ID@Xbox Showcase 2024 Presented by IGN
The notes and journal entries
you pick up along your journey
are interesting enough,
but aside from a short
opening cut scene
and a few Quest
related dialogues, they
provide the extent
of any storytelling
– And blood a drop for a drop.
– Really you’re just dropped
at the other most tip
of this expansive world
and then you blaze
off on your own path.
The best part of Enshrouded
is instead how alluring
yet straightforward it is
to build stuff like this,
especially given how much real
estate your custom bases can
take up within this
tangled web of RPG crafting
and survival systems.
Maybe the real main
story was the base I
built along the way.
Once you build a flame malter
out of a few common resources,
you too can begin
quickly plopping down
your own structures,
your own furnishings,
your own crafting
stations, and so forth.
Even if you don’t get fancy,
setting up flame
altars is necessary
to make progress while
exploring the map.
Since aside from a few sparsely
located fast travel towers,
the only places that you
can quickly teleport back
to are your custom bases.
In shrouded most exciting
discoveries are usually when you
stumble on a piece of lore in
a remote location pointing you
to a dungeon with some hidden
treasure or a jumping puzzle
or a house or something.
That’s most often where new
block types for your buildings
and other crafting materials
are stashed away for you
to permanently unlock.
There’s no critical path
in the traditional sense,
meaning if you want to travel
further out, you do need
to keep upgrading your flame.
That’s the force that
keeps your avatar alive.
Even in the lethal and
otherworldly shroud
that covers vast
swaths of the map,
surviving within the shroud
is extra challenging.
Since you only get a limited
duration to stay alive inside
of it, your timer will only
restore itself when you
resurface or find hourglass
capsules take too long
and you’ll eventually die.
You can’t fast travel the
safety while inside of it,
either adding a welcome
layer of danger to what might
otherwise be straightforward
excursions into the wild.
Upgrading your flame means
the shroud is less capable
of killing you, but you’ll
need to grind quite a bit
to get there and in that
aspect, rou could do
with a little more handholding
Without proper guidance,
it’s possible to spend hours
running in circles, looking
for certain items without any
notion of their whereabouts.
When you finally do
upgrade your flame level,
you’re granted access to
distant higher level biomes
of which there are currently
four like the dry plains
of the nomad highlands
and these sand strewn desert
expanse of the Kindle wastes.
And once you venture far enough
beyond these starting areas,
ENC shrouded, decently sized
Bai begins to take shape.
Two of my favorite opponents
are the devastating dragon like
wisp, weyburn, and
the overpowering vuca
brawler, both of whom
presented a balanced challenge
and dropped powerful
gear after you beat them.
Unfortunately, gaining
experience points
to reach aroud level cap of 25
is often mind numbingly slow,
especially since leveling is
mainly relegated to combat.
But I was delighted to find
its nuances do eventually begin
to come together once
you reach level 15 or so.
Using this sophisticated
skill tree system, I managed
to build my character
into a powerful wand
and shield building battle mage
with a unique fighting style
that let me do ridiculous
amounts of fire damage.
Simply running around
in shrouded map
and finding new stuff is
already fun enough to carry it.
Biomes are liberally strewn
with abandoned villages
and forts map expanding
ancient obelisks,
these fast travel towers I
mentioned earlier and so forth.
Ironically, these points
of interest are at their best
when they’re treated like high
fantasy set dressing to hide
lute and fight some monsters in
before sending you
on your merry way.
Conversely, ENS shrouded is
at its worst when it tries
to introduce puzzles of any sort
and a good chunk of
its areas are gated
by uninspired challenges
that just involve
flipping some switches
to open a nearby door while
skirting around basic traps.
But at least these lukewarm
puzzles are only a minuscule
part of Ed’s overall experience.
Whether you’re adventuring
or designing your dream
base, almost every part
of Ed’s art style is
visually captivating,
making it dangerously easy
to lose yourself in its home.
Spun fantasy world in
shrouded is capable
of looking like this
and still running consistently
at its max settings,
but that’s assuming
you’re playing it on the
right set of hardware.
I was doing so on
a desktop equipped
with a 47 DTI at Ryzen
3,900 x and 32 gigs of Ram.
Meanwhile, my friend
playing on a gaming laptop
with only marginally inferior
specs unexpectedly described a
much less polished
experience with plenty
of immersion breaking
glitches and bugs.
So your mileage may vary.
It’s great that I
could build a glider
and a grappling hook to move
around the open world
quicker in the absence
of any rideable mounts,
but the control scheme
feels at odds with itself.
For instance, frantically
tapping the space bar
to make my sluggish avatar
jump faster will often make me
unintentionally launch into
glider mode and fly off a cliff
or cause me to accidentally
shoot my grappling hook at an
offscreen grappling point
and then go flying
when I just meant
to loot something
off the ground.
It’s extra disappointing
that I can’t just use
the grappling hook
whenever I want, since it relies
on very specific grappling
hook anchors their
sparsely located
and using them costs an
exorbitant amount of stamina,
which is a real shame
when you actually
want to swing somewhere.
Even after putting resources
into upgrading both the
grappling hook and the glider
to higher tier versions
later in the campaign,
they still felt stunned
by intruded unfairly
limited stamina pool
until you eventually bump up
your endurance with food items
and step boosting skills.
This web of unlockable skills
is so diversely stacked
with interesting
moves that it sucks.
I needed to invest my limited
skill points into things like
double jumping and
stamina drain reductions
to make enshrouds
movement feel good at all.
That’s made exponentially
more challenging
by enshrouds overly aggressive
enemy AI which attacks
relentlessly and
unpredictably large groups.
Giving me the impression
these encounters are tuned
for much snappier controls.
It’s also a little
annoying that every piece
of equipment aside from
armor has a durability meter
including legendary weapons.
It’s great you can auto repair
everything in your inventory
at a workbench or an anvil,
but the former is only
available at a custom base
and the latter is often
too rare to rely on
when it comes time to level
up your crafting capabilities
and shrouded requests a
rather large stockpile
of patients while you set
up a sophisticated pipeline
of raw resources and
material refining stations.
For instance, crafting
armor requires tons of wood
and dirt, which you’ll
need to burn into charcoal,
which is then needed to
eventually smelt or into ingots,
but everything has its
uses in other parts
of this deep crafting
ecosystem too.
For instance, dirt is also
important in both farming
and alchemy and wood
is an obvious key
ingredient in carpentry.
Establishing a
steady stream of each
of these resources equates
to many repeated cycles
of looting, mining,
cultivating, refining,
and eventually crafting That
can get tedious if you try
to do everything all at once,
but at the same time, it’s
exciting to lug the next piece
of crafting equipment
back to your base
after a long expedition.
Intruded will likely
be an instant hit
for anyone who’s ever
wanted to build a castle
and a fantasy world
full of danger
and hey, it makes
all that building fun
and easy with an
intuitive set of tools.
But even if you don’t
care much about crafting
and Trent’s RPG systems
are already solid enough
to carry you through its open
world for a few dozen hours,
even if it’s big story and
puzzles are forgettable
and it’s combat and
movement systems could
use some fine tuning.
Thankfully there’s usually
no pressure to do anything
but try to unlock the next
visually breathtaking area
and that made for a
smooth 62 hour journey.
For more check out our
views of power world
or like a Dragon infinite wealth
and for everything
else, stick with IGN.
– A quick note, this review
is only for the PC version
of PAL World that’s
available through Steam.
Later this week we’ll
have a separate review
of the version available on Xbox
and through the
Microsoft store on pc,
which is the version you get
access to with Game Pass as
that one is currently
on an older build
with significantly more issues
that make it a genuinely
different experience.
But for now on with the
Steam review, nothing about
what Powell World does
seems like it should work.
A thinly veiled Pokemon
clone where you do this
to its adorable monsters,
a base building survival game
where you use your kidnapped
creatures as laborers
and may even resort to eating
them when times get tough.
An open world co-op
adventure where you
and your friends do
this to harvest leather
defying the odds.
This holy irreverent gun
toting take on the creature
collection genre has been
unrelentingly fun across the 100
plus hours I’ve spent shooting
cartoon kittens in the face
as an early access game.
It’s got plenty of bugs
and performance issues
and sure it’s shamelessly
cribs the design for many
of its collectible creatures,
but its survival
mechanics are intuitive
and deep its action packed.
Combat is silly and satisfying
and exploring its world
in search of new pals
to kick the snot out of hasn’t
come close to getting old.
– Yeah, – Despite the clear
eyebrow raising inspiration it
takes from a certain creature.
Collecting powerhouse Powell
world more closely resembles a
formulaic survival game
like grounded with a roster
of lovable monsters.
To capture as a clever
twist on that formula,
you find yourself inexplicably
dropped into the wilderness
of a strange land
filled with oversized,
dangerous beasts called pals.
From there, you’ll need
to build a base hilariously
force the local fauna into your
servitude and upgrade your gear.
You won’t find yourself
hanging out in idyllic towns
or challenging gym leaders
to friendly contests.
This isn’t that
kind of adventure.
Instead, your goal is to
survive the harsh land
and face off against
psychotic pal trainers
who raise villages,
attack your base
and command for boating towers
and dungeons filled with
goons who shoot to kill.
And yeah, tonally, that’s an
utterly unhinged combination.
One moment I was taking
in pastoral views
as I explored for new pals.
The next I was firing
guns at armed thugs
and considering the
possibility of butchering a pal
who had been mentally broken
by the poor working
conditions of my sweatshop.
In order to avoid starvation
rather than not addressing
the questionable aspects
of the creature
collecting genre,
Powell World amusingly
leans into them
and lets you do absurd things
like pick up your fiery fox
pal and use it as a flamethrower
to burn your enemies
to a crisp or equip your monkey
pal with a machine gun.
I mean it sure beats tail whip
once you get over how
incredibly weird that all feels.
It’s a complete blast.
Catching pals out in
the open world is a ton
of fun though it’s
definitely a bit weird
to hack a small penguin
unconscious with an axe
before you can stuff
it into a pals beer
or even more alarmingly do this.
Oh no, that penguin
got ice capped.
It feels extremely wrong
at first to be sure,
but I found myself
disturbingly used to the ritual
after just a few hours.
I mean as doing the dirty
work myself, really all
that different
from battling them
with another captured creature.
Instead, The pals themselves
on the other hand aren’t quite
as original as the
process of catching them,
as I described the
majority of them
as almost copyright
infringement.
Seriously, just look at them.
Oh, someone’s gonna get sued.
Someone’s gonna get sued.
That said, uninspired
and derivative as they are,
the designs are still
mostly pretty neat
and have a lot of personality,
which makes each a ton of fun
to hunt and do battle against.
I’m especially fond of this
completely helpless blob. Wow.
Aw, the poor guy’s trying his
best Though.
Capturing, leveling up
and fighting alongside
pals is a major
and awesome part
of the adventure.
You’ll likely spend much
more time hanging out at the
various bases you’ll build.
Just like most other
survival games, you’ll need
to keep a steady stream
of crafting materials flowing
in like wood, stone and food
and the key to
automating that process
so you don’t spend
endless hours.
Mind numbingly
chopping down trees
and swatting rocks with a
pickaxe is by making clever use
of the pals themselves.
For example, farming could
soak up lots of your time
as you plant seeds,
water your plots
and then harvest the crops.
But once you’ve
captured some pals
and put them to
work at your base,
you can have them
do it all for you.
This pal based cooperation is
not only ridiculously adorable
to watch, but gives
you even more reasons
to catch every
creature you find.
You might not have much use
for the fox like pal
fox sparks in battle,
but if you keep
one at your base,
whenever you fire
up the grill to cook
or use the furnace
to smelt some ingots,
your charming fire
friend will come running
to make the task go by faster.
Even the weakest creatures
give you a whole new reason
to catch not just one of them,
but a whole bunch
to put to work.
As you level up your character
and capture pals with different
abilities, you’ll be able
to transform your
bases from shabby camps
to industrialized fortresses,
complete with conveyor belts
for your pals to go to
work, assembling weapons
and ammo for you to
use against enemies.
A hilarious transformation
that made me question
how much better I was than the
villainous rival trainers I
faced out in the wilds,
getting away from the base
to explore the
absolutely enormous map
and look for hidden
chests and eggs.
Battle dangerous boss pals
raid dungeons stuffed with loot
or chat with a handful of NPCs
and vendors scattered
throughout the wilderness is
consistently fun in
one area I got chased
by these guys In another I
found a creepy black market
trader who sold rare, probably
illicitly obtained pals.
And in another I watched a squad
of suicidal two can pals
rush into a camp of poachers
and self detonate.
Ouch. Once you unlock
the ability to ride pals,
especially flying ones,
the world really opens up.
There’s miles and miles
to explore from bamboo forests
filled with goofy panda pals
to murky swamps, overrun
with gobbling pals.
There’s even an active
volcano to be scaled
where all the pals
are predictably made
of fire crafting gear
and leveling your pal squad
to survive increasingly
unwelcoming parts
of the world is
not just because of all the
interesting new pals defined
and capture, but because certain
biomes will give you access
to materials you’ll
need to bring your base
and equipment to the next level.
Even cooler. There are always
at least a few massive spires
rising in the distance,
serving as a reference
for your ultimate
goal to reach them all
and challenge the lethal
bosses lurking within.
Like most survival games,
everything Powell World offers
immediately becomes more fun
when joined by friends
in multiplayer.
Up to 32 people can be in a
single server on the steam
version, though that
number is currently capped
to a paltry four on Xbox
and through the Microsoft store
running wild throughout the
open world, taking down
powerful bosses together
and managing a collective base.
All work without hassle
and co-op also alleviates
some of the stress of having
to grind for resources all
the time if those friends are
willing to chip in and
not steal all your stuff.
That is, it probably
goes without saying
for an early access game,
but be warned that you are bound
to encounter technical
issues and bugs on occasion.
These issues I’ve seen are
fortunately mostly minor so far,
but I have been hit
with rough frame rates
and stuttering, hard crashes
and multiplayer disconnects.
Though none of that
was so commonplace
or game breaking that it
ever significantly got in the
way of good times.
There’s a lot more that pal
world could benefit from like a
fleshed out story, more NPCs
or adding evolutions for
the pals to avoid so many
of them becoming irrelevant
at higher levels.
But I’m surprised by
how polished the whole package
already feels at this early
stage,
Even in its early access state,
Powell world is
amusingly irreverent,
has a surprising
amount of content
and deep survival mechanics
and is absurdly
difficult to put down.
It’s impossible to overlook just
how shamelessly it takes
ideas and designs from Pokemon
and it’s got some unsurprising
bugs and performance issues,
but when you’re
riding on the back
of a flying dragon while
shooting a blue duck
with an assault rifle, most
of those blemishes
wash away entirely.
This is already one of my
favorite survival games
and I’m incredibly excited
to see how it evolves.
For more, check out our
reviews of Prince of Persia,
the Lost Crown, and
turn it Boy Robs a bank
and for everything
else, stick with IGN.
– Hey, you are the professor’s
assistant Jeremy, right?
– Yes, but no, I’m
Harold Halibut.
Almost all video games
are painstakingly made
by human hands,
but Harold Halibut takes
that idea so literally
that you can almost
spot the fingerprints
of its creators on screen.
This colorful story driven
adventure features meticulously
hand sculpted characters
that have been seated in
detailed miniature sets,
digitally scanned
and brilliantly brought to
life in a 12 hour interactive
stop motion movie that
we get to star in.
Yet like the oceanic world
in which it takes place.
Harold Halibut is deeper
than it first appears.
I came for the
unconventional art style,
but I stayed for the
cast of quirky characters
and a playful mystery to
unravel that features plenty
of warmth and humor Beneath its
striking stop motion surface
Set A couple of hundred years
into the future, the events
of Harold Halibut take
place on the fedora,
an arc like spaceship that
evacuated earth during the peak
of the Cold War in the 1970s,
it later crash landed
into the gloomy waters
of a distant ocean planet where
it has remained ever since.
Under the rule of the
slightly suspect all water
corporation, you strapp
on the work boots
of the titular Harold Halibut,
a hand painted handyman
who serves as a lab assistant
in the ship’s science wing.
The opening hours of the
story are spent running menial
daily tasks like cleaning,
filtration systems
and scrubbing walls
before the unexpected arrival
of an alien being draws Harold
into a considerably more
captivating quest.
– Oh, did you see
– That?
With his amusing objections
to the local water tube
based public transport system
that flushes him from
one place to another,
like a discarded
tissue down a toilet,
– Enjoy the view
– And his tendency
to sing goofy songs while
performing his daily duties.
I found Harold to be a
particularly charming
and relatable hero.
– My best friend is aop.
I work till I drew up.
– The fact that he
was born on the fedora
and its boundaries are the only
world he’s ever known means
that when Harold’s adventure
eventually takes him
beyond its manmade
walls, his sense
of awe at his uncharted
alien surroundings neatly
mirrored my own.
It’s exciting not knowing
what I’m gonna see
– Next.
– The subaquatic setting
of the fedora itself is
a bit like Bios shock’s,
rapture had it been created
by Wes Anderson as opposed
to Ken Levine.
It’s effectively a series
of interconnected dollhouse
dioramas from a bustling
shopping mall to
industrial research labs
and the human touch is
always apparent in the form
of the imperfectly painted
edges on background props
and the knitted fabrics of
the characters clothings. This
– Scarf will keep
you cozy and stylish.
