Coliseum

If you’ve been curious how Star Fox feels on Switch 2 ahead of release, you’re in luck. Nintendo announced today that a demo will be available for the game later today (at the time of publication). 

The demo will include a tutorial and one of the opening stages, which implies that will not be the Corneria level.

Star Fox releases June 25 for Switch 2. For our own hands-on impresions of Star Fox, head here.

Nintendo has revealed Xenoblade Genesis, a brand new game in the Xenoblade Chronicles series. Announced during today’s Nintendo Direct, Genesis is described as a “new beginning” for the series and will launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in 2027. 

In the trailer, we learned that the elements of Genesis’ world give shape to a special power known as Anima, and that when battles were waged, they were decided by Anima and the Vesselai, powerful warriors who can wield it. The trailer also reveals that Anima Crystone not only amplifies Vesselai’s powers but also records their lives within it. The Crystone is placed in weapons, such as swords, and is used throughout life in the setting of Leukos – academic and otherwise – indicating that there might be a school system in place in Genesis. 

Check it out in the Xenoblade Genesis reveal trailer below: 

Xenoblade Genesis will launch exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2027. 

In the meantime, read Game Informer’s Xenoblade Chronicles 3 review. After that, read about how Xenoblade Chronicles 1, 2, and 3 are coming to Nintendo Switch 2. 

All three Xenoblade Chronicles games are in the process of being ported to Switch 2 with various enhancements. The games will all have increased resolutions and improved framerates and individual enhancements.

Xenoblade Chronicles will be available for Switch 2 later today and will allow players to use high-speed vehicles to navigate the environment.

Xenoblade Chronicles 2 will be available digitally July 30 and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 releases digitally December 4. Physical versions of all the games will be available at alter dates.

 

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, the next game in Nintendo’s tactical RPG series, was revealed last September, but we haven’t seen any official updates until today. A brand new trailer during Nintendo’s big summer Direct showed off more units, detailed the game’s structure, and a release date. Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave will launch September 17 on Switch 2.

 

This new trailer gives us a refresher on the game’s world. It follows a series of warriors as they compete in the Heroic Games, a combat tournament held in a Roman-inspired coliseum, though it seems each competitor has unique motivations to win. Cai (who rides an Emu-like bird called an Ornius) is fighting to save his father from imprisonment, while Theodora wants to prove she has the strength to lead her people, performer Leda desperately wants revenge on someone, and Dietrich find a foe worthy of his blade, Answerer. You can pick which of the four is your protagonist, and see how each of them… wait for it… weaves their fortune into reality. Whoever wins the tournament will have a wish granted by the ruler, and given that the titular Fire Emblem is often a wish-granting artifact, it’s likely to come into play.

We also saw more of the game’s free time structure, a staple in recent Fire Emblem entries. You can recruit units, travel outside the city walls to train against other foes, or level up your skills in the training arena. We also got a glimpse of a woman “rejoicing” about “the advent of the Underworld,” which I think is fair to assume is a villain, and the return of Sothis, a character in Fire Emblem: Three Houses.

Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave is coming to Switch 2 on September 17, and will have a special collector’s edition available that same day. For more on the game, rewatch its reveal trailer or read why it’s one of our most anticipated games of the year.

Pokémon Pokopia launched earlier this year on March 5, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2, and now, we know when the game’s Expansion Pass content begins. During today’s Nintendo Direct, we learned that the new Bubbly Basin town will be added to the game this August, and that same month, all players will get the underwater Dive ability in a free software update. 

Bubbly Basin kickstarts the Expansion Pass content, which will expand with “additional features” in late 2026 and a brand new town in 2027. As the name Bubbly Basin might imply, the new biome is completely underwater – you’ll need to use the new Dive ability, which can only be acquired after raising the environmental level in the Bleak Beach town, to build the biome for all manner of underwater pocket monsters. 

Check it out in the Bubbly Basin trailer below: 

Bubbly Basin hits Pokémon Pokopia sometime this August. 

In the meantime, read Game Informer’s Pokémon Pokopia review.

One Piece: Grand Gourmet is a little different from the typical One Piece game as there is less punching and yelling, but it does fall in line with the larger One Piece Universe.

In the game, you will manage a restaurant, which is character Sanji’s whole deal. You will cook food and serve it to 400 characters from the anime and manga.

One Piece: Grand Gourmet is coming to Switch and Switch 2 on October 23.

