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Oct 9Fri
  2. Kotaku60

    Phantom Blade Zero hands-on: fast combat built on 15 years of series history and Tencent funding

    After roughly four hours of hands-on time, Kotaku's Lex Luddy argues Phantom Blade Zero plays closer to a hybrid of Sekiro and Devil May Cry than to Soulslike peers such as Black Myth: Wukong. Attacking and successful blocking do not drain stamina, only dodging and reacting to certain color-coded attacks do, and light attacks do not take animation priority over other inputs. The game offers 30 primary and 25 secondary weapons, with two primaries equipped at once and a left-trigger combo swap, while the author traces S-Game's Rainblood series back over 15 years and a 2021 open letter citing hundreds of millions of dollars in Tencent funding for two large-scale action RPGs.

  3. Push Square42

    ANOMALITH's New PS5 Demo Is a Scrappy Throwback to Classic Resident Evil

    FuRyu's third-person shooter ANOMALITH now has a PS5 demo available on the PS Store, sized at a little under 15GB, ahead of the full game's release on 29th October. Players control Reona Minazuki, who can parry enemy attacks, use a claw attack, and exchange HP for MP by inflicting pain on herself. The demo channels classic Resident Evil but falls well short of Capcom quality, feeling more like a low-budget survival horror shooter.

  5. Pure Xbox40

    Here's What the Mafia 3 Upgrade Looks Like on Xbox Series X|S

    A free upgrade for Mafia 3: Definitive Edition is out now on Xbox Series X and Xbox Series S for digital owners of the Xbox One version, listed as a separate game on the Microsoft Store and discounted to £4.99 / $5.99. Visuals show no major improvements over the old Xbox One release, but the frame rate now targets 60FPS and appears mostly locked at 60FPS on both consoles, with Series S running at a slightly lower resolution.

  6. Eurogamer62

    EA Sports FC 27 review: slower on-pitch play and the new Grounds social hub

    Eurogamer's review finds EA Sports FC 27 makes meaningful changes on the pitch, with slower, weightier matches, more manual defending, and AI teammates holding greater distance. The new Grounds is an online social hub with three open areas and Rush modes, which the review treats as a sideshow. Ultimate Team is largely unchanged apart from the Gallery and faster squad-building challenges, while Career mode adds Dynamic OVR and a reworked transfer negotiation menu with a tension meter.

  7. Kotaku12

    I'm Enjoying My Villain Era In Warhammer 40K: Rogue Trader

    After being hooked by the Warhammer 40,000 short in Amazon's Secret Level and the Horus Heresy novels, the author picked up Owlcat Games' Rogue Trader and chose the Commissar class, which lets you shoot allies in the back to make them stronger. The top-down CRPG lets the author play as a "not quite a villain" in the grim dark future, with choices like believing in the Emperor's power echoing the source material.

  8. Rock Paper Shotgun36

    Timeloop metroidvania Echo Weaver locks almost nothing off and dares you to break it

    Moonlight Kids' timeloop metroidvania Echo Weaver gives players almost everything needed to finish it from the very first moment, with knowledge as the only real gain. Its glaive can be thrown, recalled, and teleported to, letting players skip platforming and puzzles and even reach endgame areas early. After four hours, Rock Paper Shotgun calls it a vivid, freeform Metroidy puzzler with minimal combat and a few rough edges.

  9. PC Gamer21

    Peter Molyneux explains the origin story of Black & White's famous creatures: 'It was originally a monster. It wasn't a cute creature'

    Peter Molyneux revealed in an interview that Black & White's iconic giant animal creatures were originally designed as monsters, not cute creatures. His final god game, Masters of Albion, just received a major update that added mysterious colossal structures, though the game currently lacks Black & White-style titanic creatures.

  10. IGN60

    Silver Pines preview: a survival horror metroidvania squeezed into 2.5D

    After about five hours with Silver Pines, IGN's Tristan Ogilvie says Wych Elm Games has folded Silent Hill and Resident Evil style survival horror into a 2.5D metroidvania. Tools such as a box cutter, sledgehammer, sewer key, and pistol open new routes as players solve puzzles, fight enemies, and search for missing singer Eddie Velvet. The author notes it is the debut release from a core team of five and is out now on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, PC, Nintendo Switch, and Nintendo Switch 2.

