Coliseum

For years, fans clamored for a modernized remake of Final Fantasy VII, which was at last announced in 2015. Now that the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy is finally set to conclude in 2027 with Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the fan community has begun looking at what other classic entries in the legendary RPG series could be the next to receive the remake treatment. While it has already received the Pixel Remaster treatment, Final Fantasy VI has emerged as the most-wanted candidate. However, over the last month and a half, two prominent Final Fantasy directors have spoken on the topic of a hypothetical Final Fantasy VI Remake, and they don’t sound particularly enthused about taking it on.

Naoki Hamaguchi has spent more than the last decade of his life directing the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, which immediately put him at the top of the list in the minds of many fans. However, when I asked the director what he thinks is next for him and his career following the launch of Final Fantasy VII Revelation in 2027, he, unprompted, seemed to shoot down the notion that he’d take the reins on a remake of Final Fantasy VII’s beloved predecessor. 

“Right in this moment, I’m fully focused on completing FFVII Revelation and ensuring we’re delivering the FFVII Remake series in a perfect state, so that’s where I’m right now,” Hamaguchi told me in June. “At the same time, I do see a lot of fans and community asking me to take on the helm for a [hypothetical] FFVI remake. [laughs] So, I’m seeing a lot of that floating online, but, you know, a Final Fantasy VI Remake or any other remake, it could be me, or it could be someone else. Personally, I think that it might be in better hands if it went to another creator in Square Enix.”

During that same weekend, Bloomberg asked Hamaguchi a similar question about his next project, to which he replied, “It’s not going to be a remake! As a team, I do think there’s an opportunity to work on a smaller scale, like a double-A title, or a new Final Fantasy title or even a new triple-A franchise. I think all those would be good.”

Then, this past weekend at Final Fantasy XIV Fan Festival in Berlin, Germany, Hamaguchi was in conversation with Final Fantasy XIV director and Final Fantasy XVI producer Naoki Yoshida. Hamaguchi commented that Final Fantasy VI was the most influential game for him and the reason he wanted to work in games. “Every time I give that answer to a journalist or someone, the next day, there’s an article online saying, ‘Hamaguchi will be remaking Final Fantasy VI. So I also say, ‘No, I am not’ at the same time,’ Hamaguchi told the crowd with a laugh.

Yoshida also chimed in on that topic, claiming that a Final Fantasy VI Remake project would take an immense amount of work, and could end up being even more entries than the drawn-out Final Fantasy VII Remake series. “Of course, I understand the feelings of the players, but you’ve got to think about it,” he said on stage. “Look at Final Fantasy VI; it’s such an incredibly huge game. The scale is just immense, and the same applies for other titles like Final Fantasy VIII, Final Fantasy IX. So of course now, since you’re working on the Final Fantasy VII Remake series, I do get that people would be asking for remakes of other titles, but if we did remake those other titles, we’d probably end up having to release them in four installments, or maybe even five installments.” 

While neither explicitly came out and said Final Fantasy VI Remake isn’t happening, it does sound as though neither of the series’ most prominent current directors are overly enthusiastic about taking it on. However, as longtime Final Fantasy director and producer Yoshinori Kitase told me in 2023, the notion of Final Fantasy VII Remake was borne out of the Final Fantasy XIII U.S. media tour, when interviewers continually asked him about the existence of such a project. Once that idea was planted, he returned to Japan to discuss it with fellow Final Fantasy luminary Tetsuya Nomura. 

During that interview, Nomura also opened up about how motivated he and Kitase felt about taking charge with Final Fantasy VII Remake, as well as the current remake culture within Square Enix. “Within Square Enix, gradually, remakes were being made, and these ideas for remakes were coming up in other departments,” Nomura told me. “If we weren’t going to do Final Fantasy VII, others were going to do it, so we had to rise up and do it! We had the sense that we had to guard Final Fantasy VII and have to be the ones taking this on, or someone else is going to do it. I thought it may be a bit troublesome is other teams without us took on the project.”

