retrogames: April 2021

Friday, April 30, 2021

Returnal: A Complete Guide to Beating All Bosses

Whether you're stuck on Phrike or need a helping hand with Hyperion, IGN's Returnal boss guides include a complete step-by-step walkthrough, along with helpful tips and tricks that will make surviving the world of Atropos just that much easier.

Sea of Thieves: How Commodities Work

Read what you need to do in order to get into the commodity business in Sea of Thieves.

Against All Odds, PS5 Is Outselling PS4

Welcome back to IGN Game Scoop!, the ONLY video game podcast! This week your Omega Cops -- Daemon Hatfield, Tina Amini, Sam Claiborn, and Mark Medina -- are discussing topics like the PS5 outselling the PS4, Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart, the 9.9s of IGN, how we chose games before reviews, and more. And, of course, they play Video Game 20 Questions. Watch the video above or hit the link below to your favorite podcast service. Listen on: Apple Podcasts YouTube Spotify Stitcher Find previous episodes here!

Fall Guys Is Delayed on Switch and Xbox, but They Will Now Have Crossplay

Fall Guys: Ultimate Knockout has been delayed on Switch and Xbox, but this extra time will let the team add features like crossplay. Mediatonic announced the news in a blog update, sharing that "with so many new opportunities now in our hands, we've realised that our previously announced Summer 2021 Switch and Xbox release schedule is unfortunately just too soon for us to include all of the tasty new features we're working on." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/27/top-10-battle-royales"] The team promises the wait will be worth it, and that this delay will let then add features like crossplay, meaning that "when we add new platforms, players will be able to stumble in harmony with their pals, regardless of their platform of choice." In addition to the new platforms, Mediatonic continues its work on new Seasonal content releases, fresh Shows, Costumes, Rounds, and much more. The upcoming Season 4.5 update is part of this plan and will include two "fiendish" new Rounds and Fall fashion options. This news follows Epic Games' acquisition of Mediatonic in March 2021. Alongside the news, Mediatonic shared that "your gameplay isn't changing" and that the added resources will help them bring a ton of features already seen in Fortnite and Rocket League to Fall Guys. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/20/fall-guys-season-4-how-squads-mode-works"] For more on Fall Guys, check out where it ranks on our list of the 10 Best Battle Royales and learn more about Squad Mode's team element. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Call of Duty Warzone In-Game Event To Raise Money In Aid of Veteran Medics

The Call of Duty Endowment, the non-profit charity that helps military veterans, is holding an in-game event in Call of Duty: Warzone in order to raise money to support veteran medics and hospital corpsmen as part of Military Appreciation Month. Additionally, a new DLC pack for Warzone and Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War is also being sold to raise funds for the cause. The event is The Revival Challenge. Starting today, April 30, and running to May 9, reviving five people in Warzone will unlock a new Call of Duty Endowment calling card. Should a million players unlock this card, a double-XP day will be held for all Warzone players. Additionally, for every Revival Challenge completed, Activision Blizzard has pledged to donate $1 to the charity, up to $1,000,000. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/21/call-of-duty-warzone-destruction-of-verdansk-event-gameplay"] In the store for both Black Ops Cold War and Warzone will be the Call of Duty Endowment Battle Doc Pack, containing skins and medic-themed trinkets. These have been created in partnership with retired Army Veteran Combat Medic Timothy Hobbs Jr., and all net proceeds from the pack sales goes to the Endowment. The aim is to raise $2,000,000 from these packs. Finally, a new connecting screen for Warzone will be dedicated to the Endowment and Military Appreciation Month, and will display for the first ten days of May. CoD Medical Heroes

For 2021, Call of Duty Endowment’s focus for Military Appreciation Month is veteran medics and corpsmen, who have difficulty finding civilian jobs in medical fields despite having experience and training from their time in the forces. Money raised during the #CODEMedicalHeroes campaign will go towards helping “highlight the immensely qualified veterans who right now have the skills necessary to fill these positions.” For more on Call of Duty, take a look at our stories detailing that Toys for Bob is now developing Warzone, and that main studio Raven is currently working on a glitch fix for the game’s new map, Verdansk ‘84. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

An ESRB Rating May Have Revealed That Ni no Kuni 2 Is Coming to Nintendo Switch

A new ESRB rating for Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom Prince's Edition may have revealed that Bandai Namco's RPG will soon find its way to the Nintendo Switch. The ESRB's rating lists Nintendo Switch as a platform for Ni no Kuni 2 and gives it a T (Teen) rating for Fantasy Violence and Mild Blood. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2018/03/19/ni-no-kuni-ii-revenant-kingdom-review"] Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom was originally released in 2018 for PS4 and PC and, in our review, we said that it "distinguishes itself from its predecessor by layering fast-paced, real-time combat and an engaging kingdom building system atop more traditional RPG systems and quests. It’s a shame it delivers so few truly memorable characters and restricts so much of its storytelling to text on screen, but by the end of Ni No Kuni 2 the broader themes certainly resonate and the 40+ hour journey has been well worth it." According to the Steam page for Ni no Kuni 2: Revenant Kingdom - The Prince's Edition, this version looks to include the full game, its Season Pass, an Equipment Package, and the Cat King's Claw. Ni no Kuni 2's Season Pass includes both The Tale of a Timeless Tome and The Lair of the Lost Lord. These expansions added new story content, a random dungeon "Labyrinth," and much more. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/03/11/ni-no-kuni-ii-the-tale-of-a-timeless-tome-dlc-trailer"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Ubisoft Hostage-Taking Hoax: Alleged Suspect Is a Rainbow Six Siege Cheater

A suspect behind the Ubisoft Montréal hostage-taking hoax last year is allegedly an aggrieved Rainbow Six Siege cheater – who reportedly called in multiple threats to the studio. La Presse reports that it has obtained court documents that point to a French citizen named Yanni Ouahioune, who has apparently been banned more than 80 times from Rainbow Six Siege for cheating. La Presse says Ouahioune is being investigated for making the hoax phone call that led to a police situation at Ubisoft Montréal. The individual involved apparently spoofed their phone number to make it appear as though the call came from within the studio, claimed hostages had been taken, and demanded a ransom. Per the report, the incident cost Ubisoft $1.7 million in lost productivity, as well as costs for subsequent psychological support for employees and material damage to the office.

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— Ubisoft Montréal (@UbisoftMTL) November 14, 2020

Those documents allege that two further hoax calls were made in the following months, one reporting a bomb had been left at the studio, and another claiming that one of the company's executives had been killed. Subsequent calls reportedly saw a caller ask for access to ban people within Rainbow Six Siege, and to ask for Swedish Siege professional Spoit to be banned from the game. An Ubisoft investigation into the matter reportedly led to Ouahioune being named as a suspect. Speaking to La Presse, Ouahioune admitted that he has previously created a site to steal Siege accounts, and had been involved in swatting (in which police are called to rival players' houses using hoax calls). However, he denied any part in the hoax calls to Ubisoft Montréal, claiming that his name has only come up because he's known at Ubisoft. Ouahioune also told La Presse to ask Ubisoft to unban his account because of the amount of money he spent on cosmetics, and told the publication that he no longer participates in illicit gaming activities because he doesn't want his mother to be disappointed anymore. IGN has contacted Service de police de la Ville de Montréal and Ubisoft for comment. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Resident Evil Village Started Development 6 Months Before Resident Evil 7 Came Out

