Aquaman: King of Atlantis, the upcoming three-part animated mini-series event from Aquaman director James Wan, received not only a new trailer, but also a premiere date of October 14 on HBO Max.
This new original story, which will have new episodes weekly, focuses on the early days of Aquaman’s tenure as the King of Atlantis.
“The three-part event begins on Aquaman’s first day on the job as King of Atlantis and he’s got a LOT of catching up to do,” the official description reads. “Luckily, he has his two royal advisors to back him up – Vulko, the scholar, and Mera, the water controlling warrior-princess.
“Between dealing with unscrupulous surface dwellers, elder evils from beyond time and his own half-brother who wants to overthrow him, Aquaman is going to have to rise to the challenge and prove to his subjects, and to himself, that he’s the right man for the throne!”
Aquaman: King of Atlantis’ voice cast includes The Walking Dead’s Cooper Andrews as Aquaman, Community’s Gillian Jacobs as Mera, Reno 911’s Thomas Lennon as Vulko, and Jellystone!’s Dana Snyder as Ocean Master.
ThunderCats Roar!’s Victor Courtright and Batman vs. Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles’ Marly Halpern-Graser are serving as both showrunners and co-executive producers. Other executive producers include Aquaman director James Wan, Michael Clear, Rob Hackett, and Sam Register.
Tokyo Game Show 2021, much like E3 and Gamescom before it, is an all-digital event that will look to celebrate video games with such companies as Xbox, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Capcom, Konami, miHoYo, Bandai Namco, and much more.
This Tokyo Game Show 2021 watch guide will provide you with everything you need to know to watch the show, including when it starts, a list of places you can watch it, and what you can expect to see at the show.
When is the Tokyo Game Show 2021?
The upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2021 takes place Wednesday, September 29 through Sunday, October 3, and the show will have panels running throughout each of its five days.
Tokyo Game Show 2021 Schedule
Wednesday, September 29
TGS2021 Online Opening – Wednesday, September 29 at 6pm – 6:50pm PT
Keynote: We’ll Always Have Games – Wednesday, September 29 at 7pm – 7:50pm PT
GameraGame Now Tokyo Game Show 2021 Special – Wednesday, September 29 at 8pm – 8:50pm PT
[TGS2021 SNK] KOF XV Special Program (English) – Wednesday, September 29 at 9pm – 9:50pm PT
Thursday, September 30
SK Telecom Game Show! – Thursday, September 30 at 12am – 12:50am PT
Its Mealtime! Presentation – Thursday, September 30 at 1am – 1:50am PT
Tokyo Game Show 2021 Xbox Live Stream – Thursday, September 30 at 2am – 2:50am PT
[Konami] New Information to Reveal for Yu-Gi-Oh! MASTER DUEL Along With Updates Across Key Titles! – Thursday, September 30 at 3am – 3:50am PT
Spike Chunsoft TGS2021 SPECIAL – Thursday, September 30 at 4am – 4:50am PT
D3PUBLISHER TGS2021 Live Broadcast – Thursday, September 30 at 5am – 5:50am PT
TGS2021 CAPCOM ONLINE Program – Thursday, September 30 at 6am – 6:50am PT
Yurukill Special! – Thursday, September 30 at 7am – 7:50am PT
Official Program – Coming Soon – Thursday, September 30 at 6pm – 6:50pm PT
SENSE OF WONDER NIGHT 2021 (SOWN2021) – Thursday, September 30 at 7pm – 8:50pm PT
Friday, October 1
NTTe-Sports – Coming Soon – Friday, October 1 at 12am – 12:50am PT
