Fantasy News, Tips, Tricks & Ideas

It’s hard to write a review of Unicorn Overlord: the game is big, and after over 30 hours I’ve covered little more than half its map, traversing grasslands, desert, winding mountain paths, and a magical forest on my prince’s conquest to liberate the fantasy land of Fevrith and reclaim his throne. It’s hard because a lot of the games I’ve seen people compare Unicorn Overlord to — Tactics Ogre, Final Fantasy Tactics — were released before I was born. I was worried about not getting it, not connecting with the supposed fun of spending hours in menus when the tactics games I played most growing up with a DS found their wider appeal through other systems, like romance. And it’s hard for me to write a review of Unicorn Overlord because I’d have to stop playing it long enough to write.

Souslikes come in all shapes and sizes, including colorful seascapes with cute crabs.

Modern video games are a constantly shifting and bracingly ephemeral medium. The steady flow of patches and updates, the fickle nature of licensing and server shutdowns, the state of a given user’s internet connectivity — there are dozens of things that can crater or enrich a given video game experience. This means that games can take on all kinds of unusual narrative arcs: Disappointing games can undergo a renaissance (most famously Final Fantasy 14and No Man’s Sky), forgotten titles can be rediscovered (Among Us), and old favorites can die the death of a thousand cuts (Overwatch 2).

Last month, developers Jyamma announced Enotria: The Last Song, an Italian-inspired Soulslike where masks give you powers. It was originally due out on June 21st, but then FromSoftware announced that Elden Ring: Shadow Of The Erdtree would also launch on the same day. Not ideal. So, Jyamma delayed Enotria's release, and in an announcement at last night's Future Games Show, we now know it's launching in August. It has, however, dropped itself into another conundrum: Black Myth: Wukong, another hotly anticipated Soulslike, arrives a day earlier.

Final Fantasy 15's director believes that game developers should familiarize themselves with generative AI.

Dragon's Dogma 2 will be out in mere hours, and to celebrate the impending release, Capcom have revealed a new launch trailer as part of the Future Games Show, teasing some of the fantasy perils waiting for us on the other side.

Larian Studios founder Swen Vincke dropped the bombshell today that the developer doesn't plan on releasing any Baldur's Gate 3 expansions or DLC, nor a Baldur's Gate 4, but he also made the point that there's already a lot of content in their Game of the Year-winning RPG.

By and large, Korean developers have a reputation for announcing wildly ambitious MMOs that rarely ever actually materialise. Without sounding too sceptical, we can’t help but wonder whether Chrono Odyssey will fall into that bracket. Due to be published by Kakao Games, this new trailer has been attracting plenty of attention for its stunning dark fantasy vibes – even though there’s zero gameplay or even a target release date.

A new PS5 patch is available now for Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth which makes further improvements to the title’s presentation. Despite being critically acclaimed, many have been disappointed with the quality of the sequel’s visuals – especially in Performance Mode, which targets 60 frames-per-second. In addition to improving the graphics, the update adds a ‘Sharp’ and ‘Soft’ filter, allowing you to finetune the title’s looks.

Tower of Fantasy gets a mecha makeover as it teams up with Neon Genesis Evangelion! Starting March 28th, you can join iconic characters in a battle against a mysterious new threat. Pilot giant robots, explore new areas, and collect special rewards in the Tower of Fantasy x Evangelion Collaboration.

The former NPD Group (now named “Circana”) has released its full North American sales data for February, and it seems like it was a pretty solid month for the industry. Players spent $4.7 billion on games, additional content, and hardware in February, up 2 percent year-on-year. Hardware was a weak spot, down 30 percent year-on-year, with PS5 #1 in terms of unit and dollar sales, Switch #2 in terms of unit sales, and Xbox Series X/S #2 in terms of dollar sales.

A new Dragon's Dogma 2 ray tracing comparison video was shared online, highlighting how the game's implementation is far from being the best we have seen recently.

A new Final Fantasy VII Rebirth patch has gone live today, introducing graphics improvements and bug fixes. Unfortunately, the patch fails to address the game's most critical visual issues.

