Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2, the standalone sequel to the acclaimed Netflix animated series Cyberpunk: Edgerunners, is arriving in time for Halloween. A new trailer reveals the show will premiere on October 20.

The series was first announced in July 2025. Like its 2022 predecessor, Cyberpunk: Edgerunners 2 is a collaboration between animation studio Trigger and Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red. The 10-episode series follows four new characters with intertwining stories in Night City. The show's official synopsis reads,

"Weak, a washed-up cyberpunk legend, is now forced to live without chrome as he searches for a sense of purpose in a world that’s passed him by. Meanwhile, the deadly nomad D sets out on a path to revenge that brings him close to corpo secrets never meant to be found. Across this ten-episode series, uncover a story of family, obsession, legacy – and how your lens reflects the stories of the people around you. "

Check out the latest trailer below.

In the meantime, be sure to check out our reviews of Cyberpunk 2077 (on PC and last-gen consoles) and its expansion, Phantom Liberty. 

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2XKO, Riot Games’ free-to-play tag-team fighting game set in its League of Legends universe, has struggled to find a sustainable audience since arriving in January. Those troubles have finally come to a head; come December, the developer will cease active development of the game.

In a blog post, Riot states, “Over the last few months, we’ve been monitoring 2XKO’s trajectory closely, and what we’ve seen is painting a clear, consistent picture: while a lot of you jumped in to try the game and there's an incredible community that plays every day, we haven’t seen enough players stick with the game to get to a path toward sustainability.”

Although 2XKO will no longer receive updates after December, the game will not be shut down. Riot states the servers will remain active past December, so players can still play online matches for the foreseeable future. Throughout the rest of the year, Riot will introduce content such as two new champions in Lux and Samira, and feature improvements. This includes a final bug fix patch arriving in December. Offline play will be unaffected by these changes.

Riot is also unlocking all champs, bundling most cosmetic items, and refunding all money spent on 2XKO on or before August 20. KO Point purchases are now disabled. Purchased content is “yours to keep,” Riot states, and Avatar and player profile items will be unlocable for credits once a patch hits in September. “Our goal now is to do right by the players who have invested in us so far and want to continue playing 2XKO, as well as the Rioters who have poured everything into delivering on this dream,” writes Riot.

The remainder of the blog post candidly muses about Riot's hopes for 2XKO while acknowledging the studio's inability to attract a larger audience. When the game wasn’t panning out, it says it considered multiple options such as reducing headcount and changing the game’s business model before deciding that sunsetting the game was the best option. The post also lists a detailed roadmap of upcoming patches.

2XKO was first revealed in 2019 under the codename Project L, itself born from the ashes of Rising Thunder, a once-in-development fighting game built on promoting approachability. The game launched in PC early access in September 2025 before graduating to 1.0 and jumping to consoles on January 20. Unfortunately, despite garnering generally positive reviews, 2XKO’s struggles became apparent soon after launch, as Riot laid off 80 employees – roughly half of 2XKO's development team – just three weeks later; at the time, Riot cited similar problems attracting an audience. 

As 2026 progressed, it's probably not a stretch to think 2XKO's troubles were at least somewhat exacerbated by the launches of competing tag-team fighting games such as Invincible VS and Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, which vie for similar audiences. 

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 Onimusha: Way of the Sword is just a couple of weeks away. In case you missed it, it’s the latest game to grace the cover of Game Informer, and I traveled to Capcom’s Osaka HQ to play never-before-seen parts of the game, interview the developers making it, and more. Subscribers can read my cover story here for the full picture, but alongside that, I’ve been posting exclusive behind-the-scenes interview features, news breakouts, retrospectives, and more, and it can all be found in the Game Informer Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub. 

With the game closer than ever, I have just two more features to go – I know, I know, very sad. But hey, these pieces will live forever on the site for you to read, and I suspect a lot of them will be especially insightful as you play the game in September. For the penultimate feature, I want to talk about Izumo no Okuni. 

History tells us that Okuni was born around 1578 and that, famously, she invented the Japanese theatrical art form known as Kabuki. She apparently began performing where the Kamo River cuts through Kyoto today, and there’s even a beautiful bronze statue of her watching over the river that I photographed (see below). 

Something interesting I learned during my visit to Capcom HQ is that Onimusha: Way of the Sword lead writer Hiroshi Yamashita specifically wanted to shine a light on Okuni in the game. Though I didn’t get to see her in the game at all, he tells me the reason protagonist Miyamoto Musashi visits Dokyo’s underground lab (read more about that in my hands-on preview here) is because of Okuni, stopping short of saying why. Yamashita says he's long wanted to include Okuni in previous games he’s worked on in some way, but it never worked out. 

“So finally, after 20 years of working as a scenario writer or lead writer, being able to finally have her in this game is a dream come true for me,” Yamashita says. 

As for what drew him to Okuni, Yamashita says it’s her importance in history. While the Edo period, when Onimusha: Way of the Sword is set, is known for its stability in Japan, that tranquility and subsequent historical significance mostly extended to men, or to women (wives/siblings) associated with important men. Okuni was an exception to the period in that she was a nobody who rose to become a somebody – the creator of one of Japan’s most important art forms. 

“I find it very impressive that she was able to become this known figure and remain so in history despite the turbulent times,” Yamashita says. 

Though I don’t know her role in the game, I’m looking forward to finding out – Yamashita is clearly passionate about Okuni and her place in history, and it will be interesting to see how Capcom blends her historical significance with the dark-fantasy action of Onimusha: Way of the Sword. 

There’s just one more feature left in Game Informer’s month of Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage, and you can expect it tomorrow. However, we still have exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (including a Rapid-Fire interview) to publish on the Game Informer YouTube channel. Keep an eye on the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so you don’t miss any of it. 

In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you:

• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t A Horror Game, But There Are Definitely Moments Of Horror
• What We Learned About Shizuka, The Mysterious Woman Living In Musashi’s Oni Gauntlet In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t An Open World Game, And It Isn’t A Soulslike Either
• Here’s What The Genma Are Up To This Time In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Capcom Had To Ask RE Engine Engineers To Create The ‘Dynamic Dismemberment System’ For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• How Capcom Created Its Own Version Of Legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• How Capcom Reinvented And Updated Onimusha’s Combat In Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha 2 Director Motohide Eshiro On Way Of The Sword’s Resurrection Of The Series
• A Look Back On The First Two Onimusha Games With Planner And Director Motohide Eshiro
• Here’s How The Late Japanese Actor Toshirō Mifune Became The Face Of Musashi In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Capcom Says Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Success Being The 'Pinnacle Of Swordplay Action Games' Is What Success Looks Like After A 20-Year Gap
• There Are No Minigames In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword, But It Sounds Like The Phantom Realm Is Back
• Puzzle Boxes Are Gone In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword, But Bigger Environmental Puzzles Have Taken Their Place
• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t Connected To Previous Games, But There Are Homages
• How Capcom Decided On Miyamoto Musashi For Its Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Protagonist
• Why Kyoto Was The Perfect Setting For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Why 2026 Was The Year To Bring Onimusha Back After A 20-Year Gap

Are you picking up Onimusha: Way of the Sword on day one? Let us know your September game pickups in the comments below!

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The Duskbloods, the Switch 2-exclusive by Dark Souls and Elden Ring developer FromSoftware, has been one of the most fascinating and mysterious upcoming games since its reveal last year. That fog of mystery finally lifted after we traveled to FromSoftware's Tokyo headquarters to play several hours of the PvPvE competitive multiplayer game. You can read my extensive hands-on impressions in this preview, and watch The Duskbloods in action in this episode of New Gameplay Today!

Join Marcus Stewart and Wesley LeBlanc as they show off new gameplay footage and discuss and reveal new details about The Duskbloods ahead of its closed network test this week. 

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Platform:
Publisher: FromSoftware
Developer: FromSoftware

Even FromSoftware’s most faithful fans expressed reservations about The Duskbloods’ description as a PvPvE Soulslike experience when it was revealed last April. So much so that even the studio regrets leading with this descriptor, as it believes it gives a somewhat inaccurate representation of the game. Battling other players is core to the experience, but it still heavily emphasizes exploring on your own, confronting dangerous monstrosities, and uncovering secrets to get ahead of rivals. It’s a fascinating approach to competitive multiplayer, and after playing several hours of the Switch 2 exclusive at FromSoftware’s Tokyo headquarters, it’s one even a single-player-minded player like me had a blast with.

 The Blood Moon Rises

The Blood Moon Rises

The Duskbloods has been in development since 2021 (while FromSoftware was still working on Elden Ring) and centers on the Bloodsworn: vampiric, superpowered warriors who face off in an event called the Twilight of Humanity to obtain a prize known as First Blood. This development timeline matters, as The Duskbloods’ game director and FromSoftware head Hidetaka Miyazaki told other journalists and me that the game was not piggybacking on Elden Ring's success or continuing a perceived shift toward multiplayer experiences after Elden Ring Nightreign. Rather, it was simply the game Miyazaki wanted to make. The timing of its arrival, hot off the heels of last year’s Nightreign, is merely circumstantial. Rest assured: FromSoftware is not abandoning single-player games, according to Miyazaki. 

What The Duskbloods does is draw from and expand multiplayer mechanics from the studio’s previous single-player titles like Dark Souls in a way Miyazaki says was only possible in a dedicated experience. The move to Switch 2 was also a fortunate twist of fate, as the game was originally in development for the original Switch, which Miyazaki suggests would have required compromises. He speaks on behalf of the team when he expresses the collective relief they felt at the reveal of Nintendo’s current, more powerful hardware. I felt a similar relief playing the game; it’s not the next Elden Ring, but it’s a damn fun time with plenty of gameplay depth and mystique. 

Sworn to Blood

Sworn to Blood

At the center of The Duskbloods are its playable characters, the Bloodsworn. Although the full game will offer over 10 Bloodsworn to choose from at launch, six were available in my session, which will also be true of the closed network test kicking off on August 21. Each Bloodsworn wields short- and long-range weapons and unique special abilities. Here’s a brief breakdown of each character.