Just like Final Fantasy VII, Kitase directed Final Fantasy VI, with Nomura working on the art of the classic RPG. Though Hamaguchi and Yoshida sound hesitant to take on the project, perhaps that same tenacity that Kitase and Nomura felt about Final Fantasy VII Remake, which resulted in the project getting made, could serve as a source of hope for those looking for a remake of Final Fantasy VI. Until such a day comes, Final Fantasy VII Revelation, the long-awaited conclusion to the Final Fantasy VII Remake trilogy, is set to arrive in 2027 across all major modern platforms simultaneously.

[via videogameschronicle]

Blood Dungeon, the next game by Nidhogg developer Messhof, has a release date of August 25. The game blends 2D platforming with the “bullet heaven” auto-attacking gameplay popularized by Vampire Survivors.

First revealed during Day of the Devs 2026, Blood Dungeon challenges players to survive platforming dungeons by jumping and climbing while automatically blasting over 100 different enemies. These mobs can be defeated by wielding dozens of weapons bolstered by unlockable upgrades. You can choose between nine playable characters sporting distinct traits and weapons and take on six survival arenas. Additionally, Blood Dungeon features online leaderboards and daily dungeons to conquer. 

Blood Dungeon launches on August 25 for PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, and PC. You can listen to Game Informer staff and guests from around the industry gush about the game in our special Summer Game Fest episode of The Game Informer Show. 

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Heart of Chornobyl’s first major story expansion, Cost of Hope, is coming on August 20. The expansion was first announced during the Xbox Partner Preview in March, and it will launch alongside Update 2.0, a massive overhaul to the entire post-apocalyptic adventure. 

In Cost of Hope, which is a paid expansion, players once again assume the role of protagonist Skif in a new narrative that unfolds in parallel to the events of the base campaign. A mysterious PDA signal draws Skif into a new storyline centered on rising tensions between the Duty and Freedom factions. Cost of Hope introduces two new regions, Chornobyl Nuclear Power Plant and the Iron Forest, along with new weapons, gear, and, naturally, mutated enemies. Cost of Hope will be the first of several planned expansions for S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2. 

Alongside Cost of Hope will be the arrival of Update 2.0, which upgrades S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2 to a new version of Unreal Engine 5 to improve stability and performance. Additionally, this free update introduces new content and gameplay improvements for all owners of the game.

S.T.A.L.K.E.R. 2: Cost of Hope will be available for all versions of the base game on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.  The price of the expansion is currently unlisted, but it will be included in the Deluxe and Ultimate Editions of the game. 

On Friday, Sony Santa Monica Studios revealed that the upcoming God of War Laufey is coming sooner than expected. The game arrives February 16, 2027.

2.16.27 pic.twitter.com/RQZov8MqGx

— Santa Monica Studio – God of War Laufey (@SonySantaMonica) July 25, 2026

God of War Laufey was revealed during PlayStation’s Summer State of Play event, where Santa Monica Studios shared roughly 23 minutes of the game.  The adventure follows Kratos’ wife and Atreus’ mother, Laufey (or Faye), after her death and arrival in the afterlife of the gods, known as the Everywhen, according to Laufey’s talking gelatinous cube and sword ribbon partners. The concept is novel for God of War and seems to take place during the events of God of War (2018), but considering the world is called the Everywhen, it’s hard to say exactly when the game takes place on the God of War timeline.

God of War Laufey releases February 16, 2027, on PlayStation 5. You can read more about the game here and here.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the latest game to grace the cover of Game Informer, and you can read my cover story about Capcom’s return to its samurai action series right now. I traveled to Osaka, Japan, to play the game for a few hours and interview the development leads, and one of the more surprising elements of my hands-on time was the lack of puzzle boxes. 

