The mode goes live in September and even includes a story mission where the duo break out of Arkham Asylum. Of course, much of the Deluxe Edition’s goodies are available at launch, including the Legacy Collection. It includes the Arkham Trilogy Pack with seven outfits, five Batcave props and even the Batmobile from Rocksteady’s beloved series.

There’s also the Batman Beyond Pack with an additional seven outfits for the playable roster, Terry’s slick floating Batmobile, and five more Batcave props, including the Bat Armor and a Doghouse for Ace. The Party Music Pack adds – you guessed it – another seven outfits, a Monster Truck Batmobile, and five more Batcave props, including a stage and lava lamp.

It’s also worth noting that alongside Mayhem Mode, the Sinister Pack will also release with seven additional outfits, five new Batcave props and a new Batmobile, so stay tuned for more details on that.

LEGO Batman: Legacy of the Dark Knight launches on May 22nd for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC, with the Switch 2 version yet to be dated. Head here for all the latest details.

Pearl Abyss has also noted that it plans on continuing work on Crimson Desert with its ongoing slate of post-launch updates. Through this, along with potential ports to more platforms, the studio hopes to expand the game’s market presence.

“Crimson Desert will continue to focus on enhancing user satisfaction and driving new sales through continuous updates, while expanding its market presence through platform expansion,” said the studio in its presentation. “In addition, we are currently exploring various ways to broaden the game to the next level, including [downloadable content]. We will share the details once the concrete plans are set.”

“Furthermore, DokeV and PLAN 8, two new titles are in development. With the goal of maintaining a new title release cycle of every two-to-three years, we will prioritize resources on DokeV to accelerate development. In addition, DokeV is currently in the pre-production stage, and we will share updates as development progresses.”

As for PLAN 8, Pearl Abyss has revealed that it is still in its conceptualization stages, and that development on it will likely kick off in earnest once more work on DokeV is done.

The announcement comes just a little over a month after studio boss Heo Jin-young revealed that the core team that worked on Crimson Desert has now moved its attention towards DokeV. He said that the team can now “pick up the pace,” and that it will take “about two to three years from the current timeline to completion and polishing.”

DokeV was originally unveiled all the way back in 2019 with a trailer showcasing how it would include just about every gameplay mechanic one could imagine, from monster catching to open-world exploration. The studio had revealed that it would revolve around players seeking out strange creatures named Dokebi, who get their strength from dreams.

In 2022, Pearl Abyss expressed hope that it would be able to launch DokeV and Crimson Desert in the same year. “DokeV, along with Crimson Desert, is being developed to meet our internal development roadmap,” he said the CEO at the time. “However, since this year our core development team is immersing itself in developing Crimson Desert, we will do our best so that for DokeV. We will be able to disclose additional information as they are done.”

In the meantime, the studio has confirmed that Crimson Desert has led to its highest quarterly revenues ever. In its earnings report, the company said that the open-world title accounted for a 420 percent year-on-year increase in revenue, and a 382.4 percent quarter-over-quarter increase. It has also confirmed that 94 percent of the studio’s total revenue for the most recent quarter came from overseas sales of its games, with North America and Europe making up 81 percent of the revenue.

Supermassive has worked across horror for years, but Directive 8020 feels like a bigger shift into sci-fi survival horror. How much did that genre change the team’s storytelling and design processes?

The Dark Pictures were always intended to develop new gameplay with each new entry in the series. With Directive 8020, we took a little bit longer than usual to iterate on our gameplay mechanics and raise the quality bar for the ongoing series. As part of this, we wanted to broaden our audience by including more “on the sticks” gameplay while preserving the narrative, branching drama that we’re so well known for. The game has a very interesting pace – you have these spikes of “lean forward” action where your survival is dependent on your own controls, with dips of “lean back” interactive drama where you can catch a breath. It’s important for us that we keep our games as accessible as possible, so gamers can always tailor their experience to their liking using difficulty settings. If you find that the “lean forward” sections are too hard, it’s even possible to make your character invulnerable for those moments.

"The Dark Pictures were always intended to develop new gameplay with each new entry in the series."

The sci-fi setting opens up different kinds of fear than your previous games. What unique opportunities did space, isolation, and the mimic-style alien threat create for horror?

Each Dark Picture game explores a different subgenre of horror, but this is the first time we’ve delved into sci-fi horror. Our story draws on many beloved sci-fi sources, but perhaps most of all, we were inspired by John Carpenter’s “The Thing.” We wanted to create a shape-shifting alien which could pose as a human and infiltrate your ship’s crew, causing you to question who among them you could really trust.

I think space is truly terrifying as you’re effectively locked in a tin can, surrounded by death! Everything beyond the walls of your bubble is hostile to human life. This makes it a perfect setting for a horror story.

Setting the game in space gives us so many opportunities to create feelings of dread (and wonder!). While it’s so vast, it is also intimate, as you’re cooped up together in a vessel. Claustrophobia and isolation are key feelings too.

Scifi was interesting for us, as in the past, we’ve often centred our stories around teen horror. For this one, we wanted to tell a story about scientists using their heads to solve their problems. It’s a very different tone.

As the fifth Dark Pictures game, how standalone is Directive 8020 for newcomers, and what connective tissue still matters for longtime fans of the anthology?

