The price of an Xbox console today is higher than ever, and it was Microsoft's own massive push into the AI space that led to this, at least in part. Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has now reacted to this ironic development, saying in an interview that she thinks it's great that GPUs are being used for technology outside of gaming, even if it means Xbox consoles are more expensive than ever.

"Gaming has always been a proving ground for the GPU. I think it is wonderful that there are more uses for this technology around the world," she told the BBC. "AI is fundamentally changing a lot of things. So our job as Xbox, as we continue on our next generation, is to take into consideration what's happening in the world and build the best experience for our players."

Following multiple rounds of price increases, the cheapest new Xbox--the Xbox Series S--now sells for $500, which is $200 more than what it cost at launch in 2020. Sharma said that for the next generation of consoles, including Microsoft's Helix platform, the company will need to think more about "efficiency and affordability, alongside performance."

Sharma also stated that Helix may not be a single device but rather a group of systems. "We've been hard at work on a great next generation, a great family of devices for Helix, and we'll share more soon," she said.

"We will of course continue to push the boundaries of performance. We've talked about being able to not only play your console games but also play your PC games on your console. I think in addition, all of the industry needs to innovate on affordability and efficiency. That is something that we have not had to [before]."

Sharma said the "crisis" currently affecting the market for hardware and components is creating a situation in whichMicrosoft needs to innovate to give players more choice in "how they play their console and how they purchase their console."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=92NCgo5zce0

For the latest Xbox price hike, Microsoft specifically directed people to consider using a Buy Now, Pay Later service or that they should buy a console through a provider offering 0% APR introductory financing. Microsoft also said people can buy a certified refurbished console to help get into gaming more affordably.

The most expensive Xbox console ever, the 25th-anniversary translucent green console, just launched at $900 and sold out immediately. Additionally, Xbox console sales in the US recently doubled, so there have been some positive signs for Xbox hardware lately, but the overall trends in hardware spending have been negative.

It's not just Xbox facing these issues, of course. Sony has raised the price of the PlayStation 5 multiple times, too, while Nintendo will hike the price of the Switch 2 on September 1.

"Fighting is everything" is a phrase protagonist Miyamoto Musashi uses to explain his ethos, but it's an ideology that doubles as an accurate description of Onimusha: Way of the Sword, too. After a disappointing 20-year hiatus, Capcom's samurai series returns in fine form, ditching the fixed camera angles and pre-rendered backgrounds of its forebears for a modern reinvention where combat is king. 

The fifth mainline entry in the series still maintains key aspects of Onimusha's distinct identity, mixing Japanese history and mythology with the studio's penchant for inventive creature design, but infuses these aspects with layered melee skirmishes shaped by the past 20 years of action games. The shift to a semi-open-world structure is a stumbling block, but Way of the Sword still marks an excellent return for the long-dormant series by evolving its swordplay with captivating aplomb.  

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=cbikE6l6nU0

Musashi himself is, of course, known for his combat prowess: a legendary samurai from Japanese history who's widely regarded as the greatest swordsman who ever lived. Much like previous protagonist Samanosuke Akechi–who's loosely based on the Sengoku period's Akechi Hidemitsu–Capcom was influenced by the fables, legends, and real stories of Musashi when creating the character. 

While he's only in his early 20s in Way of the Sword, the cockiness, confidence, and swagger of someone who would eventually go undefeated in 62 sword duels is immediately apparent. There's a Harrison Ford-esque roguishness about him that's easy to fall in love with, and this is aided immensely by not just Yoshimasa Hosoya's voice performance–I played the Japanese-language version–but also the game's excellent facial-capture animation. Every subtle raise of an eyebrow, smirk of the mouth, and clench of the jaw is evident and lends Masashi a ton of character even when he's not speaking. 

It also helps that he's modeled after the late, great Japanese actor Toshiro Mifune, best known for his collaborations with Akira Kurosawa on films such as Seven Samurai and Yojimbo, and who also played Musashi in Hiroshi Inagaki's Samurai trilogy.

Onimusha has a long history of using the likenesses of real actors, including Yusaku Matsuda and Jean Reno, but the leap in quality over the past 20 years is undeniable in Way of the Sword. I'm not overly familiar with Mifune's earlier work, yet his mannerisms shine through both in cutscenes and gameplay, from his wide-eyed intensity to the way he shrugs his shoulders and scratches the back of his neck. 

At the beginning of the game, Musashi arrives in Edo-era Kyoto, looking to prove himself as a warrior without equal. After defeating a clan leader in a fierce duel, he's set upon by an invading force of demonic Genma and is only able to fight back after being granted an Oni gauntlet by a mysterious figure. 

Unlike previous protagonists such as Samanosuke and Jubei Yagyu, who wanted to use their Oni powers to save the world, Musashi wants to rid himself of the gauntlet. The way of the sword is traversed on one's own strength, so Musashi feels having these powers at his disposal is essentially cheating and doesn't represent his true skill as a swordsman. 

Watching Musashi navigate this stance while newfound allies are relying on him to save Kyoto is one of the more compelling aspects of the game's narrative. Musashi has his own ethos, but he's also not the kind of samurai who adheres to a strict bushido code. When it's a matter of life or death, he'll break the rules, which feels very human and fits his rogueish attitude. 

The rest of the story is fairly straightforward, with some comically evil villains adding entertainment value and impetus to the game's many battles. It's standard popcorn fare–not quite as corny as Resident Evil, and there are some killer lines, but it's not something you'll remember for long outside of some of its performances. There are some pacing issues early on, too. Control is frequently wrestled away from you during the first couple of hours as you're dragged from one exposition-heavy cutscene to the next. It's not a great first impression but does eventually relent, settling into a decent groove with conflict at the forefront.

Any action game worth its salt lives and dies on how good its combat feels, and in this regard, Way of the Sword positively thrives. It's not a combo-laden action game like Devil May Cry or Ninja Gaiden, nor is it as punishing and methodical as the many souls-likes that have emerged since Onimusha last appeared. Instead, it falls somewhere in the middle.

You've got your standard light and heavy attacks, and transitioning between them to create various combos is seamless and feels suitably hefty. Musashi moves like a regular person–you can clearly see him swinging his katana like he has to put some muscle behind each strike–and this makes his swordplay very deliberate, emphasizing defense as the ultimate key to unlocking your full offensive arsenal. 

You can block and parry almost any attack, with the latter opening up your opponents for swift retribution. You can also deflect attacks, which doesn't create the same opportunity to counter but does take a decent chunk out of the enemy's stamina meter. Once this is fully depleted, your foes enter an exhausted state where you're able to deal significant damage–even slowing down time so you can select a specific body part to target during boss fights, such as a pesky tail that you can slice off to prevent certain attacks, or a limb that grants a confluence of souls for you to absorb.

You can dodge attacks, too, performing a stylish Reflex Dodge if you evade an unarmed enemy strike at just the right time. This is also the only way to reverse grab attacks, just as deflecting is the only way to counter unavoidable attacks. Way of the Sword's combat is built around reading and reacting to the enemy's various tells and then responding in devastating fashion. Button mashing is quickly punished, but once you've got a handle on its slower cadence, there are stylish thrills to be had in each and every battle. 

If you're feeling particularly brave, you can even utilize an Onimusha mainstay: the Issen attack. By striking just before an enemy attack lands, you'll hit back with a deadly counter that instantly kills most regular enemies. The timing on this is much more precise than either parries, deflects, or Reflex Dodges, but the reward is much greater, especially once you've unlocked the ability to chain multiple Issen attacks in a row by rhythmically timing your button presses. 

All of this feels incredibly satisfying in action, mixing nuanced depth with some of the best animation work in the genre. As someone who loves parries, Way of the Sword executes them like no other game I can recall. Rather than enemy attacks simply bouncing off Musashi's katana, you lock weapons with a palpable heft, sending a barrage of sparks flying as they slide against each other before Musashi uses the enemy's momentum to reposition them. It's very much coded in classic samurai cinema, producing these dramatic sword clashes within the flow of combat. 

