Alien: Isolation 2 Devs Tease New Protagonist, Planet Setting, and 1979 Film Roots

It's been 12 years since Alien: Isolation first introduced us to the unique terror of being trapped with a Xenomorph, and now Creative Assembly is finally ready to drag us kicking and screaming back into its nightmare. With Alien: Isolation 2 set for release next year, the studio is returning to the survival horror roots that made the original such a cult classic, but this time with a new protagonist, a new location, and plenty of fresh opportunities to be horribly murdered by everyone's favorite acid-blooded nightmare.

At the Lucca Comics and Games Festival, IGN sat down with Creative Director Al Hope and Project Art Director Ana Sopikova to discuss why the sequel took so long, how Ridley Scott's original 1979 movie continues to shape the game's design, and what fans can expect from this long-awaited return. We also talked Alien canon, Amanda Ripley's role, and whether there's already an Alien: Isolation 3 lurking somewhere in Hope's imagination.

IGN: The first Alien movie was a horror movie, and then they moved on to action and other genres. Both of the Alien Isolation games are survival horror games. Was there ever any idea of making Alien Isolation 2 in a different genre?

Al Hope: No, it's a short answer to that. I guess we absolutely adore that first movie and, obviously, Isolation, but we feel like there's still so much to mine or tap into in the universe of that first movie. And it felt like we wanted to tell other stories in the same part of that space of the universe in the same kind of context. So yeah, no, I guess we feel like in Alien Isolation 2, I think the promise is about transporting you back to that time and place, that window of the timeline where just one alien can be absolutely terrifying and an incredible challenge, an incredible experience. And I suppose if you just wanted to explore that, go back and explore that and evolve it.

IGN: The Xenomorph is a very iconic monster character. Is it challenging designing a Xenomorph for this game that is part of this iconic kind of legacy?

Ana Sopikova: Well, of course. It's a great honor I think for all of us and especially for our team to just be able to contribute to such an iconic IP. I think to go back to what Al was saying, we are really staying true to Ridley Scott’s original 1979 film, and we have a really good close relationship with 20th Century [Studios]. We have an archive with just loads of behind-the-scenes photos from the set, just really close-up images that really allow the team to just go deep in there and study and look at the types of materials they used at the time and look at the types of methods that they were using for building this costume. And then we've just taken that and applied it to what we are doing for the game. And I think really in terms of designing, we are staying true to 1979.

So we're definitely not reinventing the wheel there. And fictionally, obviously in Isolation 2, as people might have seen from the trailer, they have recognized the Haz Lab. So it is the same creature that you encountered in the first game that landed on this new planet. So you can imagine it will be quite similar to what people have seen before, but we're still taking it a little bit further just again in terms of fidelity. Time has passed, there's new technology, and we can just afford a little bit more detail, a little bit of a shinier texture to put it safely. So yeah, there's still space for us to go deeper, but we're not deviating madly elsewhere because for us, really, 1979 is the focus.

IGN: Speaking of the movies, how did it feel to see the emergency phone save points from Alien: Isolation appear as a special Easter egg in Fede Álvarez's Alien: Romulus?

Al Hope: Just thinking about what you were saying there, I think the team feels really privileged to be in this space, and obviously we were absolutely blown away and thrilled when Fede Álvarez put the save station in Romulus.

I think that's the privilege. We get to work with this original source material and we have the potential to, we're helping grow it. And that is, I think, for all of us, such a privilege and so exciting, as well.

IGN: So just so I understand, because I know there was a lot spoken about that, what you just mentioned about what Fede Álvarez did. And so it's safe to assume that both of these games now kind of exist in the official canon of the Alien universe?

Al Hope: It's really ultimately for the fans [to decide]. I think they really embraced the first game, and I think that's what's important. Sure, there are timelines and all that stuff. That's cool. I think we're just really focused on trying to tell that next chapter.

IGN: Going in a different direction, obviously Amanda is in this game in some capacity. Can you speak to that at all?

Al Hope: Well, we're really proud of Amanda, but to be clear, you're playing as a new character in Isolation 2. And that felt like the natural choice for us. We wanted to tell a new story. It felt like the right way to do that would be in a new location, and being in a new location, then actually seeing it through the eyes of a new character, seemed to make a lot of sense for us. And a character that has a different perspective. She works for the company; she hasn't encountered the creature before. And so yeah, I guess we're super excited about Blake.

IGN: With the first game, one of the most popular mods was the VHS color filter. I don't want to spoil anything, but is there a chance that it makes some sort of official appearance in this game, or is that just a cool community thing that was the first game?

Ana Sopikova: Who knows? I mean, it was still quite early, so I'm not going to comment specifically. There will be a photo mode. I think we've just confirmed it in the Q&A recently. We spent actually a lot of time researching cameras and camera technology and looking at it through the lens of lo-fi sci-fi and just really being authentic to the tech and to the actual, I guess, the physical objects and physical technology. So we are viewing the photo mode through that lens. So who knows?

I think there's definitely going to be plenty of opportunities for fans to capture and express themselves.

IGN: Going back to the first game and the process, so it's been, what is it, 12 years since the first game. Why now? I guess just why now? Why is now the time to have a sequel to the original game?

Al Hope: Yeah, that's a good question. So I've been thinking about what we could do for a sequel before we'd actually released the first game. But I guess as a studio, we were busy, and I guess what we've benefited from is that decade of new players discovering the game and getting their feedback. And the short answer is it felt like the time was right to come back. And so yeah, just super thrilled to be having this opportunity with this really fantastic team, which is great because the team is this mix of people who worked on the first game, and then we've got really fantastic fresh new talent, new talent coming on board. So it's this really lovely combination.

Ana Sopikova: There are just so many fans on the team, and for so many people, it's the absolute dream project. They grew up as fans of the game, and now they finally have the opportunity to come and actually contribute to the sequel. So they just bring this next level of energy and passion, and it's great.

IGN: Is there one thing that comes to mind that is the most difficult part of the design process, especially when you are going back to look at an original that is a classic?

Ana Sopikova: I wouldn't use the word difficult. Obviously there are creative challenges. Obviously for us, because we are on the planet, and we are laser-focused on the first film that took place in space, apart from a very short sequence, but we don't have any kind of direct reference to anything that is set on the planet. So for us, one of the interesting challenges was really diving deep in the archives and the work of the set designers and the prop makers and deconstructing all of it just really down to the techniques, the shape language, the forms, and the materials, and then thinking, okay, how would all of that apply to the set that's based on the planet? How would they approach building these spaces if they had to build not a spaceship, but a space on the planet's surface?

So there are obviously some assumptions that we are making with our creative [team] because there is no direct source material. It's different from making the first game that was a spaceship. But I think we landed in a really good spot, and it was just a fun challenge to take on.

IGN: You were talking just now about how you had ideas for Alien Isolation 2 before you had 1. Do you have an idea for Alien Isolation 3 right now?

Al Hope: No comment.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/xkM2z31
via IFTTT

Self-Made Millionaire Says Buying GTA 6 Saves You $5,000

British self-made millionaire, entrepreneur, and social media educator Mark Tilbury put out a video giving the most sound financial advice of 2026: buy GTA 6. According to him, it’ll save you a big chunk of change.

“GTA 6 costs $99.99,” he said, going straight for the more expensive Ultimate Edition rather than the $80 standard edition (perhaps he, like many others, consider the Ultimate Edition and its extra contents to be the default version). “If it takes you 80 hours to complete, that’s $1.25 per hour of fun. But once you add in side missions and explore the map, it’s down to 50 cents an hour.

“Now let’s say you play for four hours every evening, that’s 50 nights of entertainment. Compare that to going out, where you could easily spend $100 in a single night. That’s why buying GTA 6 actually saves you $5,000.”

