Out with the old works fine until the old has other ideas

E3 has been around for almost as long

The E3 that wasn’t

With the ESA skipping 2022, where does it leave the most important month in games?

Box fresh

Inside the company bringing a new breed of physical game to Japanese store shelves

From the ashes

The story behind the premature death – and surprising rebirth – of The Tomorrow Children

NOVEL IDEA

There’s a subtlety to the shading of the

Soundbytes

Game commentary in snack-sized mouthfuls

THIS MONTH ON EDGE

Some of the other things on our minds when we’re weren’t doing everything else

DISPATCHES SEPTEMBER

Issue 373 Dialogue Send your views, using ‘Dialogue’

Trigger Happy

Shoot first, ask questions later

Alternate Reality

Notes from videogaming’s borders

THE HOT 100

THE BEST, BIGGEST AND WEIRDEST GAMES FROM THE INDUSTRY’S SUMMER BLOWOUT

ROLLERDROME

This was a summer of few genuine surprises,

HORIZON: CALL OF THE MOUNTAIN

We’ve still no idea how far off PSVR2

SEASON: A LETTER TO THE FUTURE

As Estelle coasts downhill on her bicycle, the

ETERNIGHTS

“Sometimes I wonder if things will ever be

FINAL FANTASY XVI

The game’s medieval European setting has had an

STARFIELD

The promised 1,000 planets makes for a thrillingly

REDFALL

L ast year’s announcement didn’t tell us a

THE LAST CASE OF BENEDICT FOX

Roughly every other day, it seems, a press

EREBAN: SHADOW LEGACY

With Assassin’s Creed focusing ever more

LIGHTYEAR FRONTIER

A few key themes resonated across the summer

PENTIMENT

You’d struggle to imagine a game like Pentiment

STALKER 2: HEART OF CHORNOBYL

The STALKER games have always

COCOON

Just as an insect exits its pupal state

HIGH ON LIFE

The problem with dialogue in any firstperson shooter

SCORN

“Desolate and decayed,” growls Doug Bradley – and

FORZA MOTORSPORT

There’s an amusing irony to the way the

MARIO + RABBIDS SPARKS OF HOPE

Former Rare alumnus Grant Kirkhope returns to score

LORELEI AND THE LASER EYES

Developer Simogo Publisher Annapurna Interactive Format PC, Switch Release 2023

RETURN TO MONKEY ISLAND

Going back to any series after a long

BLANC

Had we been asked to guess the publisher

HARVESTELLA

Over the course of a few weeks, we’ve

RESIDENT EVIL 4 REMAKE

We’re not sure we agree with Leon S

HOLLOW KNIGHT: SILKSONG

After what feels like a lifetime of watching

DIABLO IV

To the bean-counters at least, Diablo’s F2P

SKATE STORY

With Tony Hawk now in his mid-50s, it’s

FORT SOLIS

There was little Geoff Keighley could do about

VICE NDRCVR

Ignore the obnoxious vowel-swallowing title – this blend

CALL OF DUTY: MODERN WARFARE II

The centrepiece of the Summer Game Fest showcase,

SYSTEM SHOCK

Once upon a time, there were two new

TIME FLIES

The very first thing Time Flies does

THE PLUCKY SQUIRE

There were few honest-to-goodness surprises throughout the

SOUL HACKERS 2

As a sequel to a game that was

MINECRAFT LEGENDS

If the trailer for Cocoon subverted the

AMERICAN ARCADIA

The retrofuturist utopia in which 28-year-old account manager

NIGHTINGALE

When we ask Aaryn Flynn, formerly GM of

GOTHAM KNIGHTS

As fourplayer coop successors to the Arkham games

A LITTLE TO THE LEFT

A puzzle game about tidying up, created by

STREET FIGHTER 6

One of the benefits of Summer Game Fest’s

THIRSTY SUITORS

Given its story follows a skateboarding slacker facing

ARA: HISTORY UNTOLD

As a camera sweeps across vistas of half-built

ANGER FOOT

Not since Ape Out – another

ROUTINE

The unlikeliest feelgood story of the summer begins

CASSETTE BEASTS

While Game Freak’s fully embraced three dimensions, it’s

DELIVER US MARS

Keoken Interactive’s followup to 2018’s Deliver Us The

METAL: HELLSINGER

Having informed the look, feel and sound of

STAR TREK: RESURGENCE

As it’s coming from Telltale veterans, it’s no

BIRTH

Developer Madison Karrh tells us that showing Birth

TINYKIN

Like The Plucky Squire, Splashteam’s cheerful

GOODBYE WORLD

Yo Fujii quit his job at a well-known

NIVALIS

It’s a surprise, really, that this doesn’t happen

ROOTS OF PACHA

If farming sims thrive on the fantasy that

DESTA: THE MEMORIES BETWEEN

Desta is a sports game.

