Category: Video Gaming

It seems like we’re getting one of these every few months, but the world of mobile action RPGs that look like the games that, just a few years back, were only possible on consoles is expanding with another new entry.

Netmarble, a studio and publisher known for its free-to-play games on mobile and PC, recently unveiled the launch date for The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin, its next major release that’s very much coming for the Genshin Impact crowd.

The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin is an open-world action RPG based on the world of The Seven Deadly Sins anime and manga. The game takes place in the world of Britannia, which looks similar to the way it does in the anime.

That said, the story of the game is not based on the anime or manga, Instead, it’s an original story set in the universe of the show. You play as Prince Tristan of the Kingdom of Liones who must find a way to bring order back to Britannia.

The gameplay should be familiar to anyone who played a free-to-play action RPG in the last decade. It features action combat, a roster of diverse heroes that you assemble to form teams, and a large pretty world to explore where you’ll also get to meet new characters.

Speaking of which, while Origin has its own original story, expect to be teaming up with characters from the series – some of whom wouldn’t be able to meet naturally. You can thank the game’s multiversal story for that.

Beyond all the serious business of saving the world and battling monsters, The Seven Deadly Sins: Origin also has a cozy, relaxing side. You’ll be able to fish, cook, forage and take on the beauty of the world with your pals.

The game has a bit of an unusual release schedule. It’s set to arrive on PC, PS5, iOS, and Android. PC (Steam), and PS5 players will be able to jump in starting March 16, whereas the global mobile launch is scheduled for one week later, on March 23.

You can pre-register right now on the official website if you’re interested in earning a few rewards when the game launches. You can, of course, always wishlist the game on Steam and the PlayStation Store, too.

Version Luna 5 of Genshin Impact is now live, but it’s a bittersweet occasion for fans of HoYoverse’s breakout gacha RPG – at the very least, those who are still playing the game on PlayStation 4, which is presumably true of somebody out there.

HoYoverse announced last year that they intended to wind down support for Genshin Impact on PS4, which – alongside PC, Android, and iOS – was one of the launch platforms for the game back in 2020. And with Version Luna 5, those end days are upon us.

The game has already been delisted on the platform since last September, meaning it was no longer available for download and could only be updated by players who already had it installed. But as of today, paid purchases from the in-game store have been disabled on PS4; and in six weeks’ time, on approximately April 8, Version Luna 6 will discontinue access to the PS4 version altogether.

In many ways this is unsurprising – Genshin is already available on both PS5 and Xbox Series to sate fans eager to play on console, and the PS4’s hardware is increasingly struggling to keep up with this massive open-world game after more than five years of regular updates have ballooned both its file size and technical requirements.

Aptly enough, Luna 5 takes the main story action back to the nation of Mondstadt, the location where the Traveler (and, by extension, the players) took their first steps into the world of Teyvat back in September 2020. It feels like a symbolic last hurrah for the original console home of the game, as does the inclusion of a Chronicled Wish banner focussing on some of Mondstadt’s most iconic (read: too old to be meta by now) 5-Star characters – namely Eula, Mona, Albedo, Klee, Diluc, and Jean.

And as the icing on the Tea Break Pancake, this banner is running alongside the long-anticipated introduction of Varka – the Grand Master of the Knights of Favonius who has been a major character in the game’s lore from the very beginning, but who only became playable with today’s update.

Looking ahead to that post-Luna 6 future, Genshin Impact will still be available on PS5, as well as Xbox Series consoles, PC, and mobile devices – so hopefully anyone who is still playing primarily on PS4 will find another platform they can continue the adventure on by April.

As the The Sims 4 continues into its second decade, the volume of new content, major expansions, and long-awaited features has grown in lockstep. Unfortunately, that has also meant that, given how old the game is, a few technical problems remain a nuisance.

The effort required to fix them is what led developer Maxis to make a commitment to improve the game’s technical state, and the developer has now returned to update the community on what to expect in 2026.

The quality of life pledge was made in September last year, through the introduction of a roadmap. Since then, the developer issued one update on its progress. Which brings us to this week’s new blog post, which further builds on everything that’s come before.