– The rustic tangible nature
of its world is just begging
to be poked and prodded.
So it’s a slight shame that
there’s a surprisingly low level
of interactivity to be found
in this setting outside
of Harold’s early chores
and a handful of playable coin
op games in its local arcade.
In fact, while Harold
halibut may resemble a point
and click adventure
at first glance,
it doesn’t actually
play like one.
There’s no inventory of
objects to collect and combine
nor any challenging
puzzles to complete.
While there are the
odd uncomplicated
mini games to enjoy,
such as steering a
surveillance camera strapped
to a remote controlled car
through a maze of air vents
or removing the exterior
panels of a 3D printer
with some satisfyingly tactile
turns of a screwdriver,
– I think you are nearly there.
– The vast majority
of objectives in
Harold Halibut simply
require you to seek out
a specific character
and trigger a conversation
with them in order
to progress the increasingly
fascinating narrative
– Just doing my usual rounds,
– This did unfortunately lead
to a lot of trudging back
and forth through the
same small set of rooms
and corridors, which made me
acutely aware of how sluggish
and occasionally unresponsive
the run button can be.
Thankfully, the actual
interactions you have
with each citizen aboard the
fedora are more often than not
entertaining enough to
make the lengthy amount
of legwork feel worthwhile.
– I bet you’ve never
seen a meaner wiener.
– Hello there. No, I haven’t.
– There’s an indistinguishable
quartet of quirky quadruplets
to encounter across
the various commercial
and industrial
sectors of the ship.
– Hello, Mr. Secretary.
Eight, right?
– I’m afraid. No,
you must be thinking
of my brother secretary
eight or secretary 24 of
– Course.
Oh, sorry. I always
get that mixed up.
– As well as a friendly
Fabio styled muscle man
to watch strange soap operas
with on Harold’s
break Room television.
– I thought season 18 was bad,
but with all the drama
out Emery’s cousin and
– Whatnot, – It’s worth bowing
through to season 36 though.
That’s where the
plot really thickens.
– My favorite though is
Slippy, the proprietor
of the local skiing supply
store who’s quick with a pun
and eager to wow Harold
with his latest hilariously
ill conceived infomercial.
– Well, what did you think
– It was?
There were lots of things and
– Great, so glad you agree
– Harold Halibut
might be set thousands
of leagues under the sea,
but its humor stays
dry throughout.
– Hey there,
– The name is Eve Not There.
– Oh, and I returned to speak
with the locals even when
the story didn’t demand it so
that I didn’t miss out
on any of its many funny,
often sentimental conversations.
– Harold, well, hello. It’s
been a while. Professor
– Si.
– Oh hey Harold. What’s
got you more jumpy
than a caffeinated
frog? Hmm. Wait
– Till you see this.
There’s a lot more to it.
Beyond Ile chitchat of course,
and an unlikely series
of events drags Harold
to all four corners
of the fedora
and eventually beyond it
into the dazzling day glow.
Underwater depths of an
undiscovered peace-loving
alien colony.
Here Harold Halibut becomes
an entertaining fish out
of water story despite somewhat
ironically being about a
human deep underwater
who happens to be
named after a fish.
I offer you human greetings.
Harold Halibut’s
journey is heartwarming,
wholesome throughout
full of intrigue
and a sense of adventure,
but never mean-spirited
and the illusion of its spell
binding stop motion style is
only occasionally shattered
when characters clip
through parts of
their surroundings.
Given how enchanting Harold
Halibut’s home spun world is,
then it’s a slight
disappointment that
there are no extras
to unlock upon
completing its campaign.
There are admittedly a couple
of short making of clips
to be found online,
but I would’ve loved to have
gotten a better look into the
development process in
the form of concept art
or behind the scenes
videos of the creation
of the character
puppets and sets.
Unfortunately, developer slow
bros hasn’t shared any insight
into Harold Halibut’s
production here,
which certainly doesn’t take
anything away from the overall
experience, but it
does seem like a bit
of a missed opportunity
to put a spotlight on.
Its remarkably inventive design.
It may take place at the bottom
of the ocean on a
distant alien planet,
but Harold Halibut’s story
is an entirely human one,
both in terms of its carefully
handmade environments
and its strong emphasis on
empathy towards its eccentric
cast of characters.
While I wish there was a
little more interactivity
to be found throughout
its sub aquatic setting
and Harold’s shuffling run
could have been boosted
to a sprint to reduce the time
spent repeatedly schlepping
from one end of its
levels to the other, I
nonetheless remain captivated
by his whimsical quest
to unite his community
and explore the spectacular
surroundings of his sunken home.
Consistently funny
and full of surprises.
Harold Halibut is a wholesome,
handcrafted adventure
with plenty of heart.
– Great. Everyone say
Chao to Mr. Halibut
– For more IGN reviews.
Check out our verdicts
on Botany Manor
and Children of the Sun
and for everything
else, stick with IGN.
– So the studio was actually
founded in 2020 in the early
2020s just before the
pandemic actually hit.
All of us were actually from,
you know, triple A studios.
We had the chance to work on
some amazing franchises in the
past, but we had
a chance to meet
and talk about what
we wanted to build
for for a new company.
So yeah, we’ve decided
to launch this,
this studio in actually
February, 2020.
So the idea behind the Edelberg
Games was to have a studio
that would actually
be small by choice.
So we wanted to, you know,
scope a project that would fit
with the, you know, a smaller
team but with big ambitions.
Early in the process we started
making some pillars, not
for only the game but
actually for the company
and those pillars would actually
translate well to the games.
The first one was emergent
gameplay that allows us
as a small team to actually
build interesting systems
so player can actually
interact with those systems
and will have more play time.
Another pillar that we had was
making sure we built a world
that was kind of worth watching.
We really wanted to make sure
and tied to that pillar was
also kind of wandering a tree.
So we really wanted to
build, you know, identify
and discover kind of
beautiful beautiful colors
and dark, dark places.
We felt there was an
opportunity to build worlds
where players actually wanted
to escape, to not escape from.
I would say for us, one of the
things that really drove us
to build our first game
eternal strength here at Yellow
Brick Games was this passion
to build fantastic worlds.
We wanted to build a game that
had a lot of sense of action
and adventure in
it and even being,
even though we were
a smaller team,
we still very ambitious ideas
and being a team that has a lot
of experience building
third person games.
So we knew that was
very important from
the beginning as well.
But we wanted to go into
this action adventure space,
really reevaluating
the rule set, like
really challenging ourselves
on the world logic,
understanding, you know, how
does fire propagate, how does,
what does coal do
to different types
of materials like
metal versus wood
and how can we
embrace these things
to be gameplay ingredients
for the players
to creatively play with
and discover along their
adventure through the game.
Let’s still forget
where we’re just a bunch
of people were in the garage
having a conversation about
how it would be be cool
to actually interact
with those big creatures
in a different way
that other games
don’t, don’t do.
And yeah, I think we
said, you know what,
that’s the game we want to make.
Absolutely. I mean for
sure all, all of us first
and foremost are are big gamers.
We play everything and
consume everything,
but for sure games like
Shadows of Colossus, the Legend
of Elder where one
with from Breville Wild
to Tears of the Kingdom.
We played a lot of, and
Mike and I especially
and Tom played a
lot of dragons dogma
and it’s something we
wanted to see come back
and we’re so happy now that
Dragon Dog Web two is out.
So it’s great to
see what Capcom is
doing with that franchise.
Monster Hunter is another fan
favorite in the office as well.
So all of these
kind of inspired us
and hopefully we can inspire
back in every way we can.
So the little girl, the
logo, her name is Dorothy.
She is actually my daughter
who sadly passed away from
cancer a couple years ago.
So we decided to actually
bring her the adventure.
So this is why we would
call the studio Yellow Brick
Games for us,
there’s two reasons.
The first one is as we make
the those games, we wanted
to make sure that the path to
make the game would be as fun
as actually shipping the game
for everybody in the studio.
So all the values of the
company are built around that.
And the second one is
we wanted to directly
to become this symbol
of of courage and
and passion for everybody.
So she’s integrated
in the, in the company
and she’s our, she’s
our warrior princess.
Exactly.
– I’ve been in games
for almost 10 years now.
I started out in QA working
in Montreal doing all kinds
of different little projects.
Then I transitioned to being
a writer at Esof Quebec
for about five years.
I worked on titles
like Assassin’s Creed,
Odyssey Immortals,
Phoenix Rising,
and a ton of DLCs
for the Assassin’s Creep
brand, which was super fun.
– My background specifically is,
I mean a bio aware
guy is probably a good
way to look at it.
I was pressed for a while
but I started Jade Empire
and was the lead writer on
that project back 2003 to 2006.
Worked on mass effect
one for a while.
I wrote a huge swath of the
Citadel that eventually got cut
so no one ever saw it
or learned the great
history of the haggis
that was on sale there.
But from that I moved
on to the Dragon ages
and ended up
basically lead design
and creative director for
Dragon Age musician Origins,
dragon H two and all the DLC up
until whatever Dread Wolf turns
out to be, which I’m excited
’cause I won’t be spoiled.
– I ultimately wanted to
join the independent studio
because I was
really interested in
what small teams can accomplish,
the agility that kind
of comes with that, as well as
like just the different sort
of constraints that come
with indie development I
think are super interesting
and can breed a lot
of unique games.
So that’s why I decided to
join Yellow Brick Games.
– I decided to, I
guess be involved in
starting Yellow Brick
games is because I’ve
been in the industry, ooh,
almost 24 years now.
So at this point if for me it
was an opportunity to get back
to being able to do
instead of always managing,
always leading teams, kind
of having to direct by proxy
a smaller team,
a smaller project
and a chance to sort of get
directly involved again felt
like what I needed to, to
kind of shake things up
and not feel like
I was stagnating.
The other big draw for me
with the smaller team is it’s,
I see it as a real
chance to work on
I guess the best
habits of leadership.
The ways that you can give
direction, be transparent, share
with people where
things are going
and more importantly why
they are going there.
The purpose behind the
decision is being made
and I wanted to step out of
the context I was comfortable
with where there was sort of
this, I guess known history,
known knowledge, this is
just how we do things,
but instead to create a new
context in which it was going
to be required to
explain the why now.
And to me a new studio
was the right place
to practice those skills to try
and build something that I
hope will be very healthy.
– There’s tons of advantages
to starting out in AAA
with such big productions
you gain so much experience
so quickly that I think it
just naturally becomes very
applicable once you
do dive into a smaller
independent production.
There’s just all kinds of skills
that I think you’ve developed
in, especially in terms
of communication I
think is something
that’s really strong
within our team.
Departments communicate
with one another really well
and I think avoid silos
happening between like art
and programming and
stuff like that.
I think we’re all very
like interconnected
and that communication
experience comes from having
to communicate with
an even larger number
of people a lot of the time.
So it becomes really easy
and you know, just,
yeah a lot simpler
to keep the vision clear across
a smaller group of people.
– I think as well when you
think about an indie kind
of situation coming out,
AAA a a larger team,
AAA size team will
always have people
that have been there before.
There’s sort of this
wealth of knowledge that
that anyone can learn from
and I think to your
point, it accelerates
how quickly you ramp up
and when you’re in indie you
might be the only person in
your discipline or one of two
people in your discipline.
So if neither of you
have run into problem x,
problem X is going to be
something you have to come
with an all new solution.
So to me, having dealt with
these larger productions,
you do come away with
sort of a, wait a minute,
I’ve been here before,
kind of mentality
that helps you I
think anticipate
problems before they become one.
– Brynn is really
this super cool
badass treasure hunter.
Essentially she takes on the
role of point within her cast
of kind of traveling companions.
So basically that means she’s
the one that’s in charge
of like diving
headfirst into danger,
jumping into like
bottomless pits,
checking out what’s
going on down there
and coming back with like
lost artifacts and treasure
and just like really
valuable objects.
So in a lot of ways I
think she’s very defined
by her physicality.
She’s like a total
adrenaline junkie.
I know a lot of games, maybe
their protagonist is a bit more
of like a blank slate,
but I think when it comes
to brand she’s a more
defined character
with a prescribed personality
that the player is gonna get
to know and watch develop as
they play through the story.
When it comes to
her, her psychology
and like I think,
you know, the part
that I love the most
about her is just
that I think she really embodies
this idea that it’s cool
to care, it’s cool
to be like just unabashedly
into whatever it is you’re into.
She really like doesn’t need
to mask her like passion
with like snark or
sarcasm kind of thing.
She’s just like so excited to
be doing the job she’s doing
and I feel like that
comes through in like
so many different
scenes in the game.
You can see it kind
of in the trailer
with like the big smile on
her face when she’s about
to like face down this
crazy huge construct.
So yeah, that’s, that’s kind
of like really just I think
who she is as a person and
I think she embodies that
and brings that out in
other characters as well.
Yeah, so essentially
weavers are the few people
that are still willing to
use magic and practice magic
and work with it after the
surge where it becomes sort
of like shunned across the
known world essentially.
So weavers travel in caravans,
they can’t really stay
in one place for too long
because they tend to make
people a little uncomfortable.
Everyone in the band kind
of has a different function.
So obviously the player
sort of takes on this role
of you know, the the
iconic action hero
that’s gonna dive into danger.
But she has this really
competent, talented around her
that helps her sort of like plan
and prepare all
of her expeditions
and as well as just
like make sense of
all the different artifacts
and treasure that she’s finding
and bringing back to
her team essentially.
– I have a long history
of working at BioWare
and that sort of leaves
an imprint on you,
but I like the
idea of characters
and I think for me one
of my core philosophies
in game design is
that people care
about characters first
and then by extension care
about the larger world
that those characters
care about character care,
care see they link.
The nice part is then if you
can create a cast of people
that that the player can sort
of develop empathy with, get
to know over time,
it allows you to,
especially in
developing a new IP
and a new world for
people to learn, they sort
of can start small
and get little tidbits
from the individual
and then they understand
that the engine individual
exists in a larger context.
By doing that you
create a scenario
where in an action adventure
kind of context you get
to be Indiana Jones
but you recognize that
there’s also a John Staes
and he’s gonna bring
you the camels, right?
That you have these people
that you have a relationship
with, that that relationship
can evolve and change.
And that in doing that,
in learning about them,
in finding empathy for them
and understanding what they
care about, you start to get
and grok the larger world
– In Brin’s Weaver Band, she’s
relatively new to the group
but the rest of the
characters that you sort
of encounter at the
very start of the game
that you find yourself traveling
with have been together
for quite some time,
varying lengths
of time depending
on which character.
But you’ve got your enchanter
who’s kind of in charge
of helping you with your mantle
and your powers and
things like that
– And he’s very extra.
– He’s yes, very,
very, very fabulous. He
– Is, he’s a great guy.
– You’ve got his
wife who’s the band
Smith, she’s very grounded.
She’s very grounded. Yeah, she’s
– To the point, yeah dreamer,
she’s the stable one
that he’s the dream.
Yeah, that’s exactly it.
– You’ve got the lore keeper
who is also your
alchemist, so handling kind
of like the consumable potions
and things like that
that are on your belt.
And then you’ve got the Smiths
apprentice who’s also fairly
new to the band and probably
still finding his place within
the group a little bit.
And then lastly, you’ve got
your mentor who at the start
of the game essentially
is the leader
and the point of the band
– I was made for this RIA
failure hasn’t even
crossed my mind.
– Watch that ego
overconfidence can come back
to smack you in the face.
– The enemies in our game kind
of do fall into a little
bit different factions.
They’re all, they’re ultimately
all trying to kill you
so they share that as a goal.
But when it comes to the
creatures that you see
that are more like
wild like acala,
which are like these hyena type
things, those are just kind
of wild animals that you’re
gonna find more maybe in the
outskirts of, of the
enclave and stuff like that.
So they’re great to
hunt when it comes
to like getting more materials
and resources for your gear.
– We don’t have a akala
available as of head,
but what we do have is the for
known for years as the beast
of Burton and
eventually named Arva
and Arva does hang out at camp
after bringing the caravan
and everything in and can be
pet, so can pet the dog that
that there was an
unplanned feature
until I believe it
was our VFX artist
who went, Nope,
that’s happening.
And it just went in one day
and nobody is there to
question her about that suit.
Hey you can absolutely pet
arva in eternal strands,
– But when it comes to the
arcs which are like these
constructs as we’ve said, I
think what’s fun about writing
around like these
particular constructs is
that like on the one
hand they’re enemies
but they’re also sort of like
remnants of this lost culture
of the enclave that Brynn
and her team want to sort of
like pull apart so they can try
to figure out how
to maybe put them
back together sort of thing.
So it’s like this lost
kind of technology
that they’re just basically
trying to make sense of
and trying to use as a means
to figure out not only like
how did the enclave have all
this wild like enchanting
prowess so to speak,
but also like what,
what has happened
to them since the
surge essentially.
I think it’s a big question
that comes up as
you’re fighting them
– In a total trends when
it emerged our magic
with the physics gameplay, that
was something that in terms
of philosophy wanted to achieve
for a very long time is like
trying to bring the joyfulness
and of physics game
and simulation games into
a more action packed game
– To achieve that every
object in the game have a
temperature and we
also split the air
inside small blocks of air.