• Albert: Sports dual sabers and an SMG, and unleashes blood-infused attacks. A generally balanced mix of melee and ranged offense that’s great for newcomers. 
• Bloodhand Jan: Wearing nothing but a onesie and a pot over his head, Jan brandishes a one-handed axe and unleashes fire from his free hand like a flamethrower. A special strike sees him leap airborne and slam down with a giant, bloody AoE attack 
• Senator Samir Patres: Slices foes using a rapier, fires spectral birds, and transforms into a T-Rex-like dinosaur (yes, really) that charges and crushes foes in its mouth like a dog’s chew toy. 
• Trang Lanh: Wields a giant ring blade for close-quarters and ranged combat, as it can be tossed at threats. Trang Lanh can also temporarily turn invisible and summon a giant white snake (not unlike the serpent from Sekiro).
• Sniper Layla: Wears dagger-esque blades for close range, but primarily snipes foes from afar using her rifle. Layla can transform into a swarm of insects to quickly warp short distances and pull a Gatling gun out of her chest to viciously mow down targets.
• Zork: An armor-clad Bloodsworn who makes up for its slower, heavier movements by dealing heavy damage using his electric cable. Zork can pierce targets using a speargun, fire a barrage of missiles, and even rocket itself headfirst into targets.

Regardless of the Bloodsworn you choose, the basic combat mechanics are familiar to FromSoftware’s Souls games, but The Duskbloods' entertaining traversal adds a fun twist. Bloodsworn can leap great heights and perform four straight jumps before needing to land. I loved leaping over buildings in a single (or quadruple) bound like Superman with no fall damage. The leap is great for quickly covering ground or getting the drop on foes from great heights. To the same end, you can sprint freely without draining stamina (which still drains when attacking or dodging).

Bloosworn can also bite the necks of staggered enemies to drain their blood. In addition to providing a small health boost, doing so turns smaller fodder enemies into allies. To stagger them, you must nail a parry-like howl before an enemy lands a hit, opening a brief window to go for the neck. I like turning several enemies to my side early, letting me roll up on rivals with a small posse backing me. At best, it lets me overwhelm an opponent; at worst, I’m surrounded by distractions and living shields. This parry is also useful against other players, as it can interrupt their attacks. Plus, draining their blood deals significant damage.

Speaking of allies, activating special portals summons helpful entities called Kin. Like Spirit Ashes in Elden Ring, these unique helpers are invaluable sidekicks. They stick with players for the duration of a match and grow stronger as they defeat enemies. My favorite Kin is Baritone, a singing behemoth whose vocals grant stat buffs as he slams threats using wrestling moves. Other Kin include a health-boosting gargoyle and a nimble, lightning-quick dual-sword-wielding warrior. They’re all as strange as they are useful, and although you can recall them until they’re needed, I rarely saw an opponent possessing a Kin that wasn’t exploring without it constantly by their side. You can switch to a different Kin if you find another portal; however, they’ll be at Level 1. So even if you find a Kin you like better, it may be strategically unwise to swap out a higher-level Kin to use it. But that’s up to you.  

 Know Your Kin

Know Your Kin

My session of The Duskbloods offered eight Kin to partner with. While it’s unknown whether this is the full number of Kin available at launch, or whether there are some yet to be revealed, here are the ones we know so far and the help they offer players. 

• Baritone: A singing behemoth who offers an unclear stat buff. Offensively, he suplexes enemies like a pro wrestler. 
• Undead Marlowe: A zombified gentleman who gives off vibes of a down-on-his-luck drifter. His vibe vaguely reminds me of Ol’ Gil from The Simpsons, and Marlowe loves bragging about how he’s tough to kill. Sort of flails at targets in an uncoordinated but somewhat effective assault. 
• Nia, Sister of the Briar: Boasting two swords and acrobatic movements, Nia can quickly slice apart enemies while evading damage, making her one of my favorite Kin to enlist.
• Thaumaturge Avester: A floating mage of sorts who scorches enemies by unleashing magical fireballs. 
• Valentinos the Unwise: A large, morbidly obese kin who rolls around in a wheelchair-like vehicle. He can use a whip to attack from afar, or bearhug targets up close. Proved to be one of the most formidable Kin to deal with. 
• Gargoyle: This stationary, snake-wrapped statue routinely heals its master. Summoning Gargoyle in a spot it won’t be easily spotted or attacked is ideal. 
• Gunslinger Beatrice: I only summoned this Wild West-inspired gunslinger once, but Beatrice offers ranged support by peppering targets using her pistols.
• Black Wolf of Mars: A ferocious wolf that relentlessly attacks targets. Pairs well with ranged-minded Bloodsworn like Sniper Layla, letting you attack from afar while Mars handles 

 Victory is a Virtue

Victory is a Virtue

After choosing your Bloodsworn in the House of Night, The Duskbloods’ main hub that features a training space and other unlockable areas not available in this build, it’s time to queue up. At the event, 16 journalists and influencers were divided into two tables – eight each – letting us play against each other in randomized configurations on a closed server. Although the game features random matchmaking, Miyazaki confirmed The Duskbloods features private lobbies to play only with friends when I asked him during the group interview. 

Each match, called a Dusk Battle, pits eight players against each other and consists of four timed Phases, where players are gradually eliminated as the match progresses. The last player standing wins. Winning a Dusk Battle requires accumulating Virtue, a resource earned in several ways: in battle by defeating other players, smaller threats, and challenging bosses, and by exploring and finding Virtue-infused corpses among other secrets. Repulsion Virtue, for example, is earned by defeating bosses ranging from mid-tier foes to greater threats known as Trespassers. To acquire Commendation Virtue, you must perform smaller feats, like killing a large number of common foes or collecting more dropped items than other players. 

Flame Virtue is obtained from purple throne-seated corpses hidden throughout the map. The first person to touch Flame Virtue will be the only one to do so, as it’s a one-time, first-come-first-served reward. Being the first person to discover a Flame Virtue is always exhilarating; conversely, the disappointment of approaching a Flame Virtue only to find that someone else already activated it is immeasurable. 

In a battle-royale-esque format, players with the most Virtue at the end of a phase advance to subsequent rounds, while those who don’t hit a Virtue quota are eliminated (two players at a time). I didn’t clock it, but each Phase feels like it takes between 8-10 minutes. Phase I features no eliminations, so it’s best spent gathering strength and unlocking new skills by defeating enemies and searching for Virtue. I spent most of this time killing everything that moves to quickly level up, as doing so also unlocks level-gated special abilities for Bloodsworn, while trying to find Flame Virtue before other players got to it. There’s no penalty for dying during a match; you’ll just respawn to a chosen area on the map. Each player has two health flasks, a limit that can be increased by finding a special item. 

Character-specific missions called Sigils offer another optional avenue to earn Virtue. Each Bloodsworn has an accompanying Sigil that can be enabled before each match; Albert, for example, has the Sigil of a Sworn Enemy, which tasks the player with hunting and killing a marked player. Sigil of Old Friend requires seeking out and befriending someone by offering an alliance, a broader mechanic that lets two players team up (more on this later). 

Sigil of the Eye of Moralis is similar to that of the Sworn Enemy, in that players must hunt another player branded as a Heretic; however, the Heretic can also defeat their hunter for rewards. The last Sigil available in this build is the Sigil of Love, the most bizarre of the bunch since it requires the player to propose marriage to a designated rival (yes, really). If the proposal is accepted, those players become lovers, though it’s unclear what the other player gains from this union. 

Eliminations go live in Phases II and III. Phase II “culls”, to use the game’s term, three bottom-ranked players, and Phase III cuts two more. These Phases also introduce Ritual Sites, special zones where players can earn heaps of Virtue by winning PvP battles or capturing and defending special checkpoints. If you’re confident in your battle prowess, besting other players at Ritual Sites rewards Sword Virtue. Those who prefer to avoid conflict can chase Pledge Virtue by activating golden symbols scattered across the Ritual Site. However, Pledge Virtue is not inherently conflict-free; someone else can activate your Pledge to steal it, so it may be wise to stay near Pledge zones to defend them if necessary. Ritual Sites unlock towards the end of Phases II and III and always devolved into utter, entertaining chaos as players converged on these points to frantically earn enough Virtue to stay in the game or reinforce their leads by preventing opponents from gaining their rewards. 

Dusk Battles can also be spiced up by Events, special stipulations that affect the entire map. These randomly selected modifiers flip the entire game on its head for all players. One Event spawns a zeppelin over the stage that rains fire upon the map, incinerating anyone caught in its blasts. One particularly annoying/amusing Event periodically zaps every player with unavoidable lightning, but instead of electrocuting them, they’re teleported to a random spot on the map. In one instance, I was warped right in front of a Trespasser, and it promptly clapped me. Another Event tasks players with reaching the top of Lowarno City’s bell tower and ringing said bell to earn extra Virtue. One neat Event sees a shooting star crash somewhere on the map; the player who can grab its shard and hold on to it at the end of the Phase earns bonus Virtue. 

Once Phase III culls the remaining losers, the final top three players advance to Phase IV. This unfolds as an often chaotic arena battle where the last player standing wins the match. Arenas are much smaller than the main map and vary in type; one lacks walls, for example, allowing players to fall or be tossed over the edge Super Smash Bros.-style (which some players took full advantage of). Players have two lives to spend here, so dying a third time marks an elimination. I only reached Phase IV a handful of times, coming in 3rd place each attempt. 

Between facing off against leveled-up players, not to mention whichever powered-up Kin they’re rolling with, winning these bouts can be extremely challenging. Sometimes I found success hanging back and letting my two opponents duke it out while taking potshots from afar; of course, they inevitably realized what I was doing and would then (understandably) double-team me. Victory is hard-earned, but Phase IV also has the excitement of a hype fighting game match. Eliminated players routinely gathered around the monitors of whoever made it to the last round to watch them duke it out, eliciting plenty of cheers, groans, and laughter from the room. Although you can reach Phase IV using the non-combative methods mentioned above, it is the round where the familiar phrase “git gud” is most applicable. 

