A 2D Fighter With Characters From the Avatar Legends Franchise

Set within the storied anime franchise Avatar Legends, where nations are characterised by a certain element – fire, earth, water, air – this upcoming 1v1 2D fighter is hand-drawn, styled to mirror the expressive animation of the series. Set specifically between shows’ The Last Airbender and The Legend of Korra, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game mixes classic mechanics with fluid movement and modern control schemes in an experience the devs say is designed for both newcomers, Avatar fans, and fighting game veterans alike.

Combat Revolves Around a Flow Mechanic

At the core of Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game’s combat is the Flow Mechanic, a system designed to showcase your character’s agility through a suite of evasive and defensive counters. So, alongside inputs for light, medium, and heavy, the dedicated Flow button brings a wide range of movement options: from auto guards and auto parries, to extended dashes across the ground and through the air. Character-specific manoeuvres can be chained together with basic inputs, encouraging you to master each fighter’s individual moveset.

Manage Chi to Maximise Flow

So, as you’ll probably have guessed: Flow isn’t an infinite resource – you’ll need to spend Chi to execute its varied manoeuvres, defensive capabilities, and combo extensions. But, unlike other fighting games, Chi doesn’t charge when you deal or take damage. In fact, you’ll begin every round with your Chi meter fully charged, with it regenerating passively throughout each bout. With guarding and evading integral to Flow, the idea with Chi, it seems, is to always make sure you have some in reserve. You don’t want to get caught Chi-less, else you’ll enter an “unbalanced” state whereby you’ll be locked out of Flow Mechanics.

Auto-Combos Welcome Beginners

Flow’s universal auto-parry isn’t the only automatic mechanic available to you, but auto-combos are built into the default four-button control scheme enabling beginners to get to grips with stringing multiple attacks together easily. Fighting game veterans will want to chain combos together manually, as auto-combo damage output is scaled significantly, meaning they deal far less damage than traditional combo chaining. Still, baseline damage is respectable, making auto-combos a worthwhile learning tool.

Twelve Characters in Launch Roster

Yes, on launch, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game features twelve playable characters, each bringing unique bending abilities, personalities, stances, variations, and playstyles – ensuring they feel distinct not just in visuals but in how they control. The devs have poured their knowledge of the franchise into each character’s moveset, basing much of their fighting prowess on their in-show background. Whether you pick your favourite character from the franchise as your main, or you opt to experiment, you’re sure to find a style that suits you.

Certain Characters Bring Multiple Fight Modes

Some fighters add an extra layer of depth through stance or mode switching during bouts. Azula, for instance, can transition between a precise, calculated Focused Mode and a more aggressive Firelord Mode, while Zuko can swap between his specialised firebending and a dual broadsword style. One on hand, these shifts are emblematic of character backgrounds, but in-game they can dramatically change your options for movement, delivering pressure, and strategy.

Primary Fighters Bring a Support Character

Alongside your chosen fighter, you’ll also choose a support character from a pool of three who’ll influence your main’s fighting style whilst also granting distinct special moves. Aang’s support character Gyatso, for instance, offers better Air Scooter speed control, while Korra’s support Raava grants longer Avatar States. These allies, effectively, let you customise your playstyle beyond your chosen character, adding a layer of team synergy without turning the game into a tag fighter.

Benders and Non-Benders Alike Are Balanced

To keep the roster balanced, the dev team imbues non-bending characters with unique skills. Instead of spiritual, elemental abilities, they’re outfitted with weapons, traps, and other tools, as well as specialised “Chakra Arts” that’ll give them distinct advantages over their bending counterparts. Faster Chi recovery is another boon for non-benders, allowing them access the benefits of Flow State more readily, to continue adding pressure while offsetting the power of elemental bending.

Story and Arcade Modes Available

Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game ships with a solid range of modes. A narrative-driven Story Mode sits alongside the more traditional Arcade ladder. Elsewhere, a versus option covers both online and offline play. Training and spectator modes round out your options, ensuring there’s something here whether you’re learning the ropes or just watching high-level matches play out.

Online Supported By Rollback Netcode

It’s a given with modern fighting game standards that online functionality is supported by rollback netcode, and Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is no different. Rollback netcode will keep matches responsive, even across long distances. Meanwhile, full cross-play means you can play against anyone, regardless of platform. Finally, both ranked and casual matches are available, catering to competitive grinders as much as those after a more laid-back brawling session.

Robust Training Mode Included

For both newcomers and those looking to dig deeper, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game ships with a robust training mode which offers a comprehensive suite of practice tools, including visible hitboxes, detailed frame data, and the ability to save set states. Precise practice sessions and experimentation are catered for alike, making it easier to learn and perfect character dynamics, optimise combos, and understand the game’s finer mechanics beyond surface level ease.

An Art Gallery is Also Included

Signalling a deep affiliation with the source material, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game also includes an Art Gallery, celebrating the legacy of the Avatar universe. Featuring original artwork from the show, it offers a more relaxed way for series novices and fandom alike to engage with the world and its characters.

Release Date, Platforms, and Price

After a string of delays and reschedules, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game is set to release on July 23rd, with PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC the official launch platforms. Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 are incoming at a later date. The game’s Standard Edition is priced at $29.99, with a Deluxe Edition retailing at $49.99.

Deluxe Edition and Pre-Order Bonuses Overview

Expanding on the Standard experience, Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game’s Deluxe Edition includes a full digital artbook, a digital copy of the soundtrack, and the Year 1 Pass which adds an additional five playable characters at a later date. If you pre-order the game, you’ll receive an exclusive Samurai Appa character skin, exclusive colour variants for a handful of characters, and the offer to vote on which DLC character you’d like to see appear in Year 1.

PC Requirements

To play Avatar Legends: The Fighting Game to a suitable level on your PC, you’ll need the following hardware: an Intel Core i5-7500 or AMD Ryzen 2600 CPU, and an Nvidia GTX 970 or Radeon RX 570 GPU.

A Lovecraft-Inspired, Co-op PvE Extraction Shooter

Drawing inspiration from H.P. Lovecraft’s novella of the same name, The Mound plunges you deep into uncharted jungle with up to three fellow explorers in search of artefacts and riches. Except, there’s unknowable danger lurking beneath the canopy. While the extraction genre’s familiar nuts-and-bolts drive the action here – loadout stations, deploying to hostile lands, scavenging loot, and surviving long enough to hightail it outta there – The Mound leans into Lovecraftian cosmic horror to warp the very fabric of reality, testing the trust of your team.

Each Expedition is a Descent Into Madness

Replicating a key theme in Lovecraft’s novella, in The Mound the further you trek into the forest, the more susceptible you become to madness, paranoia, and hallucination. The game presents traps and distractions, making you question what you see and hear. From sensory illusions – footsteps unknown in the undergrowth, to shifting colours and distortion – to unpredictable threats like imaginary trinkets materialising over spike-filled pits, laying invisible to your gaze. Each player perceives reality differently too, so whilst you’re unaware of the doom in front of you, your teammates can step in.

Communication is Crucial

And this brings us neatly onto the next thing you need to know: in The Mound, communication with your teammates is crucial to survival. The game uses spatialised voice chat, where the volume and direction of your comrade’s voice adjusts depending on their proximity to you. This isn’t just for realism and immersion, but deep inside the jungle there will be times when the figure you’re seeing may-or-may-not be your ally. In these moments, detecting their location through sound might be the only lifeline you’ve got.

Gameplay Follows Established Extraction Formula

Once your expedition begins in earnest, the gameplay loop involves scavenging for riches, food, weapons, and other resources, including mysterious metal ephemera that signals the location of high-value loot with a clang. You’ll also encounter indigenous stragglers and marooned survivors, the latter you may be asked to rescue. Abandoned forts of failed expeditions yield valuable intel, while an overarching objective is to locate the titular Mound. Here, as Lovecraft’s novella explains, is the gateway to a subterranean underworld filled with striking architecture, and abhorrent monsters. Whether the game treads the same narrative path remains to be seen, but the sentiment is that the Mound is an epicentre for wealth and prosperity – hence, your captain and overseer demands you find it.

