Mobile games

Final Fantasy XVI will be the first mainline-numbered Final Fantasy game with a Mature rating. The presumption might be that developer Creative Business Unit III wanted this game to have more violence to accompany its new action-heavy combat, but that’s not the case. The team put little thought into the rating – it just came naturally, according to various members of CBUIII I spoke to for our FFXVI cover story. 

“We actually get this question kind of a lot – people ask us if the rating went up because [we] wanted to make a more violent game, and the answer to that is no,” producer Naoki Yoshida says. “On the outside, it doesn’t appear [the rating system] has changed. You still have your E, you still have your Teen, and you still have your Mature. The problem is that over the years, as more games have come out and as we move forward, the regulations within those have actually changed a lot.”

Final Fantasy XVI Producer Naoki Yoshida

Yoshida says the team understands these ratings are ultimately meant to protect children from sensitive content, but it’s still more restrictive to what a studio can do in a game. He says before, studios could do “much, much more,” but now, “we’re finding ourselves not able to do as much to get the same rating we did before.” One example he gives is that it’s okay to kill a zombie violently today, but if that character is a human, you’ll push the rating more. Suppose someone’s getting pierced with an arrow, Yoshida says that will no longer be allowed with a Teen rating – it will immediately take you to the M rating “because it’s too realistic now” in instances where games are pushing for higher-fidelity visuals. 

He also brings up the differences in rating systems between different world regions. Ultimately, though, CBUIII made the game it wanted to. 

“We wanted to create something that was based in reality, that felt really real, and talk about complex and violent themes such as war,” Yoshida says. “You can’t have a war without certain imagery. Clive is in the trenches, he’s fighting for his life, he’s covered with dirt and blood. Once you start limiting that when you’re trying to create something that’s very real [...], it takes the player out of the reality and makes it feel more like a game. That’s what we didn’t want to do. So rather than maintaining the Teen rating, which would have limited a lot of the things that we could do and [what we] show in cutscenes, the Mature rating allows us to tell the story that we wanted to in the way we want to tell it.

“We’re not going out of our way to create content that’s violent or sensationalist. We just wanted to create [...] the story that we wanted to tell that’s going to feel real and the story that’s going to resonate best with players without hiding anything. It’s by allowing ourselves that Mature rating [that we’re allowed] to not hold back and tell the story we want to tell.”

I ask Yoshida if he and CBUIII were worried about pushback from Square Enix since a Mature rating could theoretically limit the player base. He says it wasn’t a big deal, joking that perhaps he’s not as fearful of his corporate overlookers as he should be. But ultimately, he said Square Enix understood why the team needed to be free from rating restraint with FFXVI. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Yoshida is on Square Enix’s board of directors, who are the ones he had to break the news to, either. 

Director Hiroshi Takai echoes Yoshida’s thoughts, citing that the Mature rating has “allowed us to be able to [...] show more now that there are fewer restrictions to our narrative and the way we tell our story.” 

“The Final Fantasy series has always been about trying to get as many people to play the game as possible, and that’s why historically, this series has aimed for the lower ratings – like the Teen – to get the game into the hands of as many players as possible.”

He says in the past, that was a lot easier because of hardware restrictions. But as consoles become more powerful, visuals become more lifelike, and getting a lower rating is more challenging. 

Final Fantasy XVI Director Hiroshi Takai

“With the new generations of hardware and the visuals becoming more and more realistic, if you want to tell a story that feels real, it also needs to look real,” Takai says. “By showing the [realistic] visuals, it’s hard to keep that within the realms of a lower rating because it becomes so visceral, and I think you can see this trend since the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 when graphics became a bit more realistic. 

“By moving up to a higher rating, it allows us to tell the story we want to tell without having to fake it. If you’re trying to tell a story about war, but you can’t show blood, it’s not going to be realistic.”

Takai reiterates CBUIII isn’t using the Mature rating to make FFXVI hyper-violent – it just helps the team maintain a “real feel.” 

Localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox says the Mature rating allowed him to expand on dialogue as “there are certain words that will kick you from a Teen rating to a Mature rating, and if you’re stuck with a Teen rating, you have to avoid those types of words, even if the character seems like a character that would use those types of words.” 

Final Fantasy XVI Localization Director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox

He says if you get the sense a character is avoiding words they’d likely say, that character doesn’t feel natural anymore, which is something the Mature rating allowed CBUIII to avoid. 

“Like it or not, a lot of people in the world swear, and it’s part of how they communicate,” Koji continues. “To have a whole world where no one swears at all, it just doesn’t feel like a real world.” He adds this doesn’t mean every character will swear, though – there are people in the real world who don’t, after all. 

“While Clive will use [swear words and Mature language] every now and then, we tried to make it in situations where it fits, like, ‘Oh, a giant boulder is coming towards me.’ Of course, they’re going to say, ‘S---!’ But then he’s not using it in everyday conversation because that’s not Clive’s character.” 

