Sony and Nixxes have revealed the official PC system requirements for Death Stranding 2: On The Beach. So, let’s see what you will need in order to run it. The PC version of Death Stranding 2 will have uncapped framerates and support for ultrawide monitors. It will also support the DualSense controller. Plus, you can … Continue reading Here are the official PC requirements for Death Stranding 2→
Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 2 premieres Friday, Feb. 27 on Apple TV. New episodes drop weekly on Fridays.
Three years ago, Legendary’s “Monsterverse” expanded into the streaming realm with Apple TV’s big-budget series Monarch: Legacy of Monsters and immediately raised the bar for the franchise’s storytelling with its human characters. Structurally, the series is an ambitious, multi-generational saga with a heaping helping of cranky Titans adding an extra layer of drama. Episodes flipped back and forth in time between the creation of the monster-studying org Monarch in the ’50s by Dr. Keiko Miura (Mari Yamamoto), her husband Dr. Billy Randa (Anders Holm), and their best friend Lieutenant Lee Shaw (Wyatt Russell), and the events of 2015, a year after the infamous G-Day event when Godzilla first appeared to the modern world. And that continues into Season 2, as the Randa family in 2017 wrestle with the complicated consequences of Keiko’s retrieval from the Axis Mundi realm… and what inadvertently tagged along for the ride.
While its complex ensemble of characters and the Monarch vs. APEX Cybernetics plots might require a refresher before starting Season 2, co-creator/showrunner Chris Black and his writers have successfully refined their past/present storytelling this season so that the Titan and character problems of today are directly tied to Monarch discoveries or personal issues from the past. And that overall means plots are a lot easier to follow this season. The Titans are also far more present in Season 2, with a mix of Kong, Godzilla and the original Titan X monster given generous screen time with feature-film-quality visual effects work. Indeed, this season looks good. There were multiple times watching these 10 episodes that I genuinely lamented not being able to experience the scale of this season on a movie theater screen. It’s that impressive.
While Apple TV has embargoed the majority of this season’s plot points for pre-release reviews, what can be revealed is that Keiko takes point in the Season 2 storyline as her rescue from Axis Mundi makes her a woman out of time in 2017. While still discovering the effects of her years spent in Axis Mundi, Keiko gets to reunite with her grown son Hiroshi Randa (Takehiro Hira), meet her grandchildren Cate (Anna Sawai) and Kentaro (Ren Watabe), and be shocked by the growth of her once modest Monarch operation.
While the timeline of the series inches closer to the events of Godzilla: King of Monsters, this season exploits a sweet spot of unexplored real estate between the feature films; it’s a previously unfilled gap where plausible Titan encounters let the show’s characters do plenty of consequential business within the mythology. Aside from Keiko, Cate is still struggling to find purpose, but she rallies around not abandoning Col. Lee Shaw (Kurt Russell) behind in Axis Mundi, which activates her loyalty and drive to rescue the man who brought their grandmother back. Kentaro gets closer to his previously errant father, Hiroshi. Corah/May’s (Kiersey Clemons) hacker skills come into play for a substantial arc that involves Monarch’s Tim (Joe Tippett), a character who comes into his own as he’s folded back into the story on a much grander scale.
Pace-wise, the first half of the season moves like a rocket with plenty of Titan set pieces of note as well as major plot twists and turns in the present and past.
Meanwhile in the past, a 1957 Monarch research trip to Santo Soledad in South America with Keiko, Bill and Lee sets up the back story for the series’ first original Titan; the creature gets a meaningful story in keeping with the environmental subtext inherent to all of the franchise’s monsters. On the human side, the personal dynamics of the trio get infinitely more complicated, and that plays out through the entirety of the season in both time periods. Building on their already established chemistry in Season 1, Yamamoto, Holm and Wyatt Russell expand the depth of their character’s feelings and regrets in a way that makes the flashback segments feel vital and just as compelling as the present storylines.
Pace-wise, the first half of the season moves like a rocket with plenty of Titan set pieces of note as well as major plot twists and turns in the present and past. The back half slows down a bit until it introduces a clever device involving Axis Mundi that delivers poignant emotional turns that help close the season with unexpected resonance. In general, the cast rises to meet the complex material they’re provided with, which is why Monarch: Legacy of Monsters continues to shine as a franchise standout. Everyone in the ensemble gets something important to do with huge stakes at play. The only character who is sort of orphaned until the back end of the season is Kentaro, who gets stuck in a sullen rut that is enigmatic for plot purposes instead of feeling organic to his character. And his arc only stands out as less than satisfying because just about everyone else in the cast gets great material to move them forward in the season.