Happinet GAME SHOWCASE in TGS2021 1st STAGE – Friday, October 1 at 1am – 1:50am PT
505 Games – Upcoming Titles Showcase – Friday, October 1 at 2am – 2:50am PT
SQUARE ENIX PRESENTS TGS2021 – Friday, October 1 at 3am – 3:50am PT
BANDAI NAMCO Entertainment – Coming Soon – Friday, October 1 at 4am – 4:50am PT
Level 5 – Coming Soon – Friday, October 1 at 5am – 5:50am PT
Sega / Atlas – Coming Soon – Friday, October 1 at 6am – 7:30am PT
Official Program – Coming Soon – Friday, October 1 at 5pm – 5:50pm PT
Happinet GAME SHOWCASE in TGS2021 2nd STAGE – Friday, October 1 at 6pm – 7:50pm PT
Tencent Games – Coming Soon – Friday, October 1 at 8pm – 9:50pm PT
Japan Game Awards: 2021 – Friday, October 1 at 8:30pm – 10pm PT
Lilith Games Warpath – 武装都市; New Game Release Conference – Friday, October 1 at 10pm – 11:50pm PT
Saturday, October 2
GungHo Online Entertainment – Coming Soon – Saturday, October 2 at 12am – 1:50am PT
Japan Game Awards: 2021 Games of the Year Division – Saturday, October 2 at 2am – 3:50am PT
A 2-Hour Livestream! KOEI TECMO Special Program – Saturday, October 2 at 4am – 5:50am PT
[Konami] “Tokimeki Memorial Girl’s Side 4th Heart” Stage / Gameplay With 2 Special Guests! – Saturday, October 2 at 6am PT – 6:50am PT
DMM Games – Coming Soon – Saturday, October 2 at 7am – 7:50am PT
Official Program – Coming Soon – Saturday, October 2 at 6pm – 6:50pm PT
S-Game – New ARPG Arrives, New Expedition Starts – Saturday, October 2 at 7pm – 7:50pm PT
Japan Electronics College [TGS2021] – Saturday, October 2 at 8pm – 8:50pm PT
Arc System Works – Coming Soon – Saturday, October 2 at 9pm – 9:50pm PT
Japan Game Awards: 2021 – Saturday, October 2 at 9pm – 11pm PT
The Feature Presentation of New AAA Products Currently in Development Under the 110 Industries Umbrella – Saturday, October 2 at 11pm – 11:50pm PT
Sunday, October 3
NCSOFT TGS2021 SPECIAL PROGRAM – Sunday, October 3 at 12am – 12:50am PT
GungHo Online Entertainment – Coming Soon – Sunday, October 3 at 1am – 1:50am PT
Ubisoft – UBIDAY2021 Online x TGS Special Program – Sunday, October 3 at 2am – 2:50am PT
AKRacing Presents [AKTalking] – Sunday, October 3 at 3am – 3:50am PT
Wright Flyer Studios – Coming Soon – Sunday, October 3 at 4am – 4:50am PT
miHoYo – Genshin Impact TGS2021 Program – Sunday, October 3 at 5am – 5:50am PT
Fingger – Coming Soon – Sunday, October 3 at 6am – 6:50am PT
Gran Saga – Coming Soon – Sunday, October 3 at 7am – 7:50am PT
TGS2021 ONLINE ENDING – Sunday, October 3 at 8am – 8:50am PT
While we presented the Tokyo Game Show 2021 schedule in Pacific Time, we also wanted to include the time difference for other time zones to help ensure you won’t miss a thing!
Japan Standard Time (JST): +16 Hours
Eastern Time (ET): +3 Hours
British Summer Time (BST): +8 Hours
Australian Eastern Standard Time (AEST): +17 Hours
Where Can I Watch Tokyo Game Show 2021?
If you’re interested in watching the upcoming Tokyo Game Show 2021, you can check out Tokyo Game Show’s YouTube and Twitch channels, and make sure to check back here as we will be covering all the biggest news, trailers, interviews, and more!
What to Expect at the Tokyo Game Show 2021
Tokyo Game Show will include presentations from some of the biggest publishers in the world, including Xbox, Square Enix, Ubisoft, Capcom, Konami, miHoYo, Bandai Namco, and much more.
