Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, the superhero-themed fighter from Arc System Works, is still a few weeks away from its release on PlayStation 5 and PC, but if you want to jump into the action early, you’ll get a chance next week. From July 24 to July 26, the open beta will be available to play for free on PC and PS5. You can check out the details for yourself in the image below (or by reading the paragraph that follows it).
The action begins at 12 a.m. PDT, 7 a.m. UTC, and 4 p.m. JST. Once it’s live, it will run for 72 hours. You also don’t need to register – you can simply head to the digital store and download the game, according to the PlayStation Blog. You also won’t need a PlayStation Plus account to play, but you will need an internet connection and a PlayStation account to access the game on both PS5 and PC.
The beta includes 15 of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls’ 20-character launch roster: Captain America, Iron Man, Black Panther, Storm, Magik, Wolverine, Danger, Spider-Man, Ms. Marvel, Star-Lord, Peni Parker, Ghost Rider, Blade, Doctor Doom, and Magneto. You’ll also be able to play on six stages: Marvel’s New York (day and night versions). Savage Land, X-Mansion, Knowhere, and Wakanda. The open beta will have ranked and casual matches, as well as a practice mode, an explorable open lobby, and three episodes of the Amazing Guardian story campaign.
A new cinematic trailer for Marvel’s Wolverine trades gameplay for an action-packed look at another villain closely tied to the titular mutant: Lady Deathstrike. The deadly assassin is the latest villain confirmed for Insomniac’s next Marvel action game.
The video is a cinematic montage of Wolverine taking on enemies across rainy city streets, atop a train, and in a snowy wilderness (where we also see his chief rival, Sabretooth). Towards the end of the video, we see Wolverine seemingly in Japan facing off against ninjas led by Lady Deathstrike, an assassin/mercenary who, like Logan, has the indestructible metal adamantium bonded to her skeleton, allowing her to slice apart foes using the long metal claws at each of her fingertips. We don’t get to see her and Wolverine battle head-on in the video, but it’s a nice tease of what’s (hopefully) to come.
In addition to Lady Deathstrike and Sabretooth, other confirmed characters for Marvel’s Wolverine are Omega Red, Mystique, and, on the X-Men side, Jean Grey. Though not a character, per se, we’ve also seen Sentinels as a threat.
Marvel’s Wolverine launches on September 15 for PlayStation 5. You can watch the game’s first gameplay trailer here, and Game Informer subscribers can read our preview of the game from issue 379 here.
I enjoy dying in Heave Ho 2. I’m not doing it on purpose, but it’s usually because I miscalculated a swing, was accidentally dropped off a cliff by my brother, or, most often of all, tried to make a comically long jump I had no chance of landing. The act of playing is so ridiculous and fun, and setbacks are so minimal, that I simply don’t mind. I don’t love every level, and the Showdown mode is largely forgettable, but this sequel from developer Le Cartel Studio is a great way to spend a few afternoons with family and friends.
In Heave Ho 2, each player controls a head with two arms, and each hand can grab nearby items or surfaces by pressing a button. The act of moving across a stage is easier said than done, especially at the start, and even once you get the hang of it, you always look and feel hilariously ridiculous. Since the game is multiplayer-only, most levels require you to work together (though others can be completed by progressing forward one at a time), either by linking your arms to make one long chain of hands or by collaborating to accomplish a goal. Regardless, it always looks silly, which never gets old, and as chaotic as it looks, the game controls really well.
While many levels in the co-op campaign task players with getting from one side of the map to the other, some worlds have different objectives or add twists to complicate your progress. I really appreciate how those goals shift across the eight worlds. Flying High has you navigate ski lifts, gondolas, and icy mountains to reach your goal, but levels in Manor Mysteries hide keys to unlock the exit, and Spacebound Squad has you navigating zero-gravity, sometimes teaming up to pilot a spaceship. Each time you boot the game up, you’re in for something new.
