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Yoshitaka Murayama, the writer and director of Suikoden and Suikoden II, has unveiled his next project: a spiritual successor to the classic PS One RPGs called Eiyuden Chronicle: Hundred Heroes.

Developed by Rabbit & Bear, an independent studio founded in Tokyo earlier this year with other industry veterans, Eiyuden Chronicle is a 2.5D classic-style JRPG featuring an extensive cast of 100 heroes. As in Suikoden, battles will be turn-based and feature a six-character party, with dynamic camera movements during boss encounters. The game will also boast a fortress-building element as you recruit heroes, as well as a guild system that will allow you to customize your fortress differently depending on which one you join.

Along with the announcement, Rabbit & Bear has shared a handful of work-in-progress screenshots of Eiyuden Chronicle. All the screenshots were captured in-engine, although the studio notes that it still hopes to improve the fidelity of the graphics. You can take a look at the images below.

Working alongside Murayama on the project are lead artist Junko Kawano, whose credits include Suikoden I and Suikoden IV; director Osamu Komuta (Suikoden Tactics and Suikoden Tierkreis); and art director Junichi Murakami (Castlevania: Aria of Sorrow). The game will also feature music by Tales series composer Motoi Sakuraba, Wild Arms composer Michiko Naruke, and others.

Rabbit & Bear is turning to Kickstarter to help fund Eiyuden Chronicle. According to Murayama, crowdfunding the game is necessary to ensure the developers retain its rights. “We chose Kickstarter in order to make an interesting game with the players in mind, hold the rights to the planning, world, and story of the game, all while keeping the fun of the project,” he said.

Eiyuden Chronicle is initially being planned for PC. The Kickstarter campaign begins on Monday, July 27, at 9 AM PT / 12 PM ET and runs until August 28. Rabbit & Bear has not yet specified how much money it is trying to raise for development, although there will be stretch goals to release the game on all major consoles as well. Eiyuden Chronicle is tentatively planned to launch in Fall 2022.

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is canonically set after the events of the third game, Crash Bandicoot: Warped. Despite the slew of main series Crash games that have come out since then, it arrives nearly 12 years later. Knowing that, the subtitle “It’s About Time” makes perfect sense.

I grew up playing the original trilogy and enjoyed my nostalgic romp through the remaster. It was fun (and frustrating) to retread those familiar levels again with a fresh coat of paint, but it was a reminder of how far games have come since then.

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I didn’t expect the N. Sane Trilogy to push the series forward, but it did raise the question: What would a contemporary Crash Bandicoot game look like? After my hands-on time, it looks like Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time might strike all the right chords.

It has all the familiar markings of the first three games: linear level design that demands precise platforming skill and a plethora of collectibles, crystals, and secrets to uncover. But with a few meaningful iterations to the formula such as noticeable improvements to gameplay and level design, fresh mechanics like Quantum Masks, timelines, and new playable characters, and vibrant new worlds with some seriously stunning environments.

A Story of Two Time Travelin’ Bandicoots

Crash Bandicoot 4’s story is as on brand as it gets: Doctor Neo Cortex and N. Tropy have escaped from their interdimensional prison but not without wreaking havok and ripping a gaping hole through the fabric of space and time. Once again, the evil scientists embark on a mission to take over the multiverse while Crash and his sister Coco do everything in their power to stop them.

It’s undeniably Crash but if you’re anything like me, a completionist who wants to collect every single gem, you probably won’t be paying too much attention. That’s because you’ll be busy falling to your death an innumerable amount of times while trying to smash every box and collect every bit of Wumpa fruit through gritted teeth. Yes, Crash Bandicoot 4 feels like it will retain the series’ signature difficulty and maybe even crank it up a notch or two.

This was most noticeable in the level “Snow Way Out”. This arctic fishing village has six gems and it’s filled with icy hazards and plenty of rickety wooden scaffolding to keep you on your toes. Undead pirates with hooks and arm cannons that shoot out swordfish like harpoons are loitering about but these predictable foes are the least of your worries.The most perilous platforming of my playthrough took place at a freezing river where I had to use sheets of ice to travel up and down stream. These moving platforms alternated between comically slippery to so fragile they crumbled under Crash’s feet if I stood there for too long.