The single map (or "Lands of Dusk" as they're called) available in the build I played, Lowarno City, is a multi-layered locale emphasizing verticality. It features multiple distinct areas, including a cathedral, a cave network, underground ruins, a poisonous marsh (of course), and a massive bell tower, among other areas I know I missed. You can also find special chests that improve your melee weapons with enhancements, such as elemental boons like fire and lightning or poison damage. The scale of Lowarno City is impressive; it's big enough to make me feel isolated in a way that I love in FromSoftware titles, but not too large that I didn’t see another player semi-regularly, even briefly, at some point. Lowarno City is one of three maps planned for the final game. I’m curious to see the others, but I really enjoyed exploring this first battlefield. 

 The Value of Teamwork

The Value of Teamwork

Although The Duskbloods is a competitive experience first, you can work with other players either loosely or under a formal agreement called Alliances. Initiating an Alliance with another player requires them to accept; if they do, the two of you become partners for the remainder of the Dusk Battle.

Alliances can be offered any time during a Dusk Battle before Phase IV, and partnered players can’t hurt each other. Both players share certain rewards. Should they make it to Phase IV, the Alliance ends since the players must become opponents. Ending an Alliance prematurely results in a penalty for the player who calls it off, forcing them to surrender a portion of Virtue (and potentially other resources, though this is unclear) to their former partner. Alliances can be a great way for bottom-ranked players to increase their odds of survival by working together. 

Duos Mode is a separate form of Dusk Battle that divides players into teams of two (making four teams total). Like Alliances, partners can’t damage each other but share Virtue and weapon enhancements. A single team is eliminated each round. Phase IV pits the two top-ranked teams against each other, and teams share a pool of two lives. 

 A Story Told Through Battle

A Story Told Through Battle 

FromSoftware enthusiasts love dissecting the lore and story of the studio's single-player games. Although The Duskbloods is a multiplayer experience, it's not devoid of narrative. When I ask Miyazaki how the game delivers a story, he reveals that the House of Night, the explorable mansion hub where you initiate Dusk Battles, features a special NPC who won't be accessible until The Duskbloods' full launch. This NPC is located on the second floor of the House of Night, and as players regularly speak to them, "you'll sort of feel more about the story and will progress the story aspect to a certain extent," says Miyazaki.

Miyazaki also reveals Bloodlines, a customization element tied to Bloodsworn, offers another storytelling device. "...Basically, as you progress, as you play with certain characters in the multiplayer, it will sort of unlock aspects of that customization that then reveal things like their history, their relationships with other characters, things like that," Miyazaki explains. "So the story will kind of be revealed in that way as well." 

Furthermore, Miyazaki adds that the emergent moments from playing Dusk Battles tell their own stories unique to each player while fleshing out Bloodlines. "And so, through multiplayer, with things like the Sigil system and the Events system, basically as you're playing and this sort of unexpected drama unfolds, that can also unlock new Bloodlines and sort of it can branch off from there as well, depending on who you're interacting with, what kind of events occur with what characters, who has what Sigil, things like that. So there's always this sort of unexpected way that the story might reveal itself to you as you're playing the game, outside of just the House of Night.”

 A Promising First Impression

A Promising First Impression

I like to enjoy FromSoftware games as solitary experiences. I’ve never summoned a human player to help me in other Souls games, and though I respect Elden Ring Nightreign and gave it a fair shake, I just didn’t like having to rely on other players to get the most out of the experience. Call me antisocial, but one reason I much prefer The Duskbloods is that I can jump into matches without having to align schedules with friends or coordinate with a randomly assigned partner (because I’m not unmuting my mic for strangers). The Duskbloods is a solo experience first; cooperation is merely circumstantial and intentionally strategic. 

Overall, I’m somewhat surprised how much I enjoy The Duskbloods. Much of that has to do with not needing to engage in PvP to get Virtue – I gathered plenty of it by exploring the map and fighting AI enemies while rarely encountering other players. By playing it like a single-player game, I’m still competing with everyone else and even winning. There were matches where The Duskbloods felt like a small Elden Ring sequel due to the surprising scale and diversity of Lowarno City, letting me soak in the surreal sights, albeit to a lesser degree. But the urgency introduced by the timer and Virtue score adds an intense wrinkle I enjoy, and the overall structure reminds me why I generally enjoy battle royales; I can play alone and get ahead in whatever manner I deem most strategically viable based on my skill level and loadout. The Duskbloods adds a potent and entertaining FromSoftware twist to what already works for me in that genre.

The best compliment I can give is that I ended each match eager to begin another. The game’s mix of skill, strategy, and luck makes each match dynamic, exciting, hilarious, and unpredictable. Getting narrowly eliminated made me punch the air, while competing in the final round is genuinely thrilling. The characters are fun and varied, catering to multiple playstyles; if you prefer to deal damage from afar, go with Sniper Layla, while tank-loving players should roll with Zork. And if you’re concerned about the platform choice, don’t be: The Duskbloods performed perfectly fine on Switch 2 (which really shouldn’t be surprising; the console’s not a potato by any stretch) to the point I forgot it was the platform running it. 

There are still plenty of mysteries surrounding the game. What does the main narrative entail? Does the game utilize any Switch 2-specific features (Miyazaki immediately said he couldn’t speak on this when a journalist posed this question during our group interview)? What does post-launch support look like? We still have plenty to discover after the closed network test concludes, and that’s exciting. FromSoftware is on to something here, and like the game’s vampiric competitors, I’m thirsty to spill – and drink – more blood in many matches to come.

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Horizon Hunters Gathering, a live-service spin-off of Guerilla Games' Horizon series, was announced earlier this year to mixed reception. While it retains worldbuilding elements from Horizon Zero Dawn and Forbidden West, the genre and art style are completely changed, and anecdotally, it seemed to alienate more than it attracted. That was before anyone had played the game, however. According to a report from Bloomberg, playtest feedback has caused the developer to take a step back and reevaluate what the game should look like.

The report comes from Jason Schreier, a seasoned reporter in the video game space. He cites anonymous sources familiar with Hunters Gathering's development, but who are not authorized to speak about it publicly. While Schreier's reporting has a very strong track record for accuracy, PlayStation has yet to confirm or deny the facts in his article and declined to comment. Game Informer has also reached out for comment, and this article will be updated should we receive a reply. 

"Following poor feedback in private testing earlier this year, the plan now is to strip out the live-service component and turn it into more of a traditional cooperative multiplayer game with a story mode and a far smaller scope," the Bloomberg article reads. While the game is not yet cancelled, Schreier's sources indicate that the team has "through December to impress executives on their next milestone." Many of the game's developers are also being reassigned to a different project, to be evaluated at the end of the year.

This rework of Hunters Gathering is a kinder fate than other multiplayer PlayStation projects have received. Best known for its critically acclaimed single-player experiences, the Japanese gaming giant has spent the 2020s trying to expand into the online live-service market to little success. Multiplayer spin-offs of God of War, Spider-Man, and The Last of Us were all canned before their proper reveals. Destiny 2 got its final update this year. Most infamously, Concord was shut down less than a week after its launch. 

While PlayStation's single-player games have fared better, fans of the Horizon series unfortunately have to wait a while for their next single-player outing as Aloy. According to Bloomberg, most of the Horizon Forbidden West team is working on Hunters Gathering, not the next mainline entry. "A tiny team has been plotting out the next single-player Horizon game but it remains years away from completion, according to the people familiar with the studio’s plans," Schreier writes.

[Source: Bloomberg]

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Harvey Smith, best known for his tenure at Arkane Studios from 2008 until 2024, has announced a new game studio called Black Pony Immersive. Smith is joined by co-founder and executive producer Ben Horne, who worked with Smith for more than eight years, most recently on Redfall at Arkane Austin. Black Pony Immersive is founded with the goal to continue delivering the kinds of game experiences Smith has been known for over the course of his more than 30 years working in the industry.

The immersive-sim subgenre is defined by player choice, vast series of interconnected game systems, and emergent moments that are likely to vary from player to player. This categorization is where Smith etched his legacy. Though he is perhaps best known for his work as co-creative director on 2012's Dishonored and creative director on 2016's Dishonored 2, he also served as lead game designer on 2000's Deus Ex, one of the most acclaimed and influential immersive sims of all time. He also worked on the quality assurance teams for System Shock and Ultima VIII: Pagan, as well as helping out on 2017's Prey.

Smith takes on the role as CEO and creative director, while Horne joins as COO and executive producer. "During a time of industry volatility, I'm proud to announce the next step in my video game journey with the reveal of a new studio," Smith said in a press release. "This effort reflects everything we've learned, and all we hold dear. My favorite gaming memories come from seeing players approach challenges with creativity, deep-diving into our world building. We try to reward players for their curiosity and exploration. At our new studio, we're building exactly the kind of single-player games we're most passionate about."

Though Smith and Horne are the co-founders and are based in Austin, Texas, the rest of the studio is filled out by remote veteran talent from around the United States. Black Pony Immersive features developers previously employed by Arkane Studios, Insomniac Games, Epic Games, Avalanche Studios, and Volition. Among those workers is Richard Bare, with whom Smith worked closely during their more than 15 years together at Arkane and their time working together on Deus Ex. 

"This group has worked together for years, decades in some cases, and is purpose-built to make the ambitious games we love – immersive sims," Horne said in that same press release. "We share a vision for crafting games that push the limits of player immersion. We can't wait to reveal more soon."

While we don't know what Black Pony is working on, we at least know it's an immersive sim, which is news sure to delight fans of Smith's previous work. While we wait for the announcement of the studio's debut game, you can learn more by heading to the official website of Black Pony Immersive.

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Tides of Annihilation is an upcoming character action game from China-based studio Eclipse Glow Games. Though the studio was formed just two years ago, its developers have experience working on series like Assassin's Creed, For Honor, Persona, Yakuza/Like a Dragon, and more. That pedigree showed in the game when I went hands-on with it in Chengdu, China, last week to experience roughly two hours of protagonist Gwendolyn's time-spanning adventure. 

Though modern London is the primary setting of Gwendolyn's adventure, the Arthurian legend is quite literally crashing into her world, creating a strange but intriguing mix of one of Europe's top tourist destinations and the fantasy realm of Avalon.I explored the Great Russell Museum (which is presumably the non-copyright version of London's Great British Museum) to search for a Holy Grail Shard. This museum is home to Egyptian, Japanese, Chinese exhibits, and more, and Tides of Annihilation transforms based on each exhibit, imbuing its suite of enemies and music with inspiration from a given exhibit's culture. 