If you’ve kept up with FFXVI’s trailers, you’ve already heard and seen how that Mature rating appears in the game’s action and dialogue. That rating (and tone) carries through the hours of the game I played for this cover story trip, too, and I can’t wait to see how far this game pushes it this summer. 

For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.

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Final Fantasy XVI will be the first mainline-numbered Final Fantasy game with a Mature rating. The presumption might be that developer Creative Business Unit III wanted this game to have more violence to accompany its new action-heavy combat, but that’s not the case. The team put little thought into the rating – it just came naturally, according to various members of CBUIII I spoke to for our FFXVI cover story. 

“We actually get this question kind of a lot – people ask us if the rating went up because [we] wanted to make a more violent game, and the answer to that is no,” producer Naoki Yoshida says. “On the outside, it doesn’t appear [the rating system] has changed. You still have your E, you still have your Teen, and you still have your Mature. The problem is that over the years, as more games have come out and as we move forward, the regulations within those have actually changed a lot.”

Final Fantasy XVI Producer Naoki Yoshida

Yoshida says the team understands these ratings are ultimately meant to protect children from sensitive content, but it’s still more restrictive to what a studio can do in a game. He says before, studios could do “much, much more,” but now, “we’re finding ourselves not able to do as much to get the same rating we did before.” One example he gives is that it’s okay to kill a zombie violently today, but if that character is a human, you’ll push the rating more. Suppose someone’s getting pierced with an arrow, Yoshida says that will no longer be allowed with a Teen rating – it will immediately take you to the M rating “because it’s too realistic now” in instances where games are pushing for higher-fidelity visuals. 

He also brings up the differences in rating systems between different world regions. Ultimately, though, CBUIII made the game it wanted to. 

“We wanted to create something that was based in reality, that felt really real, and talk about complex and violent themes such as war,” Yoshida says. “You can’t have a war without certain imagery. Clive is in the trenches, he’s fighting for his life, he’s covered with dirt and blood. Once you start limiting that when you’re trying to create something that’s very real [...], it takes the player out of the reality and makes it feel more like a game. That’s what we didn’t want to do. So rather than maintaining the Teen rating, which would have limited a lot of the things that we could do and [what we] show in cutscenes, the Mature rating allows us to tell the story that we wanted to in the way we want to tell it.

“We’re not going out of our way to create content that’s violent or sensationalist. We just wanted to create [...] the story that we wanted to tell that’s going to feel real and the story that’s going to resonate best with players without hiding anything. It’s by allowing ourselves that Mature rating [that we’re allowed] to not hold back and tell the story we want to tell.”

I ask Yoshida if he and CBUIII were worried about pushback from Square Enix since a Mature rating could theoretically limit the player base. He says it wasn’t a big deal, joking that perhaps he’s not as fearful of his corporate overlookers as he should be. But ultimately, he said Square Enix understood why the team needed to be free from rating restraint with FFXVI. It certainly doesn’t hurt that Yoshida is on Square Enix’s board of directors, who are the ones he had to break the news to, either. 

Director Hiroshi Takai echoes Yoshida’s thoughts, citing that the Mature rating has “allowed us to be able to [...] show more now that there are fewer restrictions to our narrative and the way we tell our story.” 

“The Final Fantasy series has always been about trying to get as many people to play the game as possible, and that’s why historically, this series has aimed for the lower ratings – like the Teen – to get the game into the hands of as many players as possible.”

He says in the past, that was a lot easier because of hardware restrictions. But as consoles become more powerful, visuals become more lifelike, and getting a lower rating is more challenging. 

Final Fantasy XVI Director Hiroshi Takai

“With the new generations of hardware and the visuals becoming more and more realistic, if you want to tell a story that feels real, it also needs to look real,” Takai says. “By showing the [realistic] visuals, it’s hard to keep that within the realms of a lower rating because it becomes so visceral, and I think you can see this trend since the PlayStation 2 and PlayStation 3 when graphics became a bit more realistic. 

“By moving up to a higher rating, it allows us to tell the story we want to tell without having to fake it. If you’re trying to tell a story about war, but you can’t show blood, it’s not going to be realistic.”

Takai reiterates CBUIII isn’t using the Mature rating to make FFXVI hyper-violent – it just helps the team maintain a “real feel.” 

Localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox says the Mature rating allowed him to expand on dialogue as “there are certain words that will kick you from a Teen rating to a Mature rating, and if you’re stuck with a Teen rating, you have to avoid those types of words, even if the character seems like a character that would use those types of words.” 

Final Fantasy XVI Localization Director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox

He says if you get the sense a character is avoiding words they’d likely say, that character doesn’t feel natural anymore, which is something the Mature rating allowed CBUIII to avoid. 

“Like it or not, a lot of people in the world swear, and it’s part of how they communicate,” Koji continues. “To have a whole world where no one swears at all, it just doesn’t feel like a real world.” He adds this doesn’t mean every character will swear, though – there are people in the real world who don’t, after all. 

“While Clive will use [swear words and Mature language] every now and then, we tried to make it in situations where it fits, like, ‘Oh, a giant boulder is coming towards me.’ Of course, they’re going to say, ‘S---!’ But then he’s not using it in everyday conversation because that’s not Clive’s character.” 