Chaining together parries and deflects also builds a meter that activates Blazing State, coating Musashi's katana in a blue flame that boosts your attack power and causes enemies to drop more souls when they die, such as yellow ones that replenish your health and blue ones that power your Oni Armaments. While the younger Musashi hasn't yet created the Niten Ichi-ryu style of dual-wielding he's famous for, his familiarity with multiple weapon types is well realized. 

You gradually gain access to more Oni Armaments throughout the course of the game, letting you unleash temporary attacks with a varied pool of weapons. The Two Celestials , for instance, are a pair of blades that deal straight damage and extract yellow souls from the Genma, while the Wind-Whipper is a naginata that conjures whirlwinds to wipe out groups of enemies. Elsewhere, the Earth-Shaker hammers excel at inflicting significant stamina damage, and the Firebird Flute summons flaming birds when played, allowing you to launch them at enemies. 

Choosing which Oni Armament to utilize for each situation becomes a key part of your approach to combat, although Musashi isn't opposed to using unconventional means either. Tables can be flipped and deployed as large shields before being booted at enemies, food carts can be rammed into startled mobs, and you can parry Genma into standing torches, setting them on fire in the process.

Unfortunately, the sheer excellence of Way of the Sword's combat is also the only thing keeping the game afloat when mired in its disappointing structure. Eastern Kyoto is established early as a semi-open-world hub, and while there are traditional levels, a large chunk of the game takes place within this open area. You'll find side quests, collectibles, and upgrade materials, and while the map starts small and gradually opens up, it's never particularly large. This works in the game's favor, however, as the side quests therein are dull and uninspired. 

A subset of optional missions called "Mysteries of Kyoto" has you helping citizens and relaying their stories to Murasaki Shikibu, the historical author of The Tale of Genji. These yarns are rooted in Japanese mythology, covering the likes of the Three Worms, the Faceless, and the Night Parade, but calling them mysteries is a glaring misnomer. 

The culprit is always just another Genma you need to kill, and the same rings true in the rest of the game's side quests as well. Someone asks for your help, so you head to a location and dispatch every enemy you can find. The worst of these is a series of archery quests where you return to previous locations to shoot down specific Genma using your bow. You're rewarded with upgrade materials for completing these quests, so skipping them puts you at a huge disadvantage. The one saving grace is that there aren't many side quests, and engaging in more combat isn't inherently bad, but Way of the Sword's optional excursions are still incredibly formulaic and make the entire hub feel superfluous. 

The game's traditional levels are much better, often evoking a specific mood or atmosphere. One sees you venture into an underground lab where a particularly twisted Genma is conducting experiments, fusing humans, animals, and her own kind together to create unsettling monstrosities. Here, Capcom leans into its horror tendencies, casting shadows across the lab's shoji to highlight the mutations happening just out of sight, while kimonos hang from the rafters as evidence of the people who were kidnapped and brought to this malevolent place. It's an eerie and atmospheric location to explore.

Elsewhere, you'll make the gradual trek up the slopes of Mount Oe during twilight, fighting through smaller forts and dodging giant, rolling logs to reach the palatial castle nestled at the top. If the whole game was just more levels like these, I would have very few complaints. Way of the Sword's combat is exceptional, and it features some of the best boss fights I've ever seen, but there's always this nagging feeling that it could've been even better.

It feels odd to be disappointed by a game with so many moments I absolutely adore, but that's what happens when the potential to be greater is so obvious. The uninspired semi-open-world is a misstep that doesn't justify its existence, yet Way of the Sword is still a fantastic and welcome return for the series, led by outstanding combat that firmly places it in the upper echelon of modern action games. Fighting is everything, after all, and there's nothing else quite like Musashi's brand of calculated violence.

Very few of the many stories you'll encounter in The Blood of Dawnwalker end happily. It seems foolish to expect anything else from a dark, medieval action-RPG about a secluded valley ruled over by vampires who demand blood and subservience from its human populace. While hoping for anyone to get out unscathed is perhaps naive, it's impressive that developer Rebel Wolves manages to give just about every story enough depth and nuance to keep all that death and tragedy compelling all the way through.

Dawnwalker is composed of what feels like a ridiculous number of quests. Due to its structure, they seem haphazardly constructed at first, with no dedicated throughline; only a story you construct by taking on whatever tasks you think are worth your limited time. What's shocking is that these quests, from the intricate stories of rebels fighting to free the valley and vampires following shadowy agendas, to the momentary tidbits of setup from a group of soldiers by the side of the road before you start hacking them apart with your sword, are so well-written. To the game's credit, there's a good chance you'll want to do everything in Dawnwalker. The fact that you can't is part of what makes it so compelling.

https://youtu.be/947maH4t22E

Dawnwalker's story is built on a ticking clock, and that feature is among the game's best ideas. You play as Coen, a human who loses his family to Brencis, the valley's vampire sovereign. Coen quickly comes to realize that Brencis is set to host a feast in 30 in-game days, so you have that long to make preparations and storm the castle to free the captured humans, doing whatever you can to strengthen yourself, gather allies, and figure out a plan before time runs out.

Time advances when you take on or complete quests and activities. Each of these takes an allotted amount of time, so you're always weighing whether you want to dedicate time to one quest over another. Dilly dallying with other activities while a quest is active can change the situation or even cause it to end in failure, so stacking up 50 things to do is a bad idea. While you have enough time on your hands that you're not forced to consider every single hour you spend along the way, the sense that the clock is against you gives everything you do in Dawnwalker the feeling of weight and importance. It also might make you think twice about stopping to lend a hand to a minor character you meet, or choosing a merciful but time-consuming option over a more expedient but harmful one.

Time also dictates the way that you address quests. At the end of the tutorial section, Coen is forcibly turned into a vampire, but thanks to this world's supernatural rules, he unexpectedly becomes a Dawnwalker--he transforms into a vampire when night falls but reverts to a human under the sun. During the day, the human Coen can do things like interact with shopkeepers or make his way into occupied settlements, looking like any other person; if he gets into a fight with Brencis's soldiers, he does it with a sword. At night, Coen is more deadly in a fight, but often more noticeable, and enemies tend to attack on sight. An area might be public during the day and off limits at night, so when you decide to solve a problem can change how you do so. And of course, some events only take place during the day, while others only happen at night.

The smartest way time is deployed against you is in Dawnwalker's progression system. Leveling happens passively as you gain experience points for completing quests and defeating enemies, kicking up your overall stats, but to unlock new abilities in combat or enhance elements like your life total and stamina bar, you need to do more. To add skills for the human Coen, you'll need to find and read books and manuals; for the vampire Coen, your skills unlock as you consume the blood of humans, animals, and other vampires. And unlocking perks costs points you'll earn from leveling, as well as time. 

This means that making yourself stronger forces tradeoffs. Do you want to power yourself up at the risk of failing or delaying a quest? I found that I was always sitting on perk points in Dawnwalker, waiting for when I was sure they wouldn't cost me key opportunities. As a result, sometimes I undertook quests without maximizing my capabilities. That push and pull makes leveling up a deliberate and important decision about how it might impact Coen's overall goal.

Where this leveling system falls down is in what it actually offers. Coen has three different skill trees from which you can purchase perks, each keyed to a different part of his character. Coen's a gifted swordsman and can use his claws as a vampire, while he gets access to witchcraft powers when he's human. 

The system presents you with a lot of options, many of which can be upgraded several times, and it feels purposely designed to create choice paralysis. Since you probably aren't investing in everything due to the time it'll cost, you're forced to think about what upgrades are going to matter most to you, and whether you're leaning too hard on one set of perks over the others, which might leave you vulnerable during certain times of day.

