This article contains spoilers for Resident Evil Requiem.
Resident Evil Requiem finally sees the series return to Raccoon City, so it’ll surprise no one that it’s campaign is loaded with Easter eggs and references to the past. From deep cuts referencing 1998’s Resident Evil 2, to nods to more modern games in the franchise, here are 28 brilliant little details we’ve spotted in Resident Evil Requiem so far.
For veteran fans, the unquestionable highlight of Requiem is Leon’s return to the RPD. Well, its ruins – it definitely didn’t look like this last time. As expected, the dilapidated department is packed with references to the past.
1. Before you enter the doors of the Raccoon City Police Department, you'll notice the streets around you feel very familiar. Look behind you, and you’ll see the tanker that separated Leon and Claire, and then subsequently exploded, still in the exact same position it was 28 years prior.
2. Right next to the tanker is a building with ARUKAS written on it, which is a reference back to the original 1998 game, which in turn referenced Street Fighter Alpha 2’s Sakura. Arukas is Sakura spelt backwards. Perhaps surprisingly, that isn’t the only Street Fighter reference you can find, but there are a couple of steps before we get there.
Once Leon is finally reunited with the RPD, he’s flooded with memories of his traumatic experience.
3. In Resident Evil 2, just before you’re introduced to the Licker, you find a dead police officer with its jaw sliced almost completely off. 28 years later, that police officer (well, his skeleton) is still in that exact same position, now notably sans jaw.
4. Also still in the RPD are the remnants of all the strange puzzles Leon and Claire had to solve, frozen in time and covered in dust. The Lion statue puzzle in the main hall is declared by Leon to be the oddest of them all when he says, “This puzzle was weird”.
5. A trip to RPD wouldn’t be complete without a snoop around the S.T.A.R.S office, and although you can find lots of cool details in there, such as Jill’s beret, it’s Barry’s scavenger hunt that’s the most fun.
After following the two clues, you’ll find a hidden key for a locker. This key has the word Jojo written on it, and for those who don’t know, Jojo is a reference to the Japanese manga JoJo's Bizarre Adventure, which was also written on a locker in the original 1998 version of Resident Evil 2.
6. The Jojo key opens a locker that contains a whole host of goodies, including Barry’s gift of two tickets to the Raccoon City Zoo, a location that appears in the Resident Evil Outbreak series, which also happens to be the game our hero Grace’s mom, Alyssa, is from.
7. At the base of this locker, though, is a wealth of PS1 nostalgia, which includes boxed copies of the original Resident Evil, Street Fighter Alpha 2 and Mega-Man 8. There’s also a poster for Street Fighter Alpha and what looks to be a TEMU PS1 that looks more like a Sega Saturn than a classic PlayStation.
8. Later on, on the ground floor of the RPD, you can spot random appearances through the cracks in the wall of everyone’s favourite edible hero, Tofu, who was an unlockable playable character in the original Resident Evil 2. Tofu, beret and all, peeks out to say hello. And yes, if you’re quick enough, you can pop a shot at him to do some damage to his squishy consistency.
I’m not sure what the exact trigger is for Tofu, but it feels like it’s just after you pick up Barry’s To Do List, which also appears to be the trigger for the next detail.
9. Wesker’s desk drawer is now an infamous location in the history of Resident Evil 2. In the remake, it contains a weapon component; in the original, after hitting the action prompt 50 times, you were “rewarded” with an inappropriate photo of Rebecca Chambers. In 2026, after looking at Barry’s to-do list, you’ll find a note about a book called ‘Medicinal Benefit of Herbs’, showing that it’s been returned to the library by Wesker. Make your way over to the library to find this book, look inside, and once again you’ll find the photo of Rebecca, with a note referring to her as “Rising Rookie Rebecca”. RRR then happens to be the code for Wesker’s briefcase, in which you find a charm of his iconic sunglasses.
10. Once you’ve left the RPD, make sure to head left, and you’ll be able to revisit the parking garage, the location where Leon first met love interest/frenemy, Ada Wong. In here, you’ll find a cute bear charm, the same one seen on the keys that Ada hands to Leon in Resident Evil 4.
11. In the RPD, you’ll once again come face-to-face with Mr. X. But did you notice that Grace actually bumps into him, too? Well, not really, but the guy that she brushes against the streets of Wrenwood at the very start of the game sure does look like he’s wearing Mr.X's outfit…complete with the fedora hat he wears in the RE2 remake.
12. Like Tofu and Mr. X, there’s also another returning Resident Evil 2 legend, who, although never outright named, is quite clearly everyone’s favourite no-nonsense mercenary, Hunk. This unlockable character from the original Resident Evil 2 (and many games that came after) turns up as a boss in Requiem’s final act, and somewhat lives up to his legacy, with Leon declaring him to be a tough bastard after they duke it out to the death. RIP Hunk.
Resident Evil 2 isn’t the only game from the series referenced in Requiem, though, with the previous entry, Resident Evil Village, also getting a couple of nods.
13. Just after you reach the helipad, you enter a room full of items to examine. One of these is a wine bottle which has the name Dimiterscu written on it, clearly referring to everyone’s favourite goth mummy from Resident Evil Village. The bottle is labelled “Sanguis Virginis”, which is the same wine used to solve a puzzle in Village’s castle location.
14. Later on, in Spencer’s study, you can see a picture of a lone woman with the letter M on it. This refers to Mother Miranda, the big bad of Resident Evil Village and (as we find out at the end of that game) Ozwell E. Spencer’s idol and inspiration.
15. One of Requiem’s big bads is Victor Gideon, who sports some significant jewellery. Look close and you can see a snake motif on his ring. The same snake motif is seen on Krauser’s knife in RE4.
16. Requiem also has a reference to the silliest of Resident Evil’s puzzles, with Grace pointing out the ludicrous systems of opening doors in these zombie-infested mansions. When inserting the Red Gem into a door at the Rhodes Hill Care Center, Grace rightly states, “How do normal people get in here?”
17. But perhaps no door in Resident Evil is more iconic than the original game's loading screen animations between rooms, something that is referenced near the beginning of the game with a slow zoom on the door before the chainsaw-wielding Doctor attacks Leon.
That battle is complete chaos, with a host of cool interactions with the chainsaw. There are a couple of brilliant details you might miss, though.
18. The chainsaw is unwieldy at the best of times, spinning wildly when on the floor. If you manage to kill a zombie while they’re still holding it, the chainsaw will end up dragging the fallen flesh eaters along for the ride.
19. A zombie can also be impaled with a still-operational chainsaw, the revving blade protruding straight through their rib cage. Don’t let them get too close, though, because if they grab you, then they’ll drive their chest with the chainsaw directly into yours.
20. It’s quite clear that many of the other zombies roaming the halls of the Rhodes Hill Care Center have their own personalities, but there are also medical records you can find that share their names and defining traits, with a personal favourite being Eileen Zimmerson, one of the singing zombies whose personality disorder is described as “main character syndrome”.
21. Meanwhile, the enormous mass grinding its way through the hallways who we know as “Chunk” is actually called Thomas K. Jackson, and the version Leon takes on is called Timothy B. Jackson. So they’re actually brothers, both with irregular eating pattern disorders.
22. Interestingly, several zombies still retain traits from their mortal existence, like the cleaning zombie, who is super focused on scrubbing the blood out of the mirror. She will, however, also move locations to clean up the gore you create by killing other zombies.
23. Later on, when Grace and Emily meet Harry Reed, most would progress on with the story while Emily is safe in the helicopter. If you’re a psycho, though, Capcom has prepared custom dialogue for Harry should you, for some reason, decide to unload on the whirlybird.
24. Capcom has also layered subtle instructions into the environment when Leon first takes to the motorbike in Raccoon City, with a billboard appearing very early on that says “Learn to Steer” just after the player takes control.
25. Leon is a master with his equipment, as shown when using a flashlight with his handgun. When you go to reload, Leon will smoothly tuck the flashlight into his shoulder, making for a very slick and detailed animation.
26. Also interesting: when reloading, both Grace and Leon will retain the magazine if there are still rounds in it. If it’s empty, they’ll discard it.