Your Captain Outfits Your Squad Before Each Run

Before embarking on a treasure hunt, however, you’ll spend time aboard the Tempestad, your home galleon which serves as a base of operations. Across its creaking decks, and amongst its dimly-lit enclaves, you can speak to the ship’s cook who’ll advise on the best foodstuffs to retrieve on-land, request a tune from the resident lute player, and pet the ship’s sleepy dog. As far as hubworlds go, the Tempestad is rife with noxious atmosphere, but it’s the Captain whom you’ll need to address before departing for the coast. He’ll offer a pre-run contract for you to sign, usually revolving around finding specific items or locations, and returning with a minimum loot value. In exchange for your services, he provides weapons, gear, and resources.

Inventory Space is Limited

From the outset at least, you’ll have just six slots in your inventory. That’s room for a flintlock pistol, a machete, some gunpowder, perhaps an item of food, and two spare for whatever you pick up on the mainland. There is, however, an ox cart which trails your expedition’s progress, and there is room in its trunk for collected items plus anything surplus on deck. But, here’s the thing: that pistol? The machete? The Captain doesn’t give you one each. Together with your team, you’ll need to strategise before setting off, deciding who takes the rifle and who gets the sailor’s knife.

Guns Don’t Work in the Rain

And, actually, it rains quite a lot in the jungle. So, if you’ve got a flintlock or matchlock firearm, be prepared for it to malfunction once the heavens open. Balancing firepower with blunt force teamwide is set to be the dominant strategy then, not least because ammo and gunpowder are scarce. What’s more, intense moisture and condensation makes oil lamps flicker nervously, making it harder to see structures through the dense mire. If it wasn’t clear by now, this jungle is not your friend.

Excess Noise Can Wake the Forest

Here’s the other problem with guns: they’re loud. Popping the head off some eldritch stalker might seem like the fastest way to clear the forest’s immediate threat, but it’s a surefire way to cause more trouble for yourself and your team. See, the jungle doesn’t want you there, but the intimation is that it lies dormant unless disturbed. If it’s awoken, a gauntlet of hostile enemies will converge on your location. And, it isn’t just firearms: the clink of sprinting armour, the splash of a river crossing, the echoing horn of a lost ox-cart, these are trade-offs you’ll need to assess moment-to-moment. Sometimes, sneaky, stealthy approaches are the most viable strategies.

The Jungle is a Character

If it wasn’t clear by now, The Mound’s jungle is as fleshed out of an assailant as any of its tentacled zombies. Heck, it’s arguably more characterful than the archetypes you choose to command back on the Tempestad – more on those four next. See, ACE Team has leaned heavily into art direction, atmosphere, and sound design: mist blankets, envelops, and evolves; the rot of mushroom-sprouting wood moans in the breeze; birdcall specific to the region of Chile you’re exploring pierces through the inky-black night. You could go as far to say that the jungle’s aesthetic design grows into mechanical resistance; it has a personality of its own.

Four Character Archetypes

Yep, there are four distinct archetypes which you can choose before entering the fray: Alonso de la Torre is a pacifistic, somewhat nihilistic former soldier who is unmoved by war or riches – he sees wealth, simply, as freedom. Leonor is a fugitive, having fled Spain after a remorseless murder. Don Rodrigo de Medina is a nobleman jaded by war like Alonso. He seeks honour in truth. How their stories pan out remains to be seen, but one thing you need to know is that these archetypes are cosmetic only. They don’t have unique skills or abilities.

Progression Earned is Shared

Completing the Captain’s contract objectives yields currency of your own, plus XP for levelling up, and story progression, and it’s this latter element that is confirmed to be shared across each player across the team. The jungle forces you to work together regardless, but advancing the story together too further incentivises teamwork.

Can Be Played Solo

The Mound can be played solo, with computer-controlled allies joining you on your expeditions. However, ACE Team has deliberately designed the game around co-op, thus venturing into the wilds on your own isn’t just inadvisable but grows increasingly unviable long-term. Contracts reflect the number of human players, though, so if you must set forth solo you’ll be rewarded accordingly.

Release Date, Platforms, and Price

The Mound is scheduled for release on July 15th, with PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X|S, and PC via Steam the confirmed platforms. Pricewise, you’re looking at $29.99 for the standard Digital Edition, and $39.99 for the Deluxe. For console players, there is currently a 10% pre-order discount running until launch date. If you’re on PC and fancy giving the game a go before committing to a purchase, there is a free demo available on the game’s Steam page.

Deluxe Edition Overview

Alongside the base game and the Lost Explorers’ Sword Pack, The Mound’s Deluxe Edition includes the Abyssal Gear Pack and Fortune Hunters Character Pack. That’s extra cosmetics, two-more characters, and a dangerous new area to explore for a tenner more.

PC Requirements

As detailed on the game’s Steam page, to run The Mound at a minimum your PC needs to be outfitted with an Intel Core i7-8700k or AMD Ryzen 5 1600x CPU. Graphics-wise, you’ll need a GTX 1660 SUPER 6GB, and AMD Radeon RX 5600 XT 6GB, or Intel Arc A7700 16GB. Recommended settings list an Intel Core i7-11700k or AMD Ryzen 5 5500 CPU, and an RTX 3070 8GB or AMD Radeon RX 6750 XT 12GB GPU. 16GB RAM is the baseline memory whatever your hardware. Also, as noted on the Steam page, this information is subject to change – it’ll be worth keeping your eye on the details in the lead up to launch.

New Jackdaw Navigation Tools Streamline Sailing

In the original Black Flag, naval traversal was an active mechanic where you’d steer the ship across the Caribbean’s open waters while relying on the map for navigation. As Black Flag Resynced introduces seamless transitions between ocean and harbour, so too a couple of new navigation tools remove Jackdaw friction further: the Pathfinder highlights optimal routes across the ocean, while Follow Sea acts as an autopilot system. Together, they’ll allow you to soak in the experience of hightailing it across the seas, keeping extra think-work optional.

New Sea Shanties Are Tied to Activities

Sea Shanties in the original game were largely collectible flavour, scattered across the world, adding to your crew’s repertoire once found. In Resynced, ten newly produced Sea Shanties not only imbue your crew’s personality further, but tie directly to quests and activities. This greater context makes their acquisition feel more meaningful, while subtle UI changes make selecting your favourite shanty a breeze.

A Cleaner, More Contextual HUD

Simpler inputs to trigger Sea Shanties are just the tip of the iceberg: Black Flag Resynced has reworked the interface into a clear, more contextual system, moving away from the original’s functional yet cluttered layout. Now, fully customisable with multiple presets, you’re able to tailor how much information is displayed on screen, grouping settings for minimal display yet maximum immersion, to overloaded clarity with clear guidance and feedback.

Expanded VFX and UI Control

And, underlining your ability to find the ideal balance between gameplay clarity and cinematic immersion is Resynced’s deeper VFX and UI customisation options. Whereas the original offered limited control over presentation, now you can tweak the appearance of visual effects like blood, or go granular with a slate of toggleable interface elements, from widgets, meters, ammo counters, and reticles, to general info, hints, and more.

Combat Readability is Fully Customisable

Combat readability can be tailored to your preferences in Resynced too, adding to the original’s visual prompts and UI indicators with animation-based tells. So, while enemy health and defence bars are visible when using Resynced’s default HUD, these can be disabled to shift your focus toward timing, spacing, and animations, with the latter hurling your enemy’s hat or headpiece off their head once their defensive capability is broken. Even health and defence bars were optional in Black Flag – the original didn’t make it as feasible to fight on observation and instinct alone.

New Enemy Behaviours Encourage Adaption

Where enemy encounters often grew predictable in Black Flag, Resynced is introducing all-new enemy archetypes and defensive behaviours that will react to repeated tactics. If you spam parries, for instance, enemies will begin striking with unblockable attacks, so you’ll need to consistently adapt and vary your approach, mixing attacking and defensive manoeuvres with weapons and combos to confuse enemies.

Group Combat Is More Layered

And, continuing with Resynced’s new, advanced enemy archetypes, multi-enemy encounters are now more layered as a result of different enemy roles. While fights in the original Black Flag often boiled down to managing groups efficiently, in Resynced you’ll need to place extra priority on harder-to-down targets, such as the new Demolitionist, as these archetypes possess firmer defence and a more punishing, often unblockable, attack when compared to regular soldiers.

