• Several industry analysts say Sony and Microsoft may need to scale back their "relentless push for higher-end performance" to avoid $1000 consoles
• Piers Harding-Rolls at Ampere Analysis says ambitions will need to be "moderated" to avoid breaching the hefty price point
• Rhys Elliott at Alinea Analytics anticipates that the PS5 will stick around well after the PS6 launches due to rising costs

Several industry analysts have suggested console manufacturers will need to temper their ambitions for next-generation hardware to avoid breaching the $1000 console launch mark.

Unlike last-generation, current-gen console prices only seem to be getting more expensive years after launch. Whether it's the ongoing DRAM crisis or the AI boom that's made components even more costly, the games industry is at a point where the future of affordable hardware is looking pretty grim.

There have been conversations over the past few years about what this could mean for next-gen consoles — namely the PS6 and Xbox's Project Helix — and whether manufacturers could ever reach a point where their hardware could breach $1000.

In an interview with TechRadar Gaming about rising costs, Piers Harding-Rolls at Ampere Analysis suggested Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo may have to scale back their ambitions for realistic graphics and higher performance if they ever want to avoid that huge price point.

"The relentless push for higher-end performance will need to be moderated," Harding-Rolls said.

Omdia's James McWhirter also suggested hardware stratification across tiers may be in the cards, including a cheaper Nintendo Switch 2 with more bundles that offer more value, and manufacturers may delay new hardware launches for the foreseeable future in a bid to wait out the rising cost of components.

However, this could also mean longer console generations. Rhys Elliott at Alinea Analytics anticipates the PS5 will stick around well after the PS6 launches, and cross-generation games may allow players the opportunity to delay their hardware upgrades.

"The next generation won’t replace this one so much as sit on top of it," Elliott claimed.

Ok, I'll come out and say it. Modern World of Warcraft, or Midnight, in all of its convoluted story-driven glory, with its systems on systems, its currencies on currencies, and high-octane pacing, isn't an MMO. It's just not. At least not to me.

I know that's a big ol' bold statement, and I get it; you're probably sat there thinking: "Zak, what the hell are you on about? Stop being an overly dramatic journalist trying to clickbait us all into reading your long-winded waffling diatribe". But hear me out before you reach for the Dirge.

If you boiled down the current iteration of the game in a pot, and stripped away the marketing hype, and the hyper-attentive gameplay, Midnight, retail, it's not actually that different from something like Call of Duty, or Overwatch. Not at its heart. It's seasonal; it's mostly queue-based, with as much commitment as I have to that chilli I cooked up three months back that's still sitting in my freezer.

Where it all began

I've been playing World of Warcraft since 2006. Over 20 years, stuck with the same video game, handing Blizzard my hard-earned cash for a monthly sub.

I've done it all. I was a Priest Class Leader at the age of 14, raiding in Molten Core, BWL and AQ40 (mad respect to Fracture Bloodfeather EU). I then main tanked through The Burning Crusade and Wrath of the Lich King expansions on a Dwarf Warrior. After that, a Guild Leader and Raid Leader in Cataclysm and Mists of Pandaria, healing on my Priest. Finally, ending as a Retribution Paladin in Warlords of Draenor and beyond.

The game got me into UI development; it got me into PC building. I studied how to create textures and TGA files in Photoshop, built rudimentary addons with Lua, and created a reasonably successful UI series. It taught me about design, about triage, about optimization. I owe my career to this game in many ways.

But during the Legion expansion, going into Battle for Azeroth, something flipped. I'd gotten used to the pace, the tempo. I tolerated the timed high-end Mythic+ 5-man dungeons, the constant weekly epic treadmill, and how impatient the community had become.

And of course I managed to continually decode the never-ending slew of multiplying vertical progression systems and catch-up mechanics with ever more convoluted naming schemes, to stay at the top of my game.

But it wasn't long before I came to the realisation that I had no close community anymore. I wasn't making new acquaintances or friends in the same way I had through previous expansions; I didn't feel tied to any one guild, or server, or faction, or anything. And slowly, my love for the game faded.

The sub was paused on and off sporadically. I'd jump back in every expansion launch, trying to get into it, trying to convince myself that this was the one, but it was a constant struggle to stay committed, to enjoy it. In a world that felt so empty, so devoid of life. It turned into a lonely chore, rather than a fun pastime to rid myself of the day's stress, and I couldn't pinpoint why I was getting so burnt out by it. At least not until very recently.

The key concept: Time

The last few months I've been playing World of Warcraft: Classic, (of course on the run-up to the WoW Forever launch), and that, that has provided me with clarity on what it was I didn't understand was missing from Retail.

Vanilla Classic, even today, is still ridiculously popular. More so than Mists of Pandaria, or any other version of the rebooted game. It's odd, right? It launched in 2019, and yet the servers are still bristling with people running 40-man raids, doing PvP, and are home to thriving economies, guilds, events, and more. You can barely move in Stormwind on some servers. And that's despite the game being well and truly "worked out" years ago. But why?

Simply put, it's time. The game in its modern state, maybe accidentally, maybe on purpose, gave up what made it so special. What made it an MMO to begin with. All in an attempt to try and attract more people to the player base, and bring more subs in. And it did so by, conversely, becoming more accessible.

Because everything is so fast, and there's a constant treadmill with extensive catch-up mechanics, there's no commitment. You lose attachment to what it is you're doing, and as a result, nothing matters. On average, to go from level 1 to the max cap of 90 in Midnight, it can take anywhere between 12 and 18 hours. For an established player, it can be less than eight.

As a result, people hop about constantly. Is your class not performing well? Is another now at the top of the Mythic+ logs? Just create a new character, and in less than half a day you can be gearing up for high-end Mythic raiding.

Even worse still, if you're low on cash, you can get some from Blizzard's in-game store with three mouse clicks and a healthy chunk of your own cash. That will allow you to buy a slew of gear from the latest content directly on the game's player Auction House.

The modern games' profession systems are also a mess, and it takes a degree in data analytics to understand half of it at a glance. Hell, you can even skip the bulk of the levelling entirely if you want and just pay for a character boost if need be, no matter what state your account is in.

If you do decide to skip the boost, then even the levelling journey itself feels disconnected from the community. Most just spam dungeons and get pooled up with players from all over the continent, never to see them again, running them as fast as possible with mass AOE pulls.

Or if that's not to your taste, you pick a specific past expansion from the game's lengthy list to level through instead. In this case, you'll see no max-level players at all, only the select few that have chosen to also level in that specific piece of content.

This is all as you barrel through levels a mile a minute, learning new skills faster than you can acclimatise, and watch as your gear becomes redundant in less than 15 minutes.

What WoW: Forever & Classic get right

And this is what Classic and Forever get right. It takes an age to level; it really does. I have a 32 Hunter currently, a 21 Warrior, and a 21 Priest on Classic. I'm halfway to 60 (in number only) on that Hunter. It's one of the fastest classes to level in Vanilla WoW, and my playtime is 2 days and 1 hour to get that far. I could've levelled five classes in Retail in that time. And still, I've got another 4 to 6 days to get to max level, if I don't mill about.

And here's the thing: because it takes so long, I've done an incredible amount of extra content outside of levelling when I've got bored of it. I've spent time doing my professions to make money, because I'm prepping to get my mount at lvl 40. I've gone to Darkshore and explored various areas to get a special ghost nightsaber pet. I've grouped and travelled to dungeons like Deadmines and Stockades. All the while making some incredibly memorable runs with good people, with wipes, close calls, and quest lines that have taken an age to finish.

My gear matters too, and if I get something from a dungeon, or a particularly long quest line, it feels momentous; the power increase is tangible. I've even treated myself to an Epic level 37 bow, ready for later on, and it's just sat in my bank waiting. And then, of course, new spells, new talents, I've got my pet to look after; all of it feels that much more potent.

Socially too, I see people about when I'm levelling, high levels, low levels, you name it. And we help each other; we chat about gear, about specs, buff each other as we pass, talk nonsense.

I had a group of four players jump in to save me from dying to a difficult quest mob in Duskwood, for no other reason than to help. They gained nothing from it. That's just one example where I've made new friends in-game.

Because it takes so long to do anything in classic — to travel, to learn — and because the world is so dangerous, because it's not easily accessible (there aren't even any summoning stones in Forever), your decisions and commitments matter.

If I were to re-roll, it would take me another two days, maybe more, to get that character to 30. As a result, I've become attached to the people I've met, my gear, my character as a whole. Even my server. If I see a level 40 to 60, there's a sense of almost awe, like "yeah, one day I'll be that level, that kitted out; I wonder what that'll be like?"

It's aspirational, and the lack of catch-up mechanics contributes to that; it doesn't impede it. It's not that there's no vertical progression here either; there is certainly in Classic, and in fact arguably that's what makes it more interesting, not less.

Get to max level, and you gear up via dungeons. Then you're set for the 10-man raids. After that, you move into Molten Core, Onyxia's Lair, and Blackwing Lair. Finally, you're set for high-end content like Ahn'Qiraj and Naxxramas. It's a long journey upwards.

If you don't have good enough gear on your character, you'll underperform or be unable to compete on the next level of content. But all of that content from day one is still relevant. Catch a glimpse of those players running around the capital cities, and you're struck by it.

It's visually impressive; they've committed that time to the game, that character, that class, and they're powerful as a result. You can see it, certainly with no transmog.

Imperfection makes it more, not less, sociable

By all accounts, Classic World of Warcraft, and subsequently Forever, are flawed games. Certainly, from a shareholder perspective. You have this massive time investment from developers building content that only a select few will see. It takes an age to get to max level compared to modern WoW, and its slower pace can feel like drudgery in direct comparison to the live button-masher mode we have in Midnight.

But it's that lack of accessibility, that need for time, that gives Forever and Classic their sense of sociability. It makes you feel attached to the world, your class, your character, your race; it feels inhabited, and it's that that makes it feel like a true MMO.

World of Warcraft Forever is heavily based on Classic. Blizzard has stated that many, many times over. The entire game is built on or forged from the idea of what Classic might have looked like in an alternate timeline, where the developers added new content but stayed true to the original design principles.

They have arguably deviated in certain examples already, of course. For example, the game already features a number of quality-of-life improvements to classes, a group finder, and cosmetics.

From what I've seen, however, Forever is already on a good path. It'll be less vertical gear treadmill and more slight horizontal incline. From what we've seen so far, general levelling and gearing is almost on par with Classic, albeit mildly quicker.

What Blizzard needs to do, in this humble journo's opinion, is to keep the pace the same. Instead of rushing to deploy new content, or forbidding themselves from adding something on arbitrary, subjective "staying true to the Vanilla World of Warcraft experience" guidelines, they instead need to be asking, "does this reduce the time commitment, or make the game more accessible?"

If either answer is yes, then there's room for discussion.

Can Retail World of Warcraft be saved?

But what of the ailing beast? What of Midnight and its rapid-paced, cartoonish Mythic+ dominated landscape, filled with timers, rewards, and catch-up mechanics galore? What could be pulled from Forever beyond better shaders and volumetric fog? It's a challenging question to answer. Midnight has an active player base, people who love it. Those who live for the high-intensity and flip-flopping nature of chasing the meta. To change that game and make it more Classic, could be intrinsically unpopular.

And yet, we'll have to see exactly how well World of Warcraft: Forever does. If it is what we expect it to be and it dwarfs Midnight's player base by a considerable margin, it's not likely Blizzard will ignore that.

I genuinely believe slower-paced levelling, a lack of catch-up mechanics, and a simplified gearing system would dramatically improve Midnight, and in fact would've improved everything from the Battle of Azeroth expansion onwards. Whether that comes to pass, well, we'll have to wait and see. For now, you can find me buried headfirst in what World of Warcraft should have been, and probably should've stuck to, all those years ago.

Rising console prices are by now a fact of life for gamers, no matter which platform they prefer. The PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X — consoles that are now six years old — cost $150 and $300 more than at launch, respectively; the Nintendo Switch 2, released in 2025, already costs $50 more.

Things haven't always been this way: back in 2013, the PS4 launched for $400, and the PS4 Slim arrived three years later for $300. Price cuts and cheaper versions were traditionally a part — a key part — of the console lifecycle.

In 2026, that pattern is reversed: consoles are getting more expensive rather than cheaper, at a time when everything else is also getting price hikes, and the trend is occurring all over the world, not just in the US and Europe.

To find out why prices keep rising — and whether they'll ever come down — I spoke to four industry analysts: Rhys Elliott at Alinea Analytics, James McWhirter at Omdia, Piers Harding-Rolls at Ampere Analysis, and Mat Piscatella at Circana.

Whatever happened to the price cut?

Traditionally, hardware makers have launched new consoles at relatively slim margins — even at times making a loss — and planned to make up the difference through games and other spending by players.

Manufacturing efficiencies combined with advances in hardware, including cheaper chips and memory, have helped to reduce production costs, further cementing the durability of this model.

Making use of these gains, manufacturers could then introduce slimmer versions of consoles or even reduce prices — therefore enticing more people to the platform and increasing game sales.

"The hardcore [gamers] paid full whack at launch," says Alinea's Elliott. "Families, kids, lapsed players, and more budget-conscious gamers came in later, at a lower price."

In 2026, the cost reductions that underpinned this model are much harder to achieve, with advanced chips becoming more expensive to manufacture and memory prices soaring.

At the same time, makers have become less willing to subsidise their hardware. "Sony and Microsoft have become more reticent to sink margin into subsidising consoles heavily this generation," says Ampere's Harding-Rolls.

The net result is that the traditional relationship between console age, manufacturing costs, and retail prices has completely broken down.

It's not just the RAM

The PS5 and Xbox Series X launched amid the turbulence of the COVID pandemic, and supply shortages lasted well into their lifecycles.

Now, we see myriad interrelated headwinds — from inflation and rising energy costs to currency fluctuations, particularly the weak yen, and US tariffs — that put even more pressure on manufacturing and retail prices.

"This console generation has been characterised by macroeconomic instability," says Omdia's McWhirter.

To top things off, the AI infrastructure boom is gobbling up enormous amounts of memory, encouraging chipmakers to prioritise more profitable server products and squeezing production capacity available for consumer electronics.

Consoles, which rely on DRAM for working memory and NAND flash for storage, are effectively caught in the crossfire. TrendForce estimates that memory now accounts for 23% to 42% of console component costs, compared with around 15% historically.

Elliott points out that console manufacturers negotiate memory prices and volumes months in advance, potentially delaying the impact of rising costs by two to four quarters. "A console on a shelf this Christmas contains memory that may have been priced the best part of a year ago," he says.

Same problem, different game plans

Sony, Microsoft, and Nintendo are all facing these pressures, but each has its own priorities.

Sony's PS5 is a mature platform with an established audience, and so the company is increasingly focused on making money from existing customers, including through subscriptions like PlayStation Plus.

Its Q2 results, reported on November 5, illustrate this well: PS5 shipments fell from 4 million to 2.6 million year on year, while gaming division revenue increased 9%, helped considerably by a weaker yen. "These days, Sony treats hardware as a gateway it would rather not subsidise," says Elliott.

Microsoft is in a similar position with Xbox, but its games increasingly appear on PlayStation and PC alongside its own consoles — as Elliott puts it, "the console is one door among many."

Elliott argues that Microsoft's willingness to accept higher hardware prices reflects the console's changing importance within its wider gaming business, although falling hardware sales could make it harder to attract new players.

Nintendo, as is so often the case, has its own dilemma.

The Switch 2 is still early in its lifecycle, meaning Nintendo needs to build up its audience while keeping the console affordable enough to attract new buyers. McWhirter argues that Nintendo is accepting pressure on short-term profitability rather than passing the full increase in component costs to customers.

Omdia estimates that the market price of the Switch 2's 12GB memory and 256GB storage increased by $162 between Q2 2025 and Q2 2026, compared with a $50 increase in its US retail price. The figure doesn't necessarily reflect what Nintendo pays its suppliers, but illustrates the scale of the problem.

Nintendo says it has no plans for further price increases, but as McWhirter says, "The big question going forward is: how long will this be sustainable?"

For all their differences, the three console makers face the same question: how much can they charge before players start walking away?

“Elliott argues that manufacturers have also become more focused on protecting their margins, with established customers seemingly willing to absorb higher prices. “Every price rise this generation has been a test, and the core audience kept passing it – on PlayStation and Nintendo anyway,” he says.”

Are gamers getting priced out?

The new dynamics of console pricing give gamers some difficult choices. Circana's Piscatella has observed a consistent pattern around recent price increases: sales jump ahead of the new prices taking effect, then decline and eventually settle at a new baseline.

Piscatella says this pattern has emerged across PlayStation, Xbox, and Switch 2, and is distinct from the natural slowdown in sales as consoles get older.

Console price cuts later in the hardware's lifecycle have traditionally made them more affordable for families and younger gamers, a dynamic that Elliott points out is now quickly disappearing.

"Budget players have always come in through used consoles and 20 quid used discs," says Elliott. The shift towards digital distribution complicates matters, particularly when it comes to buying and reselling games cheaply.

The picture isn't totally bleak, however: Piscatella argues that younger and less affluent gamers do have options, particularly on mobile devices and lower-spec PCs, where free-to-play hits like Roblox and Fortnite are widely available.

Cloud gaming could also become a more attractive option as console prices continue to rise, and subscription services can offer access to a huge library of games for a monthly fee.

The risk, though, is that console gaming increasingly becomes the preserve of older, more affluent audiences, even as gaming itself remains hugely popular.

"Consoles gained popularity for their ease of use, convenience and affordability when compared to other gaming options," says Piscatella. "Anything that decreases these factors for consoles makes them a less appealing option."

The $1,000 question

The AI boom looks set to keep pressure on component prices — and therefore console prices — for some time yet. While memory prices might eventually stabilise, neither Elliott nor Harding-Rolls expects a return to the old pattern of steadily cheaper consoles.

Retail prices are likely to remain elevated due to expensive manufacturing processes and manufacturers' reluctance to absorb costs, and Elliott expects console makers to lean on temporary promotions, not wholesale price cuts.

But will console launch prices ever breach $1,000? Harding-Rolls believes Sony and Microsoft "will have to subsidise more heavily than they would like" to keep the next generation affordable.

Ampere's August research did the maths, modelling a scenario where an incrementally updated PS6 and Xbox launched in 2028 for $1,000, finding that combined sales over their first five years could be up to 38% lower than the equivalent period for the current generation.

In other words, Sony and Microsoft beware.

Faced with these interrelated dilemmas, manufacturers might turn in a new direction and rethink their approach to hardware.

Harding-Rolls suggests, for example, that manufacturers may have to scale back their ambitions for ever-more-realistic graphics and raw performance. "The relentless push for higher-end performance will need to be moderated," he says.

McWhirter posits that we might see more hardware stratification across tiers, potentially including a cheaper Switch 2, and a growth in bundles that offer value without actually cutting console prices.

Console makers may also delay new hardware launches for the foreseeable future to assess whether component costs improve — although the mood music from memory makers like SK Hynix is bleak, with much of its production capacity already committed through 2028.

Longer generations, then, seem increasingly likely. Elliott anticipates that the PS5 will stick around well after its successor launches, and cross-generation games may let gamers delay any hardware upgrades. "The next generation won’t replace this one so much as sit on top of it," he says.

Financing could spread the upfront cost of new consoles, while trade-ins and refurbished hardware might offer cheaper entry points for gamers — albeit without solving the underlying affordability dilemma.

A new era of pay-to-play?

As we head into 2027 and beyond, the danger for console makers is that their hardware becomes a product for wealthy enthusiasts, undermining the business model that made console gaming so successful.