Square Enix has revealed that Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster is coming to Nintendo Switch 2. When it hits the console next month on July 23, it will bring with it both classic Final Fantasy adventures alongside brand new Switch 2 features, including a highly requested high-speed mode, a toggle for random encounters, and additional quality of life features. While these features are available on the PC version of this remaster, this is the first time they’ll be in a console port. 

The developer-publisher released a new trailer today for the HD Remaster Switch 2 port, highlighting the full HD characters, monsters, and background visuals present in the HD Remaster, which first launched in the U.S. in 2014. Though fans of these games debate whether the HD character models, in particular, are better (nothing beats the original PS2 game, in my opinion), you can’t argue that features like high-speed mode and encounter toggles aren’t welcome additions. 

Check it out in the Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster Nintendo Switch 2 release date trailer below: 

This HD Remaster also features fully remastered and arranged music, and additional elements from Final Fantasy X/Final Fantasy X-2 International Version are fully recreated here. It’s an excellent remaster, all things considered, and if you haven’t played these games before, I can’t recommend them enough – the Final Fantasy X saga is arguably the best in the entire franchise (plus, if more people play these games, maybe Square Enix will finally make Final Fantasy X-3). 

Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster launches on Nintendo Switch 2 on July 23. 

In the meantime, read Game Informer’s Final Fantasy X/X-2 HD Remaster review, and then check out Game Informer’s ranking of every mainline Final Fantasy game. 

Where do you place these games in the pantheon of Final Fantasy? Let us know in the comments below!

It’s been a decade since Ico and Shadow of the Colossus creator Fumito Ueda released his last title, 2016’s The Last Guardian, and he’s largely kept his head down during that lengthy stretch. His team at Gen Design has spent years quietly assembling its biggest and most surprising adventure yet, Gen Atlas. First revealed under the codename Project Robot during The Game Awards in 2024, the game reemerged with its proper title and a full-length trailer during the Summer Game Fest showcase. During the event’s press-only Play Days event, we interviewed Ueda to learn new details about the mysterious project, why he’s letting players fire a gun for the first time, the relationship between the player and their giant robot head, and his long-awaited opinion of The Iron Giant. 

Game Informer: How long has Gen Atlas been in development?

Fumito Ueda: We really began designing Gen Atlas in 2020, so we are in our sixth year at this point.

Okay, so that’s about a few years after The Last Guardian was released; what were the years between that game’s launch and the start of development for this game like for you? 

Ueda: So you’re right, there was a little bit of a gap in between shipping the last game and then getting really serious about Gen Atlas. We were actually prototyping a few different ideas or concepts in between that time, and as a brand new studio, we were building the basis of the foundation. That included everything from hiring new team members to really building the operations to what it is today.

Is Gen Atlas set in the same universe(s) as Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, or The Last Guardian?

Ueda: As with all of my previous games, with Gen Atlas, I started building a brand new game, a brand new world. So there is no direct link or connection to any of my previous games. But if I go back in time when I built Ico, and then when I built Shadow of the Colossus, I didn’t know in the very beginning that any of my future games would have a link back or fall back to a previous world or aesthetic build. So in that sense, maybe when this game is out and as the players experience it, you may feel some sort of connection. But that is not intentional, that is not deliberate in a way that the idea was already there from the beginning.

Giant robot media is very popular, especially in Japan. What separates Gen Atlas from other types of mecha media?

Ueda: I’ll start with the “why” with the giant robots, why I’m featuring giant robots in Gen Atlas. And you’re correct, from when I was a little boy, it was out there, I didn’t have to even go too far to even consume media that features giant robots and mechanics. I think it’s safe to say that it’s part of our culture, and so not to say that people outside of Japan cannot make that happen, but I think there’s a huge advantage for me, having been raised in a culture where it was not unusual, it was not familiar, it became part of what I consumed. I feel that there is an advantage for me to tackle this subject and topic for this world-building with giant robots being featured. 

Having said that, I think a lot of times when you think about Japanese, whether it’s manga or anime or robots, they have a little bit more like a fun, toy-ish, you play with robots quality or like an essence to it, but if you look at my games, they’re all really more based on reality. What I mean by that is the movement of the characters, the weight of the characters, the quality, and how you build the relationship with the characters in my game. They’re more grounded in [the] reality of that world. So what I think I’m trying to do is… I am in a position where I grew up with it, and there’s a certain level of know-how and kind of expertise that I could bring to that, but also I want to make it so that it’s more grounded in reality. I don’t want to say toy-like quality, but it’s more true to what you feel is believable in the world that we’re building.

