Polygon

The anime summer season is close — and there will be lots of big names for us to look forward to. In such a packed season, Gachiakuta is one of the most anticipated and Crunchyroll just dropped a new trailer for the show which is airing next month July 6, 2025, alongside some details on the voice actors we are going to see giving life to important characters.

The show is an adaptation of the manga written by Kei Urana and it has been published by Kodansha in their Weekly Shonen Magazine since 2022. Gachiakuta is Urana’s first series after her two one-shots – Nokase (2018) and Shikido (2019) – and this year the show is receiving the anime treatment by the hands of studio Bones Films, the one responsible for Vigilante: Boku no Hero Academia ILLEGALS.

In this new trailer, we learn more about the world of Gachiakuta, which we have only seen some flashes of in the announcement trailer. This second trailer gives us an idea of why Rudo, the show’s protagonist, ends up in the Pit. Other key concepts of the manga are introduced as well, such as Gachiakuta’s power system that works around people called Givers who draw out power from objects they give life.

While the trailer brings the energy you expect to see in a show like Gachiakuta – a few intense action scenes with the show’s opening song “HUGs” by Japanese band Paledusk –, it doesn’t fail to make it clear that Gachiakuta has a central social commentary on how society segregates people, throwing them away like garbage.

Alongside the trailer, Crunchyroll also shared with us the names of two voice actors that will be in the Gachiakuta. Regot, the man who raises Rudo in the show, is voiced by Toshiyuki Morikawa, present in other important recent shows such as Ranma ½. Morikawa was also the Japanese voice of Sephiroth in Final Fantasy VII Remake and Rebirth. Yuki Shin is the other name and he is coming to Gachiakuta to voice Jabber. The artist has voiced secondary characters in shows like Attack on Titan, Given, and My Hero Academia.

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Netflix’s live-action One Piece and Lego collaboration is finally available for pre-order, and it features four classic settings from season 1 and the East Blue saga alongside a treasure trove of Easter eggs. These locations include the Straw Hat’s Going Merry ship, Buggy the Clown’s Circus Tent, a hut from Luffy’s hometown, Windmill Village, the Baratie Floating Restaurant, where Luffy meets Sanji, and Arlong Park, where the season reached its climax.

The Going Merry contains 1,376 pieces, including four wanted posters, as the set consists of several interior locations like the crew’s cabin, kitchen, storage, and an accessory workshop. But it also contains the five members of the Straw Hat Pirates, like Luffy sitting on the sheep figurehead in front of the ship; followed by Zoro training on the deck; Nami controlling the rudder at the rear near her tangerines; Usopp keeping watch from the crow’s nest; and Sanji headed downstairs to the kitchen.

Buggy’s Circus Tent comes with minifigures of Luffy, Zoro, Nami, and Captain Buggy himself, alongside two wanted posters. The tent flips open into a larger play area with Buggy’s throne, three escape contraptions (a water tank, hanging cage, and spinning table), and buildable mini Buggy pieces hidden in barrels.

The roof and walls of Windmill Village’s hut can be removed to reveal accessories made for the store and its customers. Upstairs are four treasure chests, and on the walls are places to hang wanted posters from other sets. There’s a countertop inside, a palm tree and surfboard on the sides of the hut, and outside, there’s a pirate boat toy attached to the jetty by a chain. The set includes minifigures of Luffy (and the Gum Gum Fruit), Shanks, and Makino.

The Baratie is a massive ship with 3,402 pieces and many accessible rooms inside, like a kitchen, dining areas, Zeff’s quarters, and a treasure room. Luffy, Zoro, Nami, Usopp, Sanji, Zeff, Garp, Helmeppo, Koby, and Mihawk minifigures are included alongside five wanted posters and several accessories like food, drinks, a transponder snail, and Mihawk’s ominous boat.

Arlong Park includes minifigures of Luffy (with stretch arm parts), Usopp, Arlong, and Chu. The model collapses to recreate Luffy’s final blow and features a shooting gallery with stud shooters, a shack, a forest area, and a throne room. It also comes with three wanted posters and accessories like Usopp’s ketchup bottle.

