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We are gathered here today to talk about Guns, Love, and Tentacles, the sharply written Lovecraftian DLC for Borderlands 3 which puts the wedding of Sir Hammerlock and Wainwright Jacobs in the center of its scopes. Though everything about it is exactly what you’d expect from Borderlands DLC – in a good way – it also doesn’t do much to make its few short hours really stand out.

What starts out as an eccentric couple’s wedding on the creepy, remote world of Xylourgos predictably turns into a nightmarish cataclysm of eldritch horrors. So, y’know, just some normal Borderlands stuff. You’ll smack, blast, and meat-bicycle your way through some unique areas like the eerie, possessed town of Cursehaven; the dark, sickening groves of Cankerwood; and the accursed halls of a manor controlled by a cult that worships a Cthulu-inspired God called Gythian. For a series that once had a big problem with the lack of diversity in its exclusively Pandoran environments, Guns, Love, and Tentacles feels like a victory lap of breathtaking views and unique areas.

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As usual, the Borderlands staples you know and love have been tweaked to fit the new setting, and in this case it results in some pretty gross aesthetics. For example, chests have a squid-like quality to them and gurgle and slither out juicy, slime-covered weapons, or they open a portal to another dimension and spit out some new items for your perusal. You’ll also have some new tentacle-themed cosmetics to unlock, like character skins and weapon ornaments. It’s a bummer, though, that there are no Lovecraftian weapons to chase. That’s a missed opportunity!

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=It%E2%80%99s%20an%20overwhelmingly%20entertaining%20few%20hours%20thanks%20to%20stellar%20writing.”]The campaign is solid but short – you can blow through the bulk of it in just a few hours. That said, it’s an overwhelmingly entertaining few hours thanks to stellar writing and jokes that land more often than they miss. There are some misses in the level design, too, like a few sections which require platforming – something Borderlands has never been great with. One such section is a boss fight that requires you to jump onto levitating platforms to take down the enemy’s shields and if you make a wrong move you’ll need to start the fight all over again (unless you’re playing with a friend you can use as a spawn anchor).

Fortunately for those of us who’ve been waiting for more DLC since December, there’s plenty to do aside from the main story. Sidequests are mostly entertaining distractions, and there are occult creature hunts to go on for Sir Hammerlock which can be fairly challenging. For rewards, you’ll have eight new legendary weapons to chase for those who want to be best equipped to slay Gythian’s octo-pals with extreme prejudice. On the other hand, some tasks are pretty dry, like picking flowers for your new testicle-eating friend. Yup. That’s a thing.

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On Xylourgos you’ll mainly fight against occult followers of Gythian. These weirdos interact with you and one another in all sorts of interesting ways during combat, like buffing and healing one another, resurrecting fallen allies from the dead as exploding suiciders, or even eating your guns. That’s right: they literally eat your guns, those monsters! Each encounter with these tentacle-loving psychopaths has to be considered before being tackled, because not killing necromancers before taking on everyone else could result in you getting overwhelmed by undead explodey boys. Xylourgos’ mobs are deadly, sometimes annoyingly so, but the end result is some of the most interesting combat encounters we’ve seen in Borderlands.

[poilib element=”quoteBox” parameters=”excerpt=It%E2%80%99s%20more%20Borderlands%203%2C%20which%20is%20great%2C%20but%20it%20feels%20by-the-numbers.”]Aside from the interesting new mobs, though, there isn’t really a whole lot that Guns, Love, and Tentacles does that’s unique. It’s more Borderlands 3, which is great, but it all ends up feeling like a very by-the-numbers expansion that’s fun for a few hours and not especially groundbreaking. Even the formidable bosses aren’t much more than bullet sponges with a bad attitude. But, y’know, when you find yourself shoving your fist into piles of wendigo dung, remember: this is exactly what you signed up for.

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The Bravely series, until now, consisted of two delightful games on Nintendo’s 3DS system. They’re the sorts of games perfect for pick-up-and-go handheld play, which is why I was so excited at the first reveal of Bravely Default II late last year. Not only do I love the Bravely games on 3DS, but Octopath Traveler, made by the same team, is one of my favorite games on Nintendo Switch.

