Dungeons & Dragons: Long Rest Tavern eschews the role-playing game’s tradition of controlling adventurers on epic quests. Instead, it puts players in the shoes of an innkeeper, a role usually reserved for NPCs in a D&D campaign, running their very own tavern.
Operating your tavern involves building it from scratch, hiring employees such as servers and bartenders, and running shifts to serve the many adventurers roaming Faerûn. You can cook dishes, brew drinks, and earn money during night shifts, which helps you purchase resources during the day, a period you can also spend exploring areas outside the tavern. When you can’t obtain a necessary resource yourself, you can also send adventurers on quests for certain items on your behalf, as well as other challenges.
Check out the reveal trailer below.
Dungeons & Dragons: Long Rest Tavern is coming to PC in 2027.
Grand Theft Auto VI launches on November 19, and developer Rockstar Games has been very secretive about what’s included in the upcoming game. In fact, it comes out in less than three months and nobody has even seen gameplay yet. Well, official gameplay, that is. Last week, anonymous leakers started sharing videos of Grand Theft Auto VI online. At first, people questioned whether the footage was legitimate, but Rockstar’s statement erases any room for doubt. Needless to say, the company isn’t happy about the situation.
Here’s the statement in full:
Dear all,
We know that many of you have been waiting to hear from us regarding the events of the past week. It would be an understatement to say that having videos of Grand Theft Auto VI gameplay leak in this way has been heartbreaking for our team, and this is obviously not how we intended for you to see the game after all this time. We are very sorry that everything has taken as long as it has — from getting the game finished (nearly there!) to sharing more details and official gameplay, and providing the community with everything you want to know.
We are very excited for everyone to see the extended look tomorrow. It has taken longer than we wanted to get it ready, but as with everything we do know, we know we need to exceed your expectations, and we are determined to deliver at the level you expect and deserve. While it is unfortunate that the intended game experience may now be impacted by some spoilers, we hope that everyone will wait a bit longer to experience the game for themselves on November 19.
We want to thank everyone in the community who has reached out with messages of support this past week — your words have meant more to this team than you can imagine. Ultimately, we are making this game for you, and without you, we would not have the privilege of making games.
We look forward to sharing more with you soon.
Sincerely,
Rockstar Games
As referenced in the statement, this wave of leaks comes in the days preceding Rockstar’s “Extended Look” Grand Theft Auto VI presentation on Netflix, which airs tomorrow, August 27. Leaks of any kind would take the wind out of a developer’s sails, but when it happens so close to this event, it’s no wonder Rockstar’s statement describes the situation as “heartbreaking.”
Grand Theft Auto VI launches on November 19 on PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X. The Extended Look stream airs tomorrow at 12 p.m. PT and 3 p.m. ET exclusively on Netflix, but it will be uploaded to YouTube later that day.
Xbox has officially announced its rumored program that will allow owners of physical Xbox games to use them to claim entitlement to their digital counterparts. This disc-to-digital initiative will become available next week for Xbox Insider members to test out before rolling out to the general public.
“Today we are introducing a feature that brings the benefits of digital to physical discs, giving players more flexibility in how they access and play supported games across the XBOX ecosystem,” reads an Xbox Wire post. “This is part of our broader commitment to game preservation. As technology, devices, and distribution continue to evolve, preserving access to the games people own matters more than ever.”
By inserting a supported Xbox Series X or Xbox One disc game into a console and launching the game, users will automatically claim the digital version. Once claimed, users can experience the perks of the digital version, such as accessing it on multiple platforms using Xbox Play Anywhere and Xbox Cloud Gaming; the physical disc will still work as it always has. This essentially eliminates the need to purchase the same game twice, as has been the case for players who want to own physical and digital copies of the same title. Xbox Insiders will begin testing this feature on August 31.
Xbox states that “thousands” of Xbox Series X and Xbox One titles will initially support this feature, with more games added over time. “While not every title will be available at launch, this is an important step toward a future where players can have greater confidence that the games they buy remain with them for years to come,” says Xbox. It’s unclear when Xbox plans to launch this program to the general public following the Insider testing period.
