Legendary voice actress Jennifer Hale has been replaced as the voice of Samus in Metroid Prime 4, the new game's credits have revealed.

Numerous actors have voiced Samus over the years, though Hale had been the artist behind most of the bounty hunter's grunts and cries in Metroid Prime 1, 2 and 3 (with some additional work from a second artist, Vanessa Marshall).

Many fans had assumed Hale would return as Samus in Nintendo's long-awaited new Prime game, but Nintendo Life has now reported on Metroid Prime 4's credits, which list that Erin Yvette has taken on the role of Samus.

If you're playing Metroid Prime 4 and think Samus' grunts sound familiar, Yvette previously voiced Snow White in The Wolf Among Us, Alex in Oxenfree, and can currently be heard as Blonde Blazer in Dispatch.

The past few years have seen Nintendo replace many of its previous regular voice actors, including the veteran voice of Mario and Luigi, Charles Martinet. Princess Peach and Toad voice actress Samantha Kelly, meanwhile, discovered her 18-year tenure as the Super Mario characters was over on Nintendo Switch 2 launch day — when Mario Kart World released without her in it. Takashi Nagasako, who previously voiced Donkey Kong for 21 years, has also been replaced as of the Switch 2's launch.

IGN recently caught up with Hale and discussed her past work as Samus, and questioned whether she had recorded any new material for Metroid Prime 4 over the course of its lengthy development.

"I don't know," Hale told IGN. "I have no recollection of recording it or signing a contract, so it could be no. When we work, this is the thing, everything's under a code name, so they would've called it Sasquatch or Pineapple or Cookie Jar. And 'okay, I'm going to do Cookie Jar.' And then when you get to the session they'll tell you, but it stays in your brain for so much shorter a time. It doesn't stick as much."

While Hale's work as Samus is limited to the famously silent bounty hunter's range of grunts, she said she still had a full voice for the character in her mind while performing the role.

"I like to have identified a character's way of speaking before I do grunting for them, because how you grunt is different to how I grunt, to how anyone else grunts," Hale explained. "It's very specific. If you are a civilian and you're grunting, you're like... [makes surprised grunt noise] because it's all surprising and it's all new. If you've done it a million times, you're like [makes short grunt noise], because you've gone under fire 1,800 times and you're used to it."

Hale has voiced a string of famous video game characters over the years, including Ratchet and Clank's Rivet, Metal Gear Solid's Naomi Hunter, and BioShock Infinite's Rosalind Lutece. But it's for her role in Mass Effect that she remains perhaps known. Speaking to IGN, Hale said she hadn't been asked to return for Mass Effect 5 yet, but "would be there before they finish the sentence" if BioWare got in touch.

"Not all of Prime 4’s additions work, but this is still an excellent comeback," IGN wrote in our Metroid Prime 4 review, scoring the game an 8/10.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

Lengthy RPGs are one of the great joys in my life, but it can sometimes feel a bit daunting to pack one into just a few weeks for the review process. As of writing this, I have played just over 70 hours of Octopath Traveler 0 and am nearing the final few chapters in its main questline – and having played these kinds of RPGs most of my life, I already know those "final few chapters" will be anything but short. However, I'm eager to wrap them up in the coming days because it's been a worthwhile journey so far. Between the new wrinkles in its dynamic combat system and some fantastic music that uplift its big battles, Octopath Traveler 0 is hitting the right notes and delivering the things I seek from RPGs. The tales told within its various quest branches have been hit and miss, though, and I'm still waiting to see if the story will come together and hit its stride in this last stretch before I settle with a final, scored review.

With Octopath Traveler 0, Square Enix has adapted the 2022 mobile game Octopath Traveler: Champions of the Continent into a more traditional package, serving as both a prequel to the original and a reconfiguration of what's already available on phones. Regardless of where I land in my final review, I'm glad it exists in this form at all since it ditches the gacha/microtransaction elements that were used to build your party and instead has you recruiting team members through sidequests. Thus, the better parts of the mobile game come to the forefront and highlight that the foundation of the series held up then and still holds up now.