Xbox is promising “exclusive news” during its panel, although it is yet unclear what that news may be. Could it be a new look at Halo or Forza Horizon 5? Could it be the rumored partnership between Kojima and Microsoft? Only time will tell.
Square Enix will also be part of the show, but fans of Final Fantasy 16 may want to keep their hopes in check. In July 2021, FF16 producer Naoki Yoshida shared that while the main story scenario is “set in stone” and that the English voiceovers are mostly all recorded, he wasn’t sure if the team would be able to make something in time for the TGS deadline.
Other highlights for the week include a presentation all about Genshin Impact from miHoYo, a panel from Konami about Yu-Gi-Oh! Master Duel and more, new details on Dynasty Warriors 9: Empires from Koei Tecmo, presentations from Capcom and Ubisoft, and more.
Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.
Anyone who’s been playing Destiny 2 for a while has likely managed to build up a sizable arsenal of Exotic weapons to replace the gear that was lost when Dominus Ghaul attacked the Tower, way back during the Red War campaign in the game’s vanilla release. But for veterans of Destiny, no shiny laser rifle or fast-firing scout rifle can replace a certain Gjallarhorn-shaped void in their emotional inventory. It’s one that happens to be shaped like a rocket launcher that’s capable of tearing through entire armies of anything unlucky enough to be in your way.
As part of Bungie’s 30th-anniversary celebration, the developer announced that it’s bringing back the Exotic weapon of mass destruction in a new dungeon inspired by the original Destiny’s infamous loot cave. The dungeon will provide players a new challenge with the ultimate reward being the return of a Destiny 1 favorite.
Here’s why Gjallarhorn’s entry inside of Destiny 2 is such a big deal.
The Original
Gjallarhorn in all its glory
Like most of Destiny‘s cool gear, Gjallarhorn’s story in-game is an epic tale of destruction and honor that the game’s Grimoire system of exposition didn’t do full justice in explaining. In a nutshell, Gjallarhorn was forged by the gunsmith Feizel Crux at the Crux-Lomar weapons foundry. It was a gift to the Guardians who survived the fabled Battle of the Twilight Gap against several united Fallen Eliksni houses. The rocket launcher is a double-metal weapon, due to it being constructed from the salvaged armor of Guardians who died while protecting the Last City from one of the worst attacks it has ever faced.
In Destiny’s first year, Gjallarhorn popped up during the game’s second week as part of Xur’s weekly inventory of Exotic weapons. At this point, the Agent of the Nine was still accepting Strange Coins for payment, but since it was early in the game, few players had stored up enough of the rare currency to buy the gun. Anyone who missed out on obtaining Gjallarhorn would have to hope that luck was on their side and that it would drop as a reward from engrams, Crucible matches, or as a prize from the completion of the Vault of Glass or Crota’s End raid.
Some players were happy to wait for Xur to offer the weapon again–at least, at first. Buying the rocket launcher required almost an entire year of patience, as the arms dealer only offered Gjallarhorn again in the first week of Destiny’s second year, and only sparingly afterward. The Prison of Elders from the House of Wolves DLC was another possible option for earning an Exotic engram possibly containing Gjallarhorn, if the RNG gods were on your side. That rarity led to Gjallarhorn being an incredibly sought-after item, especially once players began learning of just how ludicrously overpowered it was in action.
What Made It So Special
Beauty through destruction.
Gjallarhorn was digital proof that there’s no kill like overkill when it comes to weapons in Destiny. Besides looking like a gloriously ostentatious vessel for delivering high-velocity death from on high, Gjallarhorn’s signature Wolfpack Rounds perk meant that a single rocket could become many tracking cluster missiles upon detonation of the main warhead. One high-damage round became several, erasing anything from existence that was caught in its blast radius.
