: Human, Ogre, Elf, Dark Myr, Dwarf, and Halfing. Each race has a selection of classes they are able to play as well, with 12 total classes at launch: Cleric, Dire Lord, Enchanter, Monk, Necromancer, Paladin, Ranger, Rogue, Shaman, Summoner, Warrior, and Wizard.

I firmly believe a return to the social elements that made classic MMORPGs great back in the heyday of EverQuest and classic World of Warcraft is in the genre's best interest. A fine mix of modern MMO with classic social elements may very well be the key to moving the genre forward, which has been rather stagnant in recent years. Hopefully Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen is a step in the right direction. We'll find out soon when the MMORPG enters Early Access in December 2024.

The post MMORPG Pantheon: Rise of the Fallen set for Early Access this December appeared first on Destructoid.

Sony has just unveiled the PlayStation's 30th anniversary Collection, which will feature various current-gen PlayStation products themed after the original PlayStation, and they look fantastic:

If you're looking to get a system, you can get a PS1-inspired PS5 slim, the upcoming PS5 Pro, or the PlayStation Portal. If you already have a console but still want to feel that sweet nostalgia, you can get the DualSense or the DualSense Edge, which Sony will be selling separately.

The collection line will come in the exact same color as the original PlayStation, and will feature a bunch of cool little Easter eggs such as commemorative engravings,

The PS5 Pro will even feature a Product Number, as it's a very limited release of only 12,3000 units.

And my favorite, the PS button with all the colors seen in the original PlayStation logo.

The consoles will also come with a bundle of stickers, cable ties, and that awesome controller charger that's modelled after the cable from the original PS1 controller.

All in all, it's a similar idea to what Sony did 10 years ago with the PlayStation 4's 20th anniversary edition.

Sadly, the PS4's 20th anniversary edition came out at the same time as Sony made a 20th Anniversary PlayStation 4 theme available for everyone, and Sony didn't announce anything similar this time around.

Is it worth it?

Anyone who's a fan of PlayStation likely already owns a PS5, or doesn't because they unfortunately don't have the means to buy one at the moment. I have a hard time believing that anyone will buy any of these as their first PlayStation considering how much easier just getting a regular PS5 will be.

I believe the items from the collection will mostly be acquired by one of two kinds of people. The first is hardcore fans who already own a system and — despite knowing how costly these are — want to relive even just a tiny a fragment of good times past. I'm afraid that the other people who'll get this in the current day, unfortunately, are the scalpers. If you think a PS5 Pro is costly right now, imagine how much it'll cost you once every single one of the units has already been sold.

The original PS1 is the console that made me really care about games. I sometimes open YouTube to play the PS1's opening sound. Needless to say, I'm aware of how susceptible I am to any nostalgia-based tricks Sony might try to pull on me, and many of you might be as well. I'd love to get any one of these items, but there are limits, so I might just stick to getting just one of those really slick DualSense controllers.

If you live in an area covered by PlayStation Direct, then you can begin preordering the 30th Anniversary items on September 26 through there. Otherwise, you will have to wait until then to go through your local retailers. The collection will be released on November 21.

The post Sony unveils the PlayStation 30th Anniversary Collection, and I surrender to the nostalgia bait appeared first on Destructoid.

Hi again! I’m here to remind you that Destructoid has a whiz new newsletter: the Destructoid Changelog Newsletter. It’s a little bundle of something that gets dropped in your email inbox every Friday. You can get it in your Friday, just by typing your email in a box.

Each newsletter comes with a recap of all the most interesting/weird articles of the week. Plus, I – a human with typing fingers – will tell you about what neat game I’ve been playing that week. Lately, I’ve been playing games associated with Love-de-Lic veteran Yoshiro Kimura. Will I be continuing that trend? No! I’ll be upfront; this time, it’s not a Yoshiro Kimura game.

Also, we’ve got some news. We’re launching a special monthly issue this month. It will hit the last Monday of the month (September 30, in this case) for anyone who has been able to convince a friend to sign up through our referral link that is included in a vanilla weekly newsletter. Refer one person (using that link or URL, I have to stress this), and you’ll start receiving the monthly edition. This month, it’s an interview with indie developer TheCatamites, the person behind Anthology of the Killer, a bizarre horror title I gave high marks to back in June. Even if you don’t know who they are, I promise it’s a fun interview.

But wait, there’s more! The people behind-the-scenes of the newsletter have informed me that you can now access back issues at this site. If you just signed up, this will let you go back and see what you missed. If you’re not signed up but are interested, you can read part of it. It’s usually just the bespoke intro rambling, which suggests to me that I should start writing more interesting intros.

