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Matt Mercer Critical Role, Ganondorf’s voice actor My foray into a lifetime of gaming and storytelling was informed deeply with my childhood acquisition of an original NES, and along with that, The Legend of Zelda absorbed me entirely. I remember following up with the (underrated) Zelda II: The Adventure of Link while chowing on NES Cereal and working on my Link costume for Halloween, then staying up late at my friend Raphael’s house to play Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past on his SNES before I ever had my own. The sweeping promise of getting lost in Hyrule has grown up with me, and with each iteration of the story, I eagerly return to this realm I feel at home in. The chance to now be a living, breathing part of that world means more than I can express. Favorite entry? Majora’s Mask or Tears of the Kingdom. Patricia Summersett Zelda’s voice actor Pre-2017, I would’ve said my favorite game was Ocarina of Time. But The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild became something more personal – a life-changing experience that reshaped how I measure every game since. Through this series, I’ve celebrated extraordinary cosplay, art, music, and personal stories with countless humans around the world. For me, The Legend of Zelda isn’t just a collection of innovative games – it’s a network of people, a deeply playful and romantic global community. Eric Barone Creator (Stardew Valley, Haunted Chocolatier) My favorite Zelda game is probably Link’s Awakening for Game Boy. It was my first introduction to Zelda so it has a special place in my heart. And something about that game had a very “indie” feel to it. It was creative and unique in a way that seems harder to find in modern triple-A games. One thing about Zelda games that has influenced me is the sense of exploration and foreshadowing. You’ll see an area that you can’t currently access. But you know that, eventually, when you find the right items, you will be able to get there. That’s an exciting feeling that makes you want to continue playing. The more I think about it, there are a lot of little things in Zelda that have influenced my game design approach... from the menus, to the little bushes you can cut, to the idea of finding “special items” that grant new abilities. It’s kind of basic stuff, but it just shows how important Zelda has been for influencing all of gaming. Clint Tasker Thorium, co-founder/creative director (UnderMine, UnderMine 2) I fell in love with The Legend of Zelda when I played A Link to the Past, which is by far my favorite. It felt like an open, living world before we had a term for it. I spent hours just roaming around, picking up chickens, and shooting arrows into fences. I wanted to immerse myself in that world. It wasn’t until Breath of the Wild that I felt that way about Zelda again. It’s a series that has had a profound impact on me as a designer. Philip Tibitoski Young Horses co-founder & president (Octodad, Bugsnax) The best game in the Zelda franchise in my opinion is Tears of the Kingdom, but Ocarina of Time is my favorite. Ocarina was my first time playing a game where I felt a true sense of adventure and it also happened to be the first time in my life I took note of the people who were in the credits. It’s the first time I wondered what a programmer, artist, or designer actually did to create a video game. Ocarina inspired me to figure out how to become a game developer. I still replay it every couple years, start to finish. Also, there’s that all-timer opening title screen. An incredible vibe. I mean, come on. Matt Johnson Film director (Nirvanna The Band The Show The Movie, BlackBerry, Tony) My uncle played [Zelda] and I think that made me feel like, “Oh, this is a game for adults. I shouldn’t play this game.” And so it wasn’t until, obviously, the 64 and Ocarina that I was like, “Oh my God.” That game my brother and I played, and we thought, “This is unbelievable.” And so strangely, that was the first Zelda game that I played. And from there I went on, and we played A Link to the Past, and we’re like, “Well, this game is just incredible.” But I will say that the Zelda game that I think I loved the most, that my brother and I had the most fun with, is actually The Wind Waker, which is, to this day, I think just gorgeous. I just really loved Wind Waker. Matthijs van de Laar Twirlbound, creative director/CEO (The Knightling) The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild The Zelda series has always been important to me because it’s so strongly committed to a sense of adventure, and always through the most creative lens. What games let you fly a mechanical beetle with your Wii-mote, scale walls on a spinning top or collapse your faithful DS like a stamp for a puzzle? All of my most inspiring gaming moments have been in Zelda games, and Breath of the Wild cemented the status of the series by taking it into such a playful direction, pushing you to experiment and explore all the time. There’s just nothing quite like diving into a new Zelda game and I doubt there ever will be. David Jaumandreu Undercoders, game director (Denshattack) The Legend of Zelda is one of those rare series that sparks the same excitement across generations. On our team, that shared passion connects people whose first adventure was the NES original with those who discovered the series on the Wii. Every new entry feels like coming home: familiar in the best ways, yet full of new stories, characters and mysteries waiting to be explored. Satoru Nihei Capcom, director (Onimusha: Way of the Sword) I’d like to offer my heartfelt congratulations on The Legend of Zelda’s 40th anniversary. The first Zelda game I ever played as a child was Link’s Awakening on Game Boy. I still remember how delighted I was by the playful inclusion of the Yoshi doll in the claw machine. I also vividly recall the simple joy of cutting down grass and using the Spin Attack to collect Rupees. These incredible details and sense of fun and enjoyment have evolved throughout the series to this day. The sensation of cutting in Zelda also shares a connection with the satisfying Issen critical strikes and dynamic dismemberment mechanics we’re developing in Onimusha: Way of the Sword. Zelda has undeniably influenced my work as a game maker, and I’d like to offer my deepest gratitude and congratulations once again. Rob van der Sloot Vertigo Games, senior game designer (Metro Awakening) The first Legend of Zelda for the NES shaped my childhood and I have fond memories of my father drawing the game’s dungeon maps, while me and my sister played the game. It opened up a world of possibilities for me and made me realize that I wanted to make games myself. Greg Kasavin Supergiant Games, creative director (Hades II, Hades, Bastion) Ever since I first played that solid-gold cartridge for the Nintendo Entertainment System, I’ve found the Legend of Zelda series to be really captivating. It’s a series all about creating a strong sense of discovery, which I think is one of the greatest sensations games are capable of creating just in general. As part of this, the Zelda series has successfully reinvented itself time after time. There aren’t many if any other series of games with so many influential, landmark titles in them, from A Link to the Past, to Ocarina of Time, to Breath of the Wild. I have to say, though, that my personal favorite is 2002’s The Wind Waker, with its iconic visual style, amazingly well-executed nautical theme, and unforgettable final confrontation. That so many different Zelda games could easily be someone’s favorite is a testament to how outstanding and consistent the series has been for all these years! Michał Zbrzez´niak CD Projekt RED, senior cinematic designer coordinator (The Witcher 3, Cyberpunk 2077) I think The Legend of Zelda is one of the most innovative game franchises of all time. Look at how Ocarina of Time revolutionized locking on to a specific enemy with Z-targeting, or how Majora’s Mask had NPCs living an entire life regardless of what the player was doing with the three-day time loop mechanic. These were mind-blowing features almost 30 years ago and games being released today are still using them. More recently, Breath of the Wild is my favorite Zelda. Its resource management may seem tedious, but it’s actually encouraging you to always expand and experiment. The open-world mechanic is genuinely freeing by allowing you to go at your own pace. It’s genius. Aaron Biddlecom System Era, principal game designer (Starseeker: Astroneer Expeditions) It’s no exaggeration to say that The Legend of Zelda is the reason I became a game developer. At the tender age of seven, I was so awestruck by the majestic scale of A Link to the Past that I boldly wrote to Nintendo requesting the novelization rights to the series. Though they understandably declined, their acknowledgment of my sincerity and their encouragement to pursue my ambitions committed me to a future where I might one day inspire others the way Zelda inspired me. Simon Lachance Berzerk Studio, creative director (Just Shapes & Beats, Infernax) As a native French speaker, I played The Legend of Zelda: A Link to the Past before I was fluent with its English text – but I realized later in my career that the series cleverly uses more than words to communicate. Level design, enemy design, UX – those are all types of communication that guided me through A Link to the Past, long before I could read its script. That game was formative in helping me understand the different ways you can speak to and guide players. Al Hope Creative Assembly, principal creative director (Alien: Isolation) The Legend of Zelda: Majora's Mask The Legend of Zelda, wow! The 40th anniversary. Yet for me, Zelda has always felt timeless. Across the decades, in all its expressions it has remained familiar and creatively courageous. Whether through the haunting strangeness of Majora’s Mask, the bold art style of The Wind Waker or the breathtaking freedom of the series masterpiece, Breath of the Wild. The series tells stories with real narrative depth yet amongst the wide cast of memorable characters and colourful inhabitants it explores human nature with a light, graceful touch, simply, elegantly. A line of dialogue here, a melancholic tune there. What has always stood out most for me is how deeply it seems to care for the player. Every puzzle, environment or mechanic feels crafted with empathy and trust in the player’s curiosity. Having grown up with the series and now as a developer myself, I increasingly feel that each Zelda game authentically reflects the people who made it – their creativity, generosity and belief in the treasure of play. Joakim Sandberg Creator (Iconoclasts) I have no great duty to nostalgia, save for a few games. I feel the two recent open-world Zeldas have given me so many hours of pleasant exploration. A tone I’ve needed more as an adult. I have had some important game experiences in my life that changed my mind on games or how varied they can be. Basically, that they can be anything. Majora’s Mask had such a profound impact on tone and story presentation to me, and the darkness of it at the time. It felt like it told a story through setting and tone and didn’t need to specify all of its intent, though you felt a concise plan present. I saw this in other media at the time as well, and I had started on a path of wanting to make games of a certain style, and I’ve yet to make many of those plans, and I need to get my ass in gear. Fabian Willis Yarn Owl Studios, game/art director (Demi and the Fractured Dream) A Link to the Past was the first and last game my dad gave me before he passed away, so it has always meant a lot to me. As a kid I was too scared of the Zora enemies to finish it, but when I returned to the game in high school it became one of the most memorable experiences I’ve ever had with gaming. Completing it felt like a message from my dad about the beauty of games, and it inspired me to become a game developer so I can create worlds that inspire others. Greg Lobanov Wishes Unlimited, director (Beastieball, Chicory, Wandersong) Zelda’s been a huge touchstone for me throughout my life and it’s something that has grown up with me. As a designer today, what I find most inspiring about Zelda is the way it creatively changes up from game to game. Where most franchises (and players) fixate on superficial features as essential aspects, Zelda is defined by a much more subtle and rich underlying philosophy that can be expressed in many different forms without losing its essence. Each instalment manages to be a lauded success, and then they throw it all away and start over with something different