@marktilbury How GTA 6 Could Save You $5,000 #gta6 #game #math #price ♬ original sound - Mark Tilbury

Obviously the video is tongue-in-cheek and not actual financial advice (who’s going out 50 nights in a row and spending $100 a pop?). But it’s actually a fair point on the value proposition of the game. An investment in your time, if you will.

That’s why publishers are reportedly hoping GTA 6 sets a new precedent on game pricing — other companies will struggle to compete with its size and scale. It seems like the kind of game you could play for hundreds of hours, and that’s before GTA Online even comes into the equation.

“I’m a 40yo gamer, don't drink much, don't smoke, don't do drugs or go out with friends,” said one commenter. “This is how I explain me gaming to people.”

“Straight to mum,” said another. “Rockstar paid a billion dollars for it, so it’s a steal at the end of the day,” said another mathematician.

Tilbury is a businessman best known for his videos on frugal living. Despite being a millionaire, he reuses old cups, flies economy, wears the same rotation of clothes, and avoids luxury hotels.

We’ve got plenty more on GTA 6 while you wait for its November 19 release date, including an unlikely gameplay reveal in the latest episode of South Park, how GTA 6 named one of its biggest mechanics after a beloved GTA 4 meme, and how GTA 6's map will open up relatively early and let you explore freely.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/ep7bwxv
via IFTTT

Sony Issues Yet Another PS5 Firmware Update as Jailbreak Whac-a-Mole Continues Ahead of GTA 6 Release

Sony has released yet another PS5 firmware update as it battles to keep a lid on the homebrew community’s ongoing effort to jailbreak the console ahead of the release of GTA 6.

PS5 firmware update 26.07-14.22.00, which weighs in at 1.267 GB, released today, November 2, and we have confirmation via the patch notes that it’s security related:

• We’ve made some security fixes to the system software.

Today’s update follows just 11 days after the release of 14.20, which came on October 21 and whose patch notes did not mention security, but was widely seen as a response to recent events.

The PlayStation homebrew scene has made headlines in the last month for releasing PS5 jailbreaks for prior firmwares. For example, late September, a jailbreak that supported all PS5 consoles running firmware 7.00-13.60 sent shockwaves through the homebrew community because, at the time, it meant that all PS5s, including the PS5 Pro, that hadn't been updated within the previous week were compatible with the jailbreak. This was of huge significance for Sony and the security of the PS5, as people with a jailbroken PS5 can modify their console, potentially opening the door to video game piracy.

However, it was found that some PS5 games subsequently required the more recent 14.00 firmware in order to download updates, sparking a renewed effort to release a new jailbreak for the updated system software.

So, there is a game of Whac-A-Mole at play where the homebrew scene is working to release a new jailbreak for the latest PS5 firmware, then do it all over again when Sony releases a new firmware update designed to beef up security.

This in turn has sparked concern that if a PS5 jailbreak is made available for the firmware that is required by GTA 6, which comes out in less than a month, then it may be possible for Rockstar’s game to be pirated on PS5 and maybe even made available on PC.

One prominent member of the PlayStation homebrew community recently showed evidence of a jailbreak for the 14.10 firmware, but follow up comments suggested that dumping game executables wasn’t possible.

Some believe GTA 6 will require at least 14.20 to run — or, now, potentially 14.22. And Sony may release further security updates before November 19.

The question for Sony is whether it can do enough to eventually win this game of Whac-A-Mole with the homebrew scene. This is something of an existential crisis for Sony, which publishers and developers rely upon for the security of their PlayStation releases. But with the emergence of powerful AI models, the stakes have risen significantly.

IGN reported on a hacker who had sparked an uproar within the PS5 homebrew scene for privately reporting an exploit to Sony and cashing in on a $50,000 reward, rather than keeping it confidential for the community.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/tdTG01r
via IFTTT

The Best Deals Today: Gears of War: E-Day, Apple Watch Ultra 4, Star Wars Zero Company, and More

A new weekend has arrived, and today, you can save big on Gears of War: E-Day, Apple Watch Ultra 4, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, Persona 3 Reload, Pikmin 4, Star Wars Zero Company, and more. Check out our top picks for Sunday, November 1, below.

Gears of War: E-Day for $60.99

Gears of War: E-Day is one of the best games of the year, and today, you can save a few dollars on a physical Xbox copy at Amazon. We gave the game a 9/10 in our review, writing, "Gears of War: E-Day’s stellar story campaign is complemented by an excellent multiplayer suite, particularly its evolved Horde Siege PvE mode."

Save $100 Off Apple Watch Ultra 4

Amazon has the Apple Watch Ultra 4 smartwatch on sale for $799.99 this weekend. This saves you $100 off MSRP. You'll get the Black Titanium Case and the Black Titanium Milanese Loop with this watch, which can easily complement any outfit. If you've been on the hunt for a new smartwatch, the Ultra 4 is one of the best you can buy.

Save $10 off Ocarina of Time Remake Physical Copies

Similar to previous Nintendo Switch 2 physical releases, Amazon has The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time available for $59.99 right now. This deal will end on release date, meaning this is the last weekend you have to score this deal. If you've yet to experience this masterpiece or are diving back into Hyrule, the Ocarina of Time remake is sure to be one of the most talked-about games of 2026.

Pikmin 4 for $39.88

Walmart has digital copies of Pikmin 4 for Nintendo Switch on sale for $39.88 today. This is just in time before next week's release of Pikmin 4 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy. If you grab a copy today, you'll be able to score the Switch 2 upgrade pack for $9.99. That beats paying $70 for a copy any day.

Dune: Awakening for $39.99

Physical PS5 copies of Dune: Awakening are on sale for $39.99 right now at Amazon. This is the perfect time to jump in, especially with Dune: Part Three just a few months away. In our 8/10 review, we wrote, "Dune: Awakening is an excellent survival MMO that captures Frank Herbet’s sci-fi world incredibly well, mostly to its advantage and occasionally to its detriment. The survival climb from dehydrated peasant to powerful warlord of Arrakis is a joy almost every step of the way, and the story and worldbuilding filled this nerd with absolute joy."

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 + Expansion Pass Bundle for $39.94

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 is one of my favorite games of all time. The expansive world, gripping narrative, incredible cast, and spectacular soundtrack are just a few of the things you can look forward to in this adventure. Walmart has a digital bundle of both the base game and the Expansion Pass (which includes Torna: The Golden Country) on sale for $39.94. If you have a Switch 2, you can then upgrade your copy to the Switch 2 Edition for $10, which adds 4K and 60 FPS support. I cannot recommend this one enough, especially if you're a fan of JRPGs.

Persona 3 Reload (Switch 2) for $24.99

Persona 3 Reload Switch 2 copies are available at Amazon for $24.99 this weekend. This is a pretty great price for an expansive RPG that you can easily sink 100 hours into. The Switch 2 version had a rocky launch with frame pacing issues, but those have been resolved. Atlus also did add support for 60 FPS in docked mode.

Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail Art Book for $19.18

Amazon has the Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail - The Art of Succession -Relics of Heritage- art book on sale for $19.18 today. This book includes over 300 pages of art from Dawntrail, and you can even score a exclusive code for a Wind-up Erenville minion in-game!

Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake for $19.99

Maybe I'm just a fan of classic JRPGs, but Dragon Quest III HD-2D Remake is still one of my favorite RPGs released in the last few years. Square Enix beautifully remade this classic with the HD-2D art style that breathes new life into the adventure of Erdrick. Numerous quality-of-life features make this a game that's much more digestible than ever for genre newcomers, and the orchestrated soundtrack is a treat, too. Pick up a PS5 copy today for just $19.99.

