It’s made us quite eager to make a beeline for the Sanctum of Light, where getting on the good side of Final Fantasy 1’s Warrior of Light means having a being of primordial significance helping us on our adventure. He does more than dole out blessings as the Champion takes a more hands-on approach in combat, bestowing his favors upon worthy warriors.

He dives down from above, bringing down spears made of pure light, which sear the ground and any enemies unfortunate to meet the pointy end first. It’s a devastating attack we can’t wait to unleash, although we’re sure it comes with quite the cooldown given that it could empty entire battlefields regularly otherwise. Remember to shield your eyes, regardless.

Final Fantasy Resonance is out on October 22nd for Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, Nintendo Switch 2, PC, and PS5. Stay tuned for even more character highlights ahead of launch.

It’s a deep dive into how the sequel’s soundtrack is meant to evoke specific emotions, even if the only ones we’d feel when fighting to stay in the sky are sheer terror and adrenaline-fueled focus. Nevertheless, for those of you who find that music helps you, this one’s definitely got enough to have you adding at least a few tracks to your playlists outside of the cockpit.

This new peek at Ace Combat 8: Wings of Theve is a good example of that “extra polish”  the developers told us was a privilege the team had thanks to taking their time. We’re getting more optimistic about it with each passing glimpse, and we’re just eager to take to the skies when it releases for PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X|S on October 2.

Until then, those attending Gamescom will have the chance to go hands-on with the flight combat sim alongside other Bandai Namco titles. Head here for more details.

John’s driving along, unsure if Fanny’s even alive after some disaster. He’s relieved to hear her voice when she calls, just as she is to hear his. There’s no mention of Alex, which makes us have the sinking feeling that this one’s a continuation of the ending where Tyrak managed to consolidate his dictatorial regime. But if that isn’t the case, we’re wondering what life across the border has brought to a family of choice, and about all the new faces and places they’re bound to go as they find their way back to each other.

Of course, we’d love to know if Zoe plays a part in all of it after Road 96: Mile 0 gave us some lovely insights into how she thinks and made her a more nuanced addition to the franchise’s cast in the process. All will be revealed in due course, but until then, we’re going to try to figure out the significance of that sticky note in the teaser.

A new trailer for his upcoming outing in Onimusha: Way of the Sword gives us a good look at one such enemy, who seems to try to get inside the weathered warrior’s head before attempting to deliver a killing blow. Of course, Musashi’s well ahead of it, but the reward of the encounter is a shiny pair of gloves that might seem familiar if you’ve played Vergil in any of the Devil May Cry games.

Musashi does some serious damage with them and gets quite the buff to his weightlifting ability. We’re curious to see if there are situations where they would be a more strategically appropriate choice over his trusty katana, and what other weapons his arm can conjure as he seeks out dangerous foes and defeats them in combat.

We’re also quite curious about how the animators researched the moves for this particular weapon, given their work with the sword side of things. We don’t know about the latter, but with less than a month to go before its September 4th release, this one’s a title we’re not going to miss.

Among our favorite facets of our time with Metal Gear over the years is how each individual title has managed to remain special in our hearts and minds. It’s why remastered versions of some of its greatest hits, and a remake of one that did well to usher it into the current generation of gaming audiences, have been absolute treats for us to play.

It’s a stealth-action formula like no other, made eternal by Kojima’s visionary storytelling and gameplay design, and a potent narrative vehicle whose lore only gets more elaborate with every passing chapter. However, one of its titles has been rather quiet over the years, held back from reaching new generations of audiences thanks to its exclusivity to the PS3, a console that’s now two generations behind us.

If you’re among those players, we envy you. You might know Metal Gear Solid 4: Guns of the Patriot from the memes. You might have heard about those cutscenes leaving enough time for a quick snack, or know it thanks to Old Snake’s iconic look as a weathered version of a seasoned protagonist. But you haven’t played it yet, and this one’s mechanical ambition, structural unpredictability, emotional excess are remnants of a time long gone in gaming that you might not be ready for.

We sense you scoffing at the idea of a game that’s around eighteen years old at this point giving you trouble of any sort. But that’s the point, as this one is full of surprises that are baked into the experience. Allow us to explain.

An Underplayed Variation On The Formula

Let’s begin with the fact that if your time in modern gaming began with the PS4 or later, the chances are you’ve only heard of this one, or perhaps caught its story cutscenes to help you understand what you were missing between titles that you could actually get your hands on. You might be coming into this one after Delta Snake Eater introduced you to Big Boss, and set the events of the franchise’s narrative in motion.

Well, this one’s going to be quite the culture shock, since it switches out meticulous, room-by-room infiltrations with active war zones, where soldiers, vehicles, patrols, and multiple factions vying for control of tightly contested spaces make for an experience that can be quite jarring to you. It could make you think that the quiet jungles that set Big Boss on his journey to infamy, and the patient, curated approach you could carve to them have been sacrificed on the altar of a more combat-focused title.

