When Tales of Arise was first unveiled back in 2019, fans wondered if Bandai Namco was creating an open world reboot of the cult RPG series. It’s certainly the fashionable move among Japanese games these days, with The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Elden Ring being just two examples. But while producer Yusuke Tomizawa says that a reboot is “correct description for this title,” it’s closer to the original games than you might think. The comedic skits are returning, series stalwart Motoi Sakuraba will once again be handling the soundtrack, and the combat will resemble previous games…

After a few hours in PS5 exclusive Returnal’s first two areas I can already feel the signature Housemarque hooks sinking into me. But whether you’ve ever played a game from the Resogun developers before, Returnal’s heart-racing combat sequences against ever-threatening enemies are great to be in control of, and just as thrilling when finding yourself on the back foot. The time loop nature of Returnal has kept the experience fresh so far by introducing new weapons, enemy types, and scraps of story at every turn. Simply put, I’m getting the same feelings that IGN’s 2020 Game of the Year Hades…

The creators of 1080 Snowboarding on the Nintendo 64 are back with a new snowboarding game for the modern era. This time, you can shred the slopes in VR with Carve Snowboarding, announced today for the Oculus Quest. Carve Snowboarding is being developed by 1080 creator Giles Goddard and Japanese studio Chuhai Labs. The press release says this is a modern take on the Nintendo 64 classic, and there’s a new trailer you can check out below. [ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/21/carve-snowboarding-gameplay-trailer”] Customize your runs with different boards, gloves, and a soundtrack featuring over 60 songs from indie artists. There are also two…

Oculus announced a slew of new details regarding Resident Evil 4 VR, including details about graphical upgrades, gameplay changes, and more. Originally announced during Capcom’s Resident Evil Village showcase, Oculus revealed new details during its gaming showcase live stream today. [ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/21/resident-evil-4-vr-gameplay-reveal-showcase”] While we already knew that Resident Evil 4 VR would feature a first-person perspective, along with touch controls that let you handle weapons, items, and puzzles, chief among the new updates are a few key graphical improvements. Resident Evil 4 VR will also run at a higher framerate than the original’s 30fps. Oculus didn’t specify a specific framerate,…

Blizzard’s mobile entry into the venerable Diablo series, Diablo Immortal, has just entered closed alpha. The test is limited to Australia only, will run for at least a month, and sees a host of new additions above and beyond what we saw in the well-received technical alpha at the start of the year. The Crusader, for instance, has been added to the four previously playable classes and the level cap has been raised to 55 (just shy of the max level of 60). Alongside the ability to reach higher levels are two new zones to put those character to the…

A proposed Texas bill banning transgender youth from participating in sports is “bad for business,” Gearbox Entertainment testified yesterday before the Texas Committee on Public Education. Gearbox Director of Institutional Partnerships David Najjab told lawmakers that bills and others like it targeting transgender youth will make “Texas appear unfriendly and unwelcome.” He argued that such bills stand to hurt Gearbox’s efforts to recruit top game development talent to the state. [ignvideo url=”https://www.ign.com/videos/2021/04/05/borderlands-the-movie-gets-an-official-synopsis”] “[Game development] requires an educated workforce of a certain type. It makes us look bad. It sullies us and makes it hard to recruit,” Najjab said. “Our game…

Activision is actively investigating an issue with Call of Duty: Warzone servers that are keeping players in a long server queue as they wait to try out the new event before Season 3. The next Call of Duty: Warzone season begins with a large bomb that seemingly nukes Verdansk. But players hoping to catch a glimpse of this before Warzone goes down for maintenance are instead stuck in a long line. Some players who successfully get in have had the game crash on them before the event finishes. We’re actively investigating an issue with long wait times in the server…

Verdansk has been nuked, blown to pieces in Call of Duty: Warzone, although we won’t know what the aftermath looks like for a little while longer. The Destruction of Verdansk Part 1 event in Warzone set the stage for Warzone season 3 in an appropriately zombified fashion. At noon Pacific Time, players were able to join in on a new limited-time mode that built upon the past week or so of Warzone’s in-game narrative. Folks suited up like a normal game of Warzone, but an eerily quiet orchestral track and a map positively swarming with radiation zones (that move!) quickly…