So everything inside the
game have a temperature
and we have heat that can
propagate from one object
to the air environment.
We have deposit cold
can also propagate
and cool down objects
and cool down the air.
So in our game an objects
can burst into flames simply
because the hair
around it is hot
or something can have
its combustion, ex
extinguished simply
because it’s
surrounded by cold air.
So for the same
reason we have objects
that fall into water can
heat the water and produce
and have smoke effect
and stuff like that.
So it’s all, all
of our environment is
simulating temperature
so we can have cold
propagation, heat propagation
that can start fire and can be
extinguished by other effect.
So if I can give an
example, far breath
of a dragon will actually
heat the environment
and start fire and that fire
will also heat the environment
and have fire propagation.
– So if by example you’re
having like the drag,
the fire drape that will
blast fire into your face,
you can cast a wall of ice
and reflected that fire to
heat back on other in PCs
around the heat,
which is pretty fun.
But with these spells
also you can lift stuff
with physical force
like there’s the tk,
that’s a pretty fun
suit playing around
and I think we haven’t
spoke about yet is synergy.
So you can mix and
match your spells.
If you’re by example
creating a bubble of force,
you can cast fire into
it and create a ball of
– Fire.
And typical games
when you put fire
or you play with cold, it’s,
it’s living in a bubble
around the player.
In our case, the way it’s built,
it’s throughout the
whole game player,
the whole square
kilometer of terrain.
So if you’re in a station
where you can put
enough heat environment,
then the whole
map can be on fire
and we don’t restrain
the player with that.
There was a lot of thought
and lot of optimization
to make that work,
but it’s, it’s the whole
level can be on fire,
the whole level can be frozen,
half the map can be on fire
and the rest of the map
can be freezing cold too.
All of that combines and work
and it’s not, we are never
limiting the player on what kind
of impact it can
have on the world.
The idea behind having
all those power was
to break the mold of
the typical gameplay
that have its own sets of rules.
So when I was a kid I
was playing a lot of DMD
and a fireball in DMD
does a certain amount
of D six of damage.
That’s a very,
very specific rule
that is only usable when
you are doing a fireball.
In our case, we create fire.
That fire can be combined
with anything else.
So instead of having
very specific rules
for specific power,
we do it in a systemic way
that will let them be combined
with other elements in the game.
Letting the player use
this imagination to be able
to create a zone effect
and playing with rules instead
of playing with a very,
very specific set of
game play laments,
it’s giving tools to the
player to create his own chaos,
let them mess with the
environment and mess with NPCs.
And once that player
understand the rules,
then it’s just playing with
them as opposed to just trying
to use very fixed rules of game.
Containments, Unreal’s
physical animation system
that we built essentially
have physical in each
limb of a creator.
So you can think
of a typical game when
you play an admission,
you move the mesh of the NPCs
and the hand move around in
space and stuff like that,
but there’s no real mechanism
for it to avoid it going
through collision or going
through a wall or
something like that.
So that’s why for in multiple
games you’ll see a sword go
through and stuff like that.
In our case, hands have
weight, knees have weight,
the head have weight
and all of that impacts
how we played animation.
The the whole body
of the curator tries
to follow the animation
as opposed the
to having the animation
dictate how a body move.
And because of that, if I
try to punch through a wall,
then the hand obviously
will not be able to go
through the wall
and will stop there.
The whole body will still
try to go through and
because every part of
the creature have mass,
you’ll physically see the, the,
the creature trying to punch
and having the, the, his
arm being blocked, having
a physical impact on how
the, the rest of the body.
So it, it creates a lot
more realistic movement.
But on something that
is 25 meters tall,
it cre it conveys a
lot of sense of weight.
So when you see something
like that, it feels real.
It feels that it’s interacting
with the environment.
For example, if it walks
through a tree then the tree
will block some part of it
and you’ll have immediately
the feeling that okay hit
that tree, it broke the tree.
But it imparted some
form of physical force
and physical impact
and realism to seeing
that creature move
around in the environment.
– What the physical emission
allows you, for example,
in terms of gameplay is
you can have a giant like
snapping trees in his wake.
He can take the trees with
his hand throwing at you,
he can throw it back
using the spells.
– You can hinder the
creature’s movement
by using your ice power and
freeze his arm in space.
So for example, if he’s
trying to stump you,
you can cast ice on its leg
and block its knee from bending
because it’s now blocked.
So since we’re using physical
admission to open a knee,
you’re not just
playing admission.
I saw at some point having
fire Drake being his mouth
and ca encapsulated in ice
and when he tried to
breathe a fire the
because there was ice
in the way the the and
or fire power follow
through collision.
So the fire went sideways and
killed and NPCs on the side.
So it’s a completely
random thing
that it would be
very difficult to do.
But since our power are
completely systemic,
it’s something
that just happened.
– Other example where all the
physics simulation brought
like emergent situation,
it was like this tunnel
of force field that a flying
creature throw its own fireball
in it and then went
back towards him
as I was jumping in knit.
So I got catapulted with the
and back onto the flying
creature and I latch into it
and I started to slay
it with the sword.
That was amazing. In terms
of how the weapon mixed
with the magical powers
you have like an ice sword
that generates spikes
of ice on the ground
and the then you can use your
telekinesis power to grab them
and throw in at, at foes you
have also the telekinesis bow.
It creates like pores
field in which you can put
heat or cold inside it.
You can use that
same telekinesis bow
to create a successive
series of bubbles
that will detonate
one after the other
and like all the
way up into an pic,
you can use the same bubble
to use that as a jump pad
for you to latch
into a very tall pic.
– You can use a fireboat
to create steam in
black and PC’s vision.
So you can create cover for
yourself because it’s a boat.
You can fire that way
and hide through the
– Steam.
You can breathe
fire into a tree log
and then use your two
hander sword that is infused
with telekinesis to
create your own fireball.
Basically
– In eternal
strands a major part
of your adventure
will be doing battle
with the nine massive bosses
that wander freely throughout
parts of the world.
In my time exploring the
magical land of the enclave,
I encountered a handful
of these formidable
monstrosities
which ranged from a
robotic bipedal Sumer who
used his magical staff
to cover the world in
fire to a flying dragon
who oppressively hunted
me from the skies
above continuing our month long
coverage of eternal strands
as part of I gn first.
Today we’ll be taking a look
at one such oversized batty,
the arc of the forge, a
hammer wielding automaton
with a deep love of smelting
puny weavers into piles of ash.
– So in all those trends we
have this massive 25 meter high
creatures that we call aps.
They roam around the world
and then it’s for the players
to engage with them or not,
but they are at the source
of every power magical power
you’re gonna get in the game.
– So today we’re unveiling
the arc of the forge,
a huge towering construct
of about 23 to 25 meters.
It was built by the
enclave to be able
to craft very huge
structures easily.
He is a blacksmith at heart,
that’s why he has a
giant claiming hammer.
It’s to be able to
help that society
to evolve the way
it did in the past.
– You can find it like the
two third mark in a game deep
inside the forge of
like in the underground
of the enclave society.
– You know, one of
his trademark visual,
the thing you will
notice, the first is
of course the giant
flaming hammer.
So spoiler alert, he does
use this giant hammer
to create fire in
the environment.
He can hit the ground with it.
It makes like a lot of
flames everywhere makes the
environment super hot.
So then you need to avoid
not only like, you know,
the giant hammer, which is
enough trouble in its own,
but also what that creates
in the environment, which,
you know, when
you fight with him
after like, you know, two,
three minutes you can get into
a situation when you look at
the battlefield and you
don’t know where to go
because there’s so
much fire everywhere.
Yeah, like it’s
not one and done.
The fire stays in
the environment
and it does affect
the battlefield a lot.
– He also has like a, an
anger management problem
because it can get into like
if you start doing a lot
of damage image to him,
he’s gonna get angry,
like flame up its entire body
and run directly at
you to smash your face.
– One other way he can react
to you is if you climb on
and you know, because he’s
quite dangerous when you are on
the ground so you’re like,
oh I’m gonna climb on him.
You know, that
sounds reasonable,
but then he can shake you off.
But most importantly
he can just grab you
and just like crush
you in his hands
– And then throw
you back in the fire
– And just like, yep,
in the fire you go,
– The location at which
you fight The forge is also
important because there
are gonna be roaming
around all the maps
that we have in a game.
So some maps are gonna be
way more difficult for you
to defeat it.
So inside a forest
you can imagine
that everything’s gonna
become like a blaze.
So if you get to caves then
that might be a
little bit easier.
The weather also in enclave
is, is kind of all chaotic.
So sometimes you have
big shift of weather.
So if you can manage to fight
or encounter the arc
of the forge when there’s a
big flash freeze with full
of snow, you might have a
better chance to defeat.
– So as we mentioned, it’s
really good for you as a player
to engage with the arc of the
forge during a flash freeze
’cause everything is cold
so it lessens its power.
However, we also have
drought in the game,
which has the opposite effect
where everything becomes hotter
so the air in the
level will actually get
to a higher temperature
easier, which
that is not to your advantage.
So maybe if you’re not
geared for the fight
and you’re in a drought and
you see a fire creature in the
level, maybe you
should reconsider.
So the arc of the
forge, as you can guess,
is a fire base creature.
So once you defeat them,
you will be able to get
a fire power thread,
which you’ll be able
to use in your own toolkit.
And we try to keep like a link
between what the player gets
and what the the, the Epic
uses so you’ll be able
to understand what you
just gained from it.
– For more on
Yellow Brick Games’,
upcoming Boss Sling
Adventure Eternal Strands,
check out the action
packed reveal trailer
and stay tuned for more
exclusive reveals all month long
as part of our ongoing
IGN first coverage.
And for everything
else, stick with IGN.
ID@Xbox is finally here.
IGN and Xbox teamed up
to bring you an exclusive look
at some of the most
exciting upcoming indie games
in a showcase jam packed
with new trailers,
never before seen
gameplay, and more.
Followed by a special episode of
IGN’s weekly Xbox show Podcast
Unlocked.
What’s happening friends?
Welcome to Podcast Unlocked.
With deeper dives on some
of the coolest games,
and you won’t have to
miss a second of it,
because the 2024 ID@Xbox
Showcase kicks off right this
second.
[XBOX SOUND]
[MUSIC]
Hello and welcome to the 2024
ID@Xbox Showcase Live on IGN.
We just kicked things off
with a brand new look
at Astor: Blade of the Monolith.
It’s just the first of many
awesome games we’ll be checking
out today.
We’re going to be showing off
a ton of great indies
that will be making their way to
Xbox and PC in the near future.
We’ll be revealing some
never before seen games,
plus, taking closer looks at
some of the most anticipated
upcoming releases
and doing a few live Let’s Plays
so you can see these games in
action.
And when is all this
happening exactly?
Oh, that’s the best part,
Deamon. It’s happening right
now.
Here’s 33 Immortals.
[XBOX SOUND]
33 Immortals is a 33 player
co-op action roguelike game
where you pick up your
controller and go on epic raids
in increasingly
difficult regions.
Your goal is to fight
and survive together
with as many players
as possible in each region.
There are plenty of
ways to cooperate.
Stick together.
Heal each other.
Fight together.
Revive one another.
Only together will you
eventually unlock the Ascension
battle.
Then, with your allies,
ascend to the
region’s final arena
and challenge that
region’s massive boss.
The first rule to success, bring
with you as many players as
possible.
Lucifer is Inferno’s big boss
and he is brutal.
Cooperation.
Fighting together
is the key to defeating Lucifer.
If there are 33 of you,
that will give you
the best chance at victory.
But don’t despair
if there are fewer.
Fortune favors the bold.
Second, avoid his
deadly attacks.
Frozen Hate, Last Betrayal,
and Eternal Sorrow
will deal unavoidable,
unblockable damage
if you’re caught in
the area of effect.
Third, know your weapons.
Take advantage of each player’s
unique skills and weapons
to tackle Lucifer’s
formidable challenges,
whether they are his own attacks
or those done by his minions.
Finally, and perhaps most
importantly, stick together and
cooperate.
Use your co-op powers wisely.
Your group’s collective strength
is essential to defeating
our powerful boss
and unlocking access
to the next region,
which will not only
feature tougher enemies,
but also tougher bosses.
More to come on those new
regions and bosses real soon.
[XBOX SOUND]
That was 33 Immortals,
an action Roguelite
that lets you squad
up with 32 friends.
Finally, a co-op game for
popular people like me that have
exactly 32 friends.
It’s weird that you counted,
but I’m happy for you, I guess.
It sounds like I’m about
to have 31 friends, Kim.
Hey, guys. Come on,
we’re all pals here.
You know where else
you’ll find some Pals…
Palworld! Yes!
Well, yeah. So much
for the surprise.
Anyway, here’s what’s
next for Palworld.
[XBOX SOUND]
[LIGHT MUSIC]
[EXCITING MUSIC]
[SCREECHES]
[TRILLING NOISE]
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
[XBOX SOUND]
[XBOX SOUND]
[MUSICAL STINGER]
[QUIET, PERCUSSIVE MUSIC]
[A LOW ALARM SOUND]
[XBOX SOUND]
[XBOX SOUND]
[MOUSE CLICKS]
[ECHOING, HAUNTING MUSIC]
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[MUSIC CEASES ABRUPTLY]
[HEAVY TYPING SOUNDS]
CENTUM, 100.BAT
[A SYSTEM BEEP]
[8-BIT SNORING]
[A PLAYFUL TONE,
THEN DISTORTION]
[XBOX SOUND]
Hello, little bird.
[NOSTALGIC, SYNTHY MUSIC]
Goodbye Velvet Cove.
I’ll soon be flying away too.
♪ I’ve got a feeling,
I can’t explain ♪
[CLICKS AND SCRAPING
OF SKATEBOARDS]
[PERSON FILMING
GASPS, THEN LAUGHS]
♪ I feel different,
I’m not the same ♪
– Rude.
♪ I wanna walk back to wait
♪ Before I step
through that gate ♪
♪ into the wide unknown
– Boo!
♪ find a place like –
[MUSIC DISTORTS AND FADES]
This is Swann Holloway.
And if you find this video,
it’s because…
I’m dead.
[LAUGHS]
LOST RECORDS
BLOOM & RAGE
[XBOX SOUND]
[XBOX SOUND]
[DARK, PIANO HEAVY SYNTH MUSIC]
[THUNDER]
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[QUIET VOCODER SOUNDS UNDER
DIALOGUE TEXT]
[LASER SOUND]
[MUSIC SLOWLY FADES]
[XBOX SOUND]
We just got a tease of what’s
coming to Palworld,
and we got brand new looks
at Commandos: Origins,
Centum, Lost Record: Bloom&Rage,
and Keylocker
right here in
ID@Xbox Live on IGN.
We’re only just
getting started here,
and we have a ton more indie
game trailers and gameplay to
check out,
but be sure to stick
around after for a live episode
of IGN’s weekly Xbox Show
Podcast Unlocked.
But right now we need
to take a quick break.
Stick around.
ID@Xbox continues after this.
ID@Xbox is presented by Xfinity.
Stay ahead of the game with
Xfinity’s blazing fast speeds
and smooth, low lag connection.
– The CineFix Top 100,
a list so secretive even we
don’t know what movies are on it
or where they rank.
– [Sid] What do you
mean you don’t know?
– [Clint] Each episode will
reveal one of the movies.
– Did I rush you? It
felt like I rushed you.
– No, it’s good, I liked it.
– [Clint] Talk about
why it belongs,
and finally find
out where it ranks.
– Are you not entertained?
– Are any of the movies we’ve
shown here even on the list?
I have no idea, and
it drives me crazy.
(character laughs)
Join us as we find out
on the CineFix Top 100
Mondays starting July 3rd.
– Why so serious?
– [Narrator] IGN
Playlist is the best way
to track your game collection.
Now you can even import
your entire Steam
library to Playlist,
making it easier than
ever to review games,
show off your
collection to the world
and finally chip away
at that massive backlog
you keep meaning to get to.
IGN Playlist, check it out.
(upbeat music)
– [Narrator] Behind every game,
movie, and TV show you love
is a wild, crazy and
sometimes unbelievable story.
– No one is just
black and white.
– [Narrator] From
revealing the secrets
behind your favorite franchises
to solving a legendary
video game mystery.
– I’m coming for you.
– [Narrator] IGN Inside
Stories gives you a peek
behind the curtain.
– If people come to the game now
and see what’s going on there,
I think they’ll be surprised.
– [Narrator] Join
us as we dive into
hyper dedicated fanbases,
worldwide phenomenons,
and the most
incredible untold tales
in games and entertainment.
– Hey just wait a minute,
that doesn’t sound so good.
– It was definitely not what
I expected in the best way.
– [Narrator] Inside Stories,
available now only on IGN.
– And I was like, holy
(beep), we’re gonna do this.
– You want the ultimate
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(electronic whooshing)
Hey, do you like
arcade kart racers
but wish there were
more karts on the track?
Like, I don’t know,
say 60 of them?
Well, coming up,
there’s a game just for you.
Do you like Jackbox Party Games
but wish that they made one
that was only for adults
and no kids allowed?
Well, coming up,
there’s a game just for you.
Do you like dancing, but
you’re also a violent person?
Well, coming up,
there’s a game just for you.
And do you like exciting world
premieres that you’ve never seen
before until now?
Well, coming up, yes,
there’s a game just for you.