If I wasn’t hellbent on trying to break open every crate in the level to get my celebratory gem, I would’ve only had to survive this death trap once. But after hitting an “!” crate, which activated ghost crates, I was compelled to backtrack up the river to break those newly materialized crates, thus testing my ability to make it across the same treacherous area more than once.

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My death count quickly added up and my patience did wear thin — but I wanted to keep trying and eventually I did succeed. Crash fans will be used to this type of punishment and it’s very clear Crash Bandicoot 4 is intentionally targeting that demographic. Newcomers or those used to a more simplified platforming experience might be deterred. Luckily, the game tries to address this added difficulty with two modes: Modern and Retro.

Retro mode, like the classic games, limits your tries to the number of lives you have, which is a nice option if you’re someone who wants the classic experience. Modern mode, on the other hand, gives players unlimited chances to finish a level, only taking you back to the last checkpoint after you’ve died. It replaces Extra Life Crates with Golden Wumpa Crates, and also adds a nice little death counter in the corner of the screen. I enjoyed having the option of Modern mode as it made the higher difficulty of certain areas a lot more tolerable. I was able to keep trying and improving without the frustration of having to start all over again.

There’s Science And Then There’s Quantum Masks

Tweaks to physics in the N.Sane Trilogy made Crash Bandicoot feel stiff and it amplified the difficulty in ways that felt unfair. In Crash Bandicoot 4, Crash’s movements are fluid and jumping no longer feels like you’re being weighed down by an invisible sack of potatoes. He also has all of his signature moves along with some fun, new abilities temporarily granted with the help of Quantum Masks. Unlike Aku Aku, Quantum Masks aren’t found in boxes. Instead, they materialize in areas where their powers can be put to use, transforming into a suit Crash wears.Snow Way Out introduces the mask “Kupuna-Wa” which gives Crash the ability to slow down time. The first time I used Kupuna-Wa’s power was after hitting a red exclamation crate that activated ghost crates inside nearby areas outlined in red. The red exclamation crates are active for a very brief moment and Kupuna-Wa’s ability only lasts for a few seconds. Pressing triangle or R2 right before hitting the switch allowed me to run over and smash the boxes before they quickly disappeared but getting that timing right took a few tries.

This timing became even more important when I had to use Kupuna-Wa’s ability to cross a giant icy chasm. The only way across was to slow down time and use a couple of falling glaciers as platforms. If I activated the powers too soon or too late, the glaciers wouldn’t be at the right height needed to make it across. If I took too long to hop across then it was straight back to the last checkpoint.

Another Quantum Mask called Lani-Loli has the power to phase objects in and out of existence. He’s introduced in “Dino Dash”, a level overgrown with tropical greenery and poisonous flora that spits out venom and spores that stun. Dinosaurs roam about, some helping Crash navigate across the level’s many lethal heights, and one in particular that poses a major threat, but I’ll touch on that later.Crash Bandicoot can now rail grind, and Lani-Loli’s power assisted me in getting him safely across a long winding vine suspended over a canopy of trees. As Crash began to slide, crates and obstacles showed up in quick succession. The circle button allowed me alternate between hanging below the vine and standing on top of it while Lani-Loli’s power let me phase in crates to break them while phasing out any pesky obstacles that threatened to knock Crash off his path.

With the ability to alter space and time, the Quantum Masks don’t feel too overpowered or overly frivolous. Unlike Aku Aku (whose presence I do think serves a purpose, especially in a game known for its difficulty), they grant powers that require thought and skill to use. I’m interested to see them at work in Crash Bandicoot 4 in the future when I can use them at their full potential.

Space, Time, and Alternate Timelines

Dino Dash features a chase segment with a T-Rex (that threat I mentioned earlier) and it requires some very nimble platforming. I ran past Nitro boxes, dodged sporous fungus, slid under prickly vines, and hopped over molten lava. It’s just like the chase segments of Crash games past, but it’s one of those things that doesn’t get old. Platforming using purely reflex and somehow making it out alive will always be so deeply satisfying.

Something new was introduced during this chase and it was a random event that stopped the T-Rex in its tracks. It was the result of an alternate timeline, which offers players a chance to play another portion of a level as a different character and see from another perspective how a certain unexplained event was initiated.