The trouble is that the trees are filled with upgrades that don't always feel meaningful. Part of the weakness is that abilities are equipped into slots in your menu, and in order to equip more of them, you have to also unlock new slots by spending perk points and time. The limitation can incentivize you to equip a couple of active and passive abilities and never change them, effectively making the ones you don't equip dead spots on the tree. And since, for most abilities, you need to first find books to unlock them, you might be barred from a perk forever, or long enough that it doesn't matter enough to pursue it. 

Requiring so much thought about how you build Coen makes it easy to disregard a lot of your options, not out of purposefully constructing a character, but because of the quests you might choose arbitrarily throughout the game. I never did much with his witchcraft abilities, for instance, since they required me to spend health it often felt like Human Coen couldn't spare, and because their books weren't as easily available. I spent perk points on witchcraft abilities I never actually used much, and in the end wound up ignoring a lot of that skill tree in favor of the more practical sword skills.

And while you'll unlock some fun combat abilities, the fact that you might only use a couple of them for huge swathes of the game weakens Dawnwalker somewhat, because you'll be doing a ton of fighting. Brencis's soldiers dominate the valley, and while you'll talk your way through a lot of situations, combat is the main thrust of Dawnwalker's gameplay, so the rhythm of using the same few abilities can get stale.

Dawnwalker's combat is pretty good nevertheless, bolstered by its focus on being directional. Coen swings his attacks in a particular direction, depending on where you hold the left analog stick, and the idea is that you want to beat an enemy's guard by swinging to avoid their blocks. In practice, directional swings are more haphazard and tough to use well, but also don't really matter. Where the directional combat really shines is in your defense--if you push the analog stick in the direction your opponent is swinging from and hit the block button at the right time, you can parry their blow and counterattack. 

How you fight is dictated by a stamina meter, and you use stamina for attacks, dodges, and Coen's "omniblock," which deflects any incoming blow. Blocking directionally, however, uses no stamina and actually kicks off its recovery, so in order to keep up the speed of a fight you need to be executing skillful blocks, lest you run out of stamina and get overwhelmed. Enemies often come at Coen in groups, too, so you have to watch out for people coming from the sides, who you can deflect away and hit briefly before returning to your main target.

It's a great system that gives fights the rhythm of a duel, with the back-and-forth between you and your opponent requiring quick reactions on your part, and all happening fast enough that you're rarely waiting for an attack to parry. With multiple enemies, you have to pay close attention, and I genuinely felt like a world-class swordsman as I turned away opponent after opponent. Trading blows and parries builds up "activation points" that can be spent on special abilities like stunning enemies or hitting several at a time. And even though you'll play through hundreds of battles, the focus on quick reactions and executing on openings keeps them exciting, even when you're facing groups of soldiers who have been fighting more or less the same way for 40 hours.

What irritations derive from combat come from the fact that you do so much of it, and how it feels is mostly dictated by the kinds of enemies coming for you. The directional combat approach is engaging, but it also means that fighting as Human Coen and Vampire Coen are very similar in function, despite their differences. As a vampire, Coen can fight with his claws, but they deflect blows from soldiers and monsters the same way a sword does. The major differences come from which special abilities you can use, which are often unblockable or interrupt enemy attacks. That fact can downgrade their use from being a tactical deployment at a key moment, to something you hit as soon as an activation point pops up and a move's cooldown runs out. Even though the human and vampire are intended to feel different, one more calculated and the other more aggressive, they wind up playing more or less the same way, especially over a long time.

Another big difference in the two sides of combat comes from how you manage health. Vampire Coen has a bunch of perks that increase his survivability. You start with an ability that lets you briefly chomp on an enemy's neck to suck some of their blood and restore your health, which is a huge boon in the early game. The vampire side also has some extremely powerful perks like passive health regeneration, as well as ones that give health back when you parry and when you attack with your claws. You also get bonuses from weapons and armor that passively boost a bunch of traits, including health. By the end of the game, I felt functionally unkillable as a vampire as my health often regenerated faster than enemies could damage me.

As a human, fights are much more harrowing, since your healing options are limited to eating food between fights and using items equipped to quick slots during combat. You can't refill your quick slots while fighting, so you have to manage them carefully, and food is less effective in combat, pushing you to rely on medicines you can craft. Where you can restore health through combat abilities reliably as a vampire all game, as a human, you have to wait for openings to use a medicine, and make sure you pack enough to stay alive. This makes fighting as a human tough and active in interesting ways, but also incentivizes you to take on whatever battles you can with your safer and more powerful vampire abilities.

Dawnwalker does include a decently granular difficulty system that you can adjust throughout the game, and it's definitely something you should mess with. You can separately adjust combat difficulty, dictating things like parry windows and the damage enemies inflict, and RPG difficulty, which governs elements like Coen's stamina costs and healing. At the default difficulty settings, it felt easy for the balance to get thrown off, so adjusting both was useful to keep Dawnwalker from getting frustratingly difficult or feeling too easy.

While they don't always fire on all cylinders, what's notable about all these systems is how intricate and deliberate they are, how much the game wants you to think about the ways you interact with them, and how many cool swings they take. It's fun to think so deeply about how and when to level up, what armor and weapon bonuses are most important to your build, and what preparations you're going to need for a fight before you undertake it. Those elements give Dawnwalker's RPG systems a lot more depth and thoughtfulness than games in the genre often have.

Holding it all together are the many, many cool stories you'll find along the way. The valley is absolutely littered with quests, and to their credit, they all feel like they're worth doing. What's more, you have a ton of freedom about what you actually get up to as you push toward your goal of saving people, and you won't always know how a quest might provide you with friends who can help you later, or unlock new information and further steps. But the fact that they so often do helps stop most quests from seeming like detours, and instead, weaves them together to tell Coen's story through your very specific path through the game. Everything has an air of being consequential, especially because Coen and others are constantly mentioning important tidbits gleaned from other quests, or the consequences of past actions.

Writing and voice acting is also strong throughout the game, making so much of what might otherwise be mundane open-world content unexpectedly compelling. Brencis has three lieutenants who run his operations in the valley, doing things like recruiting soldiers, gathering the blood of peasants, and keeping the masses entertained and docile. Disrupting those operations can eventually draw them out, triggering quests that give you opportunities to kill them so you won't have to face Brencis at full strength. And even a lot of these activities, which are ostensibly of the base-clearing variety, throw in interesting little stories. You might run into a mother trying to convince her soldier son to desert, and then get the choice to try to talk him into it through reasoning, intimidation, or bribery, lowering the difficulty of the battle against his remaining squad. Or you might find that, after clearing a few camps where peasants are paid to gather leeches to help store blood for the vampires, the commoners you're ostensibly trying to help at the remaining camps have taken up arms to help defend their livelihoods against you.

The quests tied to each of Brencis's lieutenants are some of the best in the game, giving you opportunities to catch each one when they're vulnerable, and giving you a deep look into who they are. They're also full of tough, interesting choices, like when you're approached by a vassal of one lieutenant who wants to help you win a duel against him by poisoning the blood he drinks--which means poisoning an innocent person. How you deal with situations has material consequences and creates some great, small-scale dramas. A lot of the quests in Dawnwalker are still sticking with me days later, and I want to dive back in to follow the many plot threads that I missed or cut short.

Dawnwalker also throws in a very good idea to mess with the formula of giving you all these tough choices to make: the fact that you're a vampire. Often when talking to people, you'll see an option on your list of responses: "Give in to the hunger." As your health gets lower and you get hungrier, that option becomes more prevalent. It might hop around the list to try to trick you into selecting it, and other options might briefly change into the hunger option. If your health is low enough, you might not get the choice at all--the hunger will take over and your murderous nature will take out that character.