Directive 8020 is a stand-alone title in that you don’t need to have played our previous games to enjoy it, but it’s set in the same shared world as our other titles and is very much a Dark Pictures game. There are plenty of Easter Eggs and connective tissue in the game that reinforce this. I can’t say much more without spoiling!

For Directive 8020, we have settled on the tagline “A Dark Pictures Game”, which tells our fans that it is part of the shared universe, without suggesting that it is an essential follow-on to other games in the series.

We had feedback that many newcomers thought that they had to play through our games sequentially – partially due to terms like “Season.” So, we wanted to ensure that our messaging is clear for our audiences.

"There are plenty of Easter Eggs and connective tissue in the game that reinforce this."

Turning Points is one of the game’s biggest new ideas. What problem were you trying to solve with that feature, and how did you make sure it adds flexibility without undercutting tension?

Our main goal with Turning Points was to show players how much branching there is in the game and let them easily jump back to decision points to make the experience of exploring the story as graceful as possible. In essence, it is a visual map of the story that shows your path through the story – by selecting turning points, you can “rewind” your story to redo your choices. We know people often give our games multiple playthroughs to find out all the different branches. So, it’s just really showing players that there’s an easier way to access these different points.

Choices are really important in our games – the magic of our game structure is that the story keeps rolling even if characters die when you make the wrong decision. But we also know that some players will stop playing when their beloved character dies. With rewinds, we’re giving them the opportunity to explore the story freely.

Many of our players love that classic “no second chances” style: if they want to play the original way, where every choice is irreversible, we have a Survivor mode playstyle mode that lets them see the decision tree but turns off rewinds.

Survivor Mode seems aimed at players who want the classic no-safety-net Dark Pictures experience. How important was it to preserve that old-school pressure alongside Turning Points?

It’s really important to us that players can play Directive 8020 how they like. We want to be respectful of their time. Some players will really appreciate the ability to rewind or explore different branches in the story – and they will really like Turning Points. Our testing with the system has really surprised us with how popular it is, even on first playthroughs.

However, we also know that many players will want the classic experience. This decision pressure is something that resonates with many of our players. Survivor mode is for them, and we expect this will be a popular mode too, especially on first playthrough.

"It’s really important to us that players can play Directive 8020 how they like."

Directive 8020 appears to push more into real-time danger, stealth, and direct threat management than earlier anthology entries. How far were you willing to evolve the formula without losing the studio’s core identity?

The key reason is we wanted to keep upping the fear. There’s nothing scarier than when you are being hunted by a creature in real time. However, a lot of hide-and-seek games can feel pretty relentless – for us, we wanted to sprinkle these moments through the game to create a unique tempo. They’re intentionally quite simple. It’s really not a hardcore stealth game.

Directive 8020 is more hands-on than our previous titles, but it still features impossible dilemmas, intense cinematic drama, secrets, and everything else you love from our previous Dark Pictures games.

Movie Night returns with up to five-player couch co-op, and online multiplayer is planned as a free update after launch. How did you approach the social side of horror this time around?

Couch co-op is our classic “Movie Night” experience, where up to five players take turns controlling the cast and play the game together to survive the story. In couch co-op, you only need one controller, which is passed around the room as different turns come into play. This has always been our most popular multiplayer mode, so we wanted to bring it online for the first time and allow players to get together with friends wherever they are. This online mode is looking really good but we just need a little longer to finish it.

So, Directive 8020 will launch with offline couch co-op play, with the online version following as a free update soon after. One of the cool things that online couch co-op play supports is multiple users on the same connection – for example, you could have two people playing on one machine, connected to three people playing on another. We call this “bringing living rooms together” and we expect it to be quite popular!

"Directive 8020 is more hands-on than our previous titles"

Were there any lessons from The Quarry or earlier Dark Pictures titles that directly shaped how you approached pacing, character control, or replayability here?

We are always learning and improving the art of telling branching narrative stories. Each story has a different narrative shape, and each learns in some ways from those that came before. We’ve experimented with extremely branching stories – Man of Medan is an example of this – and we’ve tried more focused stories like Little Hope. It’s important that each story is shaped differently to avoid predictability.

In Directive 8020, the end of the story has one of the most unpredictable setups we’ve ever made. For the final episode, practically any combination of characters is possible – it’s even possible to have just one survivor for the entire episode. It’s also possible to end the story half-way through the game in a calamitous event we call the “death spiral.”

For pacing, we were mindful that a good game story needs regular spikes of action. In Directive 8020, this was one of the reasons for us including “flash forward” scenes to up the tempo in the earlier stages of the story.

Replayability was the reason for including Turning Points. We trialled a similar system in the Casting of Frank Stone, but Directive 8020 has really honed it into something special.

The “trust no one” premise seems central to the story. How do you build paranoia into both the writing and the player’s decision-making without making outcomes feel random?

It was important to make the mimics in our story very good imitators – we didn’t want them to speak or act in a distinct way that would make them too easy to identity. There are certain “tells” that the player can pick up on (which I’m not going to spoil here!) but on the whole, they are good at their job!

The shape-shifting aspect of our creatures is a really fun part of the story, but it’s not the whole story – the organism goes through various stages across the game, with some forms much more monstrous. We really leaned into body horror for some of these moments!

"There are certain “tells” that the player can pick up on (which I’m not going to spoil here!) but on the whole, they are good at their job!"