A Different Perspective

Snow Way Out has an alternative timeline you can play as Neo Cortex, putting you in the lab coat and shoes of the longstanding series villain. At first I was trepidatious about a new playable character thrown into the mix, not only because I wanted Toys for Bob to make sure they got Crash platforming right, but because there’s a thin line between additive new gameplay idea and throwaway gimmick. Thankfully, playing as Cortex is much more the former, so much so that I was initially thrown by how differently he plays.

Cortex only has a single jump rather than Crash’s double, and instead of a spin attack fires his polymorphing blaster at enemies. The first blast turns them into a stone platform, while a second shot reduces them to a gelatinous cube and convenient bouncy surface. Couple this Cortex’s jetpack dash move, and suddenly there’s almost a new but still quite engaging platformer thrown into the mix. Cortex’s portion still required precise timing and a little platforming experimentation, but in a new, rewarding way. – Jonathon Dornbush

Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s About Time is still in development and the demo was of a version of a game that is subject to change. That said, what I experienced feels promising. It has all the appeal of a classic Crash game but with what feels like meaningful additions and improvements. The art style might be the best Crash Bandicoot has ever looked (even better than Crash Team Racing Nitro-Fueled) and the difficulty feels true to the series. I’m excited to see Toys for Bob include two modes but I hope they also consider some more accessibility settings in later versions of Crash Bandicoot 4 so it can be a game that not only appeals to fans but is welcoming to everyone.

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Felicia Miranda is IGN’s SEO editor. Talk games with her at @FeliciaVagabond.

Spoilers ahead for Vikings Season 6.

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History Channel’s Vikings ended the first half its sixth and final season on a cliffhanger in February with “The Best Laid Plans.” That episode ended with two leading characters — Bjorn Ironside and King Harald — seemingly left to die on a beach after a feverish battle against the forces of Ivar the Boneless. Did Bjorn survive? Is Harald dead or alive? We asked writer-showrunner Michael Hirst in a phone interview ahead of Vikings’ Comic-Con@Home panel, which is part of Friday’s Comic-Con 2020 panel schedule.

While Hirst would not give a straightforward answer about whether Bjorn lives or dies, he also promised not to mislead viewers or rely on storytelling gimmicks that would cheat the audience or his characters. “I think you can safely say that Bjorn is very seriously injured,” Hirst said of Alexander Ludwig’s resilient protagonist.

Likewise, Hirst said, King Harald is also “very seriously injured. That’s one of the downsides to being in a battle, I think. This can happen too, but all will be revealed.”

Hirst promised that the final episodes of the series and the ultimate fate of these characters are “hugely emotional in every way. And if you have tears to shed then be prepared to shed them.”

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And while Vikings’ longtime lead Ragnar Lothbrok is indeed dead, he did famously fake his own death during the siege of Paris. That ruse, however, was part of the historical record and legend of Ragnar, as Hirst points out, so it wasn’t Hirst, as the show’s sole writer, pulling a fast one on the audience. Hirst insists that death is real and final on his show.

“To make a general point, and this is now widely known, is that I don’t like fantasy. So, I don’t go in for people dying and then suddenly being [resurrected] because they still have market value. I think when people die in Vikings, they die,” Hirst said. “And they’re mortal and that’s one of the reasons we care about them, of course. Because we don’t feel that I’m manipulating life and death in that way.”

From its opening title credits sequence on, there has always been a sense of doom and gloom hanging over the series, a sense of “finality” that Hirst said is very much what Vikings is about. After all, for a people who conquered so many across many lands, the Vikings are ultimately the ones whose way of life will come to an end, whose religion will die off, and whose culture will become assimilated into others.

As early champions of the “live fast, die young, and leave a good-looking corpse” ethos, the Vikings knew they wouldn’t make it to old age — the average Viking male, Hirst said, died by age 29, while women died even younger due to the dangers of childbirth — and they embraced that. For Viking men, dying in battle was the perfect and really only way to go so that they could reach Valhalla. But even the promise of Valhalla is fleeting.