Star Wars Zero Company for $47.97

Star Wars Zero Company is one of the biggest sleeper hits of the year, and you can save $12 off a physical copy today at Amazon. In our 9/10 review, we wrote, "Star Wars Zero Company is an excellent tactical game that does a fantastic job of slathering on the same cinematic look and feel we saw in Respawn's Star Wars Jedi games, incorporating strong characters and a storyline that's refreshingly centered on non-Force users and a non-traditional villain."

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter for $39.99

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter is the first entry in the beloved Trails series, and last year's remake brought new life to the original game. With 2nd Chapter out now, today is a great time to dive into this wonderful RPG series.

Final Fantasy VII Advent Children Complete for $15.39

It's been 21 years since the original release of Final Fantasy VII: Advent Children. This 4K Remaster of the Complete edition packs in multiple bonus features, in addition to the revised cuts and over 25 minutes of added content throughout the movie. Advent Children is a critical piece in the Final Fantasy VII Remake project, and there's never been a better time to check it out.

Save on Mouse: P.I. For Hire Physical Copies

Amazon has Mouse: P.I. For Hire copies on sale for $24.99 this weekend. This was one of the most anticipated games of the year, with its 1930s cartoon-aesthetic very eye-catching. In our review, we wrote, "Mouse: P.I. for Hire nails the aesthetics of both the 1930s cartoons and the detective stories that inspired it, and it’s also an amusing boomer shooter that largely feels good as you’re playing it."

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/BOLse57
via IFTTT

Hoyoverse’s Cozy Sim Petit Planet Coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027

Rejoice, Nintendo Switch 2 owners with a taste for the cozy, because Hoyoverse, the studio behind Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail, is bringing its new intergalactic life sim Petit Planet to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027. The free-to-play game is already releasing on PC, iOS, and Android on December 4, 2026, but it never hurts to have more cute and cozy content on your Switch.

The news came as part of a special update on the game from Hoyoverse, which also gave us a deep dive into some of the Petit Planet neighbors you can encounter, the home decor features, and some of the mini-games available as you live your life in Starsea. You start out taking care of your own planet, but can then explore the little islands in the skies around Starsea or visit the hub-style Galactic Bazaar for things like in-game auctions and community features.

Petit Planet was announced back in September 2025, and IGN got to play it a few months later, with our writer describing it as Animal Crossing meets The Little Prince.

"In my short time of about five hours with a preview of the closed beta, Petit Planet offered a charming, "The Little Prince"-themed take on Animal Crossing: New Horizons with an emphasis on clear progression and multiplayer. While these are two things some seemed to crave and were left empty in ACNH, the Genshin Impact and Honkai: Star Rail studio may offer an answer – with potential caveats."

The special update also revealed a bunch of chances for players to score pre-registration prizes as well as a "Launch a Planet" event on the game's official website that starts today.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/uoIv68G
via IFTTT

Anthropic Blocks AI Game Clones in Claude Opus Update

Anthropic has issued an update for Claude that puts a stop to the AI-generated game clones that have filled platforms like Steam.

The term 'AI slop' is something we've heard a lot in the past few years, but it became especially prevalent in the gaming community after Valve launched Steam Next Fest earlier this month. PC users quickly launched complaints that their feeds had been filled with low-effort clones not only of pre-existing games but even some titles that had only just released their own demos.

As players trudged through the slop, developers faced a reality that threw months or even years of hard work into jeopardy. Some, including Drunken Goddess Reflux developer Alliance Arts and Who You, even took action by canceling their Steam demo plans in favor of private playtests. It's a situation that rapidly spun out of control, prompting a response from Valve itself as it said it would be "thinking about how to solve this problem."

ANTHROPIC IS CRACKING DOWN ON VIDEO GAME REWRITES 🚨

Claude Code picked up a new rule around Oct 27, sent from Anthropic’s servers under a flag called "tengu_heron_brook". There’s no setting to turn it off.

The full rule: “Do build original games, games in a genre, and games from the user’s own designs and assets. Don’t build a recreation of a specific existing game, even if it is renamed or called original.”

Is this the end of game rewrites, modding and everything in between?

— chasm (@chasmmmmmmmmmmm) October 30, 2026

As reported by Game Developer, X/Twitter user Chasm was one of the first to share evidence of tech company Anthropic taking action against video game copycats. Based on their findings, Claude, the company's AI assistant, recently received an update featuring a new rule. The full rule can be read below:

"Do build original games, games in a genre, and games from the user’s own designs and assets. Don’t build a recreation of a specific existing game, even if it is renamed or called original."

When reached for comment by Game Developer, Anthropic pointed to a post shared by Addy Osmani, a member of its technical staff. Osmani's explanation can be read below:

"We added two sentences to Claude Code's prompt on Opus 5.5 to steer it away from recreating someone else's specific game because using Claude to infringe IP is against our usage policy. Original games, genre games, and games built from your own designs and assets are meant to keep working. We'll continue to iterate to ensure we're striking the right balance. In the meantime, if Claude turns down something that's yours, send it my way."

Whether there was a specific event or reason that prompted Anthropic to make these changes is unclear.

Game developers and game enjoyers will no doubt find comfort in Anthropic's changes, though it's worth noting that how impactful any of this will be remains to be seen. At the very least, those who use Claude to rip ideas directly from those who used their minds and time to bring them to life should have a tougher time trying to profit off of the work of others.

The industry is struggling to come to grips with artificial intelligence. Some, such as Epic Games' Tim Sweeney, have insisted that Valve should stray from asking developers to disclose games utilizing generative AI materials. Others, including Super Smash Bros. mastermind Masahiro Sakurai, have compared AI-generated games to "low-quality goods." The developers behind VRChat, meanwhile, recently came under fire for how they are handling AI content.

Getty Images credit: Kenneth Cheung.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/I0gUqX1
via IFTTT

Persona 1 Remake Footage Seemingly Leaks Online

What appears to be gameplay footage from an unannounced Persona 1 remake has leaked online.

A little less than two minutes of video depicting what looks a lot like a modern version of Sega and Atlus' original Persona game was first published on Reddit before being spread around various social media platforms today. The developers behind the RPG franchise have broached the topic of remakes for early installments in the past but never confirmed work was underway, meaning this could be our first look at the series' next remake.

The original post says the footage is tied to a Persona: Be Your True Mind remake. In the age of AI-generated fakes, you can never be too skeptical about things like this, but fans generally seem to be under the impression that the footage is authentic. We won't share it here, but you don't have to look too hard on places like X/Twitter or YouTube to see what everyone's talking about.

Yea that Persona 1 remake leaked footage gotta be 100% real. I refuse to believe someone would do that much work to make a fake leak.

— Johnny 🔥 (@JohnnyLockson) October 31, 2026

There are a few reasons players suspect this to be our first glimpse at a not-so-secret Persona 1 remake from Atlus. Aside from the music, effects, and art, which all fall right in line with much of the studio's recent work, the video on display is much longer and more detailed than any fake leak would typically be. The smoking gun for many, though, is the character animations.

It's specifically Eriko that people are calling out, as she seems to share a summoning animation with Persona 4 Revival's version of Yukiko. Atlus' Persona 4 remake, of course, won't be out until February 18, 2027. There's also the issue of the appearance of Persona 2 protagonist Tatsuya, who seems to be standing in for what may be an unfinished character model.

So, what can we make of all of this? Well, unfortunately, without confirmation from Sega or Atlus, not much. There is always the chance this could be an elaborate fake, with some of these odd details serving as evidence for that argument. On the other hand, it's possible placeholder assets and familiar animations are here specifically because the alleged Persona 1 remake is still very much in development.

Persona 1 leak looks credible, not sure why people are reporting Tatsuya is replacing Masao, that's just complete bogus.

This is most likely an internal investor pitch for remakes of Persona 1 and 2, and not actually Persona 1.