What were the biggest creative influences behind the setting and story? Were you looking more to classic sci-fi horror, modern survival horror, or something else entirely?

John Carpenter’s “The Thing” was probably the big inspiration, but the story also draws on movies like Aliens, Sunshine, Life – and books, including H.P. Lovecraft’s “Mountains of Madness.” Our games are very cinematic, so we’re always asking ourselves “how would this happen in a movie?”. It’s a good guiding light.

The PS5 Pro version has already been detailed publicly with PSSR, ray tracing, and other enhancements. How much do those visual gains matter specifically for horror, where mood and legibility are both so important?

It’s hugely important – lighting matters in horror much more than in other genres. Quality of visuals is also very important for creating a sense of believability. That suspension of disbelief is vital for creating meaningful fear.

Replayability has always mattered in your games, but Directive 8020 feels especially built around revisiting branches and outcomes. How many substantially different playthroughs do you think players can realistically get out of it?

We have a range of choices, some small, some large, that impact the outcome of your story throughout. Some of our outcomes are based on “compound choices” i.e. the sum of multiple choices. Each character, for example, has two different “destiny” moments that are unlocked through traits that can only be changed by conversations with other crew members. At the end of the game, we also have some fairly major ending outcomes. There is also a “hidden link” to one of our previous games that only unlocks if a certain character survives…

As a colony ship, they crash on Tau Ceti f during a survey operation. As if things couldn’t get any worse, a mysterious alien life-form pursues the crew. You would think its ability to tear them limb from limb is bad enough, but it can also shapeshift and assume their appearances, throwing off the rest and sowing distrust.

Your decisions on who to trust could end up deciding the fate of the remaining colonists on board. Of course, failure states are far less binary this time, determined instead by bonds between the crew. And if things happen to go very wrong, you can use the new Turning Points system to revisit previous important decisions and choose another path.

Directive 8020 is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. Check out our feature for everything you should know about it, including how its gameplay differs from Supermassive’s traditional narrative titles.

It does beg the question, does GTA 6 even need a marketing cycle? It’s probably one of the few games that many of us have consistently talked about as one of the biggest launches of the year, and that was 2025. Its delay has only served to build more anticipation for its eventual release, and the two glimpses of it that Rockstar has given us so far have only made the whole wait for tantalizing.

But this is a release that’s so big, even a quiet approach only serves to raise more burning questions about what’s happening with it behind the development curtain. It’s in such a situation that we now find ourselves, with a lot of speculation and fan theories about an imminent trailer release for GTA 6. We’re here to cut through the noise and try and figure out the merit behind those insights, and perhaps find a more rational answer to when the next trailer for Rockstar’s blockbuster might get here. Let’s jump right into it.

Concrete Information Amid The Noise

We thought it best to start from a place of knowledge, letting facts guide our analysis of what fans have to say about a new trailer for GTA 6. Beginning with Rockstar’s own official website for the game, it’s currently slated for release on November 19, 2026, for the PS5, and Xbox Series X|S. The existing couple of trailers are there for you to see but there’s nothing to indicate that there’s a third one on the way.

However, a prepared statement from Take-Two covering its plans for FY2026 indicates the start of the game’s launch marketing campaign this summer. A trailer would certainly be a great place to start, wouldn’t it? But of course, that’s a bit of speculation, and we’re going to be diving into a lot of it from here on out.

There are a few things that have the more enthusiastic GTA fans among us in a tizzy about a new trailer being close to dropping. For starters, there’s the matter of PlayStation reminding PS4 users who have wishlisted GTA 6 on the older console to upgrade to a PS5 in time for the sequel’s release. There have also been emails to players with the highest playtimes on GTA 5 with a similar reminder that the next game requires the new console to run.

There’s also the “oddity” of GTA 6’s PS Store page being inactive, which fans believe is an indicator of Rockstar gearing up to open pre-orders, and that a trailer is sure to accompany the announcement. There’s even speculation around May 13 being a potential date for the trailer to drop given Rockstar’s penchant for releasing such content on Tuesdays.

These messages, emails, and the coincidental shutting down of the game’s PS Store page have all led to speculation that there’s something big coming up for GTA 6, and that’s certainly a reasonable train of thought. But is it enough to lock in a date for the trailer?

There’s also an interesting email from Game Informer, a magazine known to have done reveals for previous releases from Rockstar, but which was absent from the previews of Red Dead Redemption 2, as noted by Rockstar Intel. But the email certainly looks pointed towards GTA 6, stating that:

“….[REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] [REDACTED] will be gracing its cover next week. But don’t tell my bosses I told you that…”

Of course, the four redacted words could be taken as Grand Theft Auto VI, but we’re questioning if they even should. It’s a fun tease, to be sure, but its timing seems to be the only reason for why it’s garnered so much hype for the game. But that isn’t the same as confirmation.

Before we dive into why, we might as well get into Take-Two’s earnings call that’s slated for May 21, and Rockstar’s previous history of a lot of its promotional material for previous games getting dropped in the following month. This one’s probably our favorite since it’s rather well-reasoned, following a pattern that Rockstar has no apparent reason to deviate from.

Putting it all together, it’s easy to see why there’s a lot of anticipation about a new look at GTA 6. But take each of these theories on their own, and you’re going to see why we’re having this conversation.

