Category: Gaming

Nintendo has shared with its fans another edition of its Indie World Showcase and has once again provided a glimpse into the future of indie games on the Switch. In this roughly 20-minute show, Nintendo shared updates on previously announced games and revealed plenty of new ones to keep an eye on.

From a “crustacean-themed Soulslike” in Another Crab’s Treasure to a rhythm-based dungeon crawler in Soundfall to the adorable world of Ooblets, there was a wide range of genres on display in the 15 games that were featured in this latest Indie World Showcase. To ensure you don’t miss a thing, we’ve gathered all the announcements and trailers below so you can hopefully find your next favorite indie game.

Ooblets and Its Adorable World Arrive on Switch This Summer

Ooblets released in Early Access on Xbox and PC in July 2020, and Switch owners will soon get to visit its adorable world when it is released on the platform in Summer 2022. Alongside growing and training creatures called Ooblets, players will also have to help Badgetown grow and prosper. Much like Animal Crossing, Ooblets gives players the freedom of customization, crafting, making friends with your neighbors, and much more. Oh, and you can participate in “epic dance battles” and who doesn’t want that?

Save Your Planet in the ‘Interplanetary Action-RPG’ Batora: Lost Haven

Batora: Lost Haven is an “interplanetary action-RPG” that aims to mix the best parts of a hack-and-slash game with that of a twin-stick shooter. As the 16-year-old girl Avril, players will need to use her powers to save her home planet after a catastrophic event changed everything.

This story-driven adventure will be released on Switch in Fall 2022.

ElecHead Is a Game All About Bringing Back ‘Light to the World’

Nama Takahashi prototyped ElecHead as part of a school contest, and Switch owners will soon get a chance to try it out for themselves when it launches in Summer 2022. As a small robot named Elec, players will need to “bring back light to the world” by using electricity that activates objects when Elec comes in contact with them. He can also throw his head to help solve these challenges, but a 10-second shutdown timer will ensure his mind and heart aren’t apart for too long.

Soundfall Is a Dungeon Crawler With Rhythm-Based Musical Gameplay

If you’ve ever wished your dungeon crawlers had a bit more music in them, Soundfall is worth a look. This rhythm-based looter-shooter dungeon crawler from Drastic Games and Noodlecake puts players in the shoes of a Guardian of Harmony that must take down the forces of Discord. If you can stay on beat, you will become even more powerful, and more than 140 songs and up to four-player local and online multiplayer will keep things fresh for many playthroughs. The best part? It’s available later today.

Save the World from an Eternal Frost in the Tactical Roguelike Deckbuilder Wildfrost

Wildfrost is the latest entry into the deckbuilding genre, and it adds tactical and roguelike elements alongside asking players to stop an eternal frost. In addition to the standard card-based gameplay, players will be able to customize and upgrade companion cards, build up a hub town, and much more.

Wildfrost will make its way to Switch this holiday season.

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator Lets You Create the Most Hilarious Battles of Your Dreams

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator took the PC world by storm in 2019 when it let players predict Game of Thrones battles and whether Steam was better than the Epic Games Store. The amount of customization is one of TABS’ strongest aspects, and it lets you create the war scenario of your dreams and watch it play out in a hilarious fashion.

Totally Accurate Battle Simulator will fight its way to Switch this summer.

Gunbrella Is a ‘Noir-Punk’ Side-Scroller That Features a Deadly Weapon Usually Reserved for the Rain

Gunbrella puts everyone’s favorite rain-deflecting tool in the driver’s seat as it will help players make their way through a “noir-punk” world that very well may lose all its natural resources if nothing is done about it. Players will be able to upgrade the titular Gunbrella and interact with a diverse cast of characters.

Gunbrella is set to be released on Nintendo Switch in 2023.

We Are OFK Tells the Story of an Up-and-Coming Band in Los Angeles

We Are OFK is a “making-of-the-band journey” that will take players through the ups and downs of trying to make a dream come true in Los Angeles. This playable animated series starring Itsumi Saito and a fully-voiced cast will launch this summer and new episodes will be released weekly.

Dive Deep into a ‘Harrowing Ocean Abyss’ to Solve Puzzles in SILT

Spiral Circus and Fireshine Games will be sending players to a “harrowing ocean abyss” to solve mind-bending puzzles in SILT, which will be released on Switch in June 2022. While exploring this underwater world, players will be able to possess sea creatures to solve puzzles and interact and learn the many secrets that the ocean has to offer.