Observe Brings Cinematic Recon

Exploration in the original Black Flag relied on Edward’s Eagle Vision for environmental awareness. Resynced, instead, borrows from Assassin’s Creed Shadows by introducing the Observe feature, a more finely tuned tool which allows you to scan Edward’s surroundings for clues and objectives alongside tagging guards and other targets. Furthermore, Observe tightens the camera into Edward’s line of sight, bringing a more cinematic, immersive framing as you survey the landscape for minute detail.

Fort Infiltration Uses a Morale System

In Black Flag, conquering forts typically meant eliminating enough enemies to trigger a surrender. In Resynced, this scenario is replaced with a dynamic morale system, requiring you to destabilise a fort’s defenses enough to lower their resolve enough to draw their commander out for a final confrontation. The end result is the same, you’ll claim the fort as your own, but the process of killing its commander makes each stronghold in your collection feel more earned.

Boarding Brings More Risk Versus Reward

Whilst bringing more control and precision over the act of getting your boots onto enemy decks, Resynced also eschews the original Black Flag’s largely straightforward boarding process by introducing deeper risk versus reward scenarios. Now, enemy crew numbers and aggression varies between vessels, while more lucrative rewards are found in the new Captain’s Lockbox, located exclusively aboard larger ships like Frigates and Man O’ Wars. Opting to pillage the Captain’s private stash forgoes the option to repair your ship or lower your wanted level, and you’ll also want to consider the knock-on effect on your own crew numbers and future opportunities too.

Some Ship Management Has Moved On Shore

Originally, many ship-related functions were handled directly from the Jackdaw’s Captain’s Cabin. However, in Resynced, many of these systems have moved on shore to the Harbourmasters. Purchasing upgrades, restocking weapons, and trading cargo must now be handled in port, shifting your resource management decisions toward something more strategic.

Harbours Take On Greater Gameplay Significance

And, with more systems now tied to them, harbours in Black Flag Resynced are no longer simple stop-off points. Their increased importance changes how you plan voyages, influencing how often you return to port, and how to structure the pace of your naval expeditions.

Exploration Is More Guided Than Ever Before

While the original Black Flag encouraged a more organic approach to discovery, often leaving you to stumble upon points of interest, Resynced leans into a more guided exploration structure. The thinking behind this, presumably,is to increase your efficiency if you so choose – through Observe and the enhanced UI tools outlined in this feature, you should be more easily able to identify objectives and opportunities. Although, as we’ve already pointed out, the UI can be customised to loosen Resynced’s more structured approach if you desire.

Systems Feel More Interconnected

Resynced’s suite of expanded systems interlock more tightly than Black Flag, where its mechanics often felt like they operated independently. These expansions, encompassing morale-based encounters to adaptive enemies and customisable HUDs, are interwoven to present a more cohesive gameplay loop.

Immersion Is In Your Control

Ultimately, where Assassin’s Creed 4: Blag Flag brought a fixed balance between cinematic presentation and gameplay clarity, Black Flag Resynced gives you that control instead. Through all the various customisation options and systemic changes highlighted throughout this feature, there is one key takeaway: in Resynced, you can shape your own experience. Be it in true, uninterrupted immersion, or a guided adventure, the remake gives you the tools to choose your degree of realism, readability, and cinematic flair.

Series Distinguishes Itself Further From Madden

EA Sports College Football 27 continues to sculpt its own identity, distinct from Madden’s comparatively rigid NFL simulation with a faster, looser, more chaotic brand of football. In “Saturday Football”, the emphasis is on explosive play-by-plays, momentum swings, and a sprinkling of unpredictability, with innovations in gameplay forming the backbone of this year’s entry. We’ll get into the gameplay iterations during this feature, starting with defence.

Defensive Systems Reworked

Yes, defence is one of College Football 27’s most significant reworks. The game puts more tools and control in your hands, while smarter coverage logic and expanded defensive playbooks – from nine to thirty-one unique playbooks – ensure that reaping the rewards of a solid defensive line is more attainable and enjoyable. Making the correct read demands higher skill compared to earlier entries, resulting in this suite of overhauls bringing satisfaction which better-reflects the intensity of decision making in real-world college football.

Three-Yard Control Has Been Overhauled

Assessing last year’s trench battles and goal line stands, EA Sports found that College Football 26 presented these scenarios differently compared to real-life. These moments, amongst football’s most exhilarating, felt automatic and inauthentic, so this year’s iteration brings overhauled short yardage control. Beginning with the pre-snap, the game now evaluates push strength across the offensive line against defensive shed strength. Tools like the QB Sneak Meter further reinforce the physicality in those ‘fight-for-inches’ moments, where your perfect snap and timing push against other factors such as ratings, late-game pressure, home field advantage, and more.

More Control Across Blocking and Defense

Beyond short yardage adjustments, College Football 27 places renewed emphasis on giving you more control in the run game, protection game, and defensive front. Updates to ID Mike bring more precise targeting of defensive threats, while new protection options include deciding how the offensive line targets specific defenders. Additions such as Gap Integrity and Defensive Aggression let you choose how disciplined your defenders are to their assigned run fits, and how fast they play against each run. Pass-blocking customisation comes in the all-new Chip Block mechanic, giving new ways to disrupt elite edge rushers. Taken together, these new systems embellish risk-versus-reward, where executing high-risk plays successfully is now firmly in your hands.

Custom Adjustments Streamline Strategy

One of this year’s deepest strategy additions is Custom Adjustments, allowing you to save your preferred setups and execute them instantly, making the right play happen faster by reducing the number of pre-play inputs. Via the Create and Share menu, nearly every offensive and defensive tool is available to be built into your own custom package that can be recalled in-play without getting bogged down in sub-menus. This system doesn’t just maintain momentum though – no, with just ten custom adjustments out of a possible forty brought to matches, you’ll need to plan your strategies before gameday.

Physicality and Tackling Have Been Improved

Physical play has also seen refinement, with more impactful collisions and greater weight thrown across the playfield. A significant addition to tackling, however, is the all-new Tackle Stick, which maps different tackle types directly to the right stick’s directional input, giving you more intuitive control when making defensive stops.

Smarter AI Through Machine Learning

College Football 27 enhances AI ballcarrying through a form of machine learning called “behaviour cloning”. In a nutshell, the system learns from real-life examples of good, human-made decisions. The result: AI ballcarriers should make more natural choices – picking better lanes, recognising cutbacks, improving leverage reads, and reacting instinctively to space.

Timing-Based Catching Adds Ownership

Another one of this year’s biggest additions is Timing-Based Catching, which is a new offensive system designed to bring clarity and ownership over catches and dropped balls. Here, after releasing a pass, you can choose your catch type – aggressive, possession, or run-after-catch – with perfect meter timing rewarded with a clean, controlled catch. The result is a more expressive, skill-driven system which gives you the power to execute the right read and manoeuvre, even as various other factors might shrink the perfect catch window.

Dynamic Weather Impacts Gameplay

In College Football 27, it isn’t just AI ballcarriers that are set to appear less static but weather has been overhauled to shift dynamically within matches, tangibly impacting gameplay. Rain can clear mid-match, or snow could arrive to blanket the field at halftime. With weather evolving throughout, the feel, the pace, the visuals, and the atmosphere of the game can shift too. Crucially, player degradation can accelerate during particularly harsh conditions, providing visual authenticity to underpin the impact on gameplay.

Road to Glory Focuses on Managing Potential

This year, Road to Glory places greater emphasis on your off-field journey, with systems built around managing your development, expectations, and long-term potential. Three new playable positions – Tight End, Edge Rusher, and Free Safety – plus pre-determined max potential and attributes which reshape through the decisions you make will continuously define and redefine your journey from high school to Hall of Famer.

High School to College Now a Fully-Defined Career Arc

And on that note, once your player has been created and they’re stepping foot onto the Friday night playing field, it’s up to you to maintain their projection, earn scholarship offers, and ultimately choose the path that defines their career trajectory. A slate of visual tools make tracking your career a breeze, with weekly-updated projection graphs plotted with Memorable Moments – both good and bad – which impact your Draft Projection.