Breaking Things Down

Here’s where things get interesting. We’re not saying that it isn’t good sense to drop a third trailer for GTA 6, far from it. What we’re saying is that on their own, none of these theories are indicators that it’s on the cards, and within the short time window that fans believe.

Let’s begin with PlayStation’s email, which is notably the first time GTA fans have received such a message. But it’s a common occurrence, one that we suspect might continue just as it has been happening for a while now. It isn’t exclusive to GTA and is probably just a coincidence, given its proximity to Take-Two’s announcement.

That’s probably also true for the PS Store page, and the notion that its return on May 12, a Tuesday, a day on which Rockstar has released games in the past (GTA 5 being a great example). It’s also known to announce the opening of pre-orders for its titles on Tuesdays (GTA 5 comes to mind again). The first GTA 6 trailer was scheduled to release on a Tuesday, and the second one did release on a Tuesday.

The Tuesday theory does hold more weight from a predictive standpoint but ultimately shouldn’t be taken seriously for the reasons we’re getting into.

The Game Informer reveal is probably our best way to explain why we don’t think any of the things we’ve spoken about are valid reasons to get excited about a new GTA 6 trailer. It’s about whether Rockstar is equally aware of its old habits, and is cleverly using those patterns to get the launch marketing for the game off to a solid start.

But given how GTA 6 has been a name that’s constantly on everyone’s lips in recent times, does it even need to resort to such tactics? They’re creative, sure, but this one’s too big a release to be a predictable one. There are probably a lot of moving parts that the studio must manage, and we’d still wait for an official confirmation.

The PlayStation messaging and store listing are not enough to make believers out of us for similar reasons. We think they’re a convenient coincidence, and nothing more. Of course, there’s every chance that this speculation leads somewhere, and we’re going to be as glad as you are to get a new trailer for GTA 6.

Because speculation or not, we think it’s high time we get a better look at what this one’s bringing to the table.

Lifting The Curtain On GTA 6

We’re around six months away from GTA 6’s release date, and it’s high time that we go from the previous trailers’ cinematic mood-setting and begin to get glimpses of the game’s stunning visuals in action, and perhaps a bit of insight into how its mechanics and systems come together.

Rockstar has got so many great talking points to cover like how the open-world is structured, pre-order bonuses, different editions, the game’s required specs, and perhaps even tell us more about the future of GTA Online once the new game hits the shelves. There’s definitely a lot to talk about, and that’s not even getting into details about the gameplay and story.

For instance, what could the first gameplay-intensive showcase reveal to us? What would we like to see? Well, a peek at what Leonida holds beyond VIce City would definitely be nice. A deeper look at how Jason and Lucia work together, and how the world responds to their criminal activity is another thing we’re eager to learn more about.

A good look at how law enforcement operates, and options you have at your disposal for traversal and exploration, and the activities we get to take on are all solid options. They’re all the kind of things that Rockstar could choose to elaborate on once it launches efforts aimed at marketing the game in earnest.

But all of the speculation put aside, we’d say that the next trailer for GTA 6 is definitely going to kick things off. But the dates that are currently gloating around aren’t likely going to be when it drops. Rockstar’s going to show us more of the game when it’s good and ready, and while we can whip ourselves into a speculative frenzy, that isn’t going to make the studio change its plans for the most part.

That might not be too far away, and the hype is very real. But the current ‘evidence’ for the third trailer being imminent hasn’t convinced us enough for us to begin jumping for joy. We’re going to let Rockstar cook for now, and exercise the same patience we’ve held to for all the years since GTA 6 has been a thing.

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.

In another post, the leaker has also posted a picture of what appears to be key art, showcasing its supposed Alaskan setting. And in a third, RogueTx has given us our first look at one of the protagonists. It is worth noting that the model of the protagonist is in rough shape, with the leaker themselves stating that it is from an early build of the game. Finally, they indicated that Far Cry 7 might be revealed or released in late 2026.

This falls in line with a rumor from 2024 that Ubisoft had pushed back the release of Far Cry 7, which was reportedly developed under the codename Blackbird, to 2026. The same report had also indicated that it would feature a 24-hour time limit. However, it had noted that the Alaskan wilderness would appear in a standalone spin-off of Far Cry, believed to be an extraction shooter codenamed Maverick.

As for why Ubisoft has been so quiet about its plans for Far Cry, a report from just last month has indicated that the project has been “going through hell and back right now.” Whether these development challenges mean that the previously planned pair of Far Cry games have been combined into one, or if they’re still separate releases, remains to be seen.

Officially, Ubisoft CEO Yves Guillemot had confirmed that there were two Far Cry projects in the works. “On Far Cry, anticipation is high, and we currently have two very promising projects in development,” he said in an interview.

The last entry in the Far Cry series was 2021’s Far Cry 6 on PC, PS4, PS5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X/S. The title featured Giancarlo Esposito as the primary antagonist and dictator of Caribbean island nation Yara, Antón Castillo, and put players in the shoes of resistance fighter Dani Rojas. While the early parts of the story revolve around Dani’s attempts to leave the island, they’re roped into the resistance group’s plans to free Yara and overthrow Castillo.

The mainline numbered entries in the Far Cry franchise have typically involved trapping protagonists in unique locations and forcing them to fend for themselves. The formula first became popular with 2012’s Far Cry 3, and then saw further refinements over the years across Far Cry 4 and 5, as well as various spin-offs like Far Cry Primal and Far Cry New Dawn.