Capcom asked its developers to start work on Resident Evil Village six months before Resident Evil 7 was due for release – which left the team unsure about the direction they wanted to take, before the first-ever first-person Resident Evil game saw a positive reception. Revealed in our IGN First feature about the making of and inspirations behind Village, director Morimasa Sato explains: “We were still busy developing Resident Evil 7, but my boss told me to start planning for the next entry in the series. At the time, we had no idea how users would react towards the new horror experience and characters of 7 yet.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/resident-evil-village-the-mercenaries-mode-hands-on-ign-first"] It's not hugely unusual that a major series would see plans for a sequel put in place before the preceding game is released – but Resident Evil 7 was a major departure for the series, meaning Village's developers were left waiting to see the reaction to it before fully committing to a straight sequel, rather than another reinvention. “We had no idea how the change of perspective would be received, so at first we were quite worried. But when we released Resident Evil 7 about half a year after the development of Village started, it was received very well. This helped us decide to make Village a direct sequel,” Sato says. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/resident-evil-village-5-hour-ps5-hands-on-preview-ign-first"] That success meant Village moved forward as a first-person game and continued the story of RE7 protagonist Ethan Winters – but the team had already planned the addition of a village setting, inspired by Resident Evil 4. That mixture of old and new has led to Sato describe the game as the 'offspring' of RE4 and RE7, rather than a reboot of one, or a simple sequel to the other. It's meant as a pure blend of the two. You can read much more about that in our extensive interview with Sato and producer Tsuyoshi Kanda, and there's plenty of exclusive Resident Evil Village info for you beyond that. Right now you can read our IGN First hands-on preview of the game's first five hours, meet the game's main villains, and check out the first footage of the game on last-gen. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Here's Every Pokemon You Can Find in New Pokemon Snap

From Pikachu to Charizard, here are all 214 Pokemon that you can find and photograph in New Pokemon Snap.

Resident Evil Village Could Have Skipped PS4 and Xbox One Altogether

Resident Evil Village could have skipped last-gen platforms entirely, with the developers waiting to make sure it ran well enough before committing to making a PS4 and Xbox one version.

Resident Evil Village is gorgeous on next-gen platforms and PC, but recent demos and IGN’s own hands-on time have indicated that the game also looks great and runs smoothly on last-gen platforms, the PS4 and Xbox One. However, according to producer Tsuyoshi Kanda, Capcom did not decide to release the game on last-gen platforms until after Village was announced in June last year.

“We developed Village as a game for next-gen hardware, but in order to make it accessible to more players, we went through a lot of trial and error to somehow provide a comparable experience on last-gen hardware,” Kanda told IGN. “In the end, we were able to deliver a high-quality product for last-gen hardware as well. That being said, if the quality hadn’t been sufficient, I don’t think we would have released it.”

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“If there was a big difference in graphical quality or framerate, it would not have been something we could deliver to players, so we did our best to make sure it would be satisfying on any platform,” added director Morimasa Sato.

Fans were pleasantly surprised with the quality of the PS4 Pro footage IGN exclusively revealed earlier this month, which was captured by us from a preview build of the full game. With the recent demos, players have been able to directly test a cut-down version of the game on their platform of preference.

If you’re not sure whether to get Village on last-gen or next-gen consoles, don’t worry, as Kanda emphasizes that the last-gen versions can be upgraded to next-gen free of charge, if you buy a next-gen machine later.

Resident Evil Village will be released on May 7. Learn how the game was inspired by both Resi 7 and Resi 4 in our interview with the developers, and be sure to check out our in-depth preview of the first five hours as well as our impressions of extra mode The Mercenaries. If you can’t wait to get your blood drained by Lady Dimitrescu, don’t miss our feature on the towering villain and her daughters, and also be sure to check out our reveal of the game’s other main villains. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan.

How Resident Evil Village Is a Direct Sequel to Resident Evil 7, but Heavily Inspired by Resident Evil 4

According to director Morimasa Sato, the development of Resident Evil Village started on August 8, 2016. For the 8th main entry in the series, that’s an interesting date for sure (8/8/16!), but the real surprise lies in the fact that this was almost six months BEFORE the release of Resident Evil 7. “We were still busy developing Resident Evil 7, but my boss told me to start planning for the next entry in the series,” recalls Sato, who was also the director for Resident Evil 7. “At the time, we had no idea how users would react towards the new horror experience and characters of 7 yet.” [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-village-the-evolution-of-lady-dimitrescu-and-her-daughters&captions=true"] Resident Evil 7 took the series back to its survival horror roots, but it was much more than a simple throwback. As the first mainline entry played from a first-person perspective, it was seen as a fresh start for the franchise. “We had no idea how the change of perspective would be received, so at first we were quite worried. But when we released Resident Evil 7 about half a year after the development of Village started, it was received very well. This helped us decide to make Village a direct sequel,” Sato says. After seeing the success of Resident Evil 7, Sato decided to have protagonist Ethan Winters make a return as the hero in Village, and kept the first-person perspective. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/19/resident-evil-village-5-hour-ps5-hands-on-preview-ign-first"] “As the original creator of Ethan, Sato really wanted to bring this character’s story to completion,” says producer Tsuyoshi Kanda. “If you look back, you can see that Resident Evil’s systems have drastically changed after every three titles. In that sense, Resident Evil 7 was a title that came with some big changes,” says Kanda. “For us, it was a sincere attempt to deliver a true horror experience once more, focusing on an experience played in first-person. In the process, we brought Ethan to life.” While Sato initially imagined that it would be more difficult to depict a main character in first-person, he became more and more attached to the character. In Village, he wanted to take this further, and show how Ethan has grown as a person.

“After somehow surviving the events of Resident Evil 7, Ethan and his wife Mia gave birth to Rosemary, their daughter. They were living a quiet life together, but then suddenly Chris Redfield – a familiar character for fans of the series – appeared, killed Mia and took Rosemary away. The game starts with Ethan making his way to the village to save his daughter. While Ethan was just a young man who had somehow found himself in this house of maniacs in Resident Evil 7, this time I wanted to portray him as a father,” Sato explains. Kanda adds that family functioned as a theme for Village’s story, to which Sato nods. With the Baker family as the main villains in Resident Evil 7, family was an important theme in that game as well, but this time Ethan will be protecting his own family. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-village-ethan-clothing-gallery&captions=true"] While Village is indeed a direct sequel to Resident Evil 7, Kanda and Sato say it’s much more than that. Sato explains that during the planning phases, he had already come up with the idea of a village as the game’s location, and that he was inspired by Resident Evil 4. “If Resident Evil 7 was like a reboot that inherited the DNA of the original Resident Evil, then you could say that this time we’re doing the same for Resident Evil 4,” Kanda says. “We’ve designed the game and its structure with Resident Evil 4’s essence in mind, so I think that you’ll be able to find a lot of elements that remind you of that game.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/02/resident-evil-village-first-ever-ps4-pro-gameplay-4k-ign-first"] “In the history of the series, I believe that Resident Evil 4 is where the action and combat evolved the most,” Sato explains. “Interestingly, Resident Evil 4 was also set in a village. For Resident Evil Village, we’re bringing the essence of Resident Evil 4, while Resident Evil 7 functions as the base for the game. It’s not a reboot of Resident Evil 4, but the offspring of both Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil 4.” If Village succeeds in combining the horror of Resident Evil 7 and the action of Resident Evil 4, it might become one of the most beloved entries in the series – but these two elements could also stand in each other’s way. If being haunted by the Baker family was frightening because you felt so weak, won’t a more action-focused approach disrupt the balance of that experience?

