Coliseum

The moment one mentions a narrative-driven game, one question springs to the mind of any interested player: Do my choices matter? Video games of all genres are filled with illusory choices meant to make the player feel like they’re impacting the world, even when major moments and mechanics are scripted, and that’s often not a big deal. But in a game like Exodus, a choice-driven RPG that aims to follow in Mass Effect’s footsteps, impactful choices can make or break someone’s experience. 

I played a few hours of Exodus at developer Archetype Entertainment’s Austin offices and came away with a good sense of how the studio intends to give players agency. The systems are mostly what you’d expect from a game like this, but there’s one major wrinkle: time dilation. It’s a real scientific principle, and the backbone of Exodus’ worldbuilding. Essentially, the closer you travel to the speed of light, the slower you experience time. As Jun Aslan, Exodus’ protagonist, you’ll embark on multiple lightspeed journeys (fittingly called an Exodus) that last months, years, or decades and only experience a few hours, days, or maybe weeks. However, the people back home on the world of Lidon experience time normally, so when you return, a lot will have changed. Your decisions in Exodus can have major ramifications for civilization down the line, and you must live with the consequences of your actions. It’s a lens that reframes every decision you make.

For example, at the smallest level, you can impact your companions’ opinions of you through dialogue. This is pretty standard for RPGs, with pop-ups in the corner of the screen saying “Salt approves” or “Elise disapproves” based on what you choose to say in conversation with them, or with other NPCs while your companions are nearby. You can also choose which companions to bring with you on each mission, giving you more opportunity to raise or lower their opinion of Jun, the protagonist.

However, time dilation can impact your relationships in major ways. According to narrative director Drew Karpyshyn, “Not every companion will always be with you at all times […] And considering what happens when you’re gone for years and how these relationships may be maintained is a huge part of the game. It doesn’t happen on every mission, but the missions where it does happen – these key Exodus missions that are major points in the story – you have to consider all this.”

I’m not sure what specific scenarios he might be referring to here, but it’s not hard to speculate that there may be decisions where you have to choose which companions to bring with you and which to leave behind. In fact, the damage caused by leaving someone behind like that is the whole pitch of the movie Interstellar, one of Exodus’ major influences. It’s also possible that you don’t get to choose who accompanies you on a journey, and if that’s the case, you’ll be leaving companions on a planet on the path to a future you’ve already shaped.

To clarify, many major decisions in Exodus involve Remnants, highly advanced pieces of Celestial technology you’ll encounter on your adventure. In my playtime, I recovered one called the Logos, which is essentially a highly advanced encyclopedia. Lidon, your home, is a planet built on Celestial technology, and Jun has the choice to either lean into the information in the Logos to build on the planet’s foundation or use the Logos to reverse-engineer new tech, making society independent but less advanced.

This is what Archetype refers to as a breakpoint decision. You have to pick one of two significant options, and since Jun has some minor precognitive abilities, you can see abstract glimpses of the future before deciding on one or the other. The option to reject the Celestial tech has an image of some dome-like ships, while the option to embrace it shows a preview of some kind of giant snake. Ostensibly, after picking one, I’ll see the impact of that choice after an Exodus journey. And if I’m leaving a companion behind, they’ll have to live in whichever timeline I’ve committed to.

Jun’s precognitive abilities are best seen in the Dynasty tab in the menu, which has a timeline depicting past events and Lidon’s ultimate fate. In the early hours we played, Lidon is doomed to be consumed by the Rot, which makes sense – it’s the pressure that sets the game in motion. But the screen also shows points earned in three categories, each depicting elements of Lidon’s society: green for culture, blue for science, and red for military. Players will face different story outcomes based on each of these levels, and the previews for breakpoint decisions give you a heads-up on which points you’ll earn for each choice.

 

All of this is to say that Archetype has injected each breakpoint decision with a lot of variables, and I’m excited about the weight that potentially provides. You’re considering the immediate consequences, the long-term story consequences, how it’ll impact your Dynasty points, and how it might affect your relationships. It’s up to the player to decide which of these factors matter most in the moment, and whether the blowback in other categories might be worth it.

However, while my hands-on time gave me a full picture of the factors involved in making decisions, I never saw the long-term results of one. I understand exactly why – Archetype doesn’t want to spoil its game’s biggest moments months before release – but I can’t fully endorse the story’s malleability without seeing it for myself. The pieces so far are promising, and I’m excited to learn more when Exodus launches on April 7, 2027, on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

For more exclusive details about the game, you can check out my 14-page cover story or check out our other exclusive coverage below.

• I Played Exodus, And My Favorite Part Was The Talking Space Frogs
• Salt, A Talking Mech-Piloting Octopus, Is The Weirdest Companion In Exodus (And I Love Her)
• Suliman, Exodus’ Bad Boy Companion, Is Intentionally ‘Self-Important And Arrogant’
• Saving The Space Frogs On Khonsu In Exodus | New Gameplay Today
• Exclusive Exodus Story And Gameplay Deep Dive | The Game Informer Show

Reviewed on:
PlayStation 5

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Publisher:
2K Games

Developer:
Visual Concepts

Release:
September 3, 2026

Rating:
Everyone

The NBA 2K series is perpetually the most frustrating sports franchise for me. On one hand, NBA 2K delivers the best gameplay of any sports franchise year after year; truly, its ability to replicate the action of its corresponding sport is unmatched even by its strongest contemporaries. Unfortunately, the other side of the coin is that its egregious monetization makes the premium product feel more akin to a free-to-play game. NBA 2K27 continues to deliver (and even refine) the series’ incredible gameplay and unrivaled feature set, but like a star player who can’t shed their bad habits, it too often gets in its own way.