For more details, check out our review of the launch version of Far Cry 6.

And while the company expects its revenue to soften over the rest of the year, it’s also looking at ways to take it to the “next level,” including DLC.

“Crimson Desert will continue to focus on enhancing user satisfaction and driving new sales through continuous updates, while expanding its market presence through platform expansion. In addition, we are currently exploring various ways to broaden the game to the next level, including DLC. We will share the details once the concrete plans are set.”

The continued focus on post-launch updates probably won’t come as any surprise, especially given the positive reception. You can read more about the latest patch, which adds special mounts and Material Extraction, here. It’s the DLC that’s most intriguing because of the different directions that Pearl Abyss could go in.

Maybe it will expand even further on Pywel’s history and craft a narrative to eschew for the base game’s lackluster story. The mysterious village that players discovered could also play some role in it. Either way, both the leadership and the development team are clearly settling in for the long haul.

Crimson Desert is available for Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC. It’s sold over five million copies in less than a month, with revenue split evenly between consoles and PC. If you’re curious about our thoughts after all the updates, check out our re-review.

“Synonymous” is stretching it, though. After all, Wuthering Waves, Genshin Impact and even Hotta Studio’s own Tower of Fantasy – the proverbial three-headed dragon meme given shape – are known for packing their games with content. Sure, their themes still ring true, but far be it from the odd cooking, racing, hunting, rhythm, tower defense and whatnot to slip through in (mostly) noncanonical events.

That said, NTE: Neverness to Everness, for all its flippancy, does have a bent. Urban fantasy, but not post-apocalyptic like Zenless Zone Zero. Instead, it opts for a more paranormal/paranatural playground, where Anomalies run the gamut. It’s all the BAC’s CSU can do to ensure they things don’t end up FUBAR, and if the destruction is any more widespread (and foggy), it’d have to be called Hellsalem’s Lot. It’s a potent combination – one where nondescript, near futuristic tech can meet mystical abilities that defy expectation – but does it have staying power?

"For all these hiccups during the main story quest, however, I was surprised at the writing for the side activities, especially when investigating different Anomalies and how you can select different tones for your final report."

As someone who didn’t like pre-overhaul Tower of Fantasy (and outright laughed at hearing how the post-overhaul went), I have to credit NTE for hitting the ground running almost immediately. Summoned to the scene of a Class 7 Anomaly – which irreversibly transforms those who so much as sneak a glance – you immediately control three members of the CSU, getting a feel for the controls while unleashing all manner of destruction. However, the star of the show is you – or rather, the protagonist, Esper Zero – who suddenly shows up and helps to stabilize the Anomaly by looking at it. Things take a turn when another Anomaly shows up, seemingly hostile to our hero.

What happens ultimately forms the crux of the story because, Zero doesn’t remember anything aside from being at Ghroth Island, which is in charge of detention, before suddenly hanging off a building in the middle of this storm. With several weeks having passed, they accept a binding contract with the CSU to investigate in the hopes that it will lead to more answers. It’s a mutually beneficial arrangement – one that sees them sent to Hethereau for some groundwork at an antiques store that serves as a front.

As far as premises go, it’s surprisingly intriguing, especially when you get a front row seat to containing a relatively low-level Anomaly. The writing, however, has left me a bit torn. On the one hand, it leans into the over-the-top antics and habits you’ve seen in ZZZ without going all the way (the plucky Mint is the most standout example). It’s packed with jargon from the get-go, but it doesn’t feel too overwhelming, steadily easing you into the world and balancing the seriousness with enough levity. The presentation also mostly helps, as it flows from cinematic cutscenes to in-game dialogue exchanges without skipping a beat, to say nothing of the jumps between paranatural spaces.

That said, some characters aren’t as interesting as others, and there’s one that tends to be fairly grating, bordering on an active detriment to the story as a whole. Certain conversations also feel like they’re lost in translation – like Zero revealing they never visited Hethereau before, leading to Mint…insulting the city? Even the MC seemed confused at that response. Overall, it won’t blow your mind, but the storytelling, quirks and all, complements the experience more than you would think.

For all these hiccups during the main story quest, however, I was surprised at the writing for the side activities, especially when investigating different Anomalies and how you can select different tones for your final report. The latter doesn’t really affect the gameplay in any meaningful way, but it’s a nice little detail to everything else.

"Wandering around a city and investigating these occurrences is fun, and the generous amount of stamina ensures that you can scale entire skyscrapers without too much trouble (even if the climbing animations could use some more polish and less awkwardness)."

Speaking of details, Hethereau is brimming with them, though you shouldn’t expect anything on the level of a Grand Theft Auto. Yes, you can requisition cars from citizens and stop crimes, not to mention visit restaurants, earn passive income through businesses, buy properties, and even acquire different vehicles to cruise around in. But it’s all filtered through the usual game progression. Whether you’re investigating Anomalies, completing side quests, or maintaining the peace, everything awards currency and upgrade materials. Resolving Commissions contributes to your Hunter level, which offers even more rewards and subsequently allows for breaking past a character’s level cap.