You can get a taste of that, and the fast-paced, high-spectacle action in Game Informer's latest New Gameplay Today below: 

Join Game Informer Senior Associate Editors Wesley LeBlanc and Marcus Stewart as they break down roughly 20 minutes of all-new Tides of Annihilation gameplay, discussing boss fights, the game's unique knight-based combat action, its King Arthur-inspired characters, and more. 

For more about the game, read Game Informer's Tides of Annihilation preview, and then check out this story about how Jennifer English's departure from Tides of Annihilation was an unexpected turn of events for the team. 

Subscribe to Game Informer's YouTube channel for more episodes of New Gameplay Today, as well as video reviews, The Game Informer Show Podcast, and more.

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Last month, China-based developer Eclipse Glow Games revealed that Baldur's Gate 3 and Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 voice actor Jennifer English was stepping away from the protagonist role of Gwendolyn in Tides of Annihilation. Admittedly, English's involvement was one of the more exciting aspects of Tides of Annihilation. However, after roughly two hours of actually playing it, I'm happy to report that the game is shaping up to be a great character action game filled with impressive spectacle, and English's absence isn't necessarily felt. 

Sure, the specter of the news loomed over my two-hour gameplay preview of Tides of Annihilation when I played it last week in Chengdu, China, but the new voice actor does a great job filling the role. Unfortunately, I don't have any information on who is now voicing Gwendolyn, but the new voice seems to be aiming to match English's performance from earlier trailers, and she's doing well so far. 

After my time playing the game, I spoke with Tides of Annihilation director Ary Chen and producer Kun Fu about English's departure to learn more about the changes, how much work English had done, and more. Chen tells me the news of English needing to step down due to mental health concerns was "quite an unexpected turn of events," but notes the team "had a great time working with her."

"We deeply respect her decision," Chen says. "For us, health also comes first. That said, we had a great time working with her, and she did help us find a new voice actress for the role. And not only that, but she also helped us to go through the process [with the new voice actress], giving us tips and everything on how to do the voice acting."

Chen tells me that, up to this point in Tides of Annihilation's development, not enough work has been done to say English has already recorded everything, "because the game is still in development," in response to my question about whether English's work was complete before her departure. English is still the "voice-over director" as well, Chen says. 

Tides of Annihilation is due out on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC sometime in the future. 

For more, check out this gameplay trailer that highlights one of the many Tides of Annihilation boss fights. 

Who do you think would be a good fit for the role of Gwendolyn? Let us know in the comments below!

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Warren Spector has announced that his 40+ year game development career has come to an end. The designer, known as one of the pioneers of the immersive sim genre thanks to his work on series such as System Shock, Deus Ex, and Thief, is stepping away from the industry. 

In a LinkedIn post, Spector is direct in stating his intention to retire, reflecting on his lengthy career while stating the reasons behind the decision. “I'm a month away from my 44th year as a developer…With all that behind me and with age and health (my business) catching up with me I'm feeling like I've done what I set out to do. It's time to write some books, do a lot of reading, do some lecturing, maybe do some consulting. (Feel free to get in touch about those last two.) Also there's a keyboard here just waiting for me to get my piano chops back,” Specter writes.

Specter also states that he has mixed feelings about the decision due to having three game ideas he’d like to pursue “(One is very big... one is very small... and one I don't know how to make which scares me.)”, he writes. He also adds the current video game business is not “as much fun for me anymore.” 

“To all of you reading this I want you to remember that games are not a solved problem yet – there is, I hope, plenty of experimentation and innovation to come,” Specter writes. “And to all you young developers out there, I've said it before and I'll say it again, your job is to make people forget people like me ever existed.

Will I come back? Never say never. But I think it's time to ride off into the sunset.”

Specter’s career began at Origin, where he worked on games such as System Shock, Wing Commander, and the Ultima series before leaving to helm Looking Glass Studios Austin. There, he briefly worked on Thief: The Dark Project before joining John Romero's Ion Storm to create Deus Ex and its sequel Deux: Ex Invisible War, as well as work on Thief: Deadly Shadows. 

In 2005, Spector founded Junction Point Studios, which partnered with Disney to create Epic Mickey (with Spector playing an instrumental role in resurrecting Disney’s pre-Mickey cartoon character, Oswald the Lucky Rabbit, after decades in obscurity). Spector joined Otherside Entertainment in 2016 to work on System Shock 3, which was later canceled with Tencent acquiring the IP, before working on the cooperative heist immersive sim Thick As Thieves, which launched in May. 

To read more about Warren Spector’s career, check out our June interview where he discussed his career and status as the self-proclaimed “oldest man in game development.” You can also read another recent feature where Spector shed some light on his involvement in the long-lost System Shock 3. 

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Order of the Sinking Star, the next puzzle game by Braid/The Witness creator Jonathan Blow and his team at Thekla, has a release date. The massive adventure arrives on October 8.

First revealed at The Game Awards 2025, Order of the Sinking Star unfolds in a fantasy world boasting over 1,000 unique, interconnected puzzles.  Players control a princess transported to another world made up of four biomes, each filled with bespoke characters and puzzles that, eventually, converge to blend their mechanics in increasingly complex ways. 

Because of the game's immense size, Thekla also enlisted design help from other game designers such as Alan Hazelden (Skipping Stones to Lonely Homes, Mirror Isles), Sean Barrett (Promesst), Jonah Ostroff (Heroes of Sokoban), Zach Polansky (Enigmash), Patrick Traynor (Patrick's Parabox), and Marc ten Bosch (Miegakure), among others. 

“Order of the Sinking Star simply wouldn’t exist without the incredible designers who helped work on it over the years,” said Jonathan Blow in a press release. "By creating a kind of game design supercollider, we were able to bring together ideas from some of the most brilliant puzzle designers in the industry. I’m grateful to everyone who contributed to help us push the limits of what's possible in a puzzle adventure. We can’t wait for players to step into this world and discover just how deep and complex it really is.

Order of the Sinking Star will launch for PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and PC. 

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Nioh 3 was one of our favorite games from the early months of 2026, and the jumbo-sized adventure is getting a substantial story expansion called Hell Rising this week, August 19. Hell Rising introduces a new map set in the Keian era in 1651 following the death of shogun Takechiyo, as well as new enemies, weapons, equipment, and more. 

Following the expansion's reveal, we had several questions about Hell Rising's story (is protagonist Takechiyo really dead?), its overall size, and how its new systems complement the existing features. To elaborate on what Hell Rising brings to the table, we asked Team Ninja project manager Kohei Shibata, Nioh 3 game director Masaki Fujita, and level designer Atsushi Takahashi over email, who provided further details on what players can expect. 

Game Informer: How did you feel about the reception to Nioh 3, particularly how its "open field” design was received?

Kohei Shibata: We feel that many players have responded positively to the great synergy between Nioh and the open-field format. Crafting level designs that captured the signature tension and intensity of Nioh’s combat was a major challenge during development, but we packed in a wide range of ideas, and I am genuinely happy to see that effort bear fruit.

Was Hell Rising designed to address any specific player feedback from Nioh 3’s base campaign, and how does it, if so?

Masaki Fujita: Yes, the feedback we received for the base game of Nioh 3 has been incorporated into the DLC. For example, we’ve added pistol-based combat —which many players requested — as a new ninjutsu technique. On the loot-hunting front, high-value special effects will now be randomly applied to gear, allowing players to enjoy a deeper level of gear curation. In terms of the story experience, the DLC features documents such as letters and notes that can be discovered throughout the field. Reading these allows you to learn more about the characters, uncover the backstory behind events, and get a sense of the culture and customs of the people of that era.

Why did you set Hell Rising during the Keian Era? What are some key historical events or locations from the time that will be represented in-game?

Fujita: When it was decided that the theme would be “Shogun” and that Takechiyo, the grandson of Tokugawa Ieyasu, would be the protagonist, we also broadly determined what the main story and the DLC would cover. The main story is “the story of the protagonist becoming shogun,” while the DLC is “the story of what the protagonist accomplishes after becoming shogun.” When we think of historical figures who actually served as shogun, we tend to think about what they did. We felt that only by addressing what the protagonist accomplished as shogun could we properly bring a story centered on the theme of the shogun to a conclusion.

The Keian era is the period immediately following the rule of the protagonist Takechiyo as the Shogun. The incidents that occurred during that time were strongly influenced by Takechiyo’s rule. In this title, he travels through time into the future, where he comes to witness both the light and darkness of his own rule. We hope players will see how that experience is ultimately put to use in the conclusion encompassing both DLC 1 and DLC 2.

A pivotal historical event of the Keian era is the attempted rebellion led by Yui Shosetsu and his faction. While the historical plot was suppressed before the rebels could mobilize, the game depicts a scenario where they harness the power of Hell to summon yokai and launch an uprising; this results in widespread destruction across Edo and an assault on Edo Castle, the Shogun's stronghold. Both Edo Castle and the city of Edo serve as the playable areas for this DLC.

I did a double take when I saw that Takechiyo dies; is that accurate? If so, who will players control in Hell Rising and why did you decide to kill off the protagonist?

Fujita: The year 1651 CE — the setting of Hell Rising — was a time of political instability, marked by the death of the Shogun and the recent ascension of a young successor to the shogunate. In other words, the story takes place after Takechiyo’s death, following a journey across time. Since the character the player controls is a version of Takechiyo who has traveled forward from the past, the protagonist of the main story does not, strictly speaking, meet his end.

Does Hell Rising require starting with a fresh character, or do our loot/abilities from the base campaign carry over?

Fujita: As mentioned above, the character players control is Takechiyo, who has traveled through time from the past; therefore, players will play using data carried over from the main game.

Can you name some specific benefits the Hundred Demon Realms Picture Scrolls provide, and how do they complement the already dense list of abilities?

