Monthly Archives: September 2022

Nintendo 64’s GoldenEye 007 Confirmed for Switch Online and Xbox Game Pass

Update - 09/13/2022, 9am: The Xbox remaster of GoldenEye 007 will not include online multiplayer, which will instead be exclusive to the Nintendo Switch version of the game.

As revealed by 007.com, the two versions of GoldenEye, despite being announced at the same time, will not include the same features. The Nintendo version appears to be staying relatively similar to the original, but with the addition of online multiplayer, and will be added as a standard N64 game to the Switch Online library.

The Xbox version, on the other hand, will be a remastered version of the 1997 original with updated controls (meaning modern, dual analogue stick support) and improved graphics and frame rate.

Update - 09/13/2022, 8am: Rare has confirmed that GoldenEye 007 is also coming to Xbox alongside Nintendo Switch following months of rumours.

Confirmed in a tweet (below), the Xbox game isn't confirmed to be the same version as that on Nintendo Switch but will feature achievements, 4K resolution, and a smoother framerate.

GoldenEye 007 has been all but confirmed on Xbox for a long time as fan website True Achievements and even Xbox's own website listed the game's achievements.

Original Story: Nintendo has announced that its beloved GoldenEye 007 for Nintendo 64 is coming to Nintendo Switch Online "soon" with official online functionality for the first time ever.

Announced during September's Nintendo Direct, Nintendo revealed a ton of new titles coming to its online subscription package including Pokémon Stadium and Mario Party, before confirming that GoldenEye would also be arriving.

It's unclear exactly when GoldenEye will be released, however, as the handful of new Nintendo 64 games confirmed for the platform are arriving as late as 2023.

Nintendo has been slowly but surely adding titles to its Nintendo Switch Online service for the last few months, releasing various N64 games roughly once a month or so. Its remaining games confirmed for 2022 during the Direct are Pilotwings 64, Mario Party, and Mario Party 2.

As for 2023, Mario Party 3, Pokémon Stadium, Pokémon Stadium 2, 1080° Snowboarding, and Excitebike 64 were all announced.

See our full list of Nintendo Direct announcements for more news about upcoming Switch games.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End & the Secret Key Announced

The Atelier Ryza series continues, with a brand new entry announced today entitled Atelier Ryza 3: Alchemist of the End and the Secret Key, and it's coming to Switch on February 24, 2023.

During today's Nintendo Direct, we got a look at the first-ever trailer, revealing an open-world RPG with eleven heroes who set off on a journey when strange islands suddenly appear. Of course, it stars Ryza, who with her friends must investigate the situation in order to protect their homeland.

The Atelier series from developer Gust that's been making its way West more frequently in recent years. The stories are frequently lightheated and feature a number of different protagonists, though the Atelier Ryza games obviously have all featured Ryza at their core. The first two games featuring her were Ever Darkness & the Secret Hideout in 2019, and Lost Legends & the Secret Fairy in 2020.

While the trailer and press release were light on details, it look like we're getting a first look at the game bright and early tomorrow as a part of Tokyo Game Show on the official Koei Tecmo channel.

For everything else from today's Nintendo Direct, check out IGN's full roundup.

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line Announced For Switch

Theatrhythm Final Bar Line, a new game in the Final Fantasy musical spin-off series, has been announced for Nintendo Switch.

Revealed as part of today's Nintendo Direct, Theatrhythm Final Bar Line will be availale from February 16, 2023. It will feature 385 songs from across the Final Fantasy series, including classics such as FF7's One-Winged Angel and FF XIV's Torn from the Heavens.

After release, another 90 extra songs can be found in DLC, which will also include tracks from SaGa series, Nier, Octopath Traveller, and Live A Live. Buying the Digital Deluxe version will net you 442 songs in total (via 27 additional special songs and DLC Season Pass 1), while the Premium Deluxe version includes a total of 502 songs (those same 27 special songs, plus all DLC Season Passes.)

Alongside the classic Theatrhythm mode, Final Bar Line will also feature multiplayer. For local co-op, two players can complete stages in "pair style", while competitive online multiplayer sees four players battle to the beat in online "multi-battles"

Catch up on everything announced during today's Nintendo Direct in our roundup right here.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life Is Getting a Remake as Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life

The good ol' GameCube got some love during today's Nintendo Direct with the reveal of a remake for Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for the Nintendo Switch, now called Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. It's coming next summer.

The original Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life came out in 2003 for the GameCube, and while it only featured a male protagonist, this remake appears to include the female protagonist from Another Wonderful Life as well. Unlike a number of other Harvest Moon games, A Wonderful Life takes place over a set amount of time, with characters (including the protagonist) aging, and the protagonist's child growing up and choosing a career based on how you influence them over the course of their life.