It's a great idea that creates interesting and serious consequences. Killing someone, either on purpose or by accident, might wall off a quest you needed that person to complete, or change its circumstances. At the very least, people who would have played a larger part in the story won't be around later if they're dead. It injects a fun, unexpected drama into a game where you're already constantly choosing how you want to deal with people and what you're willing to do to achieve your goals.

What's disappointing about the idea is that it's so easy to circumvent. I experienced Coen losing control during a Dawnwalker preview event, but playing it for review, it never happened again. The game puts up plenty of guard rails to help you avoid being forced into that situation, whether it's animals or other people you can briefly feed on, health bar enhancements that make it tougher to fall so low you can't stop yourself, or passive healing that lessens the risk. So I never got challenged by my vampire nature in a way that was out of my hands. It's a shame, because being forced to balance your health or perform well in a fight because of the risk you might pose to regular people is a great idea, and I wish Dawnwalker leaned into it more.

The game can also be a bit technically shaky, although its issues never reached above minor frustrations for me. Objects and textures pop in frequently, animations can hitch in conversations, some platforming sections see Coen slipping off walls or falling through the ground haphazardly, and hit boxes are occasionally a little finicky in combat. The limitations mostly result in briefly irritating sections, but they happen often enough to be notable, if not dealbreaking. Rebel Wolves has already patched out a lot of issues and plans a Day One update that should help things even more, but it's worth noting that you're going to see some jank that will affect the experience, so save often.

Overall, The Blood of Dawnwalker is an incredibly ambitious, deeply interesting first game from Rebel Wolves. Not every good idea lands and not every envelope is pushed as far as it could be, but the potential of the game is vast, and there's a huge amount to lean into and love. And it's all bolstered by excellent writing that makes for one of the deepest and most interesting game worlds I've run across in some time. The Blood of Dawnwalker is the kind of RPG that feels great to get lost in, that digs into your mind and stays there, and which is worth scouring and savoring.

This November will mark the sixth anniversary of the PlayStation 5 console's launch, but in the years since its arrival, the gaming market has changed dramatically. The trend of consoles becoming cheaper over time has vanished this generation, as the PS5 now costs more today than it did in 2020, and the expectation is that Sony's hardware sales could slow down over time. Sony doesn't seem too worried about that, as company president and CEO Hiroki Totoki explained that there's no need to "aggressively" sell the console.

"We are in the latter half of the lifetime cycle of a PS console," Totoki said to the Wall Street Journal. "That means that we do not need to aggressively sell the console today. And rather than that, we're focusing on recurring revenue from the current user base. And already, PS Plus has more than 125 million MAU (monthly active users) today. And how to monetize from the users is quite important for us."

https://youtu.be/obR5p5AzR_s

Totoki wasn't clear by what he meant exactly in terms of aggressive PS5 sales, although it likely comes down to Sony not needing to discount the console or even sell it at a loss to draw in new users.

Sony has been pretty open about its plans to increase revenue from the players it does have, and these numbers have been growing steadily over the last couple of years. PlayStation Plus is required to access online services for the vast majority of games available on the console, while higher tiers tempt potential subscribers with access to an expanded library of games via the PS Plus Game Catalog.

At the same time, Sony is preparing to move toward an all-digital future, as over 80% of games purchased for the console are done so through its digital storefront. Once Sony begins to phase out game discs starting January 2028, plugging that gap should result in a sizable jump in its profits.

PS5 lifetime sales have reached 95.3 million units sold as of July 31, 2026. At the same time, the company is starting to feel the pressure from rising prices. Compared with the same period in 2025, console sales declined by 36% in the last quarter.

The company still has an active PS4 userbase to monetize as well, and despite its decision to end PS5 disc production being met with a lot of criticism, digital game sales increased from 78% to 82% during the recent financial quarter. It's worth noting that profits during this period did increase by 37% thanks mostly to US tariff refunds and favorable exchange rates, but none of these refunds will be passed back to consumers.

The upcoming Fable reboot from developer Playground Games will have a main story that should take about 15-20 hours to complete, the developers have stated. However, as with any game, your mileage may vary, and Playground believes the new Fable game can be played forever if players want to.

Associate game director Will Kennedy told Polygon, "We have around 15-20 hours of mainline quest gameplay." He added that the game has another 15-20 hours worth of "side and open-world exploration content gameplay."

"And then, of course, the life systems are limitless, so you can play them for as long as you want," he added.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=M79EnEkZ-cc

Associate game director Craig Littler, meanwhile, added, "You can literally play it forever if that's what you want to do."

The Fable reboot launches in February 2027. It was originally scheduled to launch in 2026, but Playground delayed it to 2027 to avoid a "chaotic window," and we all know that means GTA 6.

Gameplay combat footage from Fable emerged online recently from Gamescom, and it looked rough, but GameSpot’s own hands-on time with the game told a different story.

Fable launches February 23, 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.

One of the things people have said about GTA 6 following the "extended look" trailer is that the game looks too much like GTA 5. One person who thinks that's a bunch of baloney is Ned Luke, the actor who played Michael in GTA 5.

Appearing in a recent stream with Party Chat and House of Highlights, Luke said, "This looks nothing like Grand Theft Auto 5." His message to people who think GTA 6 looks like GTA 5? "I think they're out of their minds," he said.

Lucia and Jason in GTA 6.

He added that Michael's character model "never looked that good," comparing his character to those in GTA 6. You can see Luke's reaction to the new footage below, in which he also praises GTA 6's "jiggle physics."

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Rp24Bhi8adc

GTA 6 carries forward Rockstar's formula for GTA games--having players explore a big, open world and running from the law--so in that respect, GTA 6 does indeed look like another GTA game. But it's plainly obvious to see the numerous upgrades and enhancements that Rockstar's teams have made to graphics, fidelity, and more.

The tech experts at Digital Foundry claimed that GTA 6 is the most visually advanced game of all time.

Not only is GTA 6 going to be a more visually and technically impressive game, but it's also bigger and more robust. GTA 6's map is 3X bigger than Red Dead Redemption 2's. Additionally, the game has “well over 600,000 animations,” compared to 55,000 in GTA 5 and 300,000 in Red Dead Redemption 2.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. The game is coming to market with enormous hype behind it and lofty expectations after GTA 5 sold more than 230 million copies. According to Sensor Tower's data, GTA 6 has already picked up 4.55 million sales via preorders, generating close to $450 million in revenue.

Reviews are already rolling in for Grand Theft Auto VI, but not the way you think. Letterboxd, a social media site focused on journaling films, is allowing users to log the GTA 6 extended-look trailer that premiered on Netflix last week. That means people can rate the 25-plus minute advertisement like a movie and even offer up their two cents--with humorous effect.

One of the most popular reviews is from user eddyburback, who wrote: "Structure was a mess, narrative was vague and confusing (felt like a trailer instead of a movie), animation looked like a video game. I would be embarrassed to release this film." As if you didn't need to know they were joking, they added that the "gameplay looked incredible" for GTA 6. Meanwhile, another top critique notes that it's unbelievable "the trailer starts with Cyberleek's execution." That's a reference to the unknown person(s) behind the ongoing GTA 6 leaks over the past couple of weeks.

Memes are addressed on Letterboxd, too, as user Albert typed, "GTA in Letterboxd before GTA VI." Speaking of which, user Atrius questioned the GTA 6 trailer on the site: "So we are logging ads now?" User Stephanie Gillespie took the opportunity seriously and provided a strong critique of the presentation: "Legitimately embarrassing. Where Rockstar used to do these fascinating trailers that talked you through tech and mechanics to really show why their games are interesting, this is just ... A bunch of limply edited-together footage of Grand Theft Auto." There's plenty more from Gillespie, too, who gave the whole thing one star (out of five on Letterboxd).

Last but not least, a user jokingly noted that the extended GTA 6 trailer is "Netflix's Oscar contender for best short film." This hasn't been the only way the game has been referenced to the movie industry lately, either. Last week, people compared Jason Duval's voice to Tom Hardy's Bane character in The Dark Knight Rises, since they both incomprehensibly mumble.