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Hirst summed up the saga of the Vikings as such:

“It is the story of a race that in a sense knows that it’s been obliterated because it all has the basic nature of the twilight of the gods. But even though they go to Valhalla, Valhalla is eventually overrun by the forces of darkness and evil, and all the dead will perish once again in the final fight and all the gods will die in Ragnarok. And so they have always, in the back of their minds, what we would think of as a hugely pessimistic outlook.”

And with that rosy picture in mind, fans can look forward to the last 10 episodes of Vikings’ final season later this year on History Channel, most likely in December if the show’s past midseason returns are any indication.

Red Dead Online is set to receive a “massive” update next week that adds a new Frontier Pursuit as well as “tons” of community-requested features.

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The update will land on Tuesday, July 28. The Frontier Pursuit has yet to be detailed, but Rockstar promises that it’s an all-new role focused on naturalism. In addition, the update adds a new Outlaw Pass, a variety of community requested features and fixes, as well as a vague promise of more to discover in the months to come.

The update comes in the wake of in-game protests by players upset by the lack of updates for Red Dead Online. Earlier this week players gathered en-mass dressed as clowns to signal their disappointment in the amount of content support for the game offered by Rockstar.

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As well as Red Dead Online, Rockstar is promising a summer update for GTA Online, too, as well as the game’s largest ever update coming later in the year that will take Heists to a new location.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. 

Cardy, Joe and Matt are talking all about the shiny new Xbox games including Halo Infinite, the return of Fable, and a lot of Gunk. There’s a devilishly hard quiz this week, some impromptu haikus and of course, lots of bizarre food chat.

Remember, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, please do: [email protected].

IGN UK Podcast #549: Xbox Games Showcase Impressions

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• IGN UK Podcast #548: Post-Mort of Tsushima
• IGN UK Podcast #547: The Last of Us Part 2 Spoilercast Part 2
• IGN UK Podcast #546: Iron Man and His Bouncy Balls
• IGN UK Podcast #545: Cyberpunk! Avengers! Ice Creams!
• IGN UK Podcast: The Last of Us Part 2 Spoiler Special

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Jurassic World: Dominion director Colin Trevorrow has claimed that the final installment in the reboot trilogy will feature more animatronic dinosaurs and practical effects than the previous two films.

Speaking on Collider’s Comic-Con@Home ‘Directors on Directing’ panel, Trevorrow revealed that he had made a conscious effort to continue to build upon the practical effects of the franchise by adopting the latest technologies to bring the animatronics to life.

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“We’ve actually gone more practical with every Jurassic movie we’ve made since the first one, and we’ve made more animatronics in this one than we have in the previous two,” he said. “And the thing that I’ve found, especially in working in the past couple months, is that we finally reached a point where it’s possible to… digital extensions on animatronics will be able to match the texture and the level of fidelity that, on film, an animatronic is going to be able to bring. And you didn’t use to be able to really mix them. You could really see the seams. And so that part of it is very exciting for me.”

Trevorrow also revealed that he was taking things back to basics with “really simple puppetry” while at the same time borrowing ideas from J.A. Bayona’s work on Fallen Kingdom in order to make the animatronics appear more realistic in their surrounding environments.

“[Jurassic World: Fallen Kingdom director] J.A. Bayona really, he found the value in creating really photo-real, just beautiful lighting references that could be articulated just slightly,” he explained. “Just a head and a jaw that could move, but painted beautifully, hand-painted. And we do it for all of the dinosaurs now, so when we put it into a space, you can see how the light reacts to the skin. And even if they ultimately do make that a digital animal, there was always something there reacting to the light in that environment… just puppetry in general, just really simple puppetry is proving to be amazing.”

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Trevorrow previously shared a photo of one of the pint-sized prehistoric stars set to appear in the Jurassic World trilogy-capper. He credited John Nolan Studios for the animatronic dinosaur, which bears a striking resemblance to the baby Nasutoceratops that stomped onto the scene in 2019’s Battle at Big Rock, a short film created to help bridge the story between Fallen Kingdom and its upcoming sequel.

Jurassic World: Dominion is currently scheduled to be released on June 11, 2021, though that date could yet change, as production has only recently started back up after an almost four-month shutdown due to the coronavirus pandemic (COVID-19).

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Adele Ankers is a Freelance Entertainment Journalist. You can reach her on Twitter.