“That is indeed something we need to be very careful with,” Sato admits. “If you increase the action, it quickly turns into a game that allows you to kill enemy after enemy. That is not what I want. It’s important that the player constantly feels afraid of the enemies, and the experience should be all about overcoming that fear.” Sato says that he believes that resource management – a traditional feature of the series – will prevent the action from diminishing the sense of fear. Conserving bullets and health items, being forced to advance to dangerous areas to stock up on supplies and wisely using items at the right moment all contribute to that traditional survival horror experience. For this, Sato used the 2018 Resident Evil 2 remake as a reference, which he sees as a perfect example of well-balanced survival horror. Kanda says that for Village, the team didn’t just want to create a scary horror game. While Resident Evil 7 satisfied fans of the genre, some players found it too scary to even play. For Village, the team went for an experience that is still scary, but in a way that more players can enjoy. To achieve this goal, they came up with two key phrases that would shape Village’s identity: “a theme park of horror” and “ultimate survival horror”.

A horror theme park that’s yours to explore

The village that you will be exploring is much more than just a collection of streets and houses. The player will be discovering four different areas surrounding the village, with one of four Lords (the game’s main villains) awaiting the player in each area. From a gothic castle with a giant countess to a reservoir area ruled by a merman-like creature, the variety of characters and locations shape what Capcom calls “a theme park of horror”. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-village-playstation-5-screenshots&captions=true"] “By implementing a wide array of horror elements within one game, Village is not only one of the most voluminous entries in the franchise; it also offers different kinds of horror experiences within one package,” Kanda explains. Sato says that this aim for variety was inspired by Resident Evil 4. By delivering variety in its scenarios, locations and gameplay, Resident Evil 4 managed to feel fresh until the end. For Village, Sato says that he sought to continuously create new experiences for the player. “Also, when you think of the characters, I think that (Resident Evil 4’s) Ramon Salazar is the kind of character that everyone still remembers,” says Sato. “The appeal of a character like that is something very powerful, so we aimed to design characters with the potential to resonate with players like that. Seeing how well Lady Dimitrescu has been received made me confident that this had indeed been the right approach.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/27/resident-evil-village-the-mercenaries-mode-hands-on-ign-first"] While in size they’re quite the opposite, what Ramon Salazar and Lady Dimitrescu have in common is the fact that their appeal goes beyond pure creepiness. With such characters, Sato hopes to target a broader audience than just the typical horror fan. That being said, the element of horror definitely isn't going anywhere. “While aiming for a broader experience, I didn’t want to lower the game’s peak of fear,” Sato says. “Keeping the peak intact is essential, but if the game is tense throughout, it can become too much for certain players. That’s why we needed a change in pace, and included elements that afford the player a feeling of safety.” With more freedom of exploration than in previous entries, the player can – to a certain extent – pace his or her own experience. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-8-village-showcase-screenshots&captions=true"] “The village is a more open and expansive location which the player can freely explore and get lost in,” says Sato. “As you play, you’ll gain access to more parts of the village. Making sure that the player knows where to go next in a larger environment is something we had to be really careful about. We consciously designed it so that you would see and notice the right things from the right locations.” “If you give the player freedom in a wider area, it becomes easy to lose track of the next objective. On the other hand, if you guide the player too much, you lose that sense of freedom. We went through a lot of trial and error to get that balance right,” Kanda recalls. While Resident Evil games have always had plenty of secrets, until now the series has offered more narrow and focused experiences. With more detours and optional elements, Village seems to be different. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/25/resident-evil-village-14-minutes-of-the-castle-demo-gameplay-full-playthrough"] “This is indeed one of Village’s newest evolutions,” Sato says. “We’ve prepared a more open environment, and basically we just tell the player to go and have fun with it, which is something Resident Evil hasn’t done before. While the main story still advances in what we think is the best order to experience it, it is totally possible to ignore the objectives and just get lost in the game’s world. There are many houses you can completely ignore, but as we feel it’s important to reward the player’s eagerness to explore, there will always be something interesting to discover. We really put a lot of effort into making Village’s exploration worthwhile.” Sato believes that this freedom of exploration will create a different experience for each player, and hopes that it will become a reason to make players want to come back to the village again and again. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/18/resident-evil-village-22-minutes-of-the-village-demo-gameplay-full-playthrough"] “The fact that Village has so many optional things to do makes it very different from previous installments in the series,” says Sato. “I’d almost go as far as to say that we prepared too many detours, so if you want to experience everything, it’s really going to take you a long time.” On top of all that, the entirety of Village is explorable without coming across any loading screens, regardless of your platform of choice. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/23/resident-evil-village-demo-ps5-vs-ps4-performance-preview"] “For the PS5 and Xbox Series X, there’s no loading at all, as the area is completely connected. On the PS4 and Xbox One, the game is loading at certain points, but it’s always done in a way the player won’t notice, so you’ll be able to enjoy a seamless experience – like Resident Evil 7 was – on those platforms, too,” Sato assures us. While it’s up to the player to decide how thoroughly to explore the village, systems have been created to stimulate and reward exploration, which connects to the game’s other main theme: “ultimate survival horror”.

Overcoming your fears

“By ‘ultimate survival horror’, we mean that this time you won’t just be experiencing fear like in the previous game; you’ll also have to find ways to overcome it,” Sato explains. Just like in Resident Evil 7, Ethan is constantly hounded by terrifying creatures and characters, but Village offers more options in how to defeat them. “Giving the player more options means that we had to evolve the action,” says Sato. “This is where we really learned a lot from Resident Evil 4.” Sato and his team attempted to capture the essence of Resident Evil 4’s action, and then reworked it to suit Village’s first-person perspective. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-village-playstation-5-showcase-screenshots&captions=true"] “For example, you could block attacks in Resident Evil 7, but in Village you can block, then kick the opponent away, then follow up with a counterattack with your gun,” Sato explains. “The environments have more verticality as well, so the player can climb up rooftops or barricade themselves into a house. With some of Resident Evil 4’s staple elements adapted for a first-person view, the player can come up with more strategies and use the environments to their advantage.” If you have played the demos released over the past couple of weeks, you probably noticed that Village’s enemies are tough. However, with the right strategy it becomes possible to defeat multiple enemies at once. But if even that doesn’t do the job, you can always upgrade your weapons or increase the stats of your character; another element that Resident Evil 7 didn’t have. “We wanted to offer multiple ways to play the game, which is where weapon merchant The Duke plays an important role,” Sato says. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/15/resident-evil-village-story-trailer-2"] Resident Evil 4 also had a weapon merchant, and in similar fashion, The Duke allows you to buy weapons, ammo and health items, and to upgrade weapons. But that’s not all. “This time, you’ll be able to increase Ethan’s own character stats,” says Sato. “Inside the village, you can find animals like chickens and pigs that have been left out in the open. By hunting those animals, you obtain ingredients, which can be brought to The Duke. He can then cook meals for you, which will increase your stats.” [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/21/resident-evil-village-story-trailer"] You can increase stats like health and attack power through these meals, and these upgrades will remain throughout the game. Even if you don’t feel comfortable with Village’s first-person action elements, it should be possible to beat it by leveling up your character as you would in an RPG. That said, given Village’s intricate action systems, Sato hopes that players will enjoy trying out the wide array of available strategies. “The amount of weapons available has increased, too,” he says. “Quickly switching from a handgun to a shotgun and then a sniper rifle within the same battle and figuring out which weapon is best for each moment should be a lot of fun.”