SONIC FRONTIERS

There’s never been much doubt about which game

AGENT 64: SPIES NEVER DIE

When the rumour that Microsoft will unveil a

RAVENLOK

When we spoke to Phil Spencer in E366

GUNGRAVE GORE

Hot on the heels of Wanted: Dead, here’s

FOREVER SKIES

Firstperson survival games might be ten-a-penny, but this

I WAS A TEENAGE EXOCOLONIST

The premise will resonate with a teenage audience,

LAYSARA: SUMMIT KINGDOM

Establishing a town on a mountain prone to

EVOTINCTION

Admitting your title is “a tough hurdle” is

HIGHWATER

The world might be flooded, the elites might

WHAT THE BAT?

Watch anyone playing VR games and you’ll conclude

THE CUB

Golf Club: Wasteland, the previous game

DEMONSCHOOL

With the fourth season of Stranger Things having

NAIAD

Should you find yourself – as we did

ESCAPE ACADEMY

If Street Fighter 6’s presence at

THE CALLISTO PROTOCOL

You sense Glen Schofield is as tired of

CHOO CHOO CHARLES

Remember those Skyrim and Resident Evil mods

GLITCH BUSTERS: STUCK ON YOU

‘Stick together’ is good advice in any co-op

STORMGATE

Some advice for anyone planning to unveil a

WO LONG FALLEN DYNASTY

Has any publisher got as much mileage from

EXOPRIMAL

The online response to Exoprimal is a

LUCKY LUNA

When we spoke to Phil Fish for E373’s

TACTICAL BREACH WIZARDS

Between the obvious shifts towards science fiction and

TEXAS CHAIN SAW MASSACRE

By now, we should be sufficiently accustomed to

OVERWATCH 2

The exact nature of Overwatch 2 has

FOX AND FROG TRAVELERS: THE DEMON OF ADASHINO ISLAND

Hearing that this adventure game from a lone

TERRA NIL

This ‘reverse city-builder’ involves taking a barren land

FINAL FANTASY VII REBIRTH

Soto specified the number of games, but now

PAPER TRAIL

Capturing the mixed feelings of excitement and apprehension

PARADISE MARSH

Sitting on a damp log at the halfway

MIDNIGHT FIGHT EXPRESS

That title might sound like a straight-to-VOD crime

RYTMOS

Rytmos takes place across various

DOME KEEPER

The first time we return to the surface,

THE ALTERS

A man – Jan Dolski – wakes, confused.

PHONOPOLIS

We sometimes wonder if Amanita Design announces games

HYENAS

E ver since we first heard rumblings of

OXENFREE II: LOST SIGNALS

Though we struggled with The Cub over

ROTWOOD

Klei is no stranger to side-scrolling hack-and-slash, the

VENBA

One of two games about South Asian cooking

SNUFKIN: MELODY OF MOOMINVALLEY

Look, we’re as surprised as you are. As

MARVEL’S MIDNIGHT SUNS

There might be no better summation of Midnight

ODDADA

Like Rytmos, this is an

PLANET OF LANA

While the cinematic platformer seems to be on

A FROG’S TALE

Like a pond in early spring, the videogame

ILL

It might be the multi-limbed crawling monstrosity that

DECEIVE, INC

Scanning a crowd of AI civilians, looking for

FLAT EYE

Whatever your anxiety about modern times, this June’s

LUTO

A person under a sheet is surely the

END OF INNOCENCE

A Plague Tale returns with picturesque views, tougher children – and millions more rats

MIND GAMES

How developers, scientists and business leaders are wrestling with the complicated prospect of games as tools for mental health

MARVEL’S GUARDIANS OF THE GALAXY

How teamwork – and a handful of ’80s hits – brought Eidos Montreal’s MCU-beating misfits to life

DRAKNEK & FRIENDS

A puzzling magician makes publishing provisions

PLAY

REVIEWS. PERSPECTIVES. INTERVIEWS. AND SOME NUMBERS

Hellblade: Senua’s Sacrifice

How Greek theatre shapes Ninja Theory’s flawed, conflicted portrayal of psychosis

OlliOlli World

A progress report on the games we just can’t quit

Neon White

Developer Angel Matrix Publisher Annapurna Interactive

Diablo Immortal

Developer Blizzard Entertainment, NetEase Publisher Blizzard

Fire Emblem Warriors: Three Hopes

Developer Omega Force, Intelligent Systems

The Quarry

Developer Supermassive Games Publisher 2K

Air Twister

Daily and weekly tasks provide further incentive to

Drainus

Thanks to Drainus’ focus on absorbing enemy firepower

Floppy Knights

Between card battles, Floppy Knights tells the story

Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder’s Revenge

Turtles fans should revel in countless callbacks to

Poinpy

A split-second mistake when you’ve only one fruit

Mario Strikers: Battle League Football

No keeper’s-eye-view for special strikes: rather than moving