If you’ve kept up with FFXVI’s trailers, you’ve already heard and seen how that Mature rating appears in the game’s action and dialogue. That rating (and tone) carries through the hours of the game I played for this cover story trip, too, and I can’t wait to see how far this game pushes it this summer. 

For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.

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2021's Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City blended together the stories of the first Resident Evil game and its sequel, Resident Evil 2 (which received a fantastic remake in 2019), and while it wasn't a complete knockout hit, some have been asking for a sequel. It seems one might be on the way. 

According to a new report on Sudbury.com, a news organization that covers the Greater Sudbury area in Canada, which is where Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City was filmed, Sudbury is receiving an $11 million injection from the provincial government, as reported by PCGamesN. This government is funding 20 local projects through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and while a sequel to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City hasn't officially been named as one of those 20 projects, there is one called "Umbrella Chronicles," and it's receiving $2 million. 

If you're familiar with the Resident Evil series, you know "Umbrella Chronicles" is likely a nod to The Umbrella Chronicles spinoff game. Add in that the film company behind "Umbrella Chronicles" is Raccoon HG Film Productions, the same company behind Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City, and the picture gets a little clearer: we might be getting a sequel. 

It's important to note this isn't an official confirmation of a sequel. Perhaps Raccoon HG Film Productions is making a different Resident Evil movie unattached to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City. Only time will tell. 

In the meantime, watch our interview with two of the 2021 film's stars and then check out this featurette from Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City with some behind-the-scenes details. 

[Source: Sudbury.com via PCGamesN]

Do you want a sequel to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City? Let us know in the comments below!

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2021's Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City blended together the stories of the first Resident Evil game and its sequel, Resident Evil 2 (which received a fantastic remake in 2019), and while it wasn't a complete knockout hit, some have been asking for a sequel. It seems one might be on the way. 

According to a new report on Sudbury.com, a news organization that covers the Greater Sudbury area in Canada, which is where Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City was filmed, Sudbury is receiving an $11 million injection from the provincial government, as reported by PCGamesN. This government is funding 20 local projects through the Northern Ontario Heritage Fund Corporation and while a sequel to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City hasn't officially been named as one of those 20 projects, there is one called "Umbrella Chronicles," and it's receiving $2 million. 

If you're familiar with the Resident Evil series, you know "Umbrella Chronicles" is likely a nod to The Umbrella Chronicles spinoff game. Add in that the film company behind "Umbrella Chronicles" is Raccoon HG Film Productions, the same company behind Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City, and the picture gets a little clearer: we might be getting a sequel. 

It's important to note this isn't an official confirmation of a sequel. Perhaps Raccoon HG Film Productions is making a different Resident Evil movie unattached to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City. Only time will tell. 

In the meantime, watch our interview with two of the 2021 film's stars and then check out this featurette from Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City with some behind-the-scenes details. 

[Source: Sudbury.com via PCGamesN]

Do you want a sequel to Resident Evil: Welcome To Raccoon City? Let us know in the comments below!

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If you’ve heard Joshua Rosfield, the younger brother of Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield, in trailers and gameplay, there’s a good chance you find that voice very familiar. That’s because it’s Logan Hannan, the voice of Hugo de Rune from Asobo Studio’s A Plague Tale series. 

Logan Hannan – The Voice Of Joshua Rosfield

Naturally, the voices Hannan uses between Joshua and Hugo are different but there’s a young familiarity to it and it turns out, it was actually his performance as the latter that landed him the role of the former, according to FFXVI localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox. 

Koji says the auditions for Joshua’s voice were some of the first to happen. The team chose an actor that was very close to puberty, he says, but at the time, it seemed like it’d work out just fine. In some instances within game development, an actor can record all of their lines in a block of time, but in other instances, that’s not the case. Because FFXVI uses motion capture, scenes had to be performed first before voice lines could be recorded. This meant that the first Joshua actor couldn’t record all of his lines in one go. Unfortunately, puberty hit during recording, and “he could no longer sound like an 8-year-old.” He sounded like someone who was 15 years old, Koji says, and “it wasn’t going to work.” 

“And it was at this time that I had played enough of A Plague Tale that I thought, ‘Okay, rather than doing another set of auditions, I know exactly who we want. I played this game and he was great in it. Let’s go with [Hannan] from A Plague Tale,’” Koji says. “That ended up working out.”

It’s the scariest aspect of voice recording with children, Koji says, noting that it’s not uncommon. “I imagine no one’s ever been angrier about puberty” than the original actor for Joshua, he adds. 

As for why Hannan, Koji says it’s because his performance in the A Plague Tale series encapsulates everything FFXVI developer Creative Business Unit III needed in Joshua. 

“When we got the scripts, it was like ‘Okay, we’re going to have this very, very intense scene with a very, very young character,’” Koji says in reference to the murder of Joshua in FFXVI. “We knew having a young kid be there and be happy, we had to put him through literal hell. Because the focus is to make this as real as possible, we didn’t want to go the route of hiring an adult actor and have them do a child’s voice because unless you get someone who’s really, really good at that, they can end up sounding fake. 