You mention being a kid and enjoying robot media. Is there any specific movie or television show that you enjoyed, whether it’s robot media or even post-apocalyptic media, that served as an inspiration for Gen Atlas?

Ueda: Yes, so Giant Robo, it’s an anime that I know; I still really look back at the times that I was watching the anime, and then, not Japanese, but WALL-E is one that is very near and dear to my heart. Especially the first, and so those are a few that I can easily not just recall, but it has a left a big impression on me.

WALL-E’s a great movie! Going back to potential inspirations, I’ve been tasked by [Game Informer editor-in-chief Matt Miller] to show you this commercial, and to find out if this had any factor in this game’s inspiration.

Ueda: A little bit. There’s a similar toy in Japan as well. [Editor’s Note: Ueda smiled quite a bit while watching this commercial, I promise]

What’s it called in Japan?

Ueda: I don’t even think it’s like a name of a toy. It’s generic enough, but I think there is one that…you know, when you go to the toy store, your parents are going to always pick up the same toy. It’s basically like a category in itself. Sure, I definitely am a little influenced by stuff like this.

How would you describe the general gameplay loop, and the moment-to-moment of what you’re doing in Gen Atlas?

Ueda: I don’t know if we would say it as a flow or a move, but just in general – and because we can’t reveal too much – that as the player character, you will onboard yourself into the robot head. You get to sort of move around and connect that head to said robot torso or body, and then that will open up ways to navigate in this world, whether it’s by combat or through puzzle mechanics.

Can you communicate with the robot head? Is it sentient, or is it a vehicle?

Ueda: The robot head is going to be many things to the player character. At times, it will be a means of transportation, like a vehicle. At times, it will be your navigator. At times, it is more functional to use as a tool. But it’s also going to be your partner, as well. So it doesn’t just serve one thing. It’s going to serve multiple sort of roles.

Your previous games are always notable for the player forming a bond with a second character, whether it’s Yorda, Agro, or Trico. How would you describe the specific sort of bond you hope players will experience with the robot head?

Ueda: So as you said, my hope is that the players will kind of, not figure it out, but it’s really left up to their own interpretation. And I think there’s varying degrees of how they felt the relationship and the bond was forming with the character and their partner, and I don’t feel like I necessarily am trying to control how players intake that. And so that is the same with this game as well.

Is an Ueda game allowed to have a gun? What led to the decision to make what is ostensibly your first shooter?

Ueda: Just so you know, everyone is very surprised, and the way that you asked the question, though, is like, oh, that’s kind of a new twist; “Is an Ueda game allowed to have guns” is not the way people have been asking. It’s kind of surprising to me that so many people have reacted in a similar way. It’s not that I deliberately sort of cross it off the list of what weapons are allowed in my game in the past. It was more about fitting and matching the world setting, and if it’s believable in the reality of the world that we are creating. And I, as a player myself, playing other games, of course, I play shooters, and games that have given me the freedom to feel that. The way that I am now viewing, because of all the questions that have been asked in the last couple days, I feel like the players or the fans of my games have put a restriction on me to not maybe have a gun in my future games, but I never drew a path telling myself that I’m never going to have guns in my games. It’s only because it’s very fitting in this sci-fi sort of roles and universe setting that we built for Gen Atlas.

How much combat is there in Gen Atlas compared to your other games?

Ueda: First of all, I do want to clarify that this is not a shooter. It’s not a game where that is going to be the only game mechanics that you’re going to be playing, and there are other options, or there are other ways to progress throughout the game. So I would say kind of the balance of it is going to really be up to how the player chooses to use this mechanic, and what I mean by that is that it’s not a shooter where you should expect the more you use [the gun], the more you kill, the more scores or points you’re going to earn. [The gun is] really only there to have you overcome the challenges and the hurdles in those moments in those sequences, so you would use it to progress into the game at that moment, so it’s not like the more you do, the higher the achievement, the higher the score, it’s more of an effective and maybe a more efficient way to get through. 

Do the characters in this game communicate similarly as the characters in your previous games? And in a broader scope, how do you approach script writing in your games?

Ueda: In terms of the communication, in my previous games, you have the player character and the other, whether it’s Trico or the giant, or the boy and the girl, it was an NPC that you build a bond with, but had very little to almost very, minimal communication. In this case, you have the humanoid character, but you also have the robot, and you will be communicating in a way that you’re going to probably feel more than the previous games, and in that sense, you’ll see more text, basically, on screen. And it fits the setting. For any sci-fi universe, you can keep a conversation log; you can keep track of that because it’s very natural to see those moments in any kind of sci-fi story. When you have a conversation, it doesn’t just disappear; it can automatically be logged, and that’s very believable. So, in that sense, there’ll be a bit more communication overall.