The great news is, based on what I’ve played of the demo, everything I loved about Bravely Default and Bravely Second have made their way to Switch, and even some of what I loved about Octopath Traveler is here, too.

Battle Systems Ready

The real draw for me of the Bravely Default series lies in its battle system. You can either attack, or “default,” which puts your character into a defensive stance and accrues a “Brave Point,” or BP. You can stack these BP up to 4 times and unleash 4 consecutive attacks on one turn. You can also go into “debt” with the BP, but doing so renders your character unable to attack for as many points as you spent.

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In other words, if you attack your foe four times and go into the hole, you have to wait at least four turns until you can attack again. It adds extra strategy to the battles, and once you get a handle on it, it gives them a a satisfying flow. I haven’t come across any major changes to its systems in the demo, but that’s fine because it’s like an old familiar blanket on a cold winter’s night.

Watercolor Miniatures

The best way I can describe the art style of Bravely Default II is to say it’s like someone tilt-shifted a watercolor painting. It’s a cuter version of the gorgeous illustrative work Yoshitako Amano has done for the Final Fantasy series over the decades, and in a lot of ways Bravely Default itself is a cuter version of Final Fantasy.

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The backdrops look like living paintings, and the tilt-shift effect gives it a sense of depth lost in the transition from the 3DS to the Switch. It works incredibly well, and I the extra power of the Switch versus the 3DS allows for some new lighting effects, too. Assign the Vanguard job to one of your party members and watch the light dance and shimmer across the edges of their armor, for example.

A Story Like… Well, Many Others

If you’re familiar at all with JRPG tropes, there are no surprises here, at least as far as the demo is concerned. The entire series has played it very safe in the story department, and I’m completely OK with that. For me, the allure of Bravely, or really any RPG on a portable system, is how easily I can pick it up and put it down. What feels grind-y on a console or PC feels like a fun time-waster on a handheld. Grinding to pass the time is a lot like a fun but mindless smartphone app you pull out on the bus or when you’re at the doctor’s office waiting for an appointment.

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As pointless as it seems, given this is only a demo, I spent most of my first hour with Bravely Default II just grinding outside the town. It’s borderline therapeutic to me to rinse and repeat, building up levels and improving my gear, and I know I’ll spend most of my time in both the demo and the full game doing just that.

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The Bravely Default II demo is available right now on the Nintendo eShop and it’s surprisingly robust. There are some missing features, sure, and the framerate has a tendency to drop from time to time, but the core of the game is there and it’s pretty meaty for a demo. It’s also a little harder than I expected, something it warns you of at the start, but that just makes it feel all the better, like a good JRPG should. If you can tear yourself away from Animal Crossing to check out a good ol’ fashioned turn-based RPG with some novel systems, I cannot recommend it enough.

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Seth Macy is IGN’s tech and commerce editor and just wants to be your friend. Find him on Twitter @sethmacy.

At the same time as Fallout 76‘s big Wastelanders DLC expansion goes live on PC, PlayStation 4, and Xbox One, developer Bethesda outlined two new events coming to the online action-RPG on April 7.

The first one, titled Riding Shotgun, sees players protecting a Brahmin-led caravan from the ruthless Blood Eagle gang. Those that manage to protect one (or both) will receive some loot, XP, and Caps for their troubles. But also during the journey, players are tasked with collecting lost items from the Blue Ridge Caravan Company’s previous attempts to get the convoy up the steep cliffs of the Savage Divide. Protect the caravan and secure the lost supplies, and you’ll be rewarded handsomely with “better rewards” for the effort.

Radiation Rumble is the second event, and it requires much more strategic planning as it tasks players with performing two jobs at once: defending scavengers in one place while collecting ore from another. Players will need to protect a bunch of scavengers from mysterious, glowing creatures. In addition to providing protection, you will also need to gather as much irradiated ore as possible to earn “gear, supplies, reputation, XP, Caps, or even legendary items.” This event is recommended for level 50-plus players.

Both events go live at the same time as Fallout 76’s Wastelanders expansion launches on all platforms. The big update introductions a bunch of additions and adjustments, most notably the inclusion of NPCs to flesh out the game’s otherwise barren world. Wastelanders is a free update for all players.