“On the other hand, we’d be asking an 8-year-old actor to act out the scenes that are super violent. It’s an M-rated game, so we needed to find someone that can produce this visceral performance but also make it sound real.”

If you’ve played A Plague Tale: Innocence, or its sequel A Plague Tale: Requiem, then you know Hannan is quite capable of that considering what Hugo endures in those games. 

“I’m thinking, ‘Who did this?’ [while playing A Plague Tale] and I see that it’s a kid at that age and I’m like, ‘This is who we need to bring into the project’ while thinking there’s no way he’s going to say ‘Yes,’” Koji says. 

CBUIII contacted Hannan and he was very interested. After his audition, the team thought he was the perfect fit for Joshua. 

“I mean, he’s screaming in anguish and that’s very difficult for even an older actor to do without making it sound kind of fake and cheesy, and I think we got these really, really real performances,” Koji says. “Despite Logan being so young, he’s such a great actor and it was such fun to work with him and hopefully, I can use him again in the future.

“Although he’s getting older, so his voice is going to change so I’ll need to cast him for a different type of role, but he’s such a great actor,” Koji adds. 

Joshua’s older brother, Clive, is voiced by Ben Starr, a relative newcomer to video game acting. Koji says Starr actually auditioned for a different role, for someone who works with Clive during one of the game’s opening missions. 

Ben Starr – The Voice Of Clive Rosfield

“It was an audition for one of those characters that Ben Starr came in and he auditioned for that character, and we heard it in the studio and the director was like, ‘Okay, this is good, but you’ve got a really great voice. Can you read this script?” And they handed him the Clive script, even though he came in for a different [role].” 

Koji listened and immediately heard the character of Clive.

“After hearing maybe 20 other professional voice actors that had done lots of different games, lots of different movies and theater, and you hear all these different voices thinking, ‘Is this going to be Clive or not?’ And you’re on the fence like, ‘Maybe it could be Clive, I don’t know,’” Koji says. “The minute that we heard Ben Starr, everyone knew that this is the voice, this is the voice of Clive, and all of a sudden, all of the dialogue that I had translated or written up to then, I could hear it in that voice and we knew immediately that was the voice. 

“So he came in auditioning for a part that has maybe like 10 lines and he ends up getting to be the hero. I think that was really exciting. It was one of those ‘Eureka’ types of moments where you hear it and immediately you know.”

Koji says after finding Starr, they let the Japanese team hear him as Clive and that team agreed he was the perfect voice for FFXVI’s protagonist. Even though CBUIII has cast a Japanese voice actor for Clive as well, FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida still plays the game in English because of Starr's performance, according to Koji. 

We’ll all get to hear more of Joshua and Clive in less than a month when FFXVI hits PlayStation 5 on June 22. 

For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.

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If you’ve heard Joshua Rosfield, the younger brother of Final Fantasy XVI protagonist Clive Rosfield, in trailers and gameplay, there’s a good chance you find that voice very familiar. That’s because it’s Logan Hannan, the voice of Hugo de Rune from Asobo Studio’s A Plague Tale series. 

Logan Hannan – The Voice Of Joshua Rosfield

Naturally, the voices Hannan uses between Joshua and Hugo are different but there’s a young familiarity to it and it turns out, it was actually his performance as the latter that landed him the role of the former, according to FFXVI localization director Michael-Christopher Koji Fox. 

Koji says the auditions for Joshua’s voice were some of the first to happen. The team chose an actor that was very close to puberty, he says, but at the time, it seemed like it’d work out just fine. In some instances within game development, an actor can record all of their lines in a block of time, but in other instances, that’s not the case. Because FFXVI uses motion capture, scenes had to be performed first before voice lines could be recorded. This meant that the first Joshua actor couldn’t record all of his lines in one go. Unfortunately, puberty hit during recording, and “he could no longer sound like an 8-year-old.” He sounded like someone who was 15 years old, Koji says, and “it wasn’t going to work.” 

“And it was at this time that I had played enough of A Plague Tale that I thought, ‘Okay, rather than doing another set of auditions, I know exactly who we want. I played this game and he was great in it. Let’s go with [Hannan] from A Plague Tale,’” Koji says. “That ended up working out.”

It’s the scariest aspect of voice recording with children, Koji says, noting that it’s not uncommon. “I imagine no one’s ever been angrier about puberty” than the original actor for Joshua, he adds. 

As for why Hannan, Koji says it’s because his performance in the A Plague Tale series encapsulates everything FFXVI developer Creative Business Unit III needed in Joshua. 

“When we got the scripts, it was like ‘Okay, we’re going to have this very, very intense scene with a very, very young character,’” Koji says in reference to the murder of Joshua in FFXVI. “We knew having a young kid be there and be happy, we had to put him through literal hell. Because the focus is to make this as real as possible, we didn’t want to go the route of hiring an adult actor and have them do a child’s voice because unless you get someone who’s really, really good at that, they can end up sounding fake. 

