Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, PC Publisher: Deep Silver Developer: Volition Release: August 23, 2022 Rating: Mature We had the pleasure of having the upcoming reboot of Saints Row on the cover of Game Informer issue #340 when I went hands-on with an early build of the game and spoke with the fine folks at Volition, the studio behind the series. Last week, the developer held a preview event, showing off where Saints Row is now, just a few months before launch. Much of what was shown was the same content as last year, but there were plenty of changes I noticed that have me feeling good about the direction this new Saints adventure is taking. Volition showed off three different missions during the presentation. Two of the missions, Making Rent and Idol Threats, were more refined versions of what I had played months ago, and you can read about them in our cover story. What was new is The Forge, a quest that takes The Boss and resident gearhead Neenah straight into the heart of the Scorpion factory, the home base of rival gang Los Panteros, to take out their headquarters in a blaze of glory while their boss Sergio is occupied elsewhere. First, the duo hijacks a well-armed helicopter and takes to the skies to fire missiles and more at a Los Panteros gathering before heading to their HQ to clean up the rest. Once inside, we got to see how combat has evolved beyond the simple gunfire and fisticuffs I had experienced previously.  Vehicles are naturally everywhere in the Scorpion factory and can be used to take out groups of unsuspecting Los Panteros the Saints are ambushing. Cars on repair lifts can be fired upon and rocketed into groups of enemies, creating all kinds of chaos from these fun-looking environmental interactions. We were also treated to a demonstration of Signature Abilities for weapons that can make standard pistols fire like fully automatic machine guns. Volition promises all kinds of ways to change how each weapon fires and even looks, which is a big step in the right direction to making the firearms of Saints Row more interesting than what I played around with last year. These same pistols can have visual customizations applied, like making them into big foam finger guns. When speaking with creative director Brian Traficante, he says he prefers to equip a skin similar to Star Lord's futuristic weapons from Guardians of the Galaxy. They aren't the exact same thing, mind you, but close enough to give the impression of having a cosmic hero's weaponry on hand. Customization was a big focus of the event, with Volition showing off plenty of ways your Boss can look. However, character customization is not a one-and-done opportunity in Saints Row. With the push of a few buttons, you can swap your style at any time from a handful of presets you create at Saints HQ; not just clothes, but each body customization and clothing option are on the table. Want to hulk out with a beefy green behemoth in a slick suit for a mission and switch to a stylish yet casual look with a completely different body shape, skin color, face, and hairstyle? As long those customizations are part of your visual loadouts, be a whole new you whenever you want. Shops around Santo Ileso will stock up on more clothing and weapon options as you progress through the game, adding more ways to make The Boss your own as you take over the fictional American Southwest city. Brian Shea recently previewed all the things you can customize in Saints Row, and you can read all about it here and dream of how you'll make your Boss look. Cooperative play was briefly demoed during the event, showing a second player drop into the game in session to help their friend out with a Criminal Venture mission. The new player brought a helicopter along and used a tether with a giant magnet to pick up the other player's car and carry them to the mission site. There, the pair commenced a dance party before starting a weapon testing mission that tasked the Bosses with blowing up as many cars and other objects in sight as possible, racking up the damage cost and adding multipliers when comboing explosions. Both players recieve whatever reward is given for that quest, no matter how far into the main story one may be. This is true for any mission you'll embark on with friends, which can be an avenue for obtaining items far earlier than intended. Rounding out the preview event, I noticed some significant changes to two of my favorite aspects of Saints Row, the Criminal Ventures and gliding through the air with the wingsuit. Criminal Ventures are legal businesses the Saints can start that are fronts for illicit activities, like Chalupacabra, a food truck used to sell drugs to the residents of Santo Ileso. The basic concept of these ventures hasn't changed, but their role in the world has become more important. Now territory control is tied to the Criminal Ventures you have built around the city. Once you establish a business, rival factions in that region of Santo Ileso will start to retaliate, which kicks off the Saints' eventual conquest of the area. The vehicles of Saints Row were a highlight of the build I played months ago, and while I love speeding through the streets and mastering the incredibly fun drifting mechanic, my favorite way to get around was taking to the skies and gliding with the wingsuit. Now, cars play a more vital role in wingsuit antics than ever before. With vehicle customization, ejector seats can be equipped in vehicles, making the process of launching into the air much more streamlined than before. Also joining the wingsuit repertoire is diving and bouncing off of pedestrians, sending The Boss back into the air to cover more distance than before. I can't wait to give these new moves a try the next time I get my hands on Saints Row. Having seen Saints Row in that early build last year and comparing it to what was presented last week, I'm feeling hopeful that jumping into the shoes of The Boss and building this new Saints empire will be a great time. The flexibility and abundance of customization options are impressive, and the improvements to combat options, traversal, and the interlocking of systems are proof Volition is making great strides to polish the game before its release. While Saints Row was pushed from its original February launch date to later in the year, Traficante assures us that it won't change again, so I'm looking forward to taking over Santo Ileso and meeting the new crew of Saints when the game releases on August 23. Purchase