The village as a lead character

While Resident Evil Village primarily portrays Ethan’s story, Sato sees the village itself as the game’s second lead character. He recalls that for Resident Evil 7’s visual presentation, the team set out to portray the filthy locations as beautifully as possible. This time, he went for the exact opposite: portraying the beautiful as something horrific. This can be said for the village itself, too. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=resident-evil-village-3-exclusive-new-screenshots&captions=true"] “The traditional depiction of horror is dark, narrow and dirty. But there are plenty of horror movies with beautiful visuals that are scary at the same time,” Sato says. “I think that beauty and horror don’t have to be mutually exclusive. Castle Dimitrescu, for example, is gorgeous at first sight, laden with beautiful furniture. However, if you take a close look there might be something eerie lying on the table. When you see a patch of blood on an otherwise elegantly decorated wall, the beauty of the wall gives the blood a stronger impact. “By adding a sense of beauty that wasn’t present in Resident Evil 7, I think we can make the presentation and atmosphere even more horrific.” The main aspect of the village’s beauty has to be the snow. As a natural element that is often beautiful and terrifying at the same time, snow was the perfect choice for the theme of Village’s visual presentation. That being said, the village wasn’t covered in snow in its original design. Chance played a crucial role in what undoubtedly became the location’s most iconic characteristic. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/01/22/resident-evil-village-maiden-demo-gameplay"] “We went to a country in Eastern Europe for research during spring that year, but we encountered a record-breaking cold snap. We had to continue our research under -13°F conditions in the midst of a blizzard. I really thought we were going to die!” Sato recalls, laughing. “The circumstances were so extreme that our guide – a local – proposed we call it a day.” Reminiscing on this trip, Sato says it completely reshaped his vision for what the village would look like – and without this extreme experience, the village would have been a different place. “To this day, I still wonder what the village would have looked without it,” says Sato. Given Sato’s original goal to portray both the horror in beauty, wouldn’t it be creepy if the cold snap was an act of fate? [caption id="attachment_2506884" align="aligncenter" width="512"]

Tsuyoshi Kanda (left) and Morimasa Sato.[/caption] Resident Evil Village will be released on May 7. Be sure to check out our in-depth preview of the first five hours as well as our impressions of extra mode The Mercenaries. For those curious about the last-gen version, take a look at our PS4 Pro gameplay footage. If you can’t wait to get your blood drained by Lady Dimitrescu, don’t miss our feature on the towering villain and her daughters, and also be sure to check out our reveal of the game’s other main villains. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Esra Krabbe is an editor at IGN Japan. He thinks that Ethan should start wearing gloves outside.

IGN UK Podcast #590: The Big Boy Flapjack Squad

Greetings from The Big Boy Flapjack Squad. Cardy, Matt and Joe are back to unpack the gorgeous gameplay from the Ratchet and Clank: Rift Apart State of Play this week as well as indulging in the gory delights of Mortal Kombat. But the blood explosions don't stop there as early impressions of dino-blaster Second Extinction are shared alongside the ultra-violent Invincible. Excitement for Steven Spielberg's West Side Story is also shared as Cardy can't wait to bathe in the technicolour glory of it all. Plus, the return of Chain Brain and of course, your feedback. Remember, if you want to get in touch with the podcast, please do: ign_ukfeedback@ign.com.

IGN UK Podcast #590: The Big Boy Flapjack Squad

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CD Projekt Bosses Set To Receive Big Bonuses Despite Cyberpunk 2077 Launch Problems

The CEOs and other board members at CD Projekt are set to receive big, multi-million dollar bonuses this year, despite the difficult and problem-filled launch of Cyberpunk 2077. CD Projekt co-CEOs, Marcin Iwiński and Adam Kiciński, are each set to get an end-of-year bonus of 24 million zloty (approx. $6.3 million), according to the company’s annual report. Meanwhile CD Projekt board member and director of Cyberpunk 2077, Adam Badowski, is to be awarded $4.2 million in bonuses. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/07/cyberpunk-2077-review"] As explained in a new Bloomberg report, these bonuses come via CD Projekt’s profit share system, in which 20% of the company’s annual earnings is split up and awarded to staff members. 10% of profit is shared among the board of directors, while the other 10% goes to employees. In a statement to Bloomberg, CD Projekt explained that 865 employees were part of this profit share system, with $29.8 million shared among them. Meanwhile, five board members will share $28 million. Talking to Bloomberg, some employees revealed that they were expected to receive between $5,000 and $9,000 in bonuses. More senior staff could get closer to $20,000. These do, naturally, pale in comparison to the multi-million dollar figures assigned to the board. These kinds of figures are to be expected from a corporation, but they are called into question in the wake of CD Projekt’s disastrous launch of Cyberpunk 2077. The game, in development for years and eagerly awaited by fans, launched in a buggy state that was considered near unplayable on PlayStation 4. That led to a reported 30,000 refunds and Cyberpunk 2077 being removed from sale on the PlayStation Store. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/12/11/cyberpunk-2077-graphics-comparison-ps5-vs-ps4-base-model"] By releasing Cyberpunk 2077 in its difficult state rather than waiting for it to be ‘complete’, CD Projekt suffered a steep stock price fall. Considering their disastrous decision, the board was asked during a recent investor call if it were “appropriate” that such large bonuses were awarded. “We earned this money and the company earned this money, of course, but more net profits, more bonuses,” Kiciński said. “So well, we have results, we get bonuses, and that’s the contract we have.” At the CD Projekt financial briefing earlier this month, the company said that Cyberpunk’s launch “has been a huge lesson for us that we shall never forget.” Despite this, 2020 was the company’s best year. Going forward, the company plans to change the way it markets its games to help avoid another Cyberpunk-style situation. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Hitman Dev Reportedly Working on Xbox Fantasy Game Featuring Dragons

Hitman developer IO Interactive is reportedly working on a dragon-themed fantasy game, potentially as an Xbox exclusive. First reported by Windows Central, the rumour suggests that IO is partnering with Xbox Game Studios on a brand new fantasy-themed game that involves dragons in some capacity. Subsequently, Eurogamer said its sources have corroborated that information, adding that the game will be AAA in scope. Both reports mention that the game is in early development, and years away from release. IO's unannounced third project has been mentioned before, with CEO Hakan Abrak telling IGN, " I should mention we're working on something else, as well. Something completely new... a new IP." The company subsequently opened a new Barcelona studio, in part to work on the unannounced game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/io-interactive-is-working-on-a-new-ip-in-addition-to-hitman-and-james-bond-ign-unfiltered"] Reports suggest that the new game will be developed by an entirely separate team, while other IO teams continue to update Hitman 3, and work on Project 007, the new James Bond game. It's a sea change from just a few years ago, when IO broke off from Square Enix to go fully indie. The odd, extra detail here is that Microsoft famously already worked with an external developer on a dragon-focused fantasy IP – one which never saw release. Scalebound was announced as a collaboration with PlatinumGames in 2014, but ran into trouble and was cancelled in 2017. Platinum producer Atsushi Inaba has previously said the studio would love to return to the project, but confirmed Microsoft holds the rights to it. Of course, fantasy games with dragons aren't exaxctly uncommon, and the publisher seemingly abandoned the Scalebound trademark several years ago, so this may be more of an odd coincidence than anything else. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

FIFA and Football Manager Join Anti-Abuse Social Media Boycott

The FIFA and Football Manager teams have joined a social media boycott being held across huge swathes of the footballing world in protest against racist abuse and other hate speech, and the lack of action being taken by platforms it's hosted on. From Friday, April 30 until Monday May 3, the entire English Football League will halt any posts on social media. The boycott is in protest against abuse, and social media companies' inaction on preventing that abuse. Both EA Sports and Sports Interactive have today joined the boycott. EA Sports wrote: "We stand strong with English football in the fight against racism, online hate, and any form of discrimination."