If you answered yes to any or
all of those questions coming
up,
there’s a bunch of
games just for you.
[XBOX SOUND]
[EXCITING ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
– Sticky bomb!
– Nitro!
[ALERTS SOUND]
– Sticky bomb!
– Homing missile!
– Super bomb!
[TIRES SCREECH]
[MUSIC FADES]
[XBOX SOUND]
[BIRDS CHIRPING]
[PACKAGE THUDS]
[DOOR CREAKS]
[MARACCAS SHAKE EVENL}
[FUNKY, BASS AND SAXOPHONE HEAVY
MUSIC PLAYS]
[BOX VIBRATES]
[THUDS]
[XBOX SOUND]
[BOUNCY, SCI-FI MUSIC]
♪ Times&Galaxy, a solar
system to explore ♪
♪ Times&Galaxy, arts,
politics, and more! ♪
♪ from every planet to meteor ♪
♪ space is a lonely void ♪
♪ we’ve got the
whole thing covered ♪
♪ from the trash heaps of Ogg ♪
♪ to places undiscovered ♪
♪ meet Gravity and Copybot,
let Arwin be your guide ♪
♪ Yara scoop and Billy scoop
so please won’t you subscribe ♪
♪ to Times&Galaxy scan your
logs for the best quotes ♪
♪ Times&Galaxy hope you’re
good at taking notes ♪
♪ now get your assignment ♪
♪ and let’s goooooooo ♪
[MUSIC FADES]
[XBOX SOUND]
[XBOX SOUND]
[STRINGED INSTRUMENT IS PLUCKED]
[HEAVY METAL MUSIC]
[STACCATO GUNFIRE]
[MUTTERING SOUNDS FOR SPEECH]
[MUSIC CONTINUES – SUSPENSEFUL
BUT ODDLY CHRISTMASSY]
[MUFFLED POPS OF GUNFIRE]
[SHELL EJECTS WITH
A SATISFYING SLIDE]
[METAL INTENSIFIES]
[AN ELDRITCH ROAR]
[MUSIC FADES ABRUPTLY]
[QUIET NATURE SOUNDS]
[XBOX SOUND]
You just saw a trailer
for Stampede Racing Royale,
the Jackbox Naughty Pack,
Time and Galaxy and Sulfur.
Four unique indie flavors
that taste great together.
Unless you try and play all four
of those games at the same time,
which is not the recommended way
to enjoy them.
Yeah, we’re always looking out
for you here at the 2024 ID@Xbox
Showcase.
It’s the least we can do.
And now more indie games.
Hi, this is Peter, the head of
production at Massive Damage.
And I’m going to show you a
little bit of our upcoming game,
Fera, The Sundered Tribes.
If you haven’t seen Fera before,
it’s a combination
of co-op monster hunting,
open world survival craft
and a tribal colony sim
with a heavy focus
on aerial mechanics.
This is my village here.
This is where I manage my tribe
and where they craft all the
equipment
and potions and
weapons and food.
You know, all the stuff
that we need to survive in Fera.
We’re out of harm’s way here. We
live on a magical floating
island.
It’s surrounded by
friendly sky whales.
But when I go to
the Underland below,
that’s when things get
a little bit more interesting.
The world of Fera
is designed to be
kind of a jungle gym
for our aerial mechanics.
You can chain together moves
of gliding and tethering
to achieve really fast speeds,
and it’s a lot of fun to see
your friends zipping around you,
soaring in the air
like your fighter jets.
But right now, we’re on a
mission to track down a groktux
egg,
which we’ve located here.
This is going to involve us
fighting a large groktux,
so you can see a little
bit of how combat works.
Our combat design also
retains that aerial focus.
So in addition to
physical attacks,
our monsters also attack you
with elemental bullet hell style
barrages,
which sort of test your mastery
of Fera’s aerial mechanics.
In addition, you can also
cling to the monsters
and attack their
different body parts
and even saw off
craftable trophies mid-combat.
But as I mentioned today, I am
on a hunt for a groktux egg,
so while my friends have him
distracted, I’m going to go find
it.
When the time is right,
I’ll be able to hatch the egg
and I’ll get a new addition
to my Beast Menagerie,
who I can then bring into the
Underland to help me out in all
sorts of ways.
So that’s a little snippet
of what makes up our game.
If you like what you see
and you want to find out more,
give us a wish list
and follow us at playfera.com.
[XBOX SOUND]
[FOOTSTEPS ON GRASS]
[PLAYFUL MUSIC AND SINGING
IN JAPANESE]
[CLICKS INTO PLACE]
[XBOX SOUND]
We still have a ton more
surprises up ahead right here
on ID@Xbox and IGN.
Can we tease one of them?
Like make fun of them
in rude or mean ways?
Like spread a vicious rumor
about them on the playground?
I don’t know why you’d want to
do that to any of the games here
today.
None of them have done
anything to deserve that.
After all, isn’t teasing just
a less mean version of bullying?
I mean, tease one of the games
we’re going to show later,
as in in the show reveal
a part of a surprise.
Like a clue. You know what?
Forget it. It’s Vampire
Survivors.
We’re going to show you new
stuff coming to the hit game
Vampire Survivors.
Does that work for you?
Oh, yeah, it’s way better.
I love that game.
Well, I’m glad you
two worked that out.
Anyways, don’t forget to stick
around after the showcase
for a very special ID@Xbox
post-show edition of Podcast
Unlocked,
IGN’s weekly Xbox show.
But first, here’s a whole bunch
of upcoming indie games coming
to Xbox,
including one you can
play today. Take a look.
[XBOX SOUND]
[SCRAPING STEEL AND CRUNCHY,
VISCERAL COMBAT SOUNDS]
[THUNDERING MUSIC]
Can you truly
conquer the darkness?
If it returns night after night?
The formidable Wardens of the
North, hailed Vanquishers of the
Dark Wings.
Feared not.
Tirelessly, they trained
generation after generation.
Ready for that fateful day
when the shadows would reclaim
their bloody brain.
Alas,
we never have as
long as we dare hope.
As Arlo, son of Avor,
prepare to embark on an epic
quest across the vast realms
of the northern Wastes
to purge your lands
of the darkness
once and for all.
But you won’t defeat count Kazak
and his dreaded sky scorchers
alone.
Unite the disparate
clans of the realm,
rebuild Winter’s Edge
to an all new glory.
And forge the very
weapons of legend.
Though remember: the
stronger the light,
the darker the shadow.
[BEAST ROARS]
[A SICKENING CRUNCH]
[SCREECHING ROAR]
Tales of Iron II,
Whiskers of Winter.
Wishlist now.
[XBOX SOUND]
[XBOX SOUND]
So you want to hear
about Hangry? Sure.
Well, he’s a hunter, a loner,
probably out there
in the marshes right now,
trying to work off
his debt to Chef Goutra.
His appetite gets him in…
in places you don’t want to be.
And those twos might be biting
off more than they could chew.
Hangry’s got to hunt vicious
beasts on dangerous worlds,
keep his cravings under control,
and get the cargo back here
to Goutra’s Diner,
the new spot in our
shiny data city.
When you are in here,
keep a sharp eye
on the goons hanging around.
They got ways of dealing
with troublemakers.
So watch what you eat.
If you know what I mean.
[XBOX SOUND]
[PLAINTIVE, OFFTUNE GUITAR]
[A FLUTE JOINS IN]
[JAZZY UPBEAT MUSIC]
[A SPLAT AND THEN CREAKING]
[ATMOSPHERIC SOUNDS]
[A FINAL DRUMBEAT
AS THE MUSIC FADES]
[XBOX SOUND]
[XBOX SOUND]
[FUNKY UP-TEMPO MUSIC]
[MUSIC BLENDS INTO A SYNTHY
MYSTERIOUS STYLE]
[PERCUSSIVE, DRIVING MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES TO A SLOWER
AND QUIETER STYLE]
[BRIGHT ELECTRONIC MUSIC]
[MUSIC CONCLUDES TRIUMPHANTLY]
[LOW, DRAMATIC MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES]
[XBOX SOUND]
That was a look at the upcoming
indie games Tails of Iron 2,
Hangry, Promise Mascot Agency,
and a ton of upcoming releases
from Gamera Games,
which should all be
hitting Game Pass Day one.
The Rewinder is available on
Xbox Game Pass as of, well,
today,
so keep an eye out for it.
And coming up, a closer look at
something Xbox is partnering
with
called the III initiative.
Yeah, I’m pretty sure
it’s pronounced triple I,
you know, like triple A,
but with I for Indy.
Are you sure that doesn’t really
like roll off the tongue like
III?
Well, here’s an informative
video to hopefully set the
record straight.
[XBOX SOUND]
[CONTEMPLATIVE MUSIC]
[MUSIC CONTINUES
WITHOUT SOUND EFFECTS]
[A STRONGER BEAT
DRIVES THE MUSIC]
[MUSIC CONTINUES]
[MUSIC FADES]
[XBOX SOUND]
That was a look at
some of the featured games
from the triple III initiative,
all of them coming soon to Xbox.
Next up, we’re checking out an
action RPG that has players
embarking
on a nice, relaxing vacation
in the Austrian Alps.
My lovely vacations don’t
usually involve dungeons
personally,
but who am I to judge?
Let’s do some sightseeing
in Dungeons of Hinterberg.
[MUSIC FADES OUT]
[XBOX SOUND]
[INTRIGUING MUSIC]
[MUSIC CONTINUES
WITHOUT SOUND EFFECTS]
[MUSIC FADES]
[XBOX SOUND]
You can book your trip to tour
the Dungeons of Hinterberg
today.
It’s now available
for pre-order.
Up next most survival games
require players to collect
materials
and harvest resources so they
can craft stuff to defend
themselves.
This next one, not so much.
In fact, you don’t even
have to push any buttons.
Here’s what’s coming next
to the horrifyingly addictive
indie smash hit Vampire
Survivors.
Check it out.
[XBOX SOUND]
[FAST-PACED, HAUNTING MUSIC]
Our new AAAA update
is our most ambitious yet.
Hyperrealistic holiday
themed characters.
[SOUND EFFECTS
PLAY IN BACKGROUND]
Immersive door-opening action.
[CHIMES AND CLAPPING]
World premiere train mechanics.
[TRAIN HORN]
Genre defining cart racing.
[XP POINTS CHIME AS
THEY’RE COLLECTED]
Fully rendered
running animations.
Laboratory update out now.
[ALARM BLARES]
[DRAMATIC MUSIC PLAYS]
[CARTOONISH SOUND EFFECTS]
[THUNDEROUS GUNFIRE]
[ELECTRIC GUITAR PLAYS]
[MUSIC AND SOUND EFFECTS
IN SLOW MOTION AND DEEP BRIEFLY]
[AN ECHOING CLAP]
[SATISFYING POPS AS
MONSTERS ARE DEFEATED]
[A MUTED SCREAM]
[ARCADE MUSIC DIES DOWN]
[RAIN AND THUNDER]
[A KEENING HOWL]
[DRIVING MUSIC]
[MUSIC FADES]
[XBOX SOUND]
And that’s a wrap
on this year’s ID@Xbox Showcase,
but we’re not finished just yet.
Although the showcase part
of the ID@Xbox Showcase
is coming to a close, that
doesn’t mean we don’t have more
to showcase you.
That sounded weird. Either way,
we showed you a bunch
of awesome games today,
but now it’s time to
actually play them.
Up next, we’re
taking a deeper dive
into some of the awesome games
from today’s ID@Xbox,
Astor: Blade of the Monolith,
and Hangry the ARPG
that mixes food and violence.
See, trailers are great,
but we can’t wait to show you
how those games actually play.
And after those game demos,
be sure to stick around for our
official Podcast Unlocked
post-show,
breaking down
all the biggest announcements,
reveals, and trailers
we showed you on ID@Xbox today.
Oh, and if you want to get your
hands on some awesome upcoming
games,
catch even more trailers, hang
out with the IGN crew in person,
and check out new reveals
from some of the biggest names
in games and entertainment.
IGN Live is the place to be.
IGN Live is happening
this June 7th through 9th
at the Magic Box in Los Angeles,
and we want to see you there.
Head on down to
IGN.com/live for more info
and to get your tickets
before they’re gone.
I’ll be there. Thanks for
watching this years ID@Xbox
Showcase.
Now keep watching for more
Hangry, Astor: Blade of the
Monolith
and, of course,
our Podcast Unlocked post-show.
Stick around.
ID@Xbox is presented by Xfinity.
Stay ahead of the game with
Xfinity’s blazing fast speeds
and smooth, low lag connection.
PRESENTED BY XFINITY
(dramatic music)
– [Narrator] "Grand
Theft Auto VI".
It’s been a long
and winding road
leading to the biggest
video game of all time,
but it’s still so far away!
– Trust?
– Trust.
– [Narrator] But don’t worry,
IGN has just the
thing to pass the time
until Rockstar turns
us loose in Leonida,
GTFM, a brand new original
show all about GTA.
Tune in for a hard hitting
"Grand Theft Auto VI" analysis.
– Who is Jason anyways?
– [Narrator] The
Internet’s biggest
and most out there fan theories.
– I would make the argument
that based on the beauty marks,
it’s actually not Lucia.
– [Narrator] Interviews
with the most infamous stars
of past "Grand
Theft Auto" games.
– Call me Franklin all
y’all want, or Mr. Clinton.
– [Narrator] And so much more.
– We are back!
– [Narrator] For
everything GTA, it’s GTFM.
Only on IGN.
– [Narrator] Have you ever
been stuck on the same quest
for just way too long?
IGN’s strategy guides
and interactive maps
are here to help.
IGN guides are
trusted by millions,
easy to use, and
of course, free.
You can even track your
progress with handy checklists
if you go for 100%,
just like we do.
(wizard grunts)
(magic whooshing)
IGN has the very best, most
complete and accurate guides
for "The Legend of Zelda:
Tears of the Kingdom",
"Baldur’s Gate 3",
"Cyberpunk 2077",
"Hogwarts Legacy",
and so much more!
Every guide is tested and
verified for you by experts.
Just search for IGN.
(upbeat music)
– [Narrator] This summer,
IGN is hosting a
huge in-person event,
and we want you there with us.
IGN Live is bringing the VIP
experience to you, the fans.
We’ve got trailer reveals
with brand new gameplay
from the hottest games,
hands-on game demos
for you to play,
live tapings of your
favorite IGN shows,
contests, prizes, cosplay,
interactive activations,
photo and video opportunities.
Most importantly,
there will be tons
and tons of video games!
Now join our crew for IGN
Live from June 7th to 9th
at Magic Box in downtown LA.
Tickets available now.
(electronic whooshing)
Welcome back to Idea Xbox Live
on IGN. I’m Daemon Hatfield,
and right now my good friend Kim
and I are taking a look
at Astor: Blade of the Monolith,
So, Kim, what’s the deal with
Astor: Blade of the Monolith?
What kind of game is this?
This is an action slasher.
It reminds me a lot
of The Legend of Zelda,
in more than just aesthetics.
-So…
-We are Astor?
Yes, this is Astor.
This is what I want to…
Oh, I have the blaster.
Okay, I got the Astor blaster.
You said Hack and slash.
You didn’t say blast and slash.
I mean, I prefer blasting,
but it’s pretty finite.
So what’s the deal? You’re
Astor, it’s active slash game.
Do you know what this sort of
conflict is? What the objective
is?
Yes. So this is a
post-human society.
And I’m kind of discovering
how to get hit by a shovel,
but also, the character
is kind of discovering
through ruins and
different relics,
everything about human society
and what led to their creation.
So from what I understand,
the characters are all made
of like inorganic materials,
like stone and wood,
and the humans created them.
But the humans are all gone now,
so they’re just
trying to figure out
what their deal is
like we all are, right?
That’s a very that’s a very
human story. And I do want to
acknowledge
that I’m asking you to talk
and explain the game to me
while you play it in
combat, and which is–
I feel not confident.
-This is a big boy.
-Yeah, he’s pretty big.
-Okay, first I’m going to heal.
-It’s just not fair.
Then I’m going to run over here
and get this person with
projectiles because I don’t like
that.
Him at first.
Okay. I want those
because they help me buy things,
and it’s all about capitalism.
Yeah. Take this guy out, too,
and then focus on the big guy.
-Okay, here we go.
-Okay. Okay. Okay. No.
Yeah. Usually
getting behind the…
-Shield
-…works.
Okay.
All right, all right.
You come over here.
Is there a lock on system?
No, that’s…
If there is, it’s
not in this demo
-Shield. -Oh, you got a parry
system in there?
Yeah. Every now and then, I get
it. I don’t always get it, but
when I do…
Didn’t get it then.
Be dead. I did it!
I need some more health.
I’m going to go
hit this crystal.
The green crystals
are for health.
Yes, the red crystals
are for currency
that I can use to buy
upgrades for myself.
So I can improve my
shield. What was that?
I think you tripped on a rock.
You could trip on a rock.
That’s new. Oh, wait, I’m
actually full in health.
I didn’t need to do that.
But, you know,
sometimes you got to hit things
just to do it.
Always break every
box you come across.
They have currency.
Let’s see how much
like classic Zelda this is.
Is there a jump button?
Yeah, so it’s a
little different.
Yeah, a little different then.
That’s useful. So you got your
sword.