There are Persona 4 Revival animations in the gameplay footage, which definitely helps the case of it being real.

— MeovvCAT (@osu_MeovvCAT) October 31, 2026

That sure is a persona 1 remake trailer. Why is tatsuya there

— julie (@droolvana) October 31, 2026

We don't know when this footage would have been captured, even if it does turn out to be real. That means this could be from yesterday or years ago, with some speculating that the video we've seen today is little more than a proof-of-concept or pitch video.

IGN has reached out to Sega for comment.

If the Persona: Be Your True Mind remake footage is authentic, it wouldn't be the biggest surprise to see it announced. Sega released its Persona 3 remake, Persona 3 Reload, in 2024, and will release Persona 4 Revival in just a few months. Atlus' P-Studio producer, Kazuhisa Wada, stopped short of confirming development for Persona 1 and 2 remakes in August of this year but still admitted that, as far as he's concerned, it's something "we have to do."

Meanwhile, Atlus has absolutely suffered leaks before. The Persona 3 remake had in-development footage questioned by fans when it showed up online back in 2023. The upcoming Persona 6, which, officially, we've seen little of so far, had images leak in June. A massive Steam leak in September then seemingly revealed a list of trophies – including story spoilers – for the upcoming installment.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/lCzIjJ9
via IFTTT

Joe Manganiello Says He 'Will Never Give Up Hope' on His D&D Dragonlance TV Series

Joe Manganiello, one of the most famous Dungeons & Dragons players in Hollywood, said he still wants his Dragonlance TV series to come to fruition despite its cancellation several years ago.

The Justice League and One Piece actor was hired as showrunner and screenwriter on the show years ago, promising a live-action adaptation of one of the stories that helped introduce him to tabletop role-playing. After a series of snags, though, Manganiello eventually went on to confirm that his live-action Dragonlance would no longer come to be.

IGN asked Manganiello about his ill-fated D&D project during a conversation at Lucca Comics and Games 2026. He walked us through how, after five years of work, things fell apart, while also teasing that the door for a Dragonlance TV show – and even his documentary – will never close.

"When both of those got put on the shelf due to a change of leadership – due to shuffling going on within [Entertainment One] – those projects became nobody's child," he explained. "I mean, I was hired by Michael Lombardo, who was my old boss at HBO. He hired me to create a television show, to create the next Game of Thrones for him, but then he was gone.

"He's my guy. He's the guy who understood my pitch. He's the one who believed in me. He's the one who saw what it could be, and he's gone. And then, my other producing partner, he was gone, too. So, the two people that I was there with are gone, and the people there had different ideas. All of a sudden, those things become the priority as I'm turning in my script. Now, my people aren't there. Same with the documentary."

Manganiello went on to say that, as his hands-on time in the D&D universe began to fall apart, he had "nobody helping to fight with" him to bring then-in-development projects to life. With Dragonlance officially confirmed to be canned in 2024, it was around this time the actor thought "OK, I'm out," but as he told us, "there is new hope."

"[President of Wizards of the Coast & Hasbro Digital Games] Dan Ayoub is a fantastic leader. He gets it, and we work really well together," he continued. "I think there are talented people within the building now that are doing some amazing things, and we're going to do some amazing things together.

"The dream was always, always to be off running a Dragonlance series, and I will never give up hope on that. And I think there's a lot of people that share that vision. I think the documentary with Danny Ayoub is actually going to be closer to getting out as well."

That's two big updates on two D&D projects that many fans believed were destined to never see the light of day. Still, as the pieces move into place on the board behind the scenes, it's best not to get hopes up too high until Manganiello and the rest of his team have more to announce. For example, Ayoub took up his position as president just four days ago after previously serving as senior vice president of Dungeons & Dragons. It's unclear how this title change may have affected any plans Manganiello mentioned during our interview.

The world of Dungeons & Dragons is trying to come to the live-action world in more ways than one. After a movie adaptation, Honor Among Thieves, launched to critical success and lackluster commercial response in 2023, we've still yet to see a sequel. There is allegedly a second script floating around somewhere, but whether it will leap off the page remains to be seen. For more on Manganiello, you can read about what he had to share from his time working as Deathstroke on Ben Affleck's canceled Batman movie.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/NRbGTqA
via IFTTT

Struggling To Buy Magic’s Foundations Commander Decks? Wizards Confirms Reprints Are Likely

Magic’s new sets are great, but one of the most impressive (and surprising) products of the year has been the Foundations Commander decks.

The five mono-colored preconstructed offerings have just started to sneak back down closer to MSRP, but with markups across the board and some (usually the mono-green Tramplesaurus Rex deck) still hard to find, we reached out to Wizards of the Coast to confirm what the state of play with additional printings would be.

Foundations Commander Decks To Be Evergreen

Brandon Kreines, game producer on Magic: The Gathering at Wizards of the Coast, had good news for fans looking to grab each of the precons.

“The new Foundations Commander Decks are definitely intended to be an evergreen offering,” Kreines explained.

“We can’t commit to specifics, but if players are as excited about these decks as we are, they should expect to see them get reprinted so they can be used as an introduction point into Commander.”

That’s good news for just about everyone. After all, if you want to get into Commander, you’ll want to do it for MSRP where possible, and while some decks have been marked up to over double what they should cost, more printings will mean a drop in price.

It’s also worth considering that there are no new cards in any of these decks. As a starter product, they offer a cohesive game plan in your color choice, but the more they’re printed, the more resellers will need to look elsewhere for their margins.

As we said back when these were announced, Starter Decks for Commander are not a new notion, but they’ve not been printed in so long that those ones climbed in price in the years since. If a reprint is coming, then we can likely expect more new players to the hobby which, in turn, benefits all of us.

For more on Magic: The Gathering, be sure to check out Reality Fracture’s most expensive cards, as well as all we know about the Warhammer 40K Commander decks seeing a reprint at long last.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/ZmbX5oW
via IFTTT

Apex Legends Update Lets You Dual Wield the Wingman, Brings Back Lifeline Revive Shield

Apex Legends: Cipher is coming on November 3 and it’s bringing a new weapon style that makes me scared. The Wingman is a semi-automatic revolver that utilizes Sniper Ammo, and it’s been the bane of my existence since Apex Legends launched.

Some people are absolutely cracked with the Wingman. And now they’ll be able to use two at once. Cipher introduces Akimbo Wingman, which trades off some of the accuracy for big(ger) damage.

The Wingman has wavered a bit in recent seasons and sits as the 19th most effective weapon in DPS terms, but it’s still deadly in accurate hands, across basically any distance. It’s two-to-four headshots for a Wingman kill depending on the armor they’re wearing, which is what makes it so deadly in the right hands.

The Akimbo Wingman will push players in closer to barrel stuff your face. It’s going to be interesting to see where the weapon ends up with this new option — famously, the Akimbo Mozambique was famously nerfed quickly after it went from a barely used gun to the game’s dominant weapon.

On top of the dual revolvers, Crypto is getting a rework dubbed Crypto Rewired, which sees him role switch from a drone-camping git to a push-forward intel machine. His Surveillance Drone now runs on batteries instead of a cooldown, meaning it can be picked up and redeployed without a long wait, along with a new Sentry Mode that tags enemies on sight. On top of that, his EMP Ultimate can now be deployed with the press of a button.

Cipher also introduces Strongholds, which Respawn is calling the “evolution of care packages.” To access them you have to raid the Stronghold to haul out crate weapons, corrupted attachments, and EVO shield boosts for the squad. It’s a timely endeavour, and nearby enemies will hear the alarm.

Revenant and Lifeline are also getting buffs. For Rev, there’s a shorter Ult cooldown and faster Tactical, as well as new upgrades that allow him to extend his Ult with each knock. Another upgrade lets him Silence players with Shadow Pounce.