A staple of all four Onimusha games – Warlords, Samurai’s Destiny, Demon Siege, and Dawn of Dreams – they were curiously absent from my three hours of hands-on time with Way of the Sword. When I got the chance to talk to director Satoru Nihei about the game, I had to ask if I had missed any. It turns out, I didn’t – there just aren’t any in Way of the Sword. 

“As you observed, it’s not really the same kind of puzzle elements we had like usual, like the puzzle boxes,” Nihei tells me. “As you observed, we have puzzle elements in the actual stage, and we’ve introduced those as a way to break up the action.”

What Nihei is talking about there is an environmental puzzle I had to solve about halfway through my demo in Dokyo’s underground lab. Hidden beneath the imperial castle in Kyoto, the evil and demented genma Dokyo is concocting new demonic creations by splicing together Genma, humans, animals, and whatever else she/it can find. This entire stage plays like a classic Japanese ghost house, and I’ll be writing about that in a later feature, but in between the action, I had to pause and solve a puzzle unlike anything in any Onimusha game before. 

In a large kabuki theater-like room, there were four masks adorning the wall before me. It was very clear I needed to interact with them, or use them, to advance forward through the stage, but as much as I circled around the room, I couldn’t find any way to do so – no switch, no lever, nothing. So, I left the room. 

That’s when I noticed the way light was shining through decorative windows on a wall. Floating ornaments hung in each window, and the patterns of light shining through them matched the masks inside. Specifically, each ornament highlighted a number of holes in the matching mask – one hole to the first mask, two holes to the second mask, and so on. Looking at the ornaments from left to right yielded the solution I needed to interact with the masks inside the room. 

I spent longer than I care to admit solving this puzzle. Shizuka, the mysterious woman who either is protagonist Miyamoto Musashi’s Oni Gauntlet, or at least living inside of it somehow, lightly nudged me in the right direction with helpful and polite tips, and I was able to solve it with her help. Don’t worry: Shizuka wasn’t annoying and I didn’t find her tips to be immersion-breaking or anything like that. It’s the kind of help you want a companion to give and hey – if you’re still worried about Shizuka’s help, just be smarter than me when you play the game!

Overall, this puzzle probably took me about five minutes to solve, and then boom, I was right back into the sword action that makes up 90% of Onimusha: Way of the Sword. I enjoy a good environmental puzzle, and this one was quite unique. It doubles as a small break from the combat, too, and that’s by design, according to the game’s director. 

“Obviously action is a big focus of the game, but just having action is maybe not so exciting for people,” Nihei says. “So we’ve introduced these puzzle elements into each stage that can get people thinking in between those action sections.” 

I’ll be diving deeper into Capcom’s return to Onimusha as part of Game Informer’s month of Way of the Sword coverage. We’ll be publishing exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (including a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel as well. Keep an eye on the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so you don’t miss any of it. 

In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you: 

• Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Isn’t Connected To Previous Games, But There Are Homages
• How Capcom Decided On Miyamoto Musashi For Its Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Protagonist
• Why 2026 Was The Year To Bring Onimusha Back After A 20-Year Gap
• Why Kyoto Was The Perfect Setting For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Cover Reveal
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Digital Issue
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Summer Game Fest Hands-On Preview
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Hub

Are you going to miss the puzzle boxes? Let us know in the comments below!

Sure, the remake of the original Halo came out this week, as did a new Splatoon game, but the most important release of this week? The Onimusha: Way of the Sword issue of Game Informer magazine. And hey, guess what? If you subscribe now, that’s the first issue you’ll get in the mail. Other video game things happened this week, too, though, so I will share some of those. And then we have a bunch of video game recommendations for the weekend.