Wow! So many benefits! And if you decide you don’t like it, you can always unsubscribe. I’ll pretend I didn’t notice, so you’ll only notice whiffs of awkward tension between us.

The post Spice up your Fridays with the Destructoid Changelog Newsletter appeared first on Destructoid.

Publisher Focus Entertainment has responded to dozens of the questions that Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 fans have been asking since the game's release. Chief among the answers are details of changes coming to Veteran difficulty and PvP spawn camping, though many more are listed.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 is an incredibly solid title that blew fans away when it was initially released. Over 2 million players jumped in within the first week, and it doesn't feel like things have slowed down since. Focus Entertainment has been welcoming questions from fans when it comes to requesting features and feedback, and the publisher has now answered a lot of these in a massive Q&A session on Steam.

Soon, Chaos won't be able to track our spawns

The most impactful responses from Focus Entertainment that I've noted are for difficulty and PvP. Veteran difficulty for the game's campaign is going to be adjusted in the future because it's just too challenging when playing solo. Part of the problem is that the AI bots aren't as useful as they could be, but this is by design because developer Saber Interactive doesn't want the bots to take all the glory and focus from the real players.

This is something Focus Entertainment goes into great detail on because a fair few players have called out the bots for not being as good as them in each mission. The same goes for certain weapons, or every weapon that isn't the Melta Gun, that feel as though they're underpowered. This is being looked at and changes are on the way, but there's no date on when.

The fix that I think is the most important is a fix for spawn camping in PvP. You can walk around to the enemy team's spawn point with a Heavy class and annihilate them for more than a minute before the spawn resets to the opposite side of the map. Thankfully, spawn protection is coming in a future update, after which I think PvP will be in a much better state.

There are loads of other tiny fixes on the way that'll make Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 feel even better as we play it for dozens more hours while unlocking every perk and cosmetic. While we won't be getting Chaos Space Marine armor, it does look like XP sharing for kicked players, new classes, and more melee weapons are definitely on the cards.

Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 really delivers the Warhammer 40K fantasy in video game form. There's so much to do in it already, and with features like PvP prestiging and more Operations missions on the way, there's never been a better time to dedicate your life to the Emperor and join in.

The post Warhammer 40K: Space Marine 2 Q&A highlights PvP spawn camping and veteran difficulty tweaks for future update appeared first on Destructoid.

Tetsuya Nomura, the renowned Japanese developer who worked as a designer on Final Fantasy VII and directed the entire Kingdom Hearts franchise, recently did an interview for Young Jump magazine, where he revealed what his plans for Kingdom Hearts 4 are.

Per Siliconera, the Young Jump interviewer asked Nomura about the possible conclusion of the Kingdom Hearts series. The legendary developer jokingly responded that he only has a few years left before he retires, so he must consider what comes first. Although he specifically mentions that he at least plans to finish his work on the highly-anticipated Kingdom Hearts 4.

This response may catch fans off guard, since Nomura has barely mentioned his possible retirement in the past. While many of them claimed they were saddened by the news, most of them also agreed that, after taking a look at his extensive career working with Square Enix, his statement is completely reasonable.

With the release of Kingdom Hearts 3 in 2019, Nomura finally concluded the Dark Seeker Saga that he established in 2001 with the release of the first installment, meaning that he has been directing this franchise for over 20 years. Not to mention that he's worked on many other Square Enix titles, like Final Fantasy VII Remake.

Passing off the torch to new writers

But the inevitable question is, what will happen to Kingdom Hearts if Tetsuya Nomura retires? It's most likely that Disney and Square Enix will keep pushing for the development of new games, and fortunately for fans, Nomura is already testing the waters with a fascinating experiment: he revealed that he hired new writers that have never worked in the Kingdom Hearts franchise to write scenarios for the upcoming mobile game, Kingdom Hearts: Missing Link.

Ultimately, he is still in charge of writing the main script, but only time will tell if this experiment is going to benefit the franchise or not. The plot of Missing Link will cover a brand-new period in the timeline, so I'd be curious to see what new characters and worlds they will meet in this new title. It's at least refreshing to know that Nomura is already hiring new people to bring new ideas to the series.

Another point of interest in the interview was the overwhelming complexity of Kingdom Hearts' story, something that has affected the franchise's reputation over the years. Nomura acknowledged that the scenarios he writes can be quite complex, and even revealed that voice actors often have difficulty following the plot of the games. Nevertheless, he and his staff usually help other people comprehend the story, and he even encourages them to ask him about it whenever they need to do so.

The post Tetsuya Nomura is thinking about his retirement, and a possible conclusion to Kingdom Hearts appeared first on Destructoid.