In the post, Maxis revealed a few key areas it’s going to be focusing on going forward. Though specific release dates for these changes were not shared, the list of issues should resonate with many players, as it covers many often-discussed topics.

The first stage of the new roadmap covers March through August. Over that period, you can expect Sims’ autonomy to improve. This goes for things like how they choose locations for certain actions, they way they interact with certain objects, and even how often they interrupt conversations.

The infant and caregiver relationship is being updated, too, in order to improve autonomy and make sure your little Sims don’t miss out on milestones and interactions. That stage of the roadmap also includes fixes for black photo issues, and other crashes and freezing.

The next period takes place September through December, and it includes more interesting changes. One of the goals with this one is to improve Sims’ dining experience, which covers issues around eating and drinking.

Another important area of focus with this stage is family trees, and relationships between members of the same family. Maxis wants to improve the game’s genealogy systems to make relationship tracking across generations more robust so that your family history isn’t lost.

Depending on how the first stage goes, you might see more issues join the list of what the developer is looking at for the second stage of the roadmap.

The good news is that you won’t have to wait too long for the game’s next patch. Due out in March, this next update will feature around 55 fixes, including for some commonly reported issues.

Until then, you may want to check out The Sims 4’s Lost Legacies Event, which is available now until the middle of March. If you picked up the game’s latest expansion, check if you tried those Royalty & Legacy cheats.

While Capcom has been on a roll with the last few Resident Evils, earlier in the series’ life things didn’t always go so smoothly. Resident Evil 2 was rebooted about 70% of the way through its development, with the original version eventually dubbed Resident Evil 1.5. Later it would take Capcom multiple restarts to settle on a direction for the masterful Resident Evil 4. Both ended up being huge hits, but if either development story had worked out differently, it’s likely both survival horror and action games would look a lot different today. I mean, imagine living in a world where Resident Evil isn’t goofy as hell.

“It was all too realistic. The ominous atmosphere from the first game, as represented in things like the Spencer Mansion itself, the armor room, key items like the jewelry box and gemstones… all that had been removed,” Resident Evil 2 writer Noboru Sugimura said in an interview way back in 1998, as translated by Shmuplations. There he was speaking about that canceled “1.5” version of RE2 that Capcom abandoned—when he joined the project mid-development, his first bit of advice was to rewrite it.

Earlier this month, Discord said that they’d be rolling out a global age verification system to which everyone and their mother responded by saying “thank you,” except they didn’t say thank. A little bit later on, they also shared word of an experiment being run in relation to this new system and policy that involved an identity detection firm backed by a fund directed by Palantir chairman Peter Thiel called Persona, which apparently potentially stored any ID documentation you submitted to them for up to seven days. Now, after more and more pushback, Discord have put out a statement that still probably doesn’t say what you wish it would.

For starters, the statement said that the chat service “should have provided more detail about our intentions and how the process works,” and acknowledged that the age verification system didn’t land particularly very well, though the buck stopped short of actually apologising. In fact, the post goes on to explain that Discord still plan to go ahead with introducing this system, but again stressed that “90% of users will never need to verify their age to continue using Discord exactly as they do today.”

They explain, “This is powered in part by our internal safety systems, which can already make an age determination for many adult users without any user action. We’ll publish the methodology behind this in a technical blog post before we launch globally.” For the remaining 10%, you will apparently be given options “designed to tell us only your age and never your identity.” These include more verification options like doing so by submitting credit card options, though more alternatives will also be added.

It’s also important to note that Discord say the test they ran with Persona was only “limited,” and that after conducting it they’ve opted to not work with them after all, saying that “all data was deleted after completing verification. We’ve set a new bar for any partner offering facial age estimation, including that it must be performed entirely on-device, meaning your biometric data never leaves your phone. Persona did not meet that bar.” Discord also committed to “full transparency on vendors” it works with, though ultimately, none of this is really the point, as people mostly just don’t want to have to submit any kind of sensitive details at all just to talk about a bit of smut and the like with their friends.