Road to College Football Playoff Emphasises the Journey Too

College Football 27’s competitive online mode places renewed emphasis on every match throughout the regular season having weight. The end goal is the same: reach the championship playoffs, but this year introduces all-new Objectives. Thousands of gameplay-tied mini-accolades, more specific milestones, team specific accomplishments, and conference challenges give you more reasons to absorb the journey.

Road to College Football Ranking System Rewards Risk and Skill

Road to College Football’s tweaked ranking system doesn’t treat every win the same. See, beating a top team with a lower-tier outfit is deemed more impressive than if it was the other way around. Likewise, road victories reward more points than home. It’s a dynamic competitive experience designed to give extra impetus to you if you want to take on extra challenges.

Playoffs Feel More Meaningful Than Ever

And, if you make it to the playoffs you’ll notice a stronger sense of pageantry, with the games themselves taking you through new-to-the-series stadiums the Rose Bowl and the Orange Bowl before the climactic national championship match in Las Vegas. This end-of-season progression presents a true sense of escalation, with the final stage feeling like a genuine achievement.

Mascot Mashup Adds a Low-Stakes Twist

If you’re after a less pressurised experience then Mascot Mashup is the mode for you. Offering a low-stakes, arcade-like alternative, here you’ll take to the field with a team of fluffy, 99 OVR rated mascots, engaging in the same skillful gameplay in a more immediate, light-hearted tone. Unique tricks and exclusive rewards make this a mode suitable for purists too.

Okay, gross over-simplication aside, here’s the bottom line: stronger tools have enabled loftier ambition, and that ambition has spiralled. Longer development cycles and skyrocketing budgets means the reality is fewer releases per studio. What’s more, expectation has grown in tandem with studio ambition. Publishers want bigger worlds, deeper mechanics, and sharper fidelity to match improvements in game development infrastructure, while players want value for money.

Neither can sustain the other indefinitely. What we have is a game development paradox, where slower timelines drive anticipation, and vice versa.

It wasn’t always like this. While the PS2-GameCube-Xbox generation of the early 2000s is remembered as a golden age for game development, where newfound complexity met creative freedom, it’d be remiss to class this era as easier. Shorter, linear experiences were common, with fewer systemic elements layering atop one another, but these were symptoms of weaker hardware. Ambition was contained behind limitations; fully-realised, but always with trade-offs.

In many ways, the spiral started here. As development tech grew in power, the scope of expectation grew alongside, and ambition came along for the ride. Soon enough, games needed cinematic presentation, seamless worlds, systemic design, and more. The genie was out the bottle, and everything started taking longer to build.

The arrival of x86 come the PS4 and Xbox One, however, removed some hardware friction. Migrating to a PC-like architecture made games easier to develop as studios found themselves already familiar with how it operated. Meanwhile, pre-established toolsets brought efficiency gains, and unified codebases made cross-platform releases more achievable. Game engines like Unity and Unreal Engine eroded technical barriers further, as studios adopted a universal framework which needed minimal adaptation to function smoothly.

"The arrival of x86 come the PS4 and Xbox One, however, removed some hardware friction."

But, rising expectations still loomed large, from publishers who were requesting even bigger worlds, even sharper fidelity, with more features, more platforms, more content, post-release roadmaps, and so on. And then there’s all the tertiary requirements: community support, creator management, marketing, et cetera. We’re in a climate where expectation occupies many fronts.

The sheer volume of creation has led to one inevitability: bottlenecks. And if we zoom back into game development, comparing and contrasting the then and now, asset production, specifically, has grown exponentially more complex. See, a door used to be just a door. A flat texture, a simple animation, and maybe a loading trigger. Now it needs detail; material texture, lighting consistency, physical interaction, sound design, and more to behave correctly in every possible game state. Likewise, a tree was once a simple background dressing, as was a forest or distant mountain. Now it needs detailed geometry, wind simulation, and optimised draw distance across multiple vantage points. Multiply that across an entire biome, throw in emergent NPC behaviour or dynamic weather, and the scale of modern game development becomes clear. It’s not that the assets are harder to make, it’s that everything is now an asset, and they need to be of tangible high quality at that.

Yet, despite these bottlenecks in the production pipeline, countless AAA experiences – open world games, especially – seldom feel succinct. They’re bloated and long-winded, often trying to merge systems-driven, RPG-like mechanics with cinematic presentation. Now, we’re not steering toward a black and white argument here. It’s not: large open world equals bad. Remember, we’re assessing why so many games take an ice age to develop, so if two different production pipelines run at once – systemic and mechanical design alongside mocap-acted cinematography – then it’s bound to take a long time. Modern AAA development, quite often, isn’t just about making a game but making a movie and simulation simultaneously.

And look, even after all the assets are locked-in there’s still quality assurance to undertake. See, modern games don’t tend to ship on a single platform. They launch across consoles and PC hardware setups, with performance modes, accessibility options, store compliance, and more to account for. Every variable is like a moving target, where a fix in one area could break something in another. Viewing, again, through the lens of AAA design, with open worlds, branching quests, and emergent systems, then there are thousands of possible interactions which need to be tested. It isn’t just about squashing bugs; the bigger and more complex a world becomes, the harder it is to say conclusively that it works.

"Even after all the assets are locked-in there’s still quality assurance to undertake."

Of course, work of this scale demands enormous budgets. Even games with sales in the millions that we’d otherwise assume were successful can struggle to recoup costs. As a knock-on effect, publishers now think of their shiniest titles in the context of a wider ecosystem, encompassing endless engagement, DLC, subscription-based services, and even cross-media expansion. Take Remedy Entertainment, for instance, whose 2019 release Control had sold upwards of two million units by 2021, yet this wasn’t claimed as a hit by the Finnish outfit. Sales reached four-and-a-half million by 2024, but Remedy had already signed an agreement with Annapurna to fund the game’s sequel, Control Resonant, alongside adapting both Control and Alan Wake to TV and film. This strategic partnership isn’t necessarily about ensuring survival, but it does underline a big-budget game’s need to sustain beyond sales.

Mentioning Remedy is pertinent to this discussion too, as the studio often avoids the long cycles between releases that are hampering the industry elsewhere. Instead, they’ve found a way to move faster. And, they’re not alone either: Insomniac Games, Resident Evil and FromSoftware share the same knack for haste. Delving into why, we can see that they each emphasise the same underlying philosophies for constraint, reuse, and organisational structure.

In Remedy’s case, they control the scope of their experiences tightly, while proprietary game engine Northlight allows them to build multiple projects in parallel without reinventing its tools. Elsewhere, Insomniac Games use a ‘leapfrog’ pipeline with multiple dedicated teams working across overlapping projects, supported by asset reuse and first-party finances. Meanwhile, FromSoftware leans into iteration, reusing core mechanics, animations, and design frameworks while maintaining a flat creative structure which allows for faster decision making.

The unifying theme, however, is discipline. Each of these studios builds on what they’ve already accomplished, avoiding unnecessary sprawl to keep their creative focus narrow enough to develop quickly. In an industry chasing size and breadth, these three studios show that speed comes from knowing what to leave out.

"FromSoftware leans into iteration, reusing core mechanics, animations, and design frameworks while maintaining a flat creative structure which allows for faster decision making."

Of course, smaller, indie-focused teams avoid gargantuan gaps between releases too, despite using the same tools as their AAA counterparts. And, perhaps owing to more modest budgets and less investor pressure, the indie scene has blossomed into a hotbed of creativity and experimentation. They’re showing conclusively that it isn’t the development tools that are causing mass slowdown, but AAA’s tendency for colossal overreach.

Annual releases, like sports titles, ship quickly too, and interestingly they almost-always rely on trade-offs and constraints, like the trio of studios just-mentioned. Reused assets, recycled animations, and lightly refreshed mechanics ensure these titles hit their periodic release windows, but their iteration is seldom received positively.

If there’s demand for wholesale refresh without lengthy development cycles, then looking ahead, generative AI might unfortunately become more commonplace. It can accelerate asset creation while reducing costs, but it also raises difficult questions around ethics, authorship, and the role of developers themselves. Looking at generative AI from an art perspective, it has potential to hasten creative processes, but there’s widespread worry it’ll be deployed as an expression of creativity itself. If used morally, then faster production is possible.

Ultimately, games aren’t taking longer because developers have become less efficient. They’re taking longer because ambition, expectation, and cost has been spiralling. Development tools continue to improve, but that only pushes targets further away.