The final details are, at the time of writing this, part of an unsolved mystery, so answers might be out there by the time you watch this, but they’re super cool nonetheless.
27. After taking out the Tyrant, you’ll notice a basketball court with a suspicious-looking head in the middle. Shuffle kick that head along until it goes through the hoop, and you’ll get a new action prompt that tells you “There’s no time for playing around”. Instead of pushing forward to the orphanage, head back to Kendo’s gun shop, and you’ll now find a prompt on a headless Toy Uncle bobblehead that reads “just ignore A”. Our first theory was that this was a reference to the ending choice, since the first option (or "A" ending) isn’t the canon one, but we’ve since stumbled on something else that might explain it further…
28. The final mystery is a doozy that we’ve yet to solve, but here are the hidden clues we have so far. After your escape from The Girl in the elevator shaft, her arm will be severed and available to pick up. It didn’t appear to serve any purpose until we decided to run it through the analysis machine you use to upgrade your crafting recipes.
After solving this puzzle, you’re shown a black screen that says ‘Let’s Play’, and a sequence of letters: G,A,U, and C. Based on the prior clue, I think it’s safe to ignore A.
Hidden in the game are some clues to what these letters mean. In an hourglass you can find and rotate, U is revealed to be linked to the number 380,000. In Grace’s blood analysis report, C is 4.2 LY, and on the side of the blood analyser device, there’s a sticker that says G = 15,000,000.
What does all this mean? Well, our guess was that it’s the distance to the moon, sun, and nearest star, which also happens to be the sequence buttons for the puzzles in the Rhodes Hill Chronic Care Center. After using the G, U, C sequence and translating them into moon, sun, and star inputs for the machine, entering that code triggers a creepy laughter sound effect.
What does that mean? That’s where we’re stumped! Hopefully, you’ll already have the answers and can drop it in the comments.
And that’s everything we’ve spotted so far in Resident Evil Requiem. Did we miss any cool Easter eggs, or are there small gameplay details we missed? Let us know in the comments.
Dale Driver is an Associate Director of Video Programming at IGN. Be thoroughly bored by following him on Bluesky at @daledriver.bsky.social
From ARC Raiders to Escape From Duckov, extraction shooters seem to be enjoying something of a renaissance right now, to the delight of shooter fans like myself. But of all the newcomers to that space, none have captured my attention more than Marathon since I first played its early alpha over a year ago. Even through some of Bungie’s recent lows, the idea of taking the high-stakes looting deathmatch that is an extraction shooter and combining it with the unparalleled shooting for which the studio is known has always been an awesome idea. Now, after playing Marathon for the better part of a day as it kicks off its server slam ahead of launch next week, that rad concept seems to have turned out about as well as I was hoping it would, with absolutely stellar gunplay, some interesting characters and lore, ands a a loot grind that’s made it hard to step away long enough to even write this initial review. It’s still way too early for me to say if any of this will have staying power all the way through my 100th run, but it’s left a very strong first impression.
I’ve always had a difficult time describing exactly what makes a Bungie gun feel so damn good, but whatever it is, Marathon’s got it. Maybe it’s the deliberate musicality to weapons, like that crisp snap from a rifle report, the metallic clink of a trigger, or those amazing hollow thuds when you land a shot. Maybe it’s the way recoil feels rhythmic, with pulse rifles kicking like a heartbeat and handcannons bucking theatrically. Maybe it’s the way the world reacts to your shots, with shields crackling and splintering, and enemy NPCs staggering in place as you riddle them full of holes. Maybe it’s invisible qualities, like the almost perfectly tuned bullet magnetism and finessed projectile speeds, all working together to make you feel slightly better than you actually are. An old Bungie dev once told me that the secret to making a great shooter is in making four seconds of gameplay that feel perfect, then repeating those four seconds as many times as you can. I don’t know if this remains a guiding philosophy of the current team, but in any case, they really seem to have nailed just that.
As someone who adores PvP, one massively refreshing aspect of Marathon so far is how far it deviates from the group hug energy of ARC Raiders’ PvE-friendly community. Don’t get me wrong, cooperating with other players can be a hell of a time, but one of the major drawbacks is that you don’t get to see the PvP shine when it rarely happens. In a game like Marathon, with Bungie’s legendary FPS chops on full display, I’d be pretty disappointed if PvP encounters were as rare as they’ve become in ARC Raiders, because those gunfights are without question the best part of any match. The pressure of two teams squaring off in claustrophobic, dark hallways, as you try to outmaneuver one another makes for some of the most ten se encounters I’ve ever had, and the loot reward you get for winning those firefights is worth the stress (after all, the best way to loot is to let someone else do it for you and take it from their cold, dead hands).
The mark of a great extraction shooter is that “one more run” feeling, and a big part of that lies in how fun the long-term loot game is. That relies on both the badass weapons and gadgets you’ll find, as well as the quest items you’re asked to collect if you want to unlock an upgrade or complete a mission you’ve been given. In the early hours, I’ve been completely glued to my screen, poring over dense menus and trees to figure out which map I’ll need to play to complete this quest or loot that item, then going into battle with a specific set of objectives in mind – only for it to all go to hell when I run into a rival gang and the shrapnel starts flying. I’m really impressed by how fast the progression feels so far, and even during failed runs, I’ve seemed to make at least some kind of progress despite losing valuable loot along the way.
Obviously, acquiring a new weapon on the battlefield, like a long-distance rifle capable of one-shotting poorly-armored characters, then customizing said weapon with neat mods you’ve found along the way feels awesome. But there’s also little ways you can progress, like unlocking the ability to buy a larger backpack if you’ve lost all of yours in the battlefield, or gaining access to better shields in the store instead of having to rely purely on your ability to loot them out in the world. So far I’ve never felt like any of the progress lost on failed runs has hindered my desire to immediately jump back in, even when a particularly devastating loss left me with only white-rarity weapons.
It’s also been great to see the story play a larger role than I expected it to. After each mission, I’ve had some new faction to meet, a few quick lines of dialogue thrown my way, or some lore unlock for me to read, and I find myself really interested in learning more about this world and its inhabitants. I haven’t had nearly enough time to actually dive in here, as it can be tough to find reading time when your crewmates are waiting on you to launch the next match, but the vibe of these cutscenes and the spooky cyberpunk aesthetic is so damn interesting. I’m eager to know more. Here’s hoping the pace of lore continues as strongly as the first day has, and that it actually leads to some kind of payoff, since Bungie notably isn’t always great at this.
The Server Slam alone doesn’t paint a full picture, but it has got me excited to play more as we approach the full launch next week. I’ll be diving deep into every aspect of Marathon and be back with a final review once I’ve fully put it through its paces.
It's a very exciting time for the Pokémon community with the reveal of the 10th generation games, Pokémon Winds and Waves, set to launch sometime in 2027 for Nintendo Switch 2. But it's also an especially exciting time for all my Southeast Asians in the Pokémon community – we got our region! While the name of the new region hasn't been revealed yet, the announcement trailer showcased the world's design with clear inspirations from the Philippines, Indonesia, and Malaysia.
I immediately made the connection when the trailer showed the layered rice terraces in-game, which largely resemble those seen in the Philippines. Specifically, they're most widely recognized as the Ifugao rice terraces built more than 2,000 years ago in Luzon, Philippines. Rice terraces are designed for efficient irrigation along with rich natural resources, and they look like large steps embedded on the sides of mountains. They're still used to this day and are recognized as a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and they're colloquially known as the "eighth wonder of the world."
Filipino Twitter was popping off during the reveal, grabbing screenshots from the trailer and comparing them to real photos. This included the floating bamboo houses, the deep blue-green waterfronts along cliffsides seen in Palawan, and the rural-style housing often seen in Southeast Asia.
Streamer and content creator Sevy on the matter:
MF THIS IS JUST THE PHILIPPINES ???????? https://t.co/gVxCGuNhiP pic.twitter.com/AQWXBRIDfK
— Sevy (@SevyPlays) February 27, 2026
Spotting mangrove trees, which are native to tropical regions such as Indonesia and Malaysia:
Okay so APPARENTLY Gen 10 is based on SouthEast Asia! So not just Philippines but the likes of Indonesia and Malaysia.