Hardware that once became cheaper as it aged is now becoming more expensive, at a time when households are already facing higher living costs. Rising component costs might eventually ease, but changing business models could make permanent price cuts increasingly rare.

Piscatella worries that a shrinking pool of potential buyers could ultimately threaten the economics of the entire hardware model.

"Then the question becomes at what point does the addressable market for a new console become so small as to make it unviable," says Piscatella. "We're not there yet, but the risk of getting to that point certainly exists."

The over-the-top, action-heavy, ultra-stylish Stellar Blade has landed on Nintendo Switch 2, giving this ex-PS5 exclusive a chance to shine in front of a brand-new audience.

Porting this cinematic, explosive action-adventure title onto the Switch 2 has undoubtedly been a tough test for developer Shift Up, but just how well have they scored?

I’ve put around 15 hours into Stellar Blade on Nintendo’s hybrid console, during which time I’ve worked through most of the story, completed a number of side missions, and collected a whole lot of cans. So, here’s whether I think Stellar Blade on Nintendo Switch 2 is worth your time and money.

Save the world on Switch 2

While I’m more interested in discussing the quality of Stellar Blade on Switch 2 as a port, it only seems right for me to share some of my thoughts on the core game to begin with.

Stellar Blade’s premise is pretty simple. You play as the protagonist Eve as she battles through a post-apocalyptic future in order to save humanity from aliens known as the Naytibas. With assistance from survivors Adam and Lily (among others), you’ll aim to track down the dangerous Alpha Naytibas and Elder Naytiba and reclaim Earth once and for all.

In my view, the premise itself is totally sound, and the high-octane opening certainly makes a strong first impression.

However, I felt that the narrative failed to hold my attention in the long run. A combination of dry dialogue and bland characters really let Stellar Blade down in the storytelling department. While the stakes are undoubtedly high, it doesn't always feel that way, with emotive moments lacking heart, character interactions seeming awkward, and voice acting often coming across as stiff.

But luckily for Stellar Blade, its lacklustre narrative doesn’t actually hold it back all too much. And that’s simply because the core gameplay experience is a whole lot of fun.

The combat system has solid depth, with no end to combos and eccentric abilities available to the player. You can also expand Eve’s move set with unlockable skills, enhance your weapon and drone assistant, and discover new ways to vanquish your foes as the story unfolds.

Though the timing can feel a little unusual, you’ll need to learn how to ‘perfect parry’ and counter hard against your opponents, which feels satisfying to execute. I also enjoyed bettering my exospines and gear to dodge away from enemies more effectively, and deal huge damage with Beta attacks.

Without a doubt, though, the true highlight of Stellar Blade is its mesmerizing boss fights. Each battle feels phenomenally tense, unique, and genuinely memorable, and I loved figuring out the ideal combos and evasion patterns for each and every showdown. It’s in these moments when the game truly comes alive.

General exploration is pretty enjoyable too. Just roaming around and hacking away at enemies, discovering new areas, and completing some side missions kept me pretty entertained. Yes, platforming segments can feel a little janky at times, but swift movement speed and fun puzzles keep the overall gameplay experience feeling fresh.

All in all, Stellar Blade is a good, albeit flawed title. Boss fights see the game at its brilliant best, with edge-of-the-seat action sure to keep you hooked. Sure, the unremarkable cast and dialogue hold it back to some degree, but this game is all about the action — and it largely nails that.

A solid but not quite Stellar port

Right, now you must be wondering: how does Stellar Blade hold up on Switch 2? Well, the answer is somewhat nuanced.

First of all, I want to make it clear that this is a technical and demanding title, and cramming it onto the Switch 2 — which is considerably weaker than the PS5 — is no easy task. With that in mind, I’d say that the Switch 2 Stellar Blade is decent, but it’s certainly not without its flaws.

Let’s start on a positive note, though. I have to say that the sheer versatility of this Switch 2 edition is staggering. You can genuinely play in just about any way, using Joy-Cons or Pro Controller with a traditional configuration, with gyroscopic aiming, or even with mouse controls. I found that each method worked nicely when testing, yes, even mouse mode. And although I kept gyro aiming off for the most part and played with the Switch 2 Pro Controller, I’m glad that this port plays to the system’s strengths.

I’ll also say that the game runs decently in docked mode overall. During skirmishes and general exploration, frame drops never felt particularly egregious, and inputs felt pretty responsive.

But there are some issues that I have to discuss. It sometimes feels like the Switch 2 can’t keep up with the speed and fluidity that Stellar Blade demands. It targets 60fps in both handheld and docked modes with frame generation, which combines NVIDIA DLSS upscaling with AMD FSR 3.1 frame interpolation, and sometimes, this simply doesn’t cut it.

With frame generation active, gameplay feels fairly smooth in docked mode, although there are some drops during the most cinematic segments — especially with large explosions. Handheld mode, while certainly playable, feels a bit too sluggish in my opinion. The inconsistent frame rates mean that performing precise blocks and dodges felt more challenging, with some action-packed sequences seeming to be a touch choppy. I also noticed that the movement of distant enemies was pretty unstable — whether playing handheld or docked — something I’ve seen in other Switch 2 ports like Resident Evil 4.

You can turn frame generation off and play at 30fps instead, but it all comes back to that word ‘fluidity’ — it’s at the heart of this game’s agile, reaction-based combat, which just didn’t quite click for me at a lower frame rate.

Visually, the port is a bit of a mixed bag too. In docked, it looks OK, with Eve’s character model appearing fairly detailed. But environments tend to look a bit flushed out, and intricacies of certain textures seem slightly subdued. Even when playing docked, though, I noticed quite a lot of texture loading issues and pop-in, and elements such as Eve’s hair lacked definition. It was a similar story in handheld, with character models looking a little rough around the edges and wide-open areas short on detail and definition.

Ultimately, the game runs just fine in docked, despite a few visual gremlins and frame drops. But in my view, the handheld experience doesn’t quite deliver the speed or responsiveness that this title requires — at least as things stand.

Back to the positives, though, I was really impressed with the quality of haptic feedback on the Switch 2, which has been specifically tuned for HD Rumble 2. This made every movement and attack feel so satisfying, and helped to truly immerse me in the action. I was also satisfied with the inclusion of DLC and unique costumes (this is the Complete Edition, after all), fantastic accessibility options, and the fact that this game is fully on cart if you purchase it physically — you’re not getting no code in a box ‘round these parts.

But let’s answer that all-important question: is Stellar Blade worth buying on Nintendo Switch 2? If you have a PS5 or PS5 Pro, then my answer is probably no. Sure, the Switch 2 lets you play on the go, but you’ll get more consistent frame rates, better graphical fidelity, and smoother all-round performance from Sony’s systems. Haven’t got a PS5? Well, if this sort of game is your jam, then I think Stellar Blade’s worth a shot. It has its imperfections in docked mode, but it still performs well overall, and you’ll find plenty to love about the core experience.

Should you play Stellar Blade on Nintendo Switch 2?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

I’m happy to report that Stellar Blade has an extensive set of accessibility options on Nintendo Switch 2. You can adjust a number of settings to account for motion sickness, mobility, vision, and hearing needs, and there’s also a colorblind preset. In addition, you can toggle subtitles on and off, alter camera controls, and select one of multiple difficulty modes.

How I reviewed Stellar Blade on Nintendo Switch 2

I spent about 15 hours with Stellar Blade Complete Edition, during which time I worked my way through most of the story and a number of side missions.

For the most part, I played with my Nintendo Switch 2 console docked, hooked up to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. I mainly used my Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller when playing, but I also made sure to try out mouse mode with a pair of Joy-Con 2. However, I did indulge in some handheld gameplay from time to time, and used the JBL Live Beam 4 to experience in-game audio.

More generally, I've spent years testing gadgets and games here at TechRadar, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I've reviewed a number of titles, be that major first-party exclusives like Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave or Switch 2 ports, such as Yakuza Kiwami 2.

First reviewed November 2026

Nintendo’s decision to remake The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time for the Switch 2 in celebration of the franchise's 40th anniversary was hotly anticipated, if not a little anxiety-inducing. Like legions of fans, I share fond memories of inventive puzzles that turned hardware limitations into creative opportunities, revolutionary mechanics that defined 3D action-adventure for years to come, and, of course, one of the most beautiful and well-written storylines in the video game hall of fame.

28 years on from the release of the original Ocarina of Time, a lot has changed in the world of gaming. Hardware limitations, even on the Switch 2, are far fewer than ever before, and there’s a game for everyone.

So in a world that now includes everything from niche interests in PowerWash Simulator to AAA giants like GTA 6 to Fortnite’s bizarre multiverse of pop stars and anime icons, can a remake of a decades-old game that now feels relatively simplistic find its footing, or even be one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 games going?

Do you see that man with the evil eyes?

It’s natural that the phrase ‘don’t mess with perfection’ springs to mind when thinking about Metacritic’s best-ever-scoring video game, but a remake without meaningful changes is always going to feel like a nostalgia-baiting cash grab.

Flying in the face of that narrative, Ocarina of Time’s remake proves classic Zelda still has a place in current gaming, bringing meaningful additions and alterations across the board from level design to voice acting and even some juicy new lore while still staying faithful to the source material.

All areas of Hyrule have been revisited and retouched, with few drastic changes but plenty of improvements. A rich tapestry of flora and fauna, thick fog swirling at Link’s feet, organic terrain, and detailed furnishings bring every location to life.

The storybook visual direction of the remake comes together beautifully with this new detailed world, making its own mark on the Zelda franchise. Its vivid style might not be to everyone’s taste, but it’s certainly immersive, as is the rich, re-orchestrated soundtrack.

It runs beautifully too, with its buttery-smooth locked 60fps and no visible lag in my experience. While loading screens are still in place these barely create any friction, controls are snappy and it’s bug-free barring one occasion where I noticed a texture glitch in a waterfall.

The world is more alive in more ways than one. I do miss the mad panic of racing to Hyrule Castle gates before night falls in the original, but thanks to the constant day-night cycles within towns, you now see a lot more of the lives of non-player characters (NPCs).

While still fairly two-dimensional, the supporting cast are full of character, especially so thanks to a new feature of the Mask of Truth you earn through the Happy Mask Salesman quest line. Now, when wearing the mask, you can find the hidden truths behind folks around Hyrule; the Dancing Couple dropped a bombshell I won’t spoil for you, but it adds whole new dimensions to some of the people Link encounters on his quest.

You’re encouraged to explore the world and its secrets with new mechanics like Fairy Messages (which replace some of Navi’s hints and reward you with Rupees, Mana, or Hearts, generally) as well as old favorites like Golden Skulltulas and Fairy Fountains, but most of all I found myself frequently looking for viewpoints from which to take in the world just for the sake of it. Quite a lot of the collectibles, grottos, and boulders are in the same or very similar places, but if you don’t have a photographic memory from the original, there’s plenty of fun to be had in rediscovering Hyrule.

As I expected from my preview, some of the vocal performances did win me over by the end of the game, and Matt Mercer reprising his role as Ganondorf absolutely nailed it (of course). Others, unfortunately, missed the mark; Navi’s original sound bites were so iconic and plucky, but it’s a fairly flat performance here, by comparison.

Even then, every cutscene was a delight. I loved some of the extended dialogue and how it adds depth and personality to the world, with more beautiful cinematography than ever. I laughed, I cried, I paused and googled if some small line was a reference to a deep lore video I watched the other weekend; the narrative is richer than ever, and it celebrates the original game in all the right ways.

Can Hyrule's destiny really depend on such a lazy boy?!

Especially if you’ve played the original any time recently, there’s an immediate sense of liberation when you load into Kokiri Forest for the first time; even having played the same area at a preview event several weeks before receiving my review code, I couldn’t resist the urge to jump, dash, and swing around the camera like a lunatic in celebration of unhindered freedom to move.

Combat also feels more fluid and fun. While there’s still a fair amount of waiting around for an opening, gone are Link’s sluggish movements, painstaking in-menu item swapping, and cumbersome crowd control. I love small details like how the camera focus shifts to blur the background when you target enemies, which also means other baddies politely waiting their turn to attack you don’t stick out as much.

Overall, it’s great; jumping and dodging around, quickly switching between weapons with the right trigger, and aiming projectiles with the gyroscope improve pacing massively.

That pacing improvement carries over to Temple design too, none more so than the dreaded Water Temple now that you can quick-equip Iron Boots with the D-pad. Some temples see more significant overhauls than others, but overall rooms and puzzles have been shrewdly redesigned, with a few new additions or expanded segments like in Hyrule Castle’s garden maze, which now also leads Link through the castle kitchens.

It’s often in the smallest adjustments that Ocarina of Time’s remake is at its best; for instance, changes to the environment around you in combat that make more narrative or gameplay sense. Some are subtle; I noticed one room in the Fire Temple especially with more dynamic platform design for Lizalfos to hop around, and in locations like the Forest Temple where new obstacles like acid pits replace empty pits in the floor.

I didn’t clock any fundamental changes to enemies, but the scale and range have been adapted for enemies like Iron Knuckles as well as some bosses like Volvagia. This, paired with tweaks to the attack strings, a few new moves, and some with higher stakes, ensures Link’s lighter feet are still challenged in combat.

When you fight the real me, it won't be so easy!

That being said, I wouldn’t say difficulty is the Ocarina of Time remake’s strength. I’ll caveat heavily with the reminder that this game is as much for kids as it is for us aging nostalgia-chasers, but given I only ran out of health a handful of times, mostly by making silly mistakes or getting distracted, it does feel like Ocarina of Time has moved one step closer to being nerfed.

It’s a similar story with items — I didn’t have to refill any supplies more than three, maybe four times in my entire save. A new item in the game, the Business Deku Seed, summons a shopkeeper with his stock of supplies, including potions. It’s one of the only new features I find to be a bit of a headscratcher, making the game easier still.

Add to that the golden webs that hint at the location of overworld Golden Skulltulas, more obvious traps and visual cues for important locations, doors, and boulders, and there were few times I was particularly mentally challenged, either.

Having rolled credits, I was therefore doubly disappointed to learn Master Quest isn’t offered to up the ante a little. I’m hoping this comes at a later date, and I’m really hoping it’s not DLC, because with a little more challenge, my only real complaint about the game would be quickly remedied.

It’s not enough to score the game down; it’s ticking all of the obligatory boxes for a good remake, and I loved every second of it. Still, I can’t help but feel just a tinge of disappointment that most changes to the game are limited to optimisations and err on the side of “safe”. The original Ocarina of Time was great, in part, for how it took the limitations of contemporary game design and created some of its best mechanics to work around them in a creative way; without that challenge, the remake at times feels just a little unremarkable.

Still, this one niggle didn’t impact my personal enjoyment of the game nor negate the many, many strengths it brings to the table, and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake feels like exactly the game that the developers would have made in the late 90s were it possible on contemporary hardware.

From the first time I played the game at my dad’s knee, I fell in love with the world of Hyrule, and it was just as impactful for me in its third iteration as it was in its first. Whether you’re an adult or a child, when you boot up the remake, it’s not a game you’ll forget in a hurry.

Should you play The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Within the game’s settings, you can change the camera controls, speed, toggle motion-control aiming, and choose between one-click or press-and-hold targeting.

You can swap the jump controls, use one-handed ocarina-playing controls, toggle subtitles, and add speaker-name display. Accessibility is, as I’ve come to expect from Nintendo, a weak point, but there are a few more customization options here than I’ve seen in other titles.

How I reviewed The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake

I’ve completed the main storyline in my 25-hour save, as well as a vast majority of side quests and secret content. I played mostly docked to enjoy the sprawling scenery, but I did try handheld too, comparing my overall experience with the original as well as more modern action-adventure games, including Zelda titles like the original Ocarina of Time and modern entries like Tears of the Kingdom, as well as titles like Outer Wilds, Tunic, and more.

I played on the standard Nintendo Switch 2, listening to the gorgeously re-orchestrated soundtrack through my Corsair Void Max Wireless v2 headset and through the Switch 2’s speakers.

More generally, I’ve covered a huge array of games here at TechRadar, where I serve as Head of Video and previously as Managing Editor. I’ve reviewed a number of action-adventure and Switch 2 titles.

First reviewed November 2026

You don't need to be a tech expert to know that the Nintendo Switch 2 will be one of the most sought-after items in this year's Black Friday sales. And although we're now in November, I wasn't expecting to see any deals for a few weeks. But two surprisingly strong Nintendo Switch 2 bundles are already available at the official Nintendo Store, which I think will rival anything we see during this month's sales.

• View all Switch 2 bundle deals at Nintendo

The first brings together a Nintendo Switch 2 console, a copy of Mario Kart World, a 256GB Samsung microSD card, and a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera for £459.99. That's a total saving of almost £95 compared with buying these items individually.

As for the second bundle, you can get a Switch 2, a copy of Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, a 256GB Samsung microSD card, and a Nintendo Switch 2 Camera for £449.99. Oh, and let's not forget the free Nintendo Switch Sports Resort Gym Bag. The total savings from picking up this bundle are around £75.

Today's best Nintendo Switch 2 bundles

As for the actual value of the extras in both bundles, each contains one of the best Nintendo Switch 2 games to start your collection.

Mario Kart World is a fantastic new entry in the party racer series, which expands it with more freedom and open-world elements. Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, meanwhile, is another fun compilation of games that make use of the console's motion controls to recreate tennis, volleyball, bowling, golf, and more.

The microSD card is a really nice inclusion as well. Even though the Switch 2 comes with a respectable 256GB of storage built in, having another 256GB on top is very handy as game sizes are continuously increasing, and this means you can have a relatively large library of titles installed at once.

Lastly, there's the Switch 2 Camera, which is probably the least valuable item of the bunch. If you do expect to do a lot of online multiplayer with friends and family, though, this will let you make the most of Game Chat features that can put your face and voice in certain games as you play, including Mario Kart World.

Back in 2000, Bandai Namco published the third game in the beloved Tales series, Tales of Eternia. It was received very well at launch, being praised for its high-octane action combat, charming cast, and humorous script — though the Western versions on the original PlayStation and PSP were held back by their omission of skits (character-driven dialogue scenes) and slightly subpar voice acting. But now, Tales of Eternia Remastered — developed by TOSE Co. — is here, aiming to remedy these issues and refine the game for a modern audience.

I’ve spent just north of 30 hours with Tales of Eternia Remastered, playing through the main story, completing side quests, and exploring the realms of Inferia and Celestia.

So, how effectively does this remaster bring a JRPG classic into the modern era? And is it truly worth playing? Here’s my verdict.

Gimme a Boost!

I’ll speak about the core Tales of Eternia experience in good time, but it only seems right to discuss the new stuff that this remaster brings to the table first.

Arguably the main thing is the inclusion of Boost Function. This enables you to tailor your experience to your specific wants and needs, with highlights including a random encounter toggle, difficulty options, an increased item capacity setting, and an EXP gain adjuster.

My personal favorite feature was the option to restore TP (which you consume when using skills) when camping, which made grinding feel a lot more fluid and easier to manage.

The Boost Function suite is filled to the brim, and really helps to make the title more approachable for newcomers. My only real complaint here is that I would’ve loved the option to map a function — such as disabling enemy encounters — to one of the buttons on my Nintendo Switch 2. Having to open the main menu, go into the Customize Section, and then the Boost Function felt a touch clunky.

There’s a lot more to uncover, though. For instance, you can switch between remastered and original graphics and sound effects, which is sure to satisfy newcomers and long-time fans.

The visual enhancements are relatively light overall. This isn’t a transformative overhaul, and some environments still look a little rough around the edges. But still, the remaster does illuminate some previously obscured details. As you can see in the images below, detailing on the statues is far more intricate, and foliage looks sharper in the remastered graphics mode. And while some may prefer the original pixel sprites, I think the remaster does a good job of cleaning them up a bit while keeping them faithful to the original artwork.