Games Workshop has debuted a new trailer teasing the fourth edition of Age of Sigmar, the fantasy tabletop game set in the ashes of Warhammer Fantasy Battles’ Old World. The bad guys won, and basically deleted The Old World — but the divine Sigmar, along with a cast of key characters, helped forge new realms where mortals could take refuge. This trailer shows a battle between Sigmar’s chosen, the Stormcast Eternals, and it heralds the return of the fan-favorite Skaven.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth update 1.020 is out now on PS5, bringing new graphics options and improvements to visual quality in general.

It’d be fair to say Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s next-gen makeover of characters, monsters, and more from the 1997 original has been a spectacular glow-up. The modern console era has returned an iconic cast and world to us with a level of realism in gameplay that even pre-rendered cutscenes over 25 years ago couldn’t match. We asked Square Enix if they could crunch some numbers and share some insight into the changes nearly three decades of technological advancement have wrought. Here, main character modeler and lead character artist Dai Suzuki walks us through a selection of characters, creatures, weapons, and more.

Amiibo collectors are in limbo right now as the future of Nintendo's interactive figures hasn't been revealed. Sora's Smash Ultimate amiibo was released last month and it seems likely that will be the last one we get during the Switch era. Not only because Nintendo seems set to announce its next console any day now, but also because it has been reprinting various older amiibo, giving collectors a second chance to grab them.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's new patch, out today, takes another stab at improving the graphical and frame rate aspects of the game.

Famed Kingdom Hearts composer Yôko Shimomura revealed that she is "knee-deep" in work right now, composing the fourth game's soundtrack.

Baldur’s Gate 3 was the big winner at the 24th annual Game Developers Choice Awards.

Warhammer Age of Sigmar is a great wargame, but it is a little dense - and publisher Games Workshop seems to recognize that, because it's launching a more accessible match type.

Skaven are confirmed to be making a grand return for the next edition of Warhammer Age of Sigmar in Summer 2024.

Riot Games has provided an update on its League of Legends MMO, which is still being worked on but remains years from release.

Aerith herself doesn't care if you want to ship Cloud and Tifa. Briana White, the actor behind the English voice of beloved flower girl in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, says headcanon is the true canon in this instance.

Dragon’s Dogma 2 has arrived, and the game is a bit of beast on pretty much any hardware you’ll play it on. Not only is it a “dynamic” 30fps on current-gen consoles (in other words, often under 30fps) but not even a high end PCs are free from troubles – Wccftech’s reviewer Alessio Palumbo had issues despite rocking an RTX 4090 and a Ryzen 7800X3D. A lack of promised DLSS 3 at launch also means there are limited ways to smooth over the problems.

It's taken 12 years, but Dragon's Dogma 2 is finally swooping onto store shelves this week, and judging by the early review scores, the wait has been worth it. 

Manjuu Games, the team behind the hit mobile title Azur Lane, has just announced that they’re cooking a new Azur game. Titled Azur Promilia, Manjuu Games has tossed an announcement trailer on their fresh website for us to ogle at.

Hero Quest: Idle RPG War Games is a new title that has been launched on Android. Published by Fansipan Limited, it’s free to play. Fansipan is a Hong Kong-based game developing company known for other popular titles like Monster Slayer: Idle RPG War, Stickman Survival: War Games and Family Farming: My Island Life.

There are lots of ways to customize your PlayStation 5 experience and ensure that everything runs exactly the way you like it. One of the newest features added to the settings is the ability to turn down the brightness of the blue light on the front of the console that indicates when it's powered on. Since this can be a bit distracting in dark rooms, you may want to hop into the settings and adjust it down just a bit. We'll tell you how to do that below.

Throughout my gaming history, few titles have offered the sheer scope and ambition of CAPCOM’s Dragon’s Dogma 2. Set to release on March 22, 2024, this highly anticipated sequel is currently poised to be one of the biggest RPG releases of the year – if not this generation. However, as a continuation of the 2012 cult classic Dragon’s Dogma, newcomers may find themselves grappling with several aspects that are deeply rooted in its predecessor’s niche appeal. Here’s our review of Dragon’s Dogma 2.

