An Artist Spots Her Work In Bungie's Marathon, Nintendo Isn't Sending Out Switch 2 Review Units Until The Last Minute, And More Of The Week's Top Stories

One of the most striking things about Bungie’s Marathon is its presentation. The sci-fi extraction shooter combines bleak settings with bright colors in a way that makes it feel a bit like a sneaker promo meets Ghost in the Shell, or as designer Jeremy Skoog put it, “Y2K Cyberpunk mixed with Acid Graphic Design Posters.” But it now looks like at least a few of the visual design elements that appeared in the recent alpha test were lifted from eight-year old work by an outside artist. - Ethan Gach Read More

I don’t go here (Magic: The Gathering, that is), but I’m obsessed with the new MTG and Final Fantasy collaboration. I swore off trading card games when I realized how much money people dump into cracking packs, but I can still appreciate some good Final Fantasy art when I see it. Something I also appreciate is a good bit, and the Magic x Final Fantasy collab handled one of the series’ long-running constants in a truly clever way that even I, someone who doesn’t understand the ruleset of the card game, can appreciate. I’m talking about Cid, a recurring name given to different characters in each mainline Final Fantasy. - Kenneth Shepard Read More

How big of an effect can review bombing have on a game? According to Moon Studios, the people behind Ori and the Blind Forest, the consequences could be so serious that it could lead to the closure of the studio. At least, that’s what studio head Thomas Mahler said. Before he said the opposite. - John Walker Read More

Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is an irresistible melting pot of old and new ideas, combining classic JRPG tropes with modern storytelling sensibilities and new gameplay flourishes. It’s in some ways fitting, then, that the 2025 GOTY contender includes optional challenges inspired by Final Fantasy’s most infuriating minigames, like chocobo racing and lightning dodging in Final Fantasy X. - Ethan Gach Read More

Fans are collectively shitting their pants and racing back to defend Super Earth as one of Helldivers 2's most consequential updates since launch hits the galactic airwaves. The latest content drop adds weapon customization options, new enemies, and a bunch of fresh fixes, as everyone prepares to defend against a new Illuminate threat emerging from a traveling black hole. - Ethan Gach Read More

Tell me if this sounds familiar: You dive into a big, modern blockbuster on day-one—maybe it’s an open-world RPG like Assassin’s Creed Shadows or a loot-heavy action-adventure with lots of items and numbers to keep track of like Monster Hunter Wilds—and you’re having a great time, but life gets in the way. By the ten hour mark you stop playing every day. After 15 hours you get caught up in something else entirely. - Ethan Gach Read More

The Switch 2 is likely to be one of the biggest console launches ever, but it might be hard to find actual hands-on reviews of the device when it first comes out. That’s because Nintendo isn’t sending out early units to press and content creators, according to a new report by The Game Business. It’s a highly unusual headscratcher that has some third-party publishers flummoxed. - Ethan Gach Read More

After teasing some news on its social channels earlier this week, Atlus has finally announced that a new Persona game is coming out. No, it’s not Persona 6, but rather Persona 5: The Phantom X, a spin-off that is finally making its way out of China and into other territories. - Kenneth Shepard Read More