Football is for everyone. Our social channels will be silent from 15:00 (UK) on Fri. April 30 until 23:59 (UK) on Mon. May 3.
No #TopBinsLive Community stream this week. pic.twitter.com/KN0i0T3XMD — EA SPORTS FIFA (@EASPORTSFIFA) April 30, 2021

Sports Interactive wrote, "Today, we join the EFL and English football in a united stand against online abuse. Social media companies must do more to #StopOnlineAbuse. Join us and switch off too, as we collectively demand change." The boycott follows repeated racist and discriminatory hate speech used towards football players, and the boycott aims to put pressure on social media platforms to do more to clamp down on abuse.

Today, we join the EFL and English football in a united stand against online abuse.
Social media companies must do more to #StopOnlineAbuse. Join us and switch off too, as we collectively demand change.#StopOnlineAbuse pic.twitter.com/sNFCKI6Yp6 — Football Manager (@FootballManager) April 30, 2021

To learn more about the boycott, the Premier League has put together a piece on why it's taking place, and what the movement hopes to achieve. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Crash Bandicoot Dev Toys For Bob Is Now Developing Call of Duty: Warzone

Toys for Bob, the developer of Crash Bandicoot 4: It's About Time, has been assigned to support development on Call of Duty: Warzone – and seems to have suffered lay-offs as a result. The studio, which was acquired by Activision in 2005, announced the news on Twitter, saying, "Toys for Bob is proud to support development for Season 3 of Call of Duty #Warzone, and look forward to more to come." [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/10/01/crash-bandicoot-4-its-about-time-review"] It's a somewhat surprising move for a studio traditionally focused on games for younger audiences and, as Eurogamer points out, appears to have come with a number of staff exits, both voluntary and involuntary. Character designer Nicholas Kole explained that he's left the studio, adding that "everyone I interfaced with and worked along was let go". Crash 4 art director Josh Nadelberg and game designer Blake Maloof have also left the company. Toys For Bob is seemingly the third studio to have worked on Warzone, with Infinity Ward leading the project at launch, before passing the baton onto Raven Software. Warzone has become a huge priority for Activision in the last year, which goes some way to explaining throwing major resources at it. We've contacted Activision for comment on what Toys For Bob's role is on the project, and the scale of the lay-offs. Activision recently merged fellow Crash studio Vicarious Visions into Blizzard. The two studios' moves throw into doubt the future of the Crash and Spyro series, which had been revived or returned to in recent years. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Returnal - How to Destroy All Energy Barriers

Learn how to find and unlock the Atropian Blade and Blade Balancer artifact in order to destroy all mysterious energy barriers in Returnal.

Thursday, April 29, 2021

21 Essential New Pokemon Snap Tips

Tips on taking the best photos with a guide on how scoring works and more in New Pokemon Snap.

54 Essential Tips and Tricks to Help You Survive in Returnal

From using Alt-Fire mode, mastering the art of dashing, or even saving during the middle of a great run, IGN has you covered in our complete Tips and Tricks guide to surviving the planet of Atropos in Returnal.

New Pokémon Snap Brings Back Pokémon Snap's Original Hero With a Major Glow-Up

New Pokémon Snap is out today, and while we've gotten some good looks at most of the game's main characters and a number of its Pokémon, The Pokémon Company has remained rather precious about a major cameo that happens early in the game: the appearance of Todd Snap.

If you're not familiar with Mr. Snap, he's the main protagonist from the original Pokémon Snap, who also makes a few appearances in the Pokémon anime and manga. Back in the original Pokémon Snap days, Todd was a goofy kid with a big camera who Professor Oak hired to take photos of wild Pokémon. Over the course of the game, he discovered mysterious "Pokémon Signs" that Professor Oak somehow connected to constellations in the night sky, leading him to send Todd to space (???) to take photos of Mew.

In New Pokémon Snap, those Mew photos have launched a promising career for Todd, and now he's a world-famous photographer. He's also an adult now, with marginally better hair and far better fashion sense than he had as a kid in those giant cargo shorts.

Yes, I know it sounds like Todd's appearance should be a major spoiler, but I promise it's not. Todd Snap shows up within the first hour or so of New Pokémon Snap and hangs out with you and your photography friends the rest of the game. He mostly shows up in cutscenes alongside Professor Mirror and research assistants Rita and Phil to give you direction and photography tips.

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Unfortunately, he doesn't get much of a plot role despite his apparent success as a photographer. Phil initially seems to treat you as a photography rival vying for Todd's attention, but this never really plays out in a way that matters. The only other role Todd has during New Pokémon Snap is to offer "Todd's Tips" on the loading screens to help you take better photos. Oh, and a bit of lore suggests he had a critical role in helping Professor Mirror develop and name the Neo-One vehicle you take photos out of, which makes sense given that it's just a nicer version of the Zero-One from Pokémon Snap.

Still, it's genuinely cool that good old Todd Snap is lurking around the Pokémon photography scene and helping uplift the next generation of young photographers. Glad to have you back, Todd. You're looking good.

New Pokémon Snap is out now on Nintendo Switch, with our review finding it to be a delightful photography adventure that adores the creatures on the other side of the lens, even if some of its progression systems could be a bit clunky at times.

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Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

New Pokémon Snap's Wailord Reveal is Appropriately Enormous

New Pokémon Snap is out now, and chock full of impressive, exciting, cute, and funny Pokémon reveals. However, one of its more impressive moments is so appropriately enormous that it slows the Pokémon down noticeably for a few moments while it tries to settle into place. I am talking here of Wailord: the biggest of all Pokémon, given appropriately huge treatment in New Pokémon Snap's Reef level. Warning: If you don't want to be spoiled on any of the cool Pokémon reveals in New Pokémon Snap, you probably shouldn't watch the video below or read on. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/30/new-pokemon-snaps-wailord-appearance-is-hugeand-slow"] Wailord's appearance midway through the Reef is an incredible surprise when it first happens, with the absolutely gigantic Pokémon slowly breaching the surface of the ocean and splashing water up into the player's camera. On later versions of the level, once the player has more experience visiting the Reef, more Wailord will appear in the distance shortly after with similar splashes and reactions, enabling you to get even cooler photos. It's a truly wow-worthy moment, dampened somewhat by the fact that Wailord's enormous size combined with the water effects going on as it breaches slows the Pokémon's framerate for a few moments until he's settled in on the surface. It's less pronounced in the clip above, which is taken on Research Level 2 of the Reef -- other appearances can appear a bit slower depending on how close you are to the Wailord when it breaches. To be clear, New Pokemon Snap largely runs just fine for the most part, and even in this particular moment everything around the Wailord still seems to be doing okay. But you can see the Wailord struggle to emerge in the moment and snap into place in a spot too, just due to the sheer size of its animation. Honestly? The fact that Wailord is so big it momentarily struggles to get out of the water is kinda cool. Yeah, in an ideal world every game would run perfectly, but there's something weirdly harmonious about a Pokémon so large it momentarily breaks itself just a little bit. New Pokémon Snap is full of amazing moments like these, which helped net it a positive review from us. Its treatment of legendary Pokémon is similarly impressive and surprising, but if you're struggling to find any of them, we've got a pile of guides on the game ready to help you out. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