It’s all standard fare – even the Console that every character carries, despite the Tetris-like method for arranging pieces, still relies on the set bonus system that you’ve seen many times over. This isn’t to say that NTE doesn’t offer its own unique twists (and I’m not just talking about screwing up, going to prison, and discovering all the ways to escape). Because Anomalies form such a core part of the gameplay loop, they can lead to some very interesting scenarios. You might wander into a floating object and fight off several enemies before claiming its prize. Street graffiti could transform into an attacker before bursting out of the wall for round 2. A box will constantly keep unboxing, building an impromptu tower that you need to scale to contain it.

Wandering around a city and investigating these occurrences is fun, and the generous amount of stamina ensures that you can scale entire skyscrapers without too much trouble (even if the climbing animations could use some more polish and less awkwardness). However, the “structured” side quests don’t really offer much depth – you’re kind of just going through the motions for the sake of rewards. It’s also admittedly odd to see the anime aesthetic collide with more realistic elements like cars, so much so that the latter feels out of place at times. Not that this is the most offensive thing about the aesthetics, but we’ll get to that. All in all, the open world, despite how gorgeous it can be at times, feels like it could do with some more cohesion and interactivity – the sheer degree of random NPC conversations and occasional events helps, but it’s only a start.

Combat is another core pillar of NTE, and on the surface, it can seemingly offer too much style and not enough substance. Which isn’t entirely accurate but also not completely wrong. You have the standard attack and combos, coupled with a special ability, an Ultimate, and a dodge. Perfect dodging ensures windows for counterattacks that can further break down an enemy’s stamina, and once fully broken, you have a brief window to pile on the damage. Parrying is performed by timing your blows as soon as an enemy’s glowing red attack lands, but simply using an ability while the red ring is active or swapping to an ally offers way more leeway. It’s pretty easy, admittedly, even if you’re working around cooldowns, but dodging everything else is still paramount.

"As responsive as it feels, the skill ceiling for combat is nowhere near the level of Wuthering Waves or ZZZ (or as exciting). Nevertheless, it more than gets the job done while offering enough additional depth for those who care."

Further adding to this mechanic are the Elemental Reactions, which combine elements to trigger different effects. Damage-over-time, bursts, and increased damage taken from certain types over a period are some of the more straightforward reactions. However, you can also slow a target or activate a temporary mini-turret that fires seeking projectiles. You can even stack reactions to achieve effects like Charge or Discord, which can grant Ultimate energy and further break an enemy, respectively. And if that wasn’t enough, characters have unique passives to bolster certain reactions even if they’re not on the field.

Will much of this matter except in end-game content (which isn’t all that much of a focus in the grand scheme of things) or for min-maxers? Probably not, and as responsive as it feels, the skill ceiling for combat is nowhere near the level of Wuthering Waves or ZZZ (or as exciting). Nevertheless, it more than gets the job done while offering enough additional depth for those who care.

Duplicates (known as Awakenings) are perhaps more valuable in NTE because of Resonance Effects. Collect three and suddenly, Nanally’s skill levels increase by one; nab all six and that’s an extra 15 percent damage for her. While I kind of like how the system makes lower-ranked units more potent, it feels like a trap to entice players to spend more on duplicates. It may seem all nice now with the freebies and limited roster, but once the meta shifts, as it always does in these types of games, you’re suddenly dealing with the prospect of having to obtain multiple copies of a character instead of just one and their signature weapon.

"The setting is unique and lends to some interesting activities; the overall visual fidelity and music are good (even with some very occasional performance hiccups); and the combat is solid."

As always, time will tell if Hotta Studio decides to lean in that direction. But if it needed to change anything, it’s probably better to focus more on its alleged AI-generated art, with at least one controversial billboard that feels less “inspired” by Weathering With You than outright AI-filtered. Various assets that appeared AI-generated were discovered during the closed beta, and even if the developer said it never used the tech for “core assets and character portraits” but rather for “atmospheric renderings” and “trial and error,” recent evidence isn’t too flattering. Even if it’s not outright confirmed, there are other issues and inconsistencies with the presentation, be it the lip-syncing for the English voices (which seems better in Japanese) or the choreography in certain combat scenes.

Despite all this, Neverness to Everness is far from the worst addition to the 2026 line up. The setting is unique and lends to some interesting activities; the overall visual fidelity and music are good (even with some very occasional performance hiccups); and the combat is solid, even if it’s far from the biggest highlight. Notwithstanding Taygedo and potential AI-generated art – truly the two biggest hurdles in the history of gaming – it’s at least worth a try..

This expansion was reviewed on PlayStation 5.

It’s right there for all of you to discover, lying just north of the Silver Wolf Mountain in Palune, and it’s quite an extensive settlement. It’s got cabins, notice boards, detailed interiors, and even a few chests. But its very presence raises the big question we’re preparing to explore. What the hell is it doing there?

Well, let’s take a look at what it contains and the possibilities it could bring.

A Hidden Pocket of Pywel

Let’s start with what’s so detailed about the village. For starters, it’s got multiple wooden cabins with some interior details that give it the impression of being lived in. The notice boards, where there’s a poster that looks just like the ones we’ve been picking up all around Pywel, and the chests that were showcased, are all indicators that this might have been an area that could have been open for exploration at some point.

But that’s countered by the visible lack of NPCs in the area, which has been examined only through the use of the game’s Photo Mode before it summarily ejects you from places you’re not supposed to be. But this little village doesn’t look like some empty testing area just left in there to give the impression of a full map. It’s too complete for something that was always meant to be outside the playable space we’ve been given as players.