So powerful was the rocket launcher that it became an essential part of high-level activities and a scourge in the Crucible. Raid groups only allowed cool Guardians equipped with the Exotic entry in their a weekly expeditions into the Vault of Glass to annihilate Atheon across multiple timestreams, packs of roaming Fallen from the House of Wolves were shot down before they even hit the ground, and no matter how fast you ran in the Crucible, there was nowhere to hide from all the seeker missiles locked onto your fancy armor.
Rise Of Iron
Not even space-gods could stand up to Gjallarhorn
As time passed, several patches were released, and Bungie introduced other Exotic rocket launchers such as Truth and Dragon’s Breath, making Gjallarhorn a relic as other powerful weapons were added to Guardian arsenals. With Destiny 2 on the horizon, Bungie gave the game’s signature weapon one final hurrah in 2016’s Rise of Iron expansion. This time dubbed the “Iron Gjallarhorn,” what made this version of the rocket launcher so special was a long quest that players would embark on to assemble their Exotic and cement their reputation as an Iron Lord for a new era.
Iron medallions had to be collected, a whole lot of talking was done between fetch quests, and the end of the mission saw a legend reforged and tested in epic fashion. With multiple Fallen converging on their position, Walker tanks gearing up for an almighty assault, and no reinforcements on the horizon, Guardians were left with nothing more than a shoulder-mounted extinction-level event weapon, a small mountain of ammo, and plenty of moving targets.
Return Of The King
Gjallarhorn, it has been too long.
Enter Destiny 2, a game that hit the reset button on player’s inventories when Dominus Ghaul invaded the Last City. It would take some time for players to rebuild their collections, and in the game’s first year, Gjallarhorn would have a spiritual successor in the form of Wardcliff Coil. While it had no tracking systems with which to pursue enemies, Wardcliff Coil made up for it with a cluster of rockets that could turn the tide of battle–or make someone in the Crucible curse your name.
In the years since then, Destiny 2’s selection of Exotic rocket launchers has grown to include Two-Tailed Fox, Deathbringer, and Eyes of Tomorrow. They’re all fantastic weapons in their own right, but lacking the prestige and history of Destiny’s Gjallarhorn. All of that changes later this year though, as Destiny 2’s general manager Justin Truman explained during Bungie’s recent showcase event for The Witch Queen expansion that the studio’s 30th Anniversary celebration was the right time to bring the iconic weapon into the game.
“One of the questions we asked ourselves, when we started looking at what would a 30th Anniversary Celebration look like, is, ‘What are those moments that we really want to call back to on this journey, the experience we’ve had with our players?'” Truman said to Polygon in an interview. “And two that immediately jumped was that experience of the loot cave at the very beginning of Destiny 1, and the Exotic-defining moment when you understood what Gjallarhorn was.”
Gjallarhorn’s Destiny 2 incarnation has some big boots to fill, as the legacy of this weapon sums up the original Destiny at its finest: a loud, confident, and explosive salvo of fun, all wrapped up in a gloriously ostentatious package of metal and violence.
GameStop has laid out its future ambitions, and it’s not all about selling video games. The retailer said as part of its latest earnings release that it is taking steps to evolve to become a more general technology company. This won’t come as much of a surprise to anyone who has been to a GameStop store or visited the retailer’s website in the past few years, as the physical and virtual shelves are populated by plenty of non-gaming items like Funko Pops, clothing, general merchandise, electronics, and other products not strictly tied to gaming.
Still, GameStop is now putting it in writing that it no longer wants to position itself as a video game company first and foremost.
“GameStop has two long-term goals: delighting customers and delivering value for stockholders. We are evolving from a video game retailer to a technology company that connects customers with games, entertainment and a wide assortment of products,” the retailer said in a filing with the SEC (via Yahoo! Finance). “We are focused on offering vast product selection, competitive pricing and fast shipping–supported by high-touch customer service and a frictionless ecommerce and in-store experience.”
To realize its vision, GameStop is aiming to increase the size of its addressable market by “growing [its] product catalog” in areas like consumer electronics, collectibles, toys, and “other categories” that make sense for the business. GameStop is also looking to expand its fulfillment operations to help speed up delivery. It recently opened a massive facility in Pennsylvania and will open one in Nevada next year to support this plan.
