Action News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

Final Fantasy 16 players are aghast as the action RPG's new chapter features what can only be described as 'dummy thicc Tonberries.'

First days on the job are always hard to deal with, but Nowa is absolutely thrown in the deep end at the start of Eiyuden Chronicles: Hundred Heroes. Our hero is drafted into a joint military operation between their nation and the Empire, but before too long they’re raising an army for the resistance against imperial invasion. Along the way you’ll meet and recruit more than one hundred heroes (hence the name) to bolster said army.

Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer SHIFT UP have released the second chapter in its developer diary series “The Journey” for action adventure game Stellar Blade.

FX’s Shōgun is the best show of the year by some margin. The impeccably crafted period piece builds out complex and memorable characters and an impressive portrait of Japan at the turn of the 17th century, and every decision — down to the smallest details — reflects the clear artistic intent and spirit of collaboration behind the series.

The release date for HoYoverse's upcoming action role-playing game, Zenless Zone Zero, has seemingly leaked.

We review Apiary, a worker placement board game published by Stonemaier Games. In Apiary, players are using familiar mechanisms to try and score the most points.

Developer Moon Studios has rolled out the biggest No Rest for the Wicked patch to date, packing improvements to visuals, performance, loot, and much more.

Lightfox Games and Mad Mushroom have teamed up to bring gamers a new physics-based brawler called Rumble Club. It’s a quirky game with ultimate clumsy battles. It’s free to play and offers in-app purchases to snag some special passes and gems.

The release date for Genshin Impact maker HoYoverse’s upcoming urban role-playing game, Zenless Zone Zero, might have leaked before its official announcement. The action RPG’s soft “coming soon in 2024” placeholder text may actually mean this summer.

If you are a fan of Starship Troopers the movie, you’ll really love Helldivers 2. It takes that hyper-militarized world and the excellent satire and completely immerses you in it, providing for a thrilling and absolutely hilarious experience overall. It’s also been a massive hit, and it often has well over 100,000 concurrent players at any given moment, even though it’s a couple of months past its launch date. As such, if you want to dive into the fun, then you can grab the game for much for 15% off at CDKeys, which brings it down to $34 from $40.

An executive of Electronic Arts Japan has criticised the Japanese video game ratings board for allowing upcoming action game Stellar Blade to be released uncensored while EA's own Dead Space was banned in the country.

Hollywood has really begun flexing its video game adaptation muscle in the wake of the spectacular success of the FalloutTV show and The Super Mario Bros. Movie. Even indie publishers are getting some of those sweet, sweet development contracts. Case in point? The hit third-person shooter El Paso, Elsewhere is being adapted into a feature length film, as reported by Deadline.

The worst thing Hades 2could do is ruin Hades.

The inclusion of one confusing mechanic could enhance its sequel,. While there have been several updates to, and there's still the possibility for some smaller additions in the future, it has been confirmed that CD Projekt Red has largely shifted work toward the sequel, so rather continue to amend what came before, players can look forward to seeing what features can be improved or built upon going forward.

EA has made Star Wars Jedi: Survivor part of the EA Play subscription in some PlayStation regions.

No Rest for the Wicked - a new action RPG from the studio behind Ori and the Blind Forest - both is and isn't like Dark Souls, according to one developer.

Following the official reveal of Kingdom Come Deliverance 2, IGN was able to speak with Tobias Stolz-Zwilling (Warhorse Studios's PR Manager) to get some extra details about the newly announced action RPG sequel.

Hatsune Miku: The Planet of Wonder and Fragments of Wishes is now available for Xbox One and PC via Steam and Microsoft Store for $27.99, developer Crypton Future Media announced.

Advanced Semiconductor Engineering, or ASE, has reportedly won an exclusive order from Apple to supply two SiPs, or ‘system in a package’ for the upcoming iPhone 16 series. These chips will serve to replace both the volume and power buttons on the upcoming handsets, presenting capacitive buttons that will deliver extra functionality.

Kaiju No. 8, the new sci-fi action anime based on Naoya Matsumoto’s ongoing Shōnen Jump Plus manga, premiered its first episode last Saturday.

Accompanied by strains of vocal-led orchestral music, the Moon Studios title rises into view. For many, this is reason enough to sit up and take notice of No Rest For The Wicked. For the studio behind the sublime Ori series, a visually arresting and emotional pair of platformers, this is the tricky third album: a new IP, a new direction, and a launch into Early Access along with it. Taking a swing at the action RPG genre, there’s echoes of From Software alongside Diablo here, and yet, Moon Studios’ enigmatic outlook shines through. On first impressions alone, there’s nothing to be worried about for fans of the studio – excusing the decadent horrors that lie within.

Furiosa may be one of this year's most hotly anticipated releases, but the wheels started turning on the Mad Max prequel long before even action classic Fury Road roared into cinemas.