“On the other hand, we’d be asking an 8-year-old actor to act out the scenes that are super violent. It’s an M-rated game, so we needed to find someone that can produce this visceral performance but also make it sound real.”

If you’ve played A Plague Tale: Innocence, or its sequel A Plague Tale: Requiem, then you know Hannan is quite capable of that considering what Hugo endures in those games. 

“I’m thinking, ‘Who did this?’ [while playing A Plague Tale] and I see that it’s a kid at that age and I’m like, ‘This is who we need to bring into the project’ while thinking there’s no way he’s going to say ‘Yes,’” Koji says. 

CBUIII contacted Hannan and he was very interested. After his audition, the team thought he was the perfect fit for Joshua. 

“I mean, he’s screaming in anguish and that’s very difficult for even an older actor to do without making it sound kind of fake and cheesy, and I think we got these really, really real performances,” Koji says. “Despite Logan being so young, he’s such a great actor and it was such fun to work with him and hopefully, I can use him again in the future.

“Although he’s getting older, so his voice is going to change so I’ll need to cast him for a different type of role, but he’s such a great actor,” Koji adds. 

Joshua’s older brother, Clive, is voiced by Ben Starr, a relative newcomer to video game acting. Koji says Starr actually auditioned for a different role, for someone who works with Clive during one of the game’s opening missions. 

Ben Starr – The Voice Of Clive Rosfield

“It was an audition for one of those characters that Ben Starr came in and he auditioned for that character, and we heard it in the studio and the director was like, ‘Okay, this is good, but you’ve got a really great voice. Can you read this script?” And they handed him the Clive script, even though he came in for a different [role].” 

Koji listened and immediately heard the character of Clive.

“After hearing maybe 20 other professional voice actors that had done lots of different games, lots of different movies and theater, and you hear all these different voices thinking, ‘Is this going to be Clive or not?’ And you’re on the fence like, ‘Maybe it could be Clive, I don’t know,’” Koji says. “The minute that we heard Ben Starr, everyone knew that this is the voice, this is the voice of Clive, and all of a sudden, all of the dialogue that I had translated or written up to then, I could hear it in that voice and we knew immediately that was the voice. 

“So he came in auditioning for a part that has maybe like 10 lines and he ends up getting to be the hero. I think that was really exciting. It was one of those ‘Eureka’ types of moments where you hear it and immediately you know.”

Koji says after finding Starr, they let the Japanese team hear him as Clive and that team agreed he was the perfect voice for FFXVI’s protagonist. Even though CBUIII has cast a Japanese voice actor for Clive as well, FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida still plays the game in English because of Starr's performance, according to Koji. 

We’ll all get to hear more of Joshua and Clive in less than a month when FFXVI hits PlayStation 5 on June 22. 

For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.

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Developer Mega Cat Studios has released a new trailer for its upcoming pro wrestling RPG, WrestleQuest, alongside news that the game will be released this August. 

More specifically, WrestleQuest hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, and PC on August 8. This news was revealed in a new "Legends" trailer released by Mega Cat for the game today, which you can check out for yourself below: 

As you can see, WrestleQuest continues to look great, and now, we know we only have a few months to wait. 

While waiting to learn more, read about how we think wrestling games should expand to more genres (like WrestleQuest is doing), and then read about why WrestleQuest is one of five promising non-WWE wrestling games to watch out for. 

WrestleQuest hits PlayStation, Xbox, Switch, and PC on August 8. 

Are you picking up WrestleQuest later this year? Let us know in the comments below!

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Square Enix has revealed that Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai will be released this September. 

More specifically, it hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Switch, and PC on September 28. Alongside this release date, Square Enix has released a new trailer showing off more of what to expect in this game set in the Dragon Quest universe.

Check out the new Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai trailer for yourself below: 

Infinity Strash: Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai is a video game adaptation of The Adventure of Dai anime, which is based on a manga, which itself is based on the Dragon Quest game series. It is an action role-playing game that combines visuals from both the manga and anime of The Adventure of Dai, and it will feature a Story Mode and the Temple of Recollection. In the former, you'll play through a standard campaign that adapts The Adventure of Dai, while in the Temple of Recollection, you can fight through a dungeon that changes with each playthrough. 

"Beat the monsters that dwell within for exciting rewards that will help you take down enemies that grow stronger the deeper you go," a press release from Square Enix reads. "Players can also collect and equip accessories known as Bond Memories, which augment the abilities and stats of the character they are equipped to. Additionally, each time a Bond Memory is unlocked, scenes from the original manga will be revealed. Bond Memories can also be further powered up by conquering the Temple of Recollection and its challenging ever-changing stages." 

 

Preordering the game on any platform will get you Dai's special "Legendary Hero" outfit and the Bond Memory, "The Hero's Tutor." The digital deluxe edition of the game includes Popp's special "Legendary Mage" outfit, Maam's "Legendary Priest" and "Legendary Martial Artist" outfits, and Hyunckel's "Legendary Swordsman" and "Legendary Warrior" outfits. 