While we’re on the topic of visuals, I unfortunately have a complaint to make: the cutscenes look pretty poor. They’ve been placed into widescreen, and it looks as if a filter has been applied; the results are underwhelming — characters and backgrounds lack clarity and definition, laying bare the limitations of the original material.

That’s a nitpick, of course, and most elements of this remaster still hit the spot. For example, the newly recorded English voice acting is great, and each character’s personality shines through perfectly. Skits are finally here in the West, too, providing plenty of humorous and emotional moments when camping or resting.

Objective icons are also introduced, which point you in the direction of the main story objective or side quests. I really appreciated this, especially as I didn’t want to miss out on side content, but if you want to figure everything out for yourself, you can swiftly switch it off in the Customize menu.

An underrated classic, reborn

So, while it’s not flawless, the remaster of this title is solid overall and successfully makes this classic more palatable for modern audiences. But just how fun is the core game in the big 2026?

I’ll lay my cards on the table: I had a spectacular time with Tales of Eternia Remastered. This was actually my first time playing the game — after all, I wasn’t even born when it was initially released. In spite of that, there was something so nostalgic about it, the warm, charming world and excellent cast totally captured my attention, and I found myself pouring countless hours into the game every single day.

Something that stood out for me was the writing. Yes, the main narrative is nothing special — the world is in danger, and a group of young heroes needs to defy the odds to save everybody. But it’s the characters that make this experience so special.

For the most part, you'll spend your time with four key heroes. Reid is a reluctant protagonist who seems to be dragged into the chaos at every turn, Farah is a contemplative, complex young woman learning herself as the story unfolds, Keele is a stuck-up academic type who delivers some hilarious moments, and Meredy is a caring and curious foreign stranger who the crew slowly begins to understand in their quest to prevent disaster.

The cast isn’t weighed down by the tired tropes and lazy writing that a lot of JRPGs faced at the time, and each party member is highly memorable.

But how about the actual gameplay? Well, the combat is pretty unique. It manifests in the form of a fighter-RPG hybrid, with a large focus on reactive action-based commands. While the combat certainly takes some getting used to and the movement can feel a little janky at times, battling your foes feels incredibly addictive. Chaining Artes together to deliver devastating combos and tinkering with formations or skills to get past tough boss battles is highly rewarding, and even random encounters gave me huge satisfaction.

The game is undoubtedly challenging, but delivering a finishing blow makes your struggle feel worth it. And if you do fall to your foes, a retry battle option is at hand to dive right back into the action.

There’s not too much grinding required, either. I kept random encounters on for the vast majority of my playthrough, and that gave me plenty of experience for big boss fights. If you do want to grab some extra experience, though, you can switch Auto mode on and have your team fight for you, helping you avoid same-y skirmishes.

Outside of battle, things are decent too. You can explore the world for items and treasure to bolster your stats, venture into shops to grab stronger gear, and even take on a few minigames. Exploration is highly gratifying as well, and you’ll often find weapons that come in handy for specific areas or recipes that restore your HP or TP when you’re running low.

A small complaint I have, though, is that movement feels clunky in the overworld. You need to be very precise if you want to move diagonally, and dragging items like statues could feel a bit awkward at times. This is still a relatively minor issue overall, but in tighter areas, the old-school movement did cause me some minor frustration.

I also have to say that the minigames, in general, are pretty bad. They typically control fine, but don’t feel very fun to play at all. Luckily, you can skip these if you’d prefer, which I often did. It was cool to see mouse mode integration for minigames on Nintendo Switch 2, though, which worked a treat in my experience.

Speaking of my experience on Switch 2, let’s take a moment to talk about performance. Tales of Eternia Remastered runs in 4K when playing docked and 1080p in handheld, with smooth 60fps across both modes — perhaps to be expected for a less demanding title like this. I didn’t notice any technical hiccups or frame drops during my whole playthrough, so Switch 2 is certainly a top-tier destination for this remaster.

So let’s address those questions I posed in the intro. Is Tales of Eternia Remastered a worthy modern take on this classic entry? For me, the answer is yes.

Some things could’ve been better: the visual enhancements are relatively light, cutscenes look a bit underwhelming, and I would’ve liked a shortcut button for disabling enemy encounters. But the Boost Function provides so much flexibility, the new English dub is great, and the ability to retry battles in an instant keeps the game's pace feeling fast and fluid.

And at a core level, this is a great game with a lot to offer, in spite of a few dated elements. The combat, while very much of its time, remains fun and surprisingly strategic; the cast is highly memorable, with skits adding some welcome depth, and exploration is rewarding too.

All in all, I had a blast with Tales of Eternia Remastered, and JRPG fanatics are sure to find a lot to love here.

Should you play Tales of Eternia Remastered?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

There are a number of ways to customize your experience in Tales of Eternia Remastered. You can turn subtitles on or off, choose to auto-advance text, remap buttons to suit your preferences, and alter difficulty. While there’s no colorblind mode, in-game elements that previously required color-based identification have been redesigned around visual elements unrelated to color.

How I reviewed Tales of Eternia Remastered

I spent just over 30 hours with Tales of Eternia Remastered, during which time I played through the main story, completed a handful of side quests, and tried out all of the various Boost Function features.

For the most part, I played the game in docked mode, with my Nintendo Switch 2 hooked up to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. However, I did dip into handheld mode from time to time, and used the Sennheiser CX 80U wired earbuds to enjoy in-game audio.

More generally, I’ve covered a huge array of games here at TechRadar, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve reviewed a number of JRPGs, including Trails in the Sky 2nd Chapter and Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake, as well as Switch 2 exclusives such as Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave and Nintendo Switch Sports Resort.

First reviewed October 2026

The Nintendo Switch 2 - The Legend of Zelda 40th Anniversary Edition has finally arrived at the doorsteps this week for those who were lucky enough to secure a preorder. If the gorgeous new console is in your hands and you're wondering which accessories might be good to pair with it, well, I've got X of my top picks here.

As an owner of an original Nintendo Switch since 2017, and now an excited owner of a Nintendo Switch 2, I've got a good idea of which extras will help you get the most out of the console.

These could be things I find essential, such as a microSD card to store more games and a screen protector to keep your display safe from scuffs or scratches. And then there are some nice-to-have items, including the well-designed Pro Controller and a high-capacity power bank that'll give you backup juice if you play in handheld mode a lot of the time.

If you're still on the hunt for the limited-edition console, then we're tracking all of the latest Zelda 40th Switch restock news, ahead of retailers dropping more next week, starting November 5.

8 best Nintendo Switch 2 accessories for your new console

Most mini PCs we test have the same sort of look. Little black boxes or Mac mini-style silver designs. Acemagic's X3 does things a little differently: styled like a Nintendo Entertainment System, it's quick enough for work and light gaming, while bringing a big dose of nostalgia.

For a very limited time, the Acemagic Retro X3 is $509 (was $799) at Acemagic when you use the code RETRO40. That's the cheapest I've ever seen this mini PC, which comes equipped with an eight-core AMD Ryzen 7 H255 chip, 16GB LPDDR5 RAM, and 512GB SSD.

• Best for: Retro gaming fans and home users who want a compact, capable Windows PC with a design that stands out.

• Why we like it: We're big Nintendo fans here at TechRadar Pro. So of course, this classic retro-themed "console" one catches the eye. On top of some good specs for the price, the mini PC also features Radeon 780M graphics, a fast USB4 port, two M.2 slots for adding storage, and Wi-Fi 6E connectivity.

• What you need to know: While you can expand storage, memory is soldered to the board here. And if you're more of a SNES fan, check out the higher-spec but higher-priced Acemagic X5.

Why we recommend it

Acemagic has built a following for affordable mini PCs - we included the K1 as our top mid-range pick in our guide to the best mini PCs we've tested. But the Retro X3 is its most eye-catching yet, with a gray shell and red power button that’ll take anyone who grew up with an NES straight back.

We haven’t tested it ourselves, but we previously covered the initial launch and welcomed the hardware boost inside its retro casing when it launched. In Notebookcheck’s review, it delivered solid, stable performance with low case temperatures, though the fan got clearly audible under heavy load and the 16GB of memory is soldered, so you can’t upgrade it later.

Price Context & Historical Value

At $509 with code RETRO40, the Retro X3 is cheaper now than it was the last time we checked back in September, where it was priced at $539. For comparison, it's discounted at Amazon right now for $575 (was $639).

The Retro X5 is a different story, since $1,099 is a lot to pay for a mini PC, even one with a faster Ryzen AI 9 chip and 32GB of memory. Unless you need the extra power, the X3 is the better buy.

Should you buy it?

✅ Buy the Acemagic Retro X3 if... you want a compact Windows PC for everyday work, streaming, and light or retro gaming, you love the retro console look, or you’d like to add storage later through the spare M.2 slot.

❌ Skip the Acemagic Retro X3 if... you need more than 16GB of memory, since it’s soldered and can’t be upgraded, you want a near-silent PC under heavy load, or you’d rather not wait for a pre-order to ship.

• See all mini PCs at Acemagic.

I’ve been playing Final Fantasy Resonance for the past few weeks, and it is a delightful love letter to the Final Fantasy series — a beautiful turn-based role-playing game (RPG) that blends new and old across its gameplay and aesthetics to create an adventure I have adored every second of.

While it might have its roots in a now defunct mobile gacha game — Brave Exvius — don’t hold that against it. The only holdover is the core story. Everything else, from the gameplay to the wide world map to explore to the visual style, has been overhauled — the pay-to-play elements are gone too; all unlocks are completely free

The end result of this total rebuild is a classic-feeling RPG that is somehow just as at home among 2026’s gaming lineup as it would have been among one from decades ago.

There are some tweaks I’d make here and there: mostly to Visions, and to the story that’s a little predictable, but neither of these issues has sapped the joy from what is easily among the best Nintendo Switch 2 games I’ve played this year (it’s also releasing on Xbox Series X, Xbox Series S, PS5 and PC).

Back to basics

After spending decades finding ways to mix up the turn-based action it popularized, Final Fantasy Resonance returns the series to a much more classic interpretation of it. When it’s their turn to act your party and enemies get to make a basic Attack, spend MP to perform some kind of special Skill action like casting a spell, Summon a powerful esper to fight by their side, or use an item from the party’s bag — with the order characters go determined by their speed.

It facilitates a slower and more tactical approach to engaging enemies than the action-focused gameplay of more modern Final Fantasy entries, which pairs nicely with Resonance’s less traditional combat mechanic: Stagger.

Dealing enough damage to your foes that’s a flavour they’re weak to will fill their meter and Stagger them — they’ll lose their go that turn if they haven’t acted yet, will take more damage until the next round, and whoever staggered them will get a second action.

If you Stagger every enemy at once, you enter a Sweeping Stagger — your whole party will get a second action, and you’ll be able to deliver a powerful Resonance attack. This sees one of your equipped Visions rush forward to deliver a cinematic finishing blow — showcased by a 3D cinematic that briefly takes you out of the game’s HD-2D style.

Resonance isn't just Final Fantasy meets Octopath Traveler. It might seem that way based on my description so far — seeing as it borrows Octopath’s visual identity and a core aspect of the series’ Break and Boost system

But besides the nuances of Resonance’s Stagger system, which make it different from what Octopath offers, you’ll also find this game’s plot is quintessential Final Fantasy — more on that in a moment — and it takes a different approach with its Job / Class system through Visions. They feel more like weapons you swap in and out than a Class you’ll want to perfect and stick with.

Visions are (mostly) manifestations of the core Final Fantasy games’ protagonists which aid your party in combat: performing the Resonance attacks I mentioned earlier, but also unlocking a separate list of actions and abilities for the party member they’re equipped to. Most skills you’ll only have access to while the Vision is actively deployed, but there are also permanent unlocks to earn by mastering a Vision — letting you mix and match aspects of Visions on a single party member to craft your ideal champion.

As I mentioned, this will feel a lot like Jobs from other Square Enix titles, but because so much of a Vision’s identity is lost from your character when you unequip it — most permanent Mastery unlocks are more generic, yet still useful, abilities like improving stats — I’ve found it better to see Visions as Equipment. Before entering a tough fight, you might want to swap out your loadout to best suit the challenge ahead — such as equipping your party with water attack dealers when facing off against a fiery foe.

A medley or overstuffed buffet?

Taking everything I’ve said so far, you might fear Final Fantasy Resonance would turn out to be a mess.

It combines aspects of several games (Octopath Traveler, Brave Exvius, and classic Final Fantasy). It jumps between 3D and HD-2D visuals across different cinematics. There’s just over two dozen Visions to master, each their own skills to augment the base abilities your party develops. You can call forth powerful Summons to deal even more damage to your foes. There’s a giant map to explore, bursting with secrets to discover in every corner. There are main quests and side missions to complete over tens of hours, as well as secret boss fights and a coliseum to become the champion of.

It’s a lot, yet Final Fantasy Resonance never felt like a mess.

Square Enix shows a mastery of the HD-2D art style. The world's environments are stunning, character sprites are expressive, and there are some amazing 2D spectacle across the game’s cutscenes and attack animations. The animatics feel fan-made in a good way — full of expression, and getting as much as possible from the medium.

The flashes of 3D work surprisingly well to augment special moments. Rather than feeling incongruous, the 3D Vision Resonance attack and Esper Summon cinematics give these abilities an appropriately otherworldly aspect.

Games which let you throw everything and the kitchen sink at your enemies have a habit of feeling too easy. However, playing on Expert difficulty, I found fights (especially boss fights) were a challenge — one I could overcome, but not without playing tactically. Button mashing and praying won’t save you here.

These different abilities also built up gradually over time. This let me get to grips with systems before some new aspect was thrown into the mix.

And when the gameplay is so engaging, and the visuals so beautiful, I had no problem adventuring back and forth to complete side quests and seek out every secret hiding in the world.

Close to perfection

If I must find fault with Final Fantasy Resonance, it would be in two areas.

The first is that while I love a lot of the Visions system, it struggles for much of the mid-game because it focuses too much on the main Final Fantasy protagonists who are (let’s face it) pretty samey. This is showcased by the fact that the majority of them are classified as Commando or Breaker types.

The precise builds and abilities do change, but for example there aren’t many supportive Healers amongst them — meaning building out a dedicated support character in your party is a little tough at times as you’ll either need to stick with a Vision you’ve mastered, or accept your party will be multi-classing early on.

Given how useful some Mastery abilities are, you’ll want to multiclass to some extent (Tronn’s ability to halve MP costs is one you need to unlock for as many characters as possible as soon as possible), but given the game says the Vision system offers you the freedom to customize the party however you want, I was a little disappointed that the reality doesn’t quite match this.

Secondly, I’d say the plot is Final Fantasy in its purest form. There are crystals, war between ancient mystical powers and new age technology, sacrifice for the greater good, twists and turns that reveal secrets about the characters’ and the world’s past, and an awful lot else that is a little cliché.

The story is certainly good enough to keep me engaged; it's just nothing special.

Though as I’ve said, neither of these gripes kept me from adoring Final Fantasy Resonance. Every time I sat down to write this review I had to force myself to not reach over for my Nintendo Switch 2 to play another five minutes — and like any good game my attempts to set time limits on myself never succeeded in keeping my play sessions shorter than a few hours at a time.

While it is available on several consoles and PC, my Nintendo Switch 2 has been superb. If you have a choice, this is where I’d recommend playing, as it runs so smoothly, it’s easy to chip away at quests while on the go, and you can still enjoy a beautiful big-picture experience when the handheld is docked.

Should you play Final Fantasy Resonance?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

Besides the features built into your console of choice, Final Fantasy Resonance has no accessibility features baked into it.

However, as a turn-based RPG, gameplay can be as slow as you need. It doesn't matter if you take five seconds, five minutes, or five hours to lock in an action, and unlike games such as Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, there are no active parry or dodge mechanics that require precise timing on the player's part.

How I reviewed Final Fantasy Resonance

I reviewed Final Fantasy Resonance for around 30 hours on my Nintendo Switch 2. Predominantly, this was with base system hardware in handheld mode — plugging away on trips, my commute, and while relaxing on the couch — but I did experience the big-screen docked mode for several hours on my 4K Fire TV (relying on an 8BitDo Ultimate 2 controller for inputs).

In all modes, the game ran smoothly, and I never regretted my decision to play the game on the least powerful system it’s launching on.

First reviewed October 2026

Nintendo officially increased the price of its Switch 2 console in September from AU$699.95 to AU$769.95 due to “various market conditions”, no doubt caused by increasing component costs driven by AI-driven shortages.

If you missed out before the price increased, and now feel the new price has put you off from buying a Switch 2, I don’t blame you — but if you also happen to be in the market for a new smartphone, then have I found the deal for you.

For a limited time, JB Hi-Fi is throwing in a free Nintendo Switch 2 with every purchase of either a Google Pixel 11 Pro or Pro XL handset, a saving of AU$769.95!

I’ve not seen many discounts on the Switch 2 since its September price hike, and I’ve certainly never seen one being given away for free. That fact alone should give this deal plenty of appeal, but when you consider the recent game releases for the console, there’s plenty more to get excited about.

Yes, with a slew of first-party and exclusive releases from this year like Star Fox, Donkey Kong Bonanza, Pokémon Pokopia and more, as well as upcoming titles like Metroid Ravenous, Pokémon Winds and Waves and The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake, you’re not exactly short of options for engaging gaming potential.

Our Nintendo Switch 2 review gave the console 4.5 stars, confidently claiming it to be a massive upgrade over its predecessor. The headline improvements include support for 4K and 1440p resolutions (vs up to 1080p), a 120Hz refresh rate (up from 60Hz) and overall performance improvements with an Nvidia Tegra T239 processor, 12GB of RAM (vs 4GB) and starting storage of 256GB.

And let’s not take the attention away from the Pixel phones included in this offer. The Google Pixel 11 Pro and Pixel 11 Pro XL each received 4 out of five stars in their respective reviews, with both delivering battery improvements and better AI performance from the new Tensor G6 chipset, improved cameras, brighter screens and lighter and slimmer chassis. The Pro XL has also earned a spot among the best phones you can buy in Australia.

Securing either of these top-performing devices on their own is always going to be a wise move. When you get one of them included for free, then it practically becomes a no-brainer.

Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC: one-minute review

The Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC is simply a fantastic version of an already world-beating wireless gaming headset. While it shares an awful lot with the ‘original’ Audeze Maxwell 2 that launched earlier this year, the addition of genuinely excellent active noise cancellation (ANC) means that it offers an enhanced experience compared to its brethren.

The design and build remain very similar to that older model, with the big, weighty earcups sitting comfortably over your ears while the leather headstrap keeps things secure. Controls are also nearly identical, bar the addition of the ANC button on the front of the left cup. It’s a sturdy and robust build which gives great confidence, but if you’re in any way wary of weighty sets, then the Maxwell 2 ANC might be a bit much for you — it’s a chonker at 19.75oz / 560g.

However, the heft is unequivocally worth it in my opinion: when it comes to performance, the Maxwell 2 is absolutely fantastic. The non-ANC Maxwell 2 is my pick for the best-sounding gaming headset money can buy right now, and the ANC variant sounds just as brilliant in all scenarios across different platforms.

The ANC itself is a welcome addition and a genuinely impressive one, blocking out all exterior noise in my testing, as well as offering a transparency mode. The quality of the ANC makes it perfect for busy environments, or just achieving maximal immersion in your games.

This is up there with the absolute best in the premium ANC business — like the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni and Nova Elite I tested in recent months — and I can’t recommend it more if it fits in your budget for PC, Xbox, or PS5.

Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC: Price and availability

• List price: $429 / £429 / AU$699
• Chunky increase in price over the non-ANC model
• Priced alongside competitors from the likes of SteelSeries, but above other wireless contenders

The Maxwell 2 ANC is more expensive than its ‘regular’ counterpart: it’s $100 / £90 / AU$130 more. With only a few features that are different from its non-ANC brother, its value proposition will be called into question.

For that price, it’s above the likes of the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni (a direct competitor to the Maxwell 2), which is a headset with excellent ANC and one I really would recommend as well.

More broadly, you can still get models such as the brilliant Turtle Beach Stealth Pro 2 headset for comfortably less, and other planar magnetic driver gaming headsets like the wired Asus ROG Kithara are cheaper still (though aren’t quite like-for-like).

As a result, the Audeze Maxwell 2 is a premium headset package, and the combination of its awesome planar magnetic driver audio and the great ANC makes it a sizable investment in the gaming headset market — though still much less than the SteelSeries Arctis Nova Elite. If the best gaming audio and ANC are both must-have features for you, then the Maxwell 2 ANC will still offer what you want and earn its price tag.

Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC: Specs

Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC: Design & features

• Robust build with a great feature set that builds on predecessor
• A little heavier than the non-ANC headset
• Weaker battery life

Note: I've removed a small comment from this section that talked about the Maxwell 2 ANC's dongle being smaller than the non-ANC headset dongle. This was incorrect, and they are the same size; I have removed the comment to reflect that.

The Maxwell 2 ANC gives great confidence with its build. It feels robust, solid, and able to withstand a knock or a drop (something I can attest to), and a lot of that comes from its weightiness. Some folks might immediately associate ‘heavy gaming headset’ with ‘bad,’ but I really think that is a grave misconception and something drilled into us by the marketing of other brands.

In reality, the design and build are so nicely done that it offsets the weight, and the comfort too — largely down to its new memory foam cushions and ventilated leather head strap — means that I’ve never really noticed wearing the Maxwell 2 ANC for even the longest sessions.

In terms of on-board controls, the left cup houses the volume dial, the game-chat mix dial, an audio jack, a USB-C port, a mic port, and the new ANC button. The right cup has the mic mute switch and the power button, which also doubles up as the Bluetooth pairing button. Simple. The dual microphone is very welcome, and it means you can deploy the Maxwell 2 ANC for entertainment and music, and still rely on something for comms, without plugging in the detachable boom mic.

The head tracking features provided by Embody Immerse Gaming Hive and Dolby Atmos Rendered compatibility are fun and a novelty, though they still feel a little niche for me.

The most notable thing in the features of the Maxwell 2 ANC, however, sadly, is that the battery life has taken a dive compared to the regular Maxwell 2. While the non-ANC version could get you 80-odd hours of use, the ANC version is limited to about half of that with ANC off, and 35 hours with ANC on.

It’s perfectly serviceable and still provides you with comfortably more than a full day, but it is a shame the difference is so massive.

Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC: Performance

• Incredible audio quality across all games
• Excellent ANC performance that doesn’t kill bass
• Comfortable to wear, plus a really solid mic

The Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC is simply fantastic when put to the test. The gaming audio it provides is every bit as good as the audio I love from the regular Maxwell 2.

No matter what I’ve been playing, the Maxwell 2 ANC provides thumping combat sounds, beautifully crisp environmental audio, and rich, rounded soundtracks. It’s a joy to use as a media and entertainment pair of headphones too, with music singing clearly into my ears. Planar magnetic driver audio really is something else.

Backing this up is the microphone combo, which ensures I’m clear and crisp with my teammates even in the most frantic of online multiplayer battles.

Key to the audio sounding so good all the time is that the main USP of the headset, the ANC, doesn’t kill bass like almost every other ANC I’ve tried in my years of testing.

This means that you really are getting uncompromising audio, and some very effective ANC too; it’s excellent for immersion, and even in a busy household with a few people, I’ve been unbothered by external noise. This is undoubtedly aided by Audeze’s SLAM (Symmetric Linear Acoustic Modulator) tech, which is proven to assist in bass performance.

The weight of the headset doesn’t impact the performance of the Maxwell 2 ANC from a comfort perspective either. It might be heavier than other headsets, sure, but it’s never been uncomfortable on my head, even in the longest of sessions. I've almost come to prefer it over lightweight models you totally forget you’re wearing.

Elsewhere, I will say that by default the Maxwell 2 ANC can be quite quiet, which was a mild annoyance, though easily solved on PC or PS5 by manually adjusting the volume. The companion Audeze app on desktop and mobile has also been handy, facilitating firmware updates and allowing for EQ tinkering.

All in all, the Maxwell 2 ANC has all that is great about the non-ANC variant and adds excellent ANC. If you have to have the latter and are eyeing up the best version of the best-sounding headset, then this is the one to get.

Should I buy the Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC?

Buy it if...

Don't buy it if...

Also consider...

If the Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC doesn’t feel like it’s going to hit the mark for you, then these are the two alternatives I’d look to right now.

How I tested the Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC

• Tested over the course of a few months
• Compared with other headsets, including the non-ANC version
• Used across PS5 and PC games, on mobile, and for music, work, and entertainment

I’ve used the Audeze Maxwell 2 ANC as my go-to PS5 headset for a few months now, playing the likes of Assassin’s Creed Black Flag Resynced, Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy, Marvel’s Wolverine, and Tom Clancy's The Division 2 and Warhammer 40,000 Space Marine 2 with friends online, as well as regularly using it on my PC when not using my SteelSeries Arctis Nova Pro Omni headset — a competing headset that has been great for comparison.

On my Acer Predator Orion 5000 gaming PC (supplied by Acer), I’ve tested the Maxwell 2 ANC not only with everyday usage like work calls, music, and TV, but also with games like Cyberpunk 2077, Frostpunk 2, Crusader Kings 3, and a preview of a game or two under embargo.

First reviewed July-October 2026

Read more about how we test

CRKD Nitro Deck 2: One-minute review

The CRKD Nitro Deck 2 is primarily billed as a Nintendo Switch 2 controller for handheld use, but it offers a lot more besides. It's CRKD’s follow-up to the Nitro Deck and Nitro Deck+, two previous accessories aimed at the original Nintendo Switch.

The CRKD Nitro Deck 2 has a functional design focused more on ergonomics than style, although some of the colorways add some panache; the Pal Grey variant I reviewed, for instance, harked back to retro Nintendo controllers, thanks to its colorful face buttons and darker grey accents.

The Nitro Deck 2 fits to the Switch and Switch 2 by clamping on the sides of the unit, rather than actually connecting to the Joy-Con 2 slots. A small button on the back clicks and twists to tightly grip your console, and tight it is; even when I held it upside down, my console didn’t move an inch. You can then connect to your console wirelessly via Bluetooth or wired by using the included U-shaped USB adapter.

CRKD’s mobile app can be used to remap the inputs of the Nitro Deck 2, as well as enable the ‘No Deadzone’ mode for the joysticks. Its interface is clear and easy to use, and I didn’t experience any bugs. One downside, though, is that you have to reconnect to the app every time you open it by holding two buttons for three seconds, which limits the convenience of back-and-forth adjustments.

All the buttons feel great, providing plenty of clicky feedback and responsiveness. The back buttons are awkwardly placed, though, and I found myself accidentally triggering them on occasion.

The real highlight of the Nitro Deck 2, though, is its joysticks. Not only are they precise and responsive, but they also feature dials that let you adjust their tension at any point, which is an excellent design choice and should allow any gamer to get their preferred feel.

Unfortunately, poor ergonomics detract from the Nitro Deck 2’s otherwise positive performance aspects. Not only do the pads angle inwards at the bottom, contrary to the majority of gamepads, but it’s also heavy when loaded with a console. These factors can make it cumbersome and awkward to use, especially when trying to game upright.

The Nitro Deck 2 is easy to pair to the Switch or Switch 2 via Bluetooth, although it takes a while to reconnect to your console after sleeping. Reconnection is quicker in wired mode, but it’s still not instantaneous. It was also easy to pair with PC and Android devices, although it’s a shame you can’t switch between them without having to pair each time.

The battery life of the Nitro Deck 2 is reasonable, lasting for as long as CRKD claims (15-20 hours), according to my testing. It’s a small inconvenience that you have to charge it separately from your console, though.

When you consider all that it offers, the Nitro Deck 2 represents good value. Not only are you getting handheld pads for the Switch 1 and Switch 2, but you’re also getting protection for your console, a standalone controller you can use with other platforms besides Nintendo’s, and a kickstand. Comfort issues do hamper the experience somewhat, but if you don’t mind holding a weighty unit, the Nitro Deck 2 is a fine choice as a versatile gamepad.

CRKD Nitro Deck 2 review: Price & availability

• $89.99 / £89.99 / AU$161
• Available now in multiple colorways
• Good price for a versatile handheld gamepad

The Nitro Deck 2 costs $89.99 / £89.99 / AU$161 and is available now in four colorways: Smoke Black, Pal Grey, LRG Fusion, and White. It comes with a USB cable, a double-ended USB adapter, and a legacy adapter for Switch 1 compatibility. The joystick caps and D-pad hat are replaceable, but no extra sets for either are included in the box.

This is a reasonable price for a unit that’s not only a Switch and Switch 2 handheld case and handheld controller, but also a standalone gamepad for PC and mobile, both wired and wireless.

You won’t find many more complete solutions for your Switch 2 than this, or even third-party substitutes for the Joy-Con 2 controllers, save for a few examples, such as the Mobapad M12 HD and M12S. A more left-field alternative to the Nitro Deck 2 is the GameSir G8+, a Bluetooth mobile controller that doesn’t officially support the Switch 2, but users have reported compatibility with the system.

If you just want a more comfortable handheld experience for your Switch 2 while sticking with the Joy-Con 2 pads, the Genki Attack Vector is a reasonably priced solution that offers three sets of grips as well as a backplate cover. What’s more, it can remain attached to your console when docked.

CRKD Nitro Deck 2 review: Specs

CRKD Nitro Deck 2 review: Design & features

• Functional looks
• Solid build quality
• Basic but effective mobile app

The Nitro Deck 2 has an appearance that’s more about function than form, with its soft edges and curves being more about ergonomics than aesthetics. It’s a fetching piece of design nonetheless, and the Pal Grey finish of my review unit added a retro appeal, with its dark grey accents and colorful face buttons alluding to the classic SNES controller.

The build quality is respectable, too. Although the plastic shell didn’t initially strike me as being particularly premium, I quickly felt its solidity and sturdiness once I held it in my hands. The sliding mechanisms for both pads operate smoothly as well.

Rather than the pads of the Nitro Deck 2 actually attaching to each Joy-Con slot on the Switch or Switch 2, they simply clamp to the sides of the console without actually inserting into these slots. To tighten the clamp, you simply push and twist the button on the rear of the unit. This requires a fair amount of force, and so does releasing it to remove the console, but I wouldn’t say it was overly arduous, and it’s worth the effort for the secure fit it provides.

When attached, the Switch 2 fits snugly and securely; I had no worries about it coming loose, as there wasn’t a hint of looseness. The unit also aligns precisely with the dimensions and contours of the Switch 2, although my one small gripe is that accessing the game card flap can be fiddly, as there’s little room to reach down to lift it up. This isn’t an issue when the Nitro Deck 2 is attached to the Switch 1, though, since the flap on that console opens the other way.

Speaking of which, the Nitro Deck 2 fits just as well to the Switch 1 as it does to the Switch 2. Thanks to the included legacy adapter, its USB-C port is still accessible, so you can still have a wired connection between the console and the Nitro Deck 2. This wired connection to both the Switch 1 and 2 is handled by another adapter, a double-ended U-shaped USB-C jack, that slots into the bottom of the Deck and the console.

The Nitro Deck 2 also features a kickstand on the back, allowing you to use your console with another controller. This is made of metal and feels very solid. It’s also very sturdy when open, and it folds flush into the back of the Deck. It can be a little difficult to release it from its clip, but this is a small price to pay for its secure fastening.

To customize the inputs of the extra shoulder and back buttons, you can use the M button in combination with others to alter the mapping. However, you can also use CRKD’s mobile app, where you can remap every button, as well as enable a ‘No Deadzone’ mode for the joysticks in order to increase their sensitivity.

The app is clearly laid out and easy to navigate, and I didn’t experience any bugs or glitches, which was somewhat of a surprise given the poor rating it has on app stores. For some bizarre reason, though, it only operates in landscape mode, but more frustrating is the fact that switching between the app and your console isn’t exactly a seamless experience; you have to hold the Home button and the left D-pad button for 3 seconds every time you go back to the app after exiting it.

CRKD Nitro Deck 2 review: Performance

• Excellent joysticks
• Awkward to use upright
• Some connectivity issues

While its grips may look ergonomic, I struggled to get entirely comfortable with the Nitro Deck 2. Partly, this is due to the sheer weight of the unit when loaded with a console, which makes holding it upright a chore, even for short periods.

But the other half of the problem stems from the grips’ orientation. They protrude outwards at the top rather than at the bottom, running counter to the best Nintendo Switch 2 controller shapes, and are at a less natural angle for your hands. I did acclimatize to their form somewhat, but I was never entirely at ease with it.

I also found the back buttons awkward to use, as they were too low down to align with my natural finger placement around the grips. Their low travel and resistance meant there were times when I accidentally triggered them, too.

These issues aside, though, the Nitro Deck 2 offers fantastic performance. The face buttons are clicky and satisfying to use, while the D-pad is very comfortable thanks to its circular hat. Its floating design also meant presses had plenty of travel, which in turn created good feedback. I found the shoulder buttons were easy to reach and use as well.

The best input of all, though, is the joysticks, which feature dials at their bases for adjusting resistance on the fly. This is a great idea and one I wish more controllers implemented. Looser settings allow for easy maneuvering and quick flicks, while tighter settings give you more control and precision.

The Nitro Deck 2 also features motion controls. I found these to be accurate and responsive when aiming with the bow in The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, although using them in handheld mode isn’t exactly practical, given the whole console moves with your hands.

Unfortunately, I did experience some small connectivity issues with the Nitro Deck 2. Although pairing with my consoles was a relatively quick process, it can be slow to reconnect when you wake your console. It activated quicker when I used a wired connection, but it wasn’t instant.

The Nitro Deck 2 worked just as well with my Switch 1 as it did with my Switch 2. It’s a shame, though, that the aforementioned legacy adapter doesn’t support console charging. I’m not sure whether this was a particular issue with my review unit or a known limitation, but either way it’s a shame from a convenience perspective.

As for other platforms, I had no issues connecting or using the Nitro Deck 2 with PC or my Android smartphone via Bluetooth, although hot-switching isn’t possible, with pairing required each time you move between devices.

The battery life of the Nitro Deck 2 is reasonable — according to my testing, it lasts about as long as CRKD claims it can, which is between 15 and 20 hours. However, it’s a shame you can’t charge your console and the Deck with a single cable, as there’s no passthrough feature.

Should I buy the CRKD Nitro Deck 2?

Scorecard

Buy the CRKD Nitro Deck 2 if…

Don't buy it if…

CRKD Nitro Deck 2 review: Also consider

How I tested the CRKD Nitro Deck 2

• Tested for over a week
• Used on various platforms
• Relied on extensive gaming experience

I tested the Nitro Deck 2 for over a week, using it with both the Switch and Switch 2, as well as with a PC and my Android smartphone. I tested both wired and wireless connections. I also tested CRKD’s companion mobile app.

I played games such as Super Mario Bros. Wonder and Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, both of which are good tests for the responsiveness of the buttons and comfort of the D-pad. I also played The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom, which is a great test of all facets of a controller, including the motion controls.

I’ve been gaming for decades and have plenty of experience testing controllers and other peripherals for numerous platforms, including the Switch and Switch 2. I’ve also reviewed other Switch 2 accessories, including handheld grips.

• Read more about how we test
• First reviewed October 2026

There are few studios I respect more in the gaming world than Double Fine. Founded by industry legend Tim Schafer way back in July 2000, the mastermind behind adventure game classics like Grim Fandango and Full Throttle has spent the past 26 years making a range of games that have you doing everything from jumping into people’s brains to becoming a rock legend to using Russian dolls to solve puzzles.

Every single thing this developer creates is so unique, and none more so than Psychonauts 2.

And I love this delightfully unorthodox platformer not just because of its excellent characters and imaginative level design, but also because of the hard journey it went on to see the light of day after six long years of development. Now I consider most video games a miracle, but not all video games have a 23+ hour documentary showing exactly how they were made and all the things people sacrificed to make them so special.

You owe it to yourself to watch it, more so now that Double Fine has parted ways with Microsoft and is yet again stepping into the world as an independent studio with so much left to give. Enough about that for now, though; let us touch on everything that makes Psychonauts 2 such a masterpiece now that I’ve hit the credits for the first time.

Insane in the membrane

The concept of being able to read the minds of those around you and even jump into their brains to root around sounds thrilling at first, but I bet it doesn’t take long before you stumble across mountains of trauma and terrible opinions.

But what if you could change people by delving deep into their subconscious and pulling on a few strings? That’s exactly what our hero Razputin "Raz" Aquato must do as a newly minted member of the Psychonauts, who also happens to come from a family of eccentric circus performers who are horrendously allergic to water. That explains the gaudy green skin and penchant for 3D platforming.

Psychonauts 2 starts incredibly strong as you’re yeeted into the head of a paranoid dentist harbouring the location of a long-lost psychic supervillain. If you’re afraid of rotting teeth or the idea of someone rooting around in your chompers with sharp objects, this level totally isn’t for you, but goodness me, is it gorgeous.

I’m filled with a feeling of proud disgust as I grasp onto a zipper of teeth using my telekinesis, only to pull it down to reveal a new area, while bouncing across a squishy yet jagged mixture of gums and teeth resembles a video game equivalent of a SpongeBob SquarePants close-up gag.

It’s gross, needlessly detailed, yet instantly endearing. Thankfully, the remaining levels in Psychonauts 2 are equally as impressive but don’t make you want to lose your lunch. I’ll never forget helping a brain in a jar regain his physical form by reuniting his senses, who almost happen to play in a rock band pulled straight from the psychedelic 1960s, or the Casino Hospital, where sentient syringes are rolling the dice to try and have a baby.

Every level is a platforming masterclass that begins with a central premise before using that foundation to offer up stellar obstacles and puzzles which are always challenging enough to feel rewarding. During my first playthrough, I became obsessed with collectibles, leaving the beaten path behind in favour of hard-to-reach areas or consistently backtracking to make sure nothing was left behind. That’s the sign of a great platformer — each level is an utter joy to traverse the first time round before evolving into a familiar playground awash with secrets.

What color is the sky in your world?

Beyond how good Psychonauts 2 can feel to play, it’s the writing and characters that occupy this platformer that help it rise to another echelon of greatness. Raz may be a psychic hero, but he’s also a naive little kid with so much left to learn about the world, which makes having to constantly fix the mistakes made by adults around him a smidge awkward.

This acts as an effective springboard for Schafer and his team to tell nuanced stories surrounding issues like alcoholism, depression, grief, and what it means to be human. The game world is held up by eccentric psychic realism, but the way it narratively expresses itself couldn’t be more real if it tried.

Throughout its seven-year tenure with Xbox, Double Fine never managed to release another game of this magnitude as it opted for smaller, more experimental titles like Kiln and Keeper. But I’ve no doubt that Schafer is currently hard at work on a new project as creative director or project lead, whether this ends up being a new IP or a sequel to something fans love.