New Pokémon Snap's Main Legendary Pokémon Is a Surprising Choice

New Pokémon Snap actually has a number of twists on how it handles "Legendary" Pokémon. For one, it features a number of "boss battles" with Illumina Pokémon — giant Pokémon that glow when exposed to a special kind of flower unique to the Lental Region. You've likely already seen one of these Pokémon, Meganium, in the trailers. But there's far more to New Pokémon Snap's treatment of legendaries than initially meets the eye, and while the choice of what Pokémon to feature is rather surprising if you're familiar with how Pokémon normally handles legendaries, it's also very, very cool. Warning: What follows below this video is major spoilers for the end of New Pokémon Snap. Scroll past at your own risk. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/28/new-pokemon-snap-review"] Aside from Meganium, there are a number of other Pokémon that also get the Illumina treatment. These include Milotic, Steelix, Volcarona, and Wishiwashi. All of these Illumina encounters take place on special Illumina courses, where the Illumina Pokémon is thrown into the spotlight similar to how Mew was the sole focus of Pokémon Snap's Rainbow Cloud course. Though other Pokémon can and do appear in these stages, their appearances are incidental to the Illumina Pokémon's. Your goal is to get the coolest shots possible of the big, glowing creature, and it will often require careful timing and clever puzzle-solving to get them. Your encounters with these Illumina Pokémon all eventually lead to a special encounter with a legendary Illumina Pokémon, and this is where New Pokémon Snap really surprised me. While Pokémon Snap eventually led up to an encounter with the then-rarest Pokémon in existence, Mew, New Pokémon Snap spotlights an unlikely hero in Pokémon X's legendary creature, Xerneas.

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Xerneas as a final boss is a bit of a strange pick given that Pokémon X is nearly a decade old now, and we don't seem to be set up for remakes anytime soon the way we are with Pokémon Diamond and Pearl. There's a Pokémon GO event featuring Xerneas going on right now, marking its first appearance in the game alongside its Y counterpart Yveltal, but that's likely been timed explicitly because of New Pokémon Snap. Still, the Illumina Xerneas encounter makes sense in the context of New Pokémon Snap, as you meet it in a ruined temple surrounded by a lush forest, and it emerges from a tree similar to its appearance in Pokémon X. It's the most challenging Illumina Pokémon to catch on film, requiring a multi-stage puzzle just to get it to emerge to be photographed, but the gorgeous glowing shots at the end are well worth it. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=our-favorite-photos-from-new-pokemon-snap&captions=true"] That said, Xerneas isn't the only legendary Pokémon in New Pokémon Snap. We won't spoil who else shows up, but once you get a photo of Xerneas and roll the credits, more legendary monsters from multiple Pokémon games will appear in stages you've already visited. Some will show up unprompted, while others will be a bit more challenging to coax out. These aren't major, stage-wide encounters like Xerneas, but they can be quite cool and provide a good chunk of post-game content to work through. We reviewed New Pokémon Snap and found it delightful, with far more content than the original and a surprising variety of different takes on some of our favorite Pokémon. The game is out now on Nintendo Switch, and if you're struggling to get the perfect shot of any of the Illumina Pokémon including Xerneas, we have guides for that. We also have a guide for all the post-game legendaries to help you in your hunt for each elusive monster. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Rebekah Valentine is a news reporter for IGN. You can find her on Twitter @duckvalentine.

MLB The Show 21: How to Change Your Ballplayer Position and Upgrade Archetype

Need a change of pace for your ballplayer ? Check out this MLB The Show 21 guide.

How to Unlock All Monsters in the Monster Hunter Rise 2.0 Update

Get your weapon ready for these new monsters in Monster Hunter Rise.

New Pokemon Snap Review Discussion - NVC 558

Welcooome to Nintendo Voice Chat! After two decades, Pokemon Snap is finally getting a sequel with New Pokemon Snap on Nintendo Switch. Join host Casey DeFreitas, reviewer Rebekah Valentine, Pokemaniac Miranda Sanchez, and bow tie-wearing Tom Marks as they discuss the surprise sequel. Plus, hear about Super Mario Party's online multiplayer update, new content in Monster Hunter Rise, and a lot more. Timecodes:

00:00:00 Welcome! New Pokemon Snap!
00:26:18 Super Mario Party's surprise update
00:39:45 More news!
00:59:45 What we're playing
01:02:58 Question Block

NVC is available on your preferred platform!

You can also Download NVC 558 Directly Here

You can listen to NVC on your preferred platform every Thursday at 3pm PT/6pm ET. Have a question for Question Block? Write to us at nvc@ign.com and we may pick your question! Also, make sure to join the Nintendo Voice Chat Podcast Forums on Facebook. We're all pretty active there and often pull Question Block questions and comments straight from the community.

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Logan Plant is the Production Assistant for NVC. You can find him on Twitter at @LoganJPlant.

Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart Shows Rivet in Action

We got a fresh look at Ratchet & Clank's gameplay during today's PlayStation State of Play stream, with Insomniac releasing 15 minutes of commentary featuring a glimpse at its traversal mechanics, boss fights, and of course, Rivet. The presentation gave us a glimpse of what it's like to play as the brand new Lombax, who finally received a name earlier this week. It features footage of Rivet battling bug enemies with an energy pistol, with Clank strapped to her back. At one point she hops into a dimensional pocket, where she rides a Speetle across crates and ramps. Traversal will be a big point of emphasis in Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart, Insomniac says. Apart from riding Speetles, it will be possible to evade, wall run, and dash. The traversal drew comparisons to Sunset Overdrive on Twitter, another Insomniac joint released at the beginning of the previous generation. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=ratchet-clank-rift-apart-state-of-play-screenshots&captions=true"] As previously revealed, Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart will also take advantage of PS5's complete feature set. That includes taking advantage of the DualSense's haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, as well as the SSD. In the course of a boss battle against a Nefarious Juggernaut, Ratchet beams to not just another arena, but another world — a moment made possible by the PS5's SSD hard drive. Beyond that, Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart will feature special armor, pocket dimensions to explore, a "slew" of accessibility features, open areas to explore, and of course, a photo mode. There will also be plenty of collectibles to find, so be ready. Ultimately, none of what was shown was particularly new, but it did provide us with a really nice look at what should be another excellent exclusive for PS5. Call it a victory lap after the positive reception afforded Returnal. Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart was one of the first major PS5 exclusives revealed for the platform. The reveal included our first glimpse of a playable female Lombax, who we now know is Rivet, and the promise of modes support 4K and 60fps. Ratchet & Clank: A Rift Apart is out June 11. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

Among Us Announced for PS5 and PS4 with Exclusive Ratchet & Clank Content

InnerSloth's Among Us will finally arrive on PS5 and PS4 in 2021 with an exclusive Ratchet & Clank skin, hat, and pet. Announced during Sony's latest State of Play, PlayStation owners will soon be able to backstab their friends and become the ultimate imposter.