Greetings, Polygon readers! Each week, we round up the most notable new releases to streaming and VOD, highlighting the biggest and best new movies for you to watch at home.

Last December’s Rebel Moon Part One: A Child of Firewas a paint-by-numbers space opera filled in with Zack Snyder’s maximalist colors. Pitched as “Seven Samurai but make it Star Wars” (literally, to Lucasfilm), the finished product was at best a violent B-movie mashup and at worst an expensive Asylum-esque mockbuster. Not a great movie, but a little promising? Its most glaring omission: an ending. After two hours of hero Kora (Sofia Boutella) wrangling a crew to defend a farming planet from Imperium forces, the showdown didn’t actually go down; Snyder held on to the payoff for Part Two: The Scargiver.

Kena: Bridge of Spirits, the gorgeous action-adventure from developer Ember Lab, looks to be making the leap to Xbox Series X/S, according to a newly spotted rating on the ESRB website.

Moon Studios may be known for its hit Metroidvania games, but its new action RPG, No Rest for the Wicked, is now available in early access, and former Blizzard president Mike Ybarra believes its "bold direction" is what the genre needs to "stay relevant."

The Indian Computer Emergency Response Team (CERT-In) has issued a critical vulnerability note (CIVN-2024-0129) regarding Microsoft Defender for IoT, a cybersecurity product aimed at safeguarding Internet of Things (IoT) devices. The warning highlights multiple vulnerabilities within the Defender for IoT software, posing a significant risk of remote attacks.

The 2018 medieval action RPG Kingdom Come: Deliverance is getting a follow-up this year that promises to be twice the size of the original game, hinting at a bigger map, more features, and a greater number of quests. While the original courted controversy over depicting a recreation of 15th Century Bohemia devoid of people of color due to 'historical accuracy,' Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2's grander scope means "a wide range of ethnicities."

The latest buzz from Everguild is that they’re dropping some fresh content for Warhammer 40,000: Warpforge. You’ll get to see a new Black Legion warlord named Ghallaron the Pious and a deck of new cards showcasing his die-hard crew. But there’s a twist to it! Want to know more about it? Keep reading our scoop on Warhammer 40K: Warpforge’s New Reinforcement Dark Zealots!

It feels a little odd to say Barbie is back as the iconic doll never really went away. Introduced to the world in 1959, people have been playing with and collecting Barbies ever since. There's no doubting the spotlight Barbie was thrust back into in 2023 thanks to her first live action movie though, and naturally, Mattel has been trying to ride that wave ever since. The latest manifestation of that is a brand new Barbie collection dubbed Mini BarbieLand which has shrunk Barbie, her friends, and the world around her down to a far smaller size.

Chinese developer Parcae’s Fate Studio has released a seven-minute gameplay trailer for open-world action game Unending Dawn, as well as announced it will launch for PlayStation 5 in addition to iOS and Android.

Final Fantasy is a long running series at this point — it's easily one of the most storied franchises in gaming. But when you're up to the sixteenth mainline entry, you must start wondering whether fresh installments still have the power to pull new players in. Indeed, audience growth will be an important metric for the suits upstairs at Square Enix.

Koei Tecmo has fully revealed the second DLC for action RPG Fate/Samurai Remnant, ahead of its release on the 18th April (that's tomorrow at the time of writing). The 'Yagyu Sword Chronicles' features a new storyline that involves a newly introduced warrior spirit, the master swordsman Munenori Yagyu. Protagonist Iori and his faithful servant Saber find themselves tracking down a mystery killer with their new ally's assistance.

The original Tails of Iron was quietly a big success for developer Odd Bug Studio. The action RPG about a kingdom of rats has drawn in a lot of fans thanks to its sketch-like art style, deliberate combat, and explorable world. We suppose the fact it's narrated by Doug Cockle — voice of Geralt in The Witcher series — may have something to do with it too, but whatever the case, the team isn't resting on its laurels for Tails of Iron 2: Whiskers of Winter. After watching the sequel in action in a hands-off preview, it's clear there's plenty here to stop it from growing stail — sorry, stale.

Stellar Blade is just around the corner, with the eagerly-anticipated action game arriving exclusively on PS5 on 26th April. If the wait is proving too much to bear, we've been given a glimpse at some of the game's fearsome Naytiba, which will serve as climactic boss encounters in the game.

Looking for the best character builds in Fallout 4? When it comes to defining your custom character in Fallout 4, you're given a lot of options. You need to consider the rather large perk chart, your equipment, and even your general style of play. Sometimes, it can all become a little confusing, so we've put together nine relatively basic character builds that are easy to develop further using your own ideas. With any luck, these builds will help you hit the ground running when it comes to surviving in the Commonwealth.