As with every entry since the series’ debut on Dreamcast, I couldn’t wait to step onto the court with the latest rosters. Outside of times when my teammates weren’t aware enough to avoid stepping out of bounds, basketball has rarely felt smoother in video game form. Calling plays on the fly, setting screens, and finding the open teammate to drain a clutch three never ceases to excite. And you’ll need to ensure you’re using all the tools at your disposal to find the best shot possible if you hope to succeed in this year’s entry. 

The new rhythm shooting mechanic, where you must release your shot at the exact right time to sink it, adds a new layer of challenge to nailing jumpshots. I struggled at first, but I eventually got the hang of it. Still, I wish it wasn’t an all-or-nothing model; I would vastly prefer it simply buffing or nerfing your shot percentage, rather than outright making you miss if you don’t hit the green part of the meter. Thankfully, if you’d prefer, you can turn it off in most modes and rely solely on your players’ attributes instead.

 

Scoring is made even more challenging by round defensive boosts, which give insight into where the pressure on the ball handler is and let defenders more aggressively contest shots. The offense earns a bump with a revamped Takeover system that rewards strong play with attribute buffs and special skills, as well as more precise ball handling, but even as my games typically ended with sky-high stat lines, NBA 2K27 feels like the pendulum starting to swing back in favor of the defenders.

The incredible gameplay extends to the most impressive suite of modes in the genre. MyNBA continues its run as the best Franchise mode in all of sports, with options to play in the modern NBA or various eras spread across the last four decades, complete with fairly accurate rosters, draft classes, rules, presentation, and more. I loved jumping into the Jordan Era and seeing if I could craft a team able to take down the legendary ‘90s Bulls. Regardless of if you’re playing in the modern era or one of the retro periods, MyNBA benefits from improved free agency, contract negotiations, and trade mechanics, improving the gold-standard long-form mode. Though you can’t play in other eras of the women’s game, I’m happy to see many of the features of MyNBA implemented into the MyWNBA mode as well.

On the player-focused MyCareer front, 2K27 delivers a compelling narrative starring a high school prospect who derails their career in a car accident and must rebuild in the NBA G League. When it’s at its best, the cinematic story interweaves elements of the off-the-court narrative into gameplay, such as the point guard who won’t pass to you or a 3v3 streetball tourney against NBA stars at Rucker Park, but it quickly nosedives once it introduces your Running Mate, a player meant to be the Robin to your Batman; I thought I’d be rid of him once I escaped to the NBA, but the story twists to land him on your NBA squad too. 

Soon, most in-game goals revolve around monitoring your Running Mate’s stat lines as well; it quickly felt like I was responsible for two careers, and it made me wish I had taken the other MyCareer options and played in a retro era or simply skipped the narrative altogether. I play these modes to feel like I’m controlling a young player who is part of an actual NBA squad, but when a random fictional player shadows you at all times, it shatters the immersion. 

Speaking of destroying an otherwise immersive career experience, the moment you step outside of your apartment or arena and into the shared hub of The City to either buy new gear or access the online portion of MyCareer, you’re inundated with ads, players zipping around on hoverboards dressed in ridiculous outfits, and even sponsored questlines like one starring Jake from State Farm. It all points towards NBA 2K’s unhealthy relationship with being unsatisfied with the $70 (or more) you already dropped on the game; it also wants you to spend money on VC or, at the very least, see some ads that will earn it additional revenue. Unfortunately, VC serves as one of the key points of frustration for any multi-mode player.

To level up your MyCareer player – even if you’re just in single-player – you must use VC. And just like past games, VC is a shared pool for upgrades and purchases across all game modes. I hate deciding between improving my MyCareer player’s ballhandling skill, buying a new pair of in-game shoes at the Nike store, or spending it in the marketplace in MyTeam.  

It’s inevitable that certain modes in modern sports games are built around microtransactions and convoluted currencies, but it’s annoying when they break containment to taint largely single-player modes like MyCareer. This isn’t anything new for the series, but it’s disappointing to see the trend continue year after year. In isolation, MyTeam is a fun mode built around the cards you collect from various NBA eras and the WNBA over the course of play. Whether you play online or offline, MyTeam provides myriad ways to add to your collection on top of the obvious “spend VC to acquire cards” route, but at the end of the day, those who do spend the VC will have the better teams.

NBA 2K27 aptly builds upon features in prior entries, even when parts of that foundation are less sturdy. The gameplay remains stellar, and MyNBA stands tall as the reigning champion of Franchise modes. Unfortunately, MyCareer’s stumbles and the pervasive level of microtransactions cause me to caveat an otherwise easy recommendation.

Score:
7.75

About Game Informer’s review system

Reviewed on:
PlayStation 5

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S

Publisher:
Electronic Arts

Developer:
EA Vancouver

Release:
September 11, 2026

Rating:
Everyone 10+

Despite its dedication to authenticity, NHL 27 has an identity crisis. The annual hockey sim from EA Vancouver spent the 2010s cementing itself as a persistent fan favorite, with NHL 11, NHL 14, and NHL 19 intertwining modes and customization options with ambitious intervals of innovation and approachability. This year’s iteration tries to imitate that era with a rising cover star in Macklin Celebrini, a modernized revision of GM Connected, and all-new broadcast packages built with hockey tourism in mind, but the serotonin thins into a sobering one-tee of familiarity.

On the ice, NHL 27’s skating is where it should be. Whereas NHL 26 introduced a 2.0 version of 25’s Ice-Q technology that uses NHL Edge data to inform player attributes like top speed, shot power, and positioning to provide a realistic contrast between the league’s best, the latest entry refines it through motion. Passing is more intuitive with dump angles and cycling countering better board pins, poke checks, stick lifts, and defensive awareness. Goaltenders now have excellent reaction times across the board, but their crease awareness remains nonexistent. 