Mini Motorways Lets You Solve The World’s Traffic Problems

Dinosaur Polo Club wants to empower its players to fix the world’s traffic problems in Mini Motorways. The main mission of this game first released on Apple Arcade in 2019 is to design the roadways of a city to serve its citizens’ best interests. While things may start simple, highways and roundabouts and upgrades will keep players on their toes and will task them with keeping up with an ever-changing demand.

Mini Motorways will become available on Switch later today.

Become Journalist Casey Beaumaris and Journey to a ‘Curious Flying Hospital’ in Wayward Strand

Wayward Strand will let players become teenage journalist Casey Beaumaris and journey to a “curious flying hospital” that is filled with patients and their touching stories. Alongside learning more about those who are currently staying at the hospital, Beaumaris will also need to figure out more about the place she has suddenly found herself in.

Set in 1970s rural Australia, Wayward Strand features over a dozen characters to follow and you get to choose which stories you want to see unfold during a particular playthrough. Experience this world for yourself when Wayward Strand is released on Switch on July 21, 2022.

Repay Your Debt and Become a Possessed Lamb in Cult of the Lamb

The action-adventure game Cult of the Lamb and its randomly generated world will be released on Switch later this year and puts players in the hooves of a possessed lamb who was “saved from annihilation by a foreboding stranger.” Throughout the game, players will need to repay their debt by building up a community, conquering dangerous dungeons, building up resources, and much more.

Another Crab’s Treasure Is a Soulslike That Stars a Hermit Crab

Aggro Crab’s “crustacean-themed Soulslike” Another Crab’s Treasure stars a hermit crab that has to utilize over 50 different shells to overcome some of the most dangerous threats under this world’s polluted sea. Crab’s Treasure will make its way to Switch in 2023.

Swing Through the Jungle Learn About the ‘Struggle of Living Creatures’ in Gibbon: Beyond the Trees

As a lost gibbon, players will need to swing their way through a beautiful yet dangerous jungle and learn about the “struggle of living creatures around the world” in Gibbon: Beyond the Trees. The developers at Broken Rules wanted to create an engaging game about real-world environmental issues and Switch owners will be able to try it out for themselves later today.

Nintendo Indie World Showcase Featured a Montage of Additional Upcoming Games

While these games weren’t featured in their own segment, today’s Indie World Showcase featured a montage of some upcoming indie titles, including Card Shark, A Guidebook of Babel, OneShot: World Machine Edition, Cursed to Golf, and Idol Manager.

Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

The Lord of the Rings star Billy Boyd is swapping one fantasy epic for another as he joins Bethesda’s The Elder Scrolls Online (ESO).

Most famous for playing Pippin in Peter Jackson’s Lords of the Rings trilogy, Boyd has more recently featured in the likes of Outlander and is now taking on the role of the elf Brahgas in ESO’s upcoming High Isle expansion.

Brahgas introduces the player to the new Tales of Tribute card game that’s being added to ESO, which lets players take on NPCs and real opponents akin to The Witcher’s Gwent or Final Fantasy’s Triple Triad.

Boyd can be seen recording several voice lines in a new trailer for High Isle (above), with Brahgas introducing himself as “a professional gambler and semi-professional everything else.”

“This character is a gambler, he’s a talker, he likes people,” Boyd said in an interview. “How he attacks this game, this new card game, is how he attacks life: all in. He is just all in on everything.”

He added: “I see life as a team game. I think Brahgas does as well. I think he likes to see other people succeed. He likes to see other people being happy.

“I think a night in the pub with Brahgas, a couple of beers and a little Tales of Tribute would be fantastic. I think we’d have a great time together.”

The ESO High Isle expansion will release on June 6 for PC and June 21 for console, letting players explore a never-before-seen region of Tamriel called the Systres Archipelago.

For more on Boyd, he recently joined the other original hobbits – Elijah Wood, Sean Astin, and Dominic Monaghan – and IGN for their first interview together in ten years.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

UPDATE May 11 1:38 ET: The Nintendo Switch price drop has expired. The original story is below.

Nintendo Switch has seen its first significant price drop ever in the US, months after regions such as the UK and Europe saw a similar reduction in price.

The console can now be purchased for $259.99, a reasonable $40 drop from the previous $299.99 price point it’s held onto for almost five years. It is currently not clear whether this will be a permanent price cut, or simply a limited-time sale for the Switch.