  11. 机核55

    Hands-on with Muramasa: The Strange Tale: HD visuals and custom ougi

    The author played Muramasa: The Strange Tale on PC and found it keeps the original combat and art while adding HD visuals with more detail than the Wii and PSV versions. The demo used the Shura difficulty with Momohime and reached the second main-story boss, focusing on the new custom ougi system. Ougi are unlocked by raising weapon proficiency and can be freely equipped to ground and air slots, allowing up to nine ougi at once including those tied to the three weapons.

  12. 游戏LOOK22

    Wuthering Waves Version 3.7 "Mirror-Locked Illusions, Heart Illuminates the Mortal World" Launches, Closing the Xuanfang Realm Chapter

    Wuthering Waves version 3.7, "Mirror-Locked Illusions, Heart Illuminates the Mortal World," has launched, bringing the Xuanfang Realm chapter to its conclusion. The new map Mengshu Tianluo centers on Mengxuan Creek Mountain, while the Chaoyue Festival presents Xinyuehu and the Moon-Chasing Festival as part of its Eastern cultural narrative. An animated PV titled "Seeking the Heart" was also released, alongside a "Chaoyue Festival Special Performance" co-hosted with Shanghai Yu Garden.

  14. Push Square42

    Like Scrappy Old Resident Evil Games? Try ANOMALITH's PS5 Demo

    FuRyu's third-person shooter ANOMALITH now has a PS5 demo on the PS Store, sized a little under 15GB, ahead of the full game's release on 29th October. Players control Reona Minazuki, who can parry enemy attacks, use a claw attack, and exchange HP for MP by inflicting pain on herself. The author says it channels classic Resident Evil but is nowhere near Capcom quality, likening it to a low-budget survival horror shooter.

  15. 机核40

    "Many Melodies I Wrote 18 Years Ago": An Interview with Blade of the Shadow Music Director Bo Caisheng

    Blade of the Shadow music director Bo Caisheng said in a Gcores interview that the melody for heroine Xiaokui was written 18 years ago when he was in high school for Rain Blood, and that the series' melodic lineage continues in this game. He described his role this time as more like a "music director," using level footage to feel the player's flow before doing sound design, and blending rock, electronic, metal and Chinese folk instruments. The game launches on October 29, 2026.

  16. IGN62

    IGN Preview: Phantom Blade Zero Might Be This Year's Most Stylish Action Game

    After six hours of hands-on play, IGN says S-GAME's Phantom Blade Zero has the smoothest and most satisfying action since Sekiro, with tight parries, distinct weapons, and plenty of optional bosses, side quests, and hidden areas. The preview also notes infrequent but fairly severe framerate drops on a capable PC, and that the game launches only on PS5 at the end of this month. The story was only seen through first-act setup, so its payoff remains unclear.

  19. Push Square62

    Preview: Phantom Blade Zero Is the Next Truly Essential PS5 Game

    Push Square played six hours of Phantom Blade Zero in Beijing and found its combat system and boss fights to be the standout. Basic attacks do not consume the Sha-Chi stamina gauge, while blocking, dodging, and Sha-Chi strikes do, and performing them charges an Essence attack. There is no death penalty, enemies do not respawn, and difficulty can be switched from the pause menu, so the author argues it is not a Soulslike. The story follows protagonist Soul, who receives a new heart that leaves him 66 days to live, and the game launches in a few weeks.

  20. GameSpot42

    The Best Detail Of Phantom Blade 0 Was Never Explained

    After six hours of hands-on time with Phantom Blade 0 in LA, the boss design, soundtrack, and wide linear environments stood out, with the motion-captured martial arts combat as the highlight. A unique and unexpected detail during combat was later confirmed in a talk with director and CEO Soulframe Liang, shedding light on what S-Game is trying to accomplish.

  21. 触乐62

    Blade of the Phantom preview: a fairly complete journey of exploration and combat

    Chuapp attended a closed-door offline playtest of Blade of the Phantom at the invitation of Lingyoufang, and the build on offer was said to differ little from the upcoming release. The roughly five-hour session covered the first chapter's large map, hidden areas and hidden bosses, a small part of chapter two and two late-game bosses. The author found the level design carried hidden Metroidvania elements, with the first chapter's map split into three vertical layers plus a hidden layer, and the shadow armaments serving as both sub-weapons and exploration tools.