More aggro netminders challenge breakaways and two-on-one scenarios while elite starters are dialed in on setups and one-timers that would normally leave them beached between the posts. Hitting isn’t as reckless as in years past, and due to smarter AI adjustments, the pacing in online and offline modes is a lot more fluid in the neutral zone, promoting user creativity that extends beyond left-trigger glitches, which have been nerfed. It adds realism and, as a result, makes X-Factor abilities that boost mobility and saucer passes more essential than enforcer metas.

 

New team-specific playbooks add to NHL 27’s renewed focus on cohesive AI behaviors as they use real-world positional data to determine how teams react to tactical strategies and pressure, but the idea falls short in execution. Instead of sharing three different presets, every team uses a unique tactical identity, replicating possession-heavy zone entries, defensive collapses that prioritize physical box-outs to protect the slot, and forechecking speed that’s amped to produce chaos in front of the net. It’s a great addition, but in theory, it’s barely recognizable on the ice as CPU teammates rarely pinch or stay in a specific formation after a faceoff is won. 

Playbooks also stick to unique team strategies that can’t be edited in online competitive modes, which goes against the philosophy of “playing your way.” Being able to control breakout styles and mix and match contextual shifts with rivals offers personalization, but it also takes it away by limiting whether a line cycles or shoots. As a result, defensive-minded teams like the New York Islanders and Detroit Red Wings are boring compared to the feral playstyles of the Carolina Hurricanes and Philadelphia Flyers that integrate pressure to level contenders into submission.

Team dynamics are also accentuated by new team atmospheres, with all 32 NHL arenas being reconstructed through distinct lighting systems, real-world jumbotron videos, and licensed goal songs that have replaced the series’ punk-leaning soundtracks. It’s a plus for Franchise lifers and anyone who has taken in Montreal’s Bell Centre or Nashville’s Bridgestone Arena up close, but it is another area that falls short of greatness; Team introductions are identical and fail to show tunnel walks, locker rooms, or Flyers mascot Gritty staring into someone’s soul. ESPN’s John Buccigross and TNT’s Darren Pang replace James Cybulski and Cheryl Pounder in the booth. While their quips are new, the commentary library is expanded using generative AI. Unfortunately, the results are noticeable, with frequent sequences that use dated vernacular and terrible name pronunciations. It’s understandable that sports game commentary banks are built out over the course of several releases, but the AI-generated voice lines do a grave injustice to the new play-by-play talent. 

The popular GM Connected, which made its debut in NHL 14, makes its return in the form of Connected Franchise – a socially driven hybrid that allows players to create a league with up to 32 user-controlled teams. It’s designed to establish its own “hockey world” with customizable rosters and flexible salaries but lacks offseason development and the means for smaller friend circles to play games versus the CPU, rather than engage in a full 82-game season that reels off the same three squads until one resigns out of boredom. Be A Pro returns with the spotlight on team captaincy, and while Hockey Ultimate Team (HUT) expands on last year’s intro to Ranked and line combinations, World Of CHEL is an ostracized idea that still recycles user inventories. 

It’s evident NHL 27 is a leap year for the franchise as it doesn’t innovate on the modes and immersion already present. Instead, it soft-launches patches that barely pass as a winter update. At its core, it’s a sequel that vicariously lives through fundamentals that have never felt better, despite the inaccurate face scans, generic creation systems, and how skaters of all ratings still prefer to receive passes on their backhand. It needs new ideas and a full day’s worth of polish just to offer something other than vibes when Hall & Oates cue up after a game-winning snipe.

Score:
6.5

About Game Informer’s review system

Level-5’s long-awaited detective game Decapolice has a new launch date, pushing it out of its previously announced 2026 window. The game is now coming in 2027 and has a new trailer showing it off in action.

Decapolice was announced in 2023 but has been repeatedly delayed. It stars Harvard Marks, a young detective and leader of the Special Investigation Unit’s rookie team. Marks, alongside fellow SIU members such as his friend and negotiation specialist Carl Oxford, must solve mysteries in the crime-ridden metropolis of Broadstone by visiting a virtual world counterpart called Decasim. This simulated world is a perfect copy of Broadstone but contains memories of past crimes that Marks must uncover to solve mysteries and bring criminals to justice. Sometimes Decasim’s data can be altered, changing the physical appearance of its inhabitants, such as turning Marks into a cat mascot, as seen in the new trailer. 

Gameplay consists of inspecting recreated crime scenes in Decasim to solve mysteries, both story and optional, in the real world. This involves managing evidence on a case board, profiling and accusing suspects, and confronting criminals. When facing suspects, you can either talk them into surrendering or, if that fails, face them in turn-based combat encounters after they transform into monsters called Crime Beasts. To this end, Level-5 has partnered with Scrap, a developer behind puzzle/escape games such as Do Not Play, to help develop Decapolice’s case concepts. 

Decapolice will be available on PlayStation 5, Switch 2, and PC when it arrives next year. For more Level-5 news, it’s upcoming Professor Layton and the New World of Steam got a December launch date during yesterday’s Nintendo Direct. 

Reviewed on:
PlayStation 5

Platform:
PlayStation 5

Publisher:
Sony Interactive Entertainment

Developer:
Insomniac Games

Release:
September 15, 2026

Rating:
Mature

Wolverine memorably and repeatedly quips in the comics about being the best there is at what he does, and I imagine Insomniac may have tried to take that directive to heart in crafting what aims to be the definitive experience of the character. Following in the wake of the successful Spider-Man games, Insomniac’s Wolverine nails one very specific thing with near perfection: the brutal efficiency of the lead character’s destructive ferocity. The high speed, brutal slashing, and unstoppable force of Wolverine are captured better than any film or game to come before, and that alone could be reason enough to embark on this adventure with him. If the accompanying story sometimes stumbles or the driving linearity doesn’t always land, you can still have confidence that the fights along the way will not disappoint.