for the next one... even its most iterative sequels aim to establish a ton of radical design ideas. As a creator myself, I also strive to be someone who will continue to challenge myself, take risks and delight players after 40 years. Thank you, Zelda! Stay weird! Yonghee Cho Capcom, director (Pragmata) Congratulations to The Legend of Zelda on its 40th anniversary! It’s been a source of inspiration in countless ways for so many game creators, and even after 40 years, its influence continues to endure. For both gamers and developers alike, it’s a series that always delivers new discoveries and experiences, surprising us time and again. I’m very excited to see what lies ahead on the journey Zelda continues to take. Tee Lopes Composer (Shinobi: Art of Vengeance, Sonic Mania, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge) Zelda is important to me mainly because of the music. It was one of the first series where I really noticed how strong and memorable game music could be. The melodies stick with you for years, and they help shape the whole experience. As a composer, it definitely influenced how I think about writing themes and making music that people remember. My favorite Zelda game is The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. I love the sense of adventure sailing across the ocean, and how the music ties everything together. It’s one of those games that just feels good to play every time. Kaname Fujioka Capcom, executive director & art director (Monster Hunter Wilds) Congratulations on the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda series. As a fan, I have nothing but gratitude for the Zelda team, who, amidst the industry’s rapid changes, have never given up while carefully building upon a foundation of comfort and wonder. The gaming experience, where freedom gradually expands from small puzzles within vast worlds, is truly unique to the Zelda series. I believe these past 40 years have been a journey of continually exploring what a Zelda game can be, and I look forward to seeing Zelda continue its legacy and evolve in the years to come. Paula “fingerspit” Ruiz Deconstructeam, composer (Virtue and a Sledgehammer) Link’s Awakening was the first game I fully completed on my own, and I will treasure that constant feeling of adventure and discovery forever. This experience deeply influenced how I understand video games; moreover, I feel it has marked many generations of game creators. You can find the cultural heritage of Zelda still kicking strong in modern games: The Legend of Zelda has undeniably defined the language of video games. Takayuki Nakayama Capcom, director (Street Fighter 6) I gained invaluable experience while working on The Legend of Zelda: The Minish Cap. The advice I received from Shigeru Miyamoto-san left a lasting impression on me, which has greatly shaped the way I approach game development even today. He is, and will always be, a North Star guiding all game creators. Congratulations on the incredible milestone of Zelda’s 40th anniversary! Jonathan Lavigne Tribute Games, game director and co-founder (Scott Pilgrim EX, TMNT: Shredder’s Revenge) I was six years old when The Legend of Zelda was released. Even though I was a little young to fully appreciate it, it already felt special. It was the first game I played where you could wander in any direction and even tackle dungeons in different orders. On top of it, with its mesmerizing music, punchy sound effects, and a world in which only a few old people survive living in caves, it felt full of mysteries. I loved it at the time and it’s maybe even better today! From my perspective as a game designer, it’s a game that proves that with such an elegant design, you can trust the player’s ability to learn your game’s mechanics and secrets without hand-holding. It’s a masterpiece of suggestion and subtle guidance. My favorite game in the series is probably a tie between A Link to the Past and The Adventure of Link, with The Legend of Zelda following very closely. These three games had a huge impact during my childhood, and they’re my “comfort food” of gaming. Takashi Iizuka Sega, vice president of product development, head of Sonic Team The Legend of Zelda has had a profound impact on both my life and career as a designer. The first game I played was the original The Legend of Zelda on the NES and Disk System, and its revolutionary design, offering freedom, exploration, and intuitive mechanics, shaped how I view game development. I’ve played every entry in the series since, and working with the Zelda team on Sonic Lost World was a memorable highlight of my career. While each game is unique, Breath of the Wild is my favorite in the franchise, as its expansive world and unmatched sense of discovery brought back the same joy and wonder I felt playing the original. Dave Oshry New Blood Interactive, CEO (Amid Evil, Dusk, Ultrakill) The first real system I played as a kid born in 1984 was the NES. And as such, the first Zelda game I ever played was the original. I still have my gold cartridge. It’s a load-bearing game. A foundational game. Its design principles have not aged a day and are still being applied in games today. The characters and world are timeless. 40 years on and each new Zelda game feels just as fresh as ever. It’s one of the most remarkably consistently incredible gaming franchises of all time. With nearly no equals! That’s probably why they call it “The Legend.” I believe A Link to the Past is a perfect video game. It’s truly, actually, literally timeless. Both in terms of design and style. Even the music. Especially the music. It has never aged and never will. That’s just one of the many reasons why it’s not only my favorite Zelda game but arguably one of the greatest video games of all time. Easily top 5. Probably top 3. Could even be 1. Did you have the Link to the Past Dark World theme stuck in your head before? Well, I bet you do now. Hiroyuki Sakamoto Sega, series chief producer (Yakuza/Like a Dragon) I believe The Legend of Zelda series has always been an epoch-making presence in the games industry, captivating players around the world ever since the very first title. When thinking about game design, The Legend of Zelda is like a textbook. Even without explanations, players naturally play, learn, and experiment – and this play cycle is incredibly important for game design. I look forward to the series’ continued success as a frontrunner in the industry, and as a player myself, I always look forward to the next title. Congratulations on the 40th anniversary. Celia Schilling Yacht Club Games, marketing director (Shovel Knight, Mina the Hollower) The Legend of Zelda is one of the franchises that made me love gaming and I think that is true for a bunch of people at Yacht Club Games! As developers, the series has helped shape the way we think about adventure games. Shovel Knight and Mina the Hollower simply would not exist without Zelda. Every game adventure follows in its giant footsteps! Happy 40th Birthday Zelda. Cheers to many more years of adventure! Joshua Mills Ubisoft, creative director (Rainbow Six Siege) The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time The Zelda Series is important to me because each title acts like their own temple of time. I am able to use them to jump through time to specific key moments in my life. For example Zelda II: The Adventure of Link. I originally played it as a kid but this one is extra special because I ended up replaying it as a new dad. I had to stay up at night with our newborn (who was a contact sleeper) so my wife could get some rest. I held my daughter in the crook of my arm in our rocking chair while I played Zelda II all night on my Switch. Now when I think of Zelda II I get to relive that beautiful, fleeting moment in time that I shared with her. Each title of the series has core memories of my life, my family, my friends tied to it. I love the series and play every one that releases not only because I adore the playful surprises and ingenious design but because I get to seal that current time in my life into another “Temple of Time.” Favorite entry? The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Seiji Aoki Sega, producer (Legacy Virtua Fighter Project) Congratulations on the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. I still vividly remember the excitement and sense of wonder I felt when I first encountered the series on the Disk System back in middle school. With just small visual motifs – like cracked stones or grass growing between them – the game stirred my imagination and filled me with the thrill of adventure. I also fondly recall playing late at night after my family had gone to sleep, engrossed in the game with only the glow of the television lighting the room. As I grew older, the series evolved tremendously as well, becoming a title that people of all ages can enjoy. As a game developer, I have nothing but deep respect for how far it has come. Levi Schneidewind Perfect Garbage, senior programmer (Grave Seasons) The Legend of Zelda on the NES is one of the games that first sparked my desire to pursue game development. I remember being completely immersed in what felt like an endless open world, with monsters around every turn, secrets tucked into every corner, and harrowing dungeons to overcome. That sense of wonder stayed with me, and I knew that one day I wanted to build worlds that could give others that same feeling. Choi Ji-Won Neowiz, director (Lies of P) The Legend of Zelda is the work that made me who I am today. To me, The Legend of Zelda series is far more than just a game – it is a work that showed me the direction toward becoming who I am today. It was through this series that I first learned the courage to stand against fear in the name of justice and realized that such a journey can be not only perilous, but also joyful and filled with wonder. Among them, A Link to the Past, which I first encountered in my childhood, remains the greatest title in my heart. The world that unfolded beyond the screen, its music, and the thrill of adventure continue to form the foundation of my creative work. I hope that Link – the timeless symbol of pure courage – will continue to live on within me for years to come. Nintendo’s PerspectiveIn 2023, we sat down with Zelda producer Eiji Aonuma and director Hidemaro Fujibayashi. We asked them why they think the franchise has remained popular and acclaimed for so long. Here’s what they had to say: Hidemaro FujibayashiNintendo, director (Skyward Sword, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom) Speaking from the development perspective, I think some of it has to do with the fact that we have a unique and diverse set of people in our teams in that they have all kinds of hobbies; it’s not only just people who play games. And they have these hobbies that they enjoy, and they take that fun that they experience in their real lives and try to drop the essence of those elements into the games that they create. Having that environment where they feel like they can freely develop and use their creativity to drop these into the games they’re working on, I think, plays a critical role in allowing for very diverse and unique games to be created. The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword Eiji AonumaNintendo, director (Ocarina of Time, The Wind Waker, Twilight Princess), producer (Skyward Sword, A Link Between Worlds, Breath of the Wild, Tears of the Kingdom) When it comes to Nintendo’s development, I think we have a bit of tenacity with the ideas that we come up with. So as you may be aware, Mr. Fujibayashi was the director of The Legend of Zelda: Skyward Sword, and in this game, he had the desire to give Link the ability to seamlessly descend from the sky and then, after landing, kind of proceed from there. That was something that, given the time, he was unable to do, but I think that this idea is something that probably stuck with him and stayed in his head. When it came time to make games of a different kind and the type or the shape of the game might change those, those opportunities arise when you can find a way, maybe from a different angle of implementing that idea that you’ve kept with you all this time. This is something I think Mr. Miyamoto has said in the past, but when you have an idea and try to make it work, and it doesn’t work out, you don’t give up on that idea. Instead, just wait for the right opportunity to arrive. Those ideas – and I think this is true of our developers – stick around in their heads; they keep them with them as they continue in their work. When those things pile up, and the right opportunity presents itself, we find the opportunity to implement those ideas. View the full article