Fujita: As the “Hundred Demon Realms Picture Scroll” will be added as a new category of equipment, players will equip a scroll in addition to their existing gear, further strengthening their character through the special effects it provides. Some of the special effects found on scrolls are similar to those available on existing equipment, but there are also several unique special effects that can only be found on scrolls. These include a group of special effects that require specific attributes, such as Valor or Heart, to reach a certain value before they can be activated, as well as a special effect that allows multiple Mastery Skills — which normally can only be activated one at a time — to be active simultaneously. These will have a significant impact on character builds. In addition, scrolls of Divine rarity will come with a Grace. This will allow players to gain one additional tier of a Grace’s set bonus, meaning that scrolls will also have a major impact on builds in this regard.

How big is Hell Rising, both in the size of the map compared to the current maps and the estimated length to complete?

Atsushi Takahashi: In terms of scale, it is comparable to the Heian section of the main game. It will take more than 10 hours to complete “Edo-Keian,” while “Hell Rising” as a whole offers over 30 hours of content when including additional replay elements such as the newly added third playthrough. The open-field of “Edo-Keian” also features familiar locations such as Kanda and Ueno, as well as several distinct areas, including a massive aqueduct from which a local place name is derived, a multi-layered network of underground waterways, and a volcanic region where powerful enemies await. In addition to the level of challenge expected from a soulslike game, players can also enjoy the visual variety offered by these locations.

How does using the Hoko and Shield differ between the Samurai and Ninja styles?

Takahashi: The defining feature of the “Hoko and Shield” is its integration of offense and defense. Conventional combat involves guarding against or evading an enemy’s attack, then striking during the opening that follows. Unlike a parry, which deflects an attack by carefully judging the enemy’s timing, the Hoko and Shield allows players to block the attack and immediately drive their own attack into the enemy.

The samurai’s “Hoko and Shield” is a weapon that seamlessly combines offense and defense. By unleashing a strong attack or certain Active Skills in time with an enemy’s attack, players can deflect the blow with the shield while striking with the hoko. This allows them to engage even the most formidable foes head-on, outmaneuver them in a direct exchange, and drive them into a corner.

By contrast, the ninja’s “Ninja Hoko and Shield” is a highly versatile weapon. The shield can not only be used to deflect enemy attacks, but also thrown or even ridden, while being combined with attacks from the hoko. Players can move freely in every direction and bewilder their enemies by, for example, leaping into the air while performing techniques and hurling the shield down from above.

Can you elaborate on what the divine-rarity Grace set bonuses are and the benefits they provide?

Fujita: “Graces” are set bonuses randomly assigned to equipment of Divine rarity. By equipping multiple pieces of equipment bearing the same Grace, players can activate up to six special effects depending on the number of pieces equipped. In “Enlightened One's Journey,” the third-playthrough difficulty level added in the DLC, new Graces that did not appear within the scope of the main game will be introduced. These are primarily designed to strengthen builds that have previously been unable to demonstrate their full potential, such as builds specializing in a particular element, Onmyo, or Living Artifact. Powerful set bonuses have been prepared to encourage players to reconsider the builds they used through their second playthrough.

Hell Rising will be available for Nioh 3 on August 19 for PlayStation 5 and PC. 

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Back in June, I traveled to Osaka, Japan, to visit Capcom’s HQ and play never-before-seen parts of Onimusha: Way of the Sword for hours, interview the team making it, and more. I did so to write Game Informer’s latest cover story (that subscribers can read right here), and as part of my coverage, I’ve been posting all kinds of exclusive behind-the-scenes features, interviews, news breakouts, and more; all of it can be viewed at Game Informer’s Onimusha: Way of the Sword hub. 

One of the most exciting parts of this cover story trip was playing through a stage set in the mysterious and terrifying underground lab that’s home to Dokyo, one of the more standout Genma players will encounter in the game when it launches next month. Below is an edited version of my preview thoughts on this section from my cover story, highlighting what I thought of Dokyo’s classic Japanese ghost house-inspired lab alongside developer commentary I received from interviewing the Onimusha: Way of the Sword team at Capcom. 

Director Satoru Nihei introduced this stage as one of the more horrific in Way of the Sword's dark-fantasy action experience, likening it to a “classic Japanese ghost house.” Somewhat familiar with this subgenre of Japanese horror, it’s clear in what ways: shadows on the lab’s shoji highlight horrific body mutations and animal experiments gone wrong. All the while, the halls of this lab are dripping with blood that shines in the soft orange light of torches that illuminate an otherwise dark space; once-beautiful kimonos hang from the rafters above, and I can only assume they belong to the subjects of Dokyo’s experiments.

Dokyo is a shrill, petulant, and evil Genma, though more advanced than the mindless hordes hungry for souls I slice through by the dozen. Dokyo is hiding in plain sight in this underground lab, right beneath the imperial castle of Kyoto, doing unholy things to humans and animals alike in an effort to create even more terrifying Genma. She’s quite the scene-stealer, with a terrifying charisma that makes her the standout character of my time playing Way of the Sword. She’s twisted but determined, and that makes her a compelling voice to listen to as it echoes through this dungeon between my bouts with demons.

It’s this dungeon where I’m freed from the shackles of tutorialization, and it feels like protagonist Miyamoto Musashi has removed weights from his arms – I feel like the master history says this samurai was.

Though I love the action genre, I have admittedly grown bored with a lot of it, at least in the triple-A space. I’m rarely surprised mechanically, and tutorials seldom teach me anything new. I know what the buttons do just minutes into the experience. Way of the Sword is a refreshing change of pace in that regard, as a single playthrough of the game’s demo will see your time paused by a multitude of tutorials. The Issen returns – press one of the attack buttons just before an enemy’s hit lands to perform the deadly counter that’s been in Onimusha since the first game. Don’t worry, it’s still the hardest move to pull off in Way of the Sword, just like in older titles, as it requires the strictest timing.

But there’s also the standard Parry, which fills your Blazing Gauge that automatically lights Musashi’s sword up with blue flames for increased damage, and the Reflex Dodge, which fills your Reflex Gauge and sets Musashi up for a massive blow to an enemy’s back or side. The Break Issen attack can be performed when you have exhausted an enemy’s stamina enough, and you can significantly deplete that stamina with a deflection – swords, arrows, you name it, you can deflect it. You can also perform Chain Issen attacks to slice through multiple enemies in an otherworldly flash, and you can backstab unaware enemies for stealth insta-kills.

Are you following?

When you and an enemy perform the same type of attack, a Blade Barrage occurs, and to win, you need to use a sword attack other than the one you used before it to end the stalemate and damage the enemy. There are grab reversals, too, and Oni Armaments, which are powered-up bumper attacks that do a variety of things depending on which you have equipped – the Two Celestials, for example, do straight damage, while the Earth-Shaker hammers I utilize in the underground lab hit an enemy’s stamina bar heavily.

Within this multifaceted combat system, there are additional layers of complexity. I especially like that the sparks that fly from your blade and the associated sounds change depending on how early or late your parry attempt is. It is both a helpful notification of my parry timing and a diegetic gauge for improvement. When fighting bigger enemies like bosses, you can even choose where to place a Break Issen. For example, against Rasho-gan, I can target his head for extra damage or his torso for additional yellow health-granting souls.

It’s a level of expression contemporary action games have forgotten, but in hindsight, it’s exactly what I expect of the latest Onimusha game. After all, that combative creativity dates back to Onimusha: Warlords.

“Obviously, in the previous titles, Issen does feel great to use and pull off, but it happened so fast [...] it’s hard to tell exactly what’s going on in that moment and so one of the things that Nihei-san approached me about with this title was trying to make the Issen a little more realistic and a little more grounded – like what would that look like, what would it feel like?” animation team lead Hiroshi Yugen tells me. He adds that there are around 10 different variations that Musashi can pull off depending on attacks coming from different angles and more.

Yugen’s biggest goal with Way of the Sword’s combat was to take the larger-than-life moments present in the cutscenes of previous Onimusha games and imbue the gameplay with that feeling. What was once only possible in Onimusha cutscenes is how Way of the Sword plays. That’s highlighted best in this underground lab, as I slash through dozens of Genma, splitting their fleshy corpses and watching as two distinct halves slide to the wooden slats below. Yugen calls it the “Dynamic Dismemberment System,” and I can already imagine the ways the Resident Evil developers in nearby offices might use this technology in new games.

“[This dismemberment] is not something that’s existed in any other title before, and it’s something that, on a technical level, needed to be added to the RE Engine [by Capcom’s engineers],” Yugen says. “Adding this feature was quite difficult because we wanted to combine it with the enemy deaths. In a lot of samurai dramas, they have a very exaggerated classic death where they are on screen for an extra five or six seconds and then slowly fall to the ground. To have that together with this dynamic dismemberment system on a technical level is quite tricky, so it’s something we really had to ask the programmers to introduce.”

The result is a satisfying death animation for every single Genma in the game, assuming you deplete their stamina like a proper samurai and enact the Break Issen or one of Musashi’s various other finishing moves. Between this cover story and multiple playthroughs of the demo, I’ve played probably four hours of Way of the Sword, and the dismemberments remain a delightful, if grotesque, visual to see on screen at the hands of my blade.

Yugen teases the behind-the-scenes motion-capture videos, bragging like a proud father about how the various swordsmen who performed the actions for this game went to great lengths to sell the effect in the studio. Motion capture is one of the ways Yugen and Nihei hope to make Way of the Sword feel like a modern action title. There are exaggerated elements but Yugen stresses that real-life samurai experts and choreographers performed the actions of Musashi as well as the larger-than-life movements of bosses like the eight-armed Rasho-gan and Dokyo, with her extended neck and uncanny appendages.

These technical, visual, and mechanical achievements are on display in the two boss fights of the underground lab. While searching for a girl trapped somewhere within, Musashi comes face to face with Byakue – Hundred Defilements, a boss that grows stronger the more you damage it. While I’m one to rush into combat swinging left and right, Byakue forces me to adjust my playstyle on the fly. I stay back, watch his wide-swinging moves and lunges, and look for entry points to do the most damage. My eyes widen as I deflect one of his spinning blade attacks, metal sparks showering the stage – it’s yet another moment where I just feel cool. This sentiment is present throughout my time playing Way of the Sword, and I appreciate that the Onimusha series hasn’t lost its touch in the 20-year absence.