— ✨🇵🇭ViyaGyudon 🇵🇭✨LABU-Plushies! (@FeedMe_Katsudon) February 27, 2026
Shout-out Mangrove trees✨🇵🇭 https://t.co/6NbK1jdPsZ pic.twitter.com/ZYUwJVdjUR
One more for good measure:
we're filipinomaxxing this gen https://t.co/l4CNwXRU8x
— flаre nouvoomf (@N0UVEAUCAFE) February 27, 2026
At first glance, it may seem like a typical tropical region with palm trees and vast seafronts, but it's not unfounded to make these connections considering that previous games use real-world inspirations – Spain for Paldea in Scarlet/Violet, Hawaii for Alola in Sun/Moon, France for Kalos in X/Y, and so on. Both the game names and the Southeast Asia-inspired region were both part of the recent Pokémon leaks, and the reveal aligned with the details found in the "Teraleak." With that in mind, I'm also looking forward to how the location also incorporates other parts of Southeast Asian culture whether it be language, iconography, or food; I won't include Lechonk as the latter because we love our baby pig, but I'll take the Spanish-Filipino crossover (because, history and all that).
For now, we have tons of coverage of Pokémon Winds and Waves such as all the Pokémon confirmed so far and why the new fire-type starter Pombom is an immediate favorite. Check out everything else revealed during the Pokémon Presents 2026 stream, which included the launch of FireRed/LeafGreen ports on Switch, Pokémon XD: Gale of Darkness coming to NSO's Gamecube library, and so much more.
Michael Higham is a writer, editor, and podcast host on IGN and will jump at any chance to talk about being Filipino. Find him on Bluesky at brazyazn.bsky.social. Salamat sa 'yong suporta.
Today, Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves were announced during a Pokémon Presents, showing off a new region, three new starter Pokémon, new player characters, a lot of returning Pokémon, and two overdressed Pikachus with the most ridiculous names I've ever heard.
The trailer that aired today began with a cinematic showing a regular Pikachu flipping through a scrapbook of its adventures in different regions throughout the different Pokemon games, before stepping away from the book to answer a knock at the door. When the door opens, two other Pikachu are waiting outside dressed and ready for vacation. One, a male Pikachu (based on the tail shape) is wearing a floral polo shirt, sunglasses, and a big white sunhat with a flower. The other, a female Pika, has on a blue and pink floral sundress and a blue baseball cap also with a flower. Her cheeks are pink instead of red.
These are, apparently, Mr. Windychu and Ms. Wavychu, and no, I'm not making those names up. These names are from the official Pokémon website.
Apart from their names and their official artwork, there isn't much info about who these guys are. They're clearly each coded to one of the two versions of the game, and notably, their hats correspond with the hats the protagonist trainers wear in their respective versions.
Fans already have thoughts about the Chus. Some people love them:
Mr. Windychu does slay 💅 pic.twitter.com/JdJ939vBjk
— TakariJBartleby (@TakariJBartleby) February 27, 2026
ms wavychu i give my life for you pic.twitter.com/eAwYcR8zYs
— ˖ 𑣲 ushia ﹒ 𖤐 (@staryuchu) February 27, 2026
I do love how they gave both pikachus eyeliner instead of just the girl one. it looks so good on mr windychu pic.twitter.com/AHhLFUDOLX
— deli (@silentxwaltz) February 27, 2026
Others are... amused by them, to say the least. There are a lot of memes about them being a couple with relationship problems, or just mocking their (admittedly silly) designs:
Windychu and Wavychu pic.twitter.com/wC3dxTUd0i
— Loidy//Macie (@omgloidy) February 27, 2026
watch there be a quest to save mr. wavychu + mrs. wavychu’s marriage
— paajiaamaa (@paajiaamaa) February 27, 2026
I trust WindyChu with my life but WavyChu is sus I do not trust her bro https://t.co/UA9RVlalM0
— Vika 🇻🇪 (@Vika_too) February 27, 2026
please tell me these are the main character's adoptive parents that'd be so funny pic.twitter.com/mBWV92Mibt
— QuinnQwerty! 📺 (@QuinnQwerty) February 27, 2026
Mr Windychu looks like he’s about to check into a hotel to have a nice vacation with his retired wife. They look like a Florida couple lol https://t.co/CSfOQI2Y3R
— JayE 🎮 FF Tactics & Hyrule Warriors DE (@CaptainFalchion) February 27, 2026
There's also a lot of generative AI art of both of them already out there, especially Windychu. Much of it is not fit to reprint here, but you can use your imagination.
Windychu and Wavychu are a bit of a surprising announcement. Pikachu is no stranger to being dressed up – heck, there was even an obtainable Cosplay Pikachu in Pokémon OmegaRuby and AlphaSapphire, and Pikachu has been dressed up in all sorts of outfits for merchandise and in spinoffs like Pokémon GO. But these two seem to be important NPCs who will be involved in the story somehow. Perhaps each one is version exclusive? Maybe we'll be able to obtain them as a trainer? Maybe they belong to the game's professor? Who knows? We'll have to wait until 2027 to find out.
We've been rounding up every bit of information we can about Pokémon Winds and Pokémon Waves in light of their announcement today. We've got a list of every confirmed Pokémon, as well as multiple articles about the best boy, Pombon. You can catch up on everything announced at today's Pokémon Presents right here.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
Samsung's newest smartphones - the Galaxy S26, S26+, and S26 Ultra - were recently announced at Galaxy Unpacked 2026 and are set to release on March 11. Per the norm, the best way to score a deal on newly launched phones is through your preferred service provider. T-Mobile, now the best mobile network in the US (according to Ookla Speedtest), have already listed the new Galaxy S26 for preorder on its site. Better yet, there's a promotion going on right now that gets you any one of these phones "on us". In most cases, port-in and trade-in aren't required.
No trade-in or port-in required
Preorder the Samsung Galaxy S26 Ultra 256GB smartphone through T-Mobile and save $1,299.99 in bill credits over 24 months when you sign up for a new line on the Experience Beyond plan with AutoPay. Trade-in and port-in are not required to take advantage of this deal. Note that there is a one-time $35 connection fee.
The Experience Beyond plan costs $100 per month for a single line with AutoPay (plus taxes and fees). The plan gives you unlimited talk, text, and 5G premium data. Other perks include Netflix (Standard with ads), Apple TV, and Hulu subscriptions, unlimited mobile hotspot, full-flight texting and Wi-Fi with streaming where available, phone upgrade eligibility every year, and a 5 year price guarantee. International travelers can also benefit from unlimited text and 30GB of high-speed data in Canada and Mexico and unlimited text and 15GB of high-speed data in over 215 other countries.
Trade-in required
Preorder the Samsung Galaxy S26+ 256GB smartphone through T-Mobile and save $1,099.99 in bill credits over 24 months when you sign up for a new line on the Experience More or Go5G Plus plans with AutoPay. You must also trade-in an eligible device (Apple, Samsung, and Google phones are eligible) and pay the one-time $35 connection fee.
The Experience More plan costs $85 per month for a single line with AutoPay (plus taxes and fees). Like the Experience Beyond plan, you get unlimited talk, text, and 5G premium data, but not as many extra perks. Benefits include Netflix (Standard with ads) and Apple TV subscriptions. 60GB of mobile hotspot, full-flight texting and Wi-Fi with streaming where available, phone upgrade eligibility every two years, and a 5 year price guarantee. You also get unlimited text and 15GB of high-speed data in Canada and Mexico and unlimited text and 5GB of high-speed data in other countries.
No trade-in or port-in required
Last but not least, preorder the Samsung Galaxy S26 256GB smartphone through T-Mobile and save $899.99 in bill credits over 24 months when you sign up for a new line on the Experience More or Go5G Plus plans with AutoPay. Trade-in and port-in are not required, but you will have to pay the one-time $35 connection fee.
Samsung's Galaxy S26 comes with all of the improvements we would expect from an iterative release. The S26 is the base model and is equipped with an Exynos 2600 APU that's more powerful than the Snapdragon 8 Elite found on the previous generation's S25. Additional features include 60W of wired fast-charging, privacy function for the display, and new AI features. The S26+ has a larger 6.7" 3120x1440 QHD+ Dynamic AMOLED 2X display and bigger battery capacity.