Nintendo Switch Drops to Just $260 For First Time

Back in September 2021, Nintendo Switch consoles sold in Europe got an official price cut not long before the Switch OLED Model was released. There was some speculation about a US cut as well, but Nintendo previously responded to this by saying there are “no plans” for a price drop in the US.

But around nine months later, albeit via a sale, the price reduction has come to fruition with Nintendo Switch consoles currently down to $259.99 at Amazon, GameStop, and Walmart.

Nintendo confirmed this week that it sold 235 million games for Switch in financial year 2021 – the highest number sold in a single year in the company’s history. Console sales also continue to bode well, with the three Switch models selling 23 million units in FY 2021. But, while this is a huge number (by comparison, PS5 sold 11.5 million in the same period), it’s also a 20% drop from FY 2020.

Nintendo Switch now sits at 107.65 million units sold in total, only trailing Game Boy (118.69 million) and Nintendo DS (154.02 million) as Nintendo’s most successful consoles of all time.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Elden Ring‘s mightiest hero, Let Me Solo Her has now defeated Malenia, Blade of Miquella 1,000 times – and shared his glory with fans by livestreaming the milestone on YouTube.

Despite being considered one of Elden Ring’s toughest bosses, with various strategies to defeat Malenia rising and falling, one increasingly guaranteed way to win the fight is by summoning Let Me Solo Her.

The legendary player was first spotted in April for wearing nought but a pot on his head and wielding two katanas. Telling players to stay back, Let Me Solo Her would take on Malenia by himself, and has now beaten the boss roughly 999 more times than most players.

In his two and a half hour long stream, Let Me Solo Her starts at 981 kills before inching his way towards the final goal of 1,000.

Upon reaching it, the message “thank you everyone for all the support. I couldn’t have been here without you,” pops up on screen before he poetically enters New Game Plus and heads back out into The Lands Between. As you’d expect Let Me Solo Her says he’ll be trying to make his way back to an even tougher version of Malenia soon.

Resting at a Site of Grace, Let Me Solo Her adds that even publisher Bandai Namco has acknowledged his feat and sent him a special gift – although he doesn’t know what it is yet.

It’s unclear when the legendary player will continue his war against Malenia – and if he’ll continue helping other players to beat her – but he’s certainly earned a rest, and his character has even been immortalised through a Let Me Solo Her NPC summon mod in the PC version.

Elden Ring was released to incredible commercial and critical success in February and has proved somewhat of a cultural phenomenon with players finding other completely wacky ways to interact with the game. One player got the Fisher Price toy controller working with the game, while another has made a VR version of Elden Ring.

Someone has beaten a boss using the Nintendo Switch Ring Fit controller, while others completed the game without taking damage or dealing damage.

In our 10/10 review, IGN said: “Elden Ring is a massive iteration on what FromSoftware began with the Souls series, bringing its relentlessly challenging combat to an incredible open world that gives us the freedom to choose our own path.”

To make those choices with the best available information, check out our guide that features everything you could ever hope to know about Elden Ring, including collectible locations, boss strategies, and more.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.

PS5 consoles are actually available fairly consistently at the moment in the UK, and now retailers are even able to sell the consoles outside of a queue system, with some bundle deals lasting more than 24 hours. We’ve seen Amazon, GAME, ShopTo, PS Direct, and Argos drop stock within the past week, and I’ve included the retailers that are still in stock down below. If you miss the available stock, make sure to follow @IGNUKDeals on Twitter for further updates.

Xbox Series X is also back in stock at the moment, with the popular new-gen console currently available at Amazon, Currys, GAME, and Microsoft. Amazon is our pick of the bunch here, especially for those with a Prime account to get next-day delivery (and possibly use and vouchers you’ve got saved up). Other deals today include Mario Strikers Battle League Football preorders for £42, TMNT Collection preorders going live in the UK, the WD Black PS5 SSD for £135, and more to check out below.

TL;DR – Our Favourite UK Deals Right Now

TMNT: The Cowabunga Collection Preorders Now Live in the UK

PS5 Available Right Now in the UK

Limited Stock

PlayStation 5 Console Horizon Forbidden West + LEGO Star Wars: Skywalker Saga + DualSense

Ships within 5 days.