Lifeline is getting a reduced drone cooldown, self-healing while gliding, an Ult cooldown reduction, and improved flight mobility. On top of that, Respawn is bringing back her revive shield.

Elsewhere there are new Ranked updates, with Legend Bans in Diamond lobbies and above. Players vote to ban certain Legends, and the ones with the most votes can’t be picked for the match.

Apex Legends: Cipher launches November 3.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/0yO3EvY
via IFTTT

Vampir Is a Dark, Brutal MMORPG Focused on Bloody Violence

The MMORPG genre has been woefully lacking in vampire representation, but into that void steps Netmarble’s Vampir. It first launched in South Korea in 2025 before recently expanding to the West, and it’s now available in the U.S. on PC, iOS, and Android.

This is a game that really leans into the full vampire experience. It’s defined by blood, horror, and sexuality with brutal combat in a dark fantasy setting. From the start of the game, you’ll be treated to some gruesome scenes that set the tone of the world, and that tone carries into gameplay. There are five character classes to choose from, and they’re all aggressive damage dealers that can use vampires’ signature blood-draining abilities to restore HP and gain temporary combat buffs.

All the classes dish out death in stylish fashion, but the way they do it is very different. Carnage can use a variety of firearms with rapid-fire attacks. Bloodstained is a berserker with added durability that can channel its bloodlust into a powerful sword. Viper uses poisons, curses, and summoned creatures to deal AoE damage and control the battlefield. Grim Reaper is a stealth assassin that uses teleportation and a scythe to land critical strikes. And Akasha is a melee class that specializes in pursuing enemies.

No matter which class you’re playing, you’ll feel the impact of your attacks. Battles are marked by dismemberment that leaves bloodstains in their wake. High-quality graphics add to the impact, with a level of fidelity that’s particularly impressive on mobile. The dark vibe and aesthetics are heightened by the use of lighting and shadows, and character models are detailed with nicely rendered skin textures.

Since different people play MMOs for different reasons, Vampir provides separate spaces for people who want to focus on progression or competition. If you prefer to level up your character and gather resources with relative ease, you can do that on individual servers with no issue. If you’re the competitive type, you can jump into Gehenna, an inter-server PvP battlefield that becomes available early in the game.

Gehenna is a dedicated combat zone that can pit you against players with server honor on the line. You can form clans to team up with other players and compete together. Bosses will appear at set times, and defeating them can earn rewards for you and honor for your server, as well as high-value rewards delivered to your Clan Vault. It’s also possible to physically block the routes of other players during these boss battles, allowing your clan to form battle lines and giving you strategic options to ensure victory.

Gehenna content is split into seasons, with server matchups reshuffled when each new season begins. This creates new rivalries and prevents a single clan from monopolizing competition for an extended period of time.

There are also cooperative challenges, like a defense mode where you need to work together to defend your clan’s emblem from relentless waves of attackers. Competitive content ranges from small skirmishes to large-scale battles, including the seasonal Clan War of Occupation and official tournaments. Clans that manage to come out on top of these massive competitions get the highest rewards the game can offer.

Outside of those rewards, you can get character upgrade resources through the in-game shop. You buy these with Diamonds, which you can earn through field gameplay without spending money, up to a weekly farming limit. Diamonds are also used for summons in Vampir’s gacha system, which adds a unique mechanic to the genre’s standard pity system.

With each summon that isn’t Legendary grade, you’re awarded Care Points and you get rewards at certain point thresholds. Lower-grade summon results award more Care Points, so Common awards you more than Uncommon, which rewards more than Rare. So if you get a string of Common summons, it actually speeds up your progress toward a Legendary pull.

Vampir is available now on PC, iOS, and Android, and there’s a special launch reward event happening now where you can get a Designated Heroic Mount Summon Ticket, 100 million Gold, and a full set of Rare Equipment as soon as you start the game. Through gameplay, you can also earn Heroic Equipment and 1,100 summon chances. To keep up with the latest updates, you can follow the game YouTube, Facebook, and Discord.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/AJ7vpgZ
via IFTTT

Toastie Might Be the Weirdest iPhone Duo Game So Far

The first batch of iPhone Duos are out in the wild, and a bunch of app developers are finding ways to make the most of its foldable design. Perhaps the weirdest so far is Toastie, a game that essentially turns your $2,000 device into a grilled cheese maker. Add some ingredients, close the iPhone Duo, and toast your creation to perfection.

We turned the iPhone Duo into the world’s most expensive toaster 🥪

Build the sandwich quickly, then close your Duo to toast it. Don’t burn it though!

Check it out: https://t.co/riRVUFLlm1 https://t.co/0llh2lv9R1

— Tom Szykulski (@t_szykulski) October 7, 2026

It costs $3, less than an actual grilled cheese, and for that you get "10 orders, 3 loaves, and 14 things to put between them." Your crispy masterpiece then gets a star rating for the recipe, plating, toasting, and preparation time. You can also play on iPhone and iPad without the cute close mechanic if you're more interested in browning wheat-based products than you are fooling around with a hinge.

The game is the work of Tom Szykulski and Cyprian Brytan, and they say development took place "over more evenings than either of them planned."

Apple revealed its first foldable phone, the iPhone Duo, back in September. If you're waiting on your delivery, check out our picks for the best iPhone Duo cases while you wait.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/pPS6k5G
via IFTTT

Call of Duty Franchise Surpasses $40 Billion Lifetime Revenue Following Launch of Modern Warfare 4

The Call of Duty franchise has now surpassed $40 billion in lifetime franchise revenue in the wake of the launch of its 23rd mainline entry, Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4, which launched last Friday.

Xbox CEO Asha Sharma made the announcement on her X account, posting a graphic showing a bunch of favorable review scores for Modern Warfare 4 with the caption, "One of the most celebrated Call of Duty games in its 24-year history, and now $40B in lifetime franchise revenue. An incredible milestone. Congrats to the Activision team. And to the players, thank you for being with us."

The staying power of the franchise has been remarkably impressive, even if some years' releases are more liked by critics and players than other years. The brand-new Modern Warfare 4 seems to be well-received so far; IGN hasn't finalized its review yet, but reviewer Simon Cardy says, "Modern Warfare 4’s campaign made me feel something for the series again" and "its expansive behind-enemy-lines mission that borrows most of its ideas from the DMZ mode is a real highlight."

For context, Grand Theft Auto 5 alone has pulled in over $10 billion over the past 13 years, and the imminent GTA 6 is estimated to clear $5.2 billion by the end of its first week on sale.

Call of Duty will soon expand beyond just games, however, as Peter Berg's Call of Duty movie is due out in theaters on June 30, 2028 and will explore "the cost of war" for its characters.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/QNUsmce
via IFTTT

Phantom Blade Zero Global Release Times and Preload Details

S-Game has finally revealed exactly when you can play Phantom Blade Zero, its upcoming action game with graceful, beautiful combat.

Phantom Blade Zero, which features martial arts movie star Donnie Yen, is scheduled for release on October 29, 2026, for PC and PS5, and here’s exactly when you can get your combos in, no matter what platform you play on.

In the meantime, check out the IGN Phantom Blade Zero review. Our 9/10 review called it “an unbelievably smooth action game filled with memorable boss fights, compelling combat, and limitless swagger.”

Phantom Blade Zero global release times:

As I said above, Phantom Blade Zero officially comes out on October 29, but what time you’ll get access depends on where you live.