We have compiled 29 big takeaways from the latest GTA 6 trailer, as well as learned that a playthrough can take roughly 80 hours. There also will be no microtransactions in GTA 6 when it launches November 19 on PS5 and Xbox Series X|S.

GTA 6: 268 Screenshots To Ease The Wait View Images

Microsoft is encouraging people to buy the Xbox edition of Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 by offering a special perk that players can't get on other console systems.

People who preorder any edition of MW4 on a Microsoft Store--including Xbox or PC--will get a $5 digital credit back. Customers on PC will get a pop-up notification from the Xbox app within 35 days of MW4's launch on October 23 with their Xbox gift card; a similar pop-up notification will appear on Xbox as well.

https://twitter.com/CallofDuty/status/2093776106465673515

The fine print states that the promotional gift credit must be redeemed by December 15, 2026, and used within 90 days of redemption. $5 isn't a whole lot, but it's also not nothing. In this economy? We'll take it.

While the $5 credit is exclusive to Xbox consoles and the Xbox app on PC, Microsoft and Activision are bringing back the "loyalty discount" for the game's $100 Vault Edition on all platforms.

To be eligible for a 10% discount on MW4's Vault Edition--bringing the price down to $90--players need to have met a few requirements. First, they can get the discount if they own and have played any edition of the games listed below, or if they claimed and played any of those games via PlayStation Plus. Additionally, existing Game Pass Ultimate, Premium, and PC subscribers are eligible for the discount if they played one of the titles.

The fine print also states that the loyalty discount only applies to preorders on the same platform account where they owned and played one of the qualifying titles. MW4 is the first Call of Duty game since 2013 that won't be on PS4 or Xbox One, so anyone who played a qualifying game on a previous-generation console also gets the loyalty discount. None of the qualifying games were available on a Nintendo platform, so seemingly Switch 2 owners can't get the discount.

You can visit Activision's support site to learn more.

Microsoft owns the Call of Duty series, and the company makes the most money when people buy games on its own platforms, so it makes sense to see Microsoft offer up the $5 credit. Microsoft won't remove Call of Duty from PlayStation, though, because there is simply too much money to be made.

And this year, as mentioned, MW4 is coming to Switch 2. That's a big deal (and another source of revenue for Microsoft) because the Call of Duty series hasn't come to a Nintendo platform since 2013's Call of Duty: Ghosts.

Qualifying Call of Duty games for the Loyalty Discount

• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare (2019)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 2 Campaign Remastered (2020)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops Cold War
• Call of Duty: Vanguard
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare II (2022)
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare III (2023)
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 6
• Call of Duty: Black Ops 7

Sony has announced that there will be not one, but two, PlayStation State of Play events this week. The back-to-back broadcasts will feature "updates from studios around the world," Sony said in its announcement.

The first event, kicking off at 6 AM PT / 9 AM ET on September 3, will feature updates from Sony's own development teams and third-party partners. The event will conclude with an "extended look" at Final Fantasy VII: Revelation.

State of Play x2

Right after the first event will be a second State of Play, a State of Play Japan, hosted by Yuki Kaji. This event will provide "deep dives into upcoming games from game studios in Japan and Asia, including new gameplay, announcements, and more." There will be English subtitles available.

Sony did not provide any details on how long these State of Play broadcasts will be, but keep checking back with GameSpot for all the news and more.

Weapons director Zach Cregger's Resident Evil movie hits theaters on September 17, and analysts predict it will set a record for the franchise. While the majority of the live-action movies turned a decent profit off of a relatively small budget, Cregger's take on the IP is currently projected to have the best opening weekend by a comfortable margin.

That's according to the official publication of the National Association of Theater Owners, Box Office Pro. The survival-horror movie is predicted to bring in between $40 and $50 million in its North American opening weekend, which would be almost double Resident Evil: Afterlife's $26.6 million weekend from way back in 2010. The new Resident Evil movie also has a brisk running time of around 95 minutes, so that should allow theater owners to screen the film several times a day to maximize ticket sales.

If Resident Evil does hit that $40 million or more mark, it'll be on par with the opening weekend of his last release, Weapons. The 2025 film made $43.5 million at its debut and went on to earn an impressive $270 million at the global box office. If the predictions are on the money, Cregger's Resident Evil will perform a lot better than 2021's Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City, which was a box office bomb that made only $42 million during its theatrical run.

But can Resident Evil maintain its momentum past the opening weekend? It's not unusual for movies to lose gas quickly after the first week, but Cregger's films generally tend to have long legs. 2016's Resident Evil: The Final Chapter is currently the best-performing Resident Evil movie with a global box office haul of $312.2 million.

Resident Evil Movies Global Box Office Results

• Resident Evil: The Final Chapter (2017) – $312.2 million
• Resident Evil: Afterlife (2010) – $300.2 million
• Resident Evil: Retribution (2012) – $240 million
• Resident Evil: Extinction (2007) – $148 million
• Resident Evil: Apocalypse (2004) – $129 million
• Resident Evil (2002) – $103 million
• Resident Evil: Welcome to Raccoon City (2021) – $42 million

Resident Evil could also have the potential for repeat viewings, as Cregger has crafted an original story that draws on the franchise he's a massive fan of, and early trailers have shown off several Easter eggs. The film stars Austin Abrams as an "idiot” courier who wanders into Raccoon City at the worst possible time, and the cast also includes Zach Cherry, Johnno Wilson, Paul Walter Hauser, and Kali Reis.

Chicken cookies! Crumbl has revealed a Minecraft collaboration that introduces six different desserts based on the sandbox game to the menu starting today. Yes, they're all square shaped, and no, there isn't a chicken jockey. Available tomorrow, August 31, through September 5, the four-sided treats include a cookie butter cookie with a chicken topper, a Creeper Key lime sandwich, and a lemon poppyseed cookie topped with a boxy bee. 

Those three treats are joined by an Enderman cookies-and-cream sandwich, which has purple marshmallow mousse in the middle. Who knew those weirdos could have such a tasty-sounding filling? Meanwhile, the pig-themed dessert is a cherry blossom cookie, with maraschino cherries and cherry cream cheese frosting as two of the key ingredients. Last but not least, there's a grass block cake that features a cinnamon vanilla base, brown cream cheese frosting, and lawn-textured frosting.

These special Minecraft treats will be available at Crumbl from August 31 through September 5.

The partnership doesn't stop there, either. Crumbl notes that there will be Minecraft mystery spoons, with a special exclusive one for the first 200 people who pick up a six-pack of the crossover cookie treats. 

Minecraft is not a new kid on the block when it comes to crossovers. Bluey came to the hugely popular game earlier this year, and there have been Minecraft Crocs available in the past. This new collaboration with Crumbl follows Krispy Kreme offering up special Pokemon doughnuts.

Looking ahead, Minecraft Dungeons II is set to launch September 29 on PC, PS5, Switch 2, and Xbox Series X|S.

45 Best Minecraft Mods To Build With In 2026 View Images

Grand Theft Auto 6 has finally had its first big gameplay reveal, giving us our first real look at Rockstar's massive open-world and the amount of detail it holds. It's one that might be the most visually-impressive game we've ever seen, according to the experts at Digital Foundry.

Digital Foundry's Oliver Mackenzie and Richard Leadbetter have praised GTA 6's visual presentation, with Mackenzie specifically going as far to call it the "most impressive example of real-time game rendering" he's ever seen. The pair praised a slew of details showcased in the gameplay, including standout character rendering, especially the hair physics and skin details across not just the game's protagonist, but many NPCs too.

Ray tracing use was also praised, with the pair pointing out how Rockstar has delicately implemented it in the right places for the biggest impact, and is leaning on older conventional methods in the pursuit for a better balance between fidelity and performance.