Marvel’s Wolverine Video Review:

As one of many fictional variations on the X-Men mythology, this latest take is an especially bleak one, defined (at least so far) by the notable absence of Professor Xavier and Magneto. Without their influence, Insomniac can play more freely with the relationships and world dynamics that shape Logan’s life. Moment-to-moment interactions between characters are excellent, thanks to an impressive voice cast that doesn’t flinch from the high intensity and feral encounters that push the plot forward. At several points, the game slows down to allow for character development, but these more languid moments don’t always work, since virtually everything about them is on rails, with little to no choice in how to progress.

The bigger storytelling problem emerges in the second half of the game, as we begin to get hints and sequences about where the story is going next. Even as a lifelong fan of these characters, some of these later moments left me scratching my head, trying to understand what was actually happening, or the implications around Wolverine’s mysterious past. For someone relatively new to Logan’s convoluted backstory, I fear it might be even more impenetrable. At times, the game feels more interested in teasing where Insomniac wants to go next than in delivering a complete, satisfying resolution to this game’s key relational arcs.

 

In all honesty, you may simply not care much about all that, so eager are you to get back to the fight. From one encounter to the next, the extremely M-rated battles that ensue are deeply satisfying and smartly balanced. Logan’s varied attacks, dodges, and parries feed into a momentum-based loop to power his healing and rage, encouraging a relentless and fast-paced approach to every exchange. Additional attacks and abilities unlock gradually and add to the arsenal, consistently supplying more ways to steamroll basic enemies and help you survive the bigger and more nuanced fights. And, without spoiling it for the longtime fans, it’s enough to say that if you’ve been crossing your fingers to see a boss fight between Wolverine and a particular foe, there’s a good chance this game has you covered with an intense and memorable showdown.

Marvel’s Wolverine doesn’t wear out its welcome. The linear adventure hits its conclusion before you might tire of the ferocious melees. Several secondary challenge stages (including some difficult wave-based gauntlets) give players some targets to prove their mastery. A  New Game + lets you ramp up the difficulty, replay favorite battles, and lose yourself in the flurry of claws, but that’s mostly gravy on top rather than a motivation for extensive replayability. Spider-Man and Wolverine are very different characters who deserve different interactive treatments, but any illusions that you might have of the open-world exploration Insomniac delivered in that first hero’s adventures are best left at the door.

Insomniac’s latest action opus is beautiful to look at and listen to, and it plays like a dream. Whether you’re a fan of the wily mutant lead or you simply gravitate to taut, tightly animated combat like what you’d find in God of War or Star Wars Jedi: Fallen Order, Wolverine is an intense and unrelenting ride. It may not hit a lot of notes, but like Logan himself, it nails the vitals where it counts.  

Score:
8.5

About Game Informer’s review system

Physint, Kojima Productions’ upcoming stealth espionage game, will no longer be published by PlayStation. The console publisher has ended its collaboration on the game; meanwhile, Xbox, which is publishing Kojima’s upcoming horror game OD, has stepped in as Physint’s new publisher. 

Physint was first announced in January 2024 as Kojima Productions head Hideo Kojima’s return to action espionage. Kojima is, of course, the creator and primary creative mind of Konami’s Metal Gear series, one of the premier stealth action franchises. Little is known about Physint beyond the supporting cast, which includes actors Charlee Fraser (Furiosa: A Mad Max Saga, Anyone But You), Ma Dong-seok AKA Don Lee (Train to Busan, Eternals), and Minami Hamabe (Godzilla Minus One). Kojima has yet to reveal Physint’s protagonist. 

A social media post by PlayStation states that “After careful consideration, we have made the difficult decision to step away from collaborating with Kojima Productions on its project Physint. We continue to have great admiration for Hideo Kojima’s vision for the game.

“Our relationship remains strong after three decades of industry-leading, genre-defining creative cooperation, and we look forward to continued close collaboration with Hideo Kojima and his award-winning independent studio in the future.”

As PlayStation mentioned, the company has a long history of publishing Kojima’s work. Most recently, it served as the publisher for Kojima Productions’ two Death Stranding games, the most recent of which launched last year.

Subsequently, Xbox released a statement announcing itself as Physint’s new publisher. Its message reads:

Hideo Kojima has spent his career challenging conventions and expanding what games can be. Today, Kojima Productions announced the next chapter of its partnership with Xbox. 

“Creators have choices about where and how they bring their ideas to life. We’re honored that Kojima-san has chosen Xbox to work with Kojima Productions on Physint. His ambition to challenge conventions reflects the kind of creativity we want to support at Xbox,” said Asha Sharma, Xbox CEO

“This expands our relationship with Xbox beyond OD. As we move forward with the development of Physint we remain committed to redefining the action-espionage genre for players around the world,” said Hideo Kojima, game creator and founder of Kojima Productions. 

In addition to OD and Physint, this relationship will also extend beyond games, with Xbox and Kojima Productions collaborating across film and television to bring new stories to broader audiences. 

We look forward to sharing more as development progresses.

Hideo Kojima stated in May 2025 that Physint was likely 5-6 years away from release, positioning it as a next-generation title. With this move, the game will likely launch for Xbox’s upcoming console, Project Helix. Physint is slated to launch after OD, Kojima’s upcoming horror game being developed in collaboration with filmmaker Jordan Peele and published by Xbox. 

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Publisher:
Square Enix

Developer:
Square Enix

Release:
April 8, 2027

I adore Final Fantasy VII Remake – it was my 2020 game of the year – and I thoroughly enjoy its 2024 follow-up, Final Fantasy VII Rebirth (you can read my 8.5 out of 10 review here). I say this because I don’t think either game received great demos, and the finale of this remake trilogy, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, followed suit during Gamescom. Despite that, I’m not worried this threequel will fail to capture me the way its predecessors have. Though my story-focused demo didn’t do much for me, my Game Informer colleague Eric Van Allen had a much better time at Revelation’s Golden Saucer, and my interview with trilogy director Naoki Hamaguchi inspired the confidence I was looking for during the preview. 