Story is where most of my reservations are since it hits some pretty high highs and fairly low lows. While I'm not expecting it to be the most beautifully written script or deepest character study, I've found several plot beats to fall quite flat due to some shallow storytelling, rudimentary dialogue, or things that happen just because. Comically evil villains make for bosses I get fired up to absolutely destroy, but it's hard to take them seriously at times when their foolish cruelty and thirst for power is the main hook, so I'm not coming away with a sense of satisfaction I've felt elsewhere (namely, Octopath Traveler 2). Like the rest of the series, godly powers linger in the background and slowly reveal themselves as you uncover the real purpose behind the eight divine rings, one of which is assigned to "the chosen one" who is your created protagonist. Despite the inconsistent quality of its storytelling across this long runtime, Octopath Traveler 0 runs at a decent pace and propels you forward without sitting on any one story thread for too long.

A big part of this is in how the main questline is structured; after a tragic prologue where your hometown is burned to the ground, you're given three story branches to pursue the trio of villains responsible. Themed around power, fame, and wealth, respectively, those three paths then converge into a conclusion for what is roughly the first half of the overall story (at about 40 hours). It then splits into three new questlines that pick up those themes once again, and although they retread similar territory, the stakes get higher as more of Octopath's world gets involved. That's a lot to chew on, but it's able to keep momentum rather than trying to build eight separate stories that have to run in parallel. Octopath Traveler 2 was very successful with regard to its cast of eight and made for some of the most memorable RPG stories in recent memory, but this is a smart direction considering that this (and the mobile game) centers around recruiting a lot of characters to swap in and out of your party. Unfortunately this means most party members feel rather disposable, so the disonance it creates is just the trade-off that gets made.

While I haven't experienced the same compelling, emotionally resonant character arcs I saw in the second game, specific moments remind me that there's still some heartfelt stuff tucked within. Whether it's a character wielding their pain from tragedy to summon a new power mid-battle or a quiet, reflective cutscene back at town to remind you what "home" really means, Octopath Traveler 0 has brief moments of greatness. The big picture is solid, too – the alliances and betrayals of various kingdoms don't get bogged down in exposition and deliver good old fashioned drama. The stories around Octopath's world religion get a bit unwieldy when it comes to the greater lore, but it's not incomprehensible and makes the mechanism of the church quite clear. Like the previous game, class warfare and going from nothing to something remains a prominent motif, and even though it sometimes fumbles the messaging here, it's willing to talk about those topics with enough clarity. Whether or not all these threads pay off, well, that's what's left for me to determine as I finish the main story.

Now, that's the A-plot. There's a B-plot that revolves around rebuilding your hometown through an independent but related questline that's tied to the town-building system. In the process of bringing your hometown back to life narratively, you actually rebuild it in a similar vein to Fallout 4 or even Ni no Kuni 2. You collect crafting materials naturally throughout which then allow you to build housing, shops, and decor wherever you like within certain parameters. It’s an enjoyable side activity, with tangible benefits that come from constructing new buildings and recruiting new residents you invite from across the map. You get perks such as discounted shop prices, a self-sufficient flow of materials, and a training ground for inactive party members to continue leveling up, among other things. Town building may seem optional at first, but it becomes almost essential the deeper you get, especially when you consider the story's broader message about what home means to you and the people you care for. It's a bit cheesy at times, but its heart is in the right place as it gets sentimental about what it takes to rebuild after losing everything.

You get a ton of sidequests thrown at you as you progress in the main game, many of which are a short series' of objectives to unlock new party members – some of which are cast members from the original game. It's super cool to see, but don't expect them to have any particular depth as the main story is largely focused on specific, non-optional characters. One thing I do enjoy about Octopath games and RPGs like them is the sense of discovery and stumbling upon secrets or locations you wouldn't visit otherwise, and the sidequests, if anything, have been a good way to pull you in those directions.