See on ShopTo

Limited Stock

PlayStation 5 Console Horizon Forbidden West + LEGO Star Wars: Skywalker Saga + Ghostwire Tokyo

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See on ShopTo

Best PS5 SSD Deals

If you’re getting a PS5, you’ll absolutely want to upgrade the memory capabilties. IGN’s favourite PS5 SSD is currently down to just £134.99 (including heatsink).

WD BLACK SN850 1TB SSD with Heatsink

Perfect for PS5.

See on Amazon

Gotham Knights Preorders Now Live Including Collector’s Edition

Gotham Knights (PS5)

Releases October 25, 2022

See on GAME

Gotham Knights (Xbox)

Releases October 25, 2022

See on GAME

Xbox Series X is Back in Stock at Amazon UK

Xbox Games on Sale Right Now

Mario Strikers Battle League Football Preorder for £42

My Favourite Deals: Even More Amazing Discounts to Check Out

Acer Nitro 49″ Ultrawide Double Full HD Curved Gaming Monitor

See on Amazon

Protect Your Data: 50% Off ExpressVPN Right Now

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Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.

Apex Legends Season 13 Saviors launched May 10th and there’s a lot to go over from Stormpoint map changes, new Legend Newcastle, and new balance updates. There are actually quite a few major weapon changes and smaller Legend adjustments that has the community talking about how this might be the most interesting update to Apex yet. Here’s everything you need to know about the latest Apex Legends Season update.

Map Changes

The map rotations this season will be Olympus, World’s Edge, and Storm Point. Stormpoint has some minor and major changes to its map this time around. There’s a new POI called Downed Beast where the giant sea creature rose up and died while fighting the Legends. Downed Beast is a high tier loot location that connects to three other POIs: North Pad, Checkpoint, and The Mill. You can enter the sea creature’s corpse (ew) to loot around or get cover from enemies and the body provides several points of elevation since you can climb on top of the body but also stay below if you like.

There are also old buried IMC Armories that have been activated and raised above water that players can get to and activate challenges. These armories were originally planted throughout the planet to aid IMC pilots during the war but were inactive until now due to the threat of the sea creature. In order to activate an armory, you walk up to it and cross its ramp to enter the structure. Once you activate the armory, it will draw the ramp inside so no one else can cross while you’re inside, and the armory will drop Spectres for you to fight inside. You have to fight waves of Spectres and once you survive for 60 seconds you’ll receive high tier loot that’s specific to your loadout. The more Spectres you kill the better loot you get. Once you’re done with the armory challenge you can choose to redeploy into the air or leave through the ramp you came in on.

With this latest update, when you rotate and land out of bounds you won’t be able to use your Legend abilities. You also cannot use your weapons, throwables, heals, or mobile respawn beacons or heat shields. Additionally, any Legend passives (for example: Valkyrie’s jet packs) count as Legend abilities so you aren’t able to use those either. So choose wisely when you decide to rotate out of bounds to get over a giant mountain or building since you won’t be able to linger as comfortably anymore.

New Legend: Newcastle

Newcastle is the latest Legend to drop into Apex this season and it was revealed that he’s actually none other than Bangalore’s long lost brother, Jackson. The dynamic between them will be interesting to see as the season plays out. But in terms of playstyle, his kit makes him a mix of a defensive and support Legend.

• Passive – Retrieve The Wounded: Drags teammates with his Revive Shield deployed as he revives them. The Revive Shield is powered by half the level of Knockdown Shield Newcastle has in his inventory.
• Tactical – Mobile Shield: Throws a controllable drone that generates a moving energy shield. This shield can be destroyed but has an upper half and lower half that have to be destroyed separately.
• Ultimate – Castle Wall: Leaps to an ally or targeted area and slams down a deployable shield wall. There is no damage on the ultimate being dropped, but this wall is electrified and will stun and slow enemies who push into it directly.

While Newcastle seems pretty strong, his walls are directional and can be destroyed. Maggie’s tactical ability, her drill, can also attach and go through his walls.

Balance Changes

There are some major changes this season with weapons. In the Crafting Rotation, the Flatline and Longbow are now floor loot and the Rampage and R-301 are now Crafter weapons only. This is going to increase the dropship landing locations in POIs where Crafters are since the R-301 is a staple weapon most players use and they will want to craft it right away. The Spitfire is also back on ground loot and the Mastiff is back in care package rotations with a slight buff in fire rate, tightened blast pattern, and 3 more points of damage per pellet. The Havoc’s recoil has been slightly improved at the start of its wind up and the Dual Shell hop up for the Mastiff has been removed from the loot pool.