Admittedly, my demo disappointment might be my fault. We were given the choice to do whatever we wanted with Chapter 4 of Revelation, with most of the world open to us by way of the Highwind airship. Eric smartly headed straight to the Golden Saucer for minigames and more. “This is the demo for the new Queen’s Blood expansion, right?” I heard him proclaim as he entered those shimmering halls. He tells me the Golden Saucer remains the same as you remember it: laden with attractions and mascots, though the latter have now staged a workers’ uprising at the Saucer, and either Vincent or Cait Sith has to take charge and get things back in order.

For the rest of the demo, Eric jumped between different minigames to see both the new and the old. Queen’s Blood has an interesting new trump card mechanic with a guaranteed starter card for your deck, and opponents are much more likely to have game-breaking advantages you’ll need to prepare for. Snowboarding is here, and is pretty fun to get into, though it — and the chocobo racing track — felt shallower in comparison to the changes made to Queen’s Blood. For lovers of minigames, though, there’s hardly a shortage of things to do in the Saucer, or even outside, as Queen’s Blood opponents still roam the world for Nanaki (our new card game collector) to challenge. The side game sickos (Eric) won’t be hurting for options in April.

Knowing he was heading to tackle some side-game content, I followed the main quest, but not before a quick tour of the Highwind’s facilities. Wize is your onboard go-to for playing Queen’s Blood on the ship, editing your deck, and more – he tells me Regina from Rebirth is back in Gongaga, asking me to visit her. Chocobo farmer Billy and his trusted chocobo Piko are now onboard as well, as is Chadley. Fortunately, Chadley is busy tracking down Weapons, so you’ll hear less from him in the world, but unfortunately, MAI is back and quite chatty. It might have been the result of this being a demo, but my word, I was inundated with notifications from MAI that not only paused the action, but took up the entire screen. One pop-up from her would close and another would arrive, over and over again – it was terribly intrusive and hopefully not representative of the final game, which Hamaguchi says can be golden-pathed in about 35 hours but stretched up to 100 or more for completionists; that’s a lot of MAI time. 

Final Fantasy VII Revelation Preview Screenshot Gallery:

 

After this Highwind tour, I took the airship out for a spin. It controls about how you’d expect, similar to its nautical version at the end of Rebirth, but it’s far more exhilarating to view this world from the sky than the sea. The detail visible from the clouds is impressive, and seeing returning locations like Nibel, Junon, and more brings back memories I forgot I had of each place. The regions you explore down below look exactly as you think they would from above, and it’s easy to map in your head where you’ve been as a result. That said, a lot of Revelation’s playable world is filled with the aforementioned returning locations, and while I enjoyed them in my Rebirth playthroughs, I’m not dying to get back to, say, the opening Grasslands outside of Midgar. Hamaguchi says visual differences to the environments, added verticality, and new things to do have refreshed these locations. 

“Obviously, where the story is at this point, you have the meteor in the sky, you have Weapons coming from the middle of the planet now rampaging around, so those have caused a lot of environmental changes,” Hamaguchi says in a group interview. “So, for example, there are some areas now which have been flooded and filled with water where they weren’t before. The Weapons have been attacking places and the land is now scarred and destroyed, so there are definitely some obvious visual changes that are the first things you’ll notice.” 

But the team went further, changing how you explore each returning area. Hamaguchi says the concept of Rebirth was traveling and exploring this wide and vast land area, and that in Revelation, that concept has been expanded to include verticality. Not only is there exploration from the skies, with the ability to parachute down from the Highwind from virtually anywhere in the world, but revamped Chocobo mechanics, too. Chocobos in Revelation can now fly much higher and have an aerial dash that lets you accelerate quickly while flying. Hamaguchi says viewing these old places from new heights changes how you interact with them and explore. “I remember this feeling of great satisfaction when we were doing experiments with this and playing around with it,” he says. “When I first saw the view of the Grassland from the airship coming down and then flying through them on a Chocobo’s back, [it] felt completely new [even though] this is a game I’ve played more than anyone.”

While my demo felt like every door in the game was suddenly open with no guidance on what to do, Hamaguchi says the final game isn’t like that. He recognizes that there are many types of open world designs in games, and that Revelation isn’t the type to throw you into the world completely free, with no hints or instructions. “We didn’t go for that style,” he says. “We wanted to get a balance where it was you getting a certain level of hints and explanations and ideas about where you might want to go and what you might want to do, and if you start following those […] you start to see the options open up and it becomes freer and freer as you go.”

He adds that Revelation is built to be more approachable for those wary of open world games. 

I ask the director about balancing the open world exploration with the very real stakes present narratively in Revelation – not only is it set days before the trilogy’s finale, but the incoming meteor sits ominously in the skybox of this world, threatening to destroy it all. Couple that with the massive Weapons trying to protect the planet and indiscriminately destroying anyone on it as a result, and it’s hard to wrestle with the idea of a Queen’s Blood match and the stakes Revelation sets. 

“This is days before the final battle,” Hamaguchi says. “The idea is all of the party members having to find their motivation, their reason to fight. [It’s] a good time for the characters to really look inside themselves and examine the reason why they’re still fighting. What’s their motivation? Can they continue? Why should they continue fighting here? And so the idea is that all of the subquests, the side stories – they’re not just random things. [The] apocalypse is coming and [these characters] are trying to face off against their destinies before the end, and Revelation is really tied into that.” 

He continues, “All of the side content is within the atmosphere of the world and the situation we’re in. We have very much thought about that in [Revelation’s] design. It’s not just some random side task – it’s all tied into why you’re there.”

That said, Hamaguchi says it’s part of Final Fantasy VII’s DNA to mix serious dramatic moments with light-hearted humor and funny side stories as well, so to expect those kinds of hybrid stories in Revelation. 