• Halo: Campaign Evolved Review – Rollicking Revival
• Splatoon Raiders Review – A Fresh Take
• The Incident at Galley House Review – A Clever Blast From The Past
• Cover Reveal – Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Why 2026 Was The Year To Bring Onimusha Back After A 20-Year Gap With Way Of The Sword
• How Capcom Decided On Miyamoto Musashi For Its Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Protagonist
• Star Wars Zero Company Cast Includes Actors From Clone Wars, Hades II, Resident Evil, And More

Halo: Campaign Evolved

Matt Miller

25 years after we first crash-landed on that intriguing ringworld of Halo, Campaign Evolved has returned with a wealth of updates and changes to modernize the game while keeping the core experience intact. Early access has already started for the game, while other players will be able to dive in on July 28. It’s strange to say, but you can enjoy the game on either Xbox or PS5, so longtime Sony faithful may finally have a chance to experience the game. The game is also available on PC, but I’ll share that some of our staffers have had mixed experience with the technical experience on PC for this one. Regardless, the core game remains a ton of fun, offering the same chaos and relentless action that made Halo a household name all those years ago. Play it solo, co-op with a friend (or your kid) on the couch, or up to four-player co-op online; just don’t go in expecting competitive play, as that feature has been stripped out for this release.

Game Informer’s Halo: Campaign Evolved review

Splatoon Raiders

Brian Shea

Splatoon’s single-player content has always been an underrated component of the series. Splatoon Raiders does away with the competitive multiplayer the franchise is known for and draws inspiration from the looter-shooter genre, as well as its own wave-based Salmon Run mode, to create a satisfying gameplay loop whether you’re tackling the raids alone or with three other kid-squid hybrids. Thanks to deep customization systems, incredible gameplay feel, and a challenging post-game, Splatoon Raiders is a difficult game to put down.

Game Informer‘s Splatoon Raiders review

Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls

Eric Van Allen

We’ve had quite a few tie-in tag fighters hit the scene: League of Legends’ 2XKO, Invincible Vs., Avatar Legends, and now, Marvel Tokon Fighting Souls, which has an open beta this weekend. Arc System Works is taking an almost-maximalist approach to tag fighting, opting for four-on-four combat and quite a few mechanics around utilizing those extra hands during the fight. Despite the potential for chaos, though, my early playtime with the open beta has shown it to be a surprisingly approachable game. Most strings and intense mechanics can be relegated to single button-presses or auto-combo strings, for the button-mashers. Still, there’s already some depth being found; Magik’s teleportation portals make it easy to show off, and I’m loving the reinterpretation of Marvel Vs. staples like Doom and Iron Man. Few multiplayer experiences can match the vibes of a fighting game night with pals, and Marvel Tokon’s open beta is a good excuse to host one this weekend.

Final Fantasy X

Brian Shea

One of the greatest RPGs of all time just celebrated its 25th anniversary, making for a great excuse to revisit Spira. Or, if you’ve never played it before, it’s a perfect reason to finally experience the generational story of Tidus, Yuna, and the whole crew of Guardians on a mission to save the world from the seemingly never-ending cycle of death and destruction. The story and characters are always the main attraction to me, but the turn-based mechanics are among the best we’ve ever seen, the Sphere Grid is a fun twist on traditional skill trees, and the soundtrack is among the best we’ve ever heard. And to make it easy, Final Fantasy X is available on every major platform over the last decade-plus, packaged alongside its cult-classic direct sequel.

Poinpy

Charles Harte

Poinpy is one of my favorite mobile games ever. Originally released as a part of the Netflix games subscription, it was unavailabel for the last year, but this week, Devolver re-launched it for free. A platformer designed by the mind behind Downwell, your goal in Poinpy is to collect fruits and veggies to create juice to sate a hungry beast chasing you upwards. The catch is that you only complete the recipe if you collect each ingredient before touching the ground, so you have to chain together leaps and bounces to collect enough produce before it’s too late. Across a handful of biomes, you’ll jump off enemies heads, get blasted out of various cannons, and bounce your way as high as you can go. It’s got the precision of my favorite platforming games mixed with a Kirby-like charm, and now that I’ve redownloaded it, I realize how much I missed reaching its colorful flow state. While it’s the kind of game you can theoretically play forever, it’s worth noting that the game does have an ending, and it’s a very cool one at that. It’s out for free today on iOS and Android.