Although his looks were just announced for the upcoming season, we can’t wait to see minifigures of Tony Tony Chopper in the future.

Straw Hat’s Going Merry sells for $139.99. Buggy the Clown’s Circus Tent costs $54.99. Windmill Village is $29.99. The Baratie Floating Restaurant is priced at $329.99. And Arlong Park is priced at $79.99.

All five Lego sets are now available for pre-order and are set to ship on Aug. 1.

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Nintendo Switch 2‘s external storage options are rather limited at launch, as the hardware is only compatible with a specific kind of microSD card. You won’t lose any data from your original Switch if you complete the Switch 2 system transfer, but you might not be able to fit all your games on the new console without getting the right storage.

Below, we explain your external storage options for Switch 2, along with how to install it.

How to add an SD card to Switch 2

The only external storage you can use with the Switch 2 is a microSD Express card. These are not the same as standard microSD cards, and your Switch 2 will not recognize the microSD card you used for your original Switch.

That said, the Switch 2’s storage capacity is a little less than 256GB, so you can fit a few games on there without having to rely on external storage if you want to wait until microSD Express prices come down.

Once you have your compatible card, pull the Switch 2’s kickstand out. On the left is a small slot for microSD Express cards. Insert it so the text on the top of the card is facing out. The first time you add a card, the Switch 2 will prompt you to update the system and then restart itself. After that, you’re good to go.

Can you use an external hard drive or SSD with Switch 2?

As of the console’s launch, the Switch 2 won’t recognize any external storage device that isn’t a microSD Express card. You can plug one into one of the Switch 2’s USB-C slots, if the device has a USB-C connector, but the Switch 2 just acts like it isn’t there.

Some folks on Reddit have speculated that Nintendo may add external hard drive support in the future, as it did with the Wii U. However, the Wii U had limited on-board storage space and was only compatible with SD cards of up to 32GB capacity. The Switch 2 has much more built-in storage and supports microSD Express cards of up to 1TB capacity, so the need for additional external storage isn’t the same as it was with the Wii U.

Did you just get a Nintendo Switch 2? Are you trying to unlock every character and outfit in Mario Kart World? Or maybe you’re trying out The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the first time and you need a walkthrough for those pesky stoplights in the Forsaken Fortress? Either way, we have your back when it comes to helping you sort stuff out.

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Nintendo Switch 2 is here! And with it comes many new features for existing Switch titles, such as Zelda Notes for The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom and Breath of the Wild.

The companion app was first announced in April, breathing new life into the Zelda open-world wilds. At the time, there was confusion regarding the app’s use across both Switch and Switch 2 systems. But now, Polygon can confirm after going hands-on with the console that players with a Nintendo Switch Online membership, a Nintendo Switch 2, and the Switch 2 Edition of Tears of the Kingdom can use the Zelda Notes app.

So, how is the app?

At first glance, the mobile feature appeared underwhelming and pointless to me; the app seemed to be a glorified Prima strategy guide, helping players navigate a vast Hyrule setting with various tools, tips, tricks, ideas, and maps. However, after playing Tears of the Kingdom with the Zelda Notes as my guide, I unlocked a new perspective and experience. I checked out the nine different features of the companion app during my time with the game — here’s what I found prancing around Hyrule for a couple of hours.

Ed. note: To follow along, you need to do a couple of things. First, ensure your system is connected to the app by opening the app and selecting the Switch 2 icon at the top right-hand corner of your phone screen. Then, click on settings in your game and make sure the “ZELDA NOTES enabled” prompt is turned on.

Okay, now we can get started.

Voice memories

The voice memories function is a brand new collectible players can scrounge up during their travels and can be tracked using the app. Think of the voice memories as a real-time tour guide of calamity-stricken Hyrule narrated by various TOTK characters, including Princess Zelda in all her pseudo-British glory.

To start things, you will need to open the voice memory feature in the app, select the voice memory you want to locate, and then use the navigation feature to direct you to the destination.

Upon arriving at the destination, players will be greeted by narration from that memory’s owner, recalling a bit of history and lore about the area and/or artifact. This feature uses a chiming noise to indicate whether the player is close to the designated area, so be sure to turn your phone’s volume up! It took me a while to locate a couple of the memories, scaling mountains and falling to my untimely demise along the way. But discovering these memories after seemingly fighting Hyrule’s geography was so worth it.