That answer quelled my concerns I felt while playing Revelation, with its expanded planet to explore and even more activities to complete. Hearing that all of that optional content is aware that a giant meteor will smash into the planet in just a few days means the team is thinking not just about this narrative finale, but the mechanics that we engage with in the lead-up, and that has me excited.

After some airborne exploration, I dove Fortnite-style down to Wutai below, parachuting into the Japanese Garden-esque home country of party member, shuriken-throwing ninja, Yuffie. She recommends the team, short of Cloud and Aerith for reasons, go to Wutai because everyone there listens to her and will help their cause. Some significant story discussions happen here involving Glenn Lodbrock, a certain Viceroy, Godo Kisaragi, and others, but I’ll leave that for you to discover.  

I quite enjoy Wutai’s visual design, and Yuffie’s remarks about her home are a delight as I explore the lush area. Engaging in combat here is fun, too, as it lets me try out party newcomer Cid’s “dashing dragoon” playstyle. Not quite as ranged as Barret, and not quite close-ranged like Cloud, Cid sits somewhere in between. He uses a spear to target and hit multiple enemies at once with large-swath swings, and it’s a role I didn’t know I needed filled on my Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy team. What I experienced is barely a taste, though, but it whetted my appetite enough to indicate he’ll be a crucial member of my own party in the final game. 

I’m sure the kind of emotional moments, exciting setpieces, and quieter character interactions are present in Revelation, even if none of that was featured in my preview demo. In fact, Hamaguchi says there’s one moment in Revelation that ensures those who didn’t cry in Remake or in Rebirth will have shed a tear by the end of the game. I have a few guesses about what that moment might be; the game launches in April, so I don’t have to wait long to learn if I’m right. 

Reviewed on:
PlayStation 5

Platform:
PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC

Publisher:
Gun Interactive, IllFonic

Developer:
IllFonic

Release:
September 8, 2026

Rating:
Mature

I start up Tiny Tim’s 1968 song, “Tiptoe Through the Tulips,” as I creep closer to an unsuspecting Civilian, breathing heavily behind the stark white mask of Michael Myers, moving close enough for proximity chat to turn on. The player controlling the Civilian before me shrieks, shouting, “Aw hell no, it’s Pennywise!” Pennywise is not in Halloween: The Game, nor has he ever been connected to the long-running horror series (or Tiny Tim, for that matter). But alas, my random song selection and the unexpected reaction it inspired from an online stranger is now canon to my time playing IllFonic’s new asymmetrical horror game. The interaction is exactly the one I needed to confidently tell my friends – the ones who would join me in hysterics over this Tiptoed Tulips-infused jumpscare – that this is a game they need to pick up. The single-player campaign is a glorified but impassioned tutorial; charming jank is present throughout the experience; and its multiplayer confidently strikes a balance between tense, terrifying, and downright hilarious stupidity.

In other words, it is a game I look forward to playing for countless future hours. 

If you aren’t a multiplayer person and were curious about picking up Halloween for its single-player offering, don’t. It lasts just a couple of hours (though you can extend its runtime by replaying chapters to find Dr. Loomis’ audio logs and complete challenges that unlock cosmetic rewards) and is just a few notches above a standard tutorial for playing as Michael. That’s not to say it’s not worth playing; it is, and that’s because while it ultimately serves as a tutorial for the game’s killer, it is also an incredibly detailed love letter to the 1978 film from director/synth player/gamer John Carpenter. The campaign is just clearly not the main attraction here, nor should it be, and I’d be leading you astray by telling you to pick it up if you were expecting a gamified adaptation of a horror movie you might love. 

However, if you’re open to it, or already enjoy the asymmetrical horror genre, which pits multiple players against a single killer (Civilians vs. Michael, in this game), Halloween offers a refined and confident approach that is likely to get even better over time. Matches begin quickly, but offer upwards of 20 minutes of fun each time, though exactly how much fun depends on your ability to survive. As a Civilian, your goal is to escape, but more importantly, it is to help others escape. Primarily, should search Haddonfield’s suburbs to locate the three special target residents, which are the NPCs that call each map home. They’re not all that different from the other residents you can save in each match, but they are marked as special for you and Michael, and prioritizing them secures the most XP. It’s a fun mechanic that forces Civilians and Michael into the same places, which is where the most exciting face-offs happen.

In doing so, you encounter other non-special residents, whom you can order to call the police, hide, or follow you, and ideally build the ranks of people who want to stop Michael and escape. Different playable Civilians have unique traits that affect how they play, such as Athleticism, which dictates stamina and how long you can sprint, and passive abilities that make you better at calling the police or knocking Michael down. While skilled players will take these traits into account for marginal gameplay gains, having played as each, the experience feels largely the same no matter who you play as; choosing a Civilian because they look cool, for example, is just fine. The fun isn’t dictated by your Civilian’s traits, but rather, what you get up to as them, and I appreciate that this won’t force a meta-game of who you should play as in order to win. 

You can play it straight, looting cabinets, drawers, tool shops, and more for weapons to defend yourself with, repair kits to fix escape cars, or keys to open escape hatch padlocks… or you can stock up on firecrackers, lawn darts, and a baseball bat and be an absolute menace to the real player controlling Michael. The amount of fun I’ve had bullying Michael alongside other stranger Civilians in the game matches the enjoyment I get out of a successful escape; whether I’m whooping on Michael, watching him go down only to pop up for another whopping, or following the rules and picking up residents in my sedan for a four-wheel escape, I’m smiling. That is the joy of Halloween. It is as fun as you make it, and IllFonic has filled its horror toolbox with more tools than ever. 