On top of all of this, the global rollout of Discord’s age verification system has been delayed to the latter half of 2026, so you’ve still got a while to mull over it all. What a polava.

The original Final Fantasy VII is getting a makeover on Steam. No, not the remake. I mean the actual, original game.

Announced last month and released today, this updated version of Final Fantasy VII comes with a handful of new features as seen on the storefront. According to an official post, this new version of the old game will include a 3x speed mode, the ability to turn off random encounters, a “battle enhancement” mode that will max out Limit gauge and let players recover HP/MP during battles, and an autosave feature.

The new version of the game will replace the 2013 edition on the Steam store, and the 2013 edition will no longer be available to buy. However, those who already own the 2013 version will receive the new version free of charge, and will still have access to the 2013 version in their libraries simultaneously with this new version. Critically, though, save files are not compatible between the two versions, so you will have to start a new game to enjoy the re-release.

This update effectively brings the game up to parity with the other modern console ports of Final Fantasy 7. For years, the 2013 edition on Steam had been behind the times, effectively just an old (and often buggy) PC port.

It’s still worth checking out the original Final Fantasy VII if you missed it back in the day, or even if you just want a walk down memory lane ahead of the conclusion to the Final Fantasy VII Remake Trilogy. It’s been teased that we’re getting “more updates than ever before” on the trilogy this year, leading fans to hope that the announcement of Part 3 is imminent. Meanwhile, Part 2, Rebirth, is coming to Switch 2 and Xbox later this year. FF7 for everyone!

Rebekah Valentine is a senior reporter for IGN. Got a story tip? Send it to rvalentine@ign.com.

It always comes back to Chloe Price and Max Caulfield. Through several games, branching narrative series Life is Strange has explored the consequences of love, friendship, and community, but the duo’s bond remains the beating heart of the overarching tale.

As Life is Strange: Reunion is said to be the final chapter in Max and Chloe’s story, it’s no surprise that both characters have returned, thanks to the cumulative events of Life is Strange: Double Exposure. Although some of the more significant decisions you’ve made from the first game, such as Max and Chloe’s relationship and the fate of Arcadia Bay, have carried over as well.

I spent some time with the game to dive into why fans should be excited about the partners-in-crime getting one last chance.

Some more familiar faces return

It’s not just about Max and Chloe making their comeback. Many characters from Life is Strange: Double Exposure appear, with Moses, a graduate, as a focal point because he is one of the victims of a fire that Max is trying to prevent. Dr. Yasmin Fayyad and her shapeshifting daughter Safi are present too, but Max’s friend Amanda was very much the focal point of the demo’s opening minutes. Which led to…

Ready to Rewind again?

My first task in the demo was to save Amanda from a demoralising heckler during her stand-up routine at the Snapping Turtle campus bar. It was a gentle reintroduction to Max’s Rewind ability, as once I failed my first attempt to stop the jeering troublemaker, I rewound our encounter with L1. Using the information I learned in our previous conversations, Max was able to talk to him again and make up a story that forced him to leave.

Max’s ability can be accessed at any time, but fundamentally, its use in the demo was to get around tight-lipped people, such as realizing that spilling beer over Double Exposure’s disgraced university professor, Lucas, is the only way to get a sneaky peek at his hidden documents.

The revelations from that action led Max to investigate the unsettling Abraxus House, triggering a more action driven use of Rewind. After bumping into another familiar character, journalism student Loretta, the two women were trapped in a creepy basement, under threat of discovery. Using a broom to barricade the door proved useless, but Rewind allowed me to find a far sturdier metal crowbar.

But the danger wasn’t over yet. With the house due for early demolition, I then had to use Rewind to find and disarm all the detonators in the right order under a strict time limit, a fun sequence that showed off the potential for where the game might go later on.

Chloe’s Backtalk returns

Given that Chloe is playable, it’s only fair that her dialogue-puzzle-based Backtalk ability from Life is Strange: Before the Storm is here, too. Although its introduction in the demo focused less on withering sarcasm to get her way, and more on charismatic persuasion by bending the truth.