The Spitfire’s damage was decreased from 19 to 18, the purple and gold mag capacity was dropped from 55 to 50, crouched hip fire spread was increased, headshot damage was reduced, and the reload time was increased. Hopefully this keeps the Spitfire from being the dominating weapon again this season. One of the biggest gun changes is the Kraber getting a small nerf. The Kraber’s headshot multiplier is now down from 3 to 2 and the damage has been reduced from 145 to 140. The Kraber has never been changed since Apex dropped so this will be an interesting change to keep an eye on, especially competitively.

A few Legend changes have been implemented as well, with Fortified Legends no longer having reduced headshot damage. But helmets have been slightly buffed as the blue helmet headshot damage reduction has been increased from 40% to 50% and the purple helmet headshot damage reduction was raised from 50% to 65%. Rampart mains can rejoice as her Amped Cover deploy time is a bit faster now and the Cover health on deployment was increased from 45 to 120. When Rampart uses Sheila, the spin-up time was decreased from 1.75 seconds to 1.25 seconds. In a less fun tweak, Valkyrie can no longer spin around while in the upward launch of her ultimate which is going to make teams play her ultimate a bit more reserved.

Apex Legends Saviors brought so many changes to the game. The Ranked system has also been completely reworked which you can read about on EA’s site to see the full in-depth changes. With Apex hitting their 13th season, these big changes honestly aren’t too surprising and hopefully keep players from feeling burnt out on game content. So, how do you feel about the changes so far? Are you happy or unhappy about the weapon swaps? Let us know! For more Apex news, be sure to stay tuned to IGN for any future updates.

Stella is a Video Producer, Host, and Editor at IGN. Her gameplay focus is on competitive FPS games and she’s previously reviewed Apex Legends, Hyper Scape, Halo Infinite Multiplayer, and Battlefield 2042. She regularly hosts and shoutcasts competitive Apex Legends and Halo Infinite tournaments when she isn’t streaming on her Twitch channel after work. You can follow her on Twitter @ParallaxStella.

EA and FIFA are parting ways, but EA will continue to make soccer/football games under the new name EA Sports FC. And the world’s biggest clubs are already lining up to join the new franchise, even without the FIFA branding.

Starting in 2023, EA’s official soccer sims will be released under the name EA Sports FC. But other than official FIFA World Cup content, EA is promising access to the same players, clubs, stadiums, and leagues FIFA is known for.

EA has already revealed that it has signed agreements with the world’s top clubs and leagues including the Premier League, Bundesliga, La Liga, and UEFA for team licenses. And on social media, the world’s top football clubs have revealed their support for EA Sports FC.

Top teams from across the world and in various different leagues like the Premier League and MLS have shared tweets that say “We’re in the Club” with the hashtag #EASPORTSFC, signaling their intent to sign up with EA’s renamed franchise.

The two teams competing in the upcoming Champions League Final, Real Madrid C.F. of La Liga and Liverpool FC of the Premier League both tweeted in support of EA Sports FC, as have many other top teams.

EA says that losing the FIFA license frees up the company from certain creative restrictions. EA is now open to allowing more creative content into its soccer sim as well as potential commercial partnerships beyond just the core football experience.

FIFA, for its part, announced plans to work with other third-party developers on new games that will use the FIFA license with plans in place for new, non-sim games this year.

FIFA 23 will be the last EA soccer-sim released under the licensing agreement and will only cover the soccer-sim aspect of the game. But it seems EA has a stable of top names ready to work alongside the rebranded EA Sports FC.

Matt T.M. Kim is IGN’s News Editor. You can reach him @lawoftd. COYS.

Image Credit: EA

I really wanted to love Salt and Sacrifice, and for a little while, I did. As the sequel to one of my favorite soulslikes, Salt and Sanctuary, it hit all of the buttons I had hoped it would: challenging combat, a huge variety of grotesque and intimidating enemies, fun boss fights, and an expansive world to explore. But there’s a monster-sized twist to Salt and Sacrifice’s gameplay formula: It introduces Monster Hunter-like elements, complete with repeatable boss hunts, roaming area bosses, and exhausting chases of your targets through gigantic zones. It’s a risky experiment, and one that doesn’t quite pay off.