This new version appears to be largely faithful to the originals, but with significant graphics and music upgrades from the GameCube version. New features will include new events, enhanced festivals, more recipes, and brand new crops, as well as a new camera feature. Here's hoping the remake lets us marry any of the bachelors or bachelorette candidates from either of the first games that we want!

Update: A press release has confirmed you can play as a male, female, or non-binary protagonist and marry any of the bachelors or bachelorettes you want regardless of gender. (Celia, hello)

Way back in the day, we gave A Wonderful Life an 8, saying it was "truly addicting" and praising the new focus on family, growth, and nurturing.

See our full list of Nintendo Direct announcements for more news about upcoming Switch games.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3’s Second Expansion Adds a New Hero This October

Xenoblade Chronicles 3's second expansion is bringing new quests and a new mechanical hero called Ino to the game on October 13.

Announced during September's Nintendo Direct, Ino's arrival includes a whole new quest line for players to enjoy, the completion of which will add Ino to the party, expanding the gameplay and class options available to the player.

The second expansion - which is available as part of the Season Pass which costs $29.99 / £26.99 - also introduces Challenge Battles to the game for those seeking tougher battles.

Players can fight a series of enemies in a boss rush style mode that awards a variety of rare accessories and special objects for a strong performance.

Two further DLC expansions are included in the Season Pass, the third of which is expected to be released by April 30 next year and includes another new hero, new quests, and more. The fourth and final expansion will be released by the end of 2023 and promises to bring an entire new storyline to the game instead of just random quests.

In our 8/10 review of the main game, IGN said: "Xenoblade Chronicles 3 can take some meandering detours across its massive 150-hour campaign, but great characters and addictive tactical combat make it all well worth the time."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Octopath Traveler Is Officially Getting a Sequel

Octopath Traveler, the Square Enix RPG featuring eight protagonists each with their own separate but converging stories, is getting a sequel. It will arrive far sooner than we expected, on February 24, 2023.

Update: A Japanese trailer confirms that Octopath Traveler 2 will not be a Switch exclusive, and will arrive at launch for Switch, PC (via Steam) and PS5/PS4.

Announced at today's Nintendo Direct, Octopath Traveler 2 will feature eight new protagonists, travelling through the world of Solistia - including merchants, scholars, thieves, and more.

We gave the first Octopath Traveler a 9.3 at launch for its "beautiful style and outstanding take on traditional turn-based combat" that "pushed JRPGs forward rather than paying homage to the greats." Though initially a Switch exclusive, it's since found a home on PC, Xbox, and Stadia, and has even gotten a mobile spin-off in Champions of the Continent.

We've technically known about the Octopath sequel announced today since way back in 2019 when Square Enix revealed a new console game was in production, but this is the first we've seen of it since.

See our full list of everything announced at Nintendo Direct for more news.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

Fire Emblem Engage Announced Following Leaks, Arriving in January

It turns out that the Fire Emblem game that leaked several months ago is real after all, and will be called Fire Emblem Engage.

During today's Nintendo Direct, Engage will focus on a new protagonist, Alear, who has a real wild hairstyle. Alear is known as a "divine dragon," and is a member of a royal family that was once revered as deities, but he's been asleep for one thousand years when he awakens at the start of the game.

Notably, characters in Engage appear to be paired in some spiritual way with past Fire Emblem heroes, with Alear paired with Marth. Sigurd and Celica also made appearances. Fire Emblem Engage appears to include elements from Fire Emblem: Three Houses such as its town building and relationship elements as well.

It's planned for release on January 20, 2023, and a "Divine Edition" with collectibles will also be on sale.

Fire Emblem Engage first leaked back in June, with photos of the protagonist's strange red and blue hair and a number of other characters surfacing online. Earlier this year, we gave Omega Force's musou spinoff Fire Emblem: Three Hopes an 8 for being "a true hybrid of Fire Emblem’s social gameplay and Warriors’ battles" that works "despite overstaying its welcome and missing the mark when it comes to the more intimate interactions." And the most recent full Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, got a 9.5 for being "ambitious telling of a land at war helmed by captivating leaders, in which no side has all the answers."

For everything else from today's Nintendo Direct, check out IGN's full roundup.

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse Comes To The West

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, the Wii entry in the famous survival horror series, is finally coming to the West for the first time.

Announced as part of today's Nintendo Direct, a localised version of Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will be available on Switch early in 2023. This entry follows Ruka Minazuki who, after mysteriously disappearing as a child, explores an abandoned hospital in search of her lost memories. The hospital is, of course, full of all kinds of nasties, which can be repelled with Fatal Frame's classic tool, the camera obscura.

The original version of this fourth game in the Fatal Frame series was released in Japan back in 2008. While a European release was announced, it never made it to the West. This new Switch version, then, marks quite the event for Fatal Frame fans.