The S26 Ultra is the flagship model and features the even more powerful Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 NPU, the largest screen size (6.9") and biggest battery across all three models, sharper 50MP telephoto and ultra-wide lenses, included S-Pen stylus, a more scratch resistant Gorilla Glass Armor display, and enhanced Google Gemini AI integration. If you can afford it, the S26 Ultra is easily worth the upgrades and should allow you to skip more than a few generations.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
LEGO and Pokémon were my childhood (well, those and TMNT, but that’s for another time). I grew up building everything from simple cars and unrealistic houses to whatever amalgamation my creative mind could imagine. Never, as a kid, did I expect to see a fully licensed Pokémon set like the one we have now.
When I was a child, Pokémon was a game that, even now 30 years later, still has its claws in me with no sign of letting up. My younger siblings and I spent hours as kids, sitting with our Link Cables and GameBoys, trading Pokémon back and forth while we restarted one of our games enough times so we could each start with all three starter Pokémon. I knew I was hooked after spending an afternoon at my grandfather's house manually typing out my own Pokémon guide listing every Pokémon, their evolution levels, and what level they learned each move.
There is no Pokémon more iconic to the franchise than Pikachu, and while this set's first images weren’t as impressive as I’d hoped, I've changed my mind after building it and seeing it up close. As I gaze at it sitting on my shelf surrounded by other Pokémon plushes, statues, and numerous other Pokémon collectibles, I have to admit that it looks great! Is it perfect? No, but man, it’s a very welcome addition to my collection.
With Pokémon celebrating its 30th anniversary, it’s the perfect time to build this latest collaboration and go back to the series' roots, even though Pikachu wouldn’t be a selectable starter until Pokémon Yellow’s 1997/1998 release. LEGO provided IGN with a review set for a test build, and I was excited and fortunate enough to be the one to put it together. This 2,050-piece build took me around six hours to complete, which was long enough to revisit Pokémon: The First Movie (that big final moment still brings tears to my eyes), Detective Pikachu, and a couple of other Pokémon movies that were available to stream.
In the earlier steps, I was confused as to why our favorite little yellow mouse had so many vibrant pinks, teals, and other non-Pikachu-specific colors while building. However, as I finished the steps and his torso began to take shape, I realized all the additional colors would be hidden in the final build, and were there to make piecing together the inside easier.
It showed me how far LEGO has come in reducing complications and making larger builds faster to complete. I couldn’t help but smile after hitting major milestones in the build, and had the biggest one of them all when I settled Pikachu into his final resting position surrounded by the plastic lightning, making his action pose even more dynamic.
The biggest drawback to this LEGO Pikachu set is the $199.99 price tag; it's not much larger (size-wise) than its more affordable counterpart, Eevee, and it doesn’t feel as epic as the much more expensive Kanto starters set. Pikachu’s set comes with 16 bags. The first nine build the electric mouse #25 (National Pokédex) himself, while the remaining seven build his Poke Ball and the base to attach him to. The instruction manual is the same as the other Pokémon sets and comes with a Pokédex entry for Pikachu, as well as a look back on his history with the franchise, which was fun to remind myself of how far he and this franchise have come. Steps are well organized throughout the building process, and while the first few steps may look nothing like Pikachu, they quickly take shape as you move into the middle steps.
Similar to the Eevee build, as you progress, you will assemble sections, leaving small pockets open to eventually attach its articulable arms, legs, ears, and tail. Pikachu’s build starts with the internal portions of his torso, neck, and head, then adds the external rounded pieces to give him his iconic look. His lightning bolt-shaped tail and base were the highlights of the build for me, and they look great in LEGO form, accentuating Pikachu’s design. These steps were the simplest parts of the build, but they were also the most satisfying for me. Pikachu also features a few fun, swappable parts that can easily be adjusted for a new look. Swapping a hinge inside the pokeball converts it from open to closed. Pikachu can stand on his own or attach to his slanted stand (my preference), and you can swap the endcap pieces on Pikachu’s tail, swapping between heart-shaped (female) and pointed (male).
While not perfect, Pikachu’s feet are surprisingly pose-able to help with balancing him. Just take precautions during the build, because mine did take a tumble or two. His arms, however, are limited to vertical mobility and are prone to detaching if you try to adjust them too far outside that range. The good news is they are extremely easy to reattach should that occur, as it did to me a few times while rotating to attach new pieces.
His ears are also fantastic for articulation, as they can be rotated and angled freely, allowing you to quickly change his look. I only wish the set had a few more alternate pieces, like his mouth, to change his expression. There were only a few steps throughout the build process that gave me some trouble, and one of them was attaching the single round pieces to the center of another round piece. This made sense as one of the last words that comes to mind for me when I hear the word LEGO is round, which made these complications understandable.
The final portion of most steps is adorning Pikachu with pieces that help distinguish him from any other pile of yellow bricks. Thankfully, Pikachu’s eyes and mouth are printed on pieces, so no worries about ruining a set with a slightly misplaced sticker or anything of that nature. The eyes and mouth are both singular pieces to attach while his cheeks are a simple combination of pieces to give them their rounded appearance.
After completing Pikachu himself, the last things to build are his Poké Ball and lightning bolt-shaped stand, which made up the last seven bags of pieces. Though that's 40% of the bags, it's also filled with lots of larger flat pieces and was the quickest part of the build. This was great because I built it in two sittings, making getting to the finish line easier and all the more enjoyable.
Pikachu may not be my favorite Pokémon (Bulbasaur, you know, I had to include him in here at least once), but it was still an incredibly fun build and a wonderful addition to my collection. Each step after the first few clearly showcases what you're building, from the memorable stripes on its back to its lightning-bolt-shaped tail. For those who love Pikachu, I think this is an easy recommendation if you have the cash to spare. The pictures and marketing don’t really do this one justice; it's one of those sets that look much better in person.
Jada Griffin is IGN's Community Lead. If she's not engaging with users here, chances are she's developing her own games, maxing the Luck stat in her favorite games, or challenging her D&D players with Intense combat or masterful puzzles. You can follow her on Bluesky @jadarina.bsky.social
The Sonos Presidents Day Sale is officially over and the vast majority of deals are kaput. However, arguably the best deal that came out of the sale is still available. The certified refurbished Sonos Arc has been marked down to just $449 with free delivery. That's 60% cheaper than an Arc Ultra and an excellent deal for anyone looking for a Dolby Atmos soundbar.
Sonos refurbished products go through rigorous testing; they come with all accessories, manuals, and documentation and are reshipped in "pristine" packaging. Most importantly, Sonos includes the same 1-year warranty as buying new.
The release of the Arc Ultra doesn't make the Arc any less of a great speaker. The 45" soundbar houses eleven precisely engineered internal speakers, including three tweeters and eight midwoofers each paired with Class-D amplifiers. It's capable of room filling audio by itself, but you'd still benefit from a separate subwoofer to round out the low end. Unlike the Sonos Beam, which only has virtual height channels, the Arc has two physical height channels for true Dolby Atmos support. The Arc also has a built-in microphone for smart assistant compatiblity, including voice control.
If you're looking for an easy solution to add great sound to your home, then you've probably already heard of Sonos. Sonos speakers are very easy to set up, don't take a large amount of space, and most importantly, offer distortion-free room-filling audio. They're definitely pricier than budget options, but the sound quality is comparable to speakers that cost hundreds more or take up much more space.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Wolfbox just released a new model in its "Mega Flow" series of electric air dusters. The Wolfbox MF60 Cordless Electric Air Duster has a list price of $49.99, but Amazon is offering a 36% off coupon code "3WAQD8AD" that drops it to $31.94 with free shipping. The MF60 looks nearly identical to the $80 MF100 but with slightly less powerful airflow and fewer accessories. At less than half the price, it's definitely a better value. Wolfbox is well-rated for its great build quality and sustained, powerful cfm output at an affordable price.