How I wish we were still stuck in the good old PS2 era. But then we wouldn’t have the insane graphics and production values that we all crave today, right?

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.

Making Black Flag Resynced’s timing feel even more essential, however, is that the industry hasn’t fully satisfied the pirate fantasy popularised in the Jackdaw’s wake. And, with the developer searching for a renewed sense of direction – with both Assassin’s Creed and as a multi-national company – this remake carries significant weight. For them, it isn’t just about nostalgia; it’s about proving to players that they understand why one of the series’ most revered entries still has relevance. And, so far, as pre-order sales are mounting, it seems like players are starting to resonate again with what the developer is offering.

When Assassin’s Creed 4 Black Flag launched in 2013, it refined the Assassin’s Creed formula by shifting focus toward the fantasy of piracy while still anchoring the series’ core identity. It balanced high-tailing, open seas exploration and discovery with urban, line-of-sight parkour and stealth, feeling both expansive yet grounded. Crucially, you weren’t signposted by systems or narrow progression paths. You were set loose across the Caribbean, free to chase naval battles, treasure, and story at your own pace. In many ways, Black Flag was Assassin’s Creed at its most accessible, its most confident, and arguably its most culturally resonant.

What followed, however, wasn’t always a meaningful evolution for the series. Assassin’s Creed Unity and Assassin’s Creed Syndicate adhered closely to the established formula, but were beset by technical issues and growing sense of repetition, signalling series fatigue had set in.

"Assassin’s Creed Origins was the developer’s response, a reinvention toward full-scale RPG design"

Assassin’s Creed Origins was the developer’s response, a reinvention toward full-scale RPG design, with Odyssey and Valhalla following suit. These games were commercially dominant, sure, but they shifted the series away from the immediacy that Black Flag did well to maintain. See, the act of being an assassin became increasingly more of a dormant layer within a more demanding structure, and it took until 2023’s Assassin’s Creed Mirage before the developer scaled back to stealth.

Then came Assassin’s Creed Shadows, a title that openly straddles the series’ two conflicting identities. To be clear, the franchise hasn’t failed so much as splintered, splitting between blockbuster RPG’ing and the focused, character-driven drama of its roots.

Seen through thirteen years of retrospect, Black Flag stands as both a high point and as arguably the last time the series nailed freedom and focus alike.

Tack onto this the enduring appeal of pirate fiction, and how the genre has proven surprisingly difficult for other games to realise. Sea of Thieves has found long-term success, but has leaned into multiplayer chaos and emergent storytelling, leaving a narrative-driven structure back at port. And despite years of development, Skull and Bones arrived as a systems-driven, live-service experience, with a mobile-style grind that fails to capitalise on pirating’s romanticism. Even more experimental takes, like last year’s Like a Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii, show that pirate themes still have appeal, although that Yakuza spin-off stopped short of fully embracing them.

Truthfully, Windrose – launched recently into early access – appears the closest to realising Black Flag’s blend of authored narrative, player-driven freedom, and cinematic spectacle, with sea shantiness and open sea sailing of its own. Windrose, unlike those other pirate games, knows how it should feel to be the scourge of the seven seas.

The game still has a few updates ahead before it becomes the real pirating deal, and this is where Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced is poised to swoop in and plunder an audience hungry for a fully-fledged pirate adventure.

The developer has confirmed that the remake will retain the original’s focus, bypassing the overwhelmingly dense RPG-like systems of Origins, Odyssey, and Valhalla. And what’s more, the original’s drawbacks are being addressed, namely the tedious “tailing” missions, with stealth mechanics and pirate lore both being expanded. And, with next-gen ocean-rendering technology, the Caribbean has never looked more authentic, aside from, you know, actually being there in real life.

There is, however, an underlying apprehension. The remake’s association with the developer introduces unavoidable scrutiny, shaped by the troubled development of Skull and Bones. Years of delays, shifting directions, and a lukewarm reception on release has cast a shadow on Black Flag Resynced. Given the same studio is at the helm, there are questions of execution and of trust. For players and the developer alike, Black Flag Resynced isn’t just an opportunity to revisit a classic, but it’s a test of whether the studio behind it can deliver a polished experience at a level fans and newcomers of the original game deserve.

"Black Flag Resynced, then, represents an opportunity for revalidation, for the developer, sure, but for the company themselves on an institutional level."

By and large, Black Flag Resynced’s player base know what they want from a remake, and are perhaps encouraged by the iteration shown, but it is possible that few will be fully committed until the remake’s promises are realised on launch.

Black Flag Resynced, then, represents an opportunity for revalidation, for the developer, sure, but for the company themselves on an institutional level. A smooth, well-received launch won’t just restore confidence in an ailing team, but could re-establish the developer’s place across the industry. See, as corporate and financial pressures have intensified, the developer has undergone numerous restructuring efforts, including studio closures and mass layoffs as part of a wider reassessment of its production pipeline. At this juncture, it feels like the developer couldn’t do anything but remake Black Flag – it’s a comparatively low-risk release with potential to reap substantial returns, both financially and in reputation.

Furthermore, Black Flag Resynced is the first title to emerge from the company’s newly unified structure, where consolidating all of its flagship franchises under one banner should bring tighter creative oversight and streamlined focus moving forward. Again, pre-order figures point to Black Flag Resynced delivering a home run, and it’s that potential success the developer are banking on to demonstrate that structural changes are enough to address creative challenges.

Still, Black Flag Resynced likely won’t be measured purely on technical upgrades, nor performance or nostalgic appeal. No, the remake has potential to reconnect with something more fundamental: the sense of identity Assassin’s Creed has been wrangling with in the years since the original Black Flag. Also, it could present the most fully-realised pirate fantasy yet, the blueprint laid out by the original that the industry has yet to truly replicate.

If it falls short, however, the implications will be hard to ignore. At worst, it would reinforce the notion that the series’ past successes are firmly in the rearview mirror, growing more distant as time goes by. The developer has burned a lot of goodwill to get to this stage, so even revisiting the enduring legacy of Assassin’s Creed 4: Black Flag might not be enough to steady the ship longterm. However, if there’s one title in the company’s canon that can restore former glory, it’s Black Flag. Now, all we can do is wait for July 9th, but if pre-order hype is any indication, the remake looks set to end the year as one of the biggest releases.

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.

But at its core lies something heartfelt: a gritty, tightly-focused undertaking where facing harsh, inescapable reality is the only route to survival.

Studio Liquid Swords acknowledged the game’s shortcomings on day one, admitting that performance issues were unacceptable before vowing to improve quality, gameplay, and content. While Samson McCray may be trapped in a downward spiral, the developers behind him are facing a different test – whether they can channel that pressure into meaningful change.

And they got off to a flying start, showing they’ve got the steel to earn their second chance. The first day after launch saw a sizeable update, focused on mending a suite of immersion-breaking problems. Performance and crashes were the most immediate concerns, accompanied by fixes for glitching animation, inconsistent AI behaviour, and malfunctioning saves.

Yet, even in moments when the game held together technically, mechanical friction persisted in that first update’s wake. Combat, while functional, was hampered by awkward camera work and limited readability, making encounters clumsy and disruptive rather than a defining feature. Missions followed familiar tropes, with an air of repetition dulling the game’s loop.

"Even in moments when the game held together technically, mechanical friction persisted in that first update’s wake."

Individually, these issues were manageable. As a collective, they made it impossible to see Samson for what it was trying to be. Underneath all those rough edges was a diamond; a game with a focused identity that was simply overshadowed by its shortcomings.

On a macro level, Samson: A Tyndalston Story is defined by pressure, the sum of its systems revolving around debt, daily quotas, and the constant threat from egregious power. It’s less about exploratory freedom and more about doing what you need to do to survive, setting it apart from more conventional open world design.

This tension isn’t for everyone. Indeed, the studio acknowledged as such in our recent interview; while some players embrace the urgency and momentum, others find it restrictive or even stressful. That divide, however, is precisely what needs preserving. See, in an increasingly risk-averse industry, Samson’s commitment to a finely-tuned, demanding structure is refreshing.