I've been on record saying Octopath Traveler 2 has one of my favorite turn-based combat systems ever; it shines here as well and for slightly different reasons. The Boost and Break systems give the typical dynamic of hitting elemental affinities extra depth. Playing the guessing game of discovering what enemies are weak against gets a little tiresome, but once that part is solved, scheming for your plan of attack based on turn order to Break enemies and tee up the big hits is oh so satisfying. Building each party members' Boost points to add extra hits or increase spell potency gives you something to plan around for turns well in advance. And lining up all these variables while juggling the threat of hard-hitting bosses who impose some impactful status ailments have me feeling like a genius tactician. Octopath might be playing on our nostalgia with its HD-2D retro-style visuals, but I honestly believe it has continually set a higher bar for turn-based combat systems in modern gaming.

Party composition is quite different this time around since you have eight active party members at all times – four in the front row and four in the back who you can swap between mid-turn. With 30-something characters in my current roster, it's an overwhelming amount to process and manage. But while the fundamentals of Octopath's combat system are familiar, pairing characters as duos for the column they occupy is a unique strategic layer that allows for a lot of flexibility in combat. And because they build Boost points individually, you can dole out the big hits more frequently and keep up a brisk pace in battle. You sacrifice individual character depth, however, as each party member has just one Job to progress through (aside from your protagonist), but you can at least master specific Job skills to then equip on other characters to diversify their moveset.

I'm not quite ready to say whether I like this combat more or less than Octopath Traveler 2 since I found its character growth more meaningful, but it’s still been a welcome change of pace that hits the turn-based highs that've made the series special. The slow-motion cinematic camera cuts for Max Boost attacks and tide-turning limit breaks still get me hyped up, giving combat the visual flair that truly makes the HD-2D style stand out when the action picks up. The confluence of thoughtful gameplay, fantastic graphics, and a banging soundtrack that contends with some of the RPG greats, showcases why the genre is still in good hands.

Octopath Traveler 0 has so much firing off in parallel with its separate story branches, overarching themes, and complex-but-satisfying RPG combat system, and I'm excited to see how it all concludes as I inch closer to the end. Great RPGs live or die by how their final acts play out – with the expectation of wild boss battles, story revelations, and resolution to an 80-hour-plus journey, a lot is riding on it. And I'm just as eager to finalize my thoughts and feelings on Octopath Traveler 0 soon after.

Fern "Antireal" Hook, the artist who found her own designs and graphics in Bungie's Marathon, has confirmed she has "resolved" the issue with the studio and its parent company Sony.

In a brief update posted to X/Twitter, Hook wrote: "The Marathon art issue has been resolved with Bungie and Sony Interactive Entertainment to my satisfaction." She did not provide details of any settlement.

Destiny 2 developer Bungie found itself battling accusations of plagiarism back in May after Hook accused the studio of lifting aspects of her artwork for its upcoming extraction shooter, Marathon. In screenshots taken from Marathon's alpha playtest accompanying the tweet, Hook alleged she could see distinct icons and graphics she designed, some of which were originally shared on social media years ago in 2017.

bungie is of course not obligated to hire me when making a game that draws overwhelmingly from the same design language i have refined for the last decade, but clearly my work was good enough to pillage for ideas and plaster all over their game without pay or attribution. pic.twitter.com/G3FbPtbPJD

— N² (@4nt1r34l) May 15, 2025

Shortly afterwards, Marathon game director Joe Ziegler and art director Joe Cross apologized on a painfully uncomfortable livestream that featured no Marathon art or footage at all, as the team was "still scrubbing all of our assets to make sure that we are being respectful of the situation." The studio commenced an "immediate investigation," eventually acknowledging that a "former Bungie artist" had indeed used Fern Hook's work without compensation or credit.

And then, of course, Marathon was delayed into 2026 as Bungie worked to respond to feedback from playtests. Things went very quiet until Marathon reemerged in October, when Bungie announced the extraction shooter was ready for a limited, invite-only playtest for players in North America and Europe across PS5, Xbox Series X and S, and Steam.

The art issue continues to cast a shadow, though. Last month, the director of the Marathon reveal cinematic short expressed his disbelief that he felt forced to come out and defend the work as "not AI."

Marathon has certainly endured a troubled development and has suffered multiple delays. The pressure is on for Marathon to succeed amid Destiny 2’s high-profile struggles. Earlier this month, parent company Sony said Bungie had failed to meet its sales and user engagement targets, resulting in a $200 million impairment charge.