New release
The Wolfbox MF60 cordless rechargeable electric air duster is a fairly straightforward device. An internal fan spins at up to 110,000RPM to move an appreciable amount of air. A nozzle funnels the air into a tight, high-velocity stream that's more than strong enough to blast away the layers of dust and debris that's been accumulating on your PC components. It has three speed settings, although I would recommend keeping it at the max speed for optimal results. You also get five different sized nozzles, including a narrow funnel for tight spaces like the crevices in your keyboard and a wider nozzle for general PC cleaning. The internal 5,000mAh battery capacity lasts up to 240 minutes at the slowest setting and recharges over USB Type-C in under four hours.
The build quality is excellent compared to other air dusters on Amazon that cost under $50, which are all based on the same X3/X3 Mini design with 3D printed plastic parts. The nozzle attachments are also more secure since the Wolfbox uses a twist-lock mechanism whereas most other air dusters use a push-fit design that often fails during use. If you're looking to get something as cheap as possible, then a $20 air duster will save you money in the short term, but get the Wolfbox MF100 if you want something that lasts.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Earlier this month, we informed you about a fan remake of the Comet Observatory level of Super Mario Galaxy in Unreal Engine 5. And today, we are happy to report that this fan remake is available for download. Created by ‘Kitsune Fuzzy’, this remake lets you explore the Comet Observatory. And, although the artist used … Continue reading Super Mario Galaxy Comet Observatory Fan Remake in Unreal Engine 5 – Download Here →
The post Super Mario Galaxy Comet Observatory Fan Remake in Unreal Engine 5 – Download Here appeared first on DSOGaming.
As IGN Fan Fest 2026 comes to a close, and we celebrate our favorite franchises across gaming and entertainment, it felt like a great time to celebrate you, our users. As some of you may have noticed last December, we didn’t recognize our top contributors to the site as we have in years past. Well, fear not, because that time is now here.
Each year, we adjust the criteria required for users that contributed positively to the community to be considered in the ranking of our top users. This year, we made our biggest adjustments yet. We are continuously working to remove the most problematic users from the community in an effort to better it, so one of the major components this year was ban history.
We’ve also introduced a new classification of Top User we've dubbed IGN All Stars, which comes with some new rewards. Please give a warm round of congratulations to our 3 IGN All Stars and rest of the top 10 users and their stats from 2025:
All users will each receive a year of IGN Plus, and our 3 IGN All Stars will also receive Humble Choice as a small gesture of gratitude from me and everyone at IGN and Humble Bundle.
In addition to recognizing these users who uplifted our community, we have also removed over 400 users who consistently violated our community guidelines. These banned accounts are those who have engaged in hate speech, harassment, or other toxic behaviors. These actions are necessary for our commitment to creating a safe and welcoming space for everyone at IGN. Thank you again to those exemplifying the best attitudes and behavior and serving as a role model for other users on the site. We look forward to another great year of your participation and hope to see others join the top ranks in 2026.
We have more updates coming for you very soon!
Baki-Dou: The Invincible Samurai is available on Netflix now.
In a world of cartoonishly ripped men whose only goal in life is to hone and prove their strength in a series of no-holds-barred, weapons-free fights, one’s greatest enemy is not a mighty foe; it is yawning boredom. This is the initial set-up for Netflix’s latest anime offering: Baki-Dou: The Invincible Samurai, and it makes for an entertaining, surprisingly relatable entry point for viewers new to the franchise.
Based on Keisuke Itagaki’s massively popular manga, Baki-Dou: The Invincible Samurai is the fourth series adaptation of the Baki story, following two seasons of Baki the Grappler (2001), two seasons of Baki (2018), and two seasons of Baki Hanma (2021). The franchise follows the battles of Baki Hanma (voiced by Troy Baker and Nobunaga Shimazaki), who begins the story as a teen underground fighter. In the hopes of growing strong enough to best his cruel father in combat, he travels the world to battle others.
By the time Baki-Dou: The Invincible Samurai starts, Baki has settled the score with his father, Yujiro “Strongest Creature on Earth” Hanma (voiced by Kirk Thornton and Akio Ōtsuka), and is left feeling aimless. He still trains, but it is without urgency, excitement, or purpose. Baki isn’t the only one—all the world’s fighters are caught up in this ennui, and it’s unexpectedly relatable. I may not be an anime muscle man, but I know what it’s like to feel a lack of purpose, seemingly exacerbated by the profit-driven humdrum of the modern world. It also aligns Baki with fans at home, wondering if the franchise will ever again be able to match the intensity of its father-son brawl.
In the world of Baki-Dou, the big-swing solution to our collective boredom isn’t easy but it is possible: bring history’s greatest samurai swordsman, Musashi Miyamoto (voiced by Sung-won Cho and Naoya Uchida), back from the dead. The task is spearheaded by Mitsunari Tokugawa (voiced by Matthew Yang King and Mugihito), the martial arts-obsessed billionaire who funds and runs the Underground Arena where our characters face off. (Note: I believe Tokugawa to be this franchise’s true villain.)
Tokugawa comes up with the crazy resurrection plan as a way to reinvigorate his international stable of fighters, and he hires a team of scientists (and his psychic sister) to make it happen. Viewers who are here solely for the battle sequences may be bored by the first few Baki-Dou episodes, which focus more on how Miyamoto is resurrected than martial arts, but the series is stronger for its slow-burn start. It allows us to better understand Baki’s boredom, while also providing context for Miyamoto’s return. As the series progresses, and Miyamoto is left to adapt (or not) to the modern world on his own, the Dr. Frankenstein-like selfishness of Tokugawa’s act serves as subtext for all that follows.
Actually, this isn’t the first time Baki has fought a fighter resurrected from the past, but it arguably works better here due to the narrative space given to Miyamoto’s character early in the story. He died in the Sengoku-era and woke up 400 years later in modern-day Tokyo. Overwhelmed by the changes, his code of combat becomes the only way for him to make sense of the world. In that sense, he fits right in with most of the story’s characters. In other ways, of course, his samurai-era perspective acts as a counterpoint to these contemporary characters. His interactions with them—from conversations to combat—make up the backbone (not an intentional reference to how Miyamoto was cloned) of this series.
While Baki-Dou may ease us into the series’ martial arts moments, once they come, they are precise and dynamic, making use of the unreal limits of the format to make each jump, jab, and launch into a convenience store come to life. The combat of Baki-Dou is not simply one of strength, but also a level of skill that ascends to the supernatural. Baki senses Miyamoto’s resurrections before the clone fully revives, drawn in by a mysterious and distant heartbeat. Miyamoto is so powerful that his visualizations of how a swordstrike might go can cause real pain to his opponent. The creativity in how ferocity is depicted—from inside a fighter’s head to as described on an evening news report—keeps the face-offs from turning stale.
As a franchise, Baki has never been known for its animation, but the utilitarian creativity displayed in Baki-Dou works for the world and looks the best it ever has. Baki-Dou director Toshiki Hirano told Animation Magazine that he hadn’t watched much of the previous Baki incarnations before helming 2018’s Baki. “Since visual expression and directing methods continue to change over time, I didn’t place particular emphasis on the earlier adaptations,” he said, adding that he was influenced by live-action samurai films like the 1970s Lone Wolf and Cub series, which is also a manga adaptation.
Instead, Hirano built his visual style around the Baki manga, and it shows in the finished product, which sometimes recreates panels exactly as they appear in the source material. Depending on how you feel about this level of visual faithfulness in adaptation, mileage may vary. “I think the hand-drawn style better suits the facial expressions and performances of the characters in this work, compared to CG,” says Hirano. “The most challenging characters to animate are those with a lot of line work. Effectively depicting their action scenes is something we struggle with every time.” In the age of AI, for a story that is at least partially about the ethics of rogue science, the hand-drawn style gives the anime additional thematic depth.
But Baki-Dou’s greatest strength may just be how fun and funny it is. The series strikes the perfect tone by allowing its characters to take its absurdist world unflinchingly seriously while never taking itself too seriously. An opponent gets irritated when Baki’s eyes fill with water as he fights to keep a yawn down mid-fight. A sunglasses-wearing psychic granny surprises a team of scientists by dropping some organic chemistry knowledge. It can’t be all fighting, and Baki-Dou gets creative about how to build out its world and its characters by both leaning into and subverting shonen expectations with equal humor.