Here are the release times by city:

• Los Angeles: 7pm PDT (October 28)
• Mexico City: 8pm CST (October 28)
• Bogota: 9pm COT (October 28)
• New York: 10pm EDT (October 28)
• Brasilia: 11pm BRT (October 28)
• Accra: 2am GMT (October 29)
• London: 2am BST (October 29)
• Warsaw: 3am CEST (October 29)
• Cape Town: 4am SAST (October 29)
• Kyiv: 4am EEST (October 29)
• Beijing: 10am CST (October 29)
• Seoul: 11am KST (October 29)
• Tokyo: 11am JST (October 29)
• Melbourne: 1pm AEST (October 29)
• Auckland: 3pm NZDT (October 29)

Phantom Blade Zero preload date and times:

If you want to get your game ready, here’s what time Phantom Blade Zero is available to preload onto your PS5 or PC, starting on October 26:

• Los Angeles: 7pm PDT (October 26)
• Mexico City: 8pm CST (October 26)
• Bogota: 9pm COT (October 26)
• New York: 10pm EDT (October 26)
• Brasilia: 11pm BRT (October 26)
• Accra: 2am GMT (October 27)
• London: 2am BST (October 27)
• Warsaw: 3am CEST (October 27)
• Cape Town: 4am SAST (October 27)
• Kyiv: 4am EEST (October 27)
• Beijing: 10am CST (October 27)
• Seoul: 11am KST (October 27)
• Tokyo: 11am JST (October 27)
• Melbourne: 1pm AEST (October 27)
• Auckland: 3pm NZDT (October 27)

Phantom Blade Zero install size and PC specs

Phantom Blade Zero clocks in at a hefty 145GB and you’ll need a reasonably powerful PC to run it. Here are the official specs:

Minimum:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10/11 (64bit required)
• Processor: Intel Core i7-8700K / AMD Ryzen 5 3600
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce GTX 1660 6GB / AMD Radeon RX 5500 XT 8GB
• DirectX: Version 12
• Additional Notes: 1080p / 30 FPS with upscaling enabled. SSD installation required.

Recommended:

• Requires a 64-bit processor and operating system
• OS: Windows 10/11 (64bit required)
• Processor: Intel Core i5-10600K / AMD Ryzen 5 5600X
• Memory: 16 GB RAM
• Graphics: NVIDIA GeForce RTX 3060 Ti 8GB / AMD Radeon RX 6700 XT 12GB
• DirectX: Version 12
• Additional Notes: 1440p / 60 FPS with upscaling enabled. SSD installation required.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/I6zHxli
via IFTTT

Phantom Blade Zero Review

Phantom Blade Zero has spent years looking almost too good to be true, especially coming from a studio that's best known for its mobile games. That’s why it's just about the biggest compliment I can pay it that after 50 hours performing picture-perfect kung fu, it's exactly as fun to play as it looks. This effortlessly smooth action game has some of the most satisfying and well-tuned combat I’ve played in a long time, a surprising number of secrets to discover and quests to complete in each of its beautiful levels, and a neverending supply of clever encounters full of unbelievably awesome moments. Its convoluted story and occasional performance issues may not live up to that incredible action, but it nails just about everything else, and there were only a handful of moments where I wasn’t absolutely thrilled to be slicing my way through the ranks of the Wulin.

Phantom Blade Zero plays like something straight out of a wuxia epic. As a metal-as-hell martial artist of mysterious origins with only 66 days left alive to exact your revenge, you set out on an odyssey across the ruined lands of the Phantom World, facing off against all manner of beast and badass along the way. The story here isn’t Phantom Blade Zero’s strong suit as it tries to do a bit too much, shoving in a whole bunch of mystical jargon, dozens of characters, and a needlessly complex timeline, very little of which ultimately pays off anyway. In the first couple hours alone, so much time is spent toggling back and forth between present day, several years ago, several months ago, and several days ago that I was exhausted by all the exposition before I’d even faced my first real boss fight. That said, there are enough likeable characters along the way, especially your unflappable hero named Soul, that I was usually able to forgive it for occasionally wasting my time with unnecessary flashbacks and lengthy explanations.

Besides, you’ll be spending most of your time exploring the world and squaring off against enemies big and small, and it’s pretty clear that Phantom Blade Zero wants you to spend most of your attention on this part of the adventure. And that’s a good thing, too, because by God is it good. It only took a couple minutes for the precise parry and dodge mechanics to feel natural, and the nuanced but not-overly-complex system of weapons, combos, special abilities, and upgrades are rolled out at an extremely smart pace, all of which are easy enough to slip into like a tailored set of flowing wuxia robes. I’m a complete snob when it comes to the feel and pacing of combat in these types of games, so the fact that this immediately felt like reuniting with an old friend made it instantly compelling, and it’s one of those intangible things that’s very hard to get right.

Even more impressive is that not only does the combat feel good right away, it does so across dozens of weapons, each with their own unique moveset. This game that doesn’t just encourage you to change up your weapon loadout at regular intervals, it actually requires you to mix things up since swapping your active melee weapon is one of the ways you can restore your posture meter with a single button press. And since many enemies, particularly bosses, can instantly drain your posture with certain attacks, you’ll be swapping between different options with regularity, forcing you to commit multiple movesets and special abilities to memory. Conveniently, Phantom Blade Zero makes it extremely easy for you to reclaim and reallocate points invested in leveling up weapons, so there’s rarely any reason to stick with a set loadout anyway – especially since you always seem to find the exact tool you need right before entering an area or encountering a boss where it would come in handy. For example, I noticed that I found a water cannon weapon only a few feet away from an area that led to a fire-based boss. Nice.

Combat feels good right away, even across dozens of unique weapons.

Beyond that, you’ll unlock a bunch of additional tools like grappling hooks and bows, which have utility both in combat encounters and outside of them since you can use them to reach certain parts of the map or break through barriers that are otherwise impassable. There are also trinkets that offer interesting buffs, like a significant damage increase when you’re at full health, and a skill tree with perks that let you do things like execute a dodge while in mid-air or increase the number of healing items you can carry. There’s a surprising amount of depth to the things you can upgrade and the ways to customize exactly how your Wulin warrior does his thing, and I spent much more time than I typically do in these kinds of games just testing out different weapons and swapping my equipment around as a result. At the very least, it’s worth doing so just to see the unique execution animations when you finish off trash enemies.

You’ll have plenty of time to try them all out as you get your steps in across Phantom Blade Zero’s eight maps, too. Each one is filled with foes to take down, side quests to complete, chests to loot, and secrets to discover. A surprising amount of the places to go and people to meet are completely missable, including the entirety of a very cool questline that sees you getting trained by none other than Donnie Yen as the mysterious gold-masked man (which is actually one of PBZ’s strongest subplots). While most of the side quests are pretty straightforward missions to go somewhere and collect some stuff for a small reward, they gave me more reasons to spend time exploring every nook and cranny, which I was happy to do. And unlike lots of modern games filled with icons on the screen telling you exactly where to go and what to do, Phantom Blade Zero instead makes use of hand-drawn maps that only give you a vague idea of your location in relation to key landmarks, allowing you to explore and fill in the gaps on your own.

If there’s one thing that consistently mucks up this journey, it’s that Phantom Blade Zero suffers from some pretty bad geometry. Soul gets caught on surfaces all the time, and even the tiniest bumps in the road can stop him dead in his tracks, which is pretty hilarious for a guy who can jump 40 feet in the air while doing 19 backflips. Not only that, there are invisible borders all over the place that make exploration janky at times, especially when platforming sections ask you to get to a specific ledge, only for you to discover there’s an invisible wall and you fall to your death. I died nearly 200 times over the course of my playthrough, and roughly half of those deaths were me falling into a pit or getting caught in the environment until I was able to get myself killed or reload my save file. In one case, I even lost about 20 minutes of progress when my supposed martial master couldn’t escape from some bushes. Oh, and enemies occasionally get stuck in the environment too, which just makes fights where it happens feel so lame.