AMONG US - COMING TO PLAYSTATION
get ready to welcome a whole new crew on board!! on PS4 and PS5 consoles later this year exclusive Ratchet & Clank skin, hat, and pet crossplay and online multiplayer tell your friends but more importantly.. tell your enemies heh pic.twitter.com/E6BduFfNwU — Among Us (@AmongUsGame) April 29, 2021

Among Us on PS4 and PS5 will have crossplay with all other platforms and will feature everything featured in all other versions, including the brand new Airship map. Among Us is currently available on PC, mobile devices, Nintendo Switch and via Xbox Game Pass for PC. It will also be released on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox One later this year. InnerSloth recently discussed why updates, new maps, and new platforms have taken so long, and it all boils down to the team only being around five people. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/03/26/among-us-airship-trailer"] The studio wants to grow the team responsibly and focus on caring for its team members instead of growing too quickly to do so. This means it takes a bit longer to test everything to make sure it works on all the platforms Among Us is on and will be on. For more on Among Us, check out every new task in The Airship Map and the Fall Guys costumes that have mysterious, "unique" features. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com. Adam Bankhurst is a news writer for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @AdamBankhurst and on Twitch.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart - Here's What Comes in Each Edition

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is set to release exclusively for PlayStation 5 on June 11. Like its predecessor, Rift Apart is a third-person shooter developed by Insomniac Games, featuring lots of whacky weaponry. It's also meant to showcase many of the PS5's flagship features. You can preorder a copy for yourself right now (see it at Amazon, or Amazon UK). You can go with the standard edition or, if you want some downloadable extras, pick up digital deluxe edition. Below, you'll find full details on what comes in each edition, as well as what preorder bonuses you can expect. Let's get to it.

Preorder Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart

Get it at Amazon - $69.88
Get it at Best Buy - $69.99
Get it at GameStop - $69.99
Get it at Walmart - $69.88
Get it at PlayStation Store (digital) - $69.99
Get it at Amazon UK - £69.99

The standard edition of Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart comes with the game and the preorder bonus described below.

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Digital Deluxe Edition

ratchet-and-clank-rift-apart-deluxe-edition

Get it at PS Store - $79.99

Those who choose to forego a disc can pick up the digital deluxe edition. It comes with the game itself, along with the following digital extras:

5 armor sets
Photo mode sticker pack
20 Raritanium (in-game upgrade materials)
Digital soundtrack
Digital art book

Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart Preorder Bonus

Preorder the digital standard edition or the physical launch edition, and you'll receive early unlocks for the Carbonox Armor from 2003's Ratchet & Clank: Going Commando and the Pixelizer weapon, which appeared in the 2016 Ratchet & Clank. US and Canadian customers who preorder will also get a $5 discount off official merchandise on the PlayStation Gear store.

What is Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart?

[ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/02/11/ratchet-clank-rift-apart-release-date-trailer"] Ratchet & Clank: Rift Apart is the latest in a long line of PlayStation-exclusive third-person shooters that goes back to PS2. This time around, Dr. Nefarious whips up a device that lets him access other dimensions. He uses it to separate the lovable Lombax Ratchet from his robotic friend Clank. Your job is to reunite the friends, while hopping between alternate realities and using a wide array of powerful (and often comedic) weapons. There's also a new female Lombax in the equation, but we haven't gotten many details about her yet. The game also makes use of PS5-specific features, including super-fast loading times, 4K HDR graphics, ray tracing, haptic feedback and adaptive triggers, and 3D sound.

Other Preorder Guides

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Returnal Dev Thanks Sony for Letting It Work on Something 'Very Risky'

Returnal launches tomorrow exclusively on PlayStation 5 and Housemarque co-founder and CEO, Ilari Kuittinen, has written a heartfelt blog post thanking Sony for its support on the game. The blog post, which was published on Housemarque's site, details the struggles of getting to tomorrow's launch day for Returnal, a game with a history that spans back six years to the initial concept's beginning. After Nex Machina, which Kuittinen writes was one of the best reviewed new games of 2017 on Metacritic, had "disappointing" sales numbers, he published the studio's now infamous #arcadeisdead post. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/29/returnal-review"] This post detailed that the studio was "ending (its) long standing commitment to the arcade genre," but Kuittinen says that didn't mean the team was giving up on its "deep commitment to fast-twitch action gameplay." In steps Returnal, which Kuittinen says is the team's attempt to translate its "arcade 2D gameplay expertise into a [third-person] action game." "It was still very uncertain if we'd be able to move past the prototype phase and convince Sony to keep on funding a new, unproved concept [Returnal]," Kuittinen wrote. "The concept was ridiculously ambitious and looking back, we as a company really weren't totally appreciating the challenge ahead of us and how hard it could be to tackle it." "In the age when game publishers are taking less and less creative risks, we are truly thankful to our publishing partner Sony, who has given us an opportunity to work on something very risky and has given fantastic support during the whole project. We are forever grateful for having this opportunity." [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=returnal-playstation-5-screenshots&captions=true"] Kuittinen then writes about the difficulty of shipping a game like Returnal, which he says is a game bigger and "more ambitious than the company has ever delivered." Kuittinen also mentions developing a game for an entirely new platform — the PS5 — and the COVID-19 pandemic that began in Returnal's last year of development. You can read more about that and the history Kuittinen details that led to where Housemarque is today in the full blog post. Returnal launches tomorrow exclusively for the PS5. You can read our thoughts on the game in IGN's Returnal review. Check out Returnal's launch trailer after that and then read about what each edition of the game comes with when it's released tomorrow. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Wesley LeBlanc is a freelance news writer and guide maker for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter @LeBlancWes.

Returnal Doesn't Let You Save During Its (Very Long) Runs

Returnal is a very good game. Our review, which went up earlier today, called its moment-to-moment gameplay "sublime." It's currently sitting at 86 on Metacritic, which isn't too shabby for a brand new series. But as reviewer Mitchell Saltzman also noted, it has one particular sticking point — its runs are very long, and there's no way to save in the middle of them. "That saps the desire to immediately return and try again after a failure, though not enough to grind it to a halt," Saltzman writes.

I am VERY excited for Returnal but reading that the average run can last 90+ minutes and there is no way to save midway (aside from Rest Mode) makes me really wish that PS5 had Xbox's Quick Resume feature.
I'll work around it, of course, since the game looks awesome! But still. — Brian Altano (@agentbizzle) April 29, 2021

This has sparked some discourse on Twitter as fans and reviewers alike weigh in on the decision to omit a midgame save. Defenders are saying that Returnal is a roguelite, and being able to save in the middle of a run is anthithetical to the genre. Besides, Hades doesn't have a save, so what's the big deal? Detractors, meanwhile, note that runs in Hades frequently take only about 40 minutes, as opposed to the two to three hours that it can take to finish off a Returnal playthrough. Its scale is what makes it unique, as it's one of the first real examples of a so-called "triple-A roguelite." This makes it a unique experiment in the genre, but its size also works against it. Ultimately, Housemarque also doesn't necessarily need to introduce a situation where players can save scum there way through a run. A quick save system is probably sufficient. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/29/returnal-review"]

No Plans for New Feature in Day One Patch

In preparation for tomorrow's launch, Sony has released a Day One patch that introduces a smattering of improvements across the board. Quicksave is not part of the planned update. We reached out to Sony for an official comment. [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=every-ign-playstation-first-party-exclusive-review&captions=true"] Until Housemarque changes its mind, you'll just have to carve out a significant chunk of time to play Returnal. Think of it as a throwback to the days when you'd leave your NES running overnight because you were in the middle of a Super Mario Bros. 3 run and you didn't have a save feature. Only in this instance, you're putting your PS5 into sleep mode and hoping that it doesn't decide to push a new firmware update while you're away. Or worse. All that aside, Returnal seems like a very cool mix of roguelite design and Housemarque's trademark twitch gameplay. Fans will get to experience PS5's latest exclusive when it arrives April 30. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Kat Bailey is a Senior News Editor at IGN.