So what, then, could it be? We have a few guesses.

Out of Bounds… For Now?

You might say that it’s normal for open-world titles as big as Crimson Desert to have unfinished areas and placeholder spaces, where their geometry remains inaccessible beyond the playable map. We’d agree, and we wonder if perhaps we could be wrong about this. But such regions are generally devoid of detailing, remaining devoid of structures, interiors, and props. They certainly don’t have remnants of intractable elements either.

The next logical question then leads us down a rabbit hole from which the game might not be able to rescue us, returning us to the last safe place we were at before we tried to push its boundaries in a way it wasn’t built for. Was it a settlement that got left behind as the game began to add more systems and places to the map? Is it going to be the staging ground for future quests once the developer is done patching the release build and begins crafting new content for the game?

Is it going to be part of an expansion, furthering the edges of Pywel’s world while giving us more of it to explore, or simply a blocked-off part of the studio’s world-building that failed to materialize satisfactorily enough for its inclusion as a playable area? We might never know, but we think those comparisons to Red Dead Redemption 2’s Colter aren’t too far off, and a small part of why we suspect there’s more to this village than meets the eye.

Let’s get the theory that it could just be cut content out of the way. It could have been built with a specific purpose in mind before being relegated to the background as a better way to achieve that goal came about. As we said, many games have unused areas that are repurposed into ways to fill out the world, and the fact that you can’t interact with chests or notice boards while it’s decidedly devoid of NPCs is a valid point that supports the cut content theory. But that’s also the most boring answer, even though it’s a relatively safe one.

That also makes sense owing to the game’s own turbulent development, and the fact that a lot of its systems and mechanics were added in at various stages of its development. This village could very well be a casualty of all that confusion, and perhaps remains as a sort of hidden testament to the effort that went into making it.

But let’s allow our imaginations to soar. It could be a part of future content, a theory that we think gets a lot of merit thanks to how much the developer has been adding to the game in response to the launch version’s slow start. We’ve spoken at length about how it feels like a very different experience now, and the notion that the studio might just choose to add more stuff to the game to keep its players coming back is in line with its official position on support for it.

Of course, there’s no official confirmation of the village being a part of future content, nor any announcements about potential expansions, but if there was one, this village would definitely fit the bill as a starting point. For starters, it’s in Pailune, which makes sense from a narrative standpoint if the potential expansion’s story takes place after the main campaign. The presence of cabins and interiors could make it a great place to house important characters to interact with, while the notice board could be a great starting point for potential side content.

The chests could house the beginnings of new gear sets, with blueprints or maps leading you towards different corners of a newly playable area. The village would work in a variety of ways, with the de facto headquarters for Kliff and Co being an obvious function should it become playable in an expansion. It could also function as an outpost of a new faction and become a location you keep coming back to as you max out trust with all of its vendors.

It could be the site of an iconic clash with a new enemy, formidable or otherwise, and then become a site to trigger a rematch with that boss. It could have special narrative significance to Kliff and perhaps even be the catalyst that sets off any new journeys he may have in future content for Crimson Desert.

Just as Pywel’s a world that brims with possibility across every inch of its playable areas, it seems that even the ones that aren’t fully within our grasp hold mysteries that we must ponder. The very possibility of the village being more than it seems to be is exciting enough, given just how much Crimson Desert has been dominating our gaming time. Or maybe we’re overthinking it so you don’t have to?

Part of the Bigger Picture

Irrespective of whether we’re reading too much into Pywel’s hidden village or not, we think its presence matters because it serves to reinforce the game’s best-selling features. The fact that it’s so hard to find, but has been found anyway, is a showcase of how Pywel’s a place that brings density and depth to gameplay systems that players are still finding new ways to interact with. It’s further proof that Pywel may not have given up all its secrets despite its community of Greymanes doing their utmost to make it a world that they’ve finally solved, and that’s saying something considering how much has been uncovered already!

Its discovery makes Crimson Desert feel like a game that continues to be fresh through consistent innovation, and even the reinvention of features from its release build, and is a game that has its players actively mapping it out, and learning to take its evolution in their stride. It’s been a pleasure to be along for the journey, and we certainly hope that this hidden village is an indicator of future adventures to come, our fellow Greymanes at our sides.

Crimson Desert continues to cast an impressively potent spell over those of us who continue to make Pywel a daily part of our day, and this hidden village might just be a reason that we continue to do so later down the line. We certainly don’t want it to be relegated to the background, and we’re sure most of you agree.

Irrespective of this village being part of a future potential expansion, or just cut content left to flesh out the boundaries of the game’s playable area, we’re happy it exists. Yes, it does raise burning questions about potential additions that we’re going to have to wait patiently to get answers to, but it made Crimson Desert feel a tad more mysteriously alluring. What else are all your Greymanes going to uncover in other unplayable areas of Pywel?

We’re most excited to find out, and perhaps even uncover something of our own as we continue to hunt down every last secret that and mystery Pywel has to offer.

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.

And we finally got it with Leon Must Die Forever. Compared to the free Photo Mode, this is an actual mini-game – something for players to sink their teeth into. With all the rumors about the first story expansion focusing on Leon (and featuring Ada Wong in some form), it felt like the perfect way for players to pass the time. Besides, Mercenaries and Raid Mode are some of the most beloved extra modes from the developer. What’s not to love?