Daily bonuses

This feature is all based on luck. Daily Bonuses grant the player, well, daily bonuses, through a randomized wheel littered with rewards that boost stamina, energy cells, attack and defense power, shield repairs, and more. The randomized effect wheel is reset and replaced with new bonuses daily at 8 p.m., so check back to see what new rewards await you.

Using your mobile device, players will need to touch the screen to start the roulette wheel, and then it will stop on a random effect. The bonus effect will then be placed in your Key Items menu, where players have 24 hours to use it before it disappears.

I snagged a Rapid Meal bonus, which grants a swim-speed boost for five minutes. I couldn’t claim the reward during the game’s early Temple of Time portion. However, once I completed the tutorial area, the bonus appeared in my Key Item menu.

Play Data

This feature enables an achievement-like system in your TOTK or BOTW adventure, allowing players to earn medals for various tasks based on gameplay stats. In my short time playing the game, I was able to earn the Citizen of Hyrule medal, which is awarded to players for increasing “your time spent in Hyrule” by 20 hours (bronze), 60 hours (silver), 100 hours (gold), and 200 hours (master). Players can also use this feature to check out their stats and even change their Zelda Notes profile picture using pictures snapped in-game and uploaded to the Photo Studio function.

Additionally, users can select the Global Play Data feature to compare their stats, such as Shrines of Light cleared, locations visited, treasure chests opened, enemies defeated, and more, with other players worldwide.

Item and Autobuild Sharing

These features create a shared ecosystem between TOTK players, allowing users to exchange items and designs. Item sharing, which is found in the Key Items menu, can also transfer items from your game storage to your Zelda Notes item box. I placed items that I didn’t want or need in the ZN item box, giving other players using the app the chance to transform my trash into their potential treasure — which was kind of cool.

Autobuild sharing arrives later for players, as users have to unlock Link’s Ultrahand ability first by completing the A Mystery in the Depths quest line — which I haven’t gotten to yet! But after you’ve done that, you can share your creations in the app via a QR code for other players to scan and obtain in their own games.

I was delightfully surprised by how the Zelda Notes app elevated my TOTK adventure with new ways to play the game and a vast array of stats, achievements, and more to keep track of during my journey. The companion guide made the adventure way less lonely than my previous playthrough.

Is the Zelda Notes app required to get the whole TOTK experience? Not really. But it does reward players with a different and new experience. And with the Switch 2 running Tears of the Kingdom at a smooth 60 fps in 4K, different and new is exactly what I’m looking for.

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If you have ever asked yourself why there is a “3” in the title of one of the most popular video games in recent years, Baldur’s Gate 3, this is your chance to find out. The predecessors to Larian’s 2023 Game of the Year have landed on the Xbox Game Pass, and whether you have played the Nine Hells out of BG3 or not, you should absolutely check out these two RPG masterpieces from a bygone era.

At first glance, you may struggle to connect Baldur’s Gate 1 and Baldur’s Gate 2 with the most recent iteration of the franchise. After all, the first game came out in 1998, which, I’m sorry to remind those who were alive at the time, was 27 years ago. Baldur’s Gate 2 followed in 2000, making it a nice quarter of the century since one of the most popular sagas in RPG history ended, apparently for good. But all things come to those who wait, so sayeth the wise Alaundo. (Probably… he said a lot of things.)

BioWare, the developer you may know from Mass Effect and Dragon Age, had its first real hit with Baldur’s Gate, before moving on to author the Neverwinter Nights series, still set in the world of the Forgotten Realms but which used a different graphics engine — now fully 3D — and the most recent, at the time, set of rules for Dungeons & Dragons, the 3rd edition. It was truly a new age, one made of polygonal models and an ascending Armor Class system (more on that later), but somehow, the Baldur’s Gate games remained unparalleled in the hearts and minds of fans.