The Rising Tide, the second and final expansion for Final Fantasy 16, is set to feature some of the game's most challenging combat scenarios. That's according to DLC director (and a lead combat designer for the base game) Takeo Kujiraoka, who, in an interview with Push Square, told us that the addition of DLC has allowed the development team to push the title's combat system.

Final Fantasy 16 was one of our favourite games of 2023, and so we wanted to find out more about The Rising Tide — the title's second and final expansion — ahead of its release on the 18th April. Fortunately, we were lucky enough to land an interview with Takeo Kujiraoka — the veteran Square Enix dev who's actually the director of Final Fantasy 16's DLC, having previously been a lead combat designer for the base game.

Unlike a lot of recently released blockbusters, Stellar Blade won't be taking up a massive chunk of your PS5's storage space. As per the ever-reliable PlayStation Game Size, the upcoming action title weighs in at a very reasonable 30.4GB, which is obviously a far cry from the 80GB and above downloads that players have gotten used to dealing with over the course of the generation.

A recent analysis has revealed an interesting statistic about a pair of playable demos on PS5. According to Ampere, Stellar Blade's demo, at its peak, had almost twice the number of daily active players compared to the peak for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's demo.

Square Enix has released a new Japan-only trailer for upcoming action RPG Visions of Mana — and it's specifically designed to play on the nostalgia of longtime Mana fans. The video depicts the life of a man who's grown up with the franchise, from grabbing his first Mana title as a kid, to watching the games evolve over the course of entire console generations. Finally, he sees a billboard for Visions of Mana, and the cycle is complete.

Over six years after the first game's release, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is finally official. Czech developer Warhorse Studios has been cooking a sequel in great secret until it's almost ready.

The second wave of closed beta testing for large-scale multiplayer mech action game Mecha BREAK for PC will run from April 26 at 4:00 p.m. PT / 7:00 p.m. ET to April 28 at 10:00 p.m. PT / 1:00 a.m. ET, Seasun Games announced. Users can register here.

The latest issue of V-Jump has revealed that Future Gohan will be playable in Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero and, surprisingly, will only have one arm.

Hey everyone! Senior game producer Adam Massey and lead gameplay engineer Daniel Razza here, subbing in for Aaron this week. We’re going to share some updates on fair play for console players in Overwatch 2 regarding the issue of unapproved peripherals.

Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developer SHIFT UP have released a new music video for Stellar Blade titled “Eve” in collaboration with Korean pop artist BIBI.

The animated origin story of Autobot leader Optimus Prime and his Decepticon rival Megatron will come to the big screen this September in Transformers One, with Chris Hemsworth and Brian Tyree Henry voicing the friends turned enemies. The first trailer for Transformers One sets the tone for the Cybertron-set adventure, with Prime (then known as Orion Pax) and Megatron being pretty chummy in a buddy comedy kind of way.

We love movie recommendations here at Polygon. Whether it’s horror, sci-fi, action, comedy, thrillers, or just the best of the year, we’re always trying to introduce readers to new and exciting movies they’ll love. But now we want to find the perfect movie for you. (That’s you.)

Thinking about Dragon’s Dogma 2’s interestingly scrappy combat recently took me back to another time when a major role-playing game series tried something very different with its combat mechanics. In this case, the designers’ goal was the same as Capcom’s with the first Dragon’s Dogma: a single-player RPG that felt like a massively multiplayer online game to play. But the resulting system couldn’t have been more different, and stands as one of the most fascinating dead ends in game design history.

Anji Games has released a new trailer and screenshots for Silly Polly Beast, its upcoming story-driven action shooter about a girl’s fight for freedom.

The second wave of closed beta testing for large-scale multiplayer mech action game Mecha BREAK for PC will run from April 26 at 3:00 a.m. PT / 6:00 a.m. ET to April 28 at 9:00 a.m. PT / 12:00 p.m. ET, Seasun Games announced. Users can register here.

The latest issue of V-Jump has confirmed that Dragon Ball: Sparking Zero will feature Beerus, Whis, Gohan, Future Gohan, and Videl as playable characters.

Remember the thrill of unboxing a new phone? Over time, the clutter of apps, sluggish performance, and software glitches may have dulled that excitement. But fear not! A factory reset can revive your device, returning it to its original state. Here's a step-by-step guide to help you navigate through the process seamlessly.

In a bid to enhance user experience, WhatsApp is reportedly testing a new feature that allows users to privately mention contacts in their status updates. This upcoming feature aims to facilitate more personalised interactions within the platform.

Publisher One or EIGHT and developer Team EARTH WARS will release physical standard and Deluxe editions of LOST EPIC for PlayStation 5 and Switch on August 8 in Japan, the companies announced.

With The War Within Druids will be able to use their Flight form with Skyriding, the new name of Dragonriding. Check out our preview of the flight form in action. Remember that you're able to toggle between Skyridding and Steady Flight easily in your mount journal.