But you only have to dive into the many ways that Snake literally hangs back, using a cautious approach to pit factions against each other, his loyalty between them wavering on your whims. You could cause chaos, pitting them against each other and using the chaos of the ensuing firefight to pursue your own reasons for being there. Snake is a seasoned hunter in this one, and his years of accrued experience over his lifetime are woven into his gameplay loop so well it stands out as soon as you get some depth out of its systems.

Of course, the narrative framing leans into that playstyle, nudging you towards a more careful approach by making Snake’s ageing body a system all on its own, with visual cues that provide tangible feedback on your actions via animations, stress and physical strain being measured components of gameplay. The Psyche system is a layer that underlines it all, working well to give you the implicit understanding that you’re in control of a soldier who’s pushing a tired physique beyond its normal limits. It’s designed to make you feel like a soldier who simply refuses to die.

The change it brings to a gameplay loop that saw different innovations over the years is something that isn’t going to make itself known until you pick up a controller and begin messing around for yourself. Of course, Snake and his new hunting grounds are not the only parts of the equation that Guns of the Patriot switches up.

Tools Of The Trade

OctoCamo is certainly something that’s going to stand out when you get your hands on it. It’s the perfect example of how MGS4 adapts the franchise’s stealth-action formula to the new level designs, giving you an invaluable way to navigate complex spaces unseen by simply blending with the background, Meccha Chameleon style. A relatively short cooldown on it meant that the ability to hide in plain sight was never too far away, making it a responsive and fluid part of traversal.

Expect to find yourself using it to carve a path through enemy forces with a lot of the usual sneaking and skulking, but with a new energy and pace as you find yourself improvising on the fly, stopping only when the moment requires that you pause to exploit a new weakness, or perhaps figure out a new route based on a changing situation. You’re always adaptable, but Snake’s personal constraints mean every choice you make matters.

The Solid Eye was a superb way to complement that mobility, being a great way to spot interest in your immediate vicinity and from afar, while also giving you a map to help navigate areas with more precision. Between the two tools, you’re going to find that instead of feeling like stealth is restricted to controlled spaces, you now have an entire battlefield at your disposal and it’s a sense of liberation we’re happy you’re going to experience.

With other gadgets, the threat detection ring, weapons and their modifications, and Drebin’s shop, there’s a lot of depth to what’s on offer in this one. It brings a sense of freedom, and feels like the game’s always working with you as you make and execute plans to navigate heavily guarded space without no one being any the wiser to your presence. Where you might expect the game to fail it’s stealthy roots, it doubles down on them while also allowing the action part of things to take the spotlight

The boss battles may have been a step down from the incredible Cobra Unit encounters in Metal Gear Solid 3, but they still pushed us to our limits. The battles against the Beauty and the Beast Unit, along with the different ways each encounter could be approached, are something we can’t wait to experience again. And then there’s the chance to pilot Metal Gear REX against Metal Gear RAY, followed by the unforgettable final showdown between Snake and Liquid Ocelot, a rivalry built over years, brought to life with incredible passion.

You never know when a firefight is going to break out with you thrust into the thick of it all, with an aggressive approach often favored by its large-scale combat encounters. It’s a potent military shooter when a situation that brings such battles into play unfolds, but that it doesn’t compromise on the franchise’s famous stealth traditions to do so is something that could catch many of you unawares at several points if you’re not watching out for it.

There’s also that story to talk about.

Twists In The Tale

Part of why the switch to action from stealth can feel as surprising as it does is the story, where the very structure and pacing of the narrative bring new locations, objectives, and infiltration techniques needed to get there. The rest is up to you, as you’re encouraged to get as creative as you can with what’s in your pockets and in the world around you. There’s very little repetition on offer in this one, and that can be a switch from what’s on offer today.

It switches things up with each act, its tone also varying between military tragedies, the influence of political ideologies on conflict across the globe, questions of identity and agency, absurd comedy, fanservice, melodrama, and even a bit of horror thrown in. Those cutscenes aren’t talked about for so many years after the game’s release for no reason, and if you’re new to the franchise, a lot of what you find is going to have you diving for the wikis more often than not.

Of course, all of this only serves to lend the spectacle this one offers a unique charm, and it carries that with a confidence that’s both impressive and deeply self-indulgent and it flits between its excessive exposition, uneven pacing, and a few well-placed moments of closure for franchise veterans that were much needed at the time of its release, and are welcome bits of nostalgia for those of you replaying this one again.