Vikki Blake is a reporter for IGN, as well as a critic, columnist, and consultant with 15+ years experience working with some of the world's biggest gaming sites and publications. She's also a Guardian, Spartan, Silent Hillian, Legend, and perpetually High Chaos. Find her at BlueSky.

Quentin Tarantino has said There Will Be Blood could have been his favorite film of the 21st century if “weak sauce” actor Paul Dano wasn’t in it.

The Pulp Fiction and Reservoir Dogs writer and director appeared on The Bret Easton Ellis Podcast to reveal his 20 favorite films of the 21st century. He picks Ridley Scott’s Black Hawk Down at number one, but it’s his comments around his number five pick, There Will Be Blood, that have set the internet on fire.

Tarantino said There Will Be Blood might have been his top pick, if it weren’t for Paul Dano, who he described as the film’s “giant flaw.” Dano was nominated for the BAFTA for Best Supporting Actor for playing identical twins Paul and Eli Sunday in Paul Thomas Anderson's 2007 period drama There Will Be Blood.

Nintendo Switch 2 launch title Mario Kart World has just received a meaty update that finally adds custom item rules, and tweaks a long list of course layouts.

Fans of Mario Kart World's brilliant soundtrack, which is filled with toe-tapping remixes and fresh renditions of classic Nintendo tunes, will also now be able to see the name of each melody, and the game it was originally featured in.

And in other tweaks, there seems to be further acknowledgement that fans simply haven't warmed to the game's so-called intermission tracks, a fan term for World's frequent preference that you spend time racing between discrete courses, rather than on them. In all races heading toward Koopa Troopa Beach, players will now get to play two laps once they arrive, rather than just one.

This patch's biggest addition is the ability to set custom item rules when playing VS Race, Balloon Battle and Coin Runners, or when setting up an online play Room. As in previous Mario Kart games, this lets you disable certain items you don't like (that flipping Lightning...) or create item sets tuned towards mayhem (only Blue Shells).

Numerous other quality of life tweaks are included — all listed below — including a shortened time for some coin and Dash Food regeneration. My favorite note, however, is this one: "Made it so the player cannot use a second Boo while already using a Boo, when holding two Boos."

The full patch notes lie below:

Mario Kart World - Version 1.4.0 (2nd December 2025)

General

• Added "Custom Items" to the item rules.

  • This is a feature that lets you set which items appear.
  • This is supported in "VS Race", "Balloon Battle", "Coin Runners", and "Room" in "Online Play" or "Wireless Play".
• Made it so that music track name and source title of the track that is playing will be displayed on the Pause Menu.
• Added "Music Volume" to "Settings/Controller".

• Made it so players who gathered in a "Room" of "Online Play" can participate in "Race", "Knockout Tour", and "Battle".

  • Up to 4 players can participate in "Race", "Knockout Tour", and "Battle".
• Made it so you can join in with friends who are playing "Knockout Tour" from "Friends" in "2p", "Online Play" as well.
• Added "Restart" and "Next Race" in the Pause Menu for "VS Race" in "Single Player".
• Made it so you can select "Photo Mode" from the Pause Menu in "Race against Ghost" in "Time Trials".
• Changed the course layout of below courses for "VS Race", or "Race" in "Online Play" or "Wireless Play".
  • Race that heads from "Koopa Troopa Beach" to "DK Spaceport".
  • Race that heads from "Koopa Troopa Beach" to "Crown City".
  • Race that heads from "Koopa Troopa Beach" to "Peach Stadium".
  • Race that heads from "Whistlestop Summit" to "Koopa Troopa Beach".
  • Race that heads from "Desert Hills" to "Koopa Troopa Beach".
  • Race that heads from "DK Spaceport" to "Koopa Troopa Beach".
  • Race that heads from "Crown City" to "Koopa Troopa Beach".
  • Race that heads from "Peach Stadium" to "Koopa Troopa Beach".

  *Changed it so that, in all races heading toward "Koopa Troopa Beach", including the above courses, you will cross the finish line after two laps once you arrive at "Koopa Troopa Beach".