Right out of the gate, Salt and Sacrifice doesn’t initially seem all that different from its 2016 predecessor. It still has that signature gloomy and grim Ska Studios flavor, though all of the hand-drawn art and animations have been completely redone for the better; the tutorial borrows heavily from the Dark Souls school of teaching you the bare minimum, then crushing your spirit with a tutorial boss that’s technically possible to beat, but you’re not really supposed to; and combat maintains a very quick pace despite being tied to a fairly strict stamina meter that highly discourages button mashing.

These bits that Salt and Sacrifice inherits from Salt and Sanctuary are its strongest points. There’s a ton of playstyle customization thanks to a wide variety of different weapons types; combat is deep, satisfying, and impactful; the zones are fun to explore with meaningful rewards tucked away in hard-to-reach areas; there’s a refreshingly easy to initiate co-op mode; and several options for PVP as well.

But the two games are actually very different on a fundamental level. Instead of having one continuous map, Salt and Sacrifice is actually split up into five zones, each of which are enormous and sprawl out in every direction, with progression through them primarily gated by doors that only open when you devour a certain amount of named Mage hearts. You do this by initiating Mage Hunts, which are Monster Hunter-esque boss fights that have you chasing down a particular Mage all throughout the map, engaging it in several small skirmishes until it eventually settles into its proper boss arena, at which point you’re locked into a traditional boss fight.

It all looks fine on paper, but in practice, this blending of Monster Hunter, Metroidvania, and Soulslike is a far from perfect mix. For one, you’re never given a map. Just to reiterate, these zones are huge, often with entire sublevels that take place above ground, underground, in large castles, and in the skies. Trying to chart a path back to the boss you were fighting, the salt resource you dropped after dying, or the locked door that you’re now able to open is far more frustrating than it needs to be. Sure, Salt and Sanctuary didn’t have a map either (I also wish it did), but its absence matters less in that game because its levels are much more linear in their design.

To add on to that, while there are plenty of checkpoints in the form of obelisks that act as respawn and restock stations, there’s no way to fast travel between them or even choose which one you want to start at when you first go from the main hub to a zone, which amounts to lots of retracing your steps through the same enemies, the same traps, the same platforming challenges over and over again, which gets very repetitive.

Then there are the mage hunts themselves, which come with their own set of drawbacks. The final phases when you actually fight the boss in their walled-off arena are generally pretty fun. They can feel overwhelming when you first encounter them – but after a few attempts, you start to see the openings for you to dodge, block, or attack, making them regularly land in that sweet spot of being difficult but manageable.

It’s the chases that are the problem. The big issue is that you never know what else is going to be there when a Mage decides to teleport to an area. I often found myself having to contend with two Mages at once, or a Mage that just camped a ledge and made it nearly impossible for me to get to where I needed to go, or a mage that would spawn extremely tough and durable enemies in an area that was already full of extremely tough and durable enemies. Mercifully, damage persists on Mages while you’re chasing them so you don’t go back to square one when you die, but the bummer is that you have a limited amount of restorative items. On a few occasions I found myself spending 20 to 30 minutes chasing a Mage around the map, exhausting my resources to the point where I only had a few attempts before I completely drained myself of healing flasks by the time I reached the actual boss fight. I would have to quit out of the hunt, farm more flasks, and then do the whole thing over again. Salt and Sacrifice ended up taking me 25 hours to complete, and far too much of that first run was spent retracing steps, farming materials that felt like they should just replenish at a checkpoint, and battling bosses that I had already beaten three or four times before.

On the plus side, at least the five levels are fun to explore. They are each very visually distinct; they all have an incredible amount of enemy variety, with few if any repeated enemies across them; there are a large handful of Mages to find and hunt; hidden treasures that are well off the beaten path are fun to find, as well as hidden NPCs that will return to the hub once you find them and offer some sort of helpful shop or multiplayer function.

Embracing the Grind

The good news about the Monster Hunter influence in Salt and Sacrifice is that if you’re the kind of person that welcomes the grind and doesn’t mind the extra repetition of beating the same bosses multiple times, there’s a very satisfying progression of loot that awaits you. Just like how every monster in Monster Hunter has their own specific set of craftable weapons and armor you can make from their remains, so too are there unique weapon and armor sets for every Mage you defeat. I always looked forward to going back to the hub and checking out the new weapons and armor I could craft after downing one.