The first episode of Pokémon: Huisian Snow, a new limited web Pokémon series, is now live on YouTube. It’s less than seven minutes long so it’s worth a watch for anyone who likes Pokémon, but it’s especially a must-watch for fans of this year’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus. That’s because as the name implies, it takes place in the Hisui region of Pokémon, which debuted in Legends: Arceus. It’s the ancient version of the Sinnoh region and most people there aren’t too keen to live alongside Pokémon like the trainers we’ve all battled against in the mainline games. That discrepancy is at the heart of the first episode of Pokémon: Hisuian Snow, "Onto the Icy Blue." “Across the Hisui region, many grow up believing people and Pokémon cannot live together,” the YouTube description for Episode 1 reads. “But when Alec meets a Hisuian Zorua, he may need to rethink how he views Pokémon.”  We won’t spoil here what happens, but you can check out the episode above. It’s a great start to Pokémon: Hisuian Snow and its beautiful art already has me on the lookout for the next episode.  After watching it, read Game Informer’s Pokémon Legends: Arceus review and then read about the recent Daybreak update for the game. Check out the three starters for the next generation of Pokémon in Pokémon Scarlet and Violet after that.  What did you think of Episode 1? Let us know in the comments below!

The official adaptation of Steve Jackson Games’ legendary and multi-award-winning wargame, Ogre, is now available on PlayStation. Bursting with mechanised warfare, this turn-based strategy game requires a lot of tactical choices, and even more calculated thinking. Based on the original board game created in 1977, this game will transport you into another time. Here are […]

Reviewed on: PC Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC Publisher: Nacon Developer: Big Bad Wolf Release: May 19, 2022 Rating: Mature Vampires secretly walk among us. They drive fast cars. Lord above us in penthouses. And are so refined in their tastes, they bite our wrists gently when feeding, hopefully keeping us alive for future snacks. Vampire: The Masquerade – Swansong explores the nightwalkers' place in our world through a nicely designed narrative lens that embraces player choice in deep and satisfying ways. Within the opening seconds of play, we learn that the vampires' Boston Camarilla is on high alert; trouble arising moments after crowning a new prince to oversee their operations. The vampiric Masquerade law, which keeps their kind hidden from mortals, may have been broken, and it's up to you to dive into the mystery to find out what happened and who is to blame. What comes next is roughly 20 hours of noteworthy discoveries. As you pick up clues and blood trails, you'll come across gruesome crime scenes, and will have to interrogate intelligent beings who want to bend your will. Most of the notable narrative beats pay off handsomely with big twists and empowering you with the feeling that you had an actual hand in figuring out the riddles. You also feel like a skilled vampire, using a variety of dark gifts to move the outcomes in desired directions. This cryptic tale unfolds through the eyes of three different vampire protagonists, each at least one hundred years of age, with unique viewpoints into their society's hierarchy. The story flows seamlessly between all three characters, some scenarios giving them time to breathe independently and other moments uniting them on the same hunt. The most dynamic lead is Emem Louis. Strong in conviction and capable of visualizing clues tied to the five senses, Emem is often in control of conversations and can quickly pick up trails that lead to more profound mysteries. Leysha is equally interesting but a wild card, given how soft-spoken and forgetful she can be. Leysha can turn invisible or mimic other people's appearances to remain undetected when investigating. Galeb Bazory is the weakest of the leads, struggling to take to the spotlight due to his comically gruff attitude and scenario designs not being as dynamic as the other characters'.   In most video games, vampires are monsters that use their teeth and supernatural abilities to tear living things to shreds. In this narrative RPG, we see a different side of vampiric might. All three leads solve most of their problems through conversations and deductive reasoning. Yes, they still feed on humans and rats to fill their tanks, but most gameplay is discussion-based. Getting into the mind of vampires is as wild and fun as it sounds. This unique invitation gets better when you learn the vampires don't always play fair and can use their unique gifts to prey on the weak-minded. The vampiric powers come to life through surprisingly deep RPG systems used to manipulate dialogue. From the outset of play, you choose what gifts each vampire has and can further enhance these powers or add others throughout the game. As conversations unfold, the vampires can lean into intimidation, persuasion, psychology, and rhetoric to move the narrative in new directions, only if their skill levels are high enough. Even after meeting a skill threshold in a