What’s more, GameStop is looking to flesh out its technology capabilities by “investing in new systems, modernized ecommerce assets and an expanded, experienced talent base.” The retailer said it also plans to improve its US-based custom service capabilities.
Recently, GameStop has made headlines for its “meme stock” drama. Earlier this years, members of the WallStreetBets subreddit bought up stock as part of a short squeeze that propelled the stock price to new heights, and the stock continues to trade at around $200 per share, which is up from about $5 per share this time last year. GameStop’s leadership team is now changed significantly, too, with billionaire investor Ryan Cohen assembling a team of former Amazon executives and other key players from the technology world to run GameStop.
For the latest quarter, GameStop lost $63 million, but this was a big improvement over the deeper losses it suffered during the same period last year. And although GameStop is in the red on a profit basis, the company is making more money in revenue than before.
Queenpins is in select Cinemark Theaters nationwide on Sept. 10, then streaming on Paramount+ on Sept. 30.
There’s a couple of givens when it comes to a Kristen Bell comedy: she’s going to be funny, she’ll probably make you like her character, and the project is really going to fly if you don’t hold her back. In the case of Queenpins, she nails the first two, but writer/directors Aron Gaudet and Gita Pullapilly throttle her in what should have been a zanier comedy, and then commit the cardinal sin of sidelining Bell in the third act.
Loosely based on a real 2012 Arizona case where three women were arrested for orchestrating the largest counterfeit coupon scam in U.S. history, Queenpins reframes those details by whittling down the players to two perpetrators: Connie (Bell) and her best friend JoJo (Kirby Howell-Baptiste). A former Olympic race walker, Connie is now stuck in the Phoenix suburbs, burying her miscarriage depression with obsessive couponing while barely existing next to her dour IRS auditor husband (Joel McHale). JoJo understands Connie’s plight, as she too is unhappy, living with her mom because of recent identity theft and trying to leverage YouTube to sell makeup and build a “brand” out of her current situation.
Both penny pinchers, they appreciate the ephemeral endorphin “win” of extreme couponing, but then they ratchet up the stakes. Connie figures out that she can get free vouchers from companies just for complaining. Soon, the pair has a side hustle selling the coupons for a profit via a janky website, eventually figuring out a way to access extra printed vouchers from a Mexican coupon clearing house, and it becomes a mega million-dollar operation.
Previously, Bell and Howell-Baptiste worked together on The Good Place, the Veronica Mars reboot, and at L.A. improv events, and that comes across strongly in their ease with one another, which is what initially pulls us into their orbit. They capably convince us that Connie and JoJo are competent underdogs, who kinda deserve to siphon away millions from the dumb conglomerates that nickel and dime average shoppers. Even JoJo’s former identity theft scammer (well-played by Bebe Rexha) takes pity on them.
A local grocery Loss Prevention Officer, Ken Miller (Paul Walter Hauser), serves as the perfect foil for the two ladies. A stickler for rules and coupon expiration dates, he’s positioned to be the balanced adversary to bring the whole thing down. But as the case escalates, Vince Vaughn is introduced as U.S. Postal Inspector Al Anderson, and that’s when the film really goes off the rails.
Suddenly, Ken becomes Al’s albatross as they investigate the evidence and circle up on the Phoenix-based operation. The women then disappear for large swaths of time while an annoyed Al — a Vaughn character staple — endures chatty plane rides and rental car stake-outs with Ken. All of their scenes drag on and on, and the odd couple comedy overstays its welcome.
They capably convince us that Connie and JoJo are competent underdogs.
All of that contributes to the third act really getting away from Gaudet and Pullapilly, which is extremely disappointing after a very tight and enjoyable first act. The engaging cat-and-mouse dynamic between the central duo and the Feds disappears, and the comedy isn’t allowed to bloom into the kind of excess Bell and Howell-Baptiste would have knocked out of the park. What could have been a sly black comedy about illegally gained empowerment and sticking it to the corporate man just wraps up like a bland sitcom. It’s an amusing ride, but it could have been a lot more.