Performance was a big talking point too, especially so given how poorly GTA 5 performed on Xbox 360 and PlayStation 3 when it initially launched. Rockstar has always seemingly favored the best looking image quality over the smoothest, but that seems to have changed with GTA 6. Digital Foundry noted that while the game was rendering at 30 frames per second, that target seems to be consistently hit, with the team rarely finding dips during its analysis of all 48,242 frames.

According to Digital Foundry's calculations, the gameplay preview of GTA 6 was rendering at a native 1440p and then upscaled to 4K without using a modern upscaling technique, leading to a slightly soft image that can hopefully be improved before launch. The team also reaffirmed its prediction for several months ago, saying that it doesn't expect Rockstar to release a 60fps performance mode for GTA 6 on this generation of consoles, even with significant compromises to the outstanding visual presentation on offer.

It expects the PlayStation 5 Pro to offer better examples of ray-traced effects or potentially higher resolution targets, but the CPU remains the biggest bottleneck in a world with so much simulation that would make halving the rendering time nigh impossible without a significantly more capable processor. That's something that a PC release in the future might showcase.

There are so many details packed into the Grand Theft Auto 6 showcase that you might have missed, so make sure to check out our biggest takeways from the presentation, including the return of a six-star wanted level, how you can pet (and scold) dogs around the city, some of the references fans are already picking up, and how you won't need to engage with the game's love story if you don't want to.

The annual Gamescom event is meant to showcase some of the best upcoming video games, but at least two apparent thefts have thrown a damper on this year's festivities. Indie developer Ryan Laley reported that his equipment was stolen from his Gamescom booth, which he said was "a huge blow financially and mentally." Fortunately, Laley has received an outpouring of support from the industry, including The Witcher 3 and Cyberpunk 2077 developer CD Projekt Red.

On X, CD Projekt Red responded to Laley's initial message and offered to "see if we can send a few things your way," before adding "No choom should have to start from zero."

https://twitter.com/CyberpunkGame/status/2093352395044483450

Laley went on to thank CD Projekt Red and others in the industry for their generous offers. He also gave a shoutout to marketing consultant Indie Game Joe for donating the funds to replace his lost equipment.

https://twitter.com/RyanLaley/status/2093387270556426431

In turn, Indie Game Joe suggested that players should wishlist Laley's upcoming game, Mimic.

Unfortunately, this isn't the only reported theft at Gamescom this year. Iam8bit has posted that two of its laptops were stolen from its booth overnight despite the presence of security. It also noted that the laptops contained early demos for Petal Runner and Escape Academy 2.

https://twitter.com/iam8bit/status/2093398808650719323

Gamespot has reached out to Gamescom for comment about the reported thefts. We'll update this story if and when we receive a response.

Nvidia hasn't yet announced a release date for DLSS 5, which it revealed to widespread backlash earlier this year. But a recent leak has provided PC modders the ability to inject the neural rendering in almost any game, which is being used to showcase just how awful its AI-powered face filters can get.

Accidentally included in a build of NBA 2K27 (via VideoCardz), an early version of DLSS 5 was accessed and made useable by the RenoDX modding community, who quickly developed a crude toolset allowing anyone to use the suite across a variety of games. These ranged from extensive tests on Control, Cyberpunk 2077, The Elder Scrolls V: Skyrim, and even Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, each showcasing some of the benefits and the many, many drawbacks of the heavily AI-reliant post-processing that Nvidia plans to introduce.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=oxXdIVc9Suo

Control is one of the most interesting examples as it offers good looks at both sides of the coin. When toggled on, protagonist Jesse Faden's character model definitely looks more detailed, gaining more facial shadowing and detailing across the skin's surface. But it also makes her look quite different to the original model, sticking out even more in motion as you navigate through a world that is unevenly enhanced in the same way. There are clear benefits to some environmental details, especially some models that are starting to show their age. But it just looks unnatural in so many ways, clearly showcasing how just minor blemishes can make a whole scene feel incohesive.

Another interesting example is Grand Theft Auto: San Andreas, particularly because of how old the game is. Back when DLSS 5 was announced, Nvidia defending the technology by stating that it was simply enhancing geometry already present in a game, and not fundamentally altering it. It was difficult to take at face value then given the examples, but it completely breaks down when looking at how much it alters a PlayStation 2 title. You'd be hard pressed to find anyone who thinks this is a superior-looking version of the Rockstar classic, which makes sweeping changes to character and environmental models that just look wrong.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=xb2HWTvh0Fo

The ability to test this neural-rendering suite out has also been eye-opening in terms of how it performs. Modders using DLSS 5 have managed to get it working across various RTX 50- and 40-series cards, but across the board, performance takes a massive hit with the filters turned on. As expected, the consumes a massive amount of GPU VRAM as its models run locally to make conversions in real astime, sometimes halving frame rates in the process, too. This is obviously an early version not intended for public release, and will certainly be optimized further. But it confirms some fears from its initial reveal, where the tech was running on multiple RTX 5090s.

Nvidia released DLSS 4.5 during Gamescom this week, introducing the next generation of Ray Reconstruction to improve image quality in supported ray-traced and path-traced games. DLSS 5 is expected to launch later in 2026, although Nvidia has not spoken about it significantly since its reveal. In one of its last messages, Nvidia stressed that game developers will have full control over the post processing effect and how much it can alter a scene, while several developers spoke out against its existence.

Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy faces a difficult balancing act. Can it move away from its predecessors' terrifying waves of rats and still deliver a supernatural terror that ties into rewarding environmental puzzles? Can it ditch the series' sibling protagonists and still tell a moving story focused on two people learning to lean on one another? And can it add fierce, frenetic combat to the franchise's formula as a new gameplay pillar without abandoning its core identity as a puzzle game? At times, Resonance succeeds--especially during its stronger first half--but it too often loses its footing. And as the game increasingly misses the mark, it further distances itself from what worked so well in the first two A Plague Tale games without adding anything to make up for the loss.

Set in 1334, about 15 years prior to the first two A Plague Tale games, Resonance follows Sophia instead of series protagonist Amicia de Rune. As a young girl, Sophia was forcibly injected with blood that causes her to have visions of a long-lost civilization. Wanting to cure her of these visions, her father eventually finds and travels to the island that she has seen in her visions, but in his attempts to uncover the island's history, he is killed by a mysterious and terrifying beast. Wanting to discover what her visions mean and learn about what truly happened to her dad, Sophia travels to the island with her best friend, Leni, in tow. 

The story, especially in the first half, is very good. This series has consistently done a fantastic job of quickly building up characters or situations in its introductions to be narrative buy-ins that are solely there to be destroyed or yanked away early on and create emotional stakes: Amicia's happy family life in the first game, the hope that Amicia's life had returned to some degree of normalcy in the second game. Resonance does the same. You actually spend quite a bit of time getting to know Sophia in Europe and the fairly happy life she has with the adopted family of smugglers she grew up with before a tragic event forces Sophia to go to the island. There's a real sense of desperation in her tale, and the stakes of what may happen to her or Leni if she were to return to her allies empty-handed and without answers are abundantly apparent.

Leni and Sophia have an odd dynamic. Narratively, it's pretty good. There's some angst beneath the playful banter of the two friends that implies there could be romantic feelings pushing the two together, and the two play off one another in cutscenes incredibly well with their very different skill sets--Sophia is a fighter who can muscle through problems that require strength, and Leni is a pickpocket who is adept at getting in and out of places she doesn't belong.

But that's never reflected in the gameplay. Leni can hold her own in a fight just as well as Sophia can (she even one-shots whichever enemy she's dealing with as soon as you handle the second-to-last foe) and regularly helps out with pushing open heavy doors and moving partially stuck levers. And at the same time, Sophia can squeeze into any spot Leni can and is usually the lead on how to solve puzzles (because she's you, the player!). The story does a great job of framing that these two are only succeeding because they have one another, but then this framing is repeatedly struck down whenever the cutscene ends and control returns to you. Again, it all feels very odd, like Resonance is holding onto its partnership framing for no other reason than that the first two games used it.