Soulframe, the fantasy MMO from Warframe developer Digital Extremes, is the latest game to grace the cover of Game Informer! The digital issue is now live, meaning you can pore through all 14 pages of our Soulframe cover story and dive into previews, reviews, and features about The Legend of Zelda's 40th Anniversary, the failures before the success of the Nintendo 3DS, and more... but only if you're a Game Informer subscriber. Now, while our amazing and beautiful magazines that we ship to your mailbox 10 times a year is absolutely worth the price of a subscription in our humble opinion, your subscription includes something extra special for Soulframe: We teamed up with Digital Extremes to ensure every Game Informer subscriber (current and new subscribers who subscribe by April 22) will receive a code to check out Soulframe early, as part of its Preludes program. There is a lot to play through in Soulframe and there will be even more as the team adds more content to the MMO – and your code is all you need to check it out as the game heads towards its 1.0 launch in the future. How To Get Your Soulframe Preludes Code If you are already a Game Informer magazine subscriber, or you plan to become one by April 22, you're set – when your physical issue arrives in your mailbox (the first wave of issues are expected to arrive in the first week of May), your polybagged issue will feature a postcard-like pack-in with a unique Soulframe Preludes code printed on it alongside instructions on how to use it to play the game. There is also a support email line on that card to get in touch with Digital Extremes should you run into any issues accessing the game.If you are already a Game Informer digital-only subscriber, or plan to become one by April 22, Game Informer will send you an email in the first week of May 8 (by May 8 at the latest) with your unique Soulframe Preludes code and instructions on how to access the game with it. For more information about Soulframe, including what's available in Preludes, whether there will be progress wipes in the future, update schedules, bugs, and more, head to the Soulframe FAQ here. For more exclusive Soulframe insight, head to the Game Informer Soulframe hub here. View the full article