Was it just the nostalgia pull of a time when things seemed simpler and better? Maybe, but the games kept getting love and new players over the years, including a popular Enhanced Edition series published by Beamdog, which made them accessible to a whole new generation of players. They were so popular, in fact, that Larian pitched to Wizards of the Coast a sequel in 2014, while they were still working on Divinity: Original Sin 2. The reason is simple: the first two Baldur’s Gate games aren’t just popular, they’re actually really good.

Why you should play Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 on Game Pass

To modern players, these games will surely look far from today’s graphical standards. BioWare’s Infinity Engine was a 2D tool for games with an isometric perspective that created the illusion of 3D, far from BG3’s minutely rendered environments. The biggest obstacle, however, will probably be the gameplay. Apologies, fans of BG3, but you got it easy. The first two games were based on the rules for Dungeons & Dragons 2nd edition, just as Baldur’s Gate 3 uses a version of the 5th edition rules. D&D’s 2nd edition, however, was notorious for being overcomplicated. Just figuring out if your Fighter is going to hit with his sword requires complex math, and a familiarity with the THAC0 system.

The class system is also a lot more rigid. Forget about the free mix-and-mash that BG3 allows (and don’t even think about respecs). To begin with, only certain races are allowed to multiclass, and you have to progress both classes evenly, taking a big XP hit. Also, contrary to modern-day rules, class limitations apply to multiclass too. For example, your Druid may be allowed to wear heavy armor if you multiclass with Fighter, but you will lose the latter’s ability to use any weapon or to specialize in them.

The biggest difference, however, is the combat system. Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 are not turn-based. They use a pausable real-time gameplay, meaning you can forget about Larian’s trademark tactics-heavy turn-based battles, planning every inch of movement or action for all your party. In BG1 and 2, every action, from attacks to spellcasting, requires a certain amount of in-game time, and that’s it. You can pause at any time to think or give instructions to your party, of course, but the feeling is very different: like in a real fight, anything can go wrong, and quickly.

Why should you play these games with antiquated graphics and complex rules, you might ask? For the same reasons why so many people love playing Baldur’s Gate 3: a rich, intriguing world, a compelling story, and an unforgettable cast of characters, each with their motivations and personal paths to follow, enhanced by a top-notch cast of voice actors. If you love Astarion, Edwin will drive you nuts. If you have a savior complex for Shadowheart, then you will reload as many times as it takes to get the Viconia romance right (yes, you can romance Shadowheart’s teacher in BG 2).

To me, despite hours and hours of potential gameplay, Baldur’s Gate 3’s story felt rushed at times. Some paths to take or dialogue choices were either forced or cliché, and some of the characters felt a little one-dimensional to me. There is no risk of this happening with BG1 and 2. The path of the Bhaalspawn, from humble beginnings running chores in Candlekeep to battling divine beings in the Throne of Bhaal expansion, ultimately boils down to one question: Are we just the pawns of destiny, pulled inevitably by our nature, or is free will what defines us?

To be fair, the gameplay is also pretty good, once you get over the initial barrier. Parsing through the ancient wikis and walkthroughs to understand some mechanics or find the best builds is a beautiful exercise in internet archeology that also rewards the effort. Oh, also, spells go up to level 9 in Baldur’s Gate 2 (BG3’s level cap means you can only get to 5), so you can literally stop time. While the turn-based system may be more tactical, the absurd number of spells in BG1 and BG2, along with the crazy effects some of them have, make battles very complex and entertaining.

Baldur’s Gate 1 and 2 aren’t for everyone. But if you have Xbox Game Pass, you should definitely give them a chance. These games are so well-made, their worlds so detailed and complex, that people still have fun playing (or re-playing from the 20th time, in my case) them, and occasionally finding out new things too. If you played Baldur’s Gate 3, these games will give you the familiar feeling of a character-driven story where the choices you make impact your companions and the world around you.

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Game Science has announced that its 2024 GOTY contender, Black Myth: Wukong, is coming to Xbox Series X this summer. It’ll drop on Aug. 20, exactly one year to the day after it launched on PlayStation 5 and Windows PC last year.