After sneaking into the Snapping Turtle and then later being caught by security, I was asked to prove Chloe’s university credentials or risk her getting banned from campus. The Backtalk overlay popped up, offering a selection of replies under a time limit, with some responses carrying future consequences.

The key to successfully answering lay in the scene’s prior setup, with the game giving me a chance to observe items around the bar and interact with others for information, I had to remember to make my lie sound convincing. So don’t worry if you’re put on the spot – as long as you’re paying attention and quick on your fingers, Backtalk is a blast.

Both Max and Chloe are playable

Becoming both characters in the demo created an interesting situation when they were reunited at a climactic point of my game time. Rather than forcing me to choose who to control or keep them entirely separate, Reunion allowed me to decide what each character said to the other, shaping the ebb and flow of their conversation and creating immediate cause and effect in their dialogue.

Their journals are the perfect catch-up tool

We also have access to both Max’s and Chloe’s journals, which provide backstory and world-building through their scribbled thoughts, stickers, and other ephemera. The same menu allowed me to read incoming text messages between characters, along with their previous texts, providing a rich insight into their prior relationships.

You can take photos at any time

Similar to previous games in the series, there are photo hotspots to uncover in Max’s scenes, for collectible compositions that save in her journal. But pressing up on the D-pad at any time while you’re controlling Max reveals a much-requested addition to the series – the ability to take an in-game photo whenever something catches your eye.

Your personal snaps won’t be saved to Max’s journal, but are shareable with friends and via social media with a long press of the Create button.

My short time with the game left me eager for more as Max and Chloe’s adventure together was just starting to heat up. March 26 is when we’ll all be able to experience the likely heart-wrenching decisions of what comes next when Life is Strange: Reunion launches on PS5.

Menace has the bones to become one of the best strategy and tactics games released in years. The new early access game from the creators of Battle Brothers, years in the making, blends campaign strategy and platoon tactics—think the quicker-playing fun of Jagged Alliance or X-Com with the best bits of tabletop and board wargames.

In Menace, you’re in charge of a shipful of volunteer space marines sent on a politically unpopular mission through a malfunctioning faster-than-light travel gate to a remote planetary system ruled by criminals, megacorporations, and military juntas. Naturally, this goes disastrously wrong and your ship half-explodes due to that busted warp gate and lots of people on board die. You’re in charge because everyone above you in the chain of command is dead.

PlayStation’s Direct store is holding a sizeable sale on PS5 games, controllers, and even consoles, but there’s an added incentive for fans of Hideo Kojima’s Death Stranding 2: On the Beach.

The game is (for the time being), a PS5 exclusive, and marked one of 2025’s biggest releases on PS5, and you can snag its limited edition DualSense at a $20 discount right now.

Death Stranding 2 Collector’s Editions

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Elsewhere in the deals, you can save $100 on the Death Stranding 2: On the Beach Collector’s Edition. It includes a digital version of the game, along with a 15-inch Magellan Man Statue and an adorable/creepy (depending on your point of view) 3-inch Dollman figure you can attach to your keys or backpack.

There are art cards and a letter from Hideo Kojima, as well as in-game items like patches and a machine gun unlock.

In our review, Simon Cardy said the game delivers on the promise of the divisive original, awarding it a 9 out of 10.

“It removes almost all of the friction that weighed down its rookie effort, delighting with a truly unpredictable story full of intrigue and malleable stealth-action playgrounds hidden in its vast, hauntingly beautiful version of Australia.”

If you’ve not checked out the game just yet, it’s coming to PC on March 19, 2026 with Ultrawide support.

Elsewhere, you can save on huge first-party titles like God of War: Ragnarok and Marvel’s Spider-Man 2, as well as games like Stellar Blade.

Lloyd Coombes is an experienced freelancer in tech, gaming and fitness seen at Polygon, Eurogamer, Macworld, TechRadar and many more. He’s a big fan of Magic: The Gathering and other collectible card games, much to his wife’s dismay.