In other Fallout 76 news, Bethesda recently dropped a patch for the game that makes some behind-the-scenes preparations for Wastelanders. In addition to this, the update makes plenty of worthwhile tweaks, like stabilizing the game to prevent crashes, correcting visual effects, and more.

Remedy Entertainment, the studio behind Control, Max Payne and Alan Wake, has signed two multi-platform publishing deals for next-gen games – and says both are set in the same franchise.

In a statement from the company, it was revealed that the unspecified publisher “will fully fund game development costs” and that Remedy will see a “50% share of the net revenue” from sales, whilst retaining the intellectual property of the aforementioned games.

The statement also went into some detail about the games that are part of this agreement. The first is a “AAA multi-platform game” which appears to be the unannounced third project alluded to in Remedy’s financial report, which we reported on earlier this year. According to the statement, this game is in pre-production right now. As for the second project, this is a “smaller-scale project set in the same franchise.”

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With Remedy now in *ahem* control of the Alan Wake IP and actively teasing a crossover in Control’s upcoming DLC, could we be seeing more of Bright Falls in the future? Or could it return to Control and The Oldest House – after all, the developers think their latest game is “just the start” for the franchise.

Later in the statement, the strategy of the partnership is referred to as “creating and developing (Remedy’s) own IP’s into long-term franchises,” which would suggest that the studio is not quite ready to leave its compelling worlds behind.

Both games mentioned will launch on PC and next-generation consoles in “the next few years.” Remedy’s Control won our coveted Game of the Year prize last year, so make sure to check it out ahead of the studio’s forthcoming projects.

Control’s first expansion, The Foundation arrives today on PC and PS4, and we’ll have a review for you later today.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

Less than a week after launch, one Half-Life: Alyx player has discovered a way to get the VR exclusive game working without the need for a headset.

Tyler McVicker, the person behind Valve News Network and well-known investigator of the developer’s games, held a livestream where he datamined Half-Life: Alyx. The stream shows him exploring environments using a floating camera, all without using any VR equipment. His key discovery, however, is the existence of a developer console command “vr_enable_fake_vr_test”, which when inputted causes Alyx’s hands to appear in the world, and allows weapons to be fired.

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This is a very, very early step – the hands are awkwardly placed on screen, the guns fire despite being unloaded, and the camera still floats freely through walls and objects – but the existence of the console command suggests that Valve has a set of tools built into the game to allow the game to be played without a VR headset. It’s likely this has been included to allow developers to test certain elements of the game without strapping on a headset every time something has been tweaked.

This is very early days for non-VR modding potential, but the fake_vr_test command may make the journey easier for those who wish to embark upon it. Combined with the traditional FPS HUD that is used in Alyx’s spectator mode, there’s some groundwork for a proper non-VR mod.

Valve itself knows that a non-VR mod for Half-Life: Alyx is inevitable. Talking to Polygon, designer Robin Walker said “I know it’s going to happen.”

Walker says there are people at Valve concerned about a non-VR mod, but that he himself is not worried. “It will clearly demonstrate to people why we did this in VR,” he said. Basically, he believes Alyx won’t be as much fun as a traditional FPS.

“I think people will [after playing a non-VR mod] then hopefully have an even greater understanding of why we decided to build the product in VR than they do now,” he added.

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For more Half-Life: Alyx, take a look at the Death Stranding Easter egg that’s been found in the game, and this math teacher who performed a lecture from inside the game. If you’re just about to play, here’s the things the game doesn’t tell you that you really should know, and if you’ve already finished then here’s our (spoiler filled) breakdown of the ending.

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Matt Purslow is IGN’s UK News and Entertainment Writer. You can follow him on Twitter. 

A hacker has reportedly stolen the Xbox Series X graphics source code and is holding it to ransom.

The news arrives through a blog post on the AMD website, where the hardware company explained the situation. “We were contacted by someone who claimed to have test files related to a subset of our current and future graphics products,” the statement reads.

According to a report from TorrentFreak, this stolen data was found in a hacked computer and includes source code for AMD’s Big Navi and Arden GPUs. The latter is rumoured to be the Xbox Series X 12 teraflop GPU.