Dragon Quest The Adventure of Dai began as a popular manga series written by Riku Sanjo and illustrated by Koji Inada in 1989. In 2020, an anime adaptation of this manga began to air, and now, Infinity Strash is a game based on that anime adaptation. 

Are you picking up Infinity Strash next month? Let us know in the comments below!

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On May 27, the development team behind Wii and GameCube emulator Dolphin announced a massive roadblock: Nintendo's legal team was moving to prevent the software from launching on Steam. While the Dolphin team is investigating its options, the project is currently "indefinitely postponed." Here's the full quote from their blog post:

It is with much disappointment that we have to announce that the Dolphin on Steam release has been indefinitely postponed. We were notified by Valve that Nintendo has issued a cease and desist citing the DMCA against Dolphin's Steam page, and have removed Dolphin from Steam until the matter is settled. We are currently investigating our options and will have a more in-depth response in the near future.

We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

Originally reported by PCGamer, this is not actually a DMCA takedown, just the warning of one. Kellen Voyer, an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and technology law spoke with PCGamer and said, "Here, there is no allegation that Valve is currently hosting anything that infringes Nintendo’s copyright or, more broadly, violates the DMCA.  Rather, Nintendo is sending clear notice to Valve that it considers Dolphin to violate the DMCA and should it be released on Steam, Nintendo will likely take further action."

Dolphin has been around for about 20 years now, first developed as closed source in 2003, until it moved to open source in 2008. This past March, the team announced plans to bring the program to Steam, which would have likely increased the number of people with access to its services. If Dolphin's developers decide to fight Nintendo's block, they'll have their work cut out for them. Nintendo is notorious for its brutality in the court of law, whether it's shutting down fan content or pushing for severe punishment for hackers. In the meantime, the service is still available on Dolphin's website, since the team itself has yet to receive any warning directly from Nintendo.

 

Source: PCGamer, IGN

Do you think Dolphin will ever be released on Steam? Let us know in the comments!

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On May 27, the development team behind Wii and GameCube emulator Dolphin announced a massive roadblock: Nintendo's legal team was moving to prevent the software from launching on Steam. While the Dolphin team is investigating its options, the project is currently "indefinitely postponed." Here's the full quote from their blog post:

It is with much disappointment that we have to announce that the Dolphin on Steam release has been indefinitely postponed. We were notified by Valve that Nintendo has issued a cease and desist citing the DMCA against Dolphin's Steam page, and have removed Dolphin from Steam until the matter is settled. We are currently investigating our options and will have a more in-depth response in the near future.

We appreciate your patience in the meantime.

Originally reported by PCGamer, this is not actually a DMCA takedown, just the warning of one. Kellen Voyer, an attorney who specializes in intellectual property and technology law spoke with PCGamer and said, "Here, there is no allegation that Valve is currently hosting anything that infringes Nintendo’s copyright or, more broadly, violates the DMCA.  Rather, Nintendo is sending clear notice to Valve that it considers Dolphin to violate the DMCA and should it be released on Steam, Nintendo will likely take further action."

Dolphin has been around for about 20 years now, first developed as closed source in 2003, until it moved to open source in 2008. This past March, the team announced plans to bring the program to Steam, which would have likely increased the number of people with access to its services. If Dolphin's developers decide to fight Nintendo's block, they'll have their work cut out for them. Nintendo is notorious for its brutality in the court of law, whether it's shutting down fan content or pushing for severe punishment for hackers. In the meantime, the service is still available on Dolphin's website, since the team itself has yet to receive any warning directly from Nintendo.

 

Source: PCGamer, IGN

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Remakes tend to be more exciting than remasters because the improvements often go beyond mere bumps in resolution or framerate. At best, studios reimagine classic experiences in exciting new ways, sand away rough edges, and somehow retain the intangible x-factors that made fans fall in love with these titles in the first place. At the very least, remakes offer a great way to play antiquated or less accessible experiences on modern hardware. 

The remake boom has been in full swing in recent years to the point that it’s starting to get tough to keep track of all the projects in the works. Thankfully, we’ve gathered as many of the announced remakes (not remasters) that we could find and gathered them in one neat list, arranged chronologically by release window. This will be an evolving list that will be updated as new remakes are announced and released, so be sure to keep an eye on it over the coming months. 

System Shock

Release: May 30

First revealed in 2015, Nightdive Studios’ remake of System Shock has had a long, seemingly unending road. Originally funded via Kickstarter, the game was first slated for December 2017 but has since been delayed multiple times. It has slowly materialized over the years, however, as trailers have become more frequent and Nightdive even released a playable demo on Steam (that you can still download). If nothing else, the remake seems to be faring better than System Shock 3.

Layers of Fear

Release Date: June 15

Bloober Team is remaking its two Layers of Fear games and mashing them together into a singular experience. This reimagined tale is getting the royal treatment, being developed in Unreal Engine 5 and sporting 4K visuals, ray-tracing, and HDR. While we found the Layers of Fear games to be mediocre experiences separately, we hope combining them in a polished-up form results in stronger scares. 