Is there a combo system?
Yes there is. I’m
not that great at it.
I think I’ve gotten
maybe 15, 16 at the most,
but from what I hear,
you can do 30, up to 30.
I think up to is
a good clarifier.
The chamber, majestic as it was,
did little to reveal
the structure’s true purpose.
So the narrator will
sort of explain everything
that’s happening
as you go along.
Yeah, she’s kind of
unwinding the story.
Further investigation
would be required.
Further investigation
will be happening.
Combo based melee combat
parries. Is there a dodge?
-Yes, this is dodge.
-Got it.
And jump and blaster,
light attack.
Heavy attack. Shield.
And there you go.
So I know you’ve spent
some time with the game already.
What’s the sort of…
How much time do you spend
in combat versus exploration?
Or is there also puzzle solving?
A little bit of
a puzzle solving.
I mean, I think I only got
access to a limited part,
but what I’m trying to do is…
Actually, I forgot I could do
this.
I can send out an orb
to tell you which way to go.
-Very useful.
-Yeah.
-Okay.
-Okay. What do we have here?
We got some health crystals,
which I don’t need.
The telltale remains
of perished biological organism.
That’s us. They’re
talking about us.
Yeah. We’re dinosaurs.
You can turn us into fuel.
Oh, well, circle of life.
You know, like how humans
created giant metal spiders?
Yeah, exactly.
Okay. Do you think you could
go for a 15 hit combo here?
Oh, I don’t know.
I think you should try.
Okay, first,
I’m gonna hit with some blasts.
Combo going up.
-Did I miss it?
-No. You’re there.
Two more. You got
it. Keep going.
You know, the blast really go
a long way in comboing up.
TEMPLE OF SOMA
EXPLORE THE BIOLOGY WING
Oh, you’re going to make 30.
Am I, am I? Is it happening?
[SLASHES]
Oh, he died before I did.
29 is pretty good though.
You’re just too good.
Yeah. They’re just…
It’s my story of my life.
[CHUCKLING]
Are there any health
crystals nearby? No.
The room behind me closed,
so I can’t go back and get it.
Have to push forward.
We’re exploring the biology wing
of the Temple of Soma.
Yes.
I’m not sure what Soma means
in this context.
In this Demo, are
there any boss fights?
Yes, there is one at the end,
which I actually really enjoyed
because you could parry
a lot with that boss
and it wasn’t that hard for me,
so I think it won’t be
that hard for anyone.
I got some money.
Some rare currency.
[SOFT MUSIC]
Got some fossilised
giant scorpions.
I mean, humanity
went through a lot
that I guess we haven’t
experienced yet.
So post-human. But also
is this Earth, on Earth?
I actually don’t know.
And that’s a good question.
I assumed, yes,
but maybe that’s just
my earth centric opinion.
Oh, there’s two.
Soon there won’t be.
No, no, no. Why
are there so many?
No. This way.
So there’s no auto
lock, as you can tell.
Oh, they just keep spawning.
You know, in some levels there’s
like a giant crystal that spawns
them.
But I’m not seeing one here.
So I don’t think I
can stop the spawning.
If you see a giant dark crystal,
you got to go hit that crystal.
Stop the spawn
is a pretty good call to action,
like I could see in the
advertisements "Astor, Blade Of
The Monolith."
"Stop the spawn. Spring 2024."
You know it’s that or it’s
an insecticide commercial.
What’s the yellow meter
underneath your health?
That is my stamina, I believe.
So if I start blasting,
it’ll go down.
Or if I use my shield and my
shield gets hit, it’ll go down.
And then the three segmented
blue meter. What’s that below
that?
That is something we haven’t
learned yet at this part in the
demo.
But it does turn on
this kind of second sight.
-It’s Batman mode.
-Yeah, kind of.
But it can reveal passageways
that you can’t really see yet.
Maybe I’ll get to the part where
that actually comes into play.
I did it before
and I didn’t know what it was,
and I was like, surely this
blue light is hurting my enemies
and helping me, but it’s not.
It’s for sight for certain areas
that are inaccessible otherwise.
Got it. Maybe it could reveal a
crack in the wall that could be
bombed.
Yes.
Okay, they’re going to make me
work for these red crystals.
Okay.
-Oh, is that it?
-There you go.
What are the other abilities
mapped to your D-pad?
One of them is healing,
-which is pretty important.
-Yep.
-The top one is healing.
-Got it.
-The right is the magic sight.
-Got it.
The bottom…
-is my little wayfinder orb.
-Oh, cool.
And on the right is not
usable at this point in time.
Okay, let’s follow my orb trail,
which is very helpful as someone
who always needs to consult a
map.
Should be a requirement
in video games, really.
Yeah.
They fly now?
They fly now.
-They fly now!
-They fly now?
They fly now!
Light attack it up here.
I guess I can fly now too.
Oh, no.
I lost my combo!
Combo breaker!
-I want to see a 30 hit combo.
-Again?
-Well…
-That’s true, that’s true.
We haven’t seen it yet,
but I know that you can do it.
Great, great dodging.
They’ve got me in a corner,
that’s not good.
But you have the
blade of the monolith.
I think I lost my combo.
Look, it’s fun, but
it’s also challenging.
-What?
-Again?
Is there like a
crystal I’m not seeing
that’s spawning these things?
I mean, if it’s like the
other room, you just gotta…
-Gotta keep going?
-Yeah.
Life lessons.
Dont let him get behind you.
No, I know.
-Ambush you in.
-No!
If you could heal,
you might want to do that.
Sure.
I was too distracted
and I’m just as bad
as I was before healing.
They’re still coming.
Still?
Okay. I think this
might be the last two.
You!
I’ve had enough of you.
He’s one more, one more.
There you go.
-Okay, okay. Oh, no.
-This guy.
I can kill him. I can kill him.
He doesn’t have a
friend to help him.
All right. I did it.
Well, that about
wraps it up for us.
And for everything else,
ID@Xbox. Keep it locked here at
IGN.
PRESENTED BY
XFINITY
It’s not often that a puzzle
game quite like Humanity comes
along.
With its minimal
but expressive art direction,
adorable ghostly Shiba
Inu main character,
and an endless library
of user generated content,
it’s no surprise why Humanity
was one of IGN’s highest
reviewed games of 2023.
Now that it’s headed
to Xbox and Game Pass,
there’s even more of a reason
to check out the puzzler
where you lead the fate of
humanity in your… paws?
[DRAMATIC 80’s WAVE MUSIC]
Humanity is a bizarre
but relaxing puzzler that takes
follow the Leader
to its next logical step.
If that involves
whatever this is.
The game has you playing
as a spirit like Shiba Inu,
who has to rebuild humanity
after a rogue AI destroyed it.
This is done by leading
an endless stream of people
towards the map’s objective.
STAGE COMPLETED
You’ll need to place
directional and action tiles
in order to solve humanity’s
increasingly complex but
interesting puzzles.
While the game may seem
difficult at first glance,
thanks to humanity’s intuitive
controls and endless supply of
humans,
this game quickly goes from
seemingly overwhelming
to a relaxing brain exercise
that’s hard to put down.
FOLLOW THE LEADER
The game play in Humanity
is more than just moving
an endless supply of people
from point A to point B.
Throughout the game, you’ll gain
access to new abilities such as
jumping,
climbing, and later
on, boss battles.
The game’s pacing helps keep
the puzzler fresh and fun,
thanks to its intuitive controls
and relaxing but weird art
style.
But humanity isn’t
a total walk in the park.
Eventually, as you progress
through the game’s story,
you’ll run into The Others.
The Others are,
well, other people,
who speak a different language,
but have the same objective
as your more colorful
cast of humans.
The game will let you deal with
these foes with various weapons,
such as bats and guns,
which make for some visually
satisfying circumstances.
But The Others aren’t the only
foes you’ll need to face in
humanity.
Since the game’s main antagonist
is a rogue AI,
you’ll eventually need
to deal with The Machines.
This enemy type takes a step
back from the chaotic, large
scale battles
you would see with The Others.
In turn, for a more stealth
and platform-focused approach.
All of which lead to
eventual boss battles
which go from
puzzle-based combat
against your rogue AI foes
to an all out assault
that’s more bullet hell
than a walk in the park.
If a stage ever
gets too difficult
or you just can’t quite
figure out where to start,
Humanity includes the option to
watch a solution video on any
map
without any penalty
to the player.
This level of accessibility
is definitely a welcome feature.
One of Humanity’s strongest
features is access to a hefty
library
of over 8000 user generated maps
that will keep even
the most dedicated players busy
for a long time after the
credits roll on the campaign.
User generated stages also
feature an XP incentive,
so the more you play,
the more you earn.
Feel like you can make
a better stage than anyone else?
No problem.
Thanks to the game’s
intuitive map editor,
it’s pretty easy to bring
your creative ideas to life,
just like this stage inspired
by the Gears of War franchise.
Like I said earlier,
Humanity is one of
those rare puzzle games
that not only delivers on being
a challenging puzzler,
but also stays fresh and
interesting throughout its
nearly endless runtime.
If you’re looking for a puzzler
that’s a little different,
but also has an emphasis
on style, tight gameplay,
and allows you to create
and share your own puzzles,
then Humanity is definitely
worth checking out
when it releases on May 30th
on Xbox and Game Pass.
ID@Xbox is presented by Xfinity.
Stay ahead of the game with
Xfinity’s blazing fast speeds
and smooth, low lag connection.
– [Narrator] IGN has the
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We’ve recently added
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IGN Maps load faster with
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So start checking off markers
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we want you there with us.
IGN Live is bringing the VIP
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We’ve got trailer reveals
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from the hottest games.
Hands-on game demos
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Tickets available now.
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– The Cinefix Top 100.
A list so secretive,
even we don’t know
what movies are on it,
or where they rank.
– What do you mean
you don’t know?
– [Clint] Each episode, we’ll
reveal one of the movies.
– Did I rush it? It
felt like I rushed it.
– No, it was good. I liked it.
– [Clint] Talk about why
it belongs, and finally,
find out where it ranks.
– Are you not entertained?
– [Clint] Are any of the
movies we’ve shown here
even on the list?
I have no idea.
And it drives me crazy.
– Ha, ha, ha!
– [Clint] Join us as we find out
on the Cinefix Top 100,
Mondays starting July 3rd.
– Why so serious?
(whooshing)
How’s it going, everybody?
Benjamin Watts here, and you’re
watching ID@Xbox right here on
IGN.
Now, independent games
come in all shapes and forms,
from bite size to super sized.
And right now Alan and I
are about to check out
these snack and slash
action RPG, Hangry.
Let’s get into it now, Alan.
We are how far into the game?
We’re about 20
minutes into the game,
and I love the term "snack and
slash" because I feel like it’s
very…
very topical for this game.
As if the name didn’t give
it away, you are Hangry,
and you can bite enemies,
you can fight them,
everyone that you sort of
encounter is like kind of
ingredient themed.
Okay.
So you’ll see right here, we got
this enemy that’s popping up,
you can sort of lock on.
And there’s moments of it that,
like, kind of remind me of
soulslike games,
because you will get the sort of
like these really weird looking
enemies
that you’re just like,
where did this come from?
But then you can bite
them, take a bite
and then recover
your hungry meter,
which is really fun,
and then you can do this.
Eventually if I can
stagger him enough,
I can take a bite
and do a devastating eat.
Very nice.
So who’s the lead character
in this? What’s the name?
His name is Hangry.
Okay. So he is Hangry
in every sense of the word.
All right. He definitely looks
a little like Beast from X-Men,
which I like, especially if he
was a, you know, greaser from
the 1950s.
Got some slicked back hair,
got some leather jacket
with one of those
spikes on the top.
Yeah, some spikes on the top
right there. Look, look at it.
He’s a handsome fella.
Looking good.
Some people are definitely
into that beast look
from The Beauty and The Beast.
That’s true, that’s true.
So right now we are on the hunt
for some ingredients.
-Okay. -Bring back to our main
base of operation.
-I see we got here.
-Right here.
He’s a pickle crock.
I do love myself a pickle crock.
And then you can actually
go and harvest them.
You can say you’ll get crock
garlic if you defeat those
enemies.
So the more ingredients you get,
the sort of better your score
is.
And there’s always
opportunities to sort of,
like, stagger enemies
and then deal sort of
like a finishing blow
with your eat attack,
which is this guy right here.
There’s a few different bars
to keep track of.
So right now we’re learning
about cleaving foes.
This is an alternative
version of biting.
So let’s go ahead
and take a look.
We’re going to go into
this fight right here.
We got two enemies that are
going to be coming through the
ground right about now.
And let’s go ahead and cleaver.
-Oh I missed, my bad.
-Yeah.
They look appetizing.
Oh, but they taste delicious.
-Oh, really?
-Yeah.
It’s like really good.
All right. You’re a big fan of
the Crest Claw salad over here.
All right.
Ew.
Now, is there, like, the
character, like, are we…
you know, upgrading skills
or are we upgrading stats?
Yeah, exactly. So as you
progress through your missions,
you’ll get different sort of
objectives that you can
complete.
And then also there’s different
assignments that you’ll get to.
Right now, actually, I want
to show you the Hangry mode,
because it acts almost like,
if you remember like the
rage mode from God of War.
Yeah, yeah, yeah.
It has a very similar
sort of mechanic
where you fill up a bar and then
you can pop it and do a ton of
damage.
And that’ll help you
out a lot if you’re,
you know, in a pinch,
getting overwhelmed by enemies,
there’s always something you
can pull out of your back pocket
to make sure that you don’t
actually end up going down.
So you were talking about
upgrades. You can evolve.
And what I like is that there’s
actually different sort of
anatomic things
that you can evolve
within your character.
So your heart gives
you like stuff like,
you know, your abilities cost
less energy if your health is
full.
And all of these have, like,
different options within the
tree, too.
So the higher the tier you go,
the better the upgrade is.
And you can also
upgrade your weapons.
Right now we only have the arm
blade because we are so early in
the game,
just about 20 minutes in.
But I’m hoping that eventually
we’ll get bigger and better
weapons
that will deal extra zing.
Right now we are encountering…
Oh, yeah, these guys are a
little bit difficult because
they do…
Is that a widering bat?
Yeah. So the…
The bats actually
regenerate health.
So you kind of have to, like,
just focus them down.
Because what kind of food?
It’s like their pizza, right?
-That they’re…
-Like, a Hawaiian pizza.
Yeah. It kind of looks like
a pizza slice, right?
Yeah, but Hawaiian
pizzas are good.
-That’s it.
-Yeah.
I don’t know what that.
What do you mean,
you don’t like pineapple?
You can also pop
your hunter sense.
Let you sort of track
different, larger enemies
that are usually like
the main objectives.
Okay.
So I was like, I thought you
were going to detective mode for
a second.
It kind of does act like that.
If you, like, have
ever played, you know,
the The Last of Us games or like
Arkham, there’s always, you
know,
you can sort of spot like the
points of interest through that.
And it acts in very similar
to that mechanic.
I’m getting a few enemies
right here. And boom.
Easy, pickle crock.
Give me the wine bats.
We got the crest thing.
The crest thing with
the massive eye.
So right now we are looking
for The Goroza.
Goroza.
-Let me see if I can track
anything. -All right.
Right now I’m not seeing
too many identifiers,
but usually it’ll pop up
as like a blue sphere,
with like, little, like,
particles coming out of it.
So keep an eye out for that.
If you do see it, let me know.
Almost like we’re in
Dora the Explorer.
-Just be like…
-Right there!
But yeah. Yeah. And I can see as
you’re moving through the level,
it’s like it’s giving you a
footprint of where you’ve been
as well.
Exactly. So that does help you
if like if you’re not sure
if you already came
from an area or not,
you can sort of
track your footsteps.
They don’t last for
a super long time.
So, you know, you kind of
want to keep an eye out
on where you’re going.
But it is a nice thing because
you’ll be able to tell like,
oh I kind of came from this
direction already. Check that
out.
-Oh, this is a new one.
-Here we go.
This is the Goroza
we were looking for,
I believe.
Oh, this is a tart bear.
Tart bear. Never mind.
-I was wrong.
-Okay.
On me.
So this one actually has
like increased defenses.
So you kind of have
to stagger it first
in order to start
dealing damage.
I love just the design
of these creatures.
Like, I’m trying to
figure out it’s got.
Am I looking at some
blueberries? It’s like a pie.
Kind of from the other side,
it looked like it was like
bananas with syrup on it. I
don’t know, man.
See a bit of everything.
A little bit of everything.
You are so close.
Come on, come on.
Get that tart bear.
Oh, what’s this
power you’ve got?
-What’s this electric…?
-Yeah.
-After this–.
-Yeah, yeah.
-Pretty cool right?
-Yeah, yeah.
You got some good powers.
I like the trump effect.
Actually, see those
teeth marks bite in.
This guy’s taking no damage.
I’m gonna run away.
Yeah, obviously, Alan, it’s
always fun watching you play any
game,
but let’s give this a shot.
I want to do an IGN first.
I would like us to attempt
to play the game together
using a single controller.
Are you up for that?
I don’t know how it’s going to
go, but let’s give it a shot.
Well, knowing your skills,
it can only get better.
So here we go.
-All right, where are we headed?
-So we’re heading up here.
We got to find the Goroza
and take it down.
Oh, I don’t want
to hurt the bat.