It’s the sort of experience it will need to produce in order to succeed as an independent studio in today’s climate, where even a single failed project can usher in a studio’s sudden demise. Its enduring history and legions of hardcore fans sadly don’t make it immune to this fate.

I’m not saying I want Psychonauts 3 — although that would be lovely — but the medium would be far darker if Double Fine stopped creating games like the idiosyncratic platformer.

It offers so much heart, so much purpose, and showcases what video games are capable of outside of chasing trends and retreading nostalgic old ground. We simply don’t have nearly enough experiences like it in the modern era, so hopefully Double Fine’s current Amnesia Fortnight campaign will produce something just as spectacular.

Platformers of this depth and caliber are hard to come by these days unless you’re being made by Nintendo, so if you’re after an emotionally satisfying adventure that will stay with you for years to come, I can’t recommend Psychonauts 2 enough. Oh, and be sure to give the documentary a watch as well. If we make enough noise, maybe we’ll be crowdfunding the third game sooner than we think.

• Secretlab has announced its new Titan Evo and Magnus Pro League of Legends K/DA collection
• The virtual pop group returns with new music, and Secretlab is celebrating with a themed gaming chair and standing gaming desk
• Both are wreathed in rich burgundy flame and the K/DA iconography

Secretlab is expanding its Secretlab Titan Evo and Magnus Pro series with a new League of Legends collection inspired by the game's virtual pop group, K/DA.

K/DA has officially made a comeback after years away with a new album consisting of four tracks, 'Firestarter,' 'Never Going Back,' 'Watch Me,' and 'Girls,' and to mark the occasion, Secretlab has announced its stunning new Titan Evo gaming chair and Magnus Pro desk, launching today at Secretlab.

"The comeback we’ve all been waiting for," Secretlab announced. "Celebrate the return of K/DA, the virtual global pop supergroup within the iconic League of Legends world, with the brand newSecretlabLeague ofLegends K/DA Firestarter Collection."

Wreathed in rich burgundy flame, black leather, and the iconography for the members of K/DA, including Ahri, Kai'Sa, Evelynn, and Akali, the Titan Evo League of Legends Firestarter edition also features gradient embroidery and silver frame motifs on the side wings.

The Secretlab Titan Evo is one of the best gaming chairs on offer, designed with patent-pending cold-cure foam, a pebble seat base, and four-way L-adapt lumbar back support to ensure comfort for long gaming sessions.

The Titan Evo can also be paired with the Magnus Pro League of Legends Firestarter edition, the first standing desk in the K/DA collection. Featuring fire wrapped around the entire frame and the same iconography of the group's members, the desk also offers a matching cable management bundle with hot metallic pink anchors.

The Secretlab Magnus Pro features built-in power, cable management, and a controller, and is one of TechRadar Gaming's picks for the best standing desks money can buy right now.

• A permanent, physical Pokémon store is set to open in the UK
• The Pokémon Company says the London store will open its doors “by 2029”
• It's set to be the first permanent physical retail space for the brand outside of Asia

The Pokémon Company has announced that a permanent, physical Pokémon store will open in London, United Kingdom, by 2029.

This space will be the first permanent physical retail space for the brand outside of Asia. The Pokémon Company has described the upcoming retail space as “the ultimate destination for Pokémon fans,” with a bunch of exclusive merchandise and “one-of-a-kind experiences” to be offered.

In a statement, The Pokémon Company International’s chief product and experience officer, Gaku Susai, said: “We are always exploring new opportunities that help us create unique and memorable experiences for our fans. This new London store will give visitors the chance to step into the world of Pokémon, whether they’re discovering the brand for the first time or have been Trainers for years”.

In addition, The Pokémon Company said that the London store will be “the first of several permanent Pokémon stores” it’s planning to launch outside of Asia, so it’s safe to assume that we can expect more locations to be revealed in the near future.

We’ve seen a number of pop-up stores appear in the UK recently, and these have proven to be very popular. For example, at the beginning of 2026, a pop-up opened in The Natural History Museum, London, with apparel, stationery, and even a brand-new exclusive plush put on sale that saw fans arrive in droves.

I have no doubt that a permanent residence for the highest-grossing media franchise in history will see its fair share of success too.

As a huge Pokémon fan, I’m very excited about this news, and I’m looking forward to tracking down merch of my favorite pocket monsters… I’m especially hoping there’ll be a Maractus plush.

Are you excited to explore the new Pokémon store when it opens? What are you hoping to see in stock? Let us know in the comments!

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is here, and this new first-party Nintendo Switch 2 exclusive has big shoes to fill.

You see, when Wii Sports entered the scene 20 years ago, it was a total phenomenon. It was a smash hit thanks to its simplistic yet addictive gameplay, enticing players of all ages…even your grandparents could get involved.

Its successor, Wii Sports Resort, expanded on the formula, adding more sports, more depth, and more precise controls. And Nintendo Switch Sports Resort is attempting to do the very same for a new generation — to refine the relatively basic Nintendo Switch Sports and create a more fleshed-out experience, all while retaining that sense of widespread appeal for players of all ages.

But can Nintendo Switch Sports Resort pull off this seemingly daunting task? I’ve spent about 15 hours playing the game solo, with friends, and with fellow gaming journalists online, and this is my verdict.

Getting sporty on Switch 2

The original Nintendo Switch Sports was a decent overall experience. It was a bit thin at launch and lacked single-player replayability, but the version we know today has a solid lineup of events, with fairly responsive controls, and is a good party game to enjoy with friends. And luckily, it feels like Nintendo Switch Sports Resort has fixed a lot of the issues I had with its predecessor.

Let’s start off by talking about the sporting variety on offer. There are 12 core sports available here. You’ve got some classic options like Basketball, Bowling, Boxing, and Tennis, as well as some Leisure Sports, such as Power Cruising and Prop Plane. What’s more, there are two sports that have never been seen in previous entries — namely Skateboarding and Thumb Wrestling.

I found that all 12 of the included sports were great fun to play. Let’s start with the returning events. Sports such as Basketball and Tennis are much unchanged, but feel incredibly tight and enjoyable, with accurate motion controls and multiple modes, such as Three-Point Contest for the former and a slower-paced Laid-Back Match for the latter. Bowling, Golf, and Volleyball are similarly unchanged, and continue to be a favorite for my pals and me, with plenty of laughs and tense moments.

Some of the returning sports feel far more refined, though. The biggest example of this is Boxing. Gone are the days of randomly flailing your disconnected gloves to down your opponent. Now, Boxing feels far more tactical. You have a stamina bar; it's far easier to land uppercuts and hooks, and picking the right moment to land your knockout punch is crucial.

It’s a similar story with Table Tennis, which, in my view, is the most fun sport in the game. At higher levels, you’ll need to be incredibly strategic with your slice shots to recover back to the centre and perfect your timing to hit shots right onto the table edge. The Return Challenge mode is also a whole lot of fun, and honing your accuracy to beat your high score feels super rewarding.

Archery is another highlight, with the Joy-Con 2 controllers providing pinpoint precision when aiming for the target. There are also some hidden targets to discover, adding plenty of replay value to the sport. Other sports, like Power Cruising and Prop Plane, translate nicely onto Switch 2 as well, and although the latter asks you to hold the Joy-Con 2 in a slightly bizarre way, it’s fairly comfortable and effective after you get used to it.

Out with the old, in with the new

We’ll get onto the new events in just a moment, but before we do that, let’s talk about something that irked me a little. Some of the events from the original Nintendo Switch Sports have been cut.

Yes, it’s out with the old and in with the new, as three events — Badminton, Chambara, and Football (or soccer) — are no more. This is a shame, as these were all among my favorite sports last time out. Football in particular is a big miss — it provided a chaotic, all-action multi-player experience with tense last-minute theatrics. Will these sports return in some kind of update or DLC? Quite possibly. But I would’ve loved to have seen them here at launch.

Anyway, no point in crying over spilt milk, eh? After all, the newly added sports are a blast. Thumb wrestling is a truly bizarre addition, and I can’t believe that Nintendo managed to make this feel fun. You have to hold your thumb against your opponent's hand to enlarge it, and then pin them down to attain victory. I feel like they missed a trick by leaving out ‘one, two, three, four, I declare a thumb war’ as the countdown, but otherwise, no complaints here.

I can see skateboarding dividing opinion, but I had good fun with it. This mode makes use of the Switch 2’s mouse mode capabilities, and this works surprisingly well. Whether I was lifting the Joy-Con 2 to jump or trick, tilting to steer, or pushing back to accelerate, movement always seemed to be accurate. The Skate Sprint mode is definitely the highlight here; tricking to gain speed, sneaking up behind your opponents, and grinding on railings is a whole lot of fun.

What I would say, however, is that the Free Play mode could’ve been better. The world that you skate around isn’t empty or anything, but I wish there was more to do and explore. The Sightseeing Tour is also a little lacking; you’re tasked with collecting photos, which isn’t the most thrilling experience — I would’ve preferred the option to collect customization parts for my board or character instead. This also applies to the Prop Plane and Power Cruising modes, which have Free Play options as well.

Oh, and a quick note on online play, which was very enjoyable in my experience. Here, you can expect highly responsive, smooth controls. Even though my home Wi-Fi is far from great, I ran into no performance issues whatsoever when linking up with a couple of other gaming journalists online — vital when playing reaction-based sports like Table Tennis and Volleyball.

A more replayable sporting experience

Nintendo Switch Sports Resort has made one other key addition that helps it to totally surpass its predecessor, that being Island Crown.

Island Crown is a primarily single-player experience, where you have to rise up the ranks in a particular sport and challenge the island champion. Initially, your foes will seem laughably weak, but as you climb up the table, some highly skilled challengers will stand before you. If you manage to beat the island champion, you’ll have the opportunity to face a legendary Mii from the Wii era…I won’t spoil the identity of these, though; I’ll let you discover them for yourself.

This mode has kept me coming back to Nintendo Switch Sports Resort time after time. You get new customization options as you improve your rank; the challenge of beating tough opponents is highly compelling, and the mode serves as an excellent way to develop your sporting prowess. This is the sort of single-player replayability that the original Switch Sports was crying out for, and I absolutely loved it.

I’ve mentioned customization options a few times in this review, so let’s talk about them. By playing sports, you’ll earn points which you can spend at the item center to get a random title, hairstyle, costume, or such things. Previously, you could only earn points online to customize your character — meaning you’d need a Nintendo Switch Online subscription, but no longer. Now, you can earn points offline too, and I loved a lot of the straight-up weird customization options available. I mean, come on, just look at my character.

You can either customize your standard character or a Mii that’s saved on your Switch 2 console. But I never deviated from the standard option. I’m afraid that the Miis just look so out of place in this game, with this visual style...and I feel like it’s time to let them go. Maybe they should simply remain as a relic of a bygone era.

More generally, I would say that the visual style of Nintendo Switch Sports is a bit lackluster. It misses the personality and sauce of the Wii era titles, and goes for a more ‘streamlined,’ modern look which ends up feeling a tad soulless. Even the menus are a touch dull, and given that this is a Nintendo game, I expected more flair, and perhaps a few nods to the company’s most beloved IPs to add even more charm.

The quality of the visuals is generally strong, though, and frame rates are consistent in docked or tabletop mode. I did notice a few texture loading issues in tabletop when playing Prop Plane, but this was fairly minor.

Otherwise, though, I’m coming away from my experience with Nintendo Switch Sports Resort feeling largely positive. The bolstered single-player replayability, enjoyable new sports, refined classics, and brilliantly responsive controls ensure it's a hit that’s especially great for multiplayer mayhem.

It’s a shame that some sports were cut, and I’m still not sold on this series’ visual direction, but just like Wii Sports Resort, this entry succeeds in building on its predecessor with additional depth and versatility. So, if you’re looking for a fun sporting experience to add to your Switch 2 library, this is well worth picking up.

Should you play Nintendo Switch Sports Resort?

Play it if…

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

You can change the dominant hand for each individual sport, alter camera controls for Prop Plane and Skateboarding, and turn on Shot Assist for Golf, which makes it easier to hit the ball accurately. Otherwise, there aren’t many ways to customize your experience in Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, with no colorblind modes or alternate control schemes available.

How I reviewed Nintendo Switch Sports Resort

I spent 15 hours playing Nintendo Switch Sports Resort, trying out Island Crown mode in single-player, as well as a number of core and Leisure Sports via local and online multiplayer.

For the most part, I played in docked mode, with my console connected to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and the Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. However, I did dabble in some tabletop mode gameplay, and used the JBL Live Beam 4 to enjoy in-game audio.

More generally, I’ve spent years reviewing gaming software and hardware here at TechRadar. I’ve reviewed a number of Nintendo Switch 2 exclusives, including Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave, Yoshi and the Mysterious Book, and Kirby Air Riders. I've also logged more than 50 hours on the original Nintendo Switch Sports, which I directly compared against its newly released successor.

First reviewed October 2026

When the remake of Resident Evil 4 launched in 2023, it was met with universal acclaim, even netting a Game of the Year nomination. And that came as no surprise to me. This is a brilliant entry in Capcom’s legendary series, packing in spectacular survival horror gameplay, a massively engaging story, and a memorable cast of characters.

And now, Resident Evil 4 (Gold Edition) has arrived on Nintendo Switch 2. I’ve put about 20 hours into the game, during which time I’ve played through a good chunk of the main story and completed many a request. So how does this game hold up on Nintendo’s hybrid platform? Here’s everything you need to know.

Let me start by saying that the core Resident Evil 4 remake experience is incredible. Leon is a charming and likeable protagonist, the gunplay is excellent with a fantastic suite of weapons to choose from, and the narrative is top-class too. Sure, this entry perhaps lacks the chilling, claustrophobic atmosphere of its predecessors, but there’s plenty of high-octane action segments, fun puzzles, and big scares to experience. So if you haven’t played this game just yet, I highly recommend it.

A remake that's great on the go...but has a few graphical gremlins

How exactly does this title perform on Switch 2, though? Well, between this game and the other two entries recently ported to Nintendo Switch 2 — Resident Evil 2 and Resident Evil 3 — Resident Evil 4 is the one that has the highest amount of performance issues. This is totally understandable — it’s a newer release than the other two entries and carries a higher technical demand — but this isn’t quite the definitive way to play through Leon’s adventure.

So, let’s take a look at some of the blemishes I noticed on this port. The largest of these relates to texture pop-in. Whether I was playing in handheld or docked mode, some visual elements — such as trees or cliffs — would appear lower in resolution from a distance, and suddenly appear more detailed and intricate as I drew closer to them. Is this a major issue? Not really. It had no impact on my ability to vanquish my foes. But it’s something I did encounter regularly, and it could sometimes make the experience a little less immersive.

In addition, I encountered a few frame drops throughout my playthrough. When I ventured into a cave with a purple flickering flame, the game appeared to run less smoothly. This only lasted for a second or two, but it happened a good handful of times during my time with the game. Like the Resident Evil 2 Switch 2 port, and the Resi 3 Switch 2 port, the motion of some distant enemies appeared shaky, with some noticeable frame drops. With that said, combat was generally very smooth, and I rarely found said frame drops to give me a disadvantage in skirmishes.

Another thing worth noting is that this version of the game supports motion controls, something I was really hoping to see in the recent ports of the game’s predecessors. This is a most welcome inclusion, giving fans of gyro aiming another way to play…but it could’ve been implemented more effectively. While vertical aiming feels precise and responsive, horizontal movement is sluggish by comparison. Still, traditional controls work like a dream, and there are a number of schemes you can choose from in the Options menu to suit your personal preferences.

I want to be clear: this game doesn’t perform badly, not by any means.

For the most part, Resident Evil 4 plays nicely on the Switch 2, with largely smooth performance and solid graphical fidelity, especially in docked mode. Of course, some textures look a bit less refined in handheld mode, but the dark and dismal environments still translate over nicely. The game also has HDR support for enhanced contrast, and character models look pretty sharp too. And all in all, I found the port to be totally serviceable — just expect an experience closer to the PS4 version than the PS5 one.

In the end, the Nintendo Switch 2 port of the Resident Evil 4 remake is decent. A lot of the issues, like pop-in and occasional frame drops, feel relatively minor in the grand scheme of things, though I wish motion controls felt more precise. Still, you get generally smooth performance, good visual fidelity, and all of the major DLC bundled in, including the excellent Separate Ways.

Is this the definitive way to play through Leon Kennedy’s journey? Perhaps not. But if you want to experience Resident Evil 4 on the go, this Switch 2 port is a perfectly fine option.

Should you play Resident Evil 4 for Nintendo Switch 2?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

The options menu allows you to make a few changes to your experience, with a range of camera options, a number of control schemes including motion aiming, toggle or hold run modes, and a range of voice and text languages available. What’s more, you can change the color of the reticle, laser dot sight, and biosensor scope, alter HUD opacity, and tone down damage display if you’d prefer.

How I reviewed Resident Evil 4 for Nintendo Switch 2

I put more than 20 hours into the Resident Evil 4 remake on Nintendo Switch 2, during which time I played through the main story and completed as many requests as possible while playing in both docked and handheld mode.

The vast majority of the time, I played the game docked, with my Switch 2 connected to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. I also dabbled in handheld gameplay now and then, though, and used my JBL Live Beam 4 earbuds to experience the game’s virtual spatial sound.

More generally, I’m an experienced gaming hardware and software reviewer, and have been testing all kinds of games and accessories at TechRadar for years now, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve reviewed all sorts of Nintendo Switch 2 titles, from major first-party releases like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave to ports like Yakuza Kiwami. I’ve also played a number of Resident Evil games, including the Switch 2 ports of the Resident Evil 2 and 3 remakes.

First reviewed October 2026

Following its expansive Gamescom 2026 demo, I just got to experience a much more linear segment from Final Fantasy VII Revelation set right at the start of the new game — it sets Cloud and the gang up to finally face the biggest twist from the original, albeit a lot earlier than they did in 1997.

The demo itself was pretty short — I blasted through in around 30 to 45 minutes — but I got to play around with the new party members Vincent and Cid (the latter formally joined as an active combatant at the start of the demo), and most of my team were utilizing the new FITS system (Revelation’s version of the Job / Class system used in other Square Enix games).

Though I want to focus on the story content.

The party finds themselves in the North Crater, the impact site of the asteroid which brought Jenova to the game’s planet. Here they find even more of the black-robed figures they’ve been following for the past three games — including Broden, the former SOLDIER and inn manager you meet in Kalm during Rebirth — and yet again Cloud is racked with headaches and visions of Sephiroth, tormenting him about his past.

Players of the original will know where this is going, but before I go into any more details, here’s an obligatory SPOILER WARNING. We’ll be talking about Final Fantasy VII’s biggest twist after Aerith’s death below, and if you somehow don’t know it yet and don’t want to get spoiled, you’ve been warned.

While my demo cuts things a little short, it shows Sephiroth forcing Cloud to remember he isn’t really a SOLDIER, just as he does in the og FF7.

He’s pointing out inconsistencies like Cloud’s lack of a SOLDIER ID number on his arm (something all the others have), comments that he must have the “wrong man” when attempting to reminisce with Cloud, and finally making him, Barret, and Tifa relive the Nibelheim incident one last time — and we see differences from the version from Rebirth, as Zack features, and one of the Shinra guards that was with the group before is suddenly missing…

Barrett even comments on how happy Cloud looks when posing for a photo, saying he looks like a “whole other person.”

SOLDIER no more…

As a reminder for anyone who hasn’t relived the FF7 narrative recently, or who is unfamiliar with the plot and doesn’t care for spoilers, Cloud was actually just your regular Shinra grunt — those (lowercase) soldiers we’ve been dicing up since the opening of Final Fantasy 7 Remake.