There are foundational elements which stand out; the city of Tyndalston itself, for example. It’s a dense, hostile, characterful setting, replete in atmosphere and detail. And those familiar, if underbaked systems – combat, missions, vehicular traversal – all serve a functional role within the larger environment. It is this existence of a solid blueprint that made Samson’s launch so frustrating. The ideas are there, and the game ostensibly works, but it didn’t feel good to play.

So, this begs the question why the game was released when it did. Surely a few more weeks in development wouldn’t have forced the studio to undergo a campaign of redemption. Well, the answer is found in external financial pressure. See, regardless of scope – narrow when compared to big-budget triple-A experiences, but wide-ranging for Liquid Swords’ tight-knit team – tradeoffs had to be made. Some systems received more attention than others, while diagnosed issues were unresolved before launch. Ultimately, the game needed to ship, but the irony of the studio’s situation is hard to ignore. Samson, in-game, forces you to act with urgency, and in a way that’s exactly how the game itself arrived.

But, to the studio’s credit, they have taken ownership of the game’s shortcomings, levied its criticism, and are forging ahead with an aggressive, sustained rebuild. Following Samson’s first post-launch update, five more followed to address the game’s myriad issues.

"Surely a few more weeks in development wouldn’t have forced the studio to undergo a campaign of redemption. "

Coming in phases, crashes and overall performance were the team’s biggest concern, swiftly followed by functionality fixes. Vital AI reworks, from how the city’s police force escalate their response, to how smoothly enemies move through combat zones have seen notable revision. That cumbersome camera work – a considerable bugbear amongst the game’s community – has been overhauled, with perspectives now shifting dynamically during encounters to ensure a clearer read on incoming threats.

Vehicular traversal is another element to be significantly reworked, the mechanic itself encapsulating Liquid Swords’ course-correcting workflow. First came physics, performance, and animation fixes, then expansions to vehicle functionality. Improved controls, adjusted impact damage, plus tweaks to city-wide traffic and navigation. Now, the focus shifts to cosmetic, with vehicle customisation options included in the game’s most recent content update.

As the update roadmap progresses, so too does the impact of the changes. A substantial content update arrived mid-May, delivering three new difficulty modes, new jobs, and, crucially, the most immersive addition yet: debt collectors who can turn up unexpectedly across more locations throughout the city, expanding the game’s central tension across the whole experience.

Then most recently it received The Pit update, adding the Lowline Circuit Race Track, vehicle customization, and a new area in the map. The new taxi gigs and jobs should give the world extra life beyond racing.

What Liquid Swords is delivering isn’t just a game that performs more stably, but they’re shrinking the gap between vision and reality. Samson: A Tyndalston Story is becoming the game it was always intended to be. Still a diamond in the rough, but as the studio puts it to us in our recent interview: “there’s value in games that are a bit rougher.”

And that roughness, they go on to define, imbues the game’s personality and focus. You could interpret this as a statement on triple-A game production at large – games which cater to all tastes invariably end up forgettable. The challenge for Samson was to make sure that its jagged edges – its personality and focus; its distinctness – didn’t undermine the core experience.

"What Liquid Swords is delivering isn’t just a game that performs more stably, but they’re shrinking the gap between vision and reality."

Unfortunately, however, that’s exactly what happened. In our candid post-launch interview, the studio acknowledged that they underestimated the impact of the game’s technical shortcomings. But, just as importantly, they admitted to a failure in communication. Samson’s players weren’t prepared for what the game actually was, in design and playable condition alike.

Going back to the dichotomous viewpoint among Samson’s players – some embracing urgency, others pushing back against it – the game isn’t designed to be comfortable. But, in lieu of clear pre-release messaging, that tension risked feeling like needless friction rather than intentional design. Alongside their decision to deprioritise technical issues in favour of getting the game shipped, the studio recognises that these problems should have been addressed earlier.

Still, regardless of Liquid Swords taking ownership of their shortcomings, the game remains divisive. Some players are rallying behind it, supporting a smaller studio by praising their ambition to fully realise their vision, while others are less forgiving, arguing that no amount of post-launch fixes – small team or not – excuses the game launching in such a compromised state. In many ways, the surrounding conversation mirrors the game itself, where tension proves difficult to fully agree on.

So, back to the original question: is Samson: A Tyndalston Story fixed? Well, technically, yes, in large parts. It’s stable, far more playable, and freshly shined with newfound polish. But, if we’re talking fundamentally, then the game is getting close. There’s still room to evolve, where limitations in mission variety still persist, for instance.

The bottom line: Samson is now a good, distinctive, still slightly rough game, but it’s no longer broken. And, most importantly, it’s worth supporting if you buy into its core idea – that of pressure being an all-encompassing motivator, no matter the cost. And, for the first time, it feels like a game no longer crushed by external pressure either, but beginning to be shaped by it.

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.

An Open World, Survival-Driven RPG Sequel

If you wanted a punishing, systems-heavy survival experience back in 2019 then Outward was your masochistic go-to. Despite its technical shortcomings and a lack of polish, the original has grown into something of a cult favourite. Now, a bolder, more unforgiving, yet just as rewarding sequel is on the horizon. Outward 2 is set to revitalise hardship, with more consequential RPG choices, unique playstyles, overhauled combat, and a roster of tough-as-nails enemies making survival across this beautiful open world a sterner test than its predecessor.

A Relatable, Human Journey

Beginning Outward 2, you’re just a regular human; a commoner, not innately powerful, without magic or combat skill. Outside the relative safety of city walls, in the unfettered wilds, is where you earn your growth, with distinct classes and playstyles emerging as you become more adept at making it through the night. Developer Nine Dots Studio is positioning this sequel as “the ultimate simulation of an adventurer’s life” – rising from zero to hero, with the satisfaction this brings, is where Outward 2 portrays its believable, relatable, deeply human themes.

Survival is Your First Concern

Before you can even think about dabbling in heroics, however, Outward 2 thrusts upon you a slate of survival concerns – hunger, thirst, exhaustion, even harsh weather will kill the most careful explorer long-before encountering any of the game’s gamut of deadly creatures. Whilst the sequel refuses to hold your hand, the adverse effects of these survival mechanics – sickness, fatigue, and so on – aren’t designed to punish you but to teach the importance of preparation. You’ll need that skill as you venture further, and the stakes grow higher.

Your Backpack Can Be a Source of Friction

Embodying the relatability of Outward 2’s human endeavour more than most is the game’s backpack mechanics. You’ll need to load it up with food, weapons, potions, and camping gear, but how much should you take? Overloading slows your movement to a snail’s pace, but leaving a provision behind, something you may need later, could spell certain doom should an inopportune moment emerge. More so, heavy bag or not, you’re best dropping it when encountering a foe; it’ll enable you to barrel-roll out of harm’s way, if only for a second.

Fully Playable Online and Co-op

Completing Outward 2 is possible as a solo player, but if you wish to share the burden of staying alive long enough to see the end then good news – the sequel is fully playable in both online and split-screen co-op, with partners able to seamlessly drop in and out. At launch, at least, there’s no matchmaking system for finding online companions, so if you fancy teaming up but don’t have a mate to join you then you can check out the studio’s dedicated Discord server.

Aurai is a Dynamic Open World

While the sequel is undeniably gorgeous, the open world of Aurai is a hostile place. And, without fast travel or mounts, route planning and preparation is paramount. With four distinct regions to discover, each containing unique biomes, environmental threat, and gameplay constraints, venturing from one area to the next forces you to adapt your gear and your approach. See, while heavy armour will keep you protected in a monster-filled forest, it’ll cause deadly hyperthermia in a sun-scorched desert. In short: you’ll need to prep accordingly.

Cycling Seasonal Shifts

Biome diversity isn’t the only reason you’ll be rethinking your tactics, but each of Aurai’s regions are affected by seasonal shifts and weather patterns too. That monster-filled forest we mentioned? It’ll be a balmy place to explore during Springtime, but previously accessible paths will be frozen come Winter. Freezing temperatures may open other routes, of course, but learning how to manage extreme heat and cold alike will be crucial to surviving the game’s seasonal shifts.

Character Creation Includes Starting Scenarios

One of Outward 2’s defining character creation tools is the ability to choose your avatar’s starting scenario. Alongside familial backgrounds and traits, how your character begins their journey is up to you – are you a mountain-dwelling miner, or a denizen of a subterranean realm? How your choice of starting location intertwines with the wider story – if each permanently diverges or coalesces at the same point – is unclear, but they give stronger reasons to get out of the comfort of your home village than picking just your likeness or stats.