For those mostly interested in the Monsterverse mythology, you won’t be disappointed. There’s an abundance of tethers and connection points to the feature mythology, even Skull Island, Netflix’s animated sequel to Kong: Skull Island. Even better for those dissatisfied with major organizations, plot points or tech inventions that felt rather nebulous in the movies, look for many of those dangling issues to be better defined in the series, which in turn will enhance future rewatches of the movie-verse.
If you liked Monarch: Legacy of Monsters Season 1, there’s even more to love and appreciate about Season 2. Not to wholesale knock the major stars in the Monsterverse films, but the depth of this series’ characters, cast and storylines continues to run circles around what the features do. I pretty much go to the movies just for the Titans. Now, if I want great character work and monster moments, Monarch: Legacy of Monsters is my go-to.
Microsoft's new gaming boss Asha Sharma has responded to further scrutiny of her Xbox play history, and explained that her account had been shared among others at home.
Responding on social media to IGN's own Ryan McCaffrey, Sharma said she had not been "faking" her play history so it looked like she had more gaming experience. Instead, her account had previously been shared with others at home — something that is no longer the case, with her gamertag now set up for use by her only.
"Faking would be a terrible idea and wouldn't work," Sharma wrote, going on to reiterate that she would never "pretend to be the best gamer" anyway, as it's not her goal.
"I agree," Sharma wrote, in response to the suggestion that trying to bluff gamer knowledge would be a bad move. "Faking would be a terrible idea and wouldn't work. I also didn't expect my gamertag to blowup and the reality is more boring.
"I created it recently to learn and understand this world," Sharma continued. "I've played with my family, and it's a shared home account across devices (which you can see in the range of games/achievements). Fixed that this weekend and everyone is only playing on their own GTs.
"But I get where this is coming from," she added. "I don't pretend to be the best gamer and even though I'm playing, that's still not my goal. My focus is to make Xbox the best place to play, return to our roots, ship great things, and become stronger for the future."
Sharma shared her Xbox gamertag — AMRAHSAHSA — publicly via social media over the weekend. Fittiingly, her first achievement unlock appears to have been 'Your Journey Begins' from Halo: The Master Chief Collection on January 15 of this year. Since then, the account has been used to play 30 titles — and unlock almost all of the achievements in brick-breaking roguelite BALL x PIT.
Early response to Sharma's appointment was mixed, with questions around her lack of gaming industry experience coupled with the fact she has most recently worked on Microsoft's AI efforts. But Sharma had an amusing response to one fan when they suggested she was also now using AI to craft her social media posts: "Beep Boop Beep Boop."
"And yes, I’m writing my own posts :)" Sharma wrote on social media last night.
Still, scepticism of Sharma's true job purpose remains — particularly from Xbox co-founder Seamus Blackley, who said her appointment was quietly a sign the gaming brand would be "sunsetted." In an interview with GamesBeat, the former Microsoft veteran said he expected Sharma's role was "going to be as a palliative care doctor who slides Xbox gently into the night."
Daniel Vávra, director of the Kingdom Come: Deliverance franchise, is leaving game development to focus on making a Kingdom Come: Deliverance movie.
In an interview with Czech site CzechCrunch (via VGC), studio head Martin Frývaldský revealed that Vávra was stepping away from developing Warhorse Studios' next game to focus on Kingdom Come: Deliverance's big-screen adaptation.
"Dan has a new role. That’s the creation of the Kingdom Come movie," Frývaldský said (via machine translation). "We have been moving the Kingdom Come brand away from video games for some time now. So far we have been in comics, concerts, and tourism, but the film has attracted us the most. That is why Dan and I are working on getting it onto the screen or the big screen. There is also a draft script."
"I'm sure people will wonder if this is some kind of breakup with Warhorse," he added, "No, on the contrary, Dan himself wanted to move on. He made three games that were a global success, he has been wanting to try something different for a long time. Getting Kingdom Come to the screen [...] in the next few years is another milestone that we want to achieve, and that is Dan's new role. You won't see him in the office every day anymore, but in a broader sense he is still part of Warhorse."
Asked for the latest on those plans to adapt Kingdom Come: Deliverance for the big screen, Frývaldský said: "For a long time, people were around us who would like to make a film of KCD, but then Covid came and everything fell asleep. Now, after the release of the second game, we have returned to the idea with much greater drive.
"We feel the interest from the film world, negotiations are already underway. We don't just want to sell the rights, we want the film to be what we imagine it to be."