The digital version of Game Informer magazine Issue 377 – the May issue – featuring Soulframe on the cover is now live! Subscribers can read the full issue right here, with print issues arriving in mailboxes starting in May. If you subscribe to Game Informer before April 22, you'll receive this latest issue highlighting Warframe developer Digital Extremes' Princess Mononoke-inspired fantasy MMO, Soulframe, across 14 pages in my cover story. And, in case you missed the news, all current subscribers (and anyone who subscribes by the April 22 deadline) will receive a code for Soulframe to check out the game in its current pre-alpha Preludes state, chock-full of content to play through! Please note: Physical subscribers, your code will be packed in with your actual Game Informer issue so when it arrives to your mailbox, you can hop in that day. Digital-only subscribers, we will be sending you an email with your Soulframe Preludes code by May 8. In addition to my 14-page Soulframe cover story, which features all-new information about this unique MMO, including details about upcoming mounts and Pacts, behind-the-scenes insight into creating this game, and so much more, this issue is packed with excellent and exclusive features. As a team, Game Informer banded together to reach out and report on various "missing" games, or games we haven't heard anything about in a long time; senior associate editor Marcus Stewart has prepared a history lesson for Japan, as told through video games; freelance contributor JJ Bersch celebrates 15 years of the Nintendo 3DS (yes, it's really been that long) while looking back on the struggles it endured before success; former Game Informer editor Ben Reeves took us to the streets of this year's Game Developers Conference; and to celebrate 40 years of The Legend of Zelda, we opened up our contact books to ask developers and creators what the seminal series means to them and catalogued their responses for your enjoyment! Elsewhere in the issue, we take a quick look at the future of Assassin's Creed, dive deep with the gorgeously animated platformer, The Eternal Life of Goldman, tune into what Mixtape is cooking up for our eyes and ears, and interview the interestingly connected developers behind last year's Consume Me and this year's Titanium Court. And it's another Game Informer issue, so you know we're bringing you the latest previews for games like Big Walk, Blighted, Samurai Pizza Cats, Control Resonant, Dead as Disco, Pokémon Winds and Waves, and Saros. On the review front, we have some heavy hitters too, like our reviews for Resident Evil Requiem, Pokémon Pokopia, Marathon, Crimson Desert, MLB The Show 26, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections, World of Warcraft: Midnight, Scott Pilgrim EX, and more. In case you haven't seen it yet, here's another look at the beautiful and vibrant Soulframe cover, which speaks to the game's Princess Mononoke inspiration. Up front is the customizable player-controlled hero, The Envoy, standing alongside Orengall, the Omen Shewolf. You can read more details about this exciting cover here. By subscribing to Game Informer, you'll receive 10 issues a year in both physical and digital editions. We also offer a digital-only subscription for a reduced price. Read the digital issue now View the full article