Tabletop Pick – EvenGlow

Matt Miller

This just-released light strategy project is just the ticket if you’re looking for a beautiful game to bring to the table that isn’t going to scare away newcomers or less experienced players. Players are alchemists who are simultaneously growing and maintaining two separate gardens using the strength of both moonlight and sunlight. Tactically, that means that when plants are placed on one side, you must simultaneously place plants in a mirror location on the other side, leading to an arresting focus on balance. 

Visually, the game includes some beautiful watercolor art that helps the table pop during play. Give it a look if you want something lowkey but featuring some novel mechanics.

It’s a new week on The Game Informer Show, and we’ve got a new cover story! Eric and Wesley are back from Japan, where they played Capcom’s impending revival, Onimusha: Way of the Sword. They chat about the game itself, the insights they got from the team, and even the real-life historical locales they visited that are also present in Onimusha.

Then, Brian takes up the lead with some early impressions of Halo: Campaign Evolved and his review of Splatoon Raiders. Whether you’re a samurai, Spartan, or squid, there’s a little something for everyone on The Game Informer Show this week.

The Game Informer Show is a weekly podcast covering the video game industry. Join us every Friday for chats about video game reviews, news, and exclusive reveals alongside Game Informer staff and special guests from around the industry. Support the show by subscribing to our physical video game magazine!

Watch or listen here:

Listen to “Onimusha: Way of the Sword Cover Story, Plus Halo and Splatoon” on Spreaker.

Follow our hosts:

• Eric Van Allen (@seamoosi)
• Brian Shea (@brianpshea)
• Wesley LeBlanc (@wesleyleblanc)

Jump around using these timestamps:

00:00 – Intro

02:52 – Onimusha: Way of the Sword

36:46 – Halo: Campaign Evolved

55:54 – Splatoon Raiders

Far from describing a game with adventure in it (that would include a lot of games!), the adventure genre is loosely defined as one that emphasizes narrative and exploration over action, which may also rely on light puzzle mechanics. In other words, a game that doesn’t have enough simulation to be a sim, action to be an action title, puzzle-solving to be a puzzle game, and… you get the idea. Despite the nebulous classification, games in this genre are unambiguously incredible experiences, often exploring refreshing and fascinating concepts. Shooting for games that are rolling around in the zeitgeist right now, some of the genres’ towering giants are not listed here. However, for anyone looking to check out today’s great experiences, feel free to peruse our list of the best adventure games to play right now.

1000xResist

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch, PC

When we say a game’s writing is good, we’re usually comparing it to other video games, but 1000xResist transcends even that categorization as an example of fantastic writing, full stop. It’s set in a post-apocalyptic world where everyone is a clone of the same person – the Allmother, whom they have an almost religious reverence for. You play as Watcher, one tasked with communing with your fellow sisters to learn about the world. In doing so, you live through the past, observing the Allmother’s teenage life, the events that led the world to fall apart, and the fractures within the surreal colony you live within. With complex, flawed characters, a rich, layered world, a plot that goes places you couldn’t expect, and gorgeous, poetic dialogue, it’s an easy game to recommend, and it’s one that’s raised the bar for the narrative games that follow. | Game Informer’s 1000xResist Review

And Roger

Switch, PC

And Roger is not a traditional adventure game, but it belongs in the genre thanks to the way the player interacts with the world and solves its puzzles. It recalls games like 2018’s Florence and even WarioWare, oddly, but without the rigid timers of Nintendo’s bizarre microgame collections. Over the span of three succinct chapters, And Roger tells the tumultuous tale of a girl scared and confused by the presence of a mysterious man in her home. Who is the person? Why does he seem to know her even though he’s a stranger? What happened to the girl’s father? The narrative is effective in that it’s an ordinary tale grounded in a tragically relatable core, but it is ultimately an affecting tale of love, patience, and forgiveness. | Game Informer’s And Roger Review