Frývaldský suggested that Vávra's new job title could be something like transmedia director as the team pushes to expand the franchise beyond games.
The first Kingdom Come: Deliverance video game, released in 2018, was a smash hit, selling over 10 million copies. Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 came out last year and has so far sold over 5 million copies.
IGN's Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 review returned a 9/10. We said: "Armed with excellent melee combat and an exceptional story, Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 is one part sequel and one part coronation, bringing a lot of the original's ideas to fruition."
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.
The Legend of Zelda celebrated its 40th anniversary this week, though you'd be forgiven for not noticing. Still, in Japan, you can now buy miniature versions of some iconic weaponry — which is nice, we suppose.
Today, however, Nintendo's official Japanese The Legend of Zelda social media account has come to life to announce the launch of "The Legend of Zelda Weapon Collection" — a highly-detailed set of miniature weapons, featuring some of the franchise's most iconic gear.
Made by Bandai, the nine-piece set includes the Master Sword, Hylian Shield, Royal Claymore, Zora Longsword, Seven Jewels Dagger, Great Eagle Bow, Stonecrusher, Lightscale Trident, and a rarer sheathed Master Sword variant.
The items are being sold in candy boxes, and Nintendo says you can find them in Japanese stores within "candy sections in stores nationwide." Or on eBay, were pre-sale listings for the full collection are currently circulating, priced around $100.
Why hasn't Nintendo made more of Zelda's 40th anniversary? Well, with no big Switch 2 game on the horizon (and likely still a few years away yet, considering the still 2023 launch of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, and the typical gap between mainline games), the franchise does not have a banner release to hang a celebration on.
Fans remain hopeful for something new-ish on Switch 2 this year (another remake?) perhaps nearer the holidays. 2026 is the franchise's 40th year for a while longer, after all.
When it’s time to unplug, shut off the TV and reduce screen time, board games always have your back when it comes to scratching that lingering escapist itch and drive to continue playing. Luckily, there exist countless board game tie-ins to some of the most popular video games around, and we’ve collected some of our favorites here. Whether you’re looking for a long-term campaign or a quick to setup party game, these board games will let you continue living in these worlds when you need a break from technology.
Stealth games are a surprisingly good fit for a tabletop adaptation, thanks to the under-utilised genre of hidden movement, where one player records their board position secretly and only reveals themselves when they're visible to other players. As we discussed in our Sniper Elite: The Board Game review this is leveraged brilliantly here, as one player takes a lone sniper against the remainder who control squads of German soliders. Super production and tight timescales on each of the included scenarios elevates the tension magnificently as the sniper races to complete objectives while his hunters relentlessly scour the map to corner him.
Slay the Spire: The Board Game
Probably the one video game on this list most deserving of a board game tie-in, Slay the Spire takes after its digital roots by having players take on the role of one of the provided heroes and go on a Roguelike deck-building climb through the Spire. Like the video game, players will choose from a number of different rooms each with their own characteristics that will affect their game; encounters, where you’ll fight regular enemies, elites, where you’ll fight even stronger ones, events, campfires, treasure, the merchant, and finally the boss. By the nature of Roguelikes, Slay the Spire is sure to give players hours of enjoyment as they try different characters, builds, and items each time.
The Bloodborne board game sees players take on the role of Hunter as they fight to vanquish the evil stirring within Yharnam. As a campaign board game, Bloodborne offers players endless replay value, as no two sessions should be too alike with its modular map tiles. Featuring hundreds of various cards, tokens, and game pieces, this macabre adventure will test players’ skill and decision making as they uncover the secret to the unyielding plague and fight to stop it. Immersion is at the forefront here, and the game’s highly detailed miniatures ensure that you truly feel in their shoes.
Resident Evil 2: The Board Game
The success of the Resident Evil 2 tabletop adaptation paved the way for Steamforged Games to create similar experiences covering both the original Resident Evil and Resident Evil 3: Nemesis’ stories. However, much like the video games, Resident Evil 2 is arguably its best entry. Faithful to the source material, the game has players work cooperatively as they take control of either Leon S. Kennedy or Claire Redfield as they fight their way through hordes of zombies to make their escape in multiple available scenarios. Collect weapons, healing items, and keys as you navigate the environment, evade the undead, and solve puzzles. You can even use the iconic ink ribbons and typewriters to affect your sessions!
Dorfromantik: The Board Game
Not only is this delightfully cosy adaptation of a delightfully cost video game worth playing, it scooped the highly prestigious Spiel des Jahres award in 2023, after which we gave it a full review. Played co-operatively, players take one random hex at a time and find the best place to fit it into the growing landscape to satisfy a range of scoring conditions. While initially simple, it's surprisingly enthralling and the fantastic campaign system slowly unveils more and more new content to keep things entertaining without upping the smooth accessibility and visual appeal of the game.