Call of the Elder Gods, the sequel to the 2020 puzzle adventure Call of the Sea, has a new trailer and a release date. The sequel takes place 30 years after the original and stars two characters who work together to unravel a new cosmic mystery. Call of the Sea protagonist Norah Everhart may be out of the picture, but she serves as the narrator for this new adventure. Call of the Elder Gods will have two playable characters: newcomer Evangiline Drayton, a university student and engineer, and Harry Everhart, Norah’s husband and archeology professor from the last game. When the pair realizes their supernatural visions are connected, they embark on a puzzle-focused quest for answers. Like the first game, Call of the Elder Gods is a first-person adventure in which players explore various locations, such as the Australian Desert and the Arctic, searching for clues and solving puzzles. Players will control both characters separately, though other sequences let you swap between them freely. Like Call of the Sea, Call of the Elder Gods is heavily inspired by the work of H.P. Lovecraft and is specifically influenced by A Shadow Out of Time. Call of the Elder Gods will launch on May 12 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC. The game will also launch on Xbox Game Pass. Until then, be sure to read our review of Call of the Sea. View the full article

Arkham Horror’s lengthy history in the tabletop gaming world continues to expand. The latest addition is the new core set for Arkham Horror: The Card Game. Originally released in 2016, the game has seen numerous expansions over the years that have expanded its storytline, but this year’s launch represents a new chapter and ideal jumping on point for new players. We reached out to game designers Duke Harrist, Nicholas Kory, and Reid Bradshaw about the new installment, what both new and established players can expect, and why the card game (and broader Arkham Horror fiction) has had such staying power. We featured the game in our newest issue of Game Informer, and here you can read our full interview with the design team behind the new core set. GI: For newcomers to the franchise, what is Arkham Horror, and how would you characterize it tonally as part of the broader Cthulhu mythos? Bradshaw: For over a hundred years, the Cthulhu Mythos have incorporated the work of thousands of artists and storytellers into an ever-evolving “weird fiction” setting, one which posits that the reality humanity knows is merely one tiny facet of a much greater, crueler cosmos in which monsters beyond our comprehension could wipe out our species by accident, and there would be little we could do to stop them. The Arkham Files, and in this case specifically Arkham Horror: The Card Game, are Fantasy Flight Games’ own unique take on this communal setting. While the broader Mythos are often categorized as “cosmic horror”, the Arkham Files fall more into the spin-off genre of “pulp horror"; and like its many pulp peers, the Files reach into that definition of the Mythos above and make one tiny change. There may be little we can do to stop the monsters beyond our ken, but that doesn’t mean we shouldn’t try. Grab your shotgun, your spellbook, and your most trusted allies and give that cruel, uncaring universe a battle it’ll never forget! Even if you don’t survive, your death may yet save others, slow the forces of evil, and buy humanity a few more days in the sun. Pulp horror like the Arkham Files says the forces arrayed against us may be vast and incomprehensible, but they can still bleed, and through great sacrifice we may yet see them vanquished. It’s absolutely my favorite kind of story, and as a player of Arkham Horror LCG it’s a story you’ll get a chance to tell over and over again at your gaming table. GI: The new core set is being positioned as Chapter 2 of the Arkham Horror card game, but also as a fresh starting point for new players. Can you share broad strokes about the storytelling that precedes Chapter 2 in the earlier releases of the card game? Harrist: Campaigns for Arkham Horror: The Card Game tend to be pretty self-contained, so for new players, there's very little to catch up on. You don't need to have defeated Hastur in The Path to Carcosa before taking on Dagon and Hydra in The Innsmouth Conspiracy. We leave it to players to form their own head canon about which events take place when, even though everything is generally set in the roaring 20s. However, we temporarily broke from that convention with last year’s The Drowned City campaign. In it, Cthulhu wreaks havoc on Arkham despite the investigators’ best efforts, leaving the city and its inhabitants permanently changed. The stories new players will experience in the new core set and Chapter 2 products take place roughly six months after the destruction of Arkham. The city struggles to rebuild itself as outside investors arrive, vying for control. While new players don't need to know anything about what happened before, this changed landscape provides a fertile backdrop for new horrors, as players will see in future expansions like the upcoming Children of Blood campaign. GI: What is a living card game, and how is it different from traditional collectible or ongoing card game experiences? What happens after a person or play group completes a playthrough of this new core set? Bradshaw: The most important aspect of an LCG is that the contents of every product are fixed—with no random booster packs or “rarity differences” between cards, you'll always know what you're getting from each purchase. Additionally, LCGs are built around an accessible “evergreen” entry point designed to onboard each new player in the same way. In Chapter Two, that's our brand-new Core Set—an introductory product containing both an exciting new tutorial campaign, and a collection of starting player cards that will support your collection going forward no matter what character, class, or format you choose to play. After you’ve played through that introductory experience a few times, if you’re hungry for more Arkham, awesome! The two ways you can expand your experience are by picking up either new player card products or new story products. Player card products will expand your suite of weapons, allies, spells, skills, tricks and tactics for combatting the Mythos, and may also come with new characters for you to build decks around. Story products, on the other hand, offer you additional scenarios or campaigns to drag your long-suffering investigators through, solving fresh mysteries and battling ever-more-horrific Mythos threats. Regardless of which expansions you prioritize, AHLCG is designed such that every player card product creates a new play experience for each campaign you already own, and vice versa. The depth of your collection, and the unique experiences it contains, expand exponentially with every product you buy. GI: In brief, how is a game of Arkham Horror: The Card Game played? Is it cooperative or competitive? What do you do during a session of play? Kory: Arkham Horror: The Card Game is a cooperative card game in which players control a single investigator. Each investigator must bring a pre-constructed deck of player cards to every game, which represents that investigator’s tools, weapons, allies, skills, and personal weaknesses. Working together, the investigators to travel to new locations, discover clues, and fight off cultists and monsters, all while working to advance the story before the evil servants of the mythos complete their agendas. Regardless of whether players win or lose, they still continue the campaign with the trauma, victories, and losses incurred during their previous scenarios. Each scenario in a campaign will progress the story, present new and unique challenges, and offer changes based on choices made and resolutions reached in previous scenarios. GI: How have the game rules changed in this new installment, as compared to the prior core set and expansions? Kory: Most of the rules in the 2026 core set have remained largely unchanged from previous core sets. Our desire was not to make any previous purchases obsolete. We wanted to provide new players a great opportunity to get into the game, while also giving long term players more cards to supplement their collection. GI: What can you share about the story direction for this new core set, and what lies beyond in subsequent expansions to the game? Harrist: Our first goal for the Brethren of Ash campaign (included in the core set) was to introduce new players to the world of Arkham. As such, the story needed to encapsulate the absolute essentials of an Arkham campaign. In it, investigators are pulled into a deadly conspiracy, learn of a dark cult, and must scour Arkham for clues in hopes of stopping a deadly ritual. It needed to be narratively and mechanically straightforward, as it sets expectations for what stories the game can tell and what players can do within those stories. Going forward, we intend to focus on different aspects of the Arkham Mythos and feature both new and returning Ancient Ones. The first few story products will take place in Arkham, but there are many other parts of the Mythos we haven't yet explored. Future stories all take place in the same time frame after the reconstruction of Arkham, but like previous campaign products, each story is entirely self-contained. That said, there is a grander plot unfolding in the background that we're excited for fans to discover as they play through Chapter 2 and experience other stories in Arkham. GI: Who are some of the characters or investigators that players can control in the new game? Can you share a couple of examples of the individuals who will be showing up? Bradshaw: The investigators of Arkham Horror come from all walks of life, and are an expansive cast ranging from car mechanics to secret agents to actual, full-on wizards! Whoever you are, if your response to being confronted with the horrors of the Mythos is to stand up and fight for the world you know, delve deep into the secrets of this impossible reality, or even just channel the indomitable human spirit and do everything you can to survive...you might be an investigator. As for the five investigators you’ll find ready and raring to go in the Chapter Two Core Set, some—like gun-slinging, clue-finding private detective Joe Diamond—have been a part of the setting since the original first edition of Arkham Horror back in 1987. Others have joined the cast over the many years (and spin-off games) since. In particular, troubled vigilante Izzie Barnes is making her first appearance as a playable character, after being saved from the hands of a dangerous cult by her sister Jenny...at the cost of Jenny herself being cast out past the end of time itself! Izzie has taken up her sister’s guns and sworn to enact vengeance on the dark forces that plague Arkham, all while searching for a way to bring Jenny back home. GI: For longtime players of the card game, what do you feel are some of the big reasons to be excited about this new installment, beyond the obvious draw of new cards, stories, and adventures? Harrist: This core set offers longtime players the opportunity to experience a brand new cardpool from the ground up. The design team made many intentional choices to rebalance class identities, weapon types, and other basic tools players will use, with the hope that it creates a solid foundation for fun and inventive designs. We also hope that longtime players try playing the core set campaign with just the new player cards in the box, rather than slotting them in with old cards. This is a fairly rare experience, and one we hope returning players sieze. With the new product types and reduced length of some campaigns, the design team has also put a special emphasis on replayability. Our hope for returning players is that they would be able to play campaigns in Chapter 2 multiple times and have new experiences and challenges each time. This manifests in different ways, from product to product, is a unifying design principle we keep in mind going forward. GI: Can you share anything about the organized play options that might be accompanying this new chapter in the Arkham Horror: The Card Game era? Kory: We are excited to be continuing much of the same organized play traditions as we move forward with this new core set – events at gaming conventions like GenCon with special promotional materials, and unique epic multiplayer experiences to allow more than four players to play the same scenario. The design team is very excited to see the Arkham Horror community continue to grow, starting with this new core set and moving forward with every thrilling expansion in Chapter 2! View the full article