This disc-to-digital strategy comes as Xbox’s competitor PlayStation has been embroiled in a firestorm of controversy and fan resentment after announcing plans to cease production of physical game discs in 2028. It also potentially serves as a bit of a PR remedy after Xbox initiated massive layoffs (many of which are still incoming) across its studios as part of a restructuring that saw it cut five of its internal development studios loose, the institution of another console price increase this month, among other recent setbacks.
If Resonance’s subtitle, A Plague Tale Legacy, scares you off because you don’t know the larger franchise, fear not. I am living proof that playing the previous two Plague Tale games (which follow different characters and take place after this game) is not required. But as an early compliment to protagonist Sophia’s adventure, I am now a fan and grateful to have an excuse to spend more time in this world. Resonance is not a particularly innovative game, but its well-realized characters, impressive performances, fun-if-simple combat, and rewarding environmental puzzles make for a well-paced and engaging experience that should make Sony raise an eyebrow.
Whether intentionally or coincidentally, Resonance is an impressive cross between Uncharted and God of War, even if it never quite reaches the heights of either. Sophia is a scoundrel of sorts, having grown up in a supportive pirate community after her father was forced to save her from a dangerous childhood situation. A mystical connection draws her to a mysterious island, but it has claimed the lives of many of her peers. I was eager to learn why the island affects Sophia and see the story to its conclusion from the moment the game began.
Sophia is a secondary character in 2022’s A Plague Tale: Requiem, and though I didn’t meet her there, I quickly understood why developer Asobo Studio decided to give her her own game. She is strong, smart, and like many of the pirates in her community, I questioned why she wasn’t already in charge. Sophia’s relationships are established well and quickly, and it makes the stakes of her dangerous adventure appropriately threatening. The performances in the game are also excellent, effective in both the dramatic moments and the quiet conversational ones.
Gameplay alternates between light platforming, stealth, puzzle-solving, and sword combat. No single mechanic stands out as particularly unique or novel, but they are all well-executed genre staples. Combat is a highlight in its simplicity, with no flashy combos, but a very smart health system. Sophia can take three hits, and when she defeats an enemy, she recovers one of those hits. It’s a small twist on the typical health system of a sword action game, but it does a great job of keeping you on your toes. Sophia isn’t a glass cannon, but I felt the perfect amount of stress behind nailing a counter in just about every combat scenario.
Stealth is where I hit the most hurdles in Resonance and sometimes got annoyed, mainly because of how it affected the overall pace rather than frequent failures. The monster you are trying to avoid in these stealth sections (which are backloaded toward the last third of the game) is genuinely scary and not a type of enemy I can recall combating in comparable games. It is perhaps the element of Resonance I will remember most, both in terms of its gameplay machinations and for how it plays into the plot when I reflect on the game in the future.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy borrows from many games. There are puzzles with Tomb Raider flavors; like Nathan Drake, Sophia has never known the comfort of a stable platform; and the combat and ties to Greek mythology recall games like God of War. What’s impressive here is how well Asobo Studio executes those familiar genre staples and delivers a moving story starring a charismatic pirate on what may be the most impactful and tragic adventure of her life.
If Resonance’s subtitle, A Plague Tale Legacy, scares you off because you don’t know the larger franchise, fear not. I am living proof that playing the previous two Plague Tale games (which follow different characters and take place after this game) is not required. But as an early compliment to protagonist Sophia’s adventure, I am now a fan and grateful to have an excuse to spend more time in this world. Resonance is not a particularly innovative game, but its well-realized characters, impressive performances, fun-if-simple combat, and rewarding environmental puzzles make for a well-paced and engaging experience that should make Sony raise an eyebrow.
Whether intentionally or coincidentally, Resonance is an impressive cross between Uncharted and God of War, even if it never quite reaches the heights of either. Sophia is a scoundrel of sorts, having grown up in a supportive pirate community after her father was forced to save her from a dangerous childhood situation. A mystical connection draws her to a mysterious island, but it has claimed the lives of many of her peers. I was eager to learn why the island affects Sophia and see the story to its conclusion from the moment the game began.