Dispatch

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, Switch, PC

Dispatch picks up the pieces of Telltale’s TV-series-like approach to video games and takes it a step further. The result is a game that’s basically a TV series with some light interaction, and it rules. It helps that the original conceit of Dispatch was an animated series, and that pedigree is on full display in the game, but dialogue choices, critical story-changing moments, and a fun superhero dispatching minigame make it an even better experience. Mecha Man suit user Robert Robertson is returned to a life of normalcy when his suit is trashed by villains and placed in control of a dispatch operation for this universe’s Suicide Squad equivalent. Across the game’s 6 to 10 hours, he begins to care for this group of misfits, and they care for him in turn, turning a charming workplace comedy into a high-stakes family drama in its final hours. With an all-star voice cast, which includes Aaron Paul, Laura Bailey, Jeffrey Wright, Matthew Mercer, Travis Willingham, Erin Yvette, and more, Dispatch feels like a Hollywood-style adventure game that understands why this is one of gaming’s oldest (and best) genres. | Game Informer’s Dispatch Review

Emio – The Smiling Man: Famicom Detective Club

Switch

Famicom Detective Club’s roots in the adventure genre run deep, back to 1988’s The Missing Heir. These adventures had players solving mysteries through basic text menus, inputs, and choices: look around an area, decide what to look at, and who to talk to. Emio – The Smiling Man picks up right where those games left off with its 2024 revival, as you investigate a string of deaths tied to the mysterious “Smiling Man” legend. It’s dark and tense, with moments of sheer tension and thrills you wouldn’t always expect in a Nintendo game. But Emio’s core, beneath the twisting mystery, is its town and setting. This is perfect for someone who wants a small-town tale with compelling characters and outstanding atmosphere.

Indika

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch

There’s nothing worse than being a nun who wants to be devout to her faith only for Satan to come along, personally whisper in your ear, and cause you to embark on a surreal odyssey with a prisoner that will have you running from bloodthirsty wolves, operating heavy machinery in winter, and looking at your past in new and revealing ways; at least if your name is Indika. Set in 19th-century Russia, Indika is an outcast who just wants to feel like a normal nun, but the aforementioned Satan invades her mind, and while he’s not as mischievous as other versions of the fallen angel, he’s a powerful storytelling device that serves as a catalyst for the questions the game serves up about morality, sin, faith, and doggedness. The surrounding third-person adventure game will have you solving environmental puzzles, engaging with 16-bit platformer flashbacks, and navigating through hellacious hallucinations as you search for a remedy to your devilish ailment. The next moment is always surprising and weird in Indika, and the way it asks you to engage with its narrative and its mechanics is a reminder that there are stories that only video games can tell. | Game Informer’s Indika Review

Mixtape

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PC

Mixtape is a coming-of-age story that follows counterculture music aficionado Stacey Rockford, everyone’s hometown stoner Van Slater, and the goody-two-shoes Cassandra Morino, who is ready to strike out on a path not created by her parents, as they spend their last night together. With high school graduation behind them, Stacey is ready to make her dream of becoming a music supervisor in the Big Apple happen, and there’s no convincing her she can’t do it. Though disappointment and frustration permeate this trio, so, too, do love, nostalgia, and a deep friendship, articulated through a genre-hopping mixtape of songs curated by Stacey. Each song represents a different chapter in the history of this trio and is backed by an often dream-like gameplay experience, whether that’s flying through sunset-kissed flower fields, headbanging in cars, orchestrating a magical fireworks display, or moving a couch. Though your mileage will vary depending on your own teenage history, it’s hard not to recognize the naive but heartfelt romanticism at the heart of Mixtape. That feeling, which every teenager who dreams of something bigger for themself has felt, is omnipresent in Mixtape’s Blue Moon Lagoon, and it makes Mixtape one of 2026’s best adventure games. | Game Informer’s Mixtape Review 