The Journey to the West-inspired action-adventure game was a hit at launch, quickly breaking Steam records on its way to 20 million sales in its first month. Black Myth: Wukong racked up several end-of-year award nominations and wins, even though its review scores rated lower-than-average. Polygon’s review called it “an astounding triumph, one that blends a story celebrating Chinese and other East Asian cultures with an original retelling that has resonant themes, all complemented by spectacular design and exhilarating combat.”

Black Myth: Wukong’s Xbox release again raises the question of whether it was secretly a PlayStation 5 timed-exclusive or not. Coming out on Xbox exactly one year after its PS5 launch is a bit coincidental, no? However, Game Science has a history of releasing trailers for Black Myth on Aug. 20, and the game was revealed on Aug. 20, 2020, so that date clearly holds significance to Game Science.

According to Game Science CEO Yongar Feng-Ji, optimizing the Xbox Series S version of the game proved to be a challenge and was the cause for the delay, not an exclusivity deal with PlayStation. This situation is not dissimilar to 2023’s Baldur’s Gate 3, in which developing a feature-complete Series S version proved a challenge.

Xbox players can preorder starting on June 18. Until July 11, Black Myth: Wukong will receive a 20% discount via the Microsoft Store for both the Standard Edition and Deluxe Edition, as well as the Deluxe Edition Upgrade. It’ll also be discounted on PS5 from June 18 to July 3, and on PC from June 20 to July 11.

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Hoyoverse just wrapped up the Genshin Impact version 5.7 preview livestream, showing off all sorts of details about the upcoming patch. Most importantly, there were several codes that award Primogems and other rewards shown during the stream. Our Genshin Impact 5.7 livestream code list provides you with the three stream codes for rewards and explains how to redeem them.

This patch will have Skirk and Dahlia, two highly-anticipated characters. Skirk is a five-star Cryo sword-user and Dahlia is a four-star Hydro sword-user. Dainsleif is back for this patch’s story, no doubt to drop a major story bomb that will have lore-heads pacing back and forth for a while.

Genshin Impact version 5.7 livestream codes

The codes are as follows:

MasterSkirk0618YourSpaceTimeVoidStar0618

You’ll want to redeem these codes quickly, as they expire on June 9 at 12 a.m. EDT.

They not only reward Primogems, but they also give Mora and Adventurer’s EXP to level up your characters.

How to redeem Genshin Impact gift codes

To redeem codes, you can log in and input them on the code redemption website. You can also input them in-game through the settings menu, but copy and pasting them in a browser is much easier. You can also click the links above, if you’re logged in on whatever device you’re seeing this post on.

Once you redeem the codes, you’ll get the rewards via in-game mail shortly after that.

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Whether you’re mourning Capcom’s absence or thrilled that Arc System Works is taking the reins of a major franchise, the reveal of Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls made waves across the gaming world. Its connection to Marvel vs. Capcom is unmistakable, not just because of the Marvel branding, but due to its fast-paced, multi-character tag team 2D fighting style that Capcom helped pioneer. While Capcom broke new ground by blending Marvel’s comic book flair with innovative storytelling, Arc System Works is set to do the same, this time by infusing heroes like Iron Man and Captain America with bold, anime-inspired re-imaginings. It’s a stylistic shift that signals the end of Capcom’s comic-inspired Marvel era and the beginning of Marvel’s bold new chapter in anime.

In the 1990s, Capcom was already reigning as the king of 2D fighters with multiple iterations of Street Fighter 2 and pushing deeper into anime aesthetics with the Street Fighter Alpha series. Capcom’s partnership with Marvel was groundbreaking, and it led to standout titles like X-Men: Children of the Atom and Marvel Super Heroes. That partnership also led to X-Men vs. Street Fighter, the first crossover between Capcom’s fighters and Marvel’s heroes, which hit arcades in ’96 and gave Capcom a sharp Western appeal. Superhero comics were the epitome of cool in the ’90s, and Capcom took full advantage of that by creating a comic book-esque narrative complete with speech bubbles, aesthetics like comic book paneling, and Easter eggs only fans of the genre would understand.