Spoiler season has been steadily rolling out for Magic: The Gathering's return to the magical school of Strixhaven, and the set's looking pretty magical so far. The five schools have all prepared some powerhouse spells, and today, we get to add a few to the mix. Wizards of the Coast sent over two cards for Game Informer to premiere; one that seems like a solid removal option for Silverquill and Lorehold players, and a flier sure to wreak havoc in a Quandrix or Prismari set-up. Check out Stand Up for Yourself and Encouraging Aviator. Stand Up for Yourself is a solid 3-cost removal spell, able to take out one of your opponent's heavier hitters. There's not really anything fancy or intricate to do here, but you don't always need that. Sometimes, you just want the ability to take something off the board, and Stand Up for Yourself will do it. Also, fantastic use of perspective and framing in the art from Nathaniel Himawan here. On the Blue side, there's Encouraging Aviator, a 2/3 Bird Wizard for Blue plus Two, with Flying. At the Uncommon slot, this could already be a handy offensive tool for the Blue player trying to get over the top of their rival's defenses, but the Aviator brings a little extra help to the table in its prepared spell, Jump. "Prepared" spells are a new mechanic for Secrets of Strixhaven, attaching well-known Magic spells to the creatures of Strixhaven. When prepared, the creature may cast their spell for the associated cost and at the designated speed, but it'll have to become prepared again to keep doing it. You can read more about the mechanic's nuances here, but for our purposes, this means Encouraging Aviator can use the classic Alpha spell Jump to bring a friend along on a flying attack. It's a potent card, then, that could become a middle-game nuisance for anyone playing against a deck with some solid Blue options, and notably dodges removal like Stand Up for Yourself. I'm a fan! And the owl-frog combo painted by Oriana Menendez for this card captures the magical wonder of Strixhaven very well. This return to the spells of Strixhaven seems like a fitting follow-up to the similarly whimsical Lorwyn Eclipsed from earlier this year. For the rest of the currently revealed Secrets of Strixhaven cards, check out the gallery here. The set officially opens for class on April 24, with pre-release festivities occurring at a local game store near you the weekend prior. View the full article

There are a lot of promising Star Wars video games on the horizon, from Zero Company to Fate of the Old Republic, but it's been years since we've gotten solid updates on some of them. Perhaps most notable among those is Star Wars Eclipse, an action-adventure game from the Detroit: Become Human and Heavy Rain developers at Quantic Dream. Despite being announced at the Game Awards just over four years ago, we've gotten minimal updates and have yet to see gameplay. Unfortunately, yesterday, Insider Gaming published a report (which we spotted via Eurogamer) that we'll be waiting for a while longer. First mentioned on the Insider Gaming Weekly podcast and later written as an article, the outlet claims to have heard development on Star Wars Eclipse is "very slow going," with developers spending months working and making little progress. The source went on to say that, “At this stage, the long-term outlook is less driven by creative capabilities and more by financial viability. Should Spellcasters fail commercially, NetEase is expected to reevaluate its commitment to the studio and could opt to discontinue further investment.” Since it was acquired by NetEase in 2022, Quantic Dream hasn't released any games other than Spellcasters Chronicles, a recently revealed free-to-play multiplayer game that's currently in Early Access. It was a surprising announcement from the typically single-player-focused studio, and currently has "Mixed" reviews on Steam. According to Insider Gaming's source, Quantic Dream is hoping its multiplayer project can generate enough cash to further fund Star Wars Eclipse's lengthy development cycle. For more Quantic Dream, check out our preview of Spellcasters Chronicles from last year, then read our review of Detroit: Become Human. View the full article

Sea of Stars was one of our favorite games of 2023, and you can now bring the acclaimed RPG everywhere you go with its arrival to iOS and Android today. Inspired by classic JRPGs like Chrono Trigger and Final Fantasy VI, Sea of Stars comes from Sabotage Studios, developer of The Messenger. In fact, Sea of Stars is a distant prequel to The Messenger and stars two warriors, Valere and Zale, who wield the power of the Moon and Sun, respectively. The pair teams up with their childhood friend and battle chef, Garl, to take on an evil alchemist known as The Fleshmancer. You can purchase the game for $9.99 on iOS and Android, though a special launch sale temporarily knocks this price down by 10 percent ($8.99) until April 14. Check out the mobile trailer below. The mobile version of Sea of Stars does not appear to include its free post-game story DLC, Throes of the Watchmaker, so players will have to wait and see if that also makes the jump. Editor Kyle Hilliard scored Sea of Stars a 9 out of 10 in his review, writing, “Sea of Stars is a stellar throwback that appeals to fans like me who love 16-bit RPGs, but it also functions as an excellent entry point. Annoyances that hindered early games that inspired Sea of Stars are nowhere to be seen. Simple actions like moving around the world feel great, the story picks up quickly, and farming experience is effectively unnecessary. It all leads to a smooth, consistently thrilling adventure with fun combat, all in a gorgeous and inviting world.” Sea of Stars is also available on PlayStation and Xbox platforms, Switch, and PC. If you're jumping into the game for the first time via this mobile port, be sure to read our list of tips for starting the adventure. View the full article

Sony has entered an agreement to acquire machine learning and computer vision company Cinemersive Labs. Read more View the full article

IGN Entertainment and Dentsu Gaming will host a Women in Gaming UK event on Friday, April 17 in partnership with Meta. Read more View the full article

Brian Raffel, co-founder of Call of Duty developer Raven Software, has retired after 36 years in the games industry. Read more View the full article

Take-Two Interactive has reportedly eliminated its entire AI team as part of restructuring. Read more View the full article

Claim your free Deadswitch Combat: Soldier Bundle Steam DLC key and unlock all 300+ soldier items! Please note this DLC giveaway ... View the full article