Mouthwashing

PC

The premise of Mouthwashing is simple: your spaceship, the cargo carrier Tulpar, is stranded. An accident has left you adrift, with little hope for survival. What follows is a short, punchy, and dare-we-say visceral telling of the build-up and fallout of that fateful accident. Mouthwashing has garnered praise and acclaim for its tackling of heavy topics, as well as its gorgeous PSX-era art direction. It is also a game that wants to make use of the medium to impart something on you, to make you uncomfortable and then see what comes from that discomfort. As aptly said in Mouthwashing’s intro: I hope this hurts. This is easily one of the best examples of the indie horror space’s incredible output over the last few years, and a must-play if you’re interested in video games as an art form. | Game Informer’s Mouthwashing Review

Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse

Switch, PC, iOS, Android

2023’s Paranormasight: The Seven Mysteries of Honjo was a bit of a surprise: a horror-adventure led by mobile mystery maker Takanari Ishiyama that mixed gorgeous 360-degree dioramas with spine-chilling horror. Then, 2026 started off with a surprise anthological follow-up in The Mermaid’s Curse. While both are worth your time, The Mermaid’s Curse trades some of the scares for incredibly inventive use of its narrative structure, perspective-swapping, and lovely tactile puzzles. As the story winds through several different point-of-view leads – each wrapped up in the local legends of mermaids, curses, storms, and immortality – it’s all grounded in real-world history, folklore, legend, and places. There’s even an in-game encyclopedia to scour for more details, and yes, you are required to use it more than once to progress the plot. Paranormasight is a wonderful new series from Square Enix, one that keeps the adventure spirit alive while also pushing it forward onto new horizons. You won’t regret a few evenings squirreled away, seeing The Mermaid’s Curse all the way through to its ultimate conclusion. | Game Informer’s Paranormasight: The Mermaid’s Curse review

Slay The Princess

PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC

The premise of Slay The Princess is exactly how it sounds. There’s a princess locked in a dungeon, and you’re supposed to kill her. The thing is, she looks pretty innocent; helpless, even. Surely she can’t be so bad, right? This highly-reactive game is molded based on your dialogue choices, and you’ll replay over and over (usually after dying) to see as many of its branching paths as possible. It’s all rendered in a pencil-sketch art style, ranging from cute and simple to horrifying and Lovecraftian. Oh, also, this is a bit of a horror game. You’re unlikely to make it out alive. Maybe that princess is worth slaying after all.

The Mermaid Mask

PlayStation 5, Switch, PC

The Mermaid Mask is SFB Games’ best (and most recent) entry in the Detective Grimoire series, and it’s a great time for fans of murder mysteries or Ace Attorney. You’ve been tasked with investigating the Mortuga Submarine, as its captain, Magnus Mortuga, has been mysteriously slain. The ensuing mystery is captivating, but the bells and whistles are what make The Mermaid Mask stand out. The soundtrack is orchestral and grand, but not distracting. The environments are detailed and a treat to explore. But most of all, the characters are charming and lovingly animated, with eccentric designs and personalities to match. Skilled voice performances seal the deal (a relief, as most of the game is dialogue), and it’s always fun to strike up another conversation with a suspicious suspect. Each Detective Grimoire game has been even greater than the last; here’s hoping SFB Games decides to make more. | Game Informer’s The Mermaid Mask review

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Onimusha is finally back after a 20-year hiatus with Way of the Sword, which launches this September. In anticipation of its release, and for Game Informer’s latest cover story, I traveled to Capcom’s Osaka, Japan, HQ to play the game for a few hours and interview the development leads working on it. As an avid fan of the series, I was keen to learn if Onimusha: Way of the Sword is connected to previous Onimusha games in any way, so I asked the team. 

The tl;dr answer is no; there are no connections between Way of the Sword and other games in Capcom’s samurai action series. However, as was abundantly clear while playing the game, there are homages everywhere with (demon) eyes to see. 