  24. Game Informer52

    Phantom Blade Zero Hands-On Preview: Level Exploration and the Lion Dance Boss

    The author played Phantom Blade Zero at Gamescom, covering the opening tutorial, Soul's clash with his brother Zuoshang, and the carriage ambush that ends in a valley crash. He found the level design circuitous and interesting, called Soul the fastest ladder climber he has controlled, and said the game feels more forgiving than Souls-likes. The session skipped to the Lion Dance boss, whose second stage raises pillars and lets players grab a lion mask to fight back after clearing minions.

  25. PC Gamer62

    Muramasa: Revenant Blades preview: 108 swords and a reworked PC skill system

    Muramasa: Revenant Blades is Vanillaware's first PC release, 17 years after Muramasa: The Demon Blade launched on the Nintendo Wii. In a hands-on preview, the writer describes a new skill system for all 108 blades, with three ground and three air abilities equippable across three swappable swords. Enemies now have fixed levels instead of scaling with the player, and blocking wears down a sword until it snaps, pushing players toward combos and blade swapping.

  27. Rock Paper Shotgun42

    Prospice: Anomalous Logistics is SnowRunner, except you haul the body parts of eldritch gods

    Prospice: Anomalous Logistics is an off-road driving game from Forklift Interactive and Code Wakers that plays like SnowRunner but is set in an eldritch horror world. As a Pathfinder for the Fenrir Directive on Nastrondey Island, you ferry staff, equipment and "findings" between bases. The demo adds unreliable map signals, Navspire landmarks and on-foot exploration that degrades your vision the further you stray from your truck.

  28. Rock Paper Shotgun40

    Volatiles turns Betrayal at House on the Hill-style tile-by-tile map building into a gory survival shooter

    Volatiles is an action game from 11 Bit Studios and Team Instant Defeat in which you wake in a strange facility and are dunked into a sensory deprivation tank to fight monsters in your mind. Each roguelike run starts with a single tile; defeating a wave lets you level up, place another tile, expand the map, bolster your skills and summon a new wave of enemies. Game director Ian Dovhan says the map-building idea came from Dorfromantik, not Blue Prince.

  33. Game Informer42

    Echo Weaver Review - Discovery Joy And Challenging Platforming

    Game Informer reviews Echo Weaver, a Metroid-inspired game from developer Moonlight Kids that traps players in a time loop where abilities are remembered rather than unlocked. The sense of discovery is strong, but the jumping feels weak and thorn-and-pit platforming gauntlets can feel unfair when time runs out. The reviewer also hit a handful of bugs, mainly areas not loading properly after fast-traveling.

Oct 8Thu
  5. IGN22

    From Ultima Online to World of Warcraft: How MMORPGs Built (and Lost) the Live-Service Throne

    IGN traces how MMORPGs pioneered live-service gaming before losing that crown to modern live-service titles. Roblox's 123 million daily players now dwarf the combined historical peaks of World of Warcraft, RuneScape, EverQuest and their peers, while Aion 2 launched this week and landed on Steam's Most Played list, with Guild Wars 3 on the horizon. The piece includes interviews with Ultima Online creator Starr Long and EverQuest co-creator Bill Trost.

  6. IGN34

    From Minecraft Survival Games to Fortnite: How Live-Service Turned Games Into a Battle Royale for the Top Spot

    IGN traces the history of live-service games, noting the battle royale market was valued at $11.2 billion last year and is expected to reach nearly $30 billion by 2035. Norwegian YouTuber Dennis Vaeride is credited with launching the first Minecraft Survival Games server in April 2012, while Brendan Greene's shrinking-circle concept led to PUBG's Steam Early Access launch in March 2017 and Fortnite's free-to-play battle royale mode later that year. Ex-BioWare producer Mark Darrah says you have to believe you can dethrone one of the top two players in the genre, or you shouldn't be doing it.

  7. IGN36

    Live-Service Games Keep Getting Cancelled — Is This the Beginning of the End?

    15 of the 19 major live-service games launched in 2025 had lost over 80% of their initial playerbase by the end of January this year. PlayStation has halted or cancelled over a dozen live-service games in the last decade, and Naughty Dog cancelled The Last of Us Online. Veteran developers say enough cancellations and shutdowns have created a trust issue among players.