Sophia is a secondary character in 2022’s A Plague Tale: Requiem, and though I didn’t meet her there, I quickly understood why developer Asobo Studio decided to give her her own game. She is strong, smart, and like many of the pirates in her community, I questioned why she wasn’t already in charge. Sophia’s relationships are established well and quickly, and it makes the stakes of her dangerous adventure appropriately threatening. The performances in the game are also excellent, effective in both the dramatic moments and the quiet conversational ones.
Gameplay alternates between light platforming, stealth, puzzle-solving, and sword combat. No single mechanic stands out as particularly unique or novel, but they are all well-executed genre staples. Combat is a highlight in its simplicity, with no flashy combos, but a very smart health system. Sophia can take three hits, and when she defeats an enemy, she recovers one of those hits. It’s a small twist on the typical health system of a sword action game, but it does a great job of keeping you on your toes. Sophia isn’t a glass cannon, but I felt the perfect amount of stress behind nailing a counter in just about every combat scenario.
Stealth is where I hit the most hurdles in Resonance and sometimes got annoyed, mainly because of how it affected the overall pace rather than frequent failures. The monster you are trying to avoid in these stealth sections (which are backloaded toward the last third of the game) is genuinely scary and not a type of enemy I can recall combating in comparable games. It is perhaps the element of Resonance I will remember most, both in terms of its gameplay machinations and for how it plays into the plot when I reflect on the game in the future.
Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy borrows from many games. There are puzzles with Tomb Raider flavors; like Nathan Drake, Sophia has never known the comfort of a stable platform; and the combat and ties to Greek mythology recall games like God of War. What’s impressive here is how well Asobo Studio executes those familiar genre staples and delivers a moving story starring a charismatic pirate on what may be the most impactful and tragic adventure of her life.
Lego Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight is one of my favorite games of the year so far, and ever since I rolled credits, I’ve been eager to play the DLC. Announced prior to the game’s launch, we knew it would focus on Harley Quinn and the Joker, and today, WB Games has pulled back the curtain on the new content. The new trailer includes gameplay, new suits for the Bat-family, and a release date: September 18. Check out the video below:
Previous Lego Batman games were known for their large roster of playable characters – especially villains – but Legacy of the Dark Knight shrinks the cast to shine more of a spotlight on each of Batman’s various partners. They all have character-specific gadgets that I always enjoyed discovering, so I’ve been looking forward to these new characters to see what the developers have cooked up.
The Joker and Harley Quinn will get a new exclusive level, where they’ll “orchestrate a breakout from Arkham Asylum with a going-away party Gotham City won’t soon forget,” a press release states. The duo will also appear in Mayhem Mode, which has them rushing through Gotham to destroy landmarks, complete challenges, and fight off members of Task Force X (including Deathstroke, Killer Croc, Captain Boomerang, Deadshot, King Shark, Polka-Dot Man, and Katana). Each run of Mayhem Mode is timed, however, and you’ll have to make it back to the Amusement Mile before the timer runs out and Batman and Robin hunt you down. The seven playable characters in the base game will also all get Joker-inspired suits, with Batman getting to wear the notorious Bat Who Laughs costume.
All of the above is included in Legacy of the Dark Knight’s deluxe edition, which you can upgrade to for $24.99 if you have the base game. On the same day, all versions of the game will receive a free update with the Absolute difficulty, which will surpass Dark Knight as the game’s hardest difficulty. I’m particularly interested in checking this out, because it was one of my main critiques of Legacy of the Dark Knight – even the hardest mode wasn’t very challenging.
Firstly, I admit my headline is hyperbolic. Best and worst are subjective and neither word is fully applicable when it comes to Elden Ring on Switch 2. The wordier, more accurate headline that would not inspire the precious clicks that we need to survive in this media hellscape landscape is, “Elden Ring is Okay on Switch 2, so if you can play it somewhere else I would recommend that, but if this is your only option and you haven’t already played it somewhere else, then this version will get the job done.”