Well, Leon Must Die Forever isn’t exactly either of those modes, and arguably not as long-lasting, but we’ll get to that. The first thing to note is that there’s only one playable character – Leon S. Kennedy. It makes sense given the focus on him – the mode is named after him, for crying out loud – and for much of the action in Requiem’s campaign, he was the guy. The man with the most in terms of weapons, ammo, and fancy melee attacks to destroy anything in his way.

This worked extremely well with the dichotomy of having to control Grace, whose experience was more akin to the classic Resident Evil survival horror. I don’t doubt that Leon by himself could work in a Mercenaries-style mode, but structurally, this isn’t the same.

Leon Must Die Forever is a rogue-like, plain and simple. You load in, armed with a single firearm, and start shooting zombies in familiar stages from the campaign, like the first level as Leon, where he’s battling foes on the rainy street as civilians run away. Actually, it’s pretty much exactly like that, which is curious.

Slaying them doesn’t grant extra time – instead, you’ll need to shoot the glowing spiders crawling around for the same. They’ll drop ammo and other items, which can also be scavenged from nearby crates. You can also find special military-issued crates with weapons, gradually working your way up to a formidable arsenal. Much like the campaign, however, there’s limited space in the attache case, so you’ll need to prioritize keeping or dropping some weapons.

Once you’ve cleared out enough enemies, you can interact with a small sign and go to the next stage. Yes, just like that – there’s no cutscene or natural flow between stages. Just select the stage on the fancy flowchart, with Slay the Spire-style branching depending on the level of difficulty, and you load in with some text-on-screen.

Of course, there is a hook to all this, and it involves unlocking Enhancers for Leon. Every time he levels up, he can choose three options – kind of like those Survivors-style games – and choose to increase the damage of different weapon types. Occasionally, you’ll run into options which grant a damage boost based on the number of empty slots in your case, so ditching everything else and sticking with a single handgun while hoarding ammo becomes a viable strategy. Or, heck, go full melee, especially with enhancers like Proximity Boost, which increases your attack power against enemies within 10 feet by 60 percent but decreases it by 40 percent if you’re further away.

If you don’t like the options available, there’s a Shuffle option available. Some special zombies will pop up, requiring successful parries to deal damage. Rinse and repeat until you reach a boss, then eventually go up against the end boss (which is who you would expect).

And that’s pretty much it. You can unlock some cosmetics, like a goofy hat for Leon that’s essentially his Porsche. But if it weren’t obvious already, there are a lot of problems, starting with the fact that this isn’t Mercenaries. In fact, it feels more like a remixed version of the campaign with rogue-like elements, perhaps meant for those who want to experience similar levels and boss fights without actually having to replay the game.

The problem in both cases is that (a) it lacks some of the most memorable set pieces, like Grace desperately trying to fight out of a meat grinder scenario or Leon’s motorcycle shenanigans, and (b) it doesn’t even let you freely select the bosses. For the latter, a proper boss rush would have been far better.

The development team never promised Mercenaries, so fair play to them. But when this is what you’re offering instead, it’s a given that players will expect more. Also, trying to throw in a timer which doesn’t even extend by taking out zombies unless you unlock an upgrade makes this feel so much more blasé. It effectively removes any sense of tension, if the looping repetitive music didn’t already do that for you.

One could compare this to a lite version of the Raid Mode from Resident Evil Revelations, and that’s certainly one way to put it. That mode had multiple playable characters, each with unique abilities, passives and cosmetics. Even if the developer didn’t want to factor in Grace and “ruin” her survival horror fantasy in the campaign, there were plenty of other potential candidates. You could have had Sherry running around, or Xeno unleashing his abilities on the hordes. Maybe it’s because there wasn’t enough time to rig those animations or design enhancers that would make sense for their playstyles. After all, it would be weird if Sherry had a hatchet and Leon’s parrying prowess.

But that’s not all that makes this come across like some hastily put-together mode. Because many of Leon’s classic one-liners are in the cutscenes – and they’re clearly absent here – you’ll be hearing him say he’s “sick of this” a lot. Like a LOT. Non-cutscene story dialogue remains in certain places, which makes the final boss that much weirder and further reinforces the whole “remixed campaign” allegations. There are no new Achievements or Trophies.

Even if you’re approaching this as a pure rogue-like experience, there’s not a whole lot of variety. Layouts and enemy types are mostly the same throughout, and even the potential builds aren’t as extensive as you would think. Having multiple characters with different passives and maybe some unique weapons could have helped, but the basic foundation of Leon Must Die Forever just feels too simple.

Of course, if there’s one consolation, it’s that the tab says “Extra Games.” Maybe there are other such mini-games in the works, potentially to be added with the first story expansion. I still wouldn’t get my hopes up for some kind of Mercenaries or Raid Mode, but you never know.

For what it’s worth, Leon Must Die Forever is what it is – a free mini-game that’s fun for a few runs while you chase a high score. It’s perfect for those who want to get in and start blasting as Leon without thinking too much about the plot, any extraneous build-crafting or sense of flow. From that perspective, it’s well enough, but it could have been so much more, and at this point, you can’t really blame fans for expecting as much given the heights this genre is capable of.

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.