Not only did a PlayStation showcase happen this week packed with God of War, Marvel and Star Wars games, but the long-awaited trailer for The Matrix Resurrections dropped as well. Cardy, Matt and Joe are here to talk all about them as well as all of the films and games they’ve been enjoying over the past week. There’s a lot, so buckle in for a long one.
Want to submit your own Endless Search, food opinion, or a bit of other nonsense? Feel free to get in touch with the podcast at: [email protected].
Scarlett Johansson’s lawsuit against Disney over Black Widow has been one of the most talked-about events in recent months, and now another MCU actor has weighed in. Doctor Strange actor Benedict Cumberbatch said in a new interview with The Hollywood Reporter that he thinks it’s “sad what’s going on between the lawyers.” He specifically took issue with how the lawsuit has been wrapped up in the context of the pandemic.
“Just the verbiage and the accusations of, ‘Put it in a global pandemic context.’ The whole thing’s just a bit of a mess,” he said.
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Cumberbatch said the shift to simultaneous releases in theaters and on Disney+ With Premier Access is a “new paradigm.” He said it will take time to get to a place where artists can be paid fairly even if a movie’s box office numbers are lower than in pre-pandemic times.
“We’re trying to understand what the revenue streams should be for artists that contribute to the billion-dollar business that is Disney. And it has to be contractualized,” he said. “How does an artist’s normal compensation with box office bonuses, how does it work? It’s a new paradigm, and it’s a very complex one. No one saw this coming, and no one should use hindsight to say, ‘Well, it should have been done.’ [Black Widow] was the first of these films that was going to get a cinematic release during the pandemic and got stalled and stalled and stalled. It’s very new territory.”
Johnasson’s team sued Disney over claims that she is owed more money due to how Black Widow debuted simultaneously in theaters and on Disney+ With Premier Access. Her team reportedly asked Disney for a $100 million payment, which included Johansson’s $20 million fee to be in the movie and $80 million for what her team argued would have been her share of the box office results. However, Disney reportedly never made a counteroffer, instead opting to pay Johansson her $20 million fee and nothing else. Johansson’s team then sued.
In response to the suit, Disney’s legal team said Johansson’s case has “no merit,” going on to say the lawsuit is “especially sad and distressing in its callous disregard for the horrific and prolonged global effects of the COVID-19 pandemic.”
Whether or not Johansson makes any more MCU movies remains to be seen. She will appear in the next Wes Anderson movie, which is assembling a big cast that includes Tom Hanks, Bryan Cranston, Bill Murray, Tilda Swinton, and Margot Robbie.
Crash Bandicoot’s 25th-anniversary celebrations have officially kicked off, with Activision marking the occasion with a special Crashiversary bundle of the latest games and a teaser for the future of the franchise.
“Happy 25th anniversary, Crash, we’ll see more of you very soon,” Lodato said.
Whether those plans involve Crash Bandicoot 5 or more actors popping up in locations while dressed up as the jorts-wearing marsupial remains to be seen. Toys for Bob has transitioned to a support studio role for Call of Duty: Warzone, Activision’s popular battle royale spin-off from the main Call of Duty series. Crash Bandicoot 4: It’s about time was well-received when it landed on PlayStation 4 and Xbox One in 2020, and since then the game has been ported over to Nintendo Switch, PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S.
“Even more so than playing the N.Sane Trilogy, which literally remade the original Crash games from my youth, playing Crash 4 felt like getting back in touch with the series,” Mike Epstein wrote in GameSpot’s Crash 4: It’s About Time review. “It’s an injection of new ideas into now-classic gameplay that surprises and delights, even as it feels like a homecoming. Truly, games like this are why we come running back to long-dormant franchises with open arms.”