He was there at the Nibelheim incident, but as backup for the actual SOLDIERs Sephiroth and Zack Fair. Embarrassed that he didn't achieve his SOLDIER dreams, Cloud hides his face from Tifa and others in the village, which is why she told Aerith that she doesn’t remember seeing him on that mission during the events of Rebirth.

We already know from Rebirth that things don’t go according to Shinra’s plans on this mission, and in the original continuity we know that Cloud is able to defeat a weakened Sephiroth using Zack’s Buster Sword (it seems likely this is what happens in the Remake continuity too, though we haven’t had explicit confirmation, and we’ve already seen more than a few plot details shift between the two timelines).

Following the victory, Cloud and Zack are picked up by the mad Shinra scientist Hojo, who proceeds to experiment on the pair using Mako and Jenova cells in the hope they’ll become clones of the slain Sephiroth — or at least gain strength comparable to him.

Cloud’s mind is broken by these experiments, but Zack is able to hold himself together and rescue himself and Cloud — making it all the way to Midgar with his unconscious friend before Shinra catches up with them. In the original, this is where Zack is gunned down, though in at least one timeline (which we see in Remake and Rebirth) Zack is somehow able to survive the onslaught.

Back to the original version, however, left for dead by the grunts, Cloud eventually recovers enough to pick up Zack’s weapon, mourn his friend, and carry himself the rest of the way to Midgar — where he bumps into Tifa, and he is convinced into helping Avalanche on the mission Remake starts with.

The trauma caused by years of experimentation and the loss of his friend causes Cloud’s mind to build itself back incorrectly. His memories aren’t just his own, but an amalgamation of his and Zack’s — making Cloud believe he is indeed a First-Class SOLDIER.

The truth is out

Thanks to Hojo’s test, Cloud becomes as physically strong and agile as a First-Class SOLDIER, and earns their ‘Mako eyes’ — a glow associated with Mako-enhanced folks — which is why he’s able to pass as one so effectively.

But Rebirth already poked holes in his story. In the Nibelheim flashback, we see multiple instances of Cloud behaving unlike himself — with the party noting he sounds a lot more upbeat and happy-go-lucky than he is with them, and Tifa admitting to Aerith that Cloud wasn’t one of the SOLDIERs she remembers being on the expedition with her.

Revelation looks set to finally burst Cloud’s bubble in the Remake continuity, but interestingly this looks set to happen at the game’s intro rather than at its climax as it does in the original.

What impact this will have on the party’s dynamics — trust in Cloud already seems to be at an all-time low thanks to the visions and strange behaviour caused by his connection to Jenova — and for Cloud himself is yet to be seen.

But it’s another sign that Final Fantasy VII Revelation is just as unafraid to mix up the game’s timeline as previous entries, and I, for one, am excited to see what giving the party more time to digest this twist will mean for the adventure when it finally lands on April 8, 2027.

I’ll say one thing for EA Sports FC 27: it’s not the same game as EA Sports FC 26.

That reads like a compliment — and in some respects, it is — but where previous entries in EA’s long-running football simulator series shipped with minor improvements and equally minor frustrations, FC 27 takes bigger swings that flip between successful, insignificant, and occasionally experience-worsening in their execution.

I wish I could package that sentiment into a neat metaphor (‘a mixed bag’ is too hackneyed), but I can’t — so here’s the Cliffs Notes version of my review:

EA’s shiny new mode, The Grounds, is a hollow imitation of NBA 2K's The City. Ultimate Team is objectively better than it was in FC 26, but is still geared towards card-collecting youngsters and time-rich YouTubers. Career mode is the best it’s ever been, but is oddly prone to breakage by the same new features that make it better. And the overall FC gameplay experience is more challenging than before, but more rewarding as a result.

Still with me? I’ll run through each of those mini-verdicts as you read on, but you get the idea: EA Sports FC 27 is immense fun in parts, dull in others, and a generally quite confusing entry in a series that rarely changes so much from one year to the next. But hey, change is good... right?

Around The Grounds (and out again)

This year’s big new addition to the FC franchise is The Grounds — an ‘open-world’ reimagining of the series’ Clubs mode in which you can compete with friends or randoms in both stadium- and street-based challenges.

I put ‘open-world’ in quotation marks because The Grounds is not so much a free-roam experience as a third-person menu-hopping one. The idea of exploring three “cultural hubs of football” sounds cool, but in reality, these hubs are little more than poorly rendered maps populated by lifeless NPCs (non-player characters), Riddler Trophy-style Drop Kick Targets, and PvP waiting areas.

The game modes available within The Grounds are fun enough — there are traditional 11v11 matches, FIFA Street-style cage matches, and more casual mini-games like the basketball-inspired Bucket Ball — but the ‘open-world’ aspect of the experience adds little beyond longer wait times (because you now have to travel from A to B on foot) and the ability to customize your pro’s wardrobe with licensed clothing. At a price, of course.

I won’t lie: I did have a good time building my pro and was excited to get out into The Grounds’ virtual world. But once I’d played a handful of matches and completed enough Alex Hunter-ordered errands to buy myself a cool headband (Kylian Mbappé, Paulo Dybala, and Chloe Kelly are the other ‘mentors’), the novelty of this new open-but-actually-closed game mode quickly wore off.

With enough friends in tow, I can imagine The Grounds being a lot of fun, and I don’t criticize EA for trying something genuinely new with FC 27. I’m just not sure The Grounds actually is all that new — it’s more like Clubs with an extremely elaborate menu system.

Players for points

Opening Ultimate Team (FUT) for the first time in FC 27 feels like walking into a nightclub sober. You’re immediately hit with a barrage of menus, cards, and checklists, which is a frankly disorienting experience until you remember that this is exactly what FUT has been like for several years now.

Still, once you get over the customary nausea, there are some genuinely neat improvements to be found in this year’s edition of EA’s most popular (and profitable) mode.

My favorite addition is Streamlined SBCs (Squad Building Challenges). These are essentially SBCs that swap the starting XI puzzle aspect for a cumulative target score — each player in your club has a value, and you need to exchange enough players to reach that score. You don’t need to worry about formations, positions, or chemistry; instead, Streamlined SBCs are purely a numbers game.

Traditional SBCs are still present and correct in FC 27 — I personally enjoy the challenge of completing the weekly Marquee Matchups SBC — but with Streamlined SBCs, EA has acknowledged that most players aren’t fussed about the puzzling they require. Streamlined SBCs are for those who, understandably, want to snag the SBC reward in as little time as possible. But I appreciate that EA has kept both SBC types in the game.

The Gallery is a less meaningful but otherwise harmless addition to FUT. It’s a sticker book-style card-collection feature that tracks every player who’s ever passed through your club and encourages you to curate these players into graded sets. Doing so earns you trinkets and cosmetics (boring), but also Gallery Tokens (less boring), which can be spent on special Hall of FUT players like Loïc Rémy, Adebayo Akinfenwa, and Marouane Fellaini.

Honestly, the Gallery interface is as dizzying to navigate as everything else in FUT, but at least there are tangible player rewards to be gained from taking the time to understand it. I just wish The Gallery were available in the FC 27 Web App, so I could kill time grading cards while on my evening commute, and not while playing FC 27 proper.

Jockey down the line

It’s a little hard to give a comprehensive verdict on gameplay in FC 27, since EA is tweaking the mechanics all the time, but broadly speaking, the biggest gameplay changes apply to defending and set pieces.

On the former, there’s now less AI assistance, so computer-controlled players on your team (i.e., those you haven’t switched to yet) won’t auto-tackle an opponent, meaning you’ve got to be quicker on your L1/LB draw and smarter with your tackle timing. Jockeying is faster for all players as a result, which also makes the Jockey PlayStyle less overpowered than it was in FC 27.

As someone who’s better at defending than attacking, I’m all for these defensive changes — and the redesigned corner kicks system also puts more importance on defenders in this year’s game.

There’s now a longer pause between the taking of a corner kick and the ball’s arrival in the box, and — finally! — you get manual control over player positioning within the box itself. This change means corners are now skill-based rather than luck-based, which is absolutely what they felt like before (even if EA would never say so).

I spend most of my time playing the Authentic gameplay preset in Career mode, which is a different kettle of fish entirely, but for those who play Competitive in FUT, I’d say defending and corner kicks have seen the most noticeable tweaks in FC 27.

Skilled dribblers now ride challenges more effectively, too, but this isn’t such a significant gameplay tweak in my experience — but then again, I haven’t played too many online matches in FUT, which is where you’re likely to come up against the dribble-happy duo of Ousmane Dembélé and Lamine Yamal. I’ll pray for your controller.

The Art of the Deal

After fulfilling my testing-time obligations in The Grounds and Ultimate Team, I couldn’t wait to dive into FC 27’s refreshed Career mode. And judging by the view counts on EA’s YouTube Deep Dives for the game (the Career Deep Dive has the most views by a margin of over 1 million ), there’s a good chance that you, too, are more interested in FC 27’s slower-paced managerial simulator than any of its other modes.

The big changes this year apply to transfers. The awkward 3D negotiation scenes have been replaced with FIFA 13-style 2D negotiations, primarily because there’s a lot (and I mean a lot) more negotiating to be done in FC 27.

Previously, you’d offer a sum of money for a player, and if the selling club accepted your price, you’d then negotiate personal terms with the player in question. That was it. Two steps. You could pretty much buy any player for any club if you had the funds to do so.

In FC 27, transfer negotiations are far more realistic — for better and worse.

Now, if you’ve got your eyes on a player, you first have to send an inquiry to determine whether their current club is willing to sell them. The players themselves can also reject your advances if they’re simply not interested in joining your club — regardless of the money you might’ve been prepared to pay them and their club. If you’re rejected, you won’t be told the reasons why, but EA says player decision-making is based on tactical fit, club finances, form, historical rivalries, and long-term club philosophy.

And trust me: you will get rejected a lot. Or at least I was while playing as Everton. I couldn’t convince 80% of my transfer targets to even come to the negotiating table, and even when I did get close to signing a target, they’d invariably be stolen at the last minute by a bigger rival (Newcastle, for instance, accepted my offer for Harvey Barnes, but Barnes rejected me to join Chelsea on deadline day. Mercenary!).

If you do get to the negotiation stage, there are some nice new ways to structure deals, including with transfer instalments, agent fees, and performance-based bonuses. But I was honestly surprised by how difficult it was to sign players generally.

You can make transfer negotiations easier — they’re set to strict by default when you start a save — but actually, after the initial difficulty shock, I came to enjoy the challenge. Sure, I didn’t get most of my initial transfer targets, but that struggle made my eventual signings — Patrik Schick, Lucas Bergvall, Dan Ballard, and Raúl Asencio on loan — feel more rewarding as a result. It also felt very Everton to be rejected or outbid so frequently.

One big negative, though, is that players are absolute prima donnas in FC 27 Career mode — and their stinking attitudes can sometimes present a real headache.

It’s entirely possible that large groups of players hand in transfer requests at the same time because, as per the new minutes system, a player with 41% or higher stamina expects to play. If they don’t, they get annoyed and request a transfer. That (sort of) makes sense, but it’s particularly problematic if you like to simulate lots of matches, as the computer will only play high-stamina players (think 70% stamina and above).

I’ve seen some streamers complain that the game’s liberal transfer request system has ground their Career saves to a halt, and even if you can appease your unruly squad, it’s not particularly enjoyable to feel like virtual players are managing you, rather than the other way around.

Unexpected Events are back in FC 27, too, and these random scenarios — like Abrupt Retirement or Urgent Family Leave — can similarly disrupt the flow of a season.

I’m all for being tested as a manager, but Career mode feels particularly patience-testing this year — it’s more rewarding in places, sure, but it would be nice to play five straight matches without an injury, a mutiny, or an unmissable family funeral.

Dynamic Overall is a more positive addition to Career mode in FC 27. It’s essentially a dynamic rating system that causes player ratings to fluctuate throughout the season instead of staying fixed. Form, morale, and fitness can all make a player’s rating go up or down, and transfer values are impacted by big changes in rating.

In my Everton save, Tyler Dibling played so well so consistently that his rating went from 74 to 83 in a matter of months — that seems ridiculous on paper, but it’s actually representative of how player values change drastically in real life. Good feature!

Should you play EA Sports FC 27?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

Like its predecessors, EA Sports FC 27 offers a comprehensive suite of accessibility options, including settings for subtitles, button remapping, color blindness, and increasing the size of the player indicator. It also features a dedicated High Contrast Mode for low-vision and cognitively disabled players.

All of these accessibility options can be found in a dedicated Accessibility Settings tab. The game has six difficulty levels — Beginner, Amateur, Semi-Pro, Professional, World Class, Legendary, and Ultimate — and features support for 21 languages.

How I reviewed EA Sports FC 27

I played EA Sports FC 27 for a month, having received the game a few days ahead of its official Early Access release on September 18. During that time, I had access to all modes and features and was able to compete against real-world players who also had early review access to the game.

I played on PS5, using a standard DualSense controller, on a Samsung QN95A Neo QLED 4K TV. I’ve played every EA Sports football title since FIFA 13, and also reviewed FIFA 22, FIFA 23, EA Sports FC 24, EA Sports FC 25, and EA Sports FC 26 for TechRadar Gaming.

First reviewed: October 2025.

• 007 First Light will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on March 18, 2027
• The edition was originally scheduled to launch this year but was delayed
• IO Interactive says it will continue "refining the game's optimisation and performance" in the lead-up to the game's release

IO Interactive has finally announced that 007 First Light will launch on Nintendo Switch 2 on March 18, 2027.

The release date is much later than initially promised — IOI originally said the Switch 2 edition would arrive this year after the game's PS5, Xbox, and PC launch in May — however, it's now said that the delay allowed the team extra time to address performance issues and that it will continue to improve optimisation in the following months.

"Since announcing additional development time to ensure the quality of experience players expect, IO Interactive has brought hands-on builds of 007 First Light to both Gamescom and Tokyo Game Show, where players and press had their first opportunity to experience Bond's world running on Nintendo's hardware," IOI said in a statement.

"Player response from both events has been positive, reflecting the progress being made across the game as development continues toward launch."

The studio added that "the development team will use the coming months to continue refining the game's optimisation and performance on Nintendo Switch 2, ensuring it meets the standard players expect at launch."

On top of a Switch 2 release date and a new gameplay trailer running on the hardware, the 007 First Light – Deluxe Edition is now available for pre-order for $69.99 / £69.99.

The Deluxe Edition offers the Gleaming Lighter, Gleaming Earphones, Gleaming Dart Gun, and Gleaming Pen gadgets, plus four additional outfits, including the Day of the Dead, the Desert Explorer, the Silent Anchor, and the Gentleman Operator.

In addition, the 007 First Light - Special Edition on Switch 2 is also available exclusively at Amazon, giving players access to the Classic Tuxedo.

Anyone who pre-orders the game on Switch 2 will also receive early access to the GoldenEye Suit at launch.

IOI released 007 First Light's first major free downloadable content (DLC) earlier this month, which included New Game Plus, Photo Mode, and a brand-new "00" difficulty level, among other activities.

Funselecktor Labs Inc. is known for its minimalist yet vibrant takes on various forms of motorsport, starting with Absolute Drift in 2015, followed by Art of Rally in 2020 and Golden Lap in 2024. Now, the independent studio is tackling offroading, but rather than competing against the clock or other drivers, over the hill is about exploring an open world on your lonesome (or with a friend or three) at your own pace.

Taking inspiration from the recent wave of cozy games, over the hill doesn’t have concrete aims or objectives as such. Rather, you simply pootle around the various maps to discover various points of interest and earn Pebbles, the game’s currency, to upgrade your vehicle to better navigate the environment.

Off the beaten path

over the hill sticks to the same cardboard-cutout aesthetic of the developer’s past efforts. Textures are flat and basic, but they’re elevated by the pastel colors and lush lighting effects, with environments drenched in pinks, oranges, and greens that invite players to explore them.

There are two main regions to choose from at the start of a game: Canada and Algeria. Each has its own sub-areas (three for Canada and two for Algeria), featuring all kinds of terrain and climates; you’ll see rain, snow, and sandstorms, which naturally affect your driving and navigation abilities, adding an extra element of challenge.

The music complements the visuals perfectly. The in-game radio gives you four ‘albums’ to choose from, each representing a certain flavor of ambient, from synth-heavy pieces to folksy guitar numbers, all with gentle melodies to lull you as you play. I was impressed with the score’s production value, given that it merely serves to subtly set the mood as you play.

This is a game low on story and characters, but high in vibes — specifically of the zen variety. Aside from the Buddha statue that acts as your tutorial guide, the only other character is Crazy Günther, the hippie mechanic you visit to customize your vehicle. His textual dialogue (there’s no VO) adds a small amount of flavor to an otherwise purely functional NPC, and it chimes well with the gentle tone of the game.

Once you learn the basics in the brief tutorial, you’re left to explore the world. Campsites are the chief points to discover, as they act as the game's main fast travel hubs. You can also use them to fast-forward time, useful if you want to wait for a different time of day or skip certain weather events.

Other points of interest in the maps include crates that unlock cosmetic features for your vehicle, as well as scenic points from which to take photographs. You can also find Trial Challenges to complete, which take you along treacherous routes of varying lengths to test your off-roading skills, and find wildlife to snap. These discoveries and activities earn you Pebbles.

Pedal to the metal?

If you’re looking for a fast and furious off-roading experience, over the hill isn’t it. Instead, it takes a considered, sedate approach to the sport, one that rarely rewards harebrained driving and impatience. Speeds are slow at the best of times, with second gear being the highest. True to real life, vehicles have both low and high range gears, with the former being used to give you better control and traction on slippery surfaces and steep slopes. Such surfaces are indicated organically via the game’s visual style, without making it too obvious by overtly highlighting them.

Anyone who’s played MudRunner or SnowRunner will be in familiar territory with over the hill. As long as you’re in the right gear range, you don’t have to worry too much about being sensitive with the throttle; you’ll either make it up a slope or you won’t, regardless of how you modulate the throttle. Steering is fairly laborious as well, with the wheels being slow to turn and recenter on most vehicles, which only adds to the challenge of navigating around obstacles. I’ve never been offroading in real life, but this is how I’d imagine 4x4s to handle.

When the going gets too tough, you can use various bits of equipment to get you out of tight spots. First and foremost of these is the winch. A single button press will fire it at the tree you’re looking at (as long as it’s in range), and holding that same button will reel you towards it. You can also slacken the winch with another button, useful when you want to descend rather than ascend. If you want more control, you can use the winch in manual mode, which lets you choose which side of your vehicle to winch from and which tree to anchor to within a certain radius.

The winch can be used as many times as you like and is always in your inventory. Other tools, though, have to be selected before you enter a map; if you want to alter your loadout while playing, you’ll need to visit the mechanic. They’re also single-use items, although you select multiple instances of them, and they replenish whenever you visit a campsite. Among them are a portable anchor, which you can winch onto when there are no trees around, and two wooden planks to lay across small gaps or on the ground to give you more traction. These are a little fiddlier to use, as it can be a chore to line them up with your wheels, and misaligning them even slightly can easily result in your vehicle slipping off them. Still, they’re very useful and rewarding when you find yourself stuck. Other tools include a portable camp, a repair kit, and a car jack for righting your vehicle if you roll it over, which is easily done.

There’s a respectable number of customization and upgrade options for your vehicles. There are a variety of vehicle bodies to choose from, ranging from classic 4x4s and wagons to more utilitarian and industrial models — and yes, there’s even a campervan. The differences between them are more than cosmetic, as they each have their own speed and handling characteristics, despite the game not actually listing these stats. The selection is resolutely vintage, with no model looking beyond the 90s at best. Most are inspired by iconic real-life vehicles, too, as suggested by their menu descriptions.