Alone in the Dark

Release: October 25

The 1992 survival-horror classic is being dusted off and reimagined. Now a third-person adventure game, players explore the haunted Decerto hospital as either Emily Hartwood or detective Edward Carnby (portrayed by actors Jodie Comer and David Harbour, respectively) in two unique campaigns. Along the way, they'll encounter supernatural threats and a bevy of elaborate puzzles, and fans can expect to find multiple references to the original. 

Final Fantasy VII Rebirth

Release: Winter 2023

Final Fantasy VII Remake’s second installment moves beyond Midgar and into uncharted territory. Sure, we’re likely to visit established locations like the Gold Saucer and encounter new versions of old friends, but Rebirth’s story can go a multitude of new directions based on Remake’s events. We’re excited to see what shake-ups Square Enix has in store as long as the snowboarding mini-game remains intact.

Front Mission

2 Remake (2023), 3 Remake (TBA)

Forever Entertainment answered the wishes of Front Mission fans by announcing plans to remake not one, not two, but the series’ first three games. Front Mission 1st Remake landed on Switch in November 2022 and features modernized controls and a reorchestrated soundtrack. 2nd and 3rd Remake will likely get the same treatment, and hopefully, these games will wash away Left Alive’s bad taste.

Lollipop Chainsaw

Release: 2023

2012’s Lollipop Chainsaw may not have been a critical darling or a commercial hit, but that’s not stopping publisher Dragami Games from remaking the zany action title. Fans hoping for a Resident Evil or Final Fantasy-caliber update should temper their expectations, however. 

Though billed as a full remake, Dragami Games president Yoshimi Yasuda (who produced the original game) stated it will be “as close as possible to a remaster.” He explains the goal is to make Lollipop Chainsaw playable to a new audience rather than reinvent it. The title features overhauled graphics but lacks many of the original’s licensed songs. Co-creators Suda51 and Guardians of the Galaxy director James Gunn will also not be involved. Despite these caveats, maybe Juliet’s second zombified go-around can prove more successful than her first.

Risk of Rain Returns

Release: 2023

Risk of Rain turns 10 years old in 2023, and developer Hopoo Games is celebrating by remaking and improving the popular action platformer. Dubbed Risk of Rain Returns, the new game sports an HD paint job, new survivors, a revamped multiplayer, fresh music tracks, and the design improvements of Risk of Rain 2. 

Silent Hill 2

Release: TBA

Bloober Team is reviving Silent Hill 2 with a modern coat of paint. The minds behind Layers of Fear and The Medium may not have the greatest critical track record, but hopefully, working with an established (and better) template will yield more positive results. It would be nice to have a good modernized version of Silent Hill 2 after the less-than-stellar HD port from 2012. Silent Hill 2’s release window remains shrouded in fog, but it will come to PC and PlayStation 5 as a timed console exclusive.

Star Wars: Knights of the Old Republic

Release: TBA

The reveal that arguably the best Star Wars game ever was getting a much-needed remake had fans raising their lightsabers in celebration. Unfortunately, the game’s development may have already succumbed to the dark side. It’s been reported, though not yet confirmed, that progress had stalled, and work on the game has switched hands from Aspyr Media to Saber Interactive. Allegedly, Lucasfilm was unhappy with an internal demo, which brought development to a screeching halt for a period (and led to the firing of two directors). Whatever the case, we hope KOTOR can get back on track and eventually see the light of day. 

Splinter Cell

Release: TBA

It might not be a new entry, but a remake of Sam Fisher’s first outing is better than nothing after years of waiting. Ubisoft Toronto sits at the helm of the project and plans to rebuild the game from scratch using the Snowdrop Engine while maintaining the classic stealth elements. Outside of recently losing its director (on good terms), it’s unclear how development is faring or when we’ll get to see this fresh spin on the franchise.

Prince of Persia: The Sands of Time

Release: TBA

Development has been rocky for The Sands of Time’s impending remake, to say the least. Besides the game’s reveal garnering backlash from fans due to its unimpressive graphics, it has been delayed twice: first by two months, then indefinitely. In hindsight, it’s wild to think we were supposed to be playing this in January 2021. In May 2022, Ubisoft announced it had moved development from its fledgling Indian studios back to Montreal, where The Sands of Time was first created. While it's unfortunate that Ubisoft Pune/Mumbai couldn’t bring the remake together, we’re excited to see if Ubisoft Montreal can reapply the same magic.

Dragon Quest III: HD-2D Remake

Release: TBA

HD-2D is becoming an increasingly popular template for reviving classic JRPGs. It worked wonders for Live A Live, and Square Enix is giving Dragon Quest III the same treatment. For now, we know next to nothing about the game other than that it’s coming to consoles at a yet-to-be-specified window.

Max Payne 1 and 2

Release: TBA

In April, Remedy Entertainment pleasantly surprised the gaming world when it announced it had struck a deal with Rockstar Games to remake Max Payne and Max Payne 2: The Fall of Max Payne. Remedy sold the IP to Rockstar in 2002, but the two are partnering to revive the gritty crime series that popularized bullet time. The games will be made by Remedy, with Rockstar footing the bill on development and publishing, and target current-gen consoles and PC.