Frustratingly, the 13 episodes released on Netflix only represent the first part of the Baki-Dou arc, which means viewers will have to wait for another part to drop before we see the conclusion of this chapter of Baki’s growth. However, as the measured pacing of Baki-Dou’s first part proves, sometimes there is value in the waiting.
Amazon just dropped the price on one of the best ultra-wide gaming monitors. The massive 49" Samsung Odyssey G9 (G93SC) QD-OLED gaming monitor is down to $899.99 with free delivery. This sale coincides with another promotion where you can get a free Resident Evil: Requiem game code with purchase. The offer will automatically be applied during checkout. Resident Evil: Reqiuem is now available and with this voucher you'll be able to download the full version of the game. Check out our Resident Evil: Requiem review.
The monitor also includes a 3 year warranty with burn-in coverage.
Free Resident Evil: Requiem game code with purchase
Samsung is one of the top selling OLED gaming monitor brands, and that's no surprise if you've ever seen one of these massive Odyssey G9 monitors in person. The G93SC is a 49" display with a 5120x1440 dual-QHD resolution measuring out to a respectable 109ppi pixel density. It's equivalent to having two 27" QHD monitors placed side by side. The quantum dot OLED panel boasts near-instantaneous 0.03ms response time, near infinite contrast ratio, and true black levels. QD OLED panels are better than traditional W-OLED panels because they are brighter and have a wider color gamut.
The OLED G9 also features a 240Hz refresh rate and Nvidia G-Sync compatibility. Note that you'll need a powerful graphics card (AMD Radeon RX 9070 XT or Nvidia GeForce RTX 5070 Ti at the minimum) to achieve that kind of fps at 5120x1440 in higher-demanding games. With older or less demanding games like Fortnite, League of Legends, or Minecraft, you could get away with a mid-range card like the GeForce RTX 5070 or Radeon RX 9070.
As mentioned earlier, this monitor has a 3 year warranty that includes OLED burn-in coverage. That's still pretty uncommon across most OLED brands, especially when you're looking at the less expensive models. Most come with just a 1 year warranty with no burn-in protection.
The Samsung OLED G9 has joined a host of Amazon gaming monitor deals that include a PC game code for Resident Evil: Requiem, the next mainline release in the Resident Evil franchise. The game on its own starts at $69.99 for the Standard Edition, so the deal gets you that much more in savings as well as a fresh AAA release to test out your new display.
Eric Song is the IGN commerce manager in charge of finding the best gaming and tech deals every day. When Eric isn't hunting for deals for other people at work, he's hunting for deals for himself during his free time.
Bluepoint, the studio behind the successful Shadow of the Colossus and Demon's Souls remakes, reportedly pitched a Bloodborne remake last year that was rejected not by Sony, as many have thought, but by FromSoftware.
This comes from a new Bloomberg report discussing the reasons Bluepoint was shut down by Sony earlier this month. As Bloomberg shares, Bluepoint was working on a live-service God of War game, following its acquisition by Sony, and support work on God of War Ragnarok. The God of War game would have involved Atreus falling into Hades and different "versions" of him battling through it with some kind of cooperative element.
The idea didn't really coalesce and Bluepoint, famous for more traditional action games, was a poor fit for the project, so it was canceled in January 2025. The studio was encouraged to pitch other ideas, and the one that made the most sense was a remake of 2015's amazing, IGN 9.1/10, Bloodborne.
Fans have begged for a Bloodborne remake or sequel for years, with all sorts of rumors cropping up that one might be in the works at any given time. Popular belief has been that Sony, as the IP owner, is what stands in the way of FromSoftware actually making one. But according to Bloomberg, that may not be the case. According to those working at the studio, they were told that while Sony was interested in a Bloodborne remake, FromSoftware was not, and the idea was scrapped.
Bloodborne's status has long been in limbo, with various individuals with ties to the project sharing conflicting thoughts on what can be made of it. Back in 2024, FromSoftware director Hidetaka Miyazaki said it was "not in my place" to talk about a Bloodborne remake because FromSoftware does not own the IP. He also told Eurogamer at the time that the game would benefit from a release on modern hardware.
Then, the following year, PlayStation's Shuhei Yoshida offered a theory on KindaFunny as to what was going on with Bloodborne that may match up with what happened to Bluepoint's pitch:
Bloodborne has always been the most asked thing. And people wonder why we haven’t really done anything, even an update or a remaster. Should be easy, right? The company is known for doing so many remasters, right, some people get frustrated.
I have only my personal theory to that situation. I left first-party so I don’t know what’s going on, but my theory is, you know because I remember, you know, Miyazaki-san really, really loved Bloodborne, you know, what he created. So I think he is interested, but he’s so successful and he’s so busy, so he doesn’t want, he cannot do himself, but he does not want anyone else to touch it. So that’s my theory. And the PlayStation team respect his wish. So that’s my guess, right? Theory. I am not revealing any secret information, to be clear.
The question of why no one seems to want to hit such an obvious home run, or let someone like Bluepoint hit it for them, remains. FromSoftware is currently hard at work on The Duskbloods, a similarly vampire-themed game exclusive to Nintendo Switch 2. As for Bluepoint, it reportedly went on to pitch other ideas, such as an updated Shadow of the Colossus and a spin-off of Ghost of Tsushima, before it was tragically shut down by Sony, with leaders believing the studio was not equipped to make its own game and was unable to find a sensible partnership. Per Bloomberg, some companies are currently in talks to see if they can save the studio and take it off Sony's hands, but no word yet as to how successful that might be.
Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.
You may have clicked into this review thinking, “A review of Under Night In-Birth 2 Sys:Celes? In the year of our Lord 2026?!” And you know what, that’s fair. This fighting game came out at the beginning of 2024, and it’s one that builds off a foundation laid by the 2012 original, which we also never reviewed. Well, I’ve decided better late than never, because Under Night In-Birth 2 is quite simply one of the best 2D fighters on the market right now – especially for fighting game fans that pine for the days of fast-paced anime fighters but with all the modern conveniences we’ve come to expect. It’s full of gorgeous pixel art and completely outlandish character designs alongside things like exceptional netcode and the ability to take control of a character during a replay, making its satisfyingly steep learning curve a joy to try and overcome, and its online play a staple of my fighting game rotation well past its initial launch.
For those completely unfamiliar, Under Night In-Birth (or just UNI for short) is the first wholly original series from Japanese developer French Bread, which was previously known mostly for Melty Blood, a 2D fighter based on the world and characters of the visual novel Tsukihime. The UNI games are four-button fighters with light, medium, and heavy attack buttons, as well as the Exs Action button, which has a number of uses ranging from short hops, to defensive shields, to meter management, etc.
What’s really cool about this fighting system at a basic level is that while most fighting games have a linear sort of logic to their combo system, allowing you to chain lights into mediums into heavies, UNI kind of just says “screw it, do what you want, it’ll work.” You can chain heavies into lights and lights into heavies, or convert big combos off of little pokes. Anytime you land any sort of touch in UNI, you can get big damage off of it, which is a very liberating feeling.
It also makes jumping into the shallow end of a new character very intuitive, even though they’re all so different from each other. I wouldn’t dare take a brand new character into online play and try to get by using simple combos alone, but if all you’re going to do is play through Arcade mode or mash some buttons against a similarly skilled friend, UNI’s flexible fighting system makes it very easy to do so on a casual level without relying solely on auto-combos.
Don’t let any of that fool you into thinking UNI is easy, though. The game speed is lightning fast, its zoning can feel utterly oppressive if you don't know how to deal with it, and the mixups certain characters can do will make you feel like you just got utterly blended. You really need to make use of its many different mechanics to be able to fight on an even playing field, and learning those is going to take some time – and for the more casual fighting game fan, it may even feel a bit like homework.
At the heart of UNI is the GRD system, and there’s really nothing else quite like it in the expansive world of 2D fighters. Basically, imagine it as a tug-of-war-style minigame that runs parallel to the actual fighting, with the winner being granted a pretty massive advantage for a limited amount of time. At the bottom of the screen, you’ll see a meter comprised of six diamonds on either side. You fill your side of the meter by moving forward, landing attacks, blocking, using the riskier (but more rewarding) shield block, and by holding down the Exs Action button to sit still and charge it up like you’re a Dragon Ball Z character raising your power level. You can also lose meter by moving backwards, getting hit, or having your own attacks blocked by the opponent’s shield block.