You can personalize your vehicle with a large number of trinkets, unlocked via the crates you find throughout the world. Sadly, however, the paint options are more limited. As for upgrades, you can improve attributes such as speed, grip, protection, and tool capacity — all of which you’ll need to do if you want to explore every area completely. Again, though, the upgrades are limited in their stages, and you’ll find yourself maxing out your vehicle’s potential quite quickly.

Riding shotgun

While over the hill offers a good time solo, it’s more fun with friends. Having companions by your side (you can have up to four players in a server) not only takes some of the burden out of exploration, but also introduces the possibility of mischief. This is because you can winch to each other’s vehicles, which is obviously a big help when one of you is stuck in the weeds, but also allows you to pull each other off cliffs and into rivers. However, in order not to put the winch-ee at too much of a disadvantage, they can de-winch themselves at any point.

You can also explore independently if you so wish, and fast travel for one doesn’t mean fast travel for all, which gives everyone greater flexibility to explore. The whole experience ran smoothly during my testing; I didn’t encounter any problems with connectivity or lag, save for one occasion when my friend’s framerate dropped considerably, but Funselektor said this is a known issue with the preview build I played, so it’s entirely possible it’ll be rectified before launch. For most of my time in both single- and multiplayer, the game ran very smoothly, even at Ultra settings. The only real bug I experienced concerned some input clashes when I remapped certain buttons, but this was easy to work around.

Perhaps my main gripe with over the hill is that there’s just not that much to do. And while the central act of driving over rough terrain is fun thanks to the skill and problem-solving nous it requires, the mechanics lack real depth to sustain the game for long periods in the face of little additional activity. There’s not quite enough feel and feedback from slipping and sliding on loose ground to make it as engaging as it could be, and the lack of any sort of drifting mechanic — guaranteed to amplify the fun of any driving game by a factor of ten — is a real shame, especially since Funselektor has great form in this area, if its previous games are anything to go by.

I can only hope that future updates will add more to the driving and DLC will arrive to give players more to do. But for now, over the hill remains a fun time to while away an hour or so, but not much more than that.

Should you play over the hill?

Play over the hill if…

Don't play it if…

Accessibility features

There are no accessibility features to speak of in over the hill. Subtitles for dialogue are on by default, since there’s no VO, and the closest the game comes to offering any comfort features is letting you disable motion blur.

How I reviewed over the hill

I played over the hill for about 10 hours, seeing most of the main areas and features the game had to offer. I was also given a save file by Funselektor with all areas, upgrades, and customizations unlocked.

I mainly played solo, but I also tested online multiplayer by playing with a friend. I played on a gaming PC with an AMD Ryzen 7 7800X3D processor, an RTX 5070 GPU, and 32GB of RAM. I played mostly with a controller, but I also tested its mouse and keyboard controls.

I’m a fan of racing and driving games, and I’ve played similar off-roading games, such as SnowRunner. I also played a lot of Art of Rally, one of Funselektor’s other titles.

First reviewed October 2026

If I could scoop up the feeling of playing any game for the first time and relive it, I’d use my free pass on The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time. Thankfully, after two hours with the game in an early access preview with Nintendo of Europe, I’m fully backing the 40th Anniversary remake for the Nintendo Switch 2 as the next best thing.

I was invited to play through the first 45 minutes in Kokiri Forest, a quick 15-minute jaunt across Hyrule Field and into the Hyrule Castle Town Market, as well as the entirety of Adult Link’s forest temple, and in that time, I was totally won over on this long-awaited remake.

From what I’ve seen so far, Ocarina of Time’s 2026 remake is faithful to the original, but additive in all the right ways. Having replayed the same segments in the original through Nintendo Switch Online post-preview, though, these refinements make the two feel worlds apart, and I think the 2026 remake is shaping up to be the definitive way to enjoy the Hero of Time’s epic adventure.

Something old, something new…

Rendered in vivid greens and cerulean blues, the Nintendo Switch 2-exclusive 40th Anniversary remake of The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time is a feast for the senses. The biggest talking point and most drastic change is, of course, the art style.

The level of detail could be described as maximalist, from the intricate woven patterns on Link’s iconic green garb to the litany of floaties, sprites, and fairies crowding the airways of Kokiri Forest. However, online discourse suggests it hasn’t been to everyone’s taste — nor was it to mine, at first glance.

From playing the game, I’m reassured that the art style makes sense in Ocarina of Time’s Hyrule. Nintendo has a history of shifting artistic gears with each new era, but there’s a sound logic, thematically, behind its arguably garish style.

The game has always had plenty of visual cues for the loss of innocence, the death of magic, and the corruption of whimsy; I’ve previously compared many of Nintendo’s artistic treatments within Zelda games to mid-century fantasy media like The Lord of the Rings. That contrast is all the more apparent with such a lush backdrop to build upon, and every second I played felt totally immersive visually. Plus, with free camera movement and no fixed perspectives in Hyrule Castle Town Market, you can take in every angle of the world; it’s a facelift I feel the game really deserves.

There is a cartoonish quality to the character models, with some online naysayers calling them DLSS or AI slop-coded. While I still have my reservations when it comes to Zelda and Sheik’s models, they do fit well in this more fantasy-inspired Hyrule. Perhaps not to everyone’s taste, no, but welcome to the world of entertainment media where your feelings are not fact. To me, all of the stylistic changes feel true to what the game would have looked like if hardware back in the late 90s was capable of rendering it, but most crucially, the feeling of the original is preserved and, in places, improved.

The soundtrack is grand and sweeping, refining an already beautiful soundscape with re-orchestrated themes, refreshed vocal efforts (read: Link’s “hyup” and “hyaah”s), and all-new cutscene voice acting.

Given there’s a lot more dialog now, too, nailing the voice acting feels more important than ever; I’m personally not sold on some of the performances, though. The sparse lines I heard from Navi weren’t quite as distinctive (nor annoying) as I was hoping for, and the Greak Deku Tree is less epic Shakespearean, more audiobook reader on 0.75x speed. In fairness, I wasn’t immediately impressed by some of Breath of the Wild’s voice acting, either, but over time these grew on me — perhaps it will be the same here.

I noticed in my time with the game a few shifts in the story beats; the Deku Tree gives some more context about spirit stones and the fate of Hyrule in his first meeting with Link, and Malon wasn’t in the Hyrule Castle Town Market by the fountain as she is in the original. Those hoping for a 1:1 repeat of the story might find themselves slightly alarmed when the full game releases, but what I’ve seen so far is minimal at best and serves only to neaten up the narrative and some translations.

Fundamentally, though, the core gameplay loop seems to have been preserved, and again, the bulk of what you’re getting with this remake is refinement. Smoother combat and tweaked dungeons and puzzles work around Link’s increased mobility; menus feel more streamlined, and locations for collectibles and items have moved around somewhat. It’s an altogether more cohesive package and offers older fans a chance to rediscover the Hero of Time’s world.

Outside of the obvious talking points already covered in Nintendo’s 40th Anniversary Zelda Direct back in September (Threads of Time quest log, better mobility with dashing, jumping, and swimming, fewer loading screens, etc.), the main addition I noticed that’s entirely new to me is Fairy Messages hidden around Hyrule. I only encountered two of these, but they seem to be a hint system for finding secrets and clues for dungeons. These appear to replace (and add to) at least some of Navi’s clues; though I did miss her near-constant yelling.

Something borrowed, something blue

I’d wager Nintendo was very intentional in choosing these segments for our demo to keep some of the bigger surprises and adaptations shielded from view before release; and my deepest desires for the remake lurk in these as-yet-unexplored locations.

Some are more expected; from extended gameplay footage and these recent demos, we already know the topology of some locations like Kakariko Village has changed, and arguably for the better, with more to see and do.

We were under strict instruction not to enter peripheral locations like the Lost Woods, and my hope is that’s because there’s a meaty change here. I loved stumbling through Breath of the Wild’s swirling mists and spindly trees; seeing something similar here rather than a series of logs would be a great reimagining of the location, and I'm all for borrowing from more recent games' success.

I’d be willing to bet that changes will be more significant in later adult Link locations I didn’t see in my preview, though. It’ll be interesting to see how Nintendo navigates the gritty, dark themes in the new world of game age ratings and its more squeaky-clean image. Those who skipped the 3DS remaster might be surprised to discover that, in all likelihood, the blood stains in the Bottom of the Well and Shadow Temple dungeons might be heavily sanitized or entirely removed — but I’m really hoping they find a sensible way to keep the sinister atmosphere intact.

There’s also an opportunity to tie up some loose ends: namely, Zora’s frozen domain, which, presumably for file size reasons, never unfreezes after Adult Link defeats the Water Temple in the original game. It's one of my favorite locations, and seeing it returned to its vibrant ultramarine hues would make Link's efforts all the more satisfying.

These are nice-to-haves, but based on what I’ve played, Nintendo has built a reimagining of greatness from the ground up, and it might even be hard to return to the original without noticing its every flaw or limitation. I certainly struggled post-preview despite racking up more than 20 saves in my lifetime.

I’ll certainly be playing the full game when it releases on November 5th, so make sure to check back then for our full review. Provided it doesn’t take me eons to figure out the new Water Temple… again.

While a lot of fans have been mixed on Capcom’s remake of Resident Evil 3 since its initial release in 2020, there’s no denying that it's an incredibly tense survival horror experience that’s filled to the brim with high-octane action. And now, you can experience Jill Valentine and Carlos Oliveira’s terrifying journey on the go, thanks to a new Nintendo Switch 2 port.

I’ve spent more than 10 hours playing Resident Evil 3 on Nintendo Switch 2, experiencing the main story in full. So, is it a port that’s worth your time and money? Here’s my take.

For the most part, I want to focus on the quality of this port on Nintendo’s latest hybrid system, but before we delve into that, I’d like to share a few thoughts on the remake of Resident Evil 3 in itself.

Nemesis is coming for you...

I played through the Resident Evil 2 remake right before this entry, and while there are a lot of similarities in terms of the combat, resource management, environments, and visuals, they have a few striking differences.

Above all, Resident Evil 3 feels far more focused on the action — it feels like you’re constantly on the run, blasting through zombies, and rushing to save the people of Raccoon City. In some ways, this works to the game’s advantage: the horrifying Nemesis is a truly daunting foe, the high-paced gameplay is engaging from start to finish, and the explosive set pieces make this entry feel truly cinematic.

However, the fast pace and distinct action focus come with its drawbacks. The game’s runtime is very short — you’ll easily finish this one in about six hours. On top of that, the overall narrative feels a bit thin, and there are very few puzzles. Ultimately, Resident Evil 3 is still a blast, and its likeable cast and engrossing gameplay make it worth playing alone — it just doesn’t quite have the depth of some of the best entries in the series.

Anyway, let’s talk about how this title plays on Switch 2 specifically. And good news — the Resident Evil 3 remake runs very well on this system. The Switch 2 edition targets 60 frames per second (fps), and I enjoyed smooth frame rates in both docked and handheld mode with barely any noticeable drops. Yes, the movement of some distant enemies could appear a little shaky — something I also saw in the Resident Evil 2 remake on Switch 2 — but even the most action-packed segments of the game were silky smooth.

While you could probably get a more premium visual presentation from a gaming PC or PS5 Pro, the game’s graphics also translate well onto Nintendo Switch 2 after calibrating HDR. The dark, moody environments look sharp and intricate in docked mode, with character models looking pleasantly detailed. Contrast is solid too, with colors popping against the dismal city streets, though it’s worth noting that in handheld mode there’s a noticeable (yet understandable) hit to graphical fidelity — though the game still looks very decent overall.

The game also controls nicely, and you can switch between a few different schemes in the options menu, although it would’ve been neat to see gyro aiming, which worked well on the Switch 2 edition of Resident Evil Requiem. There’s also no mouse mode integration, and more generally, it would’ve been nice to see this version play to the Switch 2’s strengths a bit more. One thing that I did like, though, was the Switch 2’s virtual spatial sound, which provides an expansive, almost three-dimensional soundscape when you’re battling through hordes of zombies.

In the end, then, it’s easy for me to recommend the Resident Evil 3 remake on Switch 2. While the graphics won’t wow you in handheld mode and the core game isn’t without its flaws, it consistently runs at a stable frame rate, visuals are strong in docked mode (and still more than adequate in handheld), and the action-packed gameplay is sure to keep you absorbed in the game from start to finish.

Should you play Resident Evil 3 for Nintendo Switch 2?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

The options menu allows you to make a few changes to your experience, with a range of camera options, three separate control schemes, toggle or hold run modes, and a range of voice and text languages available. What’s more, you can change the color of the reticle, laser dot sight, and dot display, alter HUD opacity, and tone down damage display if you’d prefer.

How I reviewed Resident Evil 3 for Nintendo Switch 2

I sunk just over 10 hours into the Resident Evil 3 remake on Nintendo Switch 2, during which time I finished the main story and tried playing in both docked and handheld mode.

Most of the time, I played the game docked, with my Switch 2 connected to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. I did try out handheld mode from time to time, though, and used my JBL Live Beam 4 earbuds to experience the game’s virtual spatial sound.

More generally, I’m an experienced gaming hardware and software reviewer, and have been testing all kinds of games and accessories at TechRadar for years now, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve reviewed all sorts of Nintendo Switch 2 titles, from major first-party releases like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave to ports like Yakuza Kiwami. I’ve also played a number of Resident Evil games, including the Switch 2 port of the Resident Evil 2 remake.

First reviewed October 2026

The remake of Resident Evil 2 is considered by many to be among the greatest games in Capcom’s legendary survival horror series, and it’s really not hard to see why. Stellar gunplay, immersive environments, a killer cast, and big scares…this entry has it all. And now you can experience it on the go like never before, with the game finally launching on Nintendo Switch 2 in its Resident Evil 2 Deluxe Edition form.

I’ve played the entirety of Leon and Claire’s stories, dabbled in some extra modes, and tried the title out in both docked and handheld mode.

So, if you’re wondering how the game runs and plays on Nintendo’s latest hybrid system, you’re in the right place. Here’s how I’d rate the Resident Evil 2 remake on Nintendo Switch 2 after more than 20 hours of gameplay.

Experience a legendary remake on the go

While I’m mainly here to talk about Nintendo Switch 2 performance, I’ll get this out of the way first: the Resident Evil 2 remake is survival horror at its finest. This game conjures up a truly daunting atmosphere, with haunting and iconic areas like the Raccoon City Police Station and sewers translating beautifully into a modern, HD format. The gunplay is incredibly smooth and satisfying; you truly have to manage your resources carefully if you want to survive, and everything from random skirmishes through to major boss fights feels phenomenally tense. Pair that with a set of likeable characters, an ambient soundtrack, and rewarding exploration, and you’re looking at a true classic of the genre.

But how well does this top-tier Resident Evil title translate onto Nintendo Switch 2? Very well, thankfully.

First of all, let’s talk performance. While a platform like PS5 Pro may still offer a technically superior experience, I never felt like I was sacrificing much with this Switch 2 version. This version targets 60 frames per second (fps), and my frame rates were delightfully consistent, and gameplay felt smooth, even during higher-octane action segments — when docked or in handheld. Sometimes, the movement of distant enemies seemed a bit choppy, but this never affected my ability to blast them down, and I never realized any similar issues during crucial close combat situations.

It’s a similar story when it comes to visuals too. The game looks solid on Nintendo Switch 2 with HDR support. Dark and gloomy city streets and ambiently lit indoor areas appear detailed and faithful, while character models such as the Tyrant look polished and sharp. As you’d expect, some textures don’t look quite as refined in handheld mode, with elements like Claire’s hair slightly lacking in definition, but the game still looks clear with decent contrast and lighting.

Resident Evil 2 also controls nicely on Nintendo Switch 2, with multiple schemes available through the Options menu. Whether I was using my Turtle Beach Rematch Wireless Controller or playing handheld, it was easy to switch weapons during combat, sprint past zombies, or sort through my inventory. This title also supports HD Rumble, which at times can feel a little overassertive, but overall adds to the immersion nicely. You also get virtual spatial sound, which works brilliantly, especially with headphones.

Something that this title does lack, though, is control schemes that make use of the Switch 2’s unique hardware. For instance, there’s no motion-controlled aiming, which would’ve been a nice touch for those who enjoyed it on Resident Evil Requiem, for instance. There isn’t any mouse mode functionality either, so you’ll be using traditional controls throughout the game. For me, this isn’t a huge problem — I prefer standard right stick aiming, but it would’ve undoubtedly been good to see this game make the most of the Switch 2’s hardware.

When all’s said and done, this is a very competent port of a fantastic survival horror game, and it only helps the Switch 2 establish itself as a major destination for third-party titles as well as big-hit Nintendo releases. Whether you’re new to this series or you’re a long-time fan, this is a great way to experience Resident Evil 2 at home or on the go.

Should you play Resident Evil 2 for Nintendo Switch 2?

Play it if…

Don’t play it if…

Accessibility features

There are a number of ways to customize your experience in Resident Evil 2, with customizable camera options, three distinct control schemes, toggle or hold run modes, and a wide array of voice and text languages to pick from. In the display section, you can change the color of the reticle, laser dot sight, and dot display, alter HUD opacity, and even turn damage display levels down if you’d prefer.

How I reviewed Resident Evil 2 for Nintendo Switch 2

I spent more than 20 hours with Resident Evil 2 on Nintendo Switch 2, during which time I completed both Leon and Claire’s stories, played some of the extra modes like The Ghost Survivors, and played in both docked and handheld mode.

For the most part, I played the game docked, with my console hooked up to the Sky Glass Gen 2 TV and Marshall Heston 120 soundbar. However, I did indulge in some handheld action here and there, and used my JBL Live Beam 4 earbuds to enjoy virtual spatial sound on the go.

More generally, I’m a seasoned gaming hardware and software reviewer, and have been testing all kinds of games and accessories for years here at TechRadar, where I serve as a Senior Reviews Writer. I’ve reviewed all sorts of games on Nintendo Switch 2, from major first-party releases like Fire Emblem: Fortune’s Weave to ports of awesome action games, such as Yakuza Kiwami 2.

First reviewed October 2026

Slaying vampires always feels good, and 2D action-adventure and exploration game Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is no exception. The first entry in the iconic horror platformer in more than a decade, Evil Empire and Konami have crafted a love letter to past titles that, while not changing much of the formula, delivers an experience worthy of the Belmont name.

Despite a fantastic animated adaptation (and great spinoff series with Nocturne), Castlevania has been six feet under as Konami barely revisited the series. Seldom for tie-ins with Dead Cells and re-releases, so fans were ready to sink their fangs into a new title.

Fortunately, it would come from the Dead Cells team, Evil Empire. Its mastery of the craft with the Metroidvania genre made it a safe but effective pick to hand the Vampire Killer whip to. And, lo and behold, they ran with it and made something fans will love.

You must whip it, whip it good

Surprisingly, the game is a sequel of sorts to both Netflix’s Castlevania and Castlevania 3: Dracula’s Curse. As Rose Belmont, the daughter of Trevor Belmont and Sypha Belnades, she is tasked with stopping the newfound dangers flooding Paris.

With her father’s guidance and all the Belmont tactics, she’ll discover the root of it all, as well as how she and her mysteriously cursed arm fit into things.

Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse does go a good distance with its narrative, but it doesn’t reach too high. It’s got some twists, turns, and great moments, though it can feel sparse. Of course, most of the fun will come from your experience dashing and slashing, but it can feel uneven with its cinematic counterparts. Still, it’s serviceable enough for you to want to keep playing and see more.