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Segments of code have been posted on GitHub, and subsequently removed. The hacker is asking for $100 million for the code and is threatening to dump the entirety of the stolen data if a buyer isn’t found.

The fact that AMD has issued a DMCA takedown notice on the repository where the data was being held would suggest that this is a legitimate breach. Later in the official statement, AMD made it clear that the stolen data “is not core to the competitiveness or security of our graphics products.”

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You can read the details of the DMCA request over on GitHub where it is noted that the data has been ‘forked’ (copied) to other repositories after the first set was taken down.

In lighter Xbox Series X news, the console’s full specifications were revealed earlier in the month. If you’d like to compare it to its main competition, the PS5, you can check out our Xbox Series X vs PS5 comparison chart here.

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Jordan Oloman is a freelance writer for IGN. Follow him on Twitter.

During today’s surprise Nintendo Direct Mini, it was revealed that King’s Bounty II is coming to the Nintendo Switch sometime in 2020. The upcoming turn-based RPG was previously announced for PlayStation 4, Xbox One, and PC, and is now making its way to Nintendo’s handheld hybrid, too.

Developed and published by 1C Entertainment, King’s Bounty II is the belated sequel to the original King’s Bounty, which was first released in 1990 for the Amiga, C64, and PC. The sequel blends classic turn-based combat with third-person, open-world exploration, ditching the familiar isometric experience for a more modern style of questing and NPC conversing. The combat sticks more closely to the series’ roots, offering strategic hex-based traversal, while also introducing a few contemporary touches with a renewed focus on the landscape of each battlefield.

You’ll choose from one of three characters at the game’s outset, each with their own unique story. These will change as you explore the realm, however, with your own choices and actions altering the course of the narrative as far-reaching consequences come back to haunt you. Each squad you lead into battle is made up of wholly unique units, too, each with their own skills and visual appearance. You’ll build armies of humans, elves, trolls, and other creatures, forming a growing bond as you fight side-by-side.

Other announcements from the Nintendo Direct Mini include a number of 2K compilations–namely Borderlands, BioShock, and XCOM–the next fighter reveal for Smash Bros, and details on the April update for Animal Crossing: New Horizons.

Thursday’s surprise Nintendo Direct was an embarrassment of riches, bringing new trailers, out-of-nowhere game releases, news about Arms characters coming to Smash, and 2K bringing three of its biggest franchises to the Switch. Among the spoils was the brief announcement that Atlus’ cult favorite puzzle title, Catherine, will be headed to the Switch this July.

Catherine was originally released in 2013 for the PS3, Xbox 360, and PS Vita, with a PC port of that version released in 2019 as Catherine Classic. It’s a strange little puzzle/dating sim hybrid about a scuzzy slacker named Vincent who finds himself in a love triangle between his responsible, career- and family-minded girlfriend Katherine, and a blonde femme fatale named Catherine. All the while, men all over the city are dying in their sleep, shortly after experiencing the same strange lucid dream Vincent’s been having where they must complete a trap-laden sliding block puzzle that’s like Jenga meets the Hellraiser box.

The Switch version will be a port of the Full Body edition of the game that released on PS4 in 2019 (and on Vita in Japan), which included a new love interest–a piano player named Rin–several new endings, additional puzzle mechanics that weren’t in the original title, a new Safety difficulty, over 500 new stages in the game’s more arcade-like mode, the Tower of Babel, and a full-fledged competitive online multiplayer mode.

In our review, Edmond Tran wrote that Catherine: Full Body “tells a fascinating, personal tale. The nightmarish block puzzles are still weirdly intense and satisfying to surmount, and the Stray Sheep is still a wonderful bar to spend your nights in. Full Body does a great job in refining and refreshing the Persona studio’s fascinating foray into the social lives of adults, and Catherine continues to stand out as a game that feels both incredibly bizarre and authentically intimate.”

Catherine: Full Body is scheduled to hit the Switch on July 27, though, as Nintendo was quick to point out at the start of the Direct presentation, dates are very subject to change due to the COVID-19 crisis.