Not every world is a winner, though. Chef’s Orders, a world where you stack ingredients on a plate, is consistently frustrating. Heave Ho 2 is built for movement or carrying small items, but my group of players did not enjoy moving the much larger items. Similarly, Medieval Travels has several levels where you transport a king on his throne without tipping him over, and we found it so unintuitive that we accepted help from the game’s cat drone, which appears after you’ve spent a long time struggling and probably need a cop out to move on. I admire, however, that Le Cartel took risks on these unique levels, even if they didn’t always land.
The campaign has about 60 levels, each with two to three optional objectives, like finishing within a certain time frame, finding mysterious hands to grab, or fitting into hidden silhouettes. There’s also an equippable camera that you can bring across the game to complete even more objectives, capturing photos of the party doing specific, often silly tasks. While I beat Heave Ho 2 across roughly eight hours of gameplay, we spent a while getting distracted by side objectives, and I’m confident we could spend plenty more if we wanted to 100% the game. The robust list of achievements is a smart way to make the most out of the game’s modest amount of content, adding significant replay value.
Each objective makes progress towards a series of unlocks. Some are cosmetic, like the game’s roster of crossover skins from other video games (I’ve unlocked everything from an Among Us Crewmate to Henry from Kingdom Come: Deliverance II), but others add mechanical value by giving players items to equip going into stages. The Ima Rock freezes you in the air, allowing a friend to use you as a platform, while the arm spray extends an ally’s arms, making distant platforms easier to grab. The items add great complexity to the game, and I love that most of them are geared around aiding teammates, rather than oneself, but I wish they were unlocked faster. I only unlocked an umbrella (used for Mary Poppins-style floating) after going back to replay old stages, and I would’ve loved to have it when I was playing through the first time.
The game’s other mode, Showdown, is a fine side mode to experiment with once or twice, but it’s far shallower than the co-op levels. Players go head-to-head in a rotating playlist of maps and one of three objectives: a race, a challenge to see who survives longest, or a dash to see who can grab a handle first (which is also just a race, to be honest). The first player or team to get five wins comes out on top. Showdown is briefly entertaining, but that’s the only ruleset it has, and it doesn’t reward repeated play the way the main levels do, so I don’t expect most to spend much time with it.
I have a soft spot for goofy physics-based co-op games in general, but Heave Ho 2 was a hit no matter who I put it in front of. Its wacky exterior is supported by a solid core of great controls and smart level design. Not all of its gambles pay off, but I’m fine accepting a little jank in an otherwise jolly experience.
A new update for Crimson Desert adds cross-save today. This means that if you own the RPG on multiple platforms, you can now transfer save data between those versions.
Naturally, using cross-save requires players to own two or more versions of Crimson Desert on the following platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X/S, or PC via Steam or the Epic Games Store. You’ll need to have a Pearl Abyss ID for each owned copy of the game, and you’ll need to link these accounts to initiate cross-save. A new cross-save icon now appears in Crimson Desert’s in-game save data menu, which will begin the setup process as detailed in an FAQ. Crimson Desert is also available on Mac, but developer Pearl Abyss states that this version will not receive cross-save support until a future update.
The addition of cross-saves is one of many major overhauls Pearl Abyss has planned for Crimson Desert as part of its post-launch update roadmap. One of the biggest changes will be to the game’s often-criticized narrative. You can read more about all of the updates coming to the game here. Be sure also to check out our Crimson Desert review.
Developer Trigger Happy Interactive released its first-person horror game Total Chaos last year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC, and it became one of my favorite horror games of 2025. The game was great at launch, made even better with a New Game+ update that arrived earlier this year with a brand-new finale alongside a Switch 2 version, and now, thanks to an upcoming “Retro Mode” update, is set to get even more tantalizing.
Publisher Apogee Entertainment revealed on Bluesky today that Retro Mode will bring pixelated visuals, low-poly horrors, and yet another new ending to Total Chaos. This horror game began as a total conversion mod of Doom II, and Apogee says this new ending is inspired by those Doom II origins. You can see an example of the Retro Mode look in the header image at the top of this article, but here’s another look below:
The game is set within the corridors, hallways, cliffs, and bunkers of an isolated and desolate mining town run amok by a rotting disease that has infected both the protagonist’s mind and the once-citizens of this place. Using first-person combat, a constantly expanding crafting system, and environmental puzzle-solving, Trigger Happy Interactive crafted an excellent horror adventure well worth the price of admission and the dozen or so hours of runtime.