Despite that, Phantom Blade Zero’s superpower – the magic trick it performs time and time again – is its way of making you feel like you’re the only person in the world badass enough to withstand its utterly insane flurry of swords against godlike monsters like it’s nothing. The truth is that the melee dance of combat encounters is just so finely tuned, with every attack telegraphed just enough to give you exactly the time you need to react, aided by an almost imperceptible musical rhythm that grants you a certain level of precognition for what’s going to happen next. Once I synced up with its tempo, I started anticipating attacks before I consciously registered them, leading me to perfectly block some lightning-quick attack I hadn’t seen before. There’s nothing specifically special about my reaction time or skill with action games – rather it's a testament to how incredibly well-balanced and smartly designed these unbelievably sick fights are. It’s without question the thing Phantom Blade Zero does best, and it’s an illusion I fell for repeatedly, from the opening sequence all the way to the final battle.

I played on the hardest difficulty, and the tuning consistently felt exactly right.

Something I admire about Phantom Blade Zero’s difficulty is how consistently it feels exactly right – not too unforgiving, but it rarely lets you feel like you aren’t in danger of getting your butt kicked. I’m typically someone who relishes a challenge from games like this and so played Phantom Blade Zero on its hardest difficulty exclusively, but found myself beating just about every major boss fight in two or three tries, plus a good chunk that I cleared in one go – and I didn’t mind that one bit! It meant that I rarely saw enough of a boss to know every tool in their murder belt, and refreshingly made me feel like the one to be feared rather than the other way around. It’s pretty damn cool to enter a room and watch a 10-foot-tall badass with an eight-pack swing around a blade and think, “oh, man. This guy’s totally screwed.”

Part of the way this Goldilocks level of difficulty is achieved is due to the interesting decision to not make you repeat phases of a boss fight that you’ve already cleared. If you get through a first phase that just makes the bad guy mad and then get killed after he turns into an even more hulked-out psycho, you’ll pick back up at the top of that second phase. I’ve been known to get annoyed at having to replay the first phase of a boss fight a dozen times just to get another run at the more challenging part, to the point where multi-phase boss fights in general can get on my nerves these days. By removing this annoyance entirely, it got rid of a lot of potential friction with some of these encounters

It also allows for more freedom in how these encounters are designed, like moments where a boss uses a cheap move that one-shots you instantly if you get hit by it. Normally, including insta-kill moves like that is a good way to send me into a rage, but because my progress was almost never set back far enough to bother getting mad about, I felt a lot more lenient toward that kind of thing. I mean, let’s face it, that crazy attack where you get impaled on a giant spear, then set on fire and smashed face-first into the floor probably should kill you right away, so it’s pretty neat that Phantom Blade Zero found a way to make a devastating moment like that exciting rather than irritating.

It’s also incredibly impressive that throughout the 50 hours it took me to reach credits, as I fought dozens and dozens of bosses, I was continually surprised by the creative enemies it threw at me. Sure, there’s the occasional big-guy-with-a-big-axe or dude-with-sword-you-swear-you-fought-already, but these are by far the exception, not the rule. At one point I found myself wearing a lion dancer mask, jumping around on poles to collect heads of lettuce to power up my fire blast, and in another section I fought a posse of warriors who worked together as one unit to throw preposterously intricate attacks my way – the main threat to my life there was getting caught with my guard down because I was too busy cackling. The boss fights are so consistently interesting, memorable, and numerous that I felt utterly compelled to seek out each and every one of them, which led me to turn this first playthrough into a full-on completionist run to avoid FOMO.

When I previewed Phantom Blade Zero a little over a month ago, one of my primary concerns was how it would perform, and thankfully the version I played for this review had a far more consistent performance. The framerate was much steadier, with only a few times I can recall ever noticing issues during combat. That said, there’s one map in particular where the framerate was consistently pretty terrible, specifically on a part of the map where something seems to not be working right. This feels like the type of thing that could pretty easily be identified and fixed, so I’d be surprised if a patch doesn’t arrive at or shortly after launch, but it’s worth shouting out since I suspect there are other lingering issues hiding about.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/Rbg8nCy
via IFTTT

Magic: The Gathering's Top 12 Most Powerful Commander Precons Of All Time

Magic: The Gathering is a fantastic card game, but the Commander format has given it even more legs.

It revolves around a central Commander that helms your deck, giving it a ton of personality as players gravitate towards their favorite legendary creatures to build around.

Wizards of the Coast finally recognized the format in 2011, beginning a deluge of preconstructed decks that are playable right out of the box. We’ve got a full list of them, but for now, we’ve narrowed down our top 12.

These aren’t presented in any real order, but let us know which ones you’ve played!

The Most Powerful Magic: The Gathering Commander Precons

Draconic Domination - Commander 2017

The Ur-Dragon still commands a high fee, and the 10/10 standard-bearer of this five-color precon is a beneficiary of the Eminence keyword. It drops the cost of Dragon spells by 1 mana, and then, when it is on the field, your dragons essentially multiply as they attack.

It’s far and away the most powerful preconstructed Dragon deck, but if you’re looking for cheaper alternatives, my first deck was Draconic Destruction from the Commander starter decks, and Temur Roar is a great three-color dragon deck with upgrade potential, too.

Counter Blitz - Universes Beyond: Final Fantasy

All the Final Fantasy decks were great, but Counter Blitz stands ahead of the others for the counter-switching shenanigans it could lead to.

Tidus, Yuna’s Guardian, lets you move counters around, but the type of counter isn’t specified. There are four Summon creatures in the deck that you could essentially keep around forever with the right counter shuffling.

The deck also contains some great reprints, like Three Visits and Farewell, while Yuna is a great Commander in her own right.

Necron Dynasties - Universes Beyond: Warhammer 40K

This mono-black Warhammer deck costs a pretty penny these days, with its Commander, Szarekh, able to mill cards to put more creatures into your hand.

Personally, I prefer to use Imotekh the Stormlord as my Commander, though, letting you create token creatures as you use recursion and power up a creature during combat.

Out of the Tombs is awesome, too. It lets you risk milling yourself out, but can give you a whole host of board presence in the late game. Better yet, this deck is expected to be reprinted soon.

Mutant Menace - Universes Beyond: Fallout

I hate this deck. It’s a pain to deal with, causing plenty of mill and life loss for the whole table, but there’s no denying it’s effective.

The Wise Mothman, its Commander, dishes out rad counters and then grows in power as those counters mill cards and wound your opponents.

Strong, the Brutish Thespian, can even add life from radiation, making a great mechanic (at least for you), even more useful.

Endless Punishment - Duskmourn

A deck that’s so effective at dealing damage it can make Commander matches take half as long to complete, Endless Punishment is a great deck that gets even better if you swap out Valgavoth with Master of Pain.

This 5/5 stops opponents from gaining life, has Menace, and turns the mana cost of every first spell of a player’s turn into damage against another player. Given how expensive spells get as the match wears on, that can be a big, big hit.

Reprints of Vial Smasher the Fierce and Witch’s Clinic were welcome, too. You can also score Endless Punishment as part of the Duskmourn Commander Deck bundle at Amazon, which is currently down to $189.20 for four decks (dropping from $242.97).

Sliver Swarm - Commander Masters

Sliver Swarm, as the name suggests, is a deck that’s all about Slivers, a creature type that’s relatively minor on its own but buffs every other ally with the same type.

This five-color precon is a problem for everyone at the table, helmed by the Sliver Gravemother that can help bring cards back from the graveyard as attacking tokens. Oh, and it means you can have multiple copies of Legendary creatures, too.

The deck had fewer reprints than some, but it’s powerful - and ripe for upgrades if you can find some extra Slivers.

Eldrazi Unbound - Commander Masters

A colorless Eldrazi deck, this one puts Zhulodok, Void Gorger as your Commander and lets you enjoy double Cacade on spells with mana value 7 or higher - ouch.