Gothic

Release: TBA

2001's Gothic is getting a faithful glow-up that looks to reintroduce the RPG to a new audience. The combat system and control scheme, a criticism of the original, has been reworked to feel modern and, most of all, playable. Developer THQ Nordic Barcelona even released a playable teaser to obtain feedback and ensure it's on the right track. As 20+ year-old game, Gothic has been a tough game to revisit on PC, making this remake all the more welcomed. 

The Witcher

Release: TBA

CD Projekt Red’s litany of upcoming projects includes a full remake of the first Witcher game. It’s being built in Unreal Engine 5 by developer Fool’s Theory (with supervision from CD Projekt veterans) and is said to be very early in development. The Witcher, released for PC in 2007, isn’t the easiest game to revisit due to its age and lack of console ports. Now that Geralt and friends are mainstream draws, newer fans can finally experience the adventure that started it all. 

Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater

Release: TBA

Months of rumors proved true when Konami revealed it was remaking arguably the most beloved entry in the Metal Gear series, Snake Eater. Boasting, as Konami put it, "cutting-edge graphics and 3D audio," this new version will faithfully retell the story of Big Boss' origin. Best of all, the iconic theme song is back in full force. 

Which remakes are you looking forward to playing the most? Let us know in the comments!

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Robosen Robotics has for some years fostered a fun partnership with Hasbro and its Transformers license, including an awesome fully transformable Generation 1 Optimus Prime that would change between robot and truck on its own.

In a similar spirit, the same team now has a new robotic collectible coming to market, this time emulating the Optimus Prime character as he appears in the new Rise of the Beasts live-action film. Instead of full transformation like the previous G1-style incarnation, this new collectible is built as a display piece that can shift between various aerial action poses, speak lines of dialogue, and respond to voice and app commands from your phone or other device.

The figure features 21 precision servo motors and 69 microchips. Even before mounting on his included stand, Prime stands at 16 inches tall.

The team even brought in legendary voice actor Peter Cullen to reprise his role and record brand-new lines for the character to spout.

The new Rise of the Beasts Optimus Prime limited edition collectible will put you back a hefty sum; it’s currently on a preorder sale of $699 (instead of the regular price of $899). If that's not too high a price for controlling an intergalactic hero, he's all yours. The vaunted Aubobot leader will be ready to head out on a mission to your home in the fourth quarter of 2023.

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Final Fantasy XVI is the most action-forward game in the mainline series’ history, and while it’s been a point of contention between players excited for this and fans of the franchise who yearn for something turn-based, it’s hard to deny the combat looks flashy and fun. And as someone who’s played a few hours of the game, I can say it is. 

While I attribute most of that to how great it feels to control Clive, it turns out there might be some tricks developer Creative Business Unit III learned developing Final Fantasy XIV’s action to make FFXVI’s combat feel even more satisfying beyond the actual gameplay. 

“For example, in boss battles, when you have an attack and you may see certain areas on the ground that light up to show that’s where the attack’s going to be, that’s something you might recognize from Final Fantasy XIV,” Naoki Yoshida, the game’s producer, tells me. “Moving to this real-time action-based battle system, we wanted players not to be overwhelmed with what was going on on-screen because there’s a lot going on. We didn’t want any situations where players will be playing and think, ‘Okay, I just took damage. Why did I take damage? I don’t know why.’ They wanted to make it very understandable to players so they didn’t feel like they were being ripped off.”

Final Fantasy XVI Producer Naoki Yoshida

By creating these visual cues, players can see precisely where attacks are coming from during the chaos of combat.

“It reduces that stress level [in combat],” Yoshida continues. “That’s something from the early stages of battle design that we wanted to incorporate from Final Fantasy XIV because it works well and allows players to know what’s going to happen.”

Yoshida says the direction for this kind of design came from FFXVI director Hiroshi Takai, who, before helping direct CBUIII’s efforts in FFXIV, worked as a VFX animator. 

“For him, it’s all about having those effects going on on-screen all the time,” Yoshida says. “He wanted something that was visually stimulating, but he also understands that can make the screen very busy and very difficult for players to understand what’s going on at all times. So [we’ve created] this balance, where you can still have the visual cues and all of the excitement on the screen, but also have cues there so players understand what’s going on. Even if things are going off, you’ll know exactly when to evade. You’ll know exactly where the damage is coming from. A lot of effort was put into creating the system.” 

I notice other FFXIV-isms within FFXVI after playing through some of the game’s opening sections during my cover story trip. For example, the icons present throughout the game’s UI resemble what you’d find in the MMO, especially as it relates to main scenario quests and side quests. Even starting and completing missions sounds familiar, with a quick Victory Fanfare jingle that plays as the screen says you’ve finished something. 

And, I’m told that FFXVI will, of course, feature puns in quest titles just like those present throughout so many of the scenarios within FFXIV. 

For more, be sure to check out Game Informer’s exclusive FFXVI coverage hub by clicking the banner below.

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