Exercises is a New Progression System

Up to this point, many of Outward 2’s improvements revolve around refining already existing systems, but the all-new Exercise system is something else entirely: a redefinition of how character progression works. Performing tasks built around survival, crafting, combat, and more, completes an ‘exercise’ which you can then choose to adapt into your build, unlocking permanent stat boosts and passive abilities. There are five attribute branches to follow, but you won’t be able to max out every exercise. This means long-term character planning is essential, with the sequel encouraging you to follow a path toward a specialised playstyle.

The Reading System Synergises with Exercises

Exercises, however, are only one half of the coin. While they encourage you to learn by physically doing certain actions, Outward 2’s Reading system provides foundational knowledge which you’ll need to dedicate time to studying. After tracking down specific books, you’ll be given the opportunity to read them at camp, but the information contained within their pages isn’t gleaned immediately. Reading is a time investment, just like Exercises, and you’ll need to hit certain criteria for both before a specialised trainer – of which numerous are scattered throughout the open world – will teach you an advanced skill.

Combat Has Been Refined

While the weighty feel and fundamental need to drop your bag remains, Outward 2 expands its predecessor’s combat by introducing the ability to dual-wield any weapon combination freely. Two pistols, a sword and an axe, even two shields if you think there’s payoff in such a strategy. Meanwhile, the mechanical clunkiness of the original has been refined with smoother, more responsive animation, with swift dodges, rolls, and seamless transitions between attacks, parries, dodges, and more.

Spellcasting Remains an Involved Process

While combat receives a quiet overhaul, magic wielding in Outward 2 remains a deliberate, involved, near-sacrificial process. See, in order to build your mana, you’ll need to permanently sacrifice some of your health, and if you pursue a pure-magelike build you’ll be brittle to the touch. Elsewhere, casting spells still follows a ritualistic procedure, where you’ll need physical stones which act as catalysts to create sigils. New Willpower attributes, reading magic spellbooks, and hybridising magic with the sequel’s new dual-weapon mechanics give spellcasting some distinction over the first game.

Defeat Leads to Unique Situations

Similar to its forebear, defeat in Outward 2 doesn’t mean death. What actually happens is you’ll be carried, unconscious, to parts unknown. A cave, perhaps a bandit camp, and you’ll either have your backpack with you or you’ll need to scope it out amidst an uncertain backdrop. Maps in Outward 2 don’t include a marker; it’s just a map, so losing your gear could prove quite an annoyance. Still, you could wake up in worse condition – injured, robbed, or both.

Hardcode Mode Negates Frequent Auto-Saves

As the game auto-saves frequently in Outward 2, your decisions carry extra weight. In other words: you’re forced to live with the outcome of your choices, both good and bad. However, if this loop isn’t tough enough for you, the sequel ships with a Hardcode Mode. Here, there’s a 20% chance that defeat will wipe your save file, permadeath-style. That ever-present risk adds a layer of tension to every encounter, turning even routine fights into high-stakes gambles where continuing is never guaranteed.

Early Access Comes With the Usual Caveats

Releasing to early access means Outward 2 will arrive as a work in progress. On PC only, you can expect ongoing balance changes, system refinements, and bug fixes as development rolls on. A broader roadmap will shape community feedback into meaningful iterations before more biomes, classes, and events unlock. A beta is available to play right now, with studio Nine Dots recently publishing a list of fixes to the game’s Steam page, arising from player feedback.

Developed by 24 Entertainment Lin’an and published by the innumerably wealthy NetEase, Blood Message appears to be reaching for something more specific: a grounded, cinematic take on action-adventure that favours weight, desperation, and immersion over mechanical complexity. If this early look is anything to go by, the game appears less about what you can do, and more about how convincingly it’ll make you feel throughout every perilous step.

Set in the late Tang Dynasty in 848 AD, Blood Message frames its story around a nameless messenger tasked with delivering a fateful communication across a treacherous, thousand mile-long landscape. Watching the Official Story Intro preview which premiered at Summer Games Fest, Blood Message immediately grounds you in its specific history, showcasing cultural and environmental texture of the era, from war-torn settlements to harsh deserts and vast wildernesses stretching across East and Central Asia.

There are personal stakes to our messenger’s mission too – reuniting with and protecting his son – giving his journey an emotional weight beyond securing the future of his homeland.

Crucially, though, Blood Message isn’t a stylised, Wuxia-infused take on this period. Instead, the overriding experience draws from history rather than embellishing it with fantasy. And in doing so, its narrative themes match the action’s grounded tone.

Yet, despite this groundedness, Blood Message’s cinematics sell an illusion. See, at a glance, exploration treads familiar paths – squeeze-through gaps, leg-ups, contextual traversal – feeling instantly recognisable to anyone who’s spent time with Uncharted or The Last of Us. But Blood Message distinguishes itself from Naughty Dog’s output in how its cameras frame exploration. It’s rarely static, instead responding to and shifting with movement and character proximity in a way that evokes a handheld intimacy rather than a traditional cinematic perspective.

And this approach to camerawork pays off in smaller, easily missable details. In one early moment of the gameplay reveal, our protagonist drops to a knee following a surprise encounter. The camera pushes in close, hovering for a brief pause as danger emerges ahead. It only lasts a few seconds, and it may appear like simple direction, but this vanguard style underlines something remarkable – whilst these moments are undoubtedly choreographed, the camerawork makes them feel improvised. Capturing the rawness and minutiae as it happens, Blood Message’s presentation is paradoxical; every frame is meaningfully composed, yet seeming without a thought to composition at all.

And this paradox feeds into the game’s combat too, which appears systemically dense on first read but plays out stragglingly, forcing an element of improvisation which mirrors the unsteady cameras. You’ve access to the usual core manoeuvres: light and heavy attacks, dodges, blocks, parries, and counters, and while not mechanically novel, intrigue comes in laboured movement and animation variety.

In the gameplay reveal’s first multi-man skirmish, our protagonist is knocked off balance after parrying; the consequence, it seems, of having his feet unset following a brutal takedown. Executions are visceral, diverse, and dynamic, our protagonist plunging his blade into chests, slicing limbs, and breaking necks without hesitation. In one specifically grisly execution, our protagonist is interrupted mid-strike, with an extra on-screen input prompting you to continue his killing action. See, even the most conclusive actions can present strong reactions, and this is one of Blood Message’s standout combat features, demanding constant situational awareness.

Enemies won’t necessarily wait for you to finish off their ally either, swinging into the fray to create two-on-one pressure. Another one of the gameplay reveal’s emergent moments comes in a second, more chaotic fight. As our protagonist grapples an assailant, his comrade impatiently steps in, accidentally sinking a blade into his ally’s bicep.

The environment plays a role in how battles play out, too. Clay pots can smash an opponent’s face, enemies can be hoofed into storage shelves which then shatter and collapse around them, and troughs can be used as pools for disorientating opponents, dunking their head underwater before landing the killing blow.

And when the bout is over, our protagonist shows fatigue. He’s not a superhero, nor mage or acrobat, but a regular soldier thrust into a vulnerable situation, and the toll shows in his laboured movement. Fights aren’t necessarily about maintaining momentum, but grit and determination.

Between battle arenas, however, are stealth sections, and these follow the standard tropes too: tall grass, dark shadows, silent takedowns, including an Assassin’s Creed-like aerial assault. You’re likely familiar with Blood Message’s subterfuge stylings already, but there is a distinction found once-again in presentation. See, the gameplay reveal’s stealth sections showcase numerous takedown animations, and it’s here, away from multi-enemy chaos, that a question arises: how are these animations assigned? Are they contextual, systems-driven, chosen by proximity and direction of approach, or completely random?

"He’s not a superhero, nor mage or acrobat, but a regular soldier thrust into a vulnerable situation, and the toll shows in his laboured movement."

It’s an interesting thought, sure, but the bottom line is this level of variety prevents the stealth sections from feeling too formulaic, at least during the footage’s 19-minute runtime. Another differentiator, perhaps, are environmental triggers, and we see two in the gameplay reveal: a flock of birds who alert a guard when disturbed, and a caged dog which draws an enemy’s attention as our protagonist passes its line of sight. The takeaway here, then, is that Blood Message’s stealth isn’t just about remaining invisible but maintaining situational awareness.