-No, let’s run away from that.
-Okay.
Hey, that was on your side,
and you just…
Absolutely not.
Oh, the pickle crocs.
You’re going on my burger, croc.
If you hit A you should
be able to harvest it.
Oh, yeah. Here we go.
-So we’re trying to find the
Goroza. -Goroza.
And that should be, I think,
over on the right side.
Oh. Is that…? Oh.
There’s an Evie over here.
You want to go fight it?
Okay, yes, I do.
Whereas you can run if you
press it on the left stick.
Where am I looking, am I…?
Yeah. You got the camera.
So we should be going a little
bit further to the right.
-Oh, I see.
-That’s it right there.
-That’s right. -And we’re doing
a clean kill. All right.
-Yeah, yeah.
-Fight it.
I still make all my own…
-You know…
-Bam.
-Bam!
-Go for it.
STUN THE GOROZA
CLEAN/KILL THE GOROZA
Yeah. We got two out
of three ingredients.
Almost there. Nice. Now hit
right trigger. Right trigger.
-Nope.
-Right here.
Doing it. Am I doing it?
-I feel like I’m not doing it.
-Just keep spamming it.
Oh, just keep spamming
it. Okay, can do.
-You gotta…
-Take this, tart bear.
Now hit Y a bunch.
See how that that
fills up the bar below.
There you go. There you go.
We’re almost there now.
Skill’s complete.
-That’s it! -That’s what I’m
talking about, dude.
-Okay, so now… -Actually, I’m
way better than you.
Take a reward.
And then we head over to the
diner to deliver it to our boss.
-Oh, no, it’s a robot.
-You go right here.
Press A.
I’ll call it a nice little
truck. You can look up to see a
fly in.
RETURN TO THE DINER
-Fly in?
-Yeah.
We got a flying truck.
See where the arrow’s pointing?
Check it out. There’s
our ride. Hey.
It’s coming in.
Is this a food truck?
This is our little
delivery truck, yeah.
Delivery truck.
And check it out. It’s got…
Oh, even the little
ramp comes out.
-Let’s do it, I’m ready.
-And we’re rolling. Go!
Well, there we have it.
If you’re craving more, you can
check out Hangry when it
releases on Xbox soon.
And for everything else, ID@Xbox
keep it locked here at IGN.
ID@Xbox is presented by Xfinity.
Stay ahead of the game with
Xfinity’s Blazing fast speeds
and smooth, low lag connection.
– This is Steve Downes,
the voice of Master
Chief Sierra 117,
and you’re listening
to "Podcast Unlocked,"
the world’s number
one Xbox podcast.
Now, finish this fight.
Master Chief out.
(upbeat music)
– You’ve just watched
IGN’s ID@Xbox Showcase
made in partnership
with Microsoft.
Welcome to "Podcast
Unlocked" live episode here
right after that showcase
you just watched.
I’m Ryan McCaffrey, joined
this week by Stella Chung.
Hi, Stella.
– Hey.
– And Taylor Lyles
joining us as well.
Hello, Taylor.
– Hi. Thank you for having
me on the show again, Ryan.
– Well, absolutely.
Let’s dive right into it
because that was 40-ish
minutes of many, many games.
As I was watching that,
I was going, "Wait, how
many games are in this?
This just keeps going,"
in a good kind of way.
So I really thought
there were a lot
of what I’ll call just
rising stars here.
So games that we
need to really start
to keep our eye on
and pay attention to.
Let’s start with our favorites
and then we’ll go from there
’cause we’ve got plenty of time
to dive in to everything here.
This entire episode is dedicated
to that entire ID@Xbox Showcase
that you just watched on IGN.
So Taylor, I’ll start with you.
You know, give me
the first thing,
you know, it’s a word
association test.
IGN ID@Xbox Showcase. Go.
– "Lost Records: Bloom & Rage."
– Nice. That’s mine too.
That’s a good pick.
Stella, do you want
to third that one
or should we-
– Yeah, no, honestly.
– Okay, good.
– Yeah, I thought that
looked super cool.
I mean, just immediately the
camcorder footage, right?
Like, I don’t know,
there’s something about it
that kind of just
draws me to it.
Maybe because, like,
you know, we grew up
using camcorders and everything,
and it looked really
interesting too.
Also, it’s from Don’t Nod.
So, I mean, you know,
what can’t they do?
– No, you’re right.
I mean, and for me, as the
resident old on this panel,
I grew up in the, I
was a teenager in 1995,
which is when this game is set.
It’s, you know, the timestamp,
the watermark on the camcorder
footage is June 1st, 1995.
Set in the town of Velvet Cove.
And as you mentioned,
Stella, it’s Don’t Nod.
It’s the folks that brought
us "Life is Strange"
and a lot of other really
good narrative adventures.
And so, you know, for me,
it’s ’90s plus
narrative adventure.
Ryan McCaffrey is in.
Like, you can just sign
me up for this game
right off the bat.
It’s saying it’s
out later this year,
specifically just late 2024,
for Xbox Series and Windows.
So this looks like it
might be an exclusive
on the Xbox console side.
But let’s talk a little
bit more about this one.
Like, as we’re watching
the trailer again here
on the playback,
like, Taylor, what
do you think sort of,
what immediately sets
this apart for you
from "Life is Strange"
and the other cool stuff that
we’ve seen from this studio?
– I think that it is
going back in the ’90s.
Also, funny enough, 1995
was the year I was born, so.
– You’re really trying
to make me feel old.
And it’s working.
– When you were saying it,
I was trying so
hard not to laugh.
I was like, "Yeah,
1995, I was born."
I was like, "Yeah, April 1995,
that is the month
and year I was born."
But, you know, just the fact
that they are going back in time
setting this in the ’90s,
’cause all the other
"Life is Strange" games
and even the, when
they made "Tell Me Why"
and "Twin Mirror,"
they were all set kinda
like that modern day
or around that time, like,
when the game was developed.
So setting this in a
different time period,
they have a lot more creativity
that they can kind
of leverage on
versus just a set of
just kind of pulling
from whatever is happening
at the time that
they’re developing it.
I’m curious to see
kind of what the music
selection’s gonna be
because I feel every game
that Don’t Nod has made,
especially the "Life is
Strange" games that they made,
which is just 1 and 2,
I thought that the
soundtrack was just perfect.
So I really hope that they
pick some real bangers
from just that year or
just that, like, decade
starting with 1990
to ’95 or like…
It looks like summer ’95.
It looks like these kids are
about to go to high school,
so it’s their last summer.
– Yeah, June, June 1st.
So yeah.
– Ah, yeah.
So, but that’s really
what excites me,
is just seeing what they do
when they kinda go back in time
versus just kind of pulling
and doing things like that.
And, you know,
what’s interesting
about even, like, the
"Life is Strange" games
and just any of their
narrative-driven games
is that they have themes
that kind of focus and
tie to that specific year
that that game is set in.
So I don’t know what they’re
gonna pick for "Lost Records,"
but I can’t wait to
kind of just dissect it
when it comes out.
– So Stella, are you
gonna now tell me
that you weren’t
even born in 1995?
Is that the next step of this?
– No.
I was two years old, so.
– Okay, good.
(panelists laughing)
I’m glad you were
with us in 1995.
– Yeah, so, yeah, yeah,
I was two years old.
I am so curious about a
lot of different aspects
of this game
because I know that the
"Life is Strange" games,
the ones that have
come out after,
they’ve all kind of linked
to the same universe
and it’s really interesting
because these kids
have superpowers.
There are some weird little,
like, supernatural
forces at work.
So I’m really interested to see
if this is going to tie in
to the whole "Life
is Strange" universe
because that could
be really cool
and I think that
they have something
really interesting
going if they do.
It’s almost like a
collection of little stories
from different timelines
in the universe.
So I don’t know.
I’m super into that
sort of aspect.
Also, right here when you see
the camcorder kinda glitching
over specific symbols,
I’m like, "I wonder if
this is going to be,"
like, what if it’s some
sort of like UFO discovery
or it’s like some weird,
like, supernatural discovery
in some way?
And I feel like mostly the
kid at the end is joking
about like, "Oh, if you
find this, I’m dead,"
because, you know,
kids are funny
and like to make jokes-
– Like a "Blair Witch"
kinda deal?
– Like that.
Yeah, but I’m like,
"Okay, we all know
that there’s going to
be something sinister
and also heartbreaking, right?"
Because that’s what
Don’t Nod’s great at.
So I’m trying to figure
out what exactly it is
because it looks really great
and, I mean, it looks
picturesque so far.
So what’s the twist? What is it?
I don’t know.
So I’m really excited
to see this play out.
And I wonder how
they’re gonna do it,
if they’re gonna do,
like, episodic releases
like they did before too.
– It didn’t seem
to indicate that
from that end
slate screen there.
It just seems like it’s gonna be
a whole complete
package of content
that ships at once.
But, yeah, you’re
totally right about this,
you know, A, is it gonna tie in?
B, the supernatural side.
Like, I had to just
double-check my memory while,
because as we’ve learned
on this episode, I’m old,
but I had to
double-check my memory
and thankfully it held up.
I was like, "I think ‘Blair
Witch’ came out after ’95,"
in terms of maybe that
end shot of her saying,
you know, that,
oh, she might die.
Like, it could be like, oh,
is it even referencing that?
Like, no, it’s not ’cause
"Blair Witch" was ’99.
So that was not a
thing in June of 1995.
But Taylor, I wanna circle
back to something you said too.
I thought you brought
up a great point
about, A, Don’t
Nod’s track record
with tracks, with soundtracks,
and B, the fact that
this is set in the ’90s,
is it gonna have
licensed tracks?
I have to imagine, my
guess, my gut would say no
’cause this isn’t like a,
with no disrespect to Don’t Nod,
this isn’t like a big AAA thing
that’s gonna be licensing,
like, you know, the Gin Blossoms
or, you know, blink-182
or something, right?
Like, do you feel
like it’s probably
gonna just be ’90s themed stuff
without actually
being recognizable
songs from the ’90s?
– I could see them doing that,
but I also kind of
have this gut feeling
that they might
just try to find,
like, some of that more
obscure older stuff
that was from the ’90s
that wasn’t as big as,
like, the blink-182s
and stuff like that,
because even when you
look at the soundtracks
for the other games that
Don’t Nod worked on,
you know, even with,
like, the first two
"Life is Strange" games,
or, well, I guess "Life
is Strange" 1 and 2
because "Before the
Storm" came out before 2,
but the point still stands,
like, you look at
those soundtracks
and you don’t really see any,
"Oh, I know who that artist is,"
or if you do, it’s like
still a niche artist.
It’s not like something that a
general consensus would know.
So I think they’re gonna
do a really good job
with finding some of
those obscure artists
to kind of supplement the track.
But it wouldn’t surprise me
if they could find some artists
that have very ’90s passing
tunes in their repertoire.
So, but I could see it
being a mix of both,
but I really hope they just
kind of stick to the bit
and do pick, like, some of that
very niche indie ’90s music
from that specific time period.
– Maybe even some,
like, one-hit wonders
to kind of go along with what
you’re talking about, right?
Stuff where the artist
would probably say yes
because that was
their one hit song.
They’d be like, "Sure, you
wanna give us some money
to bring that song back into
the public consciousness?
Yeah, that sounds
like a great plan.
We’re happy to sign on to that."
– It’s funny ’cause-
– We’ll see, I guess.
– Well, I remember seeing the
initial announcement for this,
I think it was at the
Game Awards last year,
and I remember when I went
to rewatch the trailer
after the show ended,
I was like, "This
kind of gives me
like ‘Stranger Things’ vibes,"
and I kind of dig it.
– Yeah, it’s-
– Yeah.
– Go ahead, Stella, please.
– Oh, no, I was gonna
ask you a question, Ryan.
What is it like to see
this sort of resurgence
of like ’90s themed
entertainment, right?
Because, I mean, I was a kid,
so I remember very
specific things of the ’90s
towards the end of it,
but, like, ’cause, you know,
we see "Stranger Things," right?
I mean, we see this resurgence
of like retro vibes and music
and, yeah, so what is
it like to see that
kind of infiltrate the
gaming space now too?
– I will be completely honest
with you, it’s awesome.
Like, it really is
because, you know, we’ve
gone through this, right?
We kind of went
through an ’80s phase
and now, like, even
with retro games, right?
Where a lot of retro
games had like 8-bit
and then it kind of, you
know, 16-bit graphics
were sort of a thing
in modern retro games.
But now we’re even
starting to see,
granted it’s moving
into more a little
the late ’90s, 2000s,
but even some sort
of PS1 era games
from a visual
perspective on purpose.
And so, yeah, there’s a
reason that nostalgia sells,
because it makes you feel good.
And so I do love seeing
games set in the ’90s.
Like, it does make me happy.
I’m not gonna lie about that.
Like, it’s pretty cool.
So yeah, I think Taylor’s
point about soundtrack,
I’m gonna be now
extra curious about,
you know, if it’s actual
’90s music, great,
but if it’s just sort
of ’90s inspired stuff,
I’m still gonna be curious
to hear that as well.
And, you know, the other
thing I was thinking about
with this trailer
now that we’ve watched
it again a few times
is with the whole way
it’s set up, you know, ’95
and I wonder if this is,
like, their last summer
before they all
go off to college
’cause of the way the sort of
the trailer was playing out.
So we’ll see.
We’ll see about this one.
But I guess I
shouldn’t be surprised
that this found
its way to the top
of all of our wishlists here.
Look at the corduroy
pants right there.
That’s very ’90s.
There won’t be any
cellphones in this game,
I can promise you that,
since it’s set in 1995.
– What about those giant phones?
Like "Saved by the Bell."
– A Zack Morris phone.
– Yeah, yeah.
– Go full "Saved by the Bell."
Yeah, I mean, and since,
although I’m back on the
soundtrack for a quick second
before we move on here,
since it does seem to
be revolving around
this group of friends
that skateboards,
I do wonder if it will be
more like early grunge stuff,
either in, like
Taylor was saying,
actual licensed grunge stuff
from the early to mid-’90s
or just inspired by.
But that would be,
that would be my guess
of where this game is going.
And, I mean, I’ve enjoyed
some of the "Life
is Strange" stuff.
I haven’t played all of them.
But to me these are,
you know, Don’t Nod is
kind of carrying the torch
that Telltale left behind
when they unfortunately
went under,
and maybe they’re
still going with,
maybe "Wolf Among Us
2" is still a thing.
It’s kind of hard to
tell at this point.
But this game is
right up my alley
and I’m glad all of
us, this stood out.
So, all right, that was
our initial top pick,
but we will be right back
here on this live episode
of "Podcast Unlocked"
reacting to the ID@Xbox
Showcase that you just watched.
We’ve got so many more games
to talk to you about
right after this.
– The CineFix Top 100,
a list so secretive even we
don’t know what movies are on it
or where they rank.
– [Sid] What do you
mean you don’t know?
– [Clint] Each episode will
reveal one of the movies.
– Did I rush you? It
felt like I rushed you.
– No, it’s good, I liked it.
– [Clint] Talk about
why it belongs,
and finally find
out where it ranks.
– Are you not entertained?
– Are any of the movies we’ve
shown here even on the list?
I have no idea, and
it drives me crazy.
(character laughs)
Join us as we find out
on the CineFix Top 100
Mondays starting July 3rd.
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(electronic whooshing)
– Welcome back to
"Podcast Unlocked."
You are watching
our live episode
recapping the ID@Xbox Showcase,
presented by IGN that
you just watched.
We’re so happy to partner
with Microsoft there
and the ID@Xbox team
to bring you looks
at a whole bunch of games.
And we do mean a whole bunch.
I actually, I should
have counted, I did
not actually count.
I have pages and pages of notes.
But there were a
lot of video games,
a lot of ’em looking super cool.
We started with one of
our favorites there,
which was "Lost
Records: Bloom & Rage."
But let’s keep talking
about some other stuff.
Stella, I’ll go to you here.
What else jumped out at you
that you wanna talk about
for a couple minutes?
– Sure.
You know what?
I think we kind of have
to point out "Palworld."
I mean, that’s a game that
I sank like, 80 hours into
with the first
weekend it came out.
So, I’m really happy to
see it getting updates.
I was a little bit worried.
I think a lot of players
were actually kind of worried
about "Palworld"
because the developer
had this track record
of starting projects
and then kind of
stepping away from them
when it didn’t really seem
to be working out for them.
But "Palworld" was such a
huge success upon launch
that I think they finally found
their stride with, you know,
implementing updates
even if it was like,
little patch notes
here and there
before this massive
update comes out.
So I’m really glad that they’re
continuing to support it,
that they haven’t given up.
And this does seem
like they are setting
a sort of precedence
with their players
on what to expect with the game.
‘Cause I, again, like a lot
of people were worried that,
"Oh, what if they
don’t upgrade this?"
"What if they also
step back from this?"
"Who knows?"
So it doesn’t make me happy
that there’s more
content coming.
There are new pals, it seems
like there’s gonna be new guns,
which is really fun,
energy-based weapons,
and then also a flame thrower.
I mean, that’s cool.
(Stella chuckles)
I think the frog is super cute.
I don’t know what he
does, but he is so cute.
So I’m really happy that they
haven’t run out of ideas yet,
that they’ve been
continuing to update this.