[VIDEO]
I played about two hours of Elden Ring on Switch 2 in docked mode. Moving through the tutorial in the caves feels pretty good. It does not hit 60 FPS, unfortunately, but it is consistent, which is important. Leaving the caves and entering the open world is where the game stumbles, but not dangerously so.
Swinging the camera around quickly in the open world is uncomfortable and jumping on your horse, Torrent, is where I felt the game struggle the most. But it’s not a disaster. And to be fair, wildly swinging the camera around in the open world is not how anyone plays Elden Ring. Jumping into the little pockets of combat strewn across the open world was more than manageable, as you are focusing the camera on your enemy, not the insane looking castle in the distance.
When I encountered monsters like the lovely fella seen above, the game also did not struggle as I feared it would.
Playing Elden Ring on Switch 2 made me think of Resident Evil 2 on Nintendo 64, which was personally my first experience with the franchise. The N64 version of that game had some improvements compared to its PlayStation counterpart, but its cutscenes and backgrounds were highly compressed to fit on a cartridge instead of a disc. It is generally considered the inferior version of the game, but is a perfectly reasonable way to play the game and when I was young, it was my only option.
If you’re in that boat, maybe a young or new player who only has a Switch 2 and no other available platforms, and you’re excited to play what some have called the best game ever made (again… subjective), then Elden Ring on Switch 2 will get the job done. I believe you will get the Elden Ring experience here, but with some asterisks. This is not a Switch 1 port of a PlayStation 5 game where the framerate is merely a suggestion and everything looks out of focus. Elden Ring on Switch 2 is a much better port than say, The Outer Worlds on Switch 1.
However, if you’re like me and you put hundreds of hours into the game on Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 5, or a solid PC, then you will see those asterisks the moment you load the game on Switch 2. You have a point of comparison and you won’t be able to get all those beautiful additional frames those platforms afforded you.
Sometimes you play a game where its inspirations are never in question. Rarely has that been more evident in recent memory than with Star Wars Zero Company from Bit Reactor, a studio founded by former XCOM developers. While it’s more than just an XCOM-like tactics game with Star Wars stylings, the description still holds up under scrutiny – with the excellent tactical gameplay and resource management buoying what is otherwise just a competent if unremarkable story and characters.
Zero Company refers to the game’s titular mercenary group, headed under Hawks, a former Galactic Republic military captain who left the military life after a mission gone wrong. Scraping to make ends meet during the Clone Wars, Republican Intelligence officer Bennic Halloren taps him and his team for their expertise to investigate a cult encroaching across the galaxy known as The Coil. It’s the type of story where you’ll get more out of this the more you’ve engaged with the franchise outside of the main movies, but probably won’t mean much of anything on its own. References to characters from the broader Star Wars universe are nice, but they’re the only real bright spot on an otherwise whelming story that ultimately detracts more from the game than it adds.
The gameplay loop is simple: every cycle you’re thrown back to your main hub, The Den, and can spend your resources before choosing a mission. Credits and Capacitors can be spent to research permanent upgrades for Zero Company. You can also spend credits to purchase equipment for your units, Den improvements, and as rewards for expanding your influence across the galaxy. Intel is spent on operations, and is gained by completing missions. Both grant rewards, including Influence in the zone they take place in. There’s a satisfying balance with the micromanagement here, especially when it comes to tackling The Coil. Occasionally you’ll be forced to choose which of two unit upgrades you want to sabotage through a menu-based choice system. You have to improvise with the knowledge that the enemies are getting stronger, alongside your team. It scratches the same itch that XCOM always has, and if that’s what you’re looking for in a tactics game, it’s very satisfying.
Speaking of XCOM, if you’re familiar with the two most recent games from that series, you already have a good idea of how Zero Company’s missions play. Each turn, your units have access to three action points (AP), which can be used to move or use actions; using different weapons cost different amounts of AP, and while some skills require AP as well, others require advantage, usually earned for successfully attacking enemies. Much like with XCOM, your goad is to seek cover, and find a vantage point that plays to an operator’s strengths; each comes with their own specification which determines their passive and active skills. Eventually, players unlock the ability for a second specification, too. This leads to some devious combinations, such as a sniper that can mark enemies they’ll assist against, or using a scout to scan a group of enemies for advantage, before sending a rocket their way.