You can read more about why in Game Informer’s Total Chaos review. There’s no word on when Retro Mode will arrive in Total Chaos, but Apogee Entertainment says it’s coming soon. In the meantime, read my dissection of the game’s themes and how they intersect with hating cancer, cutthroat catharsis, and more.
Total Chaos is available today on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.
Have you played Total Chaos? Let us know what you think of it in the comments below!
Square Enix has surprise-released a Nintendo Switch 2 version of Star Ocean: The Second Story R, its sci-fi RPG that launched on Switch (and PlayStation and PC) in 2023. This Switch 2 version boasts 1080p resolution, both docked and in handheld mode, with a 60 FPS frame rate, making it a big improvement over the significantly lower resolution and 30 FPS frame rate of the Switch version. But, this edition comes with the usual Square Enix caveats.
Similar to the Octopath Traveler and Octopath Traveler II Switch 2 editions announced earlier this week, anyone who wants to play this Star Ocean remake on Switch 2 will have to pay $49.99; there is no upgrade path for owners of the Switch 1 version, and your save data does not transfer. It’s another step down this disappointing trend for Square Enix, which expects players to fork over more money to play a game they already own on a new system – the company doesn’t even opt for low-cost upgrade paths, something even Nintendo itself does with games like The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and more. Maybe Square Enix is seeing enough purchases to justify it, but it’s not a player-friendly practice either way.
Check out the Star Ocean: The Second Story R Nintendo Switch 2 edition trailer below:
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is a remake of the original Star Ocean: The Second Story, which launched on PlayStation in the U.S. in 1999. It’s about a Federation officer named Claude C. Kenny who is mysteriously transported to a mystical planet. There, he searches for a way home but is drawn into a quest to save the planet by a young girl who lives there, becoming wrapped up in an ancient prophecy in the process.
Star Ocean: The Second Story R is available on PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, Switch 2, Switch, and PC.
[Editor’s Note: This story has been updated to remove mention of Star Ocean: The Second Story R being an HD-2D game, as that is incorrect]
How do you feel about the way Square Enix handles Switch 2 re-releases? Let us know in the comments below!
Dragon’s Dogma 2, which launched in 2024 to positive critical reception, is coming back later this year as Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, adding a new region to the game and bringing it to Switch 2. However, fans of the series (or, honestly, anyone who’s even heard the titles of the games in the series) might notice that it’s the same subtitle given to a similar expanded version of the first Dragon’s Dogma game. When I asked producer Naoto Oyama why they went with the same name, he said they actually didn’t plan it from the start.
“We decided on this title after finalizing the ideas of the content we were creating.” Oyama said. “So it wasn’t title first and context next. First, we decided on the content, and then decided the name. And there [were] three main reasons for the subtitle ‘Dark Arisen.’ First, it has strong affinity with the story that unfolds in the Norgan area.” According to the Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen website, the story kicks off when a cursed dragon comes back to life, and “Almost as if in response to the call, another Arisen appears.” There will literally be a Dark Arisen in Dark Arisen, so that part seems like a given.
Next, Oyama said, “And second, the presence of the loop-based gameplay cycle, similar to the original Dark Arisen. […] You can do a dungeon crawler on the Bitterblack Isle in the original Dark Arisen, but in Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, you have that new Relic Exhibition Cycle in the open field.” While they didn’t provide much new information, the developers spent a good amount of time in this interview emphasizing this relic system’s significance, . It seems like players will be devoting a lot of time to collecting new, rare pieces of equipment to progress in this new region.
Lastly, Oyama’s third reason is the most obvious, but worth acknowledging. “[Finally, we] chose a familiar name because it was the easiest way to convey to everyone what kind of new elements will be added and players can expect.”
Last November, PlayStation unveiled Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble, a new mobile hero shooter take on Insomniac Games’ flagship franchise. After soft-launching in various non-US regions over the last few months, a new blog post reveals more details about the game ahead of its yet-to-be-revealed global launch.