Yoshihisa Kishimoto, the creator of legendary beat ‘em up arcade series such as River City and Double Dragon, has passed away at 64 years old. The news was announced by his son and confirmed by outlets such as Famitsu. Yoshihisa Kishimoto Kishimoto’s son, Ryūbō, posted the news on X in response to a post celebrating the 40th anniversary of Kunio-kun, known better to the West as River City. His message (translated by X) reads, “I am the son of Yoshihisa Kishimoto, director of the passionate, hardcore Kunio-kun series. I am writing to inform you that my father passed away on April 2, 2026. Please feel free to contact me anytime if you need to confirm details or anything else. Thank you so much for sharing so much information over the years for the Kunio-kun fans. We appreciate your continued support moving forward.” Japanese outlet Famitsu and gaming historian Florent Gorges confirmed the news, as shared by Kotaku. Yoshihisa Kishimoto began his video game career at Data East in the 1980s, working on titles such as Cobra Command and Road Blaster. He was later employed by Technos Japan Corp, where he created Nekketsu Kōha Kunio-kun, known outside of Japan as Renegade, a semi-autobiographical brawler partially based on the fights he frequently engaged in as a teenager. Renegade would spawn the Kunio-kun series that includes River City Ransom and subsequent River City games, Super Dodge Ball, and Crash ‘n’ the Boys: Street Challenge. Kishimoto created Double Dragon, launched in 1987, which became a big hit and spawned numerous sequels (the latest of which is 2025’s Double Dragon Revive), spin-offs, a 1993 animated series, and a 1994 live-action film. Kishimoto served as director or producer on Double Dragon, Double Dragon II: The Revenge, Double Dragon III: The Sacred Stones, Super Double Dragon, and Double Dragon IV, which is the final game he directed. “I'm sorry for not being able to reply, but thank you very much for the many heartfelt memory messages," Kishimoto's son wrote in a follow-up message translated on X. "I'm truly delighted to learn that there are people around the world who have played the Kunio-kun series extensively and understand my father even more deeply than I do. Please continue to enjoy my father's works with a smile in the future.” View the full article

Chamber Survival is free on Steam until April 9! Chamber Survival is a 3d first person survival game. View the full article

Last week, we kicked off the month of April with the release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie, and it's been a roaring success. While critical reception has been mixed (check out our relatively positive take on the movie here), audience reception has been positive, and tickets have sold very well. According to Deadline, the Illumination-led adaptation is not just the biggest release of 2026 so far – it's one of the biggest opening weekends for an animated film of all time. As of the morning of Sunday, April 5, the movie amassed $372.5 million, just trailing behind the amount its predecessor made ($387.8 million) in that same time window. But despite lagging behind its metaphorical older brother, it still cracks the list of biggest openings for animated films of all time, sitting behind only Zootopia 2, Ne Zha 2, Moana 2, and the first Mario movie. This also makes it the second biggest Illumination film of all time and, so far, the biggest opening of 2026. The Super Mario Galaxy Movie has audiences rejoin Mario and Luigi on a journey across the cosmos. In addition to the obvious references to the Super Mario Galaxy games, the film is jam-packed with cameos from all corners of the Mario canon, including Yoshi, Rosalina, Bowser Jr., and (everyone's favorite) Wart. For more on the movie, check out this casting announcement from a particularly surprising character that pops up in the film. [Source: Deadline] View the full article

Download Evergreen Valley: The Parkour Game for free via Epic Games Store! Evergreen Valley is a 3d parkour adventure game ... View the full article

Alex returns from vacation to chat with Marcus and Charles about Life is Strange: Reunion, Super Meat Boy 3D, and several indie games: Damon and Baby, a twin-stick shooter from Arc System Works; Parseword, a new daily word game from the Wordle creator; and Raccoin, a coin pusher roguelike for fans of Balatro and quarter machines. Later in the show, we ask Marcus if his new PS5 Pro was worth the purchase. 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! Listen to The Game Informer Show:Listen to "Life is Strange: Reunion, Super Meat Boy 3D, Raccoin (New Balatro-Like)" on Spreaker. Follow our hosts online:Alex Van Aken (@itsVanAken)Charles Harte (@chuckduck365)Marcus Stewart (@MarcusStewart7)Timestamps:00:00 - Introduction 01:41 - Cruise Ship Arcades 15:19 - Life is Strange: Reunion 44:10 - Raccoin: Coin Pusher Roguelike 58:06 - Parseword 01:46:27 - Damon and Baby 01:21:31 - Super Meat Boy 3D 01:39:39 - Is the PS5 Pro Worth It? View the full article

Congratulations; you made it to the weekend! It was a busy week over here at Game Informer, and that was largely due to everything that happened on April 1. For starters, Darth Clark was resurrected and took over our news section, writing parody articles about Hideo Kojima, Palworld, the new Xbox, Nintendo, Super Monkey Ball, online shooters, the Pokémon Cubone, and Grace Ashcroft's boss. As chaotic as it was, it was nice to see him return to the site for the first time in years. The other thing that happened on April 1, however, was the theatrical release of The Super Mario Galaxy Movie! You can read our more detailed thoughts on it below, but it's always a big deal to have video game adaptations hit the big screen and, in this case, make a lot of money. Regardless of your feelings on the film, it's a big event for the industry, and it's fascinating to see reactions from fans and critics. Of course, we also played and wrote about plenty of video games this week. Here are some of the biggest stories: Life Is Strange: Reunion Review – Rewinding Too Far BackwardsThe First Three Resident Evil Titles And Breath Of Fire IV Are Now Available On SteamEvery Video Game Prank From April Fools' Day 2026After Laying Off Terminally Ill Employee, CEO Tim Sweeney Says Epic Games Is In Contact About Life Insurance IssueOctopath Traveler TRPG To Receive English ReleaseMarvel Maximum Collection Review – The Good And Bad Of History The Super Mario Galaxy Movie Charles Harte I had an okay time seeing The Super Mario Galaxy Movie. It's undeniably beautiful, with stunning visuals and extremely polished animation. The action sequences are especially exciting, and it remains fun to see how Hollywood adapts the relatively simple act of power-ups and head-jumping into thrillingly choreographed combat. That said, I found the story to be a bit of a let-down, especially when it came to the characters. I don't need that much depth in a movie like this, but even Mario had a clear character arc in the first movie that feels absent in this one. It generally feels overstuffed, prioritizing set pieces and game references to the detriment of the narrative. That said, I can't deny the fun of seeing such an iconic video game character on a huge screen surrounded by lifelong fans, and would still recommend that experience to anyone with any nostalgia for Nintendo's primary plumber. Given the nature of this publication, I'm betting that's just about everyone reading this. For a more positive take on the film, check out executive editor Brian Shea's review, where he writes. "The Super Mario Galaxy Movie is still the joyful experience of the first movie and continues to respect the source material in ways most other game adaptations fall short, but it's the cinematic equivalent of a theme-park ride." Deadzone: Rogue Brian Shea I very nearly missed the boat on Deadzone: Rogue multiple times. After all, the game launched on PS5, Xbox, and PC last year without me noticing. Then, when it was shown at a recent Nintendo Indie World Presentation, I thought it looked like a somewhat generic sci-fi FPS, and I brushed it off as something I would likely skip. However, when I got my hands on it at GDC in March, I was immediately hooked. When the game arrived on Switch 2, I fired it up, and I simply cannot stop playing it. In Deadzone: Rogue, you step into the shoes of a man who doesn't remember anything about the space station he's on, and with that mystery in mind, you start going on runs. The sharp shooting mechanics, rewarding cycle of gathering loot and resources for upgrades, and bite-sized rooms coalesce into a terrific roguelite twist on the sci-fi shooter genre that sets it apart from other recent games I've played. While the loss of a promising run is as devastating as ever, I am almost always immediately jumping right back into another attempt at moving the story forward. Lucky Luna Wesley LeBlanc I found myself in a situation earlier this week where I had to sit for a long period of time without anything in my surroundings to entertain me, and I also forgot to bring a book, my Switch 2, or something of that ilk. So, I perused through Netflix’s offerings of mobile games and downloaded one called Lucky Luna. Though this game has been a part of Netflix Games since its launch in 2022, it was the first I’d heard of it. The primary reason I downloaded it is because it can be played vertically – I hate playing games horizontally and wish devs would consider a vertical form factor for play (hint hint: Balatro). It helps that the art style is beautiful, with its feudal Japanese caves and dungeons bathed in deep blues and greens. It also helps that its platforming stages can be completed quickly, and you do so by swiping left or right on the screen – how hard or light you swipe will dictate how far Luna moves left or right, making your quest to dodge booby traps, spikes, gaps, and more, a matter of swiping. It’s a simple but ingenious way to move in a platformer, especially on a phone. This gameplay, its inventive level design, and the pick-up-and-play design of Lucky Luna has solidified it as my new mobile go-to when I’m looking to avoid doomscrolling on my phone. Super Meat Boy 3D Marcus Stewart I’ll be spending a big chunk of this weekend leaping, dashing, and getting brutally killed in Super Meat Boy 3D. I adore Super Meat Boy – I think it’s up there as one of the best platformers ever made – and this three-dimensional follow-up mostly lives up to the tight gameplay and enjoyable challenge of its 2D predecessor with some caveats. The camera can have a hard time properly framing certain angles, making jump trajectory hard to parse, for example. Hopefully this issue doesn’t persist, because the game seems chock full of meaty potential and I'm in the mood for a good 3D platformer. Raccoin Charles Harte From the publisher of Balatro comes Raccoin, a game about those coin-pushing machines in arcades. I haven't played much, but I'm certainly having fun so far; it's impressive to me just how many games can be turned into roguelikes with the right amount of tweaks. Raccoin uses a physics system that has you shoot tokens of different colors onto a flat surface covered in loose change, and wacky modifiers (like coins that multiply when making contact, for example) keep runs interesting and chaotic. If you, like my coworker Alex Van Aken, are specifically a huge fan of these coin pushing machines, Raccoin is a dream come true. But even if you're in the much wider category of "people who enjoy roguelikes," there's plenty of fun to be had for you as well. At the time of writing, it also happens to be on sale on Steam. View the full article