Growing and improving your operators is well enough on its own, but it wouldn’t be very satisfying if the game didn’t have strong map and mission design to back it up. Thankfully, it does; one standout mission had me dealing with enemy units, while at the same time fleeing towards an extraction point. Every turn, more and more of the map behind me became a death zone. Another mission had two different enemy factions taking pot shots at each other, with Zero Company in the crossfire; play smart, and you only have half the work to do.
Developer Bit Reactor largely succeeds at what it sets out to do, and if you’re a fan of either Star Wars or XCOM it’s an easy recommendation, even if I wish the story had just a bit more juice. If you’re looking for a sci-fi tactics fix, Zero Company delivers the goods.
Nekome: Nazi Hunter is absolutely, deliciously, disrespectful to the Nazi’s of the 1940s Nazi regime in Germany during World War II. It begins with protagonist Vano Nastasu dressed as a butler within a palace of sorts. Inside, a group of Nazis is seated around a table covered in delicious food. As the Nazis eat, a leader figure praises the group for opening up three more death camps, gloating about their awful acts of violence while eating chicken, vegetables, and more. Vano wheels in a silver platter, removing its cover to reveal a decapitated Nazi head with a knife through its skull.
He then uses a knife engraved with “Nekome,” which is Yiddish for vengeance, according to the game, to completely slice off the leader’s arm. He then guts his belly before slitting the Nazi’s throat. At this point, I take over on the sticks, pressing X repeatedly to deliver all manner of cuts, slashes, and more to the other Nazis in the room – they stand no chance, and I quickly paint the ballroom red.
You can parry with Y and break their blocks, but ultimately, combat is simple, more focused on delivering bloodshed than intricacy. What I play is in a pre-beta stage, and it’s evident – it’s a bit janky, but not enough to distract me from the delight I take part in as I rip apart Nazis galore.
From here, we flash back to Vano as a child to learn that his entire family is ripped from him at the hands of “Hitler’s Hyenas,” which is seemingly led by the Nazi leader Vano kills at the preview’s start. I’m glad he gets his revenge because that leader shoots Vano’s father point-blank, then his mother, then forces Vano and his sister to fight over a knife to kill each other, reminiscent of the pool stick scene in The Dark Knight. Vano refuses to kill his sister and stabs himself instead. The aforementioned Nazi leader shoots Vano in the back and doesn’t check to make sure he’s dead.
I flash forward again to see Vano in the future, somewhere in New York City. He’s speaking with Harold, a butcher-mentor with a heavy NY accent. He explains to Vano the importance of training before exacting revenge, but Nazis soon storm the room and take Harold out, adding more fuel to Vano’s vengeance-filled journey. Searching for Harold’s killer, I stalk through a NYC alley to learn there’s an American-German Bund group in support of Nazis in 1940s America. I utilize the game’s stealth kills here and like the action combat, it’s simple (but effective). Turns out, killing Nazis just doesn’t get old, at least in this 30-minute preview.
I hope to continue my Nazi-killing delight in the full game when it launches sometime early next year.
Let me say right off the bat: I am stoked for Control Resonant as a Remedy-verse fan, but I still have not played the game. Unfortunately, that hasn’t changed at Gamescom 2026 because my preview of a new section of Control Resonant was hands-off. This didn’t inspire confidence in me, especially as Control Resonant marks a big departure for the studio with its melee action combat and RPG elements. However, what I watched the Remedy Entertainment employee play was another exciting look at the game.
My colleague and senior associate editor Marcus Stewart did go hands-on with it at SGF and came away with positive thoughts about actually playing the game, so I do still have hope, but alas. Okay, that’s enough about that – here’s what I actually saw.