Yeah, it will be
interesting though
because I know that the
player base did drop off
just a little bit because
there were a ton of like,
survival games that came out.
But I definitely am gonna
keep an eye on the numbers
to see how many people come
back for this specifically.
– [Ryan] Yeah, I mean, well,
to give them some credit,
and it’s a reminder
to everybody watching.
I mean, if you’re not
currently playing "Palworld,"
this has been the biggest hit
of the year for Xbox so far.
This thing has been
huge console-exclusive,
really got the year off to
a strong start for Xbox.
But yeah, in fairness
to the development team,
there’s almost nowhere to go
but down for their player count
after where they launched off
to at the start of the game,
you know, when
the game launched.
But yeah, this update
I have in my notes,
the new pals are a
nunchuck-wielding frog,
a turkey-looking thing, a
bunny samurai, parenthesis,
I think, and a
weird reptile thing
with a mushroom on
its head and tail
that looks completely harmless.
So those are,
I presume that those are
really perfect descriptions.
I’m sure there are, you
can’t possibly know.
They’re the worst descriptions
I could have
possibly come up with
while watching this but…
– [Stella] Well, I’d love to
see you name all these pals
just based off
those descriptions.
– [Ryan] Yeah, I mean I
love the sort of, you know,
the sort of Japanese
garden here, the setting,
like, it looks great.
I mean, PlayStation had
"Helldivers 2" that’s been been,
and its sort of big indie
hit to start the year.
And Xbox has this,
has "Palworld".
So Stella, do you think
you’re gonna go back in
when this update drops?
– Oh yeah, no, I’m
definitely going to.
I think I needed a good time
away from survival PDE games,
and now I can go
back in and do it.
But I’m so sad
that they actually,
so he actually
apologized for this,
which is the funniest thing.
So they patched out the
ability to catch dungeon bosses
because you were
able to do that,
and then you could
use them as your pals,
which I mean, I totally did.
But anyway, so
you could do that.
But they were like, "Hey,
we accidentally fixed that.
We’re so sorry, but
we didn’t mean to,
so don’t be mad at us."
And I thought it was
just the funniest thing
because the community was
like, "No, we get it."
It’s fine, but that’s just funny
that you were never
planning on fixing it.
So I think they have a
really good relationship
with our community,
and I love all of
the communication
they’ve been doing.
And each time they do an update,
they have so many details
on their patch notes
and like, blog posts.
So I’m definitely gonna
jump back into this
’cause I like supporting them.
– Taylor, what I know about you
is that you play pretty
much every video game.
And I say that with the
absolute highest of compliments.
So have you dove
into "Palworld?"
And if so, how have
you been enjoying it?
And what did this update
trailer do for you?
– [Taylor] So when
I first played it,
I was at a friend’s house, and
he was just vibing with it.
He was showing me his
base and then I was like,
"Okay, let me give
this a whirl."
And I was kinda enamored.
I was like, "Wow,"
Okay, this is so much more
than just Pokemon with guns
’cause I know that was its
nickname for the longest time.
So, but I haven’t had a chance
to actually start my own file.
But seeing this trailer today,
I really wanna play it now,
especially ’cause I really
like the little mushroom pal.
(Taylor laughing)
And so I wanna wait
for that, just get one
because he just walks around
like a little goofy goober.
And just, I wanna
build my own base
’cause I remember I
had wrote a story,
I think it was like
a few months ago.
Someone built like a entire city
for their base in Palworld.
And I was like, "Wait, you
can do this type of thing?"
And so I really can’t wait
to see what kind of building
and crafting and stuff like
that I could do with it.
Because the last time I kinda
felt invested in building
like a base, really detailed
was actually "Fallout 4", so.
– Well, if you wanna get
ready for this update,
you’ve got a little bit
of time, it’s April.
And this update is out
sometime in the summer there,
according to the
end of the trailer.
So you’ve got a little time to
get your own saved file going
and get your feet
wet, get ready to go.
Next, I wanna jump,
let’s see here.
There’s, literally, there’s
so much on this list.
While I go, one of you, I think
it might have been Taylor,
one of you mentioned the
"Jackbox Naughty Pack"
before we started recording.
So let’s go to that.
Which of you was that again
that wanted to
talk about that one
that jumped out at you
as one of your favorites?
Taylor raising her hand.
All right.
A party game that’s
made just for adults.
The live action trailer which
we’re looking at again now
was very, very goofy.
I thought it was very funny.
So Taylor, talk to us
about the market need here
for an adults-only
"Jackbox Naughty Pack."
– So I have all the
"Jackbox Party Back" games.
I wanna disclose that ’cause
I played it all the time
when I was in college
with my friends.
Every now and then,
I’ll do a game night
and usually we’re
playing "Jackbox."
Sometimes you do
"PowerPoint" parties,
but it’s mostly "Jackbox."
So when I saw that they were
gonna do a "Naughty Pack,"
I was like, "Oh, wow,
this is so cool."
It’s kinda like when
"Apples to Apples"
was like the longest thing,
and that was like a fun game.
But then "Cards Against
Humanity" came out,
I was like, "Oh, that’s
just basically Apples
to Apples Naughty
Pack" in a sense.
So now that "Jackbox"
is finally giving us
an adult-oriented party pack,
I can’t wait to see
what they’re gonna do.
I mean, the party pack
games are always goofy
and just as goofy as the
trailers if not more.
So I don’t know what type of
raunchy content we’re gonna get
or what kind of mini games
they’re gonna throw in this,
but I’m excited to check it out.
– Stella, are you gonna
bust this out with friends?
– Oh, hundred percent,
hundred percent.
I think they finally
realized they were like,
"You know what?
We wanted this to be
inclusive to everyone."
But then like, they
realized most of the people
that play these games are adults
who are just really messed up.
So I’m really glad they’re
leaning fully into this
because I cannot tell
you the amount of times
I’ve done, like,
community game nights,
and "Jackbox" has
come out, right?
Listen, even if you try
real hard to suppress
all the naughty things,
people will find a way
around them, all right?
They do.
So, I’m really glad
they’re leaning into this.
I think it’s gonna
be really fun.
I really enjoy "Jackbox"
because it’s really open
to like, anyone to play.
It’s so great.
There’s so many different games,
and they’re also
really cheap too.
Like, you can always get
bundles for their games
and it’s such a fun party game.
I’m really excited.
I do not think I was gonna see
another "Jackbox"
party game coming out.
I’m, legit, it was
never, for some reason,
it never crossed my mind
that they could put
out another one.
So, really happy there.
– I think this
will be hilarious.
I think it’ll be great.
I’m looking forward
to breaking it out
at dinner parties and
adult friend nights.
– But I do wanna…
– White Wednesdays.
– I do wanna make a request.
If Microsoft is listening
to this, watching this,
can we get a return for "Scene
It?" the movie trivia game
that had the special
buzzer controllers.
That, you know, no
disrespect to "Jackbox",
it’s earned its success.
But I do, watching this trailer
did make me think about
and miss "Scene It?"
Back when I worked at
official Xbox Magazine,
we always had a ton of
fun with those games.
I’ll shout out to my
friend Dan Amrich,
who’s a huge game show nerd.
He love those games.
The fact there was an official
like, first party Xbox buzzer
controller was just so good.
And we need that
back in our lives.
So Microsoft-
– Could you imagine if somebody
made a, like a "Scene It?"
But it was called "Play It"
and it was just
video game trivia?
– Ooh.
– Yeah, let’s do it.
– Go.
– Hit me up, Phil, I got ideas.
– Let’s do it.
All right, let’s go next
to, actually, you know what?
I’m gonna say, we’ve
got another break
coming up in two minutes.
So I wanna talk about "33
Immortals" for that time
before we have to throw
to another quick break
and take another pause.
So, I’ll just hog the
stage here for a second.
Only to say that I had
the chance with Destin,
who unfortunately
couldn’t be here today,
’cause he is sick as a dog.
We wish him a speedy recovery.
Hopefully, he’s feeling better.
"33 Immortals" is a
game that Destin and I
got to play together
with the developers
after the Xbox
Showcase last year.
So this has been in
the works for a while
and it played great a year ago,
or you know, almost a year ago.
And then they’re
still, you know,
they’re putting the final
polish touches on it.
The closed beta is
launching very soon,
one month, less than
one month, May 24th.
Launching in the
"Game Pass" as well.
And it is just a really
compelling co-op game.
Like the third, you might
think, "Oh, well, 33,
that can’t possibly work."
That’s just gotta
be a chaotic mess.
No, it actually works in my
experience where, you know,
you are, there are
cool mechanics,
which you see a lot
of in the trailer too.
My monitor is over here,
so if I’m pointing
over there, that’s why.
There are these co-op mechanics
where it’ll just give you
these visual clues of,
"Hey, one person’s
gonna use their,"
I forget what it’s actually
called, but a super, like,
just everybody else stand over
here to help out with this.
And you see here they’re
fighting Lucifer here,
the boss that’s shown off.
And I just had, like, I came
into this game thinking,
"All right, I’ll sit
down and play it.
I don’t know anything about
it, and we’ll check it out."
And I walked away
really impressed
by the way that it organically
and very naturally encourages
co-op play in this.
So, Stella, when you
watched this trailer,
what were your thoughts on
"33 Immortal" immortals party?
– Oh, I thought it was
just gonna be chaos.
So I’m a little
disappointed it’s not.
But you know, as someone
who is a newfound enjoyer
of Diablo-like games, I
am all for trying this.
I think it’d be
really fun to see
just how many people
you can get in.
Because, you know, listen,
I don’t know if I
know 33 friends.
It’s like, how am
I gonna have like,
a whole lot of your
friends, you know?
So I’m very curious to
see what the community
is gonna be like
when this comes out.
So I’m curious.
I don’t know if I’m gonna
be good at this game,
but if you’ll have me, I will
try my best to play support.
‘Cause I love playing support
in these kinds of games.
– Well, third if yes.
And the good part is it’s
going right into "Game Pass."
So if you need help with the
upping that friend account,
they’ll have a built-in
audience thanks to "Game Pass."
All right, we’ll talk
more "33 Immortals"
and so many other games
here in just a second.
We’ll be right back with more
on "Podcast Unlocked" here
immediately following
all of our reactions
to the ID@Xbox Showcase
presented by us, IGN.
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– Welcome back to
"Podcast Unlocked."
We are reacting to the ID at
Xbox Showcase presented by IGN
that you just watched
along with us here.
We’re halfway into
our reactions episode.
We’ve covered a
few different games
that really jumped out
to us the most so far.
We just got done talking
about "33 Immortals,"
so you know what, I’m gonna
throw to you next here, Taylor,
I’m gonna give you
dealer’s choice,
what game out of, like we
were talking about earlier,
there’s easily like at least
a dozen and a half games,
if not way more than that.
Lots to choose from,
what do you wanna talk about
next from this showcase?
– I wanna talk about
"Stampede: Racing Royale."
– Let’s do it.
– Yeah.
I mean, what was it,
60 player kart racer?
That just sounds so chaotic.
Like, we’re talking about,
do we have like 32 friends
who would play with us.
I was like, do I know 59
people that are gonna race me?
I was looking at it and
it was very colorful.
I don’t know, like, I
know the first thing
that comes to mind
in terms of like art style
and all that is "Mario Kart"
but I don’t know why.
When I was watching the stream,
I kept thinking about "Crash
Nitro Cart" for some reason
and I can’t put
my finger on why.
I don’t know if it was just
like the, I don’t know,
but can somebody help
me figure that out?
But it’s giving
"Mario Kart" vibes,
it’s giving kind of like chaos
that I remember from
playing "Crash Nitro Cart."
I like the power ups,
they also kind of give
me "Mario Kart" vibes.
But it’s just such a
colorful kart racer.
I don’t know, we
don’t have a lot of
like, consistently
good kart racers
that aren’t just "Mario Kart."
I mean, I’m trying to think,
like the last one I really
enjoyed was the Sonic one,
I can’t remember
the official name,
I think it was like
"Team Sonic Racing."
And that was like
the last good one
that I really enjoyed that
wasn’t a "Mario Kart" game.
So I’m excited to play this.
I like that it’s kind
of like a battle royal.
I’m not the biggest fan
of the battle royal genre,
I mean, I like
"Fortnite" occasionally,
I’ll play "PUBG"
every now and then,
but like a racing
battle royal type,
that sounds interesting to me.
And just having
that many players,
like people just racing
on the track at a time.
Like 60 players, that’s a lot.
Just imagine how much
chaos you’re gonna cause
just from those power ups alone.
– I agree with you on like,
battle royale and
racing actually,
especially arcade
racing like this,
seems like a really
good fit, honestly.
I think that that
could work super well.
And while, I will say, while
I definitely agree with you
that it clearly gives off
Mario Kart vibes
from the gameplay,
like there’s power ups,
it’s, you know, there’s
accelerator pads on the track
and stuff like that.
For me, the art style actually
gave me like Funko Pop vibes.
That’s kind of,
that’s kind of where
I landed with it.
I mean, it’s not
exactly that obviously,
but that’s sort of
what came to mind
when I was thinking
about this one.
But I’m with you, yeah, I think
this could be a really fun,
just like log on with a bunch
of friends, however many,
whether it’s 59
friends or five friends
and you’re just out there.
Maybe you work together
in a little secret club
to just take out everybody else
before you then turn
on each other, but.
You’re absolutely
right about Xbox
not having necessarily a ton
of great kart racers like this.
So yeah, this is a good pick.
Stella, what were your thoughts
on "Stampede: Racing Royale?"
– Yeah, I’m not usually
into racing games,
even if it’s something
cute like this.
I’m terrible at "Mario Kart,"
so anytime there’s a party
I heavily avoid it. (laughs)
But I love the
customization on the karts
that you can see like
there’s the cookie,
chocolate chip cookie
wheels, which is really cute.
I think that the customization
is great in this,
which is probably
why you’re like,
"Oh, it looks like Funko Pops,"
’cause you can make
them however you want.
I do love the colors.
It kind of reminds
me of the way that
"Fall Guys" is a battle
royale, you know?
It’s technically
a battle royale,
but like, you have
to go through stages
and especially seeing this
like elimination screen,
I’m like, dude,
that’s kind of fun.
It makes you feel like
you’re in this game show
and you’re trying to climb
your way up to the top
and everything is really
arcadey and super cute.
And I think it’s
really nice that Xbox
seems to be getting more
of these higher party games
and we just wanna
play multiplayer
and you know,
like, I don’t know,
this seems so cute and so fun.
It seems like, you
know, you can take it
as competitively as you want.
I do really love that like
game show elimination
style of this.
And I think that’s the
one compelling reason
why I would probably play this
as opposed to like
playing "Mario Kart."
– That’s, yeah, I mean, look,
if we can’t get "Crash
Nitro Cart" on Game Pass.
I would love to have "Stampede:
Racing Royal" on here.
And the more we keep
watching this trailer,
the more I’m like, yes,
I’m getting that Fall
Guys-ey vibe too,
which like, I gotta go
back and play "Fall Guys."
Thanks, Stella, I’m gonna
go back and play that.
– It’s so fun, yeah.
– I’m gonna use my platform
here on "Podcast Unlocked" on
IGN, just like last segment,
where I called for
a new scenic game
with the game show controllers.
If Microsoft is now welcoming,
if it wants more
battle royale type
larger multiplayer games,
there is one, the original
Xbox battle royale game
that everyone
wants to see again,
which is "1 Versus 100," right?
The original battle royale?
If you think about it, which
I never did until just now.
I was like, well, wait a second,
you’re narrowing down to one.
So, anyway, Phil Spencer,
buddy, pal, friend, guy,
"1 Versus 100," we need it.
But in the meantime,
this looked really good,
Stampede looks super
fun and just like,
as somebody that’s
played a million racing,
and even just arcadey
kart racing games
throughout the
course of my life,
just seeing this insane
number of karts on the track
is pretty cool in and of itself,
especially when they’re all
real players and not just AI.
So I do think the Stampede
folks might have something here.
They’re definitely onto to
something a little bit unique.
Lemme go now to a game
that Stella had called out
in our pre-show meeting here
when we were just all
sitting there watching this
waiting to come on the air.
And that’s a game
we’ve seen before,
but it’s definitely,
I would argue
probably one of the
higher profile games
out of the list today.
Stella, talk to us about
what you thought of
"Dungeons of Hinterberg."
– Yeah, I’m really glad
we got to see more of it
because the last time I saw
it was at Gamescom last year,
and that’s actually where
I did the dev interview,
which was really cool.
And that was actually
the first time
that I’d heard of
this game, right?
And I looked at
it, I immediately,
the art style is
what stood out to me.
I thought it was gorgeous.
So it’s really interesting,
I actually talked to them
specifically about this.
So the story beat is that we’re
following this law student
who is just
incredibly burned out.
So, you know what she
does to try to get
a sense of peace back?
She decides to go and hunt
and become a monster
hunter in the dungeons.
So I loved that idea so much
because I was like,
I mean, come on,
we’ve all experienced
burnout, we’ve all wished
that we could do something else
as a career every so often,
but this is like the
extreme end of that
and the fact that it’s
also like a puzzle thing
for each of these dungeons
and the art style is so cute.
I am so excited for this
and I love being able to see
actual gameplay for
inside the dungeons,
some of the puzzles that
you might come across.