• You will now dash when riding on Manta Ramp’s back.
• Made it so the player will not hit Dragoneel when transformed into Bullet Bill.
• Made it so the player cannot use a second Boo while already using a Boo, when holding two Boos.
• When Dash Food is taken by someone, shortened the time until that Dash Food reappears.
• When a coin placed on water is taken by someone, shortened the time until that coin reappears.

Fixed Issues

• Fixed an issue where the dash time was not correct after a Charge Jump.
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through a wall when being stomped on from above by a vehicle driving on the road.
• Fixed an issue where a player would be squashed when touching a Thwomp that had landed.
• Fixed an issue where a Bullet Bill would not be displayed after using it.
• Fixed an issue where a character would be blurry even when making "Focus" "Character" when taking a photo in "Photo Mode" on the Pause Menu.
• Fixed an issue where the screen would look distorted if entering a pipe at the same time as joining a Free Roam in "Online Play".
• Fixed an issue where player could not get in a UFO when multiple players tried to get in a UFO at the same time in Free Roam in "Online Play".
• Fixed an issue where a friend’s information would not be updated when looking at the list of friends in "Friends" in "Online Play".
• Fixed an issue where there would be a communication error when looking at a group ID in "View Room Info" when participating in a group in "Friends" in "Online Play".
• Fixed an issue where a player’s place would go down if retiring during "Knockout Tour" in "Online Play".
• Fixed an issue where a player that is seen when spectating looks like they are going off the course over and over during "Knockout Tour" in "Online Play" or "Wireless Play".
• Fixed an issue where the player’s own character or vehicle would change when starting "Online Play" or "Wireless Play" again after quitting a game after "Knockout Tour" in "Online Play" or "Wireless Play".
• Fixed an issue where a player would get stuck on a wall when using a Bullet Bill while falling off the course in "Sky-High Sundae".
• Fixed an issue where a Bullet Bill would go outside the course when using it on the final curve in "Boo Cinema".
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through a bulldozer in "Toad's Factory".
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on a spotlight in the race that heads from "Toad's Factory" to "Bowser's Castle" when transformed into Bullet Bill.
• Fixed an issue where if the player used a Bullet Bill or Spiny Shell in the first curve of "Desert Hills", it would get stuck on a rock.
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on a tree when using a Bullet Bill on "DK Pass".
• Fixed an issue where, when the player was small because of Lightning, they would slip through the wall on the final curve of "DK Pass.
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on a billboard when transforming into Bullet Bill in the race that heads from "Crown City" to "Desert Hills".
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through the ring of stone when using a Bullet Bill or Mega Mushroom while falling in "Great ? Block Ruins" right before the final curve.
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on the ground on the meadows near "Big Donut".
• Fixed an issue where the player would slip through the wall if rewinding after wall riding in the special room you can go to from a pipe in "Shy Guy Bazaar".
• Fixed an issue where the player would still fall into the lava even though they have "Smart Steering" ON in "Dry Bones Burnout".
• Fixed an issue where the player would go off the course when using a Bullet Bill while rail riding in "Wario Stadium".
• Fixed an issue where the player would not be able to glide if getting on a glide panel while gliding in the race that heads from "Wario Stadium" to "Airship Fortress".
• Fixed an issue where the player would get stuck on the ground while heading from "Wario Stadium" to "Airship Fortress".
• Fixed an issue where the vehicle would float up from the rail when the player did a rail ride after a wall ride in a bike-type vehicle in "Wario Stadium".
• Fixed an issue where the player would go off the course when using a Bullet Bill on the shortcut while heading from "Dandelion Depths" to "Cheep Cheep Falls" in the "Ice Rally" of "Knockout Tour".
• Fixed an issue where the player would go off the course while gliding, while heading from "Dandelion Depths" to "Cheep Cheep Falls" in the "Moon Rally" of "Knockout Tour".
• Fixed an issue where a green shell would get stuck on the ground while heading from "Airship Fortress" to "Dry Bones Burnout" in the "Heart Rally" of "Knockout Tour".
• Fixed an issue where the player would go off the course when they transformed into Bullet Bill on top of a building in "Crown City" in the below races:
  • Race that heads from "DK Spaceport" to "Crown City".
  • Race that heads from "Koopa Troopa Beach" to "Crown City".
  • Race that heads from "Faraway Oasis" to "Crown City".
• Several other issues have been addressed to improve the gameplay experience.

