Marcus Stewart

Some may look at an early clip of Kingmakers and think they already know what to expect: tactical battles in which you command medieval armies across sweeping battlefields. And that’s partially true. But this new title by Redemption Road Games features an unexpected and absolutely absurd twist.

Today's Nintendo Indie World features 20 minutes of new indie game reveals and updates to anticipated titles. If you missed the event, we've gathered each announcement here for a cursory glance at what showed up. 

Nier Reincarnation, the story-driven mobile RPG set in the popular Nier universe, will have its services ended this April. While the game will continue to receive support until then, its final story campaign will serve as its last big hurrah. 

The bar for the fighting game genre has been uppercut to astronomical heights in recent years. Exceptional one-on-one combat remains the primary bullet point, but other series have complimented their packages with robust suites of destinations, from cinematic story campaigns to comprehensive training dojos. Although Tekken 8’s fighting remains a treat thanks to some neat tweaks to its strong formula, the rest of the package, while respectable, falls short of some of its contemporaries.

Square Enix has partnered with Fathom Events and Sony Pictures to bring the director's cut of Final Fantasy VII Advent Children to theaters for the first time. Premiering ahead of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s launch on February 29, the theatrical sequel to the original Final Fantasy VII will get its first run in U.S. theaters for just two days. 

With Wrestlemania 40 on the horizon, WWE 2K24 appropriately celebrates the milestone by highlighting four decades of the grandest stage of them all. The «American Nightmare» Cody Rhodes graces the cover of this year’s installment. Additionally, Bianca Belair and current Women’s World Champion Rhea Ripley share the Deluxe Edition cover, making them the first women to receive a dedicated cover. 

After years of excitement and skeptism, the Pokémon-like survival game Palworld is now available in early access. The game drops player into a collection of tropical islands inhabited by monsters called Pals that you can catch as your own. Pals can be used in battle or put to work, building structures and mining resources. You can also mow them down with guns. Yes, this game features realistic guns. It's a very strange but, thus far, entertaining experience.

Street Fighter 6 is getting its next DLC fighter next month, and the he psycho-powered boxer Ed is next in line. 

Machine Games’ Indiana Jones game received an official name and got its first gameplay showing during today’s Xbox Developer Direct. We also learned that it’s launching later this year. EW.com also confirmed that though Harrison Ford's likeness will appear in the game, he will be performed by Troy Baker (The Last of Us, Bioshock Infinite).

Another Code: Recollection is perhaps the best kind of remake. It takes two well-liked yet obscure graphic puzzle adventures in 2005's Trace Memory for DS, and 2009's Another Code: R — Journey Into Lost Memories for Wii (which never launched in the U.S.) and gives them a graphical and mechanical overhaul to make them readily available to a new audience.

Bethesda has announced The Elder Scrolls: Castles, a new mobile experience from the team behind Fallout Shelter.

The 2022 World War II horror game Martha is Dead is the latest video game getting a film adaptation. The game’s Italian developer LKA, is partnering with production company Studios Extraordinares to bring the psychological adventure to the big screen.

Diablo IV’s third seasonal event, Season of the Construct, has been revealed and kicks off next week. This time, players will journey beneath Kehjistan to battle demonically corrupted machines.

Developer 11 Bit Studio has unveiled the first full look at Frostpunk 2 gameplay. First announced in August 2021, the sequel to the bleak yet popular city-builder is also coming to Xbox and PC Game Pass.

In February 2022, former designers from CD Projekt Red announced the formation of a new studio called Rebel Wolves. The team revealed its first project would be, unsurprisingly, an RPG, and today, we learned a couple more details about the game, including its title.

Bandai Namco has released Tekken 8’s opening cinematic to whet fans' appetite for the game as its release date draws ever closer. The publisher also confirmed that long-time favorite Eddy Gordo will kick off the roster of Season 1 DLC fighters.

RoboCop: Rogue City is likely the best game the action hero has ever starred in. That bar isn’t tough to hurdle, but the adventure delivers plenty of thrills for fans to be excited about. This narrative-driven first-person shooter has a loving reverence for the films and a good understanding of its protagonist, swinging for the fences with a lengthy original story, fun references, and plenty of enjoyably cheesy humor. Unfortunately, like the franchise’s vision of Detroit, Rogue City is very rough around the edges, resulting in a flawed hero but one that’s ultimately entertaining to patrol with. 

Sand Land, the video game adaptation of Dragon Ball creator Akira Toriyama’s manga of the same name, has a release date and a new trailer setting up the story.

Jusant asks players to do one thing: climb. As a silent mountaineer accompanied by a cute critter, the only thing standing between you and your mysterious mission is one very tall mountain. The journey to its summit is treacherous, but thanks to an ingenious climbing system, beautiful art direction, and intriguing world-building, inching toward the top is worth the effort. 

A Rōnin is a samurai without a master. Unshackled from bonds, these wandering swordsmen are free to carve their own path, and that freedom forms the foundation of Rise of the Ronin. The adventure is Wo Long: Fallen Dynasty and Nioh developer Team Ninja’s first choice-driven, open-world action game. We recently got another peek at the title during The Game Awards, and we spoke to the game’s lead designers to get some insight and context as to what the adventure entails. 

The Talos Principle II often left me staring at my screen in awe. Sometimes, from sheer intimidation in the face of a seemingly formidable puzzle. Other times,  from my incredulous pride after unraveling said problem. But most of all, the experience regularly gave me pause as I pondered a philosophical idea or argument that challenged my viewpoints on the nature of existence and humanity’s place in the cosmos. These moments spurred me to solve the game’s 100+ puzzles in search of answers, and I’m largely satisfied with what I discovered. 

Happy New Year! Now that 2024 is here, it’s time to push it the hell out of the way and look ahead to 2025. At least, that’s what it feels like the game industry is increasingly saying I should do. A number of recently revealed titles have been slapped with 2025 release windows, so I can’t help but wonder how next year will shape up and, most importantly, what the awards seasons will look like.  

Scaring players has helped put the small team at Red Candle Games on the map. Its first two titles, Detention and Devotion, impressed and terrified fans with frighteningly strong horror chops, but the team is leaving that behind to tackle something completely different in Nine Sols. This side-scrolling action platformer blends sci-fi with Chinese mythology and is Red Candle’s most ambitious project yet. This significant step forward affords an opportunity to look back on the studio’s young history, so we spoke with co-founder Vincent Yang to learn about how a small band of gamers in Taiwan formed one of the industry’s most promising – and, at one time, controversial – indie studios.

Join Wesley LeBlanc, Marcus Stewart, and Kyle Hilliard as we discuss The Crew Motorfest, Ubisoft's upcoming threequel in its open-world racing series that began back in 2014 with The Crew. Wesley played roughly four hours of the game in a hands-on remote preview to learn more about its open world Oahu, Hawaii, various vehicles, racing playlists, Main Stage mode, and more.