I was more than a dozen hours into Dragon’s Dogma 2 when I found my first ropeway — a transport system that would potentially save me time traversing the game’s vast open world by taking me to the skies. I turned a crank to get the ropeway’s wooden gondola moving, then passed said duty onto one of the Pawns in my party. Quite pleased with myself for discovering this new method of travel, I decided to soak in the views of the expansive desert below me until this journey’s end.

Pirates make everything better, so if Blizzard's announcement that World of Warcraft now has a standalone battle royale mode isn't enough to get your tootsies twitching with excitement, then how about this: it's called Plunderstorm and is all about the piratical booty.

Bungie has changed Marathon’s game director, reportedly as part of a wider shake-up of the project’s creative leadership team.

Finally, there's a minor break in the busy release schedule. But don't worry! Rise of the Ronin and Dragon's Dogma 2 will both release later this month. You are on top of your backlog, aren't you?

One of the big stories this year so far has been Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth’s relative underperformance in its home territory of Japan. Historically one of the region’s most popular franchises, the Square Enix sequel couldn’t even outsell fellow PS5 console exclusive Final Fantasy 16 in its first week on the market – a surprise considering its strong critical reception.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink will take a PS5, PS4 patch today that bundles a new late-game quest into the RPG, and makes some microtransactions available on the PS Store. On the Proud difficulty option, a new quest titled The Final Vision will allow you to battle Lucilius alongside Supreme Primarch Sandalphon. This updates the game to version 1.1.0, with two more content drops planned for April and May that will add more playable characters.

It’s a truth universally acknowledged that no great RPG can be complete without a quality collectible card game, and Square Enix brought the heat with Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth and its exceptional Queen’s Blood. The mode has proven a welcome distraction for adventurers working their way through the PS5 console exclusive, and word is there may be more on the way.

Blizzard has announced Plunderstorm, a new battle royale-inspired limited-time event for World of Warcraft.

Final Fantasy 14's Xbox versions include microtransactions not found in the PC or PS5 versions of the MMO.

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy 7 Reunion voice actor Shaun Conde, who played Genesis Rhapsodos in the English dub, was seemingly too sexy for Square Enix and repeatedly told stop sounding so seductive. 

Final Fantasy 7's Sephiroth is currently on a tour of games where he doesn't belong, as the 'Sephiroth should be in every video game' meme travels Twitter. 

The Xbox Series X|S version of Final Fantasy14 will require players to have an Xbox Game Pass subscription.

The Xbox Series X and S version of Final Fantasy 14 has a unique virtual currency that must be bought from the Microsoft Store before being spent in-game.

Square Enix has released the last Final Fantasy 14 Online patch ahead of the launch of the Dawntrailexpansion this summer.

Final Fantasy 14 is finally launching on Xbox in just two days, but those delving in on Microsoft's platform will have to use a new premium currency called FFXIV Coins to make store purchases.

Last year’s controversy surrounding the Dungeons & Dragons Open Gaming License not only damaged Wizards of the Coast’s relationship with its biggest fans, but also helped to turbocharge the sales of competing game systems. Chief among them was Paizo’s Pathfinder, which sold through nearly a years’ worth of stock in just a matter of weeks. Now the Washington state-based publisher is throwing some serious funding behind its marquee fantasy role-playing franchise. It’s next effort, Pathfinder Lost Omens: Tian Xia World Guide, boasts a team of more than 40 authors. Polygon sat down with senior designer James Case to learn more.

The Xbox Series X/S version of Final Fantasy 14 will introduce an Xbox-only currency this week.

Microsoft's latest Xbox Series X sweepstakes features a Fallout-themed vault that probably won't fit in most folks' gaming setups.

Spring is in the air, which means it’s time to do some Spring cleaning. Thankfully, that doesn’t mean cleaning out your wallet because Steam has launched its seasonal sale event to cut prices on tons of amazing games to some of the lowest we’ve seen.