The mysterious, newly discovered island that Sophia and Leni find themselves on is quickly revealed to be Crete, what was once home to Minoan society and, if the myths are to be believed, a minotaur-inhabited labyrinth. The characters don't know that--it's 1334, so all of those stories have yet to be uncovered again.

This is a terrific framing for a puzzle game. As Sophia, you carry a book loaded with drawings from your childhood visions, your dad's early attempts to explore the island, and all the follow-up expeditions that the smuggling gang undertook after his passing. There's no writing--it's all a series of drawings. And using those drawings, you have to figure out how to retrace the steps of those who came before, while also finding your own way forward when unexpected roadblocks pop up. 

To aid in her and Leni's exploration, Sophia possesses an artifact that dates back to the Minoan society that once lived on the island. The sphere can redirect light to reveal hidden symbols left behind with invisible paint, and also open doorways that require lining up beams of light to hit certain points on a wall. These puzzles centered around the use of light are rarely complicated, but contribute to the feeling of Sophia and Leni being intelligent dungeon delvers who are uncovering long-lost history. 

The process feels as I imagine archaeology to be--I don't believe Sophia's journey is in any way accurate to uncovering forgotten ruins and unraveling ancient mysteries, but the idealized fantasy of it is well represented here.

Crete is also a beautiful place to explore. The island is brightly lit and full of vibrant greens, reds, and blues, while the faded bronze of statues, broken weapons, and simple machinery mark Minoan society. Resonance also has the best soundtrack of the series, sticking to strings to frame most of Sophia's journey as a grand adventure or odyssey, and crucially plucking at the tension once the supernatural terror begins to rear its head.

It takes Resonance longer than any other A Plague Tale game to reveal its monster, but once it does, any semblance that this will be a fun couples adventure for Sophia and Leni is gone. The beast is creepy, slinking through the darkness of the island's underbelly in search of any and all life. In these darkened areas, Sophia becomes covered in softly glowing blue lights, and she leaves a trail of luminescent tracks whenever she's not crouch-walking. The beast can use these trails to track her, but it also will pause to take a hauntingly raspy sniff of the air--if Sophia is not behind cover when this happens, the beast will sniff out the blue lights on her and pursue her. The beast's only weakness is light. It burns away upon touching any light source, and so encounters with the beast are a series of tense stealth sections as you bravely venture into the dark to reach the next source of light.

These sections are terrifying, especially the first one as the beast is introduced and you finally get to see what killed Sophia's father. These moments stay pretty consistently creepy too, with the sound design of the beast's methodical movements and desperate breathing creating a tense and frantic atmosphere whenever it shows up. And Resonance continues to raise the bar with each encounter, adding new types of obstacles to consider (like how to find safety in areas where the beast can dim the light, or there's no light whatsoever) and more types of enemy terrors for Sophia to encounter in the dark. It's certainly the most memorable take I've ever seen of Crete's infamous minotaur.

Figuring out what the beast is and its motivations becomes the biggest driving mystery of Resonance. As Sophia ventures closer to the minotaur's lair, she encounters more and more that is unfamiliar to her but very much understood for us as the player, but the game's reframing of these long-familiar myths is an enticing draw. Sophia soon starts having visions of being Theseus, the Greek hero who we know slayed the minotaur, but their story feels quite different from the tale we know. They don't seem to be a divine adventurer, but are instead a gladiator who rose to fame by participating in some sort of competition; and they have a secret agreement with Daedalus, the famed inventor of the labyrinth. 

These visions are beautiful, reimagining what Minoan society might have looked like at the height of the Bronze Age. They're also wonderful power fantasies as Theseus is a far stronger warrior than Sophia.

Combat is merely fine in Resonance. Sophia can strike, block, dodge, and parry, and also has a grappling hook to grab and yank enemies toward her. The soldiers that followed Sophia and Leni to the island come in your typical variety of standard, nimble, shield-bearing, spear-wielding, and heavy enemy types, each of which has a singular tried-and-true method of taking them down. The challenge of combat comes down to crowd management, ducking and weaving and parrying long enough for an opening to present itself. Sophia (and Theseus) can take two hits before the third kills them, and health is only regained by executing an enemy, encouraging you to fight aggressively and end conflicts swiftly or to keep a weaker enemy alive for an easy stab-and-heal while whittling away at a much stronger foe. 

These brief and violent dances are a fun break from the puzzle-solving in the first half of the game, but in the latter half--especially the final few hours--Resonance starts throwing huge groups of enemies at you, and that's when the combat system falls apart. Resonance doesn't have a lock-on feature, so dealing with especially large groups of enemies clumped together is a pain, and I found myself frustratingly dying often because I was trying to attack a specific enemy I had just stunned, only for Sophia to wail against the impenetrable shield of a healthy target instead. 

The ending of Resonance is also just far weaker than the first half. Sofia either travels alone or with a far less interesting NPC. The decision to have her travel solo I can understand--it ups the tension during moments when the beast is hunting Sophia, and also ensures that those tense moments aren't ruined by the companion messing up and breaking stealth. That would have probably sucked. But Sophia's other companion is a poor tradeoff for moments when Leni isn't there--the game does such a good job of villainizing this other character up to that point in the story, that for Sophia to then be forced to work with them for several chapters feels off-putting. 

The decision to make Sophia travel with a companion at all, again, feels like the lingering ghost of the older games dictating what the formula needs to be. The moments where Sophia is traveling solo clearly showcase that she can carry a game on her own, but if we had to have her talk out loud to someone else to progress the story, I'm baffled that the dev team didn't go for the far more intriguing choice of somehow making the ghost of Theseus work.  

Resonance also starts going a little too far into the physical trauma porn in the end, even giving Lara Croft from the rebooted Tomb Raider trilogy a run for her money. There comes a point where seeing a character survive getting tossed around, beaten, and bloodied makes you start to wonder if the character is superhuman. When that occurs, the fantasy of this being a story of an ordinary woman grappling with the ramifications of discovering a supernatural power begins to crack, and you stop worrying about a protagonist once you've seen them survive a near-death experience half a dozen times.

Perhaps worst of all, the final moments of Resonance have a lore problem. If you've played these games, you'll be able to start piecing together what's going on in the latter half of the story, and the final big reveal will ultimately hit you like a freight train. If you know the ramifications of Resonance's mystery and absolutely awesome conclusion, it might be the best finale in the series. But if you have no idea what, as an example, the Prima Macula is, the last five hours of this game's story will make very little sense to you and the finale will probably be a confusing dud. You'll still get the emotional payoff of Sophia having acquired the answers she was seeking, but the game doesn't provide the necessary context to fully understand what those answers mean.

So, as strange as it is to say, if you want to play Resonance and you haven't played both of the previous A Plague Tale games, you have homework. This is not a prequel that tells a story that can stand on its own, nor is it an ideal on-ramp for the series.

Overall, I liked Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy. I think it adds a valuable chapter to the overall mythos of the series, and manages to carve out its own identity in several places without continuing to rely on fan-favorite Amicia or the terror of contending with waves of rats. But you have to be such a fan of the series already to enjoy it to the same extent as I did, and even then, shortcomings in combat and the companion system hold the game back, especially in a latter half that seems to drag as you get closer to the conclusion. I want people to play Resonance, but I can't ignore that any game that requires doing homework beforehand to enjoy is a bit lacking. If you do that homework though, Resonance easily stands besides the other A Plague Tale games as a great AA, story-driven experience.

Microsoft's new Fable game was supposed to launch this year, but it was delayed to February 2027. The game's director, Ralph Fulton, said in an interview that he feels "great" about the launch timing for Fable, adding that shifting to 2027 helps the game avoid the "chaotic window" of its original timeframe of late 2026.