This gelatinous cube
is so weird though
because I play D&D
so for me I’m like,
oh, it’s just gonna kill
you if you step on it,
but it doesn’t.
So yeah, I’m really excited.
It’s so cute, it is beautiful.
When I talked to the
developers last year,
they were so excited for
people to try things out.
They were really, this is
so weird to be happy about
but they were like,
yeah, we’re so happy
that you connected to the
main character with burnout.
I’m like, yeah, I
mean, I wish we didn’t,
but you know, it’s awesome.
I think it does speak to people.
I think we’ve all probably
been curious about,
well, you know, I wish
I didn’t have to work
nine to five to earn
my food and stuff.
What if I could just
go hunt it, you know?
So I think that feeds
that feeling for me
and yeah, I’m really
glad we’re getting more
of a look at what exactly
gameplay looks like.
– Taylor, your thoughts on
"Dungeons of Hinterberg,"
which is dropping
onto Game Pass,
so no excuse everybody can
go try it out on July 15th.
– So the first thing that
really just came to mind was,
it looks like a comic book.
I love the art style, I love
how vibrant and colorful it is.
You know, I really
like, you know,
I feel like we’re getting
a lot of like
photorealistic games,
which there’s nothing
wrong with that,
I will play those
games till I die.
But every now and then it’s
good to have something that has,
you know, an art style that
feels kind of comic booky
or does like a cell
shaded graphic,
like "Bomb Rush Cyberfunk."
So it was really great
to see kind of more
of just all the
different like seasons
and different environments
that you’ll get to
venture off into.
I like that we
saw more gameplay.
I like the main
character’s design,
and I like how it kind of
just is like a stark contrast
to like all these monsters
that she’s fighting.
But also isn’t, it’s so
weird how it looks the same
but also doesn’t.
But I think they got something
good on their hands here
and I hope that everybody
who has Game Pass, like me,
will go out here and try it
because I think this looks
like a really chill game,
but also like very
like, oh yeah,
this is gonna have me
on the edge of my seat
trying to kill this monster
for the 30 billionth time.
– Well, it’s funny
you mentioned chill
’cause what we only get a
little bit of in this trailer,
we had it up there a minute ago,
but when I got, so I
also got to see this game
right after showcase
last year, so last June.
And we got to see a nice
chunk of the town portion
when you’re like, when you go
and you accept the missions,
when you’re just like
wandering around the town
and you go into the
pub, the tavern.
There we go, there’s a
little bit of it here
with some dialogue options.
And like, the way those two,
the way that and the actual
dungeon crawling
part of the game,
I thought they really
complimented each
other really well
from the demo that I had gotten.
And now again, seeing
it almost a year later,
and so this is another one
that’s just seemingly gotten
a ton of polish ’cause
it looked great last June
and now here we are in
April and it’s still not out
for another two
months until July.
And it’s just looking great.
So yeah, this just has
a very unique vibe,
you know, certainly the art
style is a part of that.
I think you were both spot on
with the sort of
comic book comparison
with the, you know, kind
of the pencil or pen,
the ink outlines on everything,
which is pretty cool.
So yeah, there’s a little
bit more of the dungeon bits,
or excuse me, of the town bits.
But yeah, this looks
great and you know,
we complain, and I use complain
in air quotes because really
there’s never a shortage
of video games to play,
but we sometimes complain about
the lack of cool new
games in the summertime.
One of the takeaways for me
from this entire showcase,
of which "Dungeons
of Hinterberg" is
a good example, is
there’s gonna be a lot of fun
stuff out this summer on Xbox.
So there will be no shortage
of cool stuff to play,
even in the summertime,
which is, you know,
normally a time, maybe the AAA
like mega blockbuster games
aren’t necessarily gonna be
shipping in the month of July
when a lot of people
are on vacation,
on holiday, what have you.
But I just thought this is now,
honestly, this might be the,
maybe the last time we see
"Dungeons of Hinterberg,"
maybe it’ll make
a quick appearance
in the June Xbox showcase
since it’ll be shipping like
a month later at that point.
But we’ve kind of, I think
I’ve definitely seen enough
to say I’m super excited
to play this game
in just a couple months time.
And yeah, it was definitely
one of the standouts today
at this ID at Xbox Showcase,
which we are still reacting to.
There’s still plenty more
video games to talk about.
So we’re gonna take
one more break here
and we’ll come back with
more reactions, analysis,
and just good old fashioned
video game chatter
about the ID at Xbox Showcase.
Stay with us, we’ll
be right back.
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(whooshing)
– Welcome back to
Podcast Unlocked.
We are rolling through,
talking about all the
cool games we just saw
in the ID@Xbox Showcase
presented by IGN.
Hope you enjoyed it and
I hope you’re enjoying
this live episode
of Unlocked as well.
We’re not gonna have time
to talk about anywhere
close to all the games
that were in the showcase,
A ’cause there are just
way too many of ’em,
and B ’cause there are
way too many cool ones
that we want to talk about.
So we’re picking and
choosing our favorites here.
And I wanna throw to Stella here
because Stella, I
know you mentioned
as we were watching this update
to "Vampire Survivors"
jumped out at you.
Please tell us more.
– [Stella] Yeah, it’s so funny
because the last time last
year, they updated the game
so that you could play co-op
with up to four people,
which is, I don’t recommend it.
It is chaotic, it’s so
hard to actually coordinate
because listen,
it’s about survival,
but like, people are so bad
at listening to each other.
So I’m really excited.
I am so glad that this game
continues to get updates
because it is such a good game.
I seriously love playing this.
I hate like it’s even on
your phone if you wanna play,
and it plays really
well there too.
I am so excited because
here’s the thing,
once you start playing
this game, you can’t stop,
and you just want more, you
want more challenges to unlock.
You want more
characters to unlock.
You want more weapons
and more upgrades
because if you play
and you get addicted
to it as anyone should,
you’ll find that
you will probably
get up to all those challenges,
unlock all the abilities and
power ups pretty quickly.
So I love that they are
constantly updating this.
Also, this crossover
is super interesting,
Taylor, I know you
haven’t played yet,
but you said that you were
super excited about this
specifically because of this.
– [Taylor] Yes.
When I saw the "Contra",
I was like, "What?"
I was like, "Huh?"
I was like, "I mean
that’s a choice,
but I’m not mad about it."
I really enjoy kind of
like run and gun shooters.
So "Metal Slug" and
especially "Contra."
I think the last one I
played that I really enjoyed
was "Blazing Chrome."
That came out a few years ago.
So when I saw
"Vampire Survivors"
is gonna get this "Contra" DLC
just watching it in action,
I’m just, I was like,
"Oh, oh, I’m hooked."
I was like, "Man, this is
the thing that’s gonna get me
to play ‘Vampire Survivors.’
Okay, I’m not mad
about it. Play it."
I needed to try it anyways,
so this was like the thing
that was gonna push
me off the cliff.
– Shout out to Konami for
doing some fun, smart,
and dare we say, maybe
even a little risky.
Like, not that
the games are bad,
they’re partnering
with good games,
but you know, it’s always a
little risky to cross over
one of your 35 year
franchises with anything else.
But, you know, they also have
the "Castlevania" crossover
with "Dead Cells," right?
So there’s just, it’s cool to
see this "Contra" crossover.
Like this is, they did the
classic thing, first of all,
the trailer was a clearly like,
tongue in cheek jokey trailer.
They called it a
quadruple A update.
They called out
the train action,
the train gameplay.
And it’s, and then you
think that, "Oh, okay,
well that’s it,
that’s the update."
And then the trailer,
in fact isn’t over
and it goes into
the animated stuff,
with the "Operation Guns"
"Contra" DLC, it’s out May 9th.
So, which will also
feature Brad Fang
from "Contra: Hard Corps."
And I confess, I have not
played "Vampire Survivors" yet.
So apparently Stella, I’m just,
I’m waiting to be addicted
as soon as I do play it.
– Yes, it’s okay,
so here’s the thing.
I know it’s only
$5, which is crazy
and I like, it’s so good.
I highly recommend it.
Ryan, I think you
would love this.
I wasn’t even into
these types of games
because I always thought
I’d be overwhelmed
by the amount of different
builds you can do.
But I realized that’s
kind of the best part
of this controlled chaos, right?
So you’re getting all these
different types of maps.
I think this is a
really good time for you
to jump in when this comes out
because I think maybe you’ll
feel a little bit more familiar
with like the run and
gun thing, like Taylor.
I am so excited to see
how that’s gonna work
because my favorite guy, like,
I mean there’s even a dog
who like poops flowers
and stuff in this game, like
as an attack, which is great.
So it’s just, I love that
it fully embraces the chaos
and I’m like, I’m so shocked
that you haven’t played this.
This is totally
something up your alley.
– [Ryan] Well, since you are,
I would say you are
probably the most
just technically skilled
video game player at IGN.
So you said don’t play it in
four player ’cause it’s chaos.
But if you and I play
it two player co-op,
will that work?
– [Stella] Yes, I will
absolutely do that.
– [Ryan] You can carry me.
– [Stella] Yes, but then also,
only if we can get
the entire panel
with Dustin whenever
he is feeling better
and Taylor in to play
Jackbox party games,
you know?
– [Taylor] I’m down,
yeah, let’s do it.
– [Stella] Yeah, exactly.
– Easy yes to that. Yeah,
that’s a deal right there.
Let’s see. So we’ve
got a few more minutes.
I just wanted to go through,
I wanna call out
just a few things,
and if either one of
you has has thoughts,
just throw ’em out.
"Commandos: Origins" was from
earlier on in the showcase.
This I liked and the
reason that I liked it,
not because it’s a
World War II setting,
because while I would say that
the World War II game fatigue
has probably worn off
because publishers
and developers
finally took a break from them.
I like this game because
it’s got stealth elements.
It appears to be a game
that you can absolutely just
stealth your way through
and have a good time.
As you can see top-down
perspective here,
which definitely calls
back to my youth of playing
like top-down games like this.
You’re not, you know, you
see you’re knifing dudes
in the throat from behind them.
You’re setting traps. We saw
you’re sniping them from afar.
You’re doing the
army crawl, you know,
you’re dressed up,
you’re wearing camo.
So closed beta for this
thing again in the summer.
So if you need stuff to play
over the course of the summer,
this is gonna be out there
and it’s gonna be day one
on Game Pass for everything,
for console, for on
your Xbox console, PC,
and also you can jump in
and play it through
the cloud as well.
So this one jumped out at me.
I like the idea of
where this game is going
and I hope it plays as fun
as it looks, personally.
– Yeah, it’s surprisingly
brutal for a top down game.
I was not expecting that.
And I really love the way
that the sniper
reticle comes up.
So in terms of you
like interacting
with things in the world,
I was very surprised by that.
It’s such a small detail,
but it makes it feel a
little bit more like,
"Oh, I’m actually sniping this."
That makes sense. I
really liked that.
– Let’s go, we’ve got, let’s,
we can probably crowbar in
a couple more games here
to say a few things about,
I’m gonna go to one
that I believe Stella,
you had flagged because
it has cats in it.
And that is "Times & Galaxy."
We want to take another
look at "Times & Galaxy."
It showed us, they gave us an
animated trailer sci-fi game.
You can ask different questions
of, you know, in this one.
And it seems to be like
a build a story kind of.
That was the takeaway
that I got from it.
And I mean, I will admit,
I’m not quite sure exactly
what this game is yet after
watching this trailer.
And I don’t know if that’s
a good thing or a bad thing,
but it’s definitely colorful
and it looks like
that you get points
or you get rewarded for
building a cool story
with certain ingredients in it.
Stella, did you take any
of that away from this?
Am I completely off?
Like what did you gather
from this very interesting,
very unique trailer?
– [Stella] I think
you’re on, okay, here,
I think your guess
is as good as mine
because I have no idea.
All I know is that I saw like
the mech space cat and I
was like, "Yep, I’m in."
So I think it’s interesting.
I think so they
mentioned journalists.
I think maybe we’re
supposed to go
and discover interesting
things happening
throughout the universe
or throughout the galaxy
and maybe we’re supposed to
pull cool stories out of that.
Oh my God. And there’s romance.
I just realized that said
"You could clean
my bunk anytime."
Ew.
Think it’s, I guess
it is kind of like
a choose your own
adventure thing
with very interesting
creatures, space travel,
which is always a
plus in my book.
Yeah, it seems like it has
a bit of everything so far,
but that’s just,
okay, thank you Tayo.
Going back to the romance scene.
Yeah, I have no idea.
I think it looks fun.
It looks like it’s
almost giving me like
"Rick and Morty,"
"Solar Opposites" vibes
with the way the humor
seems to be written.
So yeah, I don’t
know, I’m interested.
– June, we just saw it
right there, June, 2024.
So just another thing to
play in the summertime.
Let’s do one more game
and I’ll throw to Taylor
for initial reactions to this.
‘Cause this one,
I had some weird stuff
in my notes on this too,
is first of all the
name of the game,
it might win the achievement
for this showcase
of having the most
compelling name.
Like just if we just put
these names on a spreadsheet,
like which one of
these jumps out at you,
and the game is "All
You Need is Help."
That’s the name of the game,
"All You Need is Help."
And I have in my notes
"WTF am I watching?"
But it looks, so
by the looks of it,
which we’ll have the
trailer up here again
for you in a second,
if this one’s not
jumping out at you
from the showcase
that we just watched.
So it’s, it looks like you
have to combine like a bunch
of weird sort of Tetrissy shapes
into whatever the
level requires.
And it’s a four player
game, super colorful.
They’re like anthropomorphic,
like that one in the bottom
looks very freaked out.
But there’s, this looks
like it was perhaps made
with some herbal influences
while, and I mean that-
– [Stella] Oh, absolutely.
– [Ryan] But this just
seems super interesting.
Taylor, your thoughts on
"All You Need is Help."
– Yeah, well when it came
on stream, I was like,
"What in the ‘Yoshi’s
Wooly World’ is this?"
They got these Tetris
blocks just waltzing around,
got these goofy
goober looking faces.
It’s, you’re just
solving like puzzles.
You, oh, you could put little
hats and glasses
on and that’s cute.
But I’m just, I was
just so confused by,
I don’t hate this.
I don’t know. I will
play a weird game.
I’ve played some
very weird things.
But this, I think
this might top it
as like, "Oh, this might be the
weirdest thing I’ll ever play."
And you know, this
is, I could think
of maybe five other
things that come to mind,
but I don’t know why
"Katamari Damacy"
is like the first thing that is-
– Oh, yeah.
– That’s a good call.
– [Taylor] Yeah.
But I was like, yeah,
but this is just weird.
I’m just… I just…
Like, it’s just,
and then the ball, what’s
that, rubber band ball,
It’s got this goofy
face it’s just making.
And the fake Tetris thing
just had a little look
of distress for
like two seconds.
Got a little
mustache on his face.
Now what is going on?
Soccer balls? Why are
there soccer balls?
Why are there so many?
– [Ryan] Stell, I’ll give
you the last word here
on "All You Need is Help."
– Oh my God, I love this.
Also you can, so there
is that machine there,
like the piece can blow
the other pieces away.
So I’m assuming
there’s something
that lets you suck the
other pieces to you
so you can fill out the puzzle.
It’s like, I definitely think
some herbs were involved
and I’m pretty sure this is
best enjoyed with said herbs,
but I am so excited, this
looks like the dumb co-op game
that I need because this is
just, it’s just look at that,
it looks so stupid
and I love it.
Like they’re so cute,
they’re so squishy
and you kind of need to
cooperate with your team.
But also it seems like you
know what happens with any
sort of co-op game like this,
they’re not gonna cooperate.
They’re gonna make
it harder for you.
So I love it. I think
it’s gonna be so cute.
– And again, Game Pass,
no excuse not to try it.
Coming to Game Pass this
fall. Well, there you go.
That was, I don’t know how
many games we just highlighted
there out of the dozens,
the literal dozens
that were in that showcase.
But those were our favorites.
Hit us with your favorite
standout games from the showcase
in the comments below,
wherever you’re watching us,
whether it’s on IGN or on
YouTube or anywhere else,
but this has been
Podcast Unlocked.
I want to thank both
Taylor and Stella,
as well as our
super producer Tayo
for making this episode possible
here, right on the heels
of this ID@Xbox Showcase.
And thanks to all
the great developers
who gave us all these
awesome trailers
so that we could put
together an ID@Xbox Showcase
here at IGN.
So with that, my
name’s Ryan McCaffrey.
We shall return with your
another regular old episode
of Podcast Unlocked next week.
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reveal one of the movies.
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felt like I rushed you.
– No, it’s good, I liked it.
– [Clint] Talk about
why it belongs,
and finally find
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– Are any of the movies we’ve
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Join us as we find out
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Mondays starting July 3rd.
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IGN is partnering with ID@Xbox to exclusively present the next ID@Xbox Showcase, which promises to feature some of the most exciting upcoming indie games from around the world, including Vampire Survivors, Dungeons of Hinterberg, 33 Immortals, Lost Records Bloom & Rage, and more.
This next ID@Xbox Showcase will premiere on Monday, April 29, 2024, at 10am PT/1pm ET/6pm BST. In addition to being packed full of trailers, gameplay, reveals, and much more, the crew of IGN’s Podcast Unlocked will be breaking down all the biggest moments revealed in the post-show, immediately following the main show.
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