You might think that all of these factors we’re talking about could be seen as flaws, and they would be if you look at them through the lens of a gaming industry that’s been more risk averse than Kojima and Konami were back in the day. It took an already ambitious and unique franchise in a bold new direction, leading into MGS5 with aplomb. Its ambitions, and the resolution of decades of complicated threads of continuity make it a game that’s more demanding than its peers, but it’s one that makes you feel like a truly powerful superspy trapped in an old man’s body.

That’s not something you can find everyday, and MGS4’s current-gen debut is something we’re excited for just to join Solid Snake on one last replay of his last adventure. If you’re a newcomer to its strangeness, massive scale, and its experimental excess, know that it doesn’t behave like anything you’re used to, and expects the same kind of controlled chaos from you.

It’s what has made it so special to us over the years.

Note: The views expressed in this article are those of the author and do not necessarily represent the views of, and should not be attributed to, GamingBolt as an organization.

There’s a guerrilla effort underway, with a tank attempting to move under cover of the jungle’s dense foliage and being assaulted. However, a battle then unfolds that probably wasn’t the intended outcome for either side, as things snowball into a confrontation that highlights the terror and adrenaline of the conflict. It’s a heady mix for those of you who like your shooters grim and gritty.

A bunch of guns are quickly shown off, each a welcome sight in situations that cause us to dive for cover. We’ve left the trailer below in case you want to watch it for yourself as you count down to the multiplayer shooter’s August 13th launch on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. You could take a look at what the developers had to say to us about the game a while ago, or perhaps brush up on everything you need to know about this one before you pick up your copy.

From laying down the best surfaces and enrichment areas to ensuring you’ve got the perfect roofing to help simulate your feathery tenants’ natural environment, there’s a lot of careful building to do. Of course, any species you’re introducing needs to get along with its peers in the air, and perhaps even have synergies with other creatures on the ground. You’ll want to ensure that the shy ones have their own space to thrive, while the friendlier species can access your viewing pathways to help draw crowds that are eager to see them.

It’s an elaborate ecosystem of tools at your disposal, and we expect them to be quite helpful in building an elaborate ecosystem of your own, making your zoo a place where all animals live in harmony before you eventually send them off to live the life they deserve on wildlife reserves. The new feature focus trailer is below if you want a closer look at the aviary in action while you wait for Planet Zoo 2’s October 13th release date.

The lawsuits, consolidated in one place quite helpfully by Kotaku, dive into the antitrust concerns we’ve previously talked about. They basically argue that Sony’s digital-only push removes the second-hand market for PlayStation games, forcing consumers to buy from Sony’s digital storefront, allowing it to gain a hefty 30% commission on each sale. That, it is argued, isn’t a consumer-friendly situation at all.

Other concerns include ownership and fair pricing on products that buyers are technically renting if you dive deep into the details. It’s interesting that the lawsuits aren’t just in one place, but are spread across important markets for Sony and different from one another in terms of legal frameworks. The company might be taking a cautious approach to addressing the backlash it’s receiving, but it’s surely going to have to come up with a solid defense or perhaps a suitable strategy to allay the legitimate fears of its consumers.

But with PS5s now shipping with a warning about physical discs ceasing production after the January 2028 deadline, things are quite turbulent on this front, and we’re quite curious to see what the next few months have in store.

The Marauder’s chaotic firepower is a sight to behold, while the Machinist makes dealing with vicious groups of enemies look easy with his plasma-based weapons. Of course, the Hunter’s always around to catch any strays, dispatching them with brutal efficiency while bringing useful crowd-control tools to the table. However, the latest co-op trailer for the game shows us one thing: none of these capable warriors will make it out on their own. There are a lot of situations where lone warriors get torn to shreds in this one, but the real magic is when the fireteam fights as a unit.

The potential for synergies, and the memories those moments can bring when they’re executed correctly, is certainly there for all of us to see, and we’re now more impatient than ever for its release on August 25th for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, PC, and, as confirmed in the trailer below, Nintendo Switch 2 (though it’s out this Fall). Check it out below in case you want to see the fireteam in action for yourself.

We’re especially happy that the upcoming addition to the beloved franchise blends enough of its familiar elements with bold new creative flourishes to usher in a potentially new age for Miyamoto Musashi. Based on everything we’ve seen thus far, getting to wield his powers is reason enough to be eager for this one, but fresh new information has us very curious to try it out for ourselves.

While you might be forgiven for assuming that this one’s in line with the franchise’s past instalments by offering a linear experience, an exclusive preview from PC Gamer shows us that Kyoto will open itself up to further exploration. It brings side quests, according to the game’s director Satoru Nihei, and you might even discover some hidden bosses.

We’d say that’s a good balance between the main story and side content in a title like this. Until then, we wait in joyful anticipation of a return to a long-dormant franchise as Onimusha: Way of the Sword launches on September 4th for PC, Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2.