Few first-person shooter series have had the longevity of Far Cry, with a legacy going back more than 17 years and eight main titles released during that period–soon to be nine with the launch of Far Cry 6. It has also gone through some drastic changes and experiments over that time, ranging from the mutant enemies driving the plot of the original game to a return to the stone age in Far Cry Primal. Open-world chaos has been at the heart of Far Cry since the beginning, however, whether the game was set in the snowy Himalayas or the plains of Montana. We ranked the best Far Cry games from worst to best so you know which ones are must-plays and which ones are you-should-probably-still-plays.
8. Far Cry 5
Far Cry 5
One of the only real swing-and-misses in the Far Cry series–the dumpster fire crossover Trials of the Blood Dragon is the other–Far Cry 5 promises a memorable confrontation with a cult that has apparently strong-armed or seduced the population of rural Montana into joining. Head and self-professed prophet Joseph Seed just isn’t all that charismatic or compelling, nor are his siblings, and most of the game consists of doing quests to tick one of them off enough to confront you directly. There are still the typical Far Cry elements like dangerous animals and goofy side characters–and an excellent level-creation tool–but Far Cry 5 wrote a check it couldn’t cash, especially in its ridiculous (in a bad way) final hours.
Speaking of unique entries in the Far Cry series, the spin-off game Far Cry Primal certainly fits the bill–well, except for using the same basic layout as Far Cry 4 for its map. The game takes place in the Stone Age, replacing guns and explosives with spears, bows, and primitive handheld weapons. Despite this, it’s still very much a Far Cry game, with the wilderness and human enemies both posing real threats to your survival, and a mix of assault and stealth are often necessary to make it out alive. Heavily inspired by the drug-induced Shangri-La missions in Far Cry 4, we haven’t seen anything like Far Cry Primal from the series since, but it proves that history may be the best source for new games’ settings.
The only game in the mainline series not developed by Ubisoft, the original Far Cry is, well, a far cry from the later installments. It still retains the fish-out-of-water approach we see in so many of the later games, with Jack Carver finding himself stranded on an island and battling in a seemingly unwinnable war against mercenaries, but it also goes in a more science-fiction direction. The mutant-enemy elements present in the game was abandoned for follow-ups, though that does also make it unique enough to warrant a return trip more than 15 years after it first released.
A sequel to Far Cry 5–and one that feels significantly more cohesive–Far Cry: New Dawn sees the plains of Montana largely reclaimed by nature (and bandits) following a nuclear apocalypse. The game has quite a bit more flair and style than its predecessor, and while its antagonists aren’t as memorable as some of the other games, it has a knack for delivering short, fun side activities and never outstaying its welcome. The game takes place on the same basic map from Far Cry 5, but the aesthetic changes and additional locales you’ll visit during certain missions keep the game from feeling like a retread. A few clever tie-ins to the previous game also make it an essential follow-up, and one that makes Far Cry 5’s confusing ending more palatable.
A bit wackier than the typical Far Cry game–and that’s saying something, given the direction of the last few–Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon is a parody and love letter to neon-soaked action movies of the 1980s. The bite-sized game doesn’t have the same scale as Far Cry 3 or most of the other entries, but playing as the ridiculously named Rex Colt and blasting everything in your path more than makes up for that. Even better? It stars Michael Biehn, who played Kyle Reese in the original two Terminator movies as well as Cpl. Hicks in Aliens. But to video game aficionados, he’s probably best known for being the very strong inspiration for the original Metal Gear’s American box art. Anyway, play Far Cry 3: Blood Dragon and skip its terrible pseudo-sequel, the crossover Trials of the Blood Dragon.