Tetris Board Game
Also made by Buffalo Games, Tetris is a competitive head-to-head game where players maneuver, rotate, and drop their tetriminos to get the highest score. Just like the video game, the next up piece is on full display, represented by a card, so players can plan their strategy accordingly. You earn points by completing lines, matching pieces to symbols on their tower, and completing specific achievements. Quick setup and play time makes this a great pick for parties and younger players.
Dark Souls The Board Game: The Sunless City
Originally envisioned as content for the original Dark Souls board game Kickstarter campaign, the Sunless City core set is a standalone adventure that’s great for newer players, and got its namesake from the infamous location familiar to players of the video games. Each player starts the game by choosing a class and gear, then starts navigating the catacombs, taking on skeleton archers, or resting at the bonfire. Actions are limited, so choose wisely. This game is very faithful to its source material, with its punishing combat and RPG elements that shine from the level up system. The Sunless City also features new playable characters and over a hundred new cards, all compatible with existing Dark Souls board game products.
Stardew Valley: The Board Game
Life sims like Stardew Valley make great board games, as you're essentially building up and optimising an engine to move on to bigger and better things, which reflects an entire mechanical genre on tabletop. So this version lets you do all the stuff from the video game that you love best like farming crops, making friends and fixing your local community centre. But don't be fooled by the cutesy objectives: this is actually pretty tough cooperative affair that will challenge your groups strategic chops if you want to succeed and return the valley to glory, which we delved into in more detail in our Stardew Valley: The Board Game review.
This War of Mine: The Board Game
While the original won plaudits for its successful re-creation of the horrors of living under wartime occupation, those kinds of feelings are much harder for a tabletop game to evoke. Ares Games proved equal to the task, however, with this stunning cooperative mixture of strategic resource management and narrative heft. Players must venture out in the dangers of the city to scavenge for the food, resources and medical supplies they need to stay alive while violence unfolds all around them, bought to life by tying in the group's descisions and actions to a superbly-written book of narrative paragraphs, through which the morally questionable choices required to survive may come back to haunt you.
Elden Ring: The Board Game
With Elden Ring Nightreign around the corner, what better way to prepare for FromSoftware's newest multiplayer outing than to dive into the offical Elden Ring Board game by Steamforged Games? This is a typical co-operative campaign board game, where you and up to three other players once again traverse the Lands Between, choose from a handful of familiar classes, take on deadly foes, and ultimately come out on top in a roughly 50 hour campaign. There are multiple playstyles available if that timeframe is daunting, and you can even play it solo. In our review, we gave it an 8, saying the game "captures the spirit of exploration, intense combat, and character progression, while maintaining the challenge fans expect."
Metal Gear Solid The Board Game
After a tumultous development caused some delays, the Metal Gear Solid board game is finally here and is a great time. Another campaign-style experience, it retells the events of the original 1998 PlayStation video game, taking players through up to 14 different scenarios and giving them control of fan favorite characters like Solid Snake and Otacon. Each player gets fours actions per turn, and each character has unique skills to pick from. You'll unlock gear throughout your campaign like new weapons, equipment, and of course, Snake's iconic cardboard box. Difficulty throughout the different campaigns fluctuates, making this a great game for both board game veterans and newcomers alike.
Divinity: Original Sin the Board Game
Larian Studios captured lightning in a bottle once again with their tabletop adaptation of Divinity: Original Sin. While intimidating at first due to the amount of various cards, game pieces, and figures included (and the enormous box it all comes in), Divinity: Originial Sin is actually quite approachable for new players. Instead of traditional, clunky game boards, here they've included a hefty ringed book that details every scenario available to you and your party. Set up is quick and easy, and building your character is fun, intuitive, and in-depth - you'll pick from among four premade classes or you can build your own. You'll build out your characters, fight various bosses, grab weapons, and manage skills throughout a handful of different scenarios, as we outlined in our 8/10 review.
For deeper dives into specific board games, check out our Aeon's End buying guide, as well as our surprisingly huge buying guide for Carcassonne, one of the earlier board games to bring serious gaming depth to the populace.
Myles Obenza is a freelance commerce writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter @Myles Obenza.
The director of the first Assassin's Creed with naval battles found it 'bizarre' to watch Skull and Bones' agonisingly long development, because it was 'essentially the same stuff re-shipping 14 years after we made it'
Connexion