Playing as Michael naturally leads to more straightforward gameplay because you’re all alone, but you possess brutal, movie-inspired killing prowess, an empowering set of abilities, and proximity chat begging for Tiny Tim to be played through. While the movies explain Michael’s ability to be everywhere and anywhere with the unknown – he’s simply the embodiment of evil, void of “whys” or “hows” – IllFonic has created smart gameplay mechanics to bring him to life. Shape Jumping speeds you around the map like a specter, though light slows him and prevents him from advancing through doors (just find the power box and disable it). Evil Presence effectively sells just how terrifying The Shape is, boosting your fear factor and terrifying anyone nearby when you use it. Even the Stalk feature, which lets you look at a resident or Civilian and increase their level of fear by holding your gaze on them, feels good, and it’s literally just a mechanic for looking at someone. Turns out, putting you behind the mask, with first-person eyeholes on screen and Michael’s inhuman breaths escaping his mangled throat, further sells that you are pure evil. 

 

Stalking those you wish to kill makes doing so easier, and it opens you up to even more kill types, like context-specific fridge smashes, window bashes, or phone cord strangulations. Halloween can get quite brutal, and I am still eagerly chasing new ways to kill players, earn XP, and level up, which unlocks new cosmetics. 

IllFonic has also made commendable efforts for Halloween to be enjoyable even after you die. On-screen minigames, like mashing buttons or pressing a button within a small timed UI window, can benefit those still alive (or even bring you back into the game as a police officer or Dr. Loomis), but they get old quickly, and it sucks that you have to sit through the entire 20-ish minute match to get your XP, alive or not. I understand you don’t want players to quit the match since they might not come back in, but I’ve spent more time than I’d like playing the same boring minigames just for them to amount to little more than some additional XP.

Halloween needs some massaging. There are bugs galore, its Civilian onboarding isn’t great, and leveling up to unlock new color tints on sunglasses, or a new shirt or hat, isn’t the best motivation. But when I’m actually in a match, all of that fades away. The bugs aren’t game-breaking and blend in with IllFonic’s feature-not-a-bug jank, like one where another player and I hilariously moonwalked when we ran instead of sprinted. Learning what to do as a Civilian doesn’t take too much time, even without any helpful context built in-game, and cosmetics don’t affect how I play. What matters in Halloween is the scares I’m delivering and receiving, and the joy I’m feeling through it all. Death has arrived in IllFonic’s latest, and while the fear is abundant, so too is the fun waiting in the sleepy little town of Haddonfield. 

Score:
7.75

About Game Informer’s review system

Steam achievements for a wide swath of upcoming and even announced games have seemingly leaked from Valve’s backend. As a result, there might be massive spoilers floating around on the internet now for games like Persona 6, Persona 4 Revival, Kingdom Hearts IV, Mega Man: Dual Override, Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve, Dragon Ball Xenoverse 3, Gears of War: E-Day, Kena: Scars of Kosmora, Silent Hill: Townfall, Star Wars: Galactic Racer, Stranger Than Heaven, and a lot more. 

We’re not going to reveal any of the details you could learn from viewing these achievements, but know that there’s a lot out there you could be spoiled on. As for how this happened, that remains unclear. The achievements appeared on Exophase, a site that uses APIs to automatically scan and display things like public Steam achievements. The site’s owner, x3sphere, posted on ResetEra (view at your own risk) and explained how this might have happened. 

In response to someone saying, “There’s a lot of in-development lists, placeholder achievements, etc. Something has gone catastrophically wrong on Steam’s end it would seem,” x3sphere said, “Yes I am the owner of the site [Exophase] and this is what appears to have happened. Seems like a possible screw up on Valve’s end, a bunch of games with achievements that should be private are accessible through the API right now and that’s why they got scanned into the site. I usually never see games without an actual name pop up with achievements, yet over the past hour or so a bunch have (when there’s an unknown name, we just set it to the AppID). 

All of that sounds pretty legitimate, but leaked achievements for games like Persona 6 and Kingdom Hearts IV, for example, call into question the credibility of the achievements themselves. Those games are months and months away, if not longer – it seems strange that achievements for them are already uploaded into Steam’s backend, but it’s possible. 

All of this is to say that there are very likely big spoilers out there for games you might be looking forward to, so take caution when perusing social media, forums, YouTube, and the like. 

After airing a Nintendo Direct squarely focused on The Legend of Zelda yesterday, Nintendo released a traditional Direct this morning chock-full of more general news and updates. The biggest highlights include the reveals of new Kirby and Metroid titles, plus release dates for long-awaited projects such as Professor Layton and the New World of Steam. As usual, if you missed the live broadcast, we’ve recapped every new update in this quick summary, complete with trailers and links to the full write-ups for applicable stories. 

Monster Hunter Wilds

• Comes to Switch 2 on December 4
• Its expansion, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, comes to Switch 2 in 2027 alongside previously announced versions

Crisis Core: Final Fantasy VII Reunion

• Launches on Switch 2 today.
• Remaster of the PSP Final Fantasy VII prequel starring Zack Fair.

Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity – Definitive Edition

• Launches on Switch 2 on February 25.
• Includes Expansion Pass content, enhanced visuals and framerate, and more on-screen enemies.
• Includes new Calamity Mode difficulty.
• Can transfer save data from the original Switch version. 

Mecca Chameleon

• The hit hide-and-seek multiplayer game comes to Switch 2 today
• Full article

Pokémon Pokopia – Expansion Pass Part 2

• Launches later this year.
• Trailer shows off new accessories coming in Part 2 of the game’s Expansion Pack.
• Full article

Star Fox

• Free update adds local splitscreen multiplayer to Battle Mode along with three new stages: Kantina, Sector X, and Venom. 
• You can now play 4-player online multiplayer on a single Switch 2 console. 
• The update arrives on September 29. 
• Full article

Star Fox Adventures

• The 2002 action-adventure game is now available on the GameCube Classics library for Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack.

Kingdom Come: Deliverance II Royal Edition

• Comes to Switch 2 in 2027. 
• Includes the base game and its story expansions, exclusive gear, and a bonus questline.