Although comic book influences began to fade by the time the partnership peaked with Marvel vs. Capcom 2, it was that early charm that first captured fans’ hearts, carried through in titles like Marvel Super Heroes vs. Street Fighter. Even by the time Ultimate Marvel vs. Capcom 3 launched in 2011, those comic book roots were still present. The game’s character select screen and versus portraits echoed bold splash-page layouts, while victory quotes and dialogue pulled from classic Marvel lore. With its vibrant color palette, flashy special moves, dramatic hyper combos, and an over-the-top announcer, the game still felt like a living, breathing Marvel comic in motion. Plus, Deadpool and his fourth wall breaks would always be a constant reminder of the world the game was living in.

This time, Arc System Works aims to do for Marvel what Marvel once did for Capcom, by immersing Marvel’s characters in Japanese culture, particularly anime and manga, which have largely overtaken Western comic books in terms of sales and popularity. Due to the MCU and titles like Marvel Rivals, Marvel characters’ brand recognition is on fire and has far outgrown the comic panels that made them famous. Anime is one of the few forces truly rivaling Marvel in global popularity, thanks to the success of several key franchises. Anime has become so popular that even corporations and Japan itself are turning to AI and cybersecurity to combat the millions lost to piracy. But the tangled web of anime and manga licensing is a whole other story.

In Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, Kamala Khan has googly anime eyes, Captain America is spouting Shonen one-liners about freedom, and Iron Man has Gundam eyebrows for heaven’s sake! Even the trailer uses the Japanese dub (although SAG-AFTRA shenanigans may be the culprit). The material for this crossover was all there from the start, it just took a dev team steeped in Japanese culture to bring it forth. Arc System Works has long since overtaken Capcom in the tag-team 2D fighter subgenre, especially after the misfire that was Marvel vs. Capcom: Infinite, the franchise’s prolonged absence afterward, and MvC2’s eventual replacement at EVO by ArcSys’s own Dragon Ball FighterZ in 2020.

Capcom’s partnership with Marvel once opened doors to Western audiences, but now Arc System Works, the new leader in 2D fighters, is the one reaping the rewards with the power of Marvel and anime on its side. The more things change, the more they stay the same.

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Closing out Wednesday’s PlayStation State of Play was a banger of an announcement: Sony revealed Marvel Tōkon: Fighting Souls, a tag-team fighter from Arc System Works (Dragon Ball FighterZ, Guilty Gear Strive). Excitement could not be higher for the anime-inspired fighter coming to PlayStation 5 and PC next year, and the buzz around it has only illuminated how well Marvel is dominating video games right now — especially when compared to the Distinguished Competition, DC.

Marvel Tōkon’s announcement comes after a string of successful video games featuring Marvel characters across genres; Marvel is crushing the mobile market with Marvel Snap, the hero shooter category with Marvel Rivals, and the single-player space with Marvel’s Spider-Man 2 and Insomniac’s previous Spidey games. Marvel’s games offer something for every type of gamer and, even when its games aren’t commercial hits, they can still land with players and critics. Marvel’s Guardians of the Galaxy and Marvel’s Midnight Suns are two of my favorite games of this generation, and I still hold out hope for sequels to them (no matter how unlikely they are).

Contrast that with DC, whose characters last saw success in the PS4/Xbox One days. It’s been eight years since Injustice 2 dropped, DC’s last objectively great game. A full decade has passed since Batman: Arkham Knight, though even that title was a bit of a letdown for some players compared to the previous Arkham games (a little less Batmobile would have gone a long way).

DC struck gold with Rocksteady’s Arkham series, releasing a series of hits from 2009-2015, yet followed that success with some curious decisions. Not one, but two Batman: Arkham VR games were released, the first in 2016 and the second in 2024 exclusively for the Meta Quest 3 (TIL the Meta Quest 3 has exclusive titles). Batman: Arkham Shadow garnered a positive reception at launch, but, I mean, are you looking to Meta Quest 3 to get your Batman: Arkham fix? Didn’t think so.

Then there was Gotham Knights. Despite the 2022 game featuring members of the Batfamily, it has no connection to the Arkham series. While continuing the Arkham series storyline wouldn’t have saved Gotham Knights and its repetitive structure from a mediocre reception, it could have at least given fans of Rocksteady’s series a reason to check it out. Instead, it’s become a one-off dud.