Developed by Oh Bibi in collaboration with Insomniac, Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble is a free-to-play multiplayer hero shooter coming to iOS and Android. The game takes place inside a combat simulation created by Captain Qwark to train new Galactic Ranger recruits. Players control a roster of 12 heroes (with more to come post-launch) that, while featuring Ratchet and Clank and other recognizable faces, largely consist of new characters. This includes robots, aliens, and even Lombaxes from other dimensions like Widget, a spunky investigative journalist, and Mopz, a mopey street gang member.
Ranger Rumble’s bread and butter are its PvP arena battles (featuring “dynamic PvE elements”) where players team up to blast competitors apart using the series’ signature wacky weaponry. The blog post reveals the game will have six game modes at launch that promote PvP and PvE play. Modes include a take on battle royale and a soccer-inspired contest.
“Staying true to the series has been at the heart of the project from day one,” writes Oh Bibi chief executive officer Stanislas Dewavrin in the blog post. “The signature humor, beloved characters, and gloriously inventive weaponry that have defined Ratchet & Clank for over two decades are all here, reimagined for fast-paced battles built specifically for mobile, with new characters and weapons to discover.
There’s no release window for Ratchet & Clank: Ranger Rumble’s global launch, but players can pre-register to play on its website now to receive exclusive rewards.
To read about other PlayStation franchises spinning out into multiplayer titles, check out the reveal of Horizon Hunters Gathering.
The game centers on former superhero Robert Robertson (played by Aaron Paul), who becomes a dispatcher for a dysfunctional team of reformed villains. The narrative-focused game features choice-driven conversations that steer the plot down different paths, while dispatching heroes to handle a multitude of disasters unfolds as a light take on turn-based strategy. To celebrate the news, developer AdHoc Studio released a new trailer that teases some of the superhero adventures and dispatching drama that await Xbox players in the game. Check it out below:
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is a new gameplay expansion coming later this year, but developer Capcom is preceding that new content with some major free updates for the base game. At launch, many (including Game Informer, as you can see in our review) praised the game for its fun combat and friction-focused world, but it was also met with its fair share of criticism. Some were frustrated that fast travel was limited (though I personally loved it), largely locked behind a rare resource that you could also purchase with real-world money, and others lamented the game’s choppy performance, particularly on PC. After speaking with Dark Arisen game director Kento Kinoshita and producer Naoto Oyama, it sounds like Capcom heard the complaints and is aiming to address them.
Prior to the DLC, Capcom released a major title update for the game, and has another planned for August. The most recent update adds an Eternal Ferrystone item to the game, allowing players to fast travel at will, but Oyama says the developers don’t intend for it to compromise the game’s original design. “The Eternal Ferrystone [provides] an option for players to play the game more casually,” he says through a translator. “So [we’re] really focused on not trying to compromise the core enjoyment of the original game.”
Regarding balancing friction and accessibility, Kinoshita adds, “Rather than having a certain [balance] between those two, it’s more that we added an option to enjoy the game more […] Exploring on foot – that is still an enjoyable option. But doing that multiple times, maybe some people might get fatigued, and they’ll be like, ‘Hey, I want to just do fast travel,’ and then we have that Ferrystone. So, it’s just as an option. But if you find traveling on foot is enjoyable, then [you] can continue traveling by foot”
Kinoshita also says Capcom’s adjustments to the Dragonsplague system, which will come in the August update, doesn’t ease the negatives of the disease (note: they did that a few weeks after the game launched), but it makes the benefits more apparent. “We’re not easing the penalty here,” he says. “Dragonsplague will happen at the same rate.” Later on, he adds, “We made that Dragonsplague system more clear. Even in the base game, before the title updates, the afflicted pawn got stronger, but it wasn’t clear that they got stronger. But by the title updates, it will be more clearly reflected to the stats, so people will able to notice that the Dragonsplague is making their pawns stronger. So they can enjoy the risk/reward dynamics there in a clearer way.”
For context, Capcom is technically correct that it’s not easing any penalties, but it’s certainly making those penalties easier to avoid. The details for the August update, which are already publicly available, includes the note that Dragonsplague will be curable with a new item, and includes a list of buffs that afflicted pawns will receive, like staggering large enemies and fighting small ones without losing stamina.