Kozilek, the Great Distortion, is another Legendary Creature you can pick as your Commander. It costs a lot, but acts as a 12/12 with Menace and facilitates card draw.

It That Betrays was an awesome reprint, and I recently managed to find one myself to put in my Eldrazi Incursion upgrade (more on that later).

Vampiric Bloodlust - Commander 2017

There’s a reason that Edgar Markov remains the de facto vampire-type Commander in Magic: The Gathering. His Eminence ability, which triggers even if he’s in the Command Zone, means this 4/4 with First Strike and haste can create Vampire tokens as you cast spells of that type, and he empowers them with +1/+1 when he attacks.

Teferi’s Protection is here, too, with this being the kind of deck with no real weaknesses that’s easy to pilot as well.

Food and Fellowship - Universes Beyond: Lord of the Rings

The Lord of the Rings Commander Decks were all solid, but Food and Fellowship wins out for its strength in just about every aspect. Sam generates Food tokens to gain life, then Frodo is tempted by the Ring as you consume them, with each of the Partner cards feeding into a cycle.

It’s not all Shire-friendly, either, with some true wrath coming in the form of Toxic Deluge, spot removal like Path to Exile and Swords to Plowshares, and cards like The Gaffer to turn that lifegain into more card draw. A great, well-constructed deck.

Veloci-Ramp-Tor - Lost Caverns of Ixalan

The kind of deck that steamrolls many of the precons in recent years, Pantlaza, Sun-Favored helms this dinosaur offering and helps you bring more and more creatures into play with the Discover ability.

With cards like Wakening Sun’s Avatar being a non-dino board wipe and comically large beasts like Apex Altisaur, this deck is wild right out of the box.

Party Time - Commander Legends: Battle for Baldur’s Gate

This Baldur’s Gate-flavored deck’s commander, Nalia de-Arnise, is a low-cost 3/3 that lets you case Cleric, Rogue, Warrior, and Wizard spells from the top of your library.

It really doesn’t take long to build up a formidable force in early turns, letting you get a head start while your opponents are scrambling to find blockers. The deck is pretty expensive now, though.

Multiverse Reforged - Reality Fracture

A chaotic deck that can be built in multiple ways, Multiverse Reforged is helmed by Jace, Multiverse Architect. The ideal scenario here is to build up a bunch of tokens and then polymorph them into some of the deck's bigger threats, like the Ur-Sphinx, Ob Nixilis, the Ascended, and Darksteel Angel.

One of the best parts of this deck is that it includes a bunch of alternate versions of some of Magic's most iconic cards, like the exceptionally powerful Dack Fayden, Helping Hand and Avacyn, Angel of Horror.

Other Fun Decks To Check Out

The following might not be the most powerful, but I’ve enjoyed playing with them.

Heavenly Inferno - Commander 2011

Heavenly Inferno is one of the first Commander precons, and its strength lies in its flexibility. The Commander, Kaalia of the Vast, helps you bring creatures into play, whether they’re Angels, Demons, or Dragons.

Because of that, you can easily swap out a bunch of Angels and Demons for Dragons, or lean into two of them if you’d prefer. As with some others on this list, it can get out of hand pretty swiftly, and while there are a bunch of cards in here that can be swiftly removed because they don't fall into the relevant types, Kaalia remains fun to build around.

Eldrazi Incursion - Modern Horizons 3

An Eldrazi deck with five colors and a Commander that can copy spells and activated abilities for two generic mana, Eldrazi Incursion is great off the bat, but becomes positively vile with the right upgrades.

It’s probably not a deck for newcomers, though, because the sheer volume of triggers can feel overwhelming.

Tyranid Swarm - Universes Beyond: Warhammer 40K

I’ve had games that have been won because my Haruspex has gained so much power that it deals huge damage to opponents, or converted its power to mana for a big late-game push.

Magus Lucea Kane’s doubling up of X-cost spells, and the Swarmlord turning your creatures with counters into card draw, means there are some really fun strategies here - Tyranid Swarm is a deck that truly does feel like a ‘swarm’, and can give you big creatures to attack with, and plenty of tokens back to defend if you’re smart.

Riders of Rohan - Universes Beyond: Lord of The Rings

It might not be the flashiest deck since it relies on an awful lot of Human Knights in battles between Eldrazi monstrosities, Dragons, and spellcasters, but Riders of Rohan is a precon that’s very well put together.

Aside from a weakness against flying, it’s able to mobilize an army with frightening speed, and it grows with your aggression. I’ve seen it pop off many, many times, and it’s always something to behold.

Explorers of the Deep - Lost Caverns of Ixalan

This Simic (Blue/Green) deck is helmed by Hakbal of the Surging Soul, and uses the Explore mechanic to great effect, either ramping your lands, netting you creatures, or getting card draw.

It’s a Commander with a ton of value (I’m looking to squeeze him into another underwater-themed deck as we speak), but there’s also Kindred Discovery in the deck as well to get even more card draw from your Merfolk.

Jump Scare! - Duskmourn

There’s something about flipping cards face-up to surprise an opponent that feels very Yu-Gi-Oh, and I love Jump Scare (!) for that very reason.

Being able to flip a 15/15 Worldspine Wurm up is a great party trick, but there are other great cards in here like Ashaya, Soul of the Wild, and Aesi, Tyrant of Gyre Strait. Just like Endless Punishment, Jump Scare! is also discounted as part of the Duskmourn Commander Deck bundle at Amazon, which is currently down to $189.20 for four decks (dropping from $242.97).

Great Commander Decks From 2026

Many of these decks are tricky to get your hands on thanks to limited printings, but there are some solid entrants from the Class of 2026.

Will these be remembered as fondly in the years to come? It's hard to say, but here are four decks we can recommend right now.

Dance of the Elements

A five-color precon all about Elemental creatures, Dance of the Elements isn't ideal for newcomers because it's all centered around ETB triggers and those can get out of hand swiftly.

Ashling, the Limitless, uses evoke to get big creatures out cheaper, and when they're sacrificed because of it, you can create a copy that costs you mana to keep around. If you'd prefer, Mass of Mysteries is a fun backup Commander that gives a lot of your creatures the myriad keyword so they attack around the table.

Lorehold Spirit

Secrets of Strixhaven came with five really fun precons, but Lorehold Spirit is arguably the best, incentivizing you to remove cards from your graveyard to build a spirit army.

Amassing all of those apparitions is particularly useful with the face Commander, Quintorius, History Chaser. This Planeswalker can give them all double strike and vigilance, meaning a big, game-ending swing.

Witherbloom Pestilence

Another offering from Secrets of Strixhaven, Witherbloom Pestilence is all about sacrificng cards to power up other creatures, and in Dina, Essence Brewer, it has a one-card engine to do both with relative ease.

Gyome, Master Chef is a nice inclusion as a sought-after reprint, as is Nether Traitor, and there are essentially a bunch of great cards to slot into any deck with access to green, black, or both.

Avengers Assemble

Universes Beyond continues to divide the Magic: The Gathering community, but this Avengers-themed deck is pretty solid.

It plays off of hero synergies, whether you've got Captain America being buffed as they enter, or Nick Fury reducing their cost, and is remarkably easy to play with.

Counter Intelligence/World Shaper - Edge of Eternities

OK, I’m cheating a little here, but both Edge of Eternities decks were great. Counter Intelligence is helmed by Kilo, Apogee Mind, and ramps up counters swiftly by proliferating every time it’s turned sideways.

World Shaper, on the other hand, is a deck I’ve had a lot of fun with. Szarel, Genesis Shepherd lets you play lands from your graveyard, and there are a ton of landfall effects that play into that, too.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He's a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife's dismay.

from IGN Video Games https://ift.tt/LKkYe7g
via IFTTT