Rose Belmont, as the daughter of Trevor and Sypha, is a pretty likeable protagonist. She’s not one-note by any means and struggles with her emotions, especially with the spotlight now on her. However, it’s the supporting cast that provide her with what she needs to be a worthy Belmont.

Without spoilers, her Confidantes will be her moral compass, and it’s up to her to choose which direction she wants to go in. Props go to many of the fantastic performers in the game, as everyone works perfectly with their respective characters.

A missable little pile of secrets

Once you set foot off the docks of the Seine, you’re instantly thrust into classic Castlevania gameplay: slay monsters and maneuver through obstacles. There are small tutorials, but for the most part, Paris is an open book, and you’re free to flip through the pages almost immediately.

Action-wise, it also harkens to classic Castlevania, with Rose using a variety of weapons to kill the many creatures of the night. There are many types of weapons, from the iconic whip to flashy gauntlets. Finding new versions of them throughout the world is always a treat, as it never disappoints when you equip them and test them out. Personally, the whip was a go-to, as it rewarded distance with better damage output, though the spear was a close second.

Also, with Rose’s abilities, which she’d earn after certain bosses, it unlocks various attacks, like throwable crosses or pillars of fire. It leaves customization very open, letting you play how you’d like in terms of combat.

Without going into spoilers, Rose’s journey goes beyond the confines of Paris into various regions. Each of them has some theme and gimmick that makes them memorable in both a playing sense and a backtracking sense. As this is a Castlevania game, you will find yourself going back to certain locations to find secrets and clues for other locations. Luckily, with new abilities like an air dash and, of course, a grappling hook whip, you’ll be able to do so easily and rapidly.

That said, the level design in Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is phenomenal. Traps and platforming take advantage of Rose’s abilities, including ones she earns throughout her adventure. It takes precision and good reflexes to maneuver through them, and it never gets old. It can get frustrating, though, especially if you’re going back and forth a ton. Still, finding what you need after a seemingly impossible challenge feels so good.

Slaves to our family’s wishes

As the first new 2D Castlevania in decades, there have been noticeable increases in graphical fidelity since then.

Belmont’s Curse blends 2D with 3D to bring a Dead Cells-like style to the gameplay and look. It does keep the drawn silhouettes of characters for dialogue, but in-game cutscenes are all flat 3D. While the pixelated depth in past titles like Symphony of the Night and Order of Ecclesia is sorely missed, Evil Empire’s redesign works well with the series and fits right in.

Frame-rate-wise, there were rarely any hiccups during the playthrough. There was a stutter or two during certain moments with tons of monsters, but it was pretty seldom. However, there were a handful of glitches with the audio, as it would cut in and out and, often, restart with each level transition. While rare, some glitches with the gameplay, like phased-out enemies or awkward platforming, would happen.

It’s also important to mention that it can be quite a difficult game. The series is known for being brutal, and Belmont’s Curse is no exception. A death can bring you way back and reset tons of progress. It’s a worthwhile challenge, but it is one that takes time and patience. Bosses will be the bane of many people’s existence, as some of them, especially late-game ones, are super difficult. It can feel a bit overkill, but it’s nonetheless satisfying to whittle them down and then finally get the last laugh.

In short, Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse is classic Castlevania brought to the modern age. Evil Empire and Konami have crafted a title that, while it’s not the huge blockbuster many would hope for, is a well-done action platformer. It doesn’t go too far outside the box, but it makes the most of what it does have.

With fantastic level design and combat, the franchise is in a position to return to its glory days and its bloody reign over the action platformer genre.

Should you play Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse?

Play it if...

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

While the game touts its difficulty, there are available accessibility features to lessen it. There are also various visual adaptations for thicker outlines or colorblind mode. In addition, subtitles are available in different languages, as well as voice-overs. However, despite some accessibility, some things, like one-hit-kill traps, exist and can be frustrating.

How I reviewed Castlevania: Belmont's Curse

I played Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse for around 16 hours, seeing much of the game’s map, bosses, and secrets. I also got many of the available weapons and spells, as well as heart and mana containers. In addition, I did play the demo, which was released prior to the game’s release, and transferred the save file from that to the full title.

I played the game on a base PS5 with the DualSense Wireless Controller and HyperX Cloud 3 wired gaming headset, all on a Roku 4K TV.

First reviewed October 2026

• Nintendo has confirmed its commitment to physical games
• The statement comes as Sony abandons physical media
• “We go off of what the consumer prefers,” Nintendo declared

Physical game releases are becoming increasingly rare these days, but one company that still plans to sell its titles this way is Nintendo. The Japanese gaming giant confirmed as much in an interview that might come as some relief to fans of disc-based media — although don’t take it as a guarantee that things will stay this way forever.

Speaking to Brazilian interviewer Rodrigo Coelho, Bill van Zyll, Vice President & General Manager of Nintendo Latin America, explained that, “There are no plans to ditch physical [media]. We know how much the fans like it as well.”

Nintendo’s van Zyll gave the example of the Nintendo Switch 2, for which games are available in both digital and physical formats. That's something Nintendo appears to be committed to continuing, at least for the time being, which could help to assuage the concerns of some fans.

Nintendo fans on social media seemed hopeful about the revelation. “Maybe there is window for cartridges to make a comeback in some capacity,” mused one on Reddit, while another proclaimed that “I have no plans to abandon Nintendo. The system works!” “I hope Sony takes notice,” wrote a third, referring to Sony’s decision to completely abandon physical games by 2028.

Good news — for now

Of course, there’s no way to know exactly how long Nintendo will remain devoted to physical games for. As van Zyll said in the interview, “historically, we’ve been very agnostic. We go off of what the consumer prefers and take that into account very heavily”. While that might mean physical releases are here to stay at the moment, van Zyll’s response doesn’t rule out a change of approach in the future if consumer tastes shift.

With that in mind, it’s worth considering that Take-Two CEO Strauss Zelnick has previously noted that “Our business is well over 90% digitally distributed,” which explains why GTA 6 is going to be an entirely disc-less launch. While Graft Theft Auto players and fans of Nintendo games are two quite different groups, I wouldn’t be too surprised to see Nintendo follow Take Two’s example in the future.

If you are a keen collector of physical games, and prefer to own hard copies of every title you play, Nintendo’s announcement will be great news. But with the industry increasingly heading in the digital direction, you might want to pick up hard copies of your favorites, just in case Nintendo decides to change course.

Revisiting one of Omega Force’s most beloved works via Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered has been interesting. I got into the series quite late, so I’ve never had the same reverence for the earlier games that many other fans do. I’m happy to say that has changed with this remastered version.

This is a very different game compared to modern entries like Dynasty Warriors Origins or Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment. Objectives are straightforward, battles (for the most part) tend not to last as long, and your KO count per battle is much lower than the thousands you rack up in newer installments.

Satisfaction lies elsewhere in Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered. It trades bombastic theatrics and ‘rule of cool’ battlefield domination for a more grounded approach. Instead of tearing across battlegrounds like a Category 5 hurricane, you’ll need to pick your fights more carefully and move with your army. Even basic peons are far more aggressive in this game, so ditching your allies isn’t exactly the wisest decision.

There are some cool quality-of-life additions, such as being able to counter enemy Strong and Special attacks with your own. A handy checkpoint feature lets you rewind the battle to key moments if you die, and there’s an honest-to-goodness dodge button that helps even the odds and can even be followed up with a counter if timed correctly. Alternatively, you can set the entire game to a ‘Classic’ mode, ditching all of this in favor of the original gameplay experience.

It’s an incredibly thoughtful remaster in that regard, offering options for newcomers, purists, and everyone in between. The visual facelift is nice, but not overbearing. Plus, additional content from the Xtreme Legends expansion is included here, too, making Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered an extremely beefy package for its relatively budget price tag.

Same as it ever was?

Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered, as ever, presents a loose interpretation of Luo Guanzhong’s Romance of the Three Kingdoms. Which in itself is a romanticization of this turbulent wartorn era of Ancient China.

As an earlier entry, Dynasty Warriors 3 pretty much gives you the highlights rather than delving deep into character drama or motivations. It’s quite refreshingly simple, though individual playable officers do get their own cutscenes, endings, and the like.

You’ll spend the majority of your time in Musou Mode — effectively the game’s campaign. You will then choose an officer from one of four factions: Wei, Wu, Shu, or Other. The latter of which featuring officers with no set affiliation like Lu Bu, Dong Zhuo, and Diaochan.

Each officer has their own bespoke Musou Mode route, though some are longer than others. Even so, your goal on each map typically boils down to defeating a key enemy officer, while ticking off smaller objectives to boost your side’s morale or rob the enemy of powerful weaponry.

That might sound repetitive, and it can be if played over longer sessions. However, I think Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is tailored to shorter bursts of play, and the bite-sized Musou Mode campaigns for each officer support that. Playing through a campaign will bolster that officer’s stats, as well as earn them new weapons and equippable items — the latter of which can be shared between all officers.

Part of the beauty of Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is that it feels like a snowball of unlockables. You’ll routinely be bagging new playable officers, more powerful weapons, and potent rare items should you meet their conditions during a stage.

Some stages can also grant you an officer’s fourth or fifth weapon. These are extremely strong, but are typically gated behind higher difficulties and some rather stringent objectives so be sure to bring upgraded officers and plenty of patience for these.

Old and new

One of my favorite things about Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered is that it has options for basically everyone. You can play the entire game in either modern or classic modes. Classic is just that: Dynasty Warriors 3 as it played on the PlayStation 2, for the most part. No fancy extras. Does it feel a bit dated? Yes absolutely, but I’m happy it’s here as an option for purists.

The more modern take applies a bunch of quality-of-life changes and gameplay additions. As mentioned at the top, these include Strong and Special attack counters, a dodge, and a quick mount option for your horse. It helps the game feel a lot more fluid, in my opinion.

Was I still getting juggled to death by lowly peons for daring to take on an officer on my lonesome? Yep. More than a few times. But ultimately I did appreciate the more humbling experience here when I’m so used to treating enemy armies like mowing the lawn in more modern Musou games.

What’s nice is that if you’re somewhere in the middle — say, wanting a hybrid modern/classic experience — Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered supports that. Quality-of-life additions can be toggled individually in the options menu, allowing for a widely customizable experience.

Additions aside, Omega Force has elected to keep the original game’s amazing soundtrack and cheeseball dialogue fully intact. I love this because there are some truly hilarious line deliveries across cutscenes, and the overt mispronunciation of officer names just adds to the charm of it all. Battles have been spiced up with combat lines from later entries like Dynasty Warriors 8, though, which is a nice touch.

Should I play Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered?

Play it if…

Don't play it if...

Accessibility features

There aren't any dedicated accessibility toggles in Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered such as subtitles or colorblind modes. However, individual game settings can be toggled based on preferences. These include target-facing assists, dodging, power guards, and strong attack counters.

How I reviewed Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered

I played Dynasty Warriors 3: Complete Edition Remastered for 15 hours on PC via Steam for this review. Being a remaster of an older title, my Nvidia GeForce RTX 5060 was more than enough to run the game on maximum settings with zero hitches or issues.

My gamepad of choice was the Valve Steam Controller (2026), and I often hooked up my RIG 900 Max HS gaming headset to enjoy the game's banging soundtrack and corny dialogue sequences.

The majority of my playtime was spent in the main Musou Mode, unlocking characters, weapons, and optional rare items. Though I did delve into the Free and Challenge modes for a change of pace, too.

First reviewed October 2026

Over the years of multiple house moves and life events, I've somehow managed to keep hold of my original Legend of Zelda: Link's Awakening DX cartridge on Game Boy. My actual Game Boy handhelds and various other Pokémon games have all, disappointingly, been lost to time — but that one cart has stuck around. For the last two weeks, I've finally had something to play it on.

I'm talking about the latest ModRetro Chromatic Transparent: an updated version of its homage to the original Game Boy that's capable of playing all original Game Boy and Game Boy Color game cartridges, as well as ModRetro's own re-releases.

What's even more interesting is that this new version of the Chromatic doesn't just come in several transparent colorways, but also sports a much lower starting price of $149.99 / £139.99 — that's $50 / £45 cheaper than the original version. Plus, a copy of Tetris is still included with all purchases.

I've been bouncing between that classic block-based puzzler and probably one of my favorite Zelda adventures over the last couple of weeks to test out the Chromatic — and I'm super-impressed with the swish little handheld.

As much as I love the idea of playing retro games on original hardware, there's no denying the impact of some of the huge improvements the Chromatic makes over the classic Game Boy.

The design is one thing, which is made up of a see-through plastic shell that weighs just 6.2 oz (176g), making it slightly lighter and more comfortable for longer gaming sessions.

But the real highlight is the screen. It maintains the same dimensions and resolution as the original Game Boy, but upgrades it to an IPS backlit LCD with scratch-resistant Gorilla Glass. That means you get a sharp and clear image in all conditions, so long gone are the days of waiting for the next streetlight to pass to see the screen on nighttime journeys.

Overall, it just works incredibly well as a modern refinement to an iconic handheld that I grew up spending many hours on during long journeys and holidays. It makes me wish I'd taken better care of my old library of Game Boy games so that I could try them all out again now.

Maybe, though, like the Chromatic M64 before it, this will inspire me to start building another collection of retro games.

If you're interested in picking one up, the new ModRetro Chromatic Transparent is available to buy now for $149.99 / £139.99.

If you're a Nintendo Switch 2 player and want a great wireless controller that comes at an easy-to-stomach price, then the Turtle Beach Rematch Wireless Controller is a great option. Despite already being an affordable option, though, it just got even cheaper, making it a must-buy for gamers on a budget.

The Turtle Beach Rematch Wireless Controller is just £24.97 (was £49.99) at Amazon, meaning you can score 50% off in the Amazon Prime Day Big Deal Days sale.

• Browse the full Amazon Prime Day sale

In the US? Fear not. You can also score a discount, with the Turtle Beach Rematch Wireless Controller available for $51.99 (was $64.99) over at Best Buy.

At these prices, this controller is an absolute steal. It has drift-resistant TMR thumbsticks (something the official Switch 2 Pro Controller skips on), a strong 40-hour battery life, an enticing design, and an ergonomic lightweight feel. I use it every single day, whether I'm sinking countless hours into Fire Emblem: Fortune's Weave, racing my friends in Mario Kart World, or exploring the whimsical world of Yoshi and the Mysterious Book — and even after hundreds of hours of use, it continues to be a reliable option.

Want to know more about these sweet deals? Scroll on down for more details and to learn more about the features that Turtle Beach's controller has to offer.

Today's best Turtle Beach Rematch Wireless Controller deal in the UK

Today's best Turtle Beach Rematch Wireless Controller deal in the US

In my Turtle Beach Rematch Wireless Controller for Nintendo Switch 2 review, I talked up its lengthy battery life, collection of fun designs, and lightweight feel — but one thing really sets it apart: the TMR thumsticks. These ensure strong responsiveness and precision, while also making stick drift less likely — a key reason to choose this model over the official Pro Controller.

More generally, the thumbsticks are textured an provide good grip, so you can be confident in your split-second decision making in-game. Pair that with a heavy discount, and this controller feels like a great buy right now.

It's worth noting that you'll have to make a few sacrifices with this controller. There's no rumble, no NFC for Amiibo, and it can't wake your console either. But if you just want a reliable and ergonomic Switch 2 controller that's available at a low price, then I think this model is well worth buying. I've seen no degradation in terms of performance or cosmetics after hundreds of hours of use, so why not snap it up today?

More Prime Day deals in the US

• Amazon Devices: Fire Sticks & Echo from $18
• Amazon Haul: viral gadgets, tech & appliances from $1.36
• Apple: MacBooks, AirPods & AirTags from $28
• Cheap TVs: smart TVs from $69.99
• Headphones: 50% off Beats, Bose & Samsung
• Laptops: Apple, HP & Dell from $199
• Mattresses: Sealy, Serta & more from $89
• Smartwatches: up to 36% off Garmin & Apple
• Vacuums: Dyson, Shark & Bissell from $49

More Prime Day deals in the UK

• Amazon Prime: get a 30-day free trial
• Amazon Devices: up to 67% off Fire, Ring & Blink
• Amazon Haul: extra 15% off for Prime members
• Appliances: up to 40% off Ninja & De'Longhi
• Beauty: up to 60% off Philips & Oral-B
• Essentials: cleaning & groceries from £2
• Fashion: up to 50% off
• Gaming: record-low Nintendo Switch 2
• Headphones: up to 50% off Anker & Sony
• Laptops: up to £800 off Microsoft & Asus
• Tablets: up to 50% off Fire tablets
• TVs: from £129.99
• Vacuums: up to 50% off Shark & Dyson
• Wearables: Samsung & Oura from £31

• SteelSeries and KontrolFreek have announced a new Fortnite gaming accessories collection
• Each product is inspired by Fortnite's most iconic mascots, including Peely and Fishstick
• The SteelSeries Arctis Gamebuds | Fortnite Peely Edition, for example, feature a reimagined design in banana peel yellow

SteelSeries and KontrolFreek have teamed up with Epic Games to deliver the ultimate gaming accessory collection for Fortnite fans.

The officially licensed peripheral collection, launching today, is "designed to bring the iconic game to players’ real-world gaming battle stations," and consists of ten accessories and hardware pieces from across a multitude of gaming gear categories.

Inspired by Fortnite's most iconic mascots, like Peely and Gudd, Fishstick, Supply Llama, and Water Sprites, the collection includes headsets, earbuds, mice, mousepads, PBT keycaps, Performance Thumbsticks, Thumb Grips, and more.

Additionally, every SteelSeries item comes with a special in-game code for the likes of emotes, Outfits, and Pickaxes.

The Arctis Gamebuds | Fortnite Peely Edition, priced at $219.99 / £179.99, has received a full redesign with a banana-yellow finish and a unique charging case design; this comes with a code for the in-game Oro Outfit.

Meanwhile, the Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 Mouse | Fortnite Storm Edition brings a vivid multi-color splash to any setup, complete with a lightning-embossed scroll wheel and honeycomb pattern inspired by the Storm. Priced at $129.99 / £119.99, fans can also claim a code for the Frozen Bear Pickaxe.

PC players can also customize their keyboard with the PBT Keycaps | Fortnite Fishstick, Guff, Supply Llama Editions, which are priced at $79.99 / £69.99 and designed in collaboration with Epic Games. Players can also claim the in-game Statuesque emote.

You can check out the full SteelSeries and KontrolFreek collection below, alongside their prices.

SteelSeries Fortnite Collection:

• Arctis GameBuds | Fortnite Peely Edition – $219.99 / £179.99 / EMEA €199.99
• Arctis Nova 3 Wireless PC/Xbox | Fortnite Sprite Edition - $129.99 / £119.99 / EMEA €129.99
• Aerox 3 Wireless Gen 2 Mouse| Fortnite Storm Edition - $129.99 / £119.99 / EMEA €129.99
• QcK XXL | Fortnite Battle Bus Edition – $49.99 / £44.99 / EMEA €49.99
• QcK L | Fortnite Fishstick & Guff Editions – $29.99 / £29.99 / EMEA €34.99
• PBT Keycaps | Fortnite Fishstick, Guff, Supply Llama Editions – $79.99 / UK £69.99 / EMEA €79.99
• Artisan Keycap | Fortnite Edition - $79.99 / £79.99 / EMEA €89.99

KontrolFreek Fortnite Collection:

• Fortnite Aim Boost Kit | Durrr Burger Edition with Collector’s Burger Box Case - $34.99 / £34.99 / EMEA €34.99
• Fortnite Performance Fishsticks | Fishstick Edition – $19.99 / UK £19.99 / EMEA €19.99
• Fortnite No-Slip Thumb Grips | Supply Llama Edition – $14.99 / UK £14.99 / EMEA €14.99