Gail Simone is returning to Superman for the the next arc of Action Comics. The writer is teaming up with artist Eddy Barrows for 'Superman and the Challenge from the Stars', the third part of DC's year-long Superman Superstars initiative, which pairs the biggest writers and artists up to create distinct three-issue arcs. 

Lionsgate Television announced on Wednesday that the studio is set to produce an English-language television adaptation of Park-chan Wook’s 2003 thriller Oldboy. The movie, one of the most mesmerizing, memorable dark action movies of the 2000s, started a new wave of Korean action cinema when it was first released. It’s since spawned endless copycats and homages — particularly its grim, bloody single-take hammer-in-a-hallway fight sequence, which filmmakers still frequently cite as an inspiration for their own battle scenes in constricted spaces. A 4K restoration was released in American theaters in 2023, and came in second at the box office in its first week, beaten only by Barbie. Spike Lee remade the movie as an English-language thriller in 2013, but it’s never been adapted for television before.

One of the many appeals to Fortnite, aside from its explosive action, is the fact that it is constantly updated with new additions such as weapons, skins and events.

Black Myth Wukong, the upcoming action RPG from Chinese developer Game Science, has received a PlayStation Store page.

Nintendo’s latest Indie World showcase featured more than a dozen indie games coming to Nintendo Switch in 2024, with some of those titles dropping on the eShop today.

From heart-wrenching tales of love and loss to adrenaline-pumping action adventures that redefine the laws of physics, here is Fortress of Solitude’s 30 best anime series of all time.

Super Evil Megacorp will release roguelike action game Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Splintered Fate for Switch in July as a timed console exclusive, the developer announced.

ANTONBLAST will launch for Switch and PC via Steam on November 12, developer Summitsphere announced. The Switch version is a timed console exclusive. A Switch demo and updated PC demo are available now.

Today's Nintendo Indie World Showcase had a few surprises, and if you happen to be familiar with the Atari 2600 library, none of them were more surprising than the announcement of Yars Rising.

Publisher Sony Interactive Entertainment and developers Sucker Punch Productions and Nixxes Software have released new information for the PC version of Ghost of Tsushima Director’s Cut, which includes cross-play support for its Legends mode with PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4 users, a new PlayStation overlay, and system requirements.

With Larian leaving Baldur’s Gate 3 and Dungeons & Dragons behind to work on a brand new game, the future of the series and the characters the developer brought to life is up in the air. But for Hasbro, owner of Dungeons & Dragons operator Wizards of the Coast, the hope is fans won’t have to wait as long for the next Baldur’s Gate game as they did for Baldur’s Gate 3.

So-net Entertainment Taiwan Limited is all set to release the highly awaited global version of Assault Lily Last Bullet W. Yes, finally, after years of waiting! You can now pre-register for the game and even grab some pretty awesome goodies while doing so!

iPhone 16 launch in 2024: After months of anticipating the iPhone 16 model's design, a new leak showcases the dummies of the upcoming devices. It was also revealed that the upcoming iPhone 16 variants are in the final stage of development, therefore, the launch is not so far. This year, Apple is expected to include a new capture button in the iPhone 16 Pro models and an action button in the iPhone 16 standard models. But, there are more 2024 iPhone models. Know what's coming.

Super fans of Hades will soon get their first chance to get their hands on an early version of the game’s sequel soon. According to the recent update from the developer Supergiant Games, the team is “close” to launchingHades 2 in early access, but before it does, the game will have its first “technical test.” The team didn’t specify how long the technical tests will run, but we know they will “begin shortly,” via X on Tuesday.

Supergiant Games has confirmed players can sign up for the Hades II technical test. To join you will need to head to the Hades II Steam Page, and click on the request access button. This will register our interest to play Hades II early. The population of the players that will be successful will small, but Supergiant will expand as time goes on.

Greetings, Adventurers!

Home, Planet & Hunters is the latest RPG from Black Pearl Games, the developers who brought us the gritty street action in Brutal Street 1 & 2. With the new game, they’re taking us through the ruins of a world called ‘The Ring’ where you’ll gather a crew of hunters to defend your home.

The ESRB rating for Star Wars Outlaws has arrived, and while it's largely what you'd expect from an action game in the sci-fi franchise, it has revealed one notable detail: Sabacc is finally going to be playable in a Star Wars video game.

Nier director Yoko Taro says that the upcoming action RPG Stellar Blade makes him "quite jealous" as he reckons it's "much better" than Automata itself – strong words of praise, if not a tad self-deprecating from Taro. 

White Cat Project New Worlds just launched version 4.56.0, which features a fresh lick of paint and a new icon featuring the Lycoris Recoil collaboration that started earlier this week. This update also includes bug fixes.