For more, catch up on everything announced during today's Nintendo Direct in our roundup right here.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Unretouchable: The Graphic Novel That Exposes the Dark Side of Fashion Photography

Sofia Szamosi's Unretouchable is shaping up to be one of the most memorable debut graphic novels in recent years. It's a book that's already inviting comparisons to Persepolis, and not just because of the similarities to Marjane Satrapi's art style. This is a graphic novel that tells a deeply personal story set against the backdrop of a cutthroat industry.

Unretouchable follows the story of Olive, a student who lands a highly desirable internship at a digital photography company. Unfortunately, the glamour and mystique are quickly replaced by disappointment and self-loathing as Olive discovers just how much the fashion industry relies on image editing software and virtual models to create the illusion of physical perfection. Olive's internship becomes a personal odyssey as she struggles to disengage from the Internet and learn to accept herself.

IGN can debut an exclusive preview of Unretouchable, which is available in stores now. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:

Unretouchable is heavily inspired by Szamosi's own experiences as a photo editing intern

"In 2016 when I did the internship that inspired this book, I became increasingly alienated with the world of digital images," Szamosi tells IGN. "The allure was gone, nothing looked real. Whether a beauty ad or someone’s Instagram selfie, the divide between the commercial and interpersonal was blurred to oblivion- it all looked like the same shameless promotion, advertising to someone or other."

Szamosi continues, "I came to feel that social media provided an illusion of connection that actually stood in the way of more meaningful interactions. Social media was my lonely island - a way to look out and look down on others, removed and protected from the risks of human contact. I am so spongy, constantly absorbing and spewing out the visual world around me. Social media preys on my vulnerabilities to keep me mindlessly scrolling and buying, and along the way I’m soaking up all sorts of cultural norms and ideologies I might not even like. And, beneath all the energy it takes to create and consume digital content, a world of creative energies lies dormant. There is a cost to all this visual stimulus, and it is a deadening of my own creative voice."

For Szamosi, the real challenge was finding some sort of balance - taking advantage of the human connection and career opportunities social media provides without being dragged back into the black hole that is living life "always online."

"I stayed off social media for a few years; it was invigorating, productive, and good for my soul. But as long as I live in a world full of other people, writing off social media forever isn’t sustainable. Especially not when I have a book to promote! ;) I see a lot of evil at work on social media; there is also a lot of art, joy, connection, and fun. And there is the money. My workload today includes a part-time job in social media marketing. Diving deep into the world of trends, hacks, and the nature of algorithms, I am finding another way to process my social media alienation - to make money off it, and find the interesting parts."

Unretouchable is published through Lerner Publishing Group's Graphic Universe imprint. The book is available in both hardcover and softcover versions and can be purchased through Amazon and other retailers now.

In other comic book news, DC finally revealed the Joker's real name after 80 years, and IGN recently spoke with Fantastic Four: Full Circle creator Alex Ross about how he wants to see the FF integrated into the MCU.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Valve Reveals Its Working Steam Deck Prototypes

Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais has unveiled a whole range of Valve’s original working prototypes for the new handheld.

As part of the Steam Deck’s launch event in Asia, Valve has put together a display of the Steam Deck’s original prototypes, and Griffais has unveiled the never-before-seen line-up on Twitter.

“As part of the Asia launch press event, we made the design lab into a showroom of development history,” he said. “My favorite are the playable prototypes: bootable Deck family tree from mid-2019 to now, from a couple of hand-built units onto gradual mass production.”

Valve’s Steam Deck was released on February 25, 2022, but was in development for years. The above display depicts different iterations of the Steam Deck throughout its development from mid-2019 – showcasing the different designs the company went through before finalizing the Steam Deck.

While the basic elements have remained the same, the Deck has seen different experiments with colorways (including colored face buttons), D-Pads, sizes, button shapes, and more. It looks as though there was at least one version that was a fair bit slimmer, too.

“The best part is that they (mostly) all still boot, serving as an exciting reminder of how far things have come since,” said Griffais, uploading a video of a Steam Deck prototype running (below). “This one has a Picasso APU, at about half of the GPU power of the final Deck. The flatter ergo was an interesting experiment and taught us a ton about comfort.”

IGN’s Steam Deck review gave it 7/10 and said: “When the Steam Deck is living up to its promises, it's absolutely incredible. Playing GTA 5, God of War, and other modern games on the go is an absolute joy, and the hardware and controls feel good to hold even though it’s a big chubby boy of a handheld.”

Considering the final Steam Deck is our favorite “big chubby boy” it makes you wonder how it would have played if the unit was a bit slimmer. I’m just not sure we’d want to give up the extra GPU power.

Want to read more about the Steam Deck? Check out the different Steam Deck models as well as when you can expect your Steam Deck to arrive.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.