Defeating Byakue yields me the aforementioned Earth-Shaker hammers, which become critical to defeating a dual-chimera boss at the end of the stage. These Chimera, called Nue in this fight, are a pair of mythical beasts inspired by various animals, one red and one blue, with electric tails that, yet again, force me to adjust my playstyle on the fly. Rushing in with slashes and swings only ends in Game Over screens. Instead, a defensive approach is required, as the only path to success is one of parries, Reflex Dodges, and Issens. While I’m wary of even bringing up a Soulslike comparison – and don’t worry, Nihei and the team stress to me that Onimusha is absolutely not a Soulslike, and I concur – I am reminded of moments in FromSoftware games where the best strategy is to learn the boss’ attacks and simply counter them all.

That’s what I do against the Nue, and after the umpteenth Break Issen, I am successful (and scared, because Yugen teases that a larger chimera boss awaits me later in the game). A closing cutscene of Dokyo’s bloody labyrinth is my reward, and though I won’t spoil what I see, I’ll reaffirm that Dokyo is the most compelling character on screen in Way of the Sword so far.

I’ll continue diving deeper into Capcom’s return to Onimusha as part of Game Informer’s month of Way of the Sword coverage. We’ll be publishing exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (including a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel as well. Keep an eye on the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so you don’t miss any of it.

In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you:

• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t A Horror Game, But There Are Definitely Moments Of Horror
• What We Learned About Shizuka, The Mysterious Woman Living In Musashi’s Oni Gauntlet In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t An Open World Game, And It Isn’t A Soulslike Either
• Here’s What The Genma Are Up To This Time In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Capcom Had To Ask RE Engine Engineers To Create The ‘Dynamic Dismemberment System’ For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• How Capcom Created Its Own Version Of Legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• How Capcom Reinvented And Updated Onimusha’s Combat In Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha 2 Director Motohide Eshiro On Way Of The Sword’s Resurrection Of The Series
• A Look Back On The First Two Onimusha Games With Planner And Director Motohide Eshiro
• Here’s How The Late Japanese Actor Toshirō Mifune Became The Face Of Musashi In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Capcom Says Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Success Being The 'Pinnacle Of Swordplay Action Games' Is What Success Looks Like After A 20-Year Gap
• There Are No Minigames In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword, But It Sounds Like The Phantom Realm Is Back
• Puzzle Boxes Are Gone In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword, But Bigger Environmental Puzzles Have Taken Their Place
• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t Connected To Previous Games, But There Are Homages
• How Capcom Decided On Miyamoto Musashi For Its Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Protagonist
• Why Kyoto Was The Perfect Setting For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Why 2026 Was The Year To Bring Onimusha Back After A 20-Year Gap

Are you playing Onimusha: Way of the Sword next month? Let us know in the comments below!

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Star Wars Zero Company is out next week, and if you couldn't tell from our preview impressions, we're pretty excited about it. But speaking as a person who didn't get to play that preview build, I'm clinging to every new piece of footage I get, and today's trailer is no different. Labeled as the "final trailer," it shows how the game's main cast of characters comes together to face off against Fathom, Zero Company's main antagonist. You can watch for yourself below.

Fathom is the leader of a cult called the Infinite Coil, which the party is tasked with taking down. Her militarized influence on the galaxy and ability to unite such a diverse coalition against her make it pretty clear that she's bad news, but this trailer also shows her saying things like, "My plague will show you the truth," which is textbook villain dialogue. The trailer shines a spotlight on the game's cast one-by-one, giving the surprisingly stacked voice cast a chance to shine, though it looks like we only see the male version of Hawks, the protagonist. The trailer concludes with a shot of a ship flying right into the nose of a Venator, a move as cool as it is reckless.

Star Wars Zero Company is out a week from Thursday, on August 27, on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC. For more on promising upcoming tactics games, check out our hands-on preview for Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave. For more video games set in that galaxy far, far away, check out our episode of New Gameplay Today on Star Wars: Galactic Racer.

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Marvel Cosmic Invasion is getting a new story expansion centered on Fantastic Four nemesis and Avengers: Doomsday poster boy, Doctor Doom. The Siege of Castle Doom arrives in the retro-inspired cooperative beat ‘em up this fall.

The Siege of Castle Doom is a paid DLC described as a new game mode that places Doctor Doom front and center, but with no trailer or screenshots, there's no word on what he's up to. We do know that the DLC will introduce two new playable characters. The last characters to be added to Marvel Cosmic Invasion were Cyclops and The Thing (who, funny enough, both appear in Avengers: Doomsday) in May, so could we see more X-Men/Fantastic Four members? Perhaps characters unaffliated with either team? We'll have to wait and see.

The Siege of Castle Doom will be available for all versions of Marvel Cosmic Invasion: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC. For more on the game, be sure to read our review. 

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Fortnite's newest season, Override, begins on August 20, and yesterday's trailer confirmed the new map and battle pass will be centered on a wide range of video game crossovers. The most notable inclusion is Sonic the Hedgehog; he'll be playable as a skin (stretched to fit Fortnite's standard proportions), and elements of Green Hill Zone will appear on the map. The new footage shows Jonesy running fast enough to go upside-down on one of the series' staple gravity-defying loops.

Sonic is just the tip of the iceberg, however. In addition to other characters from his universe, including Tails, Dr. Eggman, and Shadow, the trailer also includes glimpses of Mega Man, Crash Bandicoot, Spyro the Dragon, Joker from Persona 5, and giant Tetris blocks that fall from the sky. Key art released by the official Fortnite account also shows glimpses of Pac-Man and Sora from Kingdom Hearts (who we recently saw a lot of in the new D23 footage). Meanwhile, it looks like other characters who have appeared as skins in past seasons, like Master Chief, Geralt, Ryu, and Lara Croft, are also returning (to the battle shop).

Gameplay-wise, the trailer also shows a backpack-based power-up system, where wearing items associated with characters like Sonic or Tails gives you the powers of speed or flight, respectively. We also see weapons like Mega Man's arm cannon and the 8-bit shotgun, the latter of which seems to track the player's score. The trailer concludes with a glimpse of Geno, a major villain in Fortnite's lore who will presumably be appearing as a boss for players to battle.

You can check out the full trailer below:

Fortnite's newest season starts on August 20, and you can play it on basically every platform you can think of: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PS4, Xbox One, Switch, PC, iOS, and Android.

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Hayden Panettiere, the actor known for TV series such as Nashville and Heroes, and the former voice performer for Kairi in the Kingdom Hearts series, has passed away. She was 36.

Panettiere’s extensive credits include roles in films such as Remember the Titans, I Love You, Beth Cooper, Scream 4, and, most recently, Sleepwalker. She portrayed Juliette Barnes in the CMT series Nashville and Claire Bennet in Heroes and Heroes Reborn.

Video game fans will recognize Panettiere as the original English voice of Kairi in multiple Kingdom Hearts games. She played Kairi in Kingdom Hearts, Kingdom Hearts II, Kingdom Hearts: Birth by Sleep, and Kingdom Hearts 3D: Dream Drop Distance. Panettiere did not return in Kingdom Hearts III, as Alyson Stoner took over Kairi's role. Panettiere also appeared in the 2015 horror game Until Dawn (and its 2024 remake) as Samantha "Sam" Giddings, one of the primary characters for which she lent her likeness and performed motion capture. 

Game Informer extends its condolences to the family and loved ones of Hayden Panettiere. 

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Warner Bros. Interactive has confirmed that a sequel to Hogwarts Legacy, the 2023 Harry Potter game that has sold more than 22 million copies, is in development in its latest financial earnings report. The company refers to it as the "second installment" of Hogwarts Legacy, stopping short of giving it an official title. Developer Avalanche, which made the first game, is presumably the primary studio behind this sequel. 

It's not surprising that a Hogwarts Legacy sequel is happening, considering it was the best-selling game of 2023, beating out the usual top-spot holder, Call of Duty, which received a new sequel that year in the form of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III.  The first game unfolds in the 1890s, a century before Harry's saga, with players controlling a new Hogwarts student who wields a mysterious form of ancient magic, takes classes, learns spells, and unravels a conspiracy threatening the wizarding world. 

Hogwarts Legacy was the top trending game search on Google in 2023. Despite the excitement the game garnered from fans, it also courted controversy due to Harry Potter series author J.K. Rowling's inflammatory statements and actions towards and about the trans community. In 2019, Rowling began to reveal her anti-trans sentiment, expressing support for a tax specialist who made anti-trans tweets, as noted by GLAAD. In the years since, her support for anti-trans groups and anti-trans lawmaking has continued and been amplified, funded by her Harry Potter earnings. She has even created an organization dedicated to removing trans people's rights "in the workplace, in public life, and in protected female spaces," according to Advocate's reporting. Last year, Rowling tweeted that she loves "when a plan comes together," in response to a U.K. Supreme Court ruling considered an anti-trans win (and loss for the trans community).  Notably, Rowling was a financial backer of the group that sued the Scottish National Parliament, resulting in this U.K. Supreme Court ruling. 

All of this is to say that Rowling uses the funds she makes from the Harry Potter franchise to fund anti-trans groups and target the trans community, which makes up roughly 1% of the world's population.  Though Warner Bros. Interactive said Rowling was not involved in the creation of Hogwarts Legacy, she undoubtedly made money off of it. It remains to be seen if she'll have any involvement with the in-development Hogwarts Legacy sequel. 

Hogwarts Legacy launched on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC in February 2023, with PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and Nintendo Switch versions later that year. A Nintendo Switch 2 version was released last year. 

How do you feel about a Hogwarts Legacy sequel? Let us know in the comments below!

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This weekend’s D23, Disney’s annual fan convention where it announces a slate of upcoming film, TV, and video game projects, hosted a substantial update on Kingdom Hearts IV. We now know the game, first announced in 2022, is coming next year. Square Enix also announced Pixar’s Coco as the game’s first world.

A new trailer shows Sora making his way to Coco’s Land of the Dead, where he meets the film’s protagonist, Miguel, and his late great-great-grandfather Héctor. Like previous Disney-inspired worlds in other Kingdom Hearts titles, players will seemingly relive the events of the acclaimed 2017 film with a twist (it’s unclear if any of the actors are reprising their roles), and we even get to see Sora slay Heartless using a Day of the Dead-inspired Keyblade. 

