Month: September 2021

Mysterious Square Enix and Luminous Productions action-RPG Forspoken has shown off a little more of its world and gameplay in a new trailer, and revealed that the game will release in Spring 2022.

Revealed at today’s PlayStation Showcase event, the new Forspoken trailer introduces us to lead character Frey as she enters the gorgeous (but dangerous) world of Athia.

According to a PlayStation blog post, “Frey is a directionless, gritty yet street smart young woman who has persevered despite her rough upbringing in New York City. And her life hasn’t really gotten any easier now that she’s about to turn 21. Things take a turn for the unexpected when she’s magically transported to Athia, a land where fantasies and nightmares are suddenly very real.”

As Frey, who’s voiced by Charlie’s Angels star Ella Balinska, players will harness magical abilities to defeat monsters across the land, in addition to contending with the Tantas, the “destructive and twisted all-powerful matriarchs who have dominion over Athia.”

In addition to Balinska, Forspoken will also feature the voices of Jonathan Cake as Frey’s companion Cuff, Janina Gavankar as Tanta Sila, Keala Settle as Johedy, and Monica Barbaro as Auden.

Forspoken was announced as Project Athia in 2020, and was subsequently given a formal title in March. It’s one Square Enix is hoping to make an impression with, its stated goal being to include the highest quality visuals in any open world game to date. Forspoken will also be a PS5 console exclusive for at least 2 years.

Borderlands spin-off Tiny Tina’s Wonderlands is releasing on March 25, 2022.

Announced with a new trailer at today’s PlayStation Showcase event, the game will come to PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series S|X, and PC early next year.

We also saw our first look at gameplay, giving us a taste of how the Borderlands spin-off will look in action. We saw lots of guns, new fantasy-based moves, unique enemies, and more.

Wonderlands brings a fantasy-flavored twist to a Borderlands approach. First announced at E3 2021, we’ve so far had a breakdown of its weapons, loot, and enemies, but this marks our first taste of how it all fits together in the game itself.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.

After being announced earlier this week, Alan Wake Remastered was officially shown off in a trailer during today’s PlayStation Showcase, with a release date set for October 5, 2021. It will include both the base the game and its two story expansions, The Signal and The Writer.

While revealed during a PlayStation show, it was previously confirmed that Alan Wake Remastered would come to PS5, PS4, Xbox Series X/S, Xbox One, and PC through the Epic Games Store. In fact, the Epic Games Store is where rumors of a remaster were kicked off this June.

It was also confirmed today that the PS4 version will offer both a Performance and Quality mode, the latter of which runs at 60fps while the former runs at 4K and 40fps. Meanwhile, the PS5 version will run at 4K and 60fps.

This official date reveal comes days after leaked listings had already pointed toward an October 5 release, and a remaster is throwing more fuel on the speculative fire that Remedy is working on a full sequel.

During today’s PlayStation Showcase, you would have been forgiven for not recognizing the second game shown: Project Eve. It’s an upcoming hack-and-slash action title that’s largely flown under the radar up til now, but an extended trailer shown today gave a better look at its combat, story, and beautiful musical accompaniment.

Project Eve has been known about for a while now, having been announced way back in 2019 with a teaser from its developer, Korean studio Shift Up, which is founded by Blade & Soul character designer Kim Hyung Tae.

Its story follows a young woman existing in a post-apocalypse, at one point in the trailer learning about what a subway system used to be through a friendly voice in her ear. In a broken world that mankind has fled, Eve explores and fights off strange monsters called NA:tives who have invaded earth.

Via the PlayStation blog, we also learned that the PS5 version of this game will take advantage of haptic feedback for its combat combos, and intends to “take full advantage” of the PS5’s graphical power.

Though shown in the PlayStation Showcase, Project Eve was also originally announced for Xbox One and PC, so we’ll likely see it on those platforms eventually as well. Unfortunately, the trailer today did not give any new information about a release date or window, so we may have to wait a while before we learn more about what Project Eve is all about.

Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic is being remade for modern consoles. It will be coming to PlayStation 5 as a console exclusive at launch alongside a PC release, with other consoles possibly to be revealed at a later date.

Aspyr will once again be handling development of the new remaster, rebuilding the game “from the ground up,” following on from their previous efforts with Republic Commando and Jedi Outcast. The trailer shown during today’s PlayStation Showcase showed Darth Revan igniting his lightsaber with an ominous voiceover.

Knights of the Old Republic is consistently ranked as one of the best RPGs ever made, and it sits atop our list of the ten best Star Wars games. Originally developed by BioWare, KOTOR helped inaugurate a new era of PC RPGs on console. Its announcement during Sony’s PlayStation Showcase is somewhat ironic given that it was a top Xbox exclusive back in the day.

Knights of the Old Republic was first reported to be in development back in April by multiple outlets. Its announcement comes as part of Sony’s PlayStation showcase, and is confirmed to be early in development, though an official blog post indicates also that work has been happening on the title “for a little while” in close collaboration with Lucasfilm Games. Orion Kellogg, executive producer at Lucasfilm Games, and Ryan Treadwell, lead producer at Aspyr, say that the team is taking its time to balance the weight of fan expectation, authenticity to the original, as well as any necessary changes or updates.

“This is something that is important and impactful,” said Treadwell. “Our big goals on this are to bring the story to a modern audience and have it be just as impactful today as it was for players when it originally launched.”