If you’ve any doubt Blood Message is a cinema-first experience, the reveal’s closing set-piece chase should convince you. Mechanically, the sequence can be broken down into a series of jumps, vaults, and QTEs, with lots of running in-between. The transition between gameplay and scripted events is seamless, lending the feeling of playing a movie over interacting with a defined system. The low input complexity ensures the chase’s dynamic design – the collapsing structures, clinging on by fingertips, leaping from rooftops – is meant to be experienced in one go, first time, rather than a sequence to be memorised and mastered. Combat and exploration aren’t quite as basic, but they share the same philosophy.

Visually, Blood Message impresses through texture and detail as much as spectacle. Weathered brickwork, worn fabrics, and dirt-streaked skin all carry a tangible sense of place, reinforced by enveloping illumination. Sound design follows suit, with subtle notes, like the countless creaks of aging wood, adding to the tactile immersion. And voice acting, despite the language barrier for English speakers, reinforces the game’s grounded tone, where feelings of confidence and desperation transcend borders.

While reaction is indeed positive, there is some criticism levied against Blood Message’s simplicity, with its over-familiarity luring it closely to Naughty Dog’s established formula. But there is a key question you can ask at this juncture: does simplicity matter when the story and execution are on point?

Look – while broader narrative details are currently unknown, Blood Message’s ‘cinematic-first, systems-second’ approach could deliver something genuinely special. Combat is visceral yet it isn’t deep, stealth is familiar but reactive, and set-pieces are guided and thrilling. The game is set to bring a cohesive cinematic vision where player expression takes a backseat for grounded action. Again, it’s less about what you can do, but more about how you feel when doing it.

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.

Instead of leaning on fantastical mechanics – the gravity-defying firepower of Rocket League’s vehicles, or the absurd irreverence in Pro Jank Footy’s deck of cards – online multiplayer only NBA: The Run promises to capture and sustain your attention through razor-sharp controls and fluid animation. The question is: does it actually deliver on that promise?

Starting with those controls, they’re incredibly responsive, lending a deliberate feel to every action. Be it a skip pass, between-the-legs dribble, or awestriking alley-oop, whether you’re driving to the net or exercising ball-handling wizardry, NBA: The Run’s immediacy puts you in complete control. However, there is, at first, a visual disconnect between your inputs and certain animations. The motion of picking up a loose ball, for instance, doesn’t share the same precision, with your athlete seemingly able to grab the ball as soon as it’s within proximity. Likewise, leaps often see your athlete’s trajectory shift and correct mid-air.

Now, whilst The Run’s animation elasticity can be jarring on first impression, it’s important to frame this design correctly. What Play By Play is shooting for here is intentional, preserving flow by prioritising frictionless momentum over simulation accuracy. So, where passes, jumps, and dunks might not always be executed from the “correct” spots, the animation’s looseness will fix it for you automatically – and it’s a quirk that ensures the game is easy to play.

"Starting with those controls, they’re incredibly responsive, lending a deliberate feel to every action."

And NBA: The Run’s arcade identity is further enforced by brisk, two-to-three minute matches, with a tournament loop usually taking no more than fifteen minutes to reach its conclusion. Alongside constant transitional play, and short countdown timers minimising half-court offence, the idea is for you to enjoy countless quick sessions rather than commit to marathon playtimes. It’s a design intent that’s closer to Fortnite – where you don’t need to be accomplished to join in – than other, more systemically dense sports sims which can feel intimidating to play online.

And, if Play By Play are hoping to reap modern multiplayer experiences for their casual accessibility, they’re looking much further back for The Run’s character-driven influences. Specifically, vintage arcade titles like 1987’s Tecmo Bowl and 1988’s Ice Hockey, where the athletes in those games each had different sizes, strengths, speeds, and traits.

Adopting this framework, in NBA: The Run each athlete is moulded around an archetype. Steph Curry is lethal from range, for instance, while Victor Wembanyama is a defensive tower block and Giannis Antetokounmpo can power drive at will. While distinctions aren’t always as strongly differentiated as these three examples, it’s still important to synergise the particular strengths and weaknesses of your three-man squad. This isn’t, however, so you can chase a preferred playstyle. No, randomly selected rulesets modify the dynamic of each game – three-point alley-oops, unlimited stamina, one-point per basket, and so on – means a lineup that covers all bases is going to function better across a broad spectrum of variables instead of, say, a team composed exclusively of perimeter-shooting specialists.

Whilst these rulesets inject an enjoyable sense of variety, encouraging you to engage with the entirety of the game’s mechanics rather than hone in on sharpshooting or net driving, they can exaggerate imbalance in character archetypes. For example, rules which emphasise shooting from outside the paint become exhibitions in blocking Steph Curry-types, and if you don’t have a Wenbanyama equivalent in your squad you’re practically cooked.

"In NBA: The Run each athlete is moulded around an archetype."

Still, these randomised rules are fun, providing, predominantly, a satisfying offensive flow. Supported by vibrant visual feedback like screen shake and swift crossovers that are executable by a simple flick of the right thumbstick, attacking the net is expressive and readable. Defence, meanwhile, doesn’t feel quite as good to play. Swiping is imprecise, guarding lacks intuitiveness, and there’s a reliance on AI when the player in your command is out of position as the system doesn’t swap to the most opportune defender anywhere-near quick enough.

The intended equal footing between offence and defence, then, doesn’t fully land. The inability to manually switch players seems like a genuine design flaw, limiting your agency in how you go about disrupting an attack.

And the problems with defending are stacked by a handful of readability issues too. During especially swift transitions (which happen a lot), the camera doesn’t always track the ball, and when all six athletes are occupying the key you can quickly lose sight of the player in your control amidst all the visual clutter. Switching the opposing team to grayscale colours only partially fixes the problem. Certain arenas, such as the concrete backdrop of The Philippines’ Tenement Court, make distinguishing players from one another a struggle, and this is despite the coloured ring at your athlete’s feet.

While the chaos is an intentional design choice, on-court readability suffers too much. In chasing constant motion, NBA: The Run occasionally loses clarity of play.

Elsewhere, the game modes available at launch are slim, although Play By Play intends to iterate and expand post-launch. Solo Mode has you take charge of all three athletes, facing off against another solo-human-controlled team, whereas in Squads Mode you’ll control a single athlete throughout each game, with control handed over to two other humans to complete your team. While matchmaking can be slower in this mode, and it takes a pinch more discipline to function as one third of a unit, it does eventually become more engaging than Solo Mode.

"While the chaos is an intentional design choice, on-court readability suffers too much."

There’s an unspoken sense of camaraderie that carries over between tournaments, not least because your three-man team remains intact whether you win or lose. This consistency means that, over time, you’ll mould your performance around your teammates’ particular styles, and vice versa. If you win a tournament, there’s a sense of satisfaction in knowing you’ve done it together. But, this feeling isn’t tangible; it’s more presumed. See, while Play By Play positions The Run as a social experience, there’s a distinct lack of communication tools between you and your teammates. Without in-game voice chat, or even selectable, pre-determined callouts – like the kind found in three-versus-three football game Rebound – then The Run’s social ambition is undermined. The game fosters teamwork, for sure, but it doesn’t fully support it yet.

That’s not to say the game doesn’t emphasise a meaningful user experience. Indeed, with progression tied to performance, with no monetisation at launch, NBA: The Run wants you to earn your status and feel rewarded while doing it. That said, levelling up speed and in-game currency accumulation is heavily skewed towards winning. With cosmetic prices being slightly high relative to earn rate the game risks feeling grindy if you’re stuck on a losing streak.

Yet, through exceptionally responsive controls, momentum-driven matches, and a playloop designed for short, meaningful sessions, NBA: The Run nails a strong arcade identity. Despite defensive inconsistencies, readability issues, and limited modes at launch. Play By Play has crafted a solid foundation which they’ll undoubtedly build upon.

Whilst this isn’t a basketball sim, NBA: The Run still feels authentically like basketball, and you don’t need to be a seasoned baller to know that capturing the spirit of the game matters more than recreating it.

This game was reviewed on PlayStation 5.