Outside of the Coco world, the trailer provides new looks at Kingdom Hearts IV’s primary setting, Quadratum, the modern-day city previously seen in previous trailers, and two new characters. We also see gameplay segments featuring Mickey, Donald, and Goofy as they seek to uncover Sora’s whereabouts.  The trailer concludes with the reveal of Kingdom Hearts IV's launch window: late 2027. Check out a batch of new screenshots in the gallery below. 

Alongside this announcement, Square Enix revealed a Kingdom Hearts anime is in the works. Kingdom Hearts (working title) is coming to Disney Channel and Disney+ with series mastermind Tetsuya Nomura and the game’s creative team involved in production. There was no trailer or release window, but Disney did share the graphic posted below.

Kingdom Hearts IV is launching in late 2027 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. 

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Exoprimal was built using Capcom’s proprietary RE Engine, which is surprising considering the other Capcom games that have used the engine are quite different. The first game to publicly use it was Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which caused many to dub the engine the Resident Evil engine, which is not what the ‘RE’ stands for. Instead, the acronym is confusingly shorthand for Reach for the Moon. In Japan, the Resident Evil series is called Biohazard, which is why Exoprimal technical director Kazuki Abe is surprised that anyone ever thought the engine was named after the survivor horror series . “It’s really just a matter of coincidence that Resident Evil games are also developed using this engine.”

Since Resident Evil 7, RE Engine has been used to develop Resident Evil Village, the Resident Evil 2, 3, and 4 remakes, Devil May Cry 5, Ghosts’ n Goblins Resurrection, Monster Hunter Rise, Capcom Arcade 2nd Stadium, Street Fighter 6, and the multiplayer Resident Evil Re:Verse. It is also the engine used to develop Pragmata, Dragon’s Dogma II, and Onimusha: Way of the Sword.

Its versatility and flexibility are impressive, thanks to the RE Engine team being in-house at Capcom. It means that if a Capcom game needs the engine to do something specific for the game being made, the team can go directly to the source and have it added. For example, the Onimusha team needed a Dynamic Dismemberment System, so they put in a request to the internal engineers at Capcom. Rather than putting a game in an engine, the RE Engine can pivot and mold around the game based on needs. “If certain components for the game don’t exist in our engine already, the RE Engine team can work to implement those features to allow those things to become possible,” Abe says.

The Exoprimal team was less confident about where the RE Engine logo came from, which features a creepy, slightly misshapen hand reaching for the sky, silhouetted in front of the moon. “The idea of the orientation logo with the hand reaching up is the idea that as an engine, the game that you envision, creating the dream that you have for game development, is just within reach,” Abe says. “And by reaching out with this engine, you can grab it, reach it, and make it happen. This is entirely hearsay. Not entirely sure if this is true, but that is the idea behind the visual for the art engine logo.”

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This weekend we are suggesting a lot of new games that are heavily inspired by specific old games. Agent 64 and Wild Blue Skies are GoldeEye/Perfect Dark and Star Fox 64 throwbacks respectively. Even Duskfade has some real original Kingdom Hearts energy to it, though it is more of an action platformer than an action-RPG.

But we also have a new Madden, which I suppose you could make an argument is technically a remake of an old game. It's just one they've been remaking for a really long time. You can read our Madden review here, which has an exciting byline if you've been a fan of Game Informer for many years. We're happy to have new words on the site from Matthew Kato!

Before we get to our weekend suggestions, here are some of the biggest stories we posted this week.

• Finn Wolfhard Prefers Grass Type Pokémon And Classic SNES RPG Soundtracks
• Wild Blue Skies Review – Bland Homage
• Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave Preview – A Slow Build That Hasn't Quite Hooked Me Yet (But I Want To Keep Playing)
• Star Wars Zero Company – XCOM Meets Star Wars In The Best Way Possible
• Capcom Had To Ask RE Engine Engineers To Create The ‘Dynamic Dismemberment System’ For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t An Open World Game, And It Isn’t A Soulslike Either

Madden NFL 27

Brian Shea

Each year, EA Sports puts out a new Madden around this time, and, like clockwork, here we are with Madden NFL 27. This year's entry continues building on the longstanding gameplay of the franchise, giving you the rush of driving your team down the field or stopping your opponents from getting in the endzone. New additions include timing-based gameplay mechanics, more in-depth contract negotiations, and more fleshed out customization in Ultimate Team. The NFL season is right around the corner, so if you're looking for ways to start getting excited about your team's campaign (or try and chart a better path than your real-world team's current trajectory), Madden NFL 27 is a fine way to do just that.

Super Mario Sunshine

Charles Harte

It goes without saying that Mario games are some of the most beloved in the entire hobby, so it's always been surprising to learn just how difficult some of them have been to acquire legitimately. Super Mario Sunshine, which got added to the Nintendo Switch Online library this week, is probably the best example. While it was first released on GameCube in 2002, it wasn't ported to any other console for nearly two decades, making copies difficult to find. In 2020, Nintendo finally released the Super Mario 3D All-Stars collection for the Switch, including Super Mario 64, Super Mario Sunshine, and Super Mario Galaxy, but for reasons none of us can quite understand, the game was only available to buy for roughly six months, from September 2020 to March 2021. So while Super Mario Sunshine is likely neither the best nor most popular game in the series, it is maybe the most sought after. Whether you're revisiting it or checking it out for the first time, its addition to the NSO library means it's easily accessible for the first time in years.

Duskfade

Matt Miller

If you've longed for the glory days of 3D action/platformers with cartoony characters, and you also can never shake that feeling that you wish Kingdom Hearts would just have another entry for you to play, then, wow, is this a good week for you. Duskfade wears its inspirations on its sleeve, offering a generally lighthearted romp through a colorful world, and plenty of pretty vistas to catch they eye.

The story is trite and simple, and the action sometimes feels a little floaty by modern standards. But it's all pretty much in line with expectations you might have if these sort of platformers were the games you enjoyed years ago. Set expectations accordingly, and it could be a wonderfully nostalgic ride to fill your weekend.

Wild Blue Skies

Kyle Hilliard

I admit that Wild Blue Skies did ultimately disappoint me. You can read my review right here where I wrote, "Bowie and pals’ adventure successfully impersonates the Star Fox 64 experience, but it’s an underwhelming impression. Nostalgic moments and satisfying action appear occasionally, but it pays homage to a fault and doesn’t find space to present its own personality. It has the unfortunate timing of releasing and being compared to this year’s Star Fox on Switch 2 – an excellent remake of Star Fox 64. But even if I did not have that game in my immediate memory, I would be hard-pressed to identify anywhere that it has improved on the genre with design lessons learned since 1997, or even risen to meet the ones that already existed even 30 years ago."

Now with all that said, I never want to turn someone away from a game that might apeal to their sensibilities. There is some real Star Fox 64 energy and flavors here and unlike the Switch 2 Star Fox remake from earlier this year, it is all new levels, characters, and story. It may look a lot like the Star Fox universe, but it is undeniably its own thing.

Agent 64: Spies Never Die

Kyle Hilliard

Released earlier this week, August 11, Agent 64: Spies Never Die is a transparent throwback to the Nintendo 64 Rare first-person shooter. If you love GoldenEye or Perfect Dark, take a look at Agent 64. It has low-poly graphics, the ability to hold all the guns you can carry, secret agent stuff, and enemies that roll into your line of fire, get shot while standing up, and then immediately fall over – all the hits basically. It even zooms into the back of the player's head at the start of each level. It's wonderfully nostalgic and doesn't concern itself too much with modern quality of life upgrades (though you do play with both control sticks).

Tabletop Pick – Dragon Eclipse

Matt Miller

The tabletop world has seen no recent shortage of impressively large and robust board, miniature, and card games that carry a high price tag, but also deliver many hours of premium gameplay and storytelling. It's somewhat less common to find games of that caliber that are also relatively easy to learn and play, even for slightly less experienced players. One of my recent favorites in this regard is Dragon Eclipse, from the prolific team over at Awaken Realms. It's a cooperative campaign game specifically built to be played solo or with a partner.

You tame magical elemental creatures and set out to save your town while gradually unfolding a narrative, exploring a fascinating world, and confronting tactical combat scenarios. It's a gorgeous game laid out on the table, featuring evocative card art, incredibly detailed models/miniatures, and it's one of those games in which you always feel like you're making interesting decisions to push things forward. Beyond the campaign, it also includes modes of play for both competitive action and an interesting roguelite mode. Dragon Eclipse can be tricky to track down, but as of this writing, I've still found several stores carrying copies. It could easily become a new favorite if you're ready for diving deep into something new.

For more weekend gaming recommendations, follow the link!

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Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Publisher: Electronic Arts
Developer: EA Orlando
Release: August 13, 2026
Rating: Everyone

This year, the Madden franchise is hunting down the field for a quick strike to jumpstart itself and excite fans. In recent iterations, progress has come in fits and starts, so this year's game is taking some big swings in its Franchise and Ultimate Team modes. Unfortunately, despite having all the tools on paper, not all of the game’s attempts pay off. 

Gameplay remains a strong component of the series, delivering a satisfying feeling on the sticks in the running game and animations that often look realistic. This is bolstered by the addition of the optional catch meter from College Football. It – along with more interplay between receivers and defensive backs – creates some satisfying moments when you get the timing correct and haul in or break up a pass. CPU defenses can be nice and aggressive, but hopefully play-action passes are soon tweaked, because right now your QB gets blasted too often.

The big addition to Franchise mode is the Persona Engine, which tries to add some personality to how CPU players, and thus their teams, act. This is paired with increased options that produce a more involved back-and-forth between teams and players for contracts and free agency.

However, players’ DNA tags change as you progress through the negotiation rounds. One second the total salary amount is “critical” to them, the next it’s not; it feels like you’re getting the runaround. Each round, you have five different pitches you can deliver, but they are deployed in a similar pattern, so it can be frustrating when you want to bump up their bonus, for example, but it’s arbitrarily not an option in this particular round.

The worst thing is that the mode’s underlying logic is still confusing. CPU teams can’t manage their salary cap or draft properly, and simmed stats get wonky. The new Free Agent Frenzy fizzles out quickly as the process feels like a black box where players inexplicably sign with other teams no matter what contract you offer.