conversation, success isn't automatic. The people you talk to (both human and vampiric) are also gifted in their own ways and may counter your moves. You can cash in valuable willpower to increase your chance of success, but your opponent can do the same thing. You must weigh how aggressive you get in these conversations, paying close attention to what's really at stake or there to gain. If you run out of willpower early in an investigation, you'll have to play it safe for the remainder of it or scour the environment for consumables that can aid you (although they are hard to find). Character development is tied heavily to vampiric power usage, rewarding you with additional skill points whenever you succeed. I adore how this reward system works, as it ties in directly with the heart of gameplay. When both characters apply the same amount of skill – both delivering +3 in intimidation, for example – the success or failure of that narrative choice comes down to a dice roll. You actually see a die roll across the dialogue box to determine if you succeeded. It's a surprisingly intense moment that happens often and is just one of the ways that show just how dynamic and challenging these chats can be. The dialogue system that Big Bad Wolf Studio implemented is excellent to the point I anticipate seeing it in other developers' games moving forward. The player is continually rewarded well by the backend RPG systems, as well as the narrative script, which does an excellent job of breathing unique life into each new character you meet. A seemingly innocent chat can suddenly turn intense and transform into something like a boss fight. These moments are called confrontations, which force the vampires to use their skills to achieve a certain number of successes. Each confrontation brings different win conditions, such as "you can only fail twice." Failure doesn't mean you have to start over; the narrative just veers in another direction. I don't know how wildly different each outcome is, but I did see some dramatic changes in both setting and flow on a couple of missions I replayed. The game also offers a variety of endings, yet I can only speak to one of them, which I thought was quite good. When the vampires aren't talking, they study crime scenes. These moments are enhanced by RPG attributes, such as the ability to pick locks or use more sophisticated electronic equipment. Deductive skills and heightened education help make informed decisions. Unique character-specific skills also come into play. For instance, Emem can teleport using a power called Celerity, and Leysha's stealthy abilities help uncover areas that others can't explore. Big Bad Wolf does a nice job of not overselling solutions and pushes the player to read documents, dissect evidence, and follow the narrative threads to find clues hidden in rooms. The investigative elements are not as engaging as the conversations but still deliver plenty of fun, especially when exploring blood-soaked crime scenes. You can feed on humans to replenish your hunger (another meter that governs ability usage). The feeding delivers that well-known vampire quality but feels shoehorned in and at odds with the investigative flow. And don’t expect to be dazzled by the visuals. The environments look nice, but most animations are mechanical, especially in the characters' facial movements, which you always see. Swansong is this year's Forgotten City, a distinct narrative adventure that soars from the chances it takes. Player choice is front and center, and it’s nice to see these decisions turn into little games that carry significant narrative weight. Rarely have I played a game where I wanted to restart a scenario to undo bad decisions as I have here. Swansong makes you pay for your missteps and should be an excellent game for watercooler discussions with others who have played it. Score: 8.5 About Game Informer's review system Purchase

Final Fantasy VII Remake director Tetsuya Nomura has revealed that Square Enix has news to share in regards to the Final Fantasy VII franchise next month.  Nomura said this in a Japanese live stream about Final Fantasy VII: The First Soldier, a mobile battle royale, as reported by Video Games Chronicle. As for what this Final Fantasy VII news will be, it could theoretically be anything related to the franchise including The First Soldier, the original FFVII and its subsequent rereleases, Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, or possibly (hopefully) news about Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2.  The last we heard about Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 was that it could “differ significantly” from the original, which wouldn’t be surprising considering the changes and additions made in Final Fantasy VII Remake compared to the original game’s first handful of hours. In an ideal world, we hear about Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2 next month and then we hear about Final Fantasy XVI soon after, especially considering producer Naoki Yoshida recently revealed it’s near the end of development.  All of this would tie into a tease from a new Final Fantasy 35th Anniversary website that launched in March. It not only celebrates the series’ history, but teases information on upcoming titles, too. Upcoming titles could include Final Fantasy VII Remake Part 2, Final Fantasy VII Ever Crisis, or even Final Fantasy XVI. Only time will for now.  While waiting to learn more, read Game Informer’s Final Fantasy VII Remake review and then read about how Final Fantasy XVI has an “expansive” skill tree, according to its producer. Check out Game Informer’s ranking of every mainline Final Fantasy game after that.  [Source: Video Games Chronicle] Which Final Fantasy game in development are you most excited to hear about again? Let us know in the comments below!