How You Can Watch the IGN x Stop AAPI Hate Charity Stream

May is right around the corner and with that comes the beginning of Asian American and Pacific Islander Heritage Month. Also known as AAPI Heritage Month, this nationwide event is a month-long commemoration of the culture, history, and achievements of Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. In an effort to support the AAPI community and take action against the rise in xenophobic crimes against Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders, IGN is joining forces with Stop AAPI Hate and hosting a charity stream where we’ll be playing Fall Guys and raising funds for an incredibly important cause alongside (55!) of our friends.

How to Watch the IGN x Stop AAPI Hate Charity Stream

The IGN x Stop AAPI Hate charity stream will take place on May 6 and start at 7pm PDT/ 10pm EDT. If you’re watching from the UK or Australia, that’s May 7 at 3am BST/ 12pm AEST. You can watch this charity stream (and most other charity streams we host) on nearly all of our platforms, including here, the homepage of IGN.com, and on many of our social channels. Here’s the full list of places you can watch:

About Stop AAPI Hate and How to Donate

Stop AAPI Hate is a coalition that provides a place for people to report incidents of violence towards Asian Americans and Pacific Islanders. The official website explains: “By identifying patterns and sources of anti-Asian racism, we are better able to support government agencies and community-based organizations that request our assistance. We offer practical solutions and policy recommendations for long-term change.” If you’d like to help us meet our goal, you can donate to our IGN x Stop AAPI Hate Tiltify campaign here. We’ll be sharing the link during the live stream as well.

What to Expect and Guest List

IGN’s Stella Chung and Josh Du are joined by Olivia Liang (CW’s Kung Fu), Lauren Tsai (Terrace House: Aloha State), and Jimmy Wong (Mulan) for 2 hours of fierce Fall Guys Competition. Their squad will go up against 55 friends from all over the gaming and entertainment space to raise money for Stop AAPI Hate. Check out the full guest list below: IGN x Stop AAPI Hate Charity Stream Guest List

We hope you can join us! Even if you can't donate, your support is always welcome. Remember — there are a variety of ways to celebrate, whether it be reading up on AAPI history or attending events that directly benefit causes important to their communities. The best part is, these activities aren’t limited to AAPI Heritage Month. We can do our best to show our support all year round! [poilib element="accentDivider"] Felicia Miranda is SEO Editor at IGN. You can find her gushing about Final Fantasy games at @FeliciaVagabond on Twitter.

GTA Online: Claim Triple Motor Wars Rewards, Several Login Freebies, and More

This week in GTA Online, players can score several freebies, double rewards in Bunker Series Adversary Modes and Bunker Sell Missions, and much more.

Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order Next-Gen Upgrade Is Out This Summer

Update 04/29/2021: After it leaked last month, Disney has officially confirmed that Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order will receive a free next-gen upgrade for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, which will arrive this summer. On StarWars.com, a small update explains that the upgrade will bring "a number of technical improvements" to the game on next-gen consoles. More details are coming soon, apparently. As part of the announcement, the game received a 70% discount on its standard and deluxe editons for PS4, Xbox One, Origin and Steam – so you can buy it cheap now and get your free upgrade this summer, if you need to. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/11/15/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-review"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order could be getting a native next-gen console release, after the German ratings board listed new PS5 and Xbox versions. As reported by Gematsu, USK, the German video game classification system, has rated Fallen Order on PlayStation 5 and Microsoft Xbox. These are new listings alongside the existing last-gen ratings, and suggest that a full, native next-gen upgrade of the game could be on the way. As you'd expect, those age ratings haven't changed. The Xbox classification doesn't mention a specific console, but given that there's already a classification for the Xbox One version of the game, it's thought that this relates to the Series S and X family of consoles. The game was updated for next-gen consoles back in early January which upped the game's framerate alongside some small optimizations, but didn't go as far as a new native version of the game. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2019/10/29/star-wars-jedi-fallen-order-launch-trailer"] Fallen Order recently came to Xbox Game Pass for PC after the EA Play library was added to the service earlier this week. We're also expecting a Star Wars Jedi sequel at some point, after EA said it wouldn't be slowing down its production of Star Wars games, and confirmed the game was the start of a franchise. We reviewed Fallen Order upon its launch in November 2019, scoring it a 9 and calling it a "fantastic single-player action-adventure." It recently made our list of the best Soulslike games for fans of From Software's influential Dark Souls series. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Game Delays Got Even Worse as the Pandemic Progressed, But Studios Grew

A GDC survey of over 3000 games industry professionals revealed that game delays have gotten worse as the pandemic progressed, but many game studios have also grown in tandem. The Game Developers Conference 2021 State of the Industry Survey notes that 44% of the developers it spoke to said they had a game delayed during the pandemic. This is up on last summer's survey, which reported that 33% (or a third of all game developers) had delayed a game due to the impact of COVID-19. While many of those delays will be internal, we've seen a large numbe rof games publicly shift their dates already this year – check out every game delay announced in 2021 so far. [ignvideo url="https://www.ign.com/videos/2020/08/12/halo-infinites-delay-is-the-right-movebut-a-painful-one"] Yet at the same time, almost half of game studios have also grown considerably. 47% of studios surveyed said that they had expanded their staff over the past year, and 66% said that productivity and creativity had stayed the same or even increased. This suggests studios are starting to adapt to working from home - 41% of those who responded to last year's survey said that productivity had been damaged by the move to remote working conditions. You can view the results of the full survey here, which is available as a free download. In the same survey, it was revealed that the PS5 is the most popular console to develop for, while PC remains the most popular platform for developers overall. This survey lands ahead of the Game Developers Conference 2021, which will occur between July 19-23 as an all-digital event, for the second year in a row. [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Halo Infinite Will Support Cross-Play and Cross-Progression

Microsoft has announced that Halo Infinite will support multiplayer cross-play and cross-progression across PC (on Microsoft Store and Steam), Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. Announced on Xbox Wire, the move is being pitched by Microsoft as a way of "building communities around games, not devices", and will see customisation and game progress follow you across all platforms, as well as let you play with anyone on any available platform. Microsoft also revealed that the game will come with some popular PC features, including ultrawide and super ultrawide screen support, triple keybinds, advanced graphics options, and more. Developing...

Returnal Is a Great PS5 Exclusive

On this week's episode of Podcast Beyond!, IGN's weekly PlayStation show covering the biggest PS5 and PS4 games and news, host Jonathon Dornbush is joined by Mark Medina and Mitchell Saltzman to discuss Housemarque's PS5 exclusive Returnal. We discuss why Returnal is such a great PS5 exclusive and shows off what the console can do, from the included haptics and 3D audio functionality to fast loading and impressive gameplay. The conversation stays spoiler-free, as we answer viewer and listener questions about Returnal's difficulty, its arcade roots, just how big of an experience it actually is, and much more. Watch the new episode above! [widget path="global/article/imagegallery" parameters="albumSlug=the-best-ps5-games&captions=true"]

Podcast Beyond! is live every Wednesday. For more on PS5, check out our PS5 console review and our PS5 wiki guide for tips on how to best use your system. And for more Beyond, be sure to watch the first episode of our Bloodborne let's play! [poilib element="poll" parameters="id=6dd2b926-8863-4080-99b2-d08eb61f67f6"] [poilib element="accentDivider"] Jonathon Dornbush is IGN's Senior News Editor, host of Podcast Beyond!, and PlayStation lead. Talk to him on Twitter @jmdornbush.