While this push and pull is happening, a timer will continue to circle around the middle of the meter, and once it’s up, the person with more of that meter filled wins the minigame and will enter the Vorpal State. While in the Vorpal State, you deal 10% more damage and gain the ability to use a technique called Chain Shift, which allows you to cancel the recovery of any move – much like a Roman Cancel in the Guilty Gear series – and also convert some of your diamonds from the GRD meter into your EXS meter, which governs your ability to use super moves and EX special moves.
It’s unusual, it’s complicated, but it’s also kind of brilliant. It encourages aggressive play while equally rewarding skillful defense; it’s largely negligible at lower levels of play, so newcomers don’t even have to worry about it, while more skilled fighters must split their focus between attacking the opponent in front of them and consider how their actions affect the GRD meter. It also further encourages careful meter and resource management, which is something every great modern fighting game benefits from.
I love the way fighting games look these days; Arc System Works, in particular, does an incredible job of blending 3D characters in 2D environments and reaping the benefits of both dimensions. But I’m also just a huge sucker for incredible 2D sprite art, and UNI’s characters rank up there among the best. Whether it’s the wild flowing hair and flailing limbs of Minerva, the lightning-fast speed and rapid slashes of Seth, or the hilariously gargantuan arms of Waldstein, the 24 characters (plus three more as paid DLC) of UNI2 absolutely brim with personality and flair.
I’m a big fan of rushdown characters, so Linne was the first one I gravitated towards, and I was initially taken aback by just how “rushdown” she actually was. Her run speed is incredibly fast, allowing her to close the distance from full screen in basically the blink of an eye. Even without learning her big damage combos, it’s a ton of fun to look for that slight opening to get in and then utterly blitzing my opponent with a fairly basic strike/throw gameplan. I’m at the point now where I definitely need to dig a little deeper into her moveset and find better ways to open people up, and fortunately, the teaching tools that UNI2 provides are stellar as well.
There’s a mission mode that gives you a basic overview of how to play each character, along with a wide variety of combos that cover just about every situation you could imagine sorted by difficulty. You’ve got quick, low-hitting combos you can use from point-blank range, overhead combos, combos that come out of your farthest reaching poke, anti-air combos, corner combos, and better versions of previous combos that build upon what you’ve already learned to squeeze out just a bit more damage. Once you get all the way down to the bottom, that’s where you’ll learn the big damage combos that incorporate Chain Shifts, super moves, and other high level techniques. It’s pretty much everything you need to build a full game plan with a character, all packed within the actual game itself, which should be the standard for any modern fighting game.
The unfortunate thing for anyone looking to learn about these characters by playing through their story mode, however, is that you’re going to feel buried under a mountain of jargon and names that won’t mean anything to you if you didn’t play the previous games in the series. The world and lore of Under Night is extensive, and there’s no effort made in this version to catch new players up on what “The Hollow Night” is, what the heck “EXS” is, or even what an “In-Birth” means. You are getting dropped into the supposed final chapter of a story, after all. Still, some sort of index or compendium would have gone a long way toward making these otherwise fairly dry arcade mode stories a bit easier to follow.
In general, UNI2 is lacking in content outside of its central modes. If you’re not a serious fighting game player who wants to grind online play and make use of its fantastic teaching tools to get better, there’s not going to be a ton here to hold your interest. Fortunately, if you are one of those people, UNI2 does have a feature that many AAA fighting games still don’t: Replay Takeover. While watching a replay, you’re able to take control of one of the characters at any point. This allows you to repeat something that gave you trouble in a match and try to find a way to learn from it. Like, for example, an offensive sequence that you got hit with that seemed air tight when you were in the moment – when you run it back, you might be able to find a spot where you could use an invincible reversal attack, or maybe your shield to push the opponent back far enough that their next attack wouldn’t have landed. Just like in Street Fighter 6, Tekken 8, and the scant few other fighting games that have this feature, it’s an absolute godsend when it comes to improving your matchup knowledge.
Director Zack Snyder isn't mincing words when it comes to defending the #ReleasetheSnyderCut fan movement. In a recent interview on Josh Horowitz's Happy Sad Confused podcast (via Dexerto), Snyder told critics of the movement to "go f*** yourself."
Snyder's comment comes at the tail-end of a 10-year retrospective about 2016's Batman v Superman: Dawn of Justice and the wider DCEU shared universe. Snyder reflects on the unlikely victory that was Warner Bros. releasing his original director's cut of Justice League in 2021, noting that the Snyderverse fandom was instrumental in making that happen.
"I think the fans should never forget that they did that," Snyder told Horowitz. "We raised a lot of money for suicide prevention and they really did a lot of good. They catch a lot of flak for being toxic or whatever, but they literally saved human lives, so you can go f*** yourself if that's what you think."
Snyder is referring to the fact that members of the Snyderverse fandom raised roughly $500,000 for the American Foundation for Suicide Prevention, in honor of Snyder's daughter, Autumn, who died in 2017. Snyder departed Justice League that year in the wake of his daughter's death, leading WB to bring in Joss Whedon to reshoot and recut the film.
As Snyder alludes, the Snyderverse fandom has been the subject of criticism over the years, with some pointing to a pattern of online bullying and harassment. That harassment has seemingly intensified with the pivot from the DCEU to James Gunn's DCU. Mods on r/SnyderCut were forced to delete a post calling for a campaign of review-bombing and spoilers after Gunn glibly replied, "Lol I think we'll survive. I'm not sure the eight people that listen to that guy (I'm going to go out on a limb and guess it's a guy) are going to impact the course of events.”
Even Snyder's colleague, Suicide Squad director David Ayer, hasn't been immune from online harassment. Ayer famously backed away from social media in late 2024 after voicing support for Gunn's Superman movie and receiving death threats in response.
For more on DC's cinematic future, check out every DC movie and series in development.
Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on BlueSky.
Fans are sharing their reactions to the first image of live-action Kratos and Atreus in the Prime Video God of War show…and they are not impressed.
Those looking forward to the upcoming adaptation of a classic PlayStation franchise quickly flooded social media after Amazon and Sony released an early picture of Ryan Hurst (Kratos) and Callum Vinson (Atreus) in costume earlier today. What could have been a powerful reveal for some of the most iconic video game characters of all time has, instead, started with a whimper.
“Not to be the standard Twitter negative Nancy but something about this looks off, right?” another said. “Like I'm not being negative for no reason? I can’t even pinpoint what looks wrong.”
“Amazon, don't be sorry. Be better,” one Reddit user quipped.
Even some of the more positive reactions come with caveats. There are stories of both struggle and success in the history of live-action video game adaptations, and almost all of them begin with hesitation from fans. It’s something many are keeping in mind as they try to picture how the rest of the God of War cast will translate into a more realistic visual style.
“It’s too clean. That’s the off part,” one IGN reader commented. “He doesn’t look like a weathered warrior like the game looks and neither does his uniform. It just looks too clean and ‘new’ but that could be the lighting. We’ll have to wait and see.”
“The thing about adapting videogames that already look insanely realistic into live action media is that a part of them is inevitably gonna look like [a Saturday Night Live] skit,” one X/Twitter user said.
“It doesn’t even look that bad,” another said, “I just think it’s going to be extremely difficult to translate to live-action.”
is there even a logical reason to making your reveal just a set photo (which will almost always look bad) and not just waiting until you can show how it will look with actual cinematography and lighting https://t.co/t4WbNQhHei
— not a panthers fan (@BrosephSZN) February 27, 2026
Ngl this took a second for me to absorb. First looks can always feel a bit iffy but maybe I'm just so used to video game Kratos and Atreus. https://t.co/LLCpwVBFpu
— BobaTalks (@BobaTalks) February 27, 2026
Many are calling the outfits “cheap,” asking if the God of War Norse saga-inspired costumes seen today are truly what fans can expect from the final version of the show. There’s no denying this is an officially released image, but it’s worth noting it will probably be a while before the series premieres.