Invincible VS brings the popular superheroes and villains from the pages of comic books and TV screens to the arena of video games. Given its comic roots, the art direction is a crucial component of the game’s presentation and gameplay. We spoke to the game’s art director at developer Quarter Up, Dan Eder, to learn how the team settled on its visual style, which Invincible character was the most challenging to bring to life, how designing original hero Ella Mental differed from working on the existing cast, and what it was like to collaborate with Invincible’s creators. Game Informer: Before this, you have previously worked on MultiVersus as an artist, so you kind of already have experience working with established characters and art directions. Were there any lessons that you learned from working on that game's art that you've carried over into Invincible VS? Dan Eder: So many, so many. I think whenever you're working with an existing IP, there's always the question of how you're going to translate and adapt, right? Because it's not a one-to-one sort of interpretation. You have a lot of characters that you know are from different mediums, and then they have to work and feel cohesive next to the rest of the roster. With MultiVersus, [it] was even more extreme, because you get very different art styles; Bugs Bunny, but then you got to Aria Stark from Game of Thrones, right? So here, there was still the interpretive process, but they all came from the same universe, so it was a little bit easier. But it is a different medium, so you couldn't exactly take the design from the comics or the show and do a one-to-one because it wouldn't necessarily work in the context of what we're doing, both because, visually, it's a different art style, and B., it's a different medium. So there were a lot of decisions that we had to make with certain characters, some design elements, how we want to portray materials, which have always been so flat for characters, for example, but now, with this being a more PBR or physically based sort of graphical style, how we're going to interpret all of that. So that was a lot of our “foundational stage.” It's really how to get the material library and how to kind of make sure that we're creating something that's authentic to the IP but still elevated and doesn't feel like a copy-paste sort of process. Can you elaborate on that point you mentioned about the existing art direction not working one-to-one in this context? Can you explain why it would be? Because I know there are probably fans who are like, “Why doesn't it just look exactly like the show?” Eder: Yeah, well, I think the show has a pretty simplified style for a good reason, right? It's basically hand-drawn. You have to keep the details, I would say, to a minimum, or at least not overwhelming. And a lot of it comes down to cheating. There's a lot of stuff you can do in 2D that you can't necessarily do in 3D. We're working with actual 3D models versus a painted illustration, where you can do whatever you want, in essence. So there were a lot of characters initially, where we kind of looked at how they're designed – I think Battle Beast was one example – and we figured out pretty early on that it just wouldn't make a lot of sense in terms of how it's going to bend, for example, like the metals. And that's when we had to take some creative liberties, and that's always in cooperation with the creators. So Robert [Kirkman], Corey [Walker], and Ryan [Ottley] are basically explaining why certain things have to be adjusted, but also without deviating too much from the design. We don't want to create our own design for these characters; we are using the show primarily as a reference point. But we have had to adjust certain things. Another example, I think, is Ella Mental. The initial version that we got did have a very simplified design that I think, if you kind of look from the gateway camera, the sort of three-quarters we have, you'd get a lot of very flat colored surfaces. I think for the show, that would be totally fine, right? Because it's a 2D cartoonish aesthetic. For us, it just wouldn't hold up compared to some of the other characters or the overall level of detail that we want to have in the game. So it's on a case-by-case basis. It's always about, "Is this good to go, as is?" Some characters were. Or “Are we going to have to add some elements to make it feel as high-fidelity as we're kind of showing for.” How closely are you working with Robert and Corey on this? Are they pretty hands-on, or are they giving you, like you said, the creative license to do what you want? Are there any specific pieces of feedback that you've gotten from them that have helped with the art direction? Eder: They're heavily involved in every decision we make. That's not to say that they make all the decisions. I think, luckily, we have a very healthy, trusting relationship. Pretty early on, we kind of gave them the reassurances that we get the IP and that we love it. We're all huge, massive fans of Invincible, and any decision that we make has to have a good reason. We're not just haphazardly changing things just to mess up the characters of the world. But it is very important for us to involve them in everything, from new characters to new environments to certain decisions that we make that might be original. You don't have source material for everything that you have in the game, right? So in those cases, we make a lot of pitches to Robert, saying, "Hey, we need to change this and that, this is the reason why, here's roughly what it's going to look like; what do you think?" And then 9 times out of 10, it's going to be like, "Hell yeah, do your thing," which is, again, I think the best case scenario, because I think there's a trusting relationship, but we make sure not to exploit it. Just because we can doesn't mean that we want to mess [with] things too much. If it ain't broken, don't fix it, right? And I think a lot of the charm of Invincible is in its characters, in its simplicity, and that's something we really want to preserve, but we also don't want to be held back by certain restrictions that maybe do not apply to us, right? Because, again, it's a different medium. So we swing big. That's my general philosophy: “Hey, let's swing big.” Let's make it as cool as possible without going too hard to a point of sort of jeopardizing what made the original so special. But we always look at this game as sort of an extension of the IP, not like a spin-off. We want this to be a leveled-up, elevated version of something that a lot of people know and love, but we have to get the creators on board. We can't just do our own thing. And luckily, they've been insanely supportive. So that's been a real privilege. For Ella Mental, was her visual design more or less finalized by the time you guys got to see it? Or did you guys get to chip in on that creative process as well to kind of get us where she needed to be? Eder: More or less. Yeah, I think she was about 90 percent of the way there. She looked like she does now, but we definitely added a few bells and whistles again, for the sake of making her look interesting in the context of the game, right? So the overall character, the backstory, the shape language, the facial features were pretty much the same. But yeah, as far as the costume goes, there was definitely a little bit of back and forth to make sure that she feels complete from a conceptual standpoint. Was it trickier with Ella Mental because she doesn't have any existing animation references? She's not in the show, so you're kind of only working with drawings. Eder: I thought it was liberating, actually, because we could do our own thing. I think with a lot of other characters, we didn't want to deviate too much. Because, look at Rex, for example; people know Rex, and they love him. We weren't going to change anything significantly. I think with Ella, because she's new, we had a bit more wiggle room there, so we could chime in on certain visual elements that have evolved over time, from how we portray her elements, for example, through certain facial features that have evolved; when we took it from concept to 3d there's always a little bit of an evolution. The same goes for all of our other characters, but I think with Ella, even more so, because you have never seen her in 3d form, you've never had other angles other than the ones that we got from Cory, which was just a sketch. And again, luckily, we did change certain things, but I think "refined" is the word. Not necessarily changed, but we refined a lot of things that were a little bit ambiguous in the concept. And luckily, Corey was fully on board. He loved it. He even embraced it. When he did his own variant, which he recently posted, he actually used the updated design that we did for the game. So as you can see, there's a lot of back and forth, right? It's not like, "Hey, you did this. I'm going to do my own thing." It's "How can we learn from each other and adopt certain elements, no pun intended, that are gonna that are gonna work for both of us." Was there anything that you had to teach Robert and Corey about the game design process that maybe they weren't aware of going into this? Eder: Yeah. They're not game devs, and I think there's a lot that they taught us that we didn't know about these characters in this world, but there's a lot that we had to explain, because it is a different workflow. I think one example is when you send them poses for approval, which is something that we do. We have those really beautiful character key art pieces that we post on our website, and then all the promotional material. And a lot of times we start with a lot of different poses, and sometimes you get what I call 3D-isms, which is weird stretching, or weird deformations that happen because of the rig. You can't clean that up as easily as you can in 2D because you got a whole joint system dictating how things are going to behave. And then I love the responses, because [they’ll ask,] "Why is this so weird? Why is this stretching?" So we always have to explain that's part of the process, it will get cleaned up, but we always give them the context because we are aware that they don't come from game dev. We don't hold that against them. I think it's actually a good thing because they're not just sort of critiquing this with the game dev goggles. It's like a blank slate for them. So it allows us to not be limited by what game devs would see as clear boundaries, where they don't have those boundaries. And we actually appreciate it, because it allows us to think outside the box a lot of the time, and overall, I think it's a very healthy relationship. I'm an Invincible fan, too, and I also appreciate how relatively simple a lot of the character designs are, because I think it lets their personalities shine through more. But that said, was there any character that you found the most challenging to translate to this fighting game style? Eder: I think every character introduced a new challenge because you don't have typical archetypes. They're not like all those classic bodysuit superhero figures. They're different. So you have a character like Mark and Omni-Man, who are those superhero archetypes, but then you have Monster Girl, which is weird because it's a little girl, but it's also a huge monster. And I think that's one example of a character that kind of took me back to the MultiVersus days with Iron Giant, where you have a really big character, and then [ask,] “How do we make it work without obscuring all the gameplay and all the action?” So it's always about running those tests as early as possible before fully committing. We do a lot of prototyping with very ugly models by design just to validate everything. We have to validate scale, we have to validate silhouette and overall readability. You can have the most beautiful game in the world, but if it's not clear and readable, then it's not good. If the player gets confused, then it doesn't matter how beautiful it is. So we put a huge emphasis on gameplay clarity and readability. So each character that's a little bigger than the average or smaller, it always initiates that conversation of, "How do we make them feel balanced and dominate the entire playing field?" Speaking from a purely artistic standpoint, who have been some of your favorite characters to work on? Eder: Oh, man. Wow, so many. So I think Cecil was a really interesting one because you had to take the most generic-looking character – just an old guy in a suit – and make him interesting. I think a lot of other characters, they're just cool from the get-go, like freaking Battle Beast; how can you not make him cool? But with Cecil, you had to put a lot of that coolness factor into his animation; his poses, his shape language, his facial expressions, his color palette. If you look at his gameplay, the way that he sort of behaves with the teleportation is a lot of those little flares that we had to add to make him feel non-pedestrian. He had to feel like he's not a lame version of everyone else on the roster, and I think because of his kit, because of how well rounded is, we got there. And I think he's on par with everyone else in terms of how unique and cool it is. But it took a whole lot of time for us to nail it, because initially, when we were looking at the model, we're like, "How are we going to make this guy cool? He's just so slender and dull.” But I think he has such an expressive face, and again, his animation, his poses, the VFX, the sort of weapon switching that he does, where he basically summons a whole bunch of different projectiles and weapons. It lends itself to a very complete feeling gameplay experience, and I'm really glad we managed to solve that, because for the longest time, I was a little bit skeptical of whether or not we're going to actually make it work. What went into designing the stages themselves? Are they as referential as the characters and the moves? Are there any original stages in the game, or are they all pulled from either the comic or the show? Eder: They're entirely referential. Luckily, Invincible has such a wide array of environments to pick from that we had to narrow it down to the ones that we have in the game, but we had hundreds of environments that we were talking about initially. So many different biomes and even planets. And it's all about, "How can we make the experience unique from one environment to another? We don't want to copy-paste that environment. We didn't want to have one Chicago and then another Chicago slums environment, or whatever. So we wanted them to feel completely different from each other. So you have Chicago, and then after that, you have the Himalayas, and then you have the Moon. So it's not just the environment itself, it's the atmosphere, it's the feel, it's the color palette, it's the environmental reaction. For Chicago, for example, whenever we have what we call a round reset, where one character dies and then the other one swoops in and they do the clash, everything around you crumbles and gets destroyed. So it's always about giving the player a different experience from one environment to another, be it indoor or outdoor, but also never at the expense of the characters. Characters, in being that sort of organic life, have always been our focal point. We don't want the environment to distract from the foreground or the fight planes, we call it. We wanted to just kind of make it feel more grounded to an extent. We were very mindful about stuff like saturation levels or contrast or creating the sort of focal point right towards the center. So I think initially we had a lot of elements in the background that started competing with the actual gameplay to the point of distraction. That's when we had to take a couple of steps back and say, "Hey, how do we still keep the environments looking amazing, but not at the expense of the character?" So with the Moon, for example, we will notice that it's very monochromatic, right, as you would expect the Moon to be. And there's never too much going on in the background. You will never have anything major happen, creating a huge earthquake or something, because we don't want people to confuse that as a gameplay thing. But I think ultimately, and you haven't seen all the environments yet, there's a few that we haven't shown, but I think ultimately they're incredibly unique, from one environment to another, different color palettes, different fields, different environmental reaction that I think it's going to be a lot of fun for players to jump from one to another and get a completely different experience every time. The show is still ongoing, but the comic has been finished for years. Is there any consideration to exclude art references for anything that has not yet happened in the show? Or is that comic content fair game? How do you balance catering to fans of the show versus the comic fans? Eder: We definitely don't spoil anything for show fans because a lot of people are only familiar with the show. They're diehard Invincible fans, but they're just not into comics, and that's totally fine. So we don't want to have a character that you're not going to see anywhere near Season 4 [Editor's Note: Quarter Up recently revealed one of the Year 1 DLC fighters will be Universa, who debuts in Season 4]. Having said that, we do look at the comics a lot, both for reference and in terms of just future planning, for future characters, or anything that we might end up doing. But what would be a cool idea of something that's completely different from what we have in our roster? So we never just look at the show. We look at both. We try to kind of mix and match and find the best of both worlds and how we can create something that's unique, but again, that's not going to jump too far ahead to a point of players looking at the character and saying, "Who the hell is that?" And then that's a little bit of a spoiler. But we do talk about that stuff a lot, because we don't want to only be working with Season 1, Season 2 materials. We want to have a very complete and full roster of characters. So we'll look at the entirety of the invincible IP characters, and that includes the comics. What are you most excited for fans to notice or appreciate about Invincible VS’ art direction, whether it's the work you guys have done with the characters or the stages? Eder: I think as massive Invincible fans ourselves, we put a lot of little easter eggs and a lot of small touches that might kind of fly over the head of a lot of people, but if you're an Invincible fan, you're gonna be like, "Oh s---, I know where that's from." So from the VO lines in the intros to some of the little texture details that I think most people are going to miss, but they sort of go back to certain moments from the show or the comics, there's a lot of small bits of personality. I think Invincible is all about personalities, not this generic cookie-cutter superhero show. It has a lot of heart. It has a lot of depth in its characters and its world, and we wanted to inject as much of that as possible into our game, and we used every opportunity to do that. And that's already started with our gameplay trailers, where they spout a few lines and [fans] say, "Oh s---, I know exactly where that's from." Like, Cecil [saying] teleportation costing taxpayers billions of dollars every day he teleports. So stuff like that, I love to see the discussion behind that in the comments. And as an Invincible fan, making a game for Invincible fans, this is just a joy, an absolute privilege, because you're doing it for them, but you're also doing it for you. It's awesome. To learn more about Invincible VS, be sure to subscribe to read our digital cover story. You can also check out these online features detailing gameplay for Dupli-Kate, the game’s cinematic story mode, and the history of Invincible in video games. View the full article

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