“So there’s no direct kind of connection to the old games in the game world [of Onimusha: Way of the Sword], but we have tried to pay homage to some of the elements from those older games,” director Satoru Nihei tells me. “So some of the enemies you’ll see, for instance, are based on some older enemies; that’s so fans of the series have something they can touch base with.” 

Below, you can see the Reynaldo Genma from Onimusha: Warlords side-by-side with the Chijiko enemy from Way of the Sword. In the former, this tentacled demon can send its tentacles underground to attack from below, and they also split and mutate into multiple enemies when you “kill” one; the latter can do the same, using tentacles (and more) to attack you and splitting into two, unless you defeat them with a special move that prevents the split mutation from happening. 

Reynaldo (left), Chijiko (right)

The Raynaldo/Chijiko is just one of the homages I spotted during my time playing Way of the Sword at Capcom. Another is the Bazuu, an enemy in various Onimusha games. In Onimusha: Warlords, for example, one of its primary attacks is a spinning roll towards you that hits over and over. Though I don’t have the name, there’s a similarly designed enemy in Way of the Sword who also attacks by rolling into you, and it features the same armadillo-esque look, too. There’s also the soul-sucking Gyaran from Onimusha: Warlords; though its Way of the Sword counterpart doesn’t seem to suck Musashi’s souls, instead firing projectiles your way, it’s hard to deny a visual similarity between the two. 

“All of the enemies in this game are brand new, so while we do pay homage to some of the older games, we’ve kind of taken elements from them and remixed them for the new Genma in this title,” Nihei says. 

I look forward to discovering more of these homages in the final game when Onimusha: Way of the Sword hits PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC on September 4. 

I’ll be diving deeper into Capcom’s return to Onimusha as part of Game Informer’s month of Way of the Sword coverage. We’ll be publishing exclusive gameplay and behind-the-scenes videos (including a Rapid-Fire Interview) on the Game Informer YouTube channel as well. Keep an eye on the Onimusha: Way of the Sword coverage hub so you don’t miss any of it. 

In the meantime, here’s some additional Onimusha: Way of the Sword reading for you: 

• How Capcom Decided On Miyamoto Musashi For Its Onimusha: Way Of The Sword Protagonist
• Why 2026 Was The Year To Bring Onimusha Back After A 20-Year Gap
• Why Kyoto Was The Perfect Setting For Onimusha: Way Of The Sword
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Cover Reveal
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Digital Issue
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Summer Game Fest Hands-On Preview
• Onimusha: Way of the Sword Hub

Anything else you want to know about enemies in Onimusha: Way of the Sword? Let me know in the comments below!

The PlayStation Network (PSN) is down. That means all of its online services, such as account management, the PlayStation Store, and gaming and social content, are unavailable to players, leaving only offline services in effect. PSN has been down for more than six hours, interrupting online gaming for many, including the highly anticipated open beta for Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, which was set to begin today. 

With PSN down, PlayStation players are unable to check out the PlayStation 5 console-exclusive title. “We’re aware that some PlayStation players are experiencing login and network issues,” the Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls X account posted this morning. “Our team is actively investigating the problem and working to identify the cause. We’ll share updates as soon as we have information.” 

Unfortunately for developer Arc System Works, which just revealed that Phoenix Cyclops will be the first DLC character to hit Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, it sounds like it’s out of its hands. The PSN service page shows all services as “experiencing issues.” Those services are as follows: 

• Account management
• Gaming and Social
• PlayStation Video
• PlayStation Store
• PlayStation Direct

While PSN being down is never great, the timing couldn’t be worse – PlayStation just earlier this month announced that it is ceasing production of physical discs for new games in January 2028. During PSN outages such as this, a physical disc often ensured players could at least access offline-playable content stored on the disc, while some digital games, even single-player ones, require an online check to play, leaving players unable to access those games when PSN is down. This move by PlayStation to end physical disc manufacturing is just another way the PS5 and Xbox Series X/S generation has been a race to the bottom. 

Game Informer will update this story when PSN comes back online.