Dylan Faden, the brother of Control protagonist Jesse, is out of the FBC’s containment alongside all of the Hiss the Oldest House tried to keep at bay. There’s been plenty of looks at the Hiss’ role in Control Resonant, but for this hands-off preview, Remedy showed off a Manhattan park area covered in a blue mold, complete with various mold enemies, too. Dylan is tasked with finding a Resonant here – the big bosses of the game.
Curiously, Remedy says you will fight the same first and last boss no matter how you play the game, but that all the Resonants you fight in between can be tackled in any order you choose. In this preview, we’re after a moldy Resonant boss, but first, we have to eat some mold to learn more about it.
If you didn’t already know, the mold in Control Resonant is “delicious,” according to Remedy and hard to resist. As such, Dylan passes all kinds of bodies who look dead but are actually paralyzed in a euphoric state (because they’ve willingly eaten the mold). En route to the mold Dylan needs to eat, we pass an FBC Field Content Research facility before shifting gravity so we can climb up a vertical wall.
Up ahead, there’s a group of mold enemies. The standard mob enemies are easy to take out, but they’re great for farming dominance, which is an effect activated by Dylan’s combat kit that increases damage after killing an enemy. After garnering some dominance, we tackle the massive garlic bulb-looking enemy skulking about the area, placing mold mines in the area. This enemy is about the size of an elephant and shoots mold mines and other projectiles out of its “trunk,” for lack of a better term.
Here, Remedy explains that the equipped Dual Blades have a critical chance buff, and that the drill transformation for his transforming Aberrant weapon does some serious Falter damage. Every enemy has a yellow Falter bar below their red health bar – Falter is essentially a Stagger meter. When you fill it up, you can perform an execution by pressing L3 (on PlayStation 5).
After taking this enemy out and clearing out the other enemies, we make our way toward the mold Dylan needs to eat. On the way, we see a traffic barrier behaving weirdly, rotating in a glitchy fashion; Remedy says this indicates a nearby world event, but we don’t have time to complete it.
At this point, I ask Remedy if there are real-world locations from Manhattan in Control Resonant. They say no, and that instead of actual named locations, the places within Control Resonant are meant to feel inspired by the real Manhattan, but with a “twisted” Remedy spin on it. We continue forward, fight some additional enemies, and I see Dylan’s shoulder button abilities on display; R2 deals fire damage by way of Ignite, while L2 uses the Barrage ability, which pummels enemies with rocks to greatly increase Falter damage. R1 is Push, and it’s basically a Jedi force push.
I also learn here that there is no parry and no block – there’s just a dodge (and you can perfect dodge to slow down time and deal extra damage). That’s by design, as Remedy wants Control Resonant players to be aggressive; that’s why you can only heal by defeating enemies, as they drop blue orbs that add health to your HP bar.
A few minutes later and we finally reach the mold for Dylan to eat. He eats it, and we get some strange dialogue choices to select. Remedy says dialogue choices won’t change the game’s ending – there’s only one ending – but that some side quests can have different endings depending on your choices. Plus, your dialogue choices will change how NPCs perceive you. It’s not a Mass Effect-like system or anything like that, but Remedy says you will notice NPC perception in their attitude toward you.
After eating this mold, Dylan has an idea of where the Resonant he’s after is hiding. We find it underground; it’s called the Collective, and it’s a giant pile of mold shaped into various frowning faces. During this boss fight, Dylan can’t do any damage to the Collective. Instead, you have to attack the Collective’s tentacles attached to the walls in the arena. To do that, you need to gravity shift so that you can walk on the walls and hit the tentacles. All the while, the Collective is firing moldy projectiles at you and summoning enemies to slow you down. After damaging all of the tentacles, weak spots open up, and you finally do some actual damage to the Collective.
I don’t get to see the fight’s conclusion, but I’m excited to do so myself in the final game. It’s not the wildest boss, but seeing Remedy’s spin on the “attack weak points to defeat the boss” formula is neat. I expect a lot of weird and strange when I play a Remedy game and so far, Control Resonant seems like it’s going to deliver all that and more.
Control Resonant launches digitally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC on September 24. The physical version is planned for October, and a Mac version will launch later.