He added the project includes some powerhouses, such as Jennifer Hale returning to voice Bastila, and developers with experience on the remake of Demon’s Souls and Ghost of Tsushima, and lead gameplay designer Matt Berner, who worked on Dragon Age: Inquisition. And, of course, many developers from the original KOTOR team.

“We can say, ‘What were you trying to do and why did you do it this way? Let’s make sure that we have the same goals in mind as we re-approach it this time,’” said Kellogg. “We’re just going to be able to do more things with asset variety and fidelity and storytelling that just weren’t possible then, but are still going to meet the same goals.”

KOTOR does not yet have a release date.

Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN

Few video games have dared to drop us into a storyline quite like Girl Cafe Gun.

Your journey begins on Princess Island. As commander of Squad 08, you team-up with a group of anime-styled Live2D girls by collecting character cards to take down the Archdemons while running a Cafe on the side that offers decorations and distractions from the day to day of demon-slaying.

Spend some quality time with each member of Squad 08 — each with their own personality, voice, and skills suited for both the battlefield and Cafe.

A Chibi Twin-Stick Shooter

On the battlefield you play as the commander in charge of a squad of 3 with the goal of blasting the enemy away while avoiding their barrage of bullets.

But stay focused! Dodging enemy attacks with multiple characters is trickier than it sounds, since all the girls move at different speeds. You might move one girl out of the way only to have another get pelted by enemy fire. If one of your crew gets stuck behind an obstacle, she can no longer join in the assault, so keep moving and firing to avoid getting cornered.

Girl Cafe Gun features dazzling visuals that make full use of your mobile hardware. Mix and match your fighting capabilities with three characters at a time. Outwit your enemies including bosses by observing their attack patterns and adjusting your attacks and parries accordingly.

Cafe Capers

After the battle, take the squad out for some well-deserved R&R at…you guessed it! The cafe. Here’s where you switch from a battle-hardened demon slayer to the Cafe manager.

Grab a cup of coffee and collect rewards after a victory that…allow you to upgrade your Cafe, its menu, and your team member’s outfits.

Decorating your Cafe increases your shop’s comfort value and helps accelerate income and mood recovery. And don’t skimp out on furnishings! Furniture like: seats, couches, carpet, flooring, wall décor, windows, and lighting all play a part in the success of your operation.

As the action in and out of the Cafe heats up, your personal interactions with the crew have an impact on your team’s development. You can even date members of your team, though they may show varying degrees of interest in your gifts and advances.

Play it cool and don’t be weird.

Dates give you the opportunity to learn more about each member of your team and that knowledge comes in handy on the battlefield.

But also, enjoy the romance, thanks to Girl Cafe Gun’s diverse and unique bonding system.

Meet your Crew!!
Who knew that the last refuge of humanity would be so endearing! A Cafe is only as good as its crew, and thankfully, you’re in the company of the best, including:

Cornelia, who treats her weaponry as close friends. Her vast knowledge of weaponry and stoic attitude are vital on the battlefield.

Eksistere, who is the brain of the squad and an expert researcher that loves sudoku and …salmon-flavored ice cream?!

Grainne Draser, the chief medical officer of Squad 8, who loves caring for the crew and running the kitchen.

Irene White, an average teenager…who happens to be a deadly sniper. Her laidback attitude helps her get along with just about everyone.

Lida Romero, the newest member of Squad 8. While she may not have grown up like the other members of Squad 08, her street smarts keep her frosty on the battlefield.

Juno Emmons, a world class sniper and weapon specialist who always does her best.

Rococo, the candy-loving Princess of Princess Island. Though most of her elder counterparts look out for her, she is more than willing to take the lead when things get heavy.

So now that you got to know Squad 8 and cafe, head on over to Princess Island and begin your Girl Cafe Gun adventure today on Google Play and the App Store.

Square Enix has unveiled Voice of Cards: The Isle Dragon Roars, the next project from Nier’s Yoko Taro.

Taro collaborators like Yosuke Saito, Keiichi Okabe, and Kimihiko Fujisaka are also on the project. Saito and Okabe work on the Nier series, while Fujisaka has worked on the Drakengard franchise.

The game is described as a table-top RPG video game built of cards. A short teaser was revealed on Twitter, but it is light on details other than the title and the creators involved.

While it’s called a table-top RPG, it’s still apparently a video game.

Open your mind and let your story unfold.

From the creative minds of YOKO TARO, Yosuke Saito, Keiichi Okabe and Kimihiko Fujisaka, #VoiceOfCards The Isle Dragon Roars is a unique table-top RPG video game built of cards.

Are you ready to deal your destiny? pic.twitter.com/UFtNdOItcU

— Square Enix (@SquareEnix) September 9, 2021

Last month, Yoko Taro confirmed he was the creative director of a brand-new Square Enix game, during a press conference for Nier Replicant ver. 1.22474487139. He didn’t say much about the game, besides saying his new project was, “difficult to explain,” and a “somewhat unusual game.” Seems on brand.

Taro is also the director of Nier Reincarnation, a mobile game that takes place in the same universe as the mainline Nier games. At the time of its release, Square Enix said it is important to make mobile games the same quality as console games to get the Western audience to accept them.

For more, check out what we thought of Taro’s latest console game in our Nier Replicant review.

Logan Plant is a freelance writer for IGN. You can find him on Twitter @LoganJPlant.