Professor Layton and the New World of Steam

• Launches on December 10 for Switch 2 and Switch
• Set during the dawn of the Industrial Age, Layton and Luke travel to the American town of Steam Bison, which is plagued by mysterious incidents.

Yo-Kai Watch 2: Haunted Domain

• Coming to Switch 2 at an unannounced date.
• Haunted Domain is an enhanced remake of 2016’s Yo-Kai Watch 2: Bony Spirits/Fleshy Souls and 2017’s Yo-Kai Watch 2: Psychic Specters.
• Features new story content and other yet-to-be-revealed features.

Pikmin 4 Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Dandori Academy

• Launches on November 12 for Switch 2.
• New voice commands for Oatchi using the Switch 2 microphone.
• Adds new Dandori Academy time-challenge mode.
• Full article

Onyx: The Dark Grip 

• Launches in 2027 exclusively for Switch 2
• 2.5D horror game by Bloober Team where players control a mysterious entity guiding a lone traveler through a dangerous ghost town.
• Only playable in handheld mode. 

Xenoblade Chronicles 3 – Nintendo Switch 2 Edition

• New Heroes’ Vault mode lets you battle waves of enemies to gain strength and allies. 
• Shimmer, a new hero who can see the future, joins the game.

Stage Fright

• Launches on Switch 2 and Switch in 2027.
• Next game by the makers of the Overcooked series.
• Two-player co-op adventure (local and online) where players solve escape rooms and unravel an ancient mystery.

Disney Dreamlight Valley: The Keepsake Sea

• New Little Mermaid-themed expansion with new storylines and characters like Milo Thatch (Atlantis: The Lost Empire), Megara (Hercules), and Jack Sparrow (Pirates of the Caribbean).
• Arrives on the Switch 2 and Switch versions in November.

Ondeh Ondeh Kaya’s Tasty Tale

• Launches for Switch 2 in 2027. 
• 3D platformer built around music-based puzzles. 

Kirby Air Riders

• Sword Kirby & Dragoon and Noir Dedede & Hydra amiibo arrive on November 12.
• New event incoming to earn rewards.

Cairn

• Comes to Switch 2 in early 2027.
• Free demo available today.

Resident Evil Remakes

• Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition (includes DLC), Resident Evil 3, and Resident Evil 4 Gold Edition coming digitally to Switch 2 on October 16.
• Full article

Metroid Ravenous

• Launches on Switch 2 on January 28
• 2D entry that is seemingly a follow-up to Metroid Dread.
• New amiibo figures and Special Edition available at launch.
• Full article

Mario Kart World

• Free update adds 10 Super Mario Kart stages, including Choco Island, Vanilla Lake, and Ghost Valley. 
• Two new Knockout Tour routes: Propeller and Turnip Rally.
• The update is available today. 
• Full article

Mega Man: Dual Override

• First Proto Man gameplay footage revealed.
• Mega Man and Proto Man amiibo will be available at the game’s launch.
• Full article

Eternal Anima

• Launches on March 4 for Switch 2.
• New time-traveling RPG by Marvelous. 
• Full article

Danganronpa 2×2

• Launches on January 14 for Switch 2 and Switch.
• Remake of 2012’s Danganronpa 2: Goodbye Despair. 

Fatal Fury: City of the Wolves

• Launches on Switch 2 on October 22, with a physical version coming in January. 
• The Starter Edition includes Mikey and Draken from Tokyo Revengers as playable guest characters.
• Includes all previously released DLC fighters. 

Metal Slug Ultimate Collection

• Launches on Switch 2 and Switch in 2027
• Includes 10 games: Metal Slug 1-7, Metal Slug X, Metal Slug Advance, and, for the first time, the long-lost location test version Metal Slug. 
• Features online co-op, gallery mode, an expanded Combat School Mode, and more content

Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force GX

• Launches on February 16 for Switch 2 and Switch.
• Enhanced version of Yu-Gi-Oh! Tag Force 3 with modern visuals and previously unreleased content in the Americas.
• Physical versions include three Yu-Gi-Oh! trading cards.

Romancing SaGa 3: Destined United

• Launches on February 16 for Switch 2 and Switch.
• 3D remake of the 1995 game featuring modern visuals, voice acting, newly arranged music, and more.

Switch 2/Switch Third-Party Partner Release Date Round-Up

• 007 First Light – 2026 (Switch 2)
• Far Cry 3 Classic Edition – Spring 2027 (Switch 2)
• Far Cry 3 Blood Dragon – Classic Edition – Spring 2027 (Switch 2)
• The Crew Motorfest – October 8 (Switch 2)
• The Apothecary Diaries – Early 2027 (Switch 2, Switch)
• House Flipper 2 – October 15 (Switch 2)
• Sonic Pico Park – November 12 (Switch 2, Switch)
• Dragon Quest Monsters:  The Withered World – demo available today on Switch 2
• Dragon Quest Heroes: Torneko’s Mystery Dungeon – Classic HD – available today (Switch 2, Switch)
• Hela: of Mice & Magic – December 1 (Switch 2)
• Eriksholm: The Stolen Dream – December 3 (Switch 2)
• Stellar Blade Complete Edition – November 5 (Switch 2)
• The Ascent Ultimate Edition – December (Switch 2)
• It Takes Two – October 15 (Switch 2)
• Palia – December (Switch 2)
• Bluey’s Happy Snaps – October 15 (Switch 2, Switch)
• Fading Echo – September 17 (Switch 2, demo available today)
• Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy – November 5 (Switch 2)

Persona 4 Revival

• Launches on May 20 for Switch 2.
• Remake of Persona 4 launching on February 18 for other platforms.

Persona 6

• Confirmed to be coming to Switch 2 after being previously announced for PS5 and Xbox Series X/S.

Kirby and the World Beyond

• Launches in spring 2027 for Switch 2
• New 3D open-world adventure centered on Kirby’s copy ability.
• The game celebrates the series’ 35th anniversary next year. 
• Full article