PlayStation 5 players have been raving about the second part of the FF7 remake project Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth. As with the first part, it was made clear well in advance that this game would be a PlayStation exclusive at launch, however, we did eventually get Remake of the first part on PC around a year later. This gives PC players hope that the same treatment will be given to Rebirth, but the big question becomes how long will we have to wait this time? Is it possible to see it come to PC storefronts faster than its prequel, or will we need to bide our time avoiding spoilers for months on end? Here’s our best estimate as to when you can expect to see Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth on PC.

One Dragon's Dogma 2 player has taken the Character Creator demo too far by recreating Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth's ugly Moogles in Capcom's sequel.

16.74 million video games were sold across Europe during February, according to the latest GSD data.

In 1974, my aunt and uncle returned to the United States from a honeymoon world tour. Over the course of their travels, they ventured through India, Afghanistan, Iran, and Turkey, before winding up in Israel, where my aunt’s sister — my mother — had recently lived for two years on a collective kibbutz.

Dark and Darker is heading to Epic Games Store, having previously been removed from Steam, and following a drawn out legal dispute with Nexon.

It’s finally here! I usually avoid cliché terminologies like ‘much-awaited,’ but in this case, I’m compelled to use it. Wondering which game I am talking about? Well, the much-awaited sequel to AFK Arena, AFK Journey, is set to drop on March 27, 2024. This free-to-play fantasy RPG will be available on both mobile and PC devices.

Dark And Darker might finally be easy to find and play soon following a year of legal battles between its developer Ironmace and Nexon. Accused of stealing assets from a scrapped Nexon project, Ironmace was forced to remove Dark And Darker from Steam last year. However, the fantasy adventure game now has its own Epic Store Games page and is listed on the site as "coming soon".

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth contains a cheeky reference to a debug enemy that was accidentally left in the Japanese release of Final Fantasy 7 on the PS1.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth fans are confused about why most of the Loveless outfits from the Gold Saucer section of the game aren't available as unlockable outfits.

The actor behind Aerith in Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth, Brianna White, has commented on the game's infamous love triangle between Cloud, Aerith, and Tifa.

Confession time: I already have a copy of Final Fantasy XVI and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth for the PS5 even though I still don't have a PlayStation 5 console. I never get consoles the moment they come out and usually wait a few years for their next version. In the PlayStation 5's case, I thought it was going to be the PS5 Slim, but it looks like I could have another option by the end of the year: The PlayStation 5 Pro. Tom Henderson of Insider Gaming says the PS5 Pro details leaked by the Moore’s Law is Dead YouTube channel came from documentation Sony itself recently sent to third-party developers.

In the new French sci-fi film The Animal Kingdom, the world is changing and humans are changing with it. A mutation begins transforming humans into animal hybrids, creating a variety of bird-humans, insect-humans, mammal-humans, and many other new types of beings. Caught in the middle of this upheaval are a divided family — the mother, in the middle of mutation, has gone missing from a medical transport, which leaves the father and son desperately searching for her. The fantastic movie is finally out in American theaters and on VOD, after originally screening at Cannes and other film festivals in 2023.

The co-creator of long-running free-to-play fantasy MMO RuneScape has revealed the project his new studio has been working on for the last ten years. Surprise! It’s a new free-to-play fantasy MMO. But Andrew Gower and developers Fen Research insist that Brighter Shores will balance its nostalgic feel with a fresh approach to the well-worn genre that Gower himself helped wear in over two decades ago.

If you're fond of the fairly specific blend of doomy theology, rich art direction and Soulslike-tinted metroidvaning encapsulated by Blasphemous, you might also enjoy Saviorless from Cuban team Empty Head Games and publisher Dear Villagers, which now has a PC release date of 2nd April.

Last week, we hit the track with EA Sports F1 23, and asked you to share moments behind the wheel using #PSshare #PSBlog. Here are this week’s highlights:

Microsoft has continued its trend of creating custom consoles to celebrate game and film releases with a Final Fantasy 14 Xbox Series X, but there's a catch... This one doesn't actually work.