Tom Phillips is IGN's News Editor. You can reach Tom at tom_phillips@ign.com or find him on Bluesky @tomphillipseg.bsky.social

The Warhammer 40,000 setting contains some pretty advanced technology. Blackstone Fortresses can destroy entire solar systems. The Aeonic Orb contains the power of an entire sun. And — get this — the Speranza, a massive vessel the size of a continent, can actually manipulate a black hole and fire it. Ouch!

So yeah, the Warhammer 40,000 setting has galaxy crushing might under its belt. But, it seems, the various races of the 41st millennium still don’t know what’s going on inside a black hole. And that’s not just the Imperium of Man letting the side down, either. It seems no-one — not even the incredibly advanced Necrons — have managed to work it out.

Confirmation comes from one of the latest Warhammer 40,000 novels, Guy Hayley’s Archmagos. It stars the much-loved 10,000 year-old dominus of the Adeptus Mechanicus, Belisarius Cawl, who travels to a Necron tomb world trapped on the event horizon of a black hole. And so, Belisarius Cawl ends up talking about black holes in general, and it’s this bit that surprised me as I was reading the book.

Sony is rolling out a minor PlayStation 5 update today, December 3.

The PS5 system software will be updated to version 25.08-12.40.00 in a phased release, Sony said. The patch notes, below, are brief and to the point. They indicate an improvement to messages and usability on some screens, and our old friends performance and stability make yet another appearance.

That’s it! Sony didn't say exactly how it's improved messages or usability, or provide any images showing the difference the update made. And that 'system software performance and stability' phrase is as vague as ever.

It seems likely this is the final PS5 update of 2025, coming as it does early December. So your console should now be set up to play whatever new games Christmas brings you. And if you're wondering what to pick up, we've got our pick of the best PS5 games in the slideshow, below.

PS5 system software update Version: 25.08-12.40.00 patch notes:

• We've improved the messages and usability on some screens.
• We've improved system software performance and stability.

Wesley is Director, News at IGN. Find him on Twitter at @wyp100. You can reach Wesley at wesley_yinpoole@ign.com or confidentially at wyp100@proton.me.

I woke up this morning in that weird post–Cyber Monday haze where you assume all the good bargains have packed their bags and vanished. Turns out they have not. Stores are still absolutely lousy with deals. If you're anything like me, you might want to dive back in before the shops realise the discounts should have actually ended days ago. Plenty of stuff worth snagging if you are quick!

Contents

• Retro
• Nintendo
• Xbox
• PlayStation
• PC
• PC Gear
• LEGO

This Day in Gaming 🎂

In retro news, I'm using an HECU Marine's welding torch to light a 26-candle cake baked for Half-Life: Opposing Force, the gritty expansion that dropped 1999-me into the boots of a Marine caught in the same Black Mesa disaster from a whole new angle. I cannot overstate how cool it was to witness the defecation meet the oscillation from an arguably crazier perspective.

Playing as Adrian Shephard meant engaging familiar Xen horrors (plus new Race X ones and CIA assassins) in unfamiliar ways, teaming with AI squadmates, and wielding oddball weapons that gave the firefights their own flavour. Opposing Force did more than add levels. It proved expansions could be ambitious, story-rich, and mechanically surprising, and, for many of us, it was the moment when Half-Life stopped being a GOTY and started becoming a universe.

Audible's holiday promotion for 2025 is now live. Now through December 16, new and returning Audible subscribers can sign up for three months of Audible Premium Plus for just $0.99 per month. You will need to be logged into your Amazon Prime membershp to see this promotion. After the three months is up, your subscription will convert to the standard $14.95/mo, so make sure to cancel beforehand if you don't want to continue with the service. You also get a free audiobook of your choice for each of those three months that you get to keep indefinitely even after your subscription expires.

3 Free Months of Audible Premium Plus