Speaking to IGN, Fulton said the reason for the delay "is pretty apparent to everybody." He said he was "really looking forward to" launching Fable in 2026, saying he wasn't happy about having another all-hands meeting with the team in January to tell them, "This is the year we ship Fable." But alas, that's what happened.

"The rationale for it is absolutely sound. I'm glad that we're avoiding that chaotic window," he said. In getting pushed to February 2027, Fable avoids launching near Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 (October 23) and GTA 6 (November 19).

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=vjQNvjTF56o

Fulton did not mention GTA 6 by name in this interview, but he did previously. In June, Fulton said Fable being delayed to 2027 helps Fable avoid a "really congested period" for game releases and "obviously avoiding Grand Theft Auto."

"Having a much less contested window allows us the opportunity to go out and really make a moment for ourselves, and I think the attention this game deserves,” he said.

Gameplay combat footage from Fable emerged online this week from Gamescom, and it looked rough, but GameSpot's own hands-on time with the game told a different story.

Fable launches February 23, 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.

GTA 6 takes place in Vice City, which is a stand-in for Miami, and it appears the game will feature a Miami apartment building from a popular TV show.

Eagle-eyed fans noticed that Dexter Morgan's apartment in Miami from the TV show Dexter appears to be in GTA 6. The TV show is set in Miami and the exterior shots were filmed at the Bay Harbor Club condos in Miami. You can see comparison images below.

https://twitter.com/DrakoAfoa/status/2093121257457815587

Others have pointed out that by the time GTA 6 releases in November, the second season of Dexter Resurrection will be airing.

Some have theorized that they might find someone who looks like Dexter Morgan walking around Vice City, or that the game might satirize the character or the show. That remains to be seen, but Rockstar's Rob Nelson said told IGN that the developer is being "careful" about what it chooses to satirize to avoid the game coming across as feeling dated. That's part of the reason why GTA 6 is not going to satirize US President Donald Trump or the COVID-19 pandemic.

GTA 6 launches on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. We learned a lot more about the game today, including how the map is 3X bigger than Red Dead Redemption 2’s and that a playthrough can be 80 hours long. The game also brings back six-star wanted levels and you can pet the dog.

Alien Isolation 2 stars a new protagonist named Blake. Creative Assembly has been clear about this all summer, but it's only now that I'm letting it sink in. Since I first played a demo of the survival-horror game at Summer Game Fest's Play Days this past June, I've been holding onto a theory that Blake's role in the story is a bait-and-switch--that in short order Blake would be impaled by the Xenomorph and Amanda Ripley, star of the first game, would show up as the real playable character. 

But it's time I let go of that pet theory of mine.

Every time Creative Assembly talks about this game, the team highlights Blake's story. There's too much investment on the team's end for me to keep believing they have a trick up their sleeve. 

"What I can say is the story focuses on Blake," principal environment artist Archie Whitehead told GameSpot's Miri Teixeira on the Gamescom showfloor following a hands-on demo. "She's been sent to the colony. If you watch the trailer, you see this, like she's been sent there kind of as penance, like she's made a mistake." 

It's just the latest in a series of confirmations that my theory about Ripley is all wrong. I can see that now. The team told me something similar during Summer Game Fest, but I guess I was too worried about letting them pull a fast one on me to see it. I wanted to spot the twist before it was on-screen. For what it's worth, I had this same theory about Red Dead Redemption 2's Arthur Morgan back in 2018, and that wasn't exactly true--though I guess it was eventually sort of true.

It's not that I'd necessarily enjoy Alien Isolation 2 more if Amanda Ripley were the playable character again. It's not that I think this makes the game better in some obvious way. I could see this sequel being memorable with or without her in the driver's seat like that, so I've always been on board for Blake as the protagonist if it shook out that way; I just doubted she actually would be. But today, after hearing it for the third or fourth time this summer, I'm ready to drop my baseless theory.

Having said that, I do still find it extremely likely Ripley is in this game in some important way. She seemed to narrate the demo I played, and I don't expect that's all they brought her voice actor in for. Whether it's by audio logs, narration, or perhaps she shows up in the flesh, the daughter of Ellen--arguably horror's greatest Final Girl--will be back, but I'm telling myself to get comfy with Blake. I'm looking forward to getting to know her better, as her life will certainly be in my hands when Alien Isolation 2 arrives in 2027. 

The XCOM series has been effectively on hiatus for many years now, and AAA turn-based-tactics games have been pretty hard to come by recently. That's changing, however, starting with this week's launch of Star Wars Zero Company. It's effectively a marriage of classic XCOM gameplay and Clone Wars-era Star Wars storytelling, and within a few minutes of starting it, I got that same rush of excitement I got the first time I played an XCOM game. 

Typically, I try to savor turn-based tactical experiences like this as much as possible, because I know it's going to be at least a few years before something like it comes along again. The last XCOM-esque turn-based-tactics game I can even recall playing was Classified: France '44, which released well over two years ago. I enjoyed that one so much that I considered just starting it over again, because there wasn't really anything else like it releasing at the time. 

But no longer! As part of Gamescom Opening Night Live, Ubisoft revealed Rainbow 6 Tactics. Ditching the first-person-shooter gameplay the series is famous for, Rainbow 6 Tactics is a single-player tactical experience that plays out like a turn-based version of Rainbow Six Siege. You scout enemy positions using drones and then launch your attack, breaching walls and taking down enemies with precision and force.

https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=iRJOXB3euJQ

It makes use of the destructible environments Rainbow Six Siege is famous for, but it's all wrapped up in a completely different genre. And just like Zero Company, Rainbow 6 Tactics will be available on Xbox and PS5 in addition to PC, giving it a wide audience when it arrives in 2027. 

And if you don't have an Xbox, a PS5, or PC, you're still not being left out of the fun as of late. Sure, it's also an RPG, but Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave is certainly going to scratch that turn-based-strategy itch. Developer Intelligent Systems is arguably the king of the genre, and based on our hands-on preview of the game, it looks to be absolutely packed with content. There are four protagonists, each with their own stories, so this could be one you are playing for weeks or even months--hopefully just long enough for Rainbow 6 Tactics to be out. 

Patiently waiting our turn for the next XCOM-like or Fire Emblem game to release used to feel like a futile exercise, but I'm very excited for the future of sort-of-but-not-really-chess games right now. If others feel the same, we just need to show up and buy them so the genre can keep thriving … and maybe convince Take-Two to greenlight an XCOM 3. Pretty please? 

You might expect people to talk about the visuals, lighting, action sequences, or gunplay after Grand Theft Auto VI's brand-new extended-look trailer showed off over 25 minutes of new footage. But the top comments on Rockstar's YouTube upload of the video deal more with the human condition than expected. In fact, there's quite a bit of talk about death and remembrance.

The top comment (at the time of publication) states: "a moment of silence for people that didn't make it here." Meanwhile, another person writes: "Objective: Stay alive till release day." It's been a long wait for GTA 6, especially since GTA 5 originally launched almost 13 years ago. 

Not only has a lot happened to the gaming industry as a whole since GTA 5 came out, but also to people's personal lives. For instance, another person typed: "Bro, I went through middle school, high school, and college ... now I need to request time off work for this." Tragedy has apparently struck others, but not dampered their spirits, as seen in this comment: "I was in a traffic accident in February and lost a leg, but I've still got my two damn hands and my eyes, baby!"

There is a lot to take in from the new GTA 6 trailer, such as NPCs noticing if you're openly carrying a weapon in the game. In addition, stealing a car might be a little more complicated this time around. For older vehicles, you can still smash the glass, but newer models apparently require a key cloner. 

GTA 6 is set to finally release on November 19 for PS5 and Xbox Series X|S. It sounds like a playthrough of the open-world game could be roughly 80 hours, so plan accordingly this holiday season.