Even with more player-centric events to react to and news flashes to keep you up on what’s happening in the wider league, the mode still doesn’t capture the drama of the NFL. That the most exciting thing that happened during my multiple Franchise runthroughs was I talked a player out of retirement is a testament to how uneventful the mode often is. You can see that the mode can be fun and is taking steps in the right direction with this year's changes, but it's also clear it isn't delivering on its potential, which is a shame.

The career-focused Superstar mode does not have as many new features. You can now play as a tight end, safety, and edge rusher, but the experience is still best as a QB or running back. There’s also a battle pass, which is optional, but adds frustrating monetization and multiple in-game currencies to a completely offline mode in a full-priced title.

As your standing with your team balloons, so too does your influence; I enjoyed being able to eventually influence who my team signed in free agency. But what’s really needed is the feeling that you’re living the life of an NFL player. Even the ups and downs of playing your position isn’t fully captured because objectives don’t evolve as your career progresses. This means any sense of storytelling stops as soon as you complete that game’s objectives.

Ultimate Team arguably contains the largest change for this year’s Madden. Similar to EA FC, you can improve players by purchasing Evolutions. You can also choose your own captains to upgrade, and certain players get better when you complete their objectives. The rub is that which attributes are actually upgraded when you spend a skill point is randomized within specific buckets.

You can re-roll upgrades at the cost of the free, in-game UT Coin currency, but this will act as a Coin sink as players inevitably chase upgrades for the most desired attributes like speed. While this year’s additions undoubtedly increase your ability to customize your roster and should make the cards you choose more useful compared to the progression curve for longer, it will also further the grind and meta chase.

Adding features to a game is about more than simply making it different from last year; it should be about tweaking and improving upon previous years’ entries with the aim toward creating an unmissable experience. In Madden NFL 27, that can happen on the field itself via gameplay, but when it comes to being the coach/GM of a team or its superstar, it doesn’t fully deliver. 

Score: 6.75

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We may be halfway through August, but the crushing wave of games trying to get out before Grand Theft Auto 6 is cresting just ahead. So today, on The Game Informer Show, we've got a few looks ahead at some big name titles!

First up, Eric shares his thoughts after some hands-on preview time with Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, the massive new installment in Nintendo's strategy RPG franchise. Then, Marcus returns from Amsterdam with impressions of 1666: Amsterdam. I promise, you won't see the turns in that segment coming. After the break, we talk about the launch of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, and Charles shares some early impressions of the 1.0 launch for Fields of Mistria. Grab a cold drink and listen in!

The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Friday for chats about video game reviews, news, and exclusive reveals alongside Game Informer staff and special guests from around the industry. Support the show by subscribing to our physical video game magazine!

Watch or Listen Here:

Follow our hosts:

• Marcus Stewart (@marcusstewart7)
• Charles Harte (@chuckduck365)
• Eric Van Allen (@seamoosi)

Jump ahead using these timestamps:

• 00:00 - Intro
• 04:27 - Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave
• 28:21 - 1666: Amsterdam
• 1:01:08 - Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls
• 1:29:56 - Fields of Mistria

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Capcom’s samurai action series, Onimusha, has been around for more than two decades… kinda. The first game, Onimusha: Warlords, arrived in 2001, and within the next five years, three more mainline games were released. The last one launched in 2006, and it’s been 20 years since without a sequel. Onimusha: Way of the Sword is set to change that when it launches next month, and ahead of that launch, it is the latest game to grace the cover of Game Informer (and subscribers can read the cover story right here). 

I traveled to Osaka, Japan, to visit Capcom’s HQ, play never-before-seen parts of the game for hours, and interview the team making it. As a fan of the series, it’s clear to me that the “dark-fantasy” through line in the first four Onimusha games continues in Way of the Sword. That was particularly showcased in one section of the game I played through, which took protagonist Miyamoto Musashi into the underground lab of an evil Genma named Dokyo. There, the game’s dark-fantasy feel crossed over into full-on horror. Despite a couple of hours of gameplay that resembles a horror game, Capcom says Way of the Sword is not a horror game. 

This Dokyo, highlighted in the Game Informer video above, is a particularly twisted Genma. She kidnaps people – including children – and experiments on them to create new Genma by fusing them with animals. In one scene, she hoists a man fused with a large pig into the air before disposing of him in bloody fashion. She can’t do this in the broad daylight of Way of the Sword’s early Edo-period Kyoto, so in typical Capcom fashion, the team created an underground lab befitting the demon. 

“There was not really an intention to make a horror game [...] but with trying to build the character of Dokyo, in particular, we wanted to really showcase her twisted nature and that unsettling side of her and combine it with the strange and eerie occult side of Kyoto myths,” lead writer Hiroshi Yamashita tells me, explaining why Dokyo’s lab feels like a horror level within an otherwise non-horror game. He adds that the scares of this lab – which, mind you, does feature jump scares that got me once or twice – are not indicative of the full game but rather just this specific stage built around Dokyo’s more gruesome nature. 

Way of the Sword director Satoru Nihei describes this stage as one of the more horrific in the game's dark-fantasy action experience, likening it to a “classic Japanese ghost house.” Somewhat familiar with this subgenre of Japanese horror, it’s clear in what ways: shadows on the lab’s shoji highlight horrific body mutations and animal experiments gone wrong, and the halls are dripping with blood that shimmers in the soft glow of nearby torches. Once-beautiful kimonos hang from the rafters above, and it’s evident they used to belong to the subjects screaming in agony throughout this stage. Even Dokyo herself is designed in a horror-infused way, with elongated appendages, a shrill and petulant personality, and the way she speaks as a mastermind of the maze that is her underground lab (which, during Way of the Sword, you are clearly trapped in). 

Nihei says this specific stage heightens the anxiety and tension Musashi and Shizuka, the mysterious and ethereal woman trapped in his Oni Guantlet, are feeling, which is why the team “thought this [horror-inspired stage] was a good way to explore those feelings and contrary states in the setting.” There’s also contrast in Dokyo herself, who is quite demonic and inhuman in appearance, but speaks in English/Japanese and dons a beautiful kimono as if she’s a woman. 

I came away from my time playing Way of the Sword most enamored with Dokyo – she’s unsettling and twisted, but very compelling and absolutely a scene-stealer in the game. I look forward to seeing more of the horror her stage promises, as well as the other parts of the game where dark fantasy morphs into something closer to Capcom’s Resident Evil series. Fortunately, I don’t have to wait too long because Onimusha: Way of the Sword launches on September 4.

I’ll continue diving deeper into Capcom’s return to Onimusha as part of Game Informer’s month of Way of the Sword coverage. We’ll be publishing exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (including a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel as well. Keep an eye on the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so you don’t miss any of it.    

In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you:

• What We Learned About Shizuka, The Mysterious Woman Living In Musashi’s Oni Gauntlet In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t An Open World Game, And It Isn’t A Soulslike Either
• Here’s What The Genma Are Up To This Time In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Capcom Had To Ask RE Engine Engineers To Create The ‘Dynamic Dismemberment System’ For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• How Capcom Created Its Own Version Of Legendary Samurai Miyamoto Musashi In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• How Capcom Reinvented And Updated Onimusha’s Combat In Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha 2 Director Motohide Eshiro On Way Of The Sword’s Resurrection Of The Series
• A Look Back On The First Two Onimusha Games With Planner And Director Motohide Eshiro
• Here’s How The Late Japanese Actor Toshirō Mifune Became The Face Of Musashi In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Capcom Says Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Success Being The 'Pinnacle Of Swordplay Action Games' Is What Success Looks Like After A 20-Year Gap
• There Are No Minigames In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword, But It Sounds Like The Phantom Realm Is Back
• Puzzle Boxes Are Gone In Onimusha: Way Of The Sword, But Bigger Environmental Puzzles Have Taken Their Place
• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t Connected To Previous Games, But There Are Homages
• How Capcom Decided On Miyamoto Musashi For Its Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Protagonist
• Why Kyoto Was The Perfect Setting For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Why 2026 Was The Year To Bring Onimusha Back After A 20-Year Gap

How do you feel about the horror elements of the Onimusha series? Let us know in the comments below!

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Netflix has spent the last five years attempting to expand its chokehold on the film and television industry into the video game space, but it's had limited success. Today, Game File reports that the streaming giant is receding from the gaming world a little more by closing two studios: Moonloot, which had yet to release a game, and Night School, known for its work on Oxenfree and Afterparty. Netflix is also cutting staff from its internal team, though it "declined to say how many jobs were being lost" when speaking to Game File.

Moonloot is a Helsinki-based team, founded in September of 2022 and led by Marko Lastikka, who had experience working at Zynga and EA in the years prior.  Unfortunately, Moonloot never got the chance to release a game. 

Meanwhile, Night School made a name for itself long before its Netflix acquisition, releasing Oxenfree in 2016 and Afterparty in 2019. Under Netflix, it also released Oxenfree II: Lost Signals in 2023, Thronglets in 2025, and Unhinged, which launched very recently, on June 30. Game File reports that Netflix co-CEO Greg Peters praised Unhinged in a recent investor call, but given today's news, it seems Netflix was still dissatisfied with Night School.

The indie studio's acquisition in 2021 was one of Netflix's earliest investments in the world of video games, so closing the studio is a significant step. Game File says Netflix is choosing to focus its future efforts on "kids gaming, party games, story-driven fare and games with mainstream hooks, such as a recently released FIFA game."

Studio closures and mass layoffs have sadly become commonplace in the video game industry over the past several years. Earlier this week, Directive 8020 developer Supermassive had its third wave of layoffs since 2024. Earlier this year, Battlefield Studios had layoffs despite releasing the best-selling game of 2025; Bungie was decimated and Destiny 2 released its final update, and Xbox parted ways with several of its development studios, laying off thousands. That last instance, at least, recently received pushback; just yesterday, Xbox's new CEO visited Bethesda and was greeted by a giant inflatable rat.

If you want to look back on Night School's great games, check out our reviews for Oxenfree, Afterparty, and Oxenfree II: Lost Signals.

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