The God of War show still has no release date, and as others have pointed out, a finished episode of TV will look different from a single image. Hurst’s Kratos and Vinson’s Atreus may also come off better (or maybe even worse) once they’re seen in motion in Season 1. It’s a lesson comic book fans learned last year, when fans initially reacted somewhat negatively to the first image from the 2025 Superman movie before largely changing their tune after seeing star David Corenswet in action.
Still, the damage may already be done, as this poor first impression has triggered a wave of skepticism. Some have even gone as far as to compare live-action Kratos and Atreus to something created with generative AI. There is currently little to suggest artificial intelligence had a hand in producing this image, but that isn’t stopping fans from bringing the topic to the table.
“Not saying it is, but this looks like a high quality AI photo….why lol,” another IGN reader said. “Hopefully the first trailer looks more ‘real.’”
"I'm sorry, but this has the same uncanny look as AI generated images," another Reddit user added. "I know it's not, but still."
I thought it was AI, but it’s not… 😂 pic.twitter.com/FERNrnsRmo
— Manny8 (@Manny8tv) February 27, 2026
the amount of my friends i had message me genuinely asking if this was AI is crazy
— Radec (@realradec) February 27, 2026
extremely poor decision by Amazon for making this the first official look at the God of War show https://t.co/JoRrV3EfoG
Hurst and Vinson are just two actors in a cast of actors who are also set to bring familiar characters to Prime Video subscribers in the future. Also included in the lineup are Ólafur Darri Ólafsson as Thor, Mandy Patinkin as Odin, Max Parker as Heimdall, and Teresa Palmer as Sif. In late January, Alastair Duncan was announced to reprise his role as Mimir, with franchise newcomers Danny Woodburn and Jeff Gulka set to play Brok and Sindri, respectively. Last week, we learned that Ed Skrein would portray Odin’s son and God of War (2018) antagonist, Baldur.
While we wait to see if fans will warm up to live-action Kratos, you can see more reactions below. You can also catch up with our July 2025 interview with showrunner Ronald D. Moore. Then be sure to check out other live-action versions of classic video game characters, including Lara Croft from Tomb Raider, Sweet Tooth from Twisted Metal, Link and Zelda from The Legend of Zelda, and Joel and Ellie from The Last of Us.
— Black Thunder ⚡️ (@BT_BlackThunder) February 27, 2026
I figured out my problem with it, it's the beard, it needs more volume https://t.co/ylTjr95Oef pic.twitter.com/NOLUuo7RcA
— Beyond Strange (@Comic_Oddity) February 27, 2026
This looks like one of those old YouTube thumbnails with the caption “God of War Live Action Trailer” bruh 😭 https://t.co/0f0Y6MzI2J
— PridefulSin ❕ (@ReignOfPride) February 27, 2026
— Maker Island (@MakerIslandFlag) February 27, 2026
Michael Cripe is a freelance writer with IGN. He's best known for his work at sites like The Pitch, The Escapist, and OnlySP. Be sure to give him a follow on Bluesky (@mikecripe.bsky.social) and Twitter (@MikeCripe).
Once again, Samsung took to the stage for Samsung Galaxy Unpacked to present their latest flagship products. Both our eyes and ears are being treated to some impressive upgrades, and we’ve gathered them all here for you.
Releasing on the 11th March, they’re available for pre-order now, and you can find out all the key things you need to know below.
Of course, the majority of the presentation focused on the official announcement of the S26 series of devices.
Screen-wise, the S26 offers a 6.3” FHD+ display, while the S26+ and S26 Ultra stretch to 6.7” and 6.9” respectively, both with QHD+. Each model has a 120Hz refresh and peak brightness of 2600 nits. In terms of storage, 256 and 512 GB models are available , with the Ultra also offering a massive 1 TB option for those for whom storage is an essential component.
Meanwhile, memory comes in at a respectable 12 GB, with that 1 TB Ultra getting an extra 4 GB above that. Batteries clock in at 4300, 4900 and 5000 mAh, the last of which Samsung states will offer up to 31 hours of video playback. And it’s not just a case of lasting longer: with the Ultra’s 60W “Super Fast Charging 3.0”, wired charging up to 75% will be possible in around 30 minutes.
As you’d expect at the top end, stats are up across the board on the Ultra, with the NPU 39% more powerful, aiding the increasingly integral Galaxy AI functionality, whilst the CPU is 19% faster and the GPU improved by 24%, all powered by the Snapdragon 8 Elite Gen 5 for Galaxy. There’s also improvements to thermal management, with their largest ever vapour chamber (now in its 6th iteration) managing heat more efficiently than ever, with the expected improvements to performance.
And of course, once again, Galaxy AI* continues to be emphasised across the entire Samsung ecosystem, with the keyword this year being “agentic” - AI which can anticipate your needs before you even know what they are. The presentation did offer a useful introduction to their “Now Brief” feature though, personalising an overview of your day, with the helpful ability to even remember things in your notifications you may have forgotten to diarise, as well as an all-new AI helper, Bixby.
A huge amount was also made during the presentation of the Ultra’s cutting edge new Privacy Display. Whilst its standard pixels spread light more widely than ever before, offering broad visibility, its “Black Matrix” narrow pixels allow light to reach only the user, massively narrowing visibility angles, so no more shoulder surfing from your neighbours on public transport.
You can customise the Privacy Display setting for specific apps but, most impressively, even just for certain elements of the screen, such as notifications, so no more embarrassing DM pop-up oversharing while your friend in the next seat is watching YouTube with you!
Samsung have understandably built a strong reputation for photography on their devices, and so the trend continues here. The S26 and S26 Plus offer 12 MP for the selfie camera, with 10 MP for the telephoto lens (3 x Optical Zoom), 12 MP for the ultra wide, and 50 MP for the wide-angle (2x Optical Quality Zoom). Whilst that’s more than enough for many people, the Ultra is where Samsung have really invested – not only with higher MP (50 for the telephoto and ultra-wide, 200 for the wide-angle) but crucially in wider apertures allowing significantly more light to the sensors, offering sharper detail and clearer more vibrant images as a result (F1.4 for the wide-angle, F2.9 for the telephoto).
Nightography once again is given a great deal of attention, including an emphasis on video in dark conditions having far less grain than previously and the Ultra introducing the APV codec which supports high bit rates and near lossless quality for 8k high resolution video. The new “Super Steady with Horizontal Lock” feature also particularly impressed – automatically maintaining a level horizon, removing the need to constantly ensure you’re keeping a straight hand as you shoot.
The other product revealed at the San Francisco event was the latest iteration of Samsung’s earbuds, the 4 Series. Both the standard and Pro versions offer 24-bit 96 kHz audio and both adaptive EQ and ANC, offering refined Hi-Fi sound and raising the bar on the sound quality a premium earbud can deliver. As for the inner-ear shaping, the standard model offers an ‘open type’ whilst the Pro opts for the more premium ‘canal’ shaping.
It’s the dual amplifier architecture that separates the pro option in particular, with each amplifier independently powering the tweeter and woofer, with the vibration area expanded almost 20% to help with both deeper, low frequencies, and refined, detailed top end. There’s also a customisable equaliser, allowing you to adjust bass, treble and tone to your environment and preferences.
A nice touch is the instant pairing, removing the need to mess about with apps or downloads when you first get connected and, should you lose a bud, it’s easier than ever to find them with SmartThings. The commitment to AI integration is also evident in your ability to now wake your assistant simply by talking when you’re wearing them, completely hands free.
Price-wise, the Base S26 begins at £879, the Plus at £1099 and the Ultra at £1279. For the Buds, you’re looking at £159 or £219 depending on whether you opt for the Pro version. Pre-orders are open now in advance of the 11th March release, and there’s currently £170 worth of savings to be had on the handsets if you pre-order at samsung.com, where you can also snag some exclusive colour variants (Silver Shadow for the handset, Pink Gold for both the handset and Pro Buds). In addition to the previously mentioned offer, if you pre-order the Galaxy S26 Ultra, Samsung will double up the storage, so you can get 512 GB for the price of 256 GB.**
*Galaxy AI only works with a network connection
**Operates as a price discount: buy the larger storage variant (Galaxy S26 Ultra 512GB) by 10.03.2026 and pay the future price of the smaller storage variant (Galaxy S26 Ultra 256GB)
Connexion