Microsoft is currently running a sweepstake competition for an absolutely stunning Final Fantasy 14-inspired console bundle that features an attractive Xbox Series X and custom Xbox Wireless Controller — but there’s a massive catch.

Final Fantasy 14 is experimenting with cross-region Data Centre travel for the first time in the MMO's history as its upcoming expansion, Dawntrail, looms.

Throughout the Series X|S era, Xbox has made a habit of giving away one-of-a-kind consoles to celebrate the release, arrival, or success of certain games and movies. It gave away a Palworld Series S with four unique controllers earlier this year, and a Series X designed to look like it's made of chocolate to mark Wonka's arrival in cinemas. Its latest offering may well be its best to date. A Final Fantasy 14 console to commemorate the MMO finally arriving on Xbox.

The Demiguise Statues are some of the most important collectibles in Hogwarts Legacy. Not only are they featured in one of the game’s most popular side quests, but they’re used to upgrade one of the best spells available to your witch or wizard. That means you’ll want to go out of your way to find these objects – even if that means you’ll need to slog around the map a few times.

This article contains spoilers for Final Fantasy VII and Final Fantasy VII Rebirth.

Cygames has released Granblue Fantasy: Relink update 1.1.0 across PS5, PS4 and PC, adding a brand new quest for players to enjoy, as well as some new premium emotes and microtransactions.

Spring is almost upon us (or already here for those lucky enough to not be living in Canada) and that means the Steam Spring Sale is in full swing, offering discounts on thousands of titles. This year, we’re getting deep discounts on some of 2023’s top games, including Hogwarts Legacy, Diablo IV, Mortal Kombat 1, and Star Wars Jedi: Survivor. Recent hits like Baldur’s Gate 3 and Palworld are also getting their first modest discounts. Of course, some perennial favorites like GTA V are also on sale. I’ve picked out a selection of deals that might pique your interest. Check the list out, below.

Fen Research, the studio founded by original RuneScape designer Andrew Gower, has unveiled Brighter Shores — a «cosy» new free-to-play fantasy MMORPG coming to PC and Mac later this year that promises a «relaxing respite from daily life».

We’ll say this up front for those of you still exploring Final Fantasy VII Rebirth’s vast world: there are no late-game story spoilers here. As seen in its pre-release debut via a new trailer late last year, the action RPG’s theme song “No Promises to Keep” is performed in-game by Aerith. Behind the scenes though, the track was composed by Nobuo Uematsu, the legendary composer behind the iconic soundtracks for much of the Final Fantasy series, including Final Fantasy VII Remake. The song’s vocals were performed by American singer Loren Allred, who brought her spellbinding singing voice to the track, augmenting the beautiful—yet tragic—world of Final Fantasy VII Rebirth and the epic story told within it.

Is Baldur’s Gate 3 playable on the Steam Deck? That’s a resounding yes from Steam Deck owners. Larian Studios’ 2023 hit is the most-played game on the handheld gaming device, according to Valve’s list of the top 100 games played on Steam Deck.

Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been the talk of the town of late, what with it being a sequel to one of the most highly-regarded and exciting projects in the series so far. While it's likely that the game has sold like hotcakes in the West, it seems like the same can't be said in Japan, as Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth sales have apparently dropped by a pretty whopping 90 percent since launch.

The developer of Disney Dreamlight Valley is developing a new survival, life sim, and action RPG hybrid game based on Dungeons & Dragons.

Now that Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth has been out in the wilds for a few weeks, players are reaching the end of the hot new RPG. That means many have seen the ending and are picking it apart online, for better or worse. 

Granblue Fantasy: Relink is adding mass Sigil transmutation in a future update, and it's already being praised as a welcome addition by players.

Granblue Fantasy: Relink has received a sizeable game update, which adds a new, difficult quest, The Final Vision, some additional camera and aim sensitivity settings, and new Steam trophies. That's in addition to a brace of bug fixes, character-specific balancing tweaks for multiplayer, and assorted quality-of-life improvements, including visual and audio indicators to indicate when you've lost your buffs.