Most weapons gained from Mages also come with unique skills that add fun new facets to combat. My trusty half-spear that I got from killing a Chronomancer gifted me with the ability to place down a pillar that would slow down time for anything that walked within it, along with the ability to call upon spectral blades that would slice up anything in a large range above me, which proved to be incredibly useful. Using these skills did require some pivoting on the skill tree to adjust my build, but fortunately you’re given a limited number of respec points every couple of levels that allow a great amount of flexibility when it comes to customizing your character.

There are also hidden tomes throughout each zone that unlock Fated Mage hunts, which are repeatable hunts that can be used to hunt specific Mages in order to collect the upgrade or crafting materials that you need. I felt like I had my fill of repeatable hunts just from the frequency that they’d spawn in world after I killed them once, but again, for those who are all about the grind to complete their armor sets, it’s nice to have the ability to revisit these hunts in a structured way.

What saves Salt and Sacrifice from being a skip is its multiplayer options. While you can do the Dark Souls style of cooperation and PVP that’s tied to various in-game items and NPC factions, the real star of the show is the simple cooperation board that allows a host to enter a passcode, have their partner enter the same passcode, and boom they’re playing coop together. It’s simple, it’s easy, and it’s just such a unique experience to be able to play through a soulslike from beginning to end with a buddy without ever having to jump through any hoops.

It helps too that the implementation of co-op is top notch. There are fun emotes to bring a bit of much needed levity to what’s otherwise an aggressively dark adventure, enemies are scaled to make the challenge still very prevalent even with another body, and the drawn out hunts are much less of a chore when you’re able to do it with a friend. Playing in coop turned instances that would’ve infuriated me as a single player, where I’d get bopped by an extremely hard to see trap, or juggled to death by a boss, into shared moments that I could laugh at with a friend.

With the announcement of EA and FIFA’s split, FIFA will work with other third-party developers to launch new soccer games, and non-simulation games are already in the works and are planned to release in Q3 2022.

After almost 30 years, EA will no longer release soccer games under the FIFA banner starting in 2023. EA cites the high price tag and creative restrictions as reasons for the split, but FIFA will now work with other developers to keep its name in the video game sphere.

“I can assure you that the only authentic, real game that has the FIFA name will be the best one available for gamers and football [soccer] fans. The FIFA name is the only global, original title. FIFA 23, FIFA 24, FIFA 25 and FIFA 26, and so on – the constant is the FIFA name and it will remain forever and remain the best,” says FIFA president Gianni Infantino in a statement.

He continued, “The interactive gaming and esports sector is on a path of unrivalled growth and diversification. FIFA’s strategy is to ensure we can make the most of all future options and ensure a wide range of products and opportunities for gamers, fans, member associations and partners.”

Additionally, EA will still be able to publish FIFA 23 later this year as the company was given an extension for the simulation soccer category only. This allows other studios and publishers to create different kinds of games using the FIFA name.

Going forward, EA’s FIFA series will now be called EA Sports FC after it releases FIFA 23 later this year. EA Sports vice president David Jackson clarifies that only the name and World cup content will change in its future soccer games and that it has already signed deals with teams and leagues, including the Premier League and UEFA.

George Yang is a freelance writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @yinyangfooey

Monster Hunter Rise will soon have more official Nintendo Switch Pro Controllers than any other franchise as Capcom has announced a new design based on the incoming Sunbreak DLC.

Capcom revealed the new dragon-like Malzeno design in its latest Monster Hunter Digital Event and confirmed the Pro Controller will launch alongside the Sunbreak expansion on June 30.

The Malzeno version is silver and black with the dragon coming in from the left. Compare that with the gold and black design of the previous Monster Hunter Rise controller, which sees another monster coming in from the right.

The controller doesn’t appear to be available to preorder anywhere at the time of writing though will likely be available as normal through gaming retailers and Nintendo’s website. Though a price hasn’t been confirmed, the controller will likely retail for the standard limited edition price of $74.99 / £69.99.

This is only the fifth limited edition Pro Controller to be released in the Switch’s five year history, joining Splatoon 2, Super Smash Bros. Ultimate, Xenoblade Chronicles 2, and the previous Monster Hunter Rise version as the only games with special designs.

Monster Hunter Rise launched in March 2021 and its $39.99 / £35.99 DLC was announced a few months later in September.

In our 8/10 review, IGN said: “Monster Hunter Rise mixes classic Monster Hunter ideas with some of World’s best improvements and a whole bunch of clever new mechanics of its own.”

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer who occasionally remembers to tweet @thelastdinsdale. He’ll talk about The Witcher all day.