How do you follow up one of the most acclaimed first-person shooters of a generation? Well, largely by not messing with the formula. Far Cry 4 takes the action from a warm tropical island to a fictional war-torn Himalayan country, and ruler Pagan Min isn’t too happy that you’re there. The game maintains the structure of Far Cry 3–climbing towers to expand the map, clearing outposts, and hunting and gathering for upgrades–but it does manage to maintain its story’s momentum better than Far Cry 3 did. Still, Pagan Min isn’t as memorable as Vaas, nor did the game provide the same sense of surprise and discovery that Far Cry 3 did, though its unique competitive multiplayer mode and Shangri-La sequences did offer a nice bit of variety.
The most underappreciated entry in the series was the first mainline Far Cry developed by Ubisoft itself, as Crytek had been in charge of the original game. Far Cry 2 takes place in war-torn Africa rather than a bright and colorful tropical island, and you have malaria. If that doesn’t sound difficult enough to deal with, you’ll also have to worry about your weapons occasionally jamming, fires spreading and trapping you in a battle, and destructible environments rendering your cover useless. It’s an incredibly ambitious game, which is not a big surprise when considering that director Clint Hocking also led development on Splinter Cell: Chaos Theory and the play-as-anyone sandbox Watch Dogs: Legion. It may have lacked a signature villain or the humor of later games, but it’s an impressive achievement nonetheless.
The most iconic game in the entire series and one that set the template for future installments, Far Cry 3 has it all. The tropical island setting is a joy to explore, with wildlife to hunt–and be hunted by–outposts to liberate, vehicles to joyride, and radio towers to climb. The weapons feel excellent, ranging from simple bows and arrows to assault rifles and explosives, as well as a knife that you can use for some creative kills. Even swimming, which is notoriously difficult to nail in a video game, doesn’t get in the way, but the real star of the show is villain Vaas. An erratic and terrifying criminal henchman portrayed by actor Michael Mando, his “definition of insanity” monologue is oft-repeated. Future games included their own big, charismatic villains to hit the same notes, but none of them did it as well as Far Cry 3.
PlatinumGames has updated fans on Bayonetta 3 , saying that development is continuing as expected, but that the release of further details surrounding the game is essentially out of the studio’s control.
In an interview with VGC, Bayonetta creator Hideki Kamiya said that the studio is “proud” of the work that it has put into Bayonetta 3. However, despite previously saying that fans might see more from the game this year, Kamiya remained cautious about announcing when fans might expect a reveal for the game, stressing that the decision to show it off was ultimately up to Nintendo.
“If you remember last time, I said that even though everyone was asking about Bayonetta 3, maybe you should tell everyone to forget about it for a while,” said Kamiya when asked whether fans would likely see anything from the game in time for Christmas. “I kind of need to keep to that stance for now because ultimately, it’s not our decision what to say and when to say it.”
Bayonetta 3 was originally announced at The Game Awards 2017, where a short teaser trailer was shown for the title. However, since then, nothing been shown off from the series’ third installment. Elsewhere in the interview, Kamiya spoke further about how the studio is keen to show fans more from Bayonetta 3.
“As much as everyone is clamoring to see it, we are really, really waiting to release it too,” said Kamiya. “Everyone who is working on the project is of course very proud of what we’re doing and wants everyone to see what we’re doing. As much as fans are waiting for it, we are waiting for the day when we can show it. We want everyone to cheer us on as we run to the final stretch. We want to show it too!”
Considering the general silence surrounding the game, it wouldn’t be too unrealistic for fans to wonder whether this was due to issues in its development. However, PlatinumGames’ studio head Atsushi Inaba was reported to have reassured fans when speaking to VGC. “There’s no need to worry,” he said. “Don’t worry about it at this time. Everything’s OK.”
Back in June, Nintendo said that Bayonetta 3 was “progressing well” despite its absence from E3 2021. Nintendo’s Bill Trinen said, “We like to show things when we’re ready to show them. And certainly, we like to show things when the developers are ready to show them. We didn’t have it here at E3, but stay tuned.”
For more on Bayonetta 3, make sure to check out our dedicated IGN page for the game where you can read up a range of the latest news about the upcoming Nintendo title.
Jared Moore is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.