In terms of script writing, usually I take an approach of like, okay, it has a solid opening and a solid ending. But the in between, I call them sort of like more episodes, are not necessarily fleshed out or spelled out in such a way that a traditional script is written. It’s more about I don’t know how much you know about haikus or short poems, but haikus are not meant to spell out every single word. There’s an in between; that you sort of read in between the words or the phrases, and so how I approach this script writing is that there are these moments and sort of episodes that happen, but whether it’s a visual, whether it’s a character design, or whether it’s work or building, there are sort of key factors that go into building these episodes, and they all have multiple kind of interpretations to it. And it’s really a matter of assembling that into a nice package so it does make sense from moment to moment. 

In terms of scope, how would you compare Gen Atlas to your previous games? Is this the biggest game you’ve worked on? 

Ueda: Yes, it is the largest game that I’m building compared to the previous games. And one of the themes of the game is to actually also feel the sense of scale. 

Is it an open world where you’re free to explore as you wish? 

Ueda: The short answer is yes. So open world, and we’re not going to count in square footage or meters [how] this is the largest world that I’ve built, but what I mean by “everything sort of combined” is that the sense of scale is something that you’re going to feel as if it is the largest world that I’ve built. So the setting and obviously the giant robots that are placed are going to make that into like a reality.

Is Gen Atlas’ world mostly desert-like, or are there any other environmental biomes or even interiors that players can explore?

Ueda: Although we can’t reveal details, it won’t be just the desert-like sand only. There will be other biomes.

I meant to ask this earlier, but have you ever seen The Iron Giant? And if so, are you a fan? 

Ueda: Yes, I love it.

It’s a good movie. One of the things I enjoy about your previous games is the sense of loneliness that they have. There’s really no other sort of protagonist characters beyond the player and the partner character that they’re with. Is this game as lonely as those games? Are there any other sort of main or side characters that players will encounter? 

Ueda: I think this is really going to be up to the player; how they feel or how much to what degree they feel the loneliness. I’m building and drawing and sort of creating these characters, both the main character and the robot, but it’s not that I have this degree of loneliness that I’m aiming for, and then my hope is that the players will feel some level of kind of a feeling of loneliness. So yes, you can sort of link back to my past games, and there might be similarities in that sense.

How would you describe the progression mechanics, if there are any? Are you tinkering with or upgrading the robot head in any way?

Ueda: I can say that yes, there will be some tinkering and upgrading. 

So between the four games of Ico, Shadow of the Colossus, The Last Guardian, and Gen Atlas and their respective companion characters –Yorda, Agro, Trico, and the robot head – which one would you want to hang out with the most? 

Ueda: Agro, and I’ve actually done some horse riding. And so just in real life I would, if Agro existed and it showed up, yeah, I would like to spend time on Agro. 

Is there m a retirement plan? To get a horse and name it Agro?

Ueda: I don’t know about that. 

Give it time. At this stage of your career, what are some of the biggest lessons that you’ve learned from your previous games that you’re applying to Gen Atlas?

Ueda: Well first and foremost, as a game maker and game creator, you don’t know until you make it. So you can think all you want, but until there’s something to play and feel, you don’t know if you’re on the right path, and so in that sense it’s iteration. Everything is very iterative in what we do. I think for this one, because we’ve onboarded ourselves to Unreal, it has made that process maybe easier and more accessible, and we’re able to see how it works, relatively quickly, our ideas come to life. But that just basic idea of like, ‘Hey, I have a good idea, but we don’t know if it’s going to work until we make it’, has been with me from the very beginning. So it’s not necessarily a lesson that I’m trying to now reflect into Gen Atlas, but it has gotten much easier and more accessible for me to do.

Publisher:
Sega

Developer:
Tecopark

This year is Sonic’s 35th anniversary, and while new crossover content for Sonic Racing: Crossworlds is exciting, fans were largely left wanting by the announcements during this year’s Summer Game Fest Showcase. However, one announcement, which felt almost like an afterthought in the moment, should draw the attention of fans, particularly those who have people with whom they can play multiplayer: Sonic Pico Park.

A riff on the popular puzzle/action/platforming game from 2021, Sonic Pico Park adds a layer of Sonic aesthetic and gameplay mechanics to what is already a very successful formula. With an allowance of two to eight players, teams of Sonic characters attack side-scrolling puzzles that rely heavily on cooperation.

I only had a chance to play through a couple handfuls of levels, but in my four-player session, I had a blast. Ranging from the most straightforward platforming and puzzle sequences imaginable to some that had us scratching our heads or failing on repeat for several attempts, I only got a brief glimpse of the chaos that can unfold in Sonic Pico Park. In certain scenarios, we were yelling in laughter at each other, as we either failed at following the group’s plan or, in some cases, I intentionally sabotaged the attempt (oops). Thankfully, these levels are low-stakes, and even if you throw your teammate into a pit, you respawn before the chuckles subside.

The levels I played started out as simple co-op experiments, with communication serving as a key factor since it only takes one character dying to trigger a fail state, and nobody can be left behind. In one sequence, we needed to build a human (hedgehog/fox/echidna?) staircase, while in another, we stacked on top of one another to form a wall that the remaining character could use to spindash up to reach a button to open the path to the goal. Another tethered us all together and we needed to dangle a couple of us over a pit to retrieve a key necessary to open the path. 

So far, only Sonic, Tails, Knuckles, and Amy are playable from the Sonic universe. If you want to play eight-player Sonic Pico Park, you can, but as of now, the remaining four slots would be filled in by generic characters. I imagine more iconic Sonic characters will join the title as we get closer to launch, but Sega representatives remained tight-lipped. However, for now, Sonic and Amy possess a simple moveset, only able to run, jump, and spindash, while Knuckles can glide and Tails and fly, even carrying his teammates; a necessary move for one of the puzzles we encountered.

The creativity of the Tecopark team was on full display in what I assume are very early levels. But if what I played is any indication, these low-stakes puzzle-platforming co-op levels with extremely simple controls are perfect for whether you’re playing with one dedicated friend or you have a broad spectrum of gamers with varying experience levels at a get together. We don’t know when Sonic Pico Park will arrive, nor do we know its platforms, but it’s a promising, fun indie spin-off that I would like to experience more of whenever it arrives.

The announcement of a new Crazy Taxi game during the Xbox Summer Showcase made waves for how excited longtime fans were to not only see an updated version of the iconic arcade passenger-delivery game. But following the announcement, a Steam page listing that disclosed generative AI use stirred up controversy. During a recent hands-off gameplay demonstration, I had the chance to seek clarification from series creator and lead producer on Crazy Taxi: World Tour, Kenji Kanno.

For reference, here is what the Steam page said regarding the Crazy Taxi: World Tour team’s use of AI:

At SEGA Corporation, we utilize generative AI as a support tool for developers, aiming to provide better content to our users and enable developers to focus more on creative tasks.

We have used such generative AI support tools during development of Crazy Taxi: World Tour. No AI was used in reference to the performers in the game.

The Steam listing provided a vague explanation. However, upon reaching out to a Sega spokesperson yesterday, they provided the following expanded version of the statement above:

At SEGA Corporation, generative AI is available as an optional support tool for developers, enabling our teams to focus more on creative tasks and ultimately focus on what matters most: delivering better games to our consumers.

Generative AI was used to support our teams during the development of background assets for ”Crazy Taxi: World Tour”. Assets generated were still subject to review by the development team.

No AI was used in reference to the performers in the game.

With the clarification from the spokesperson still remaining too vague for my liking, I went straight to the lead producer of the upcoming revival of the series to get further clarification on the development team’s use of AI, in particular, generative AI. Here’s what Kanno had to say:

“First, I think I can be a little bit more specific or clear on how we use the generative AI. So, it’s like one small part of the creative process. So, to get a little bit more detailed about our design process, as mentioned earlier, it’s World Tour, and we have five different countries. I can’t say which countries there are today, but our artists, our designers, they actually went to the actual locations, and they took references, and based on that, they came up with the designs. And generally, AI is just one part of that, and is used as a hint or part of the ideation. I think the statement on the Steam page was quite vague, so to make things a bit more clear – and this is a sentiment that both me and our team of talented artist and designers back in Japan share – is that we want to create things ourselves and deliver that as a great experience for our customers. So rest assured, everything in the final product is going to be original.”

Despite the controversy surrounding AI use in the development of Crazy Taxi: World Tour, the game does look like a fun and faithful modernization of the beloved franchise with which many fell in love during the Dreamcast era. Crazy Taxi: World Tour is set to arrive on PS5, Xbox Series X/S, Switch 2, and PC in 2027.