DC’s other most notable title of this generation is Suicide Squad: Kill the Justice League, which was Rocksteady’s continuation of the Arkham series. Its multiplayer and live service ambitions quickly sunk it, and now Rocksteady is pivoting back to Batman and the single-player space, according to a Bloomberg report from earlier this year. That Batman game is likely years away (if it ever sees light of day), and it’s increasingly likely that Rocksteady and DC as a whole go the entire PS5/Xbox Series X generation without a hit game.

Marvel isn’t without its duds either; Marvel’s Avengers faltered with its own crack at the live service model (and now let us hope this trend is over) and repetitive gameplay. A Black Panther game was also just cancelled that would have seen an evolved version of Middle-earth: Shadow of Mordor’s Nemesis System — months after Warner Bros. cancelled a Wonder Woman game from Monolith, the creators of the Nemesis System.

Still, one comics giant is more obviously on an upwards trajectory than the other. Marvel is succeeding at featuring A-list characters like Spider-Man (both of ‘em) in games as well as spotlighting lesser-known heroes like Magik in Midnight Suns or freakin’ Jeff the Land Shark in Marvel Rivals, while DC is struggling getting its Trinity front and center. Aside from Marvel Tōkon, Marvel also has Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Marvel 1943: Rise of Hydra, Marvel’s Wolverine, Marvel’s Blade, and an Iron Man game in the pipeline. Meanwhile, DC has, if it ever actually comes out, The Wolf Among Us 2, which players may not even realize is based on the comics series Fables from DC Comics’ Vertigo line.

Hopefully for Wednesday Warriors who want to embody their favorite heroes in video games, DC and Warner Bros. get their acts together sooner rather than later — all it could take is the announcement of an Injustice 3 for DC to build back some momentum. Until that happens (and please, NetherRealm, make it happen), Marvel will continue to supply comics fans with what they want: some kick-ass superhero games.

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When Duolingo launched in 2012, the language-learning app became the poster child of gamification. The app is shameless and magnificent in its efforts to get users hooked on lessons with streaks, leaderboards, and timed challenges.

Many users — including me and my 1300-plus day streak — fell for Duolingo’s cartoon mascots and bizarre social media posts. The company has never been afraid to be belligerent in tone; Duo the owl is cute, but Duolingo has adopted a successful strategy of not coddling its users. The app regularly sends me push notifications from my own boyfriend begging me not to let us “break up” (our friend streak). Look, it doesn’t not work.

But this spring, Duolingo had a huge messaging misfire over AI adoption, and brought a lot more users close to ending things.

In April, Duolingo CEO Luis von Ahn announced to employees that Duolingo would be going all-in on AI. The company would look for AI expertise in future hires, and AI usage would be evaluated in employee performance reviews. It would also move to replace contract workers with AI where possible. It was this statement that stuck in the craw of many users, and honestly surprised me when I read it. I’m cynically certain that plenty of companies would love to replace expensive human workers with machines. Admitting it is another thing.

The memo was a called shot: Duolingo’s leadership sees AI as a paradigm shift, similar to the adoption of mobile phones in the 2010s. At the time, common wisdom would have dictated that a language-learning program should prioritize widely adopted platforms like PCs. Instead, the company went “mobile-first.” That bet certainly paid off. Duolingo saw 103 million users a month in 2024. Now, it wants to go “AI-first.”

It’s too soon to tell what the long-term effects of the decision will be. But in the short term, fallout has been loud and angry across social media. Longtime users are deleting the app, destroying 1000+ day streaks. The announcement has been painted as a failure in multiple publications. The Duolingo subreddit melted down so thoroughly that mods placed a moratorium on posts about AI.

Meanwhile, Duolingo stock prices have soared to over $500 (as of June 2, 2025), indicating that whatever users may feel about AI, the big boys who shovel money around think it’s here to stay.

Von Ahn later made a second statement, not walking back the “AI-first” shift, but couching it in gentler language.

“I do not see AI as replacing what our employees do,” he wrote. “I see it as a tool to accelerate what we do, at the same or better level of quality. And the sooner we learn how to use it, and use it responsibly, the better off we will be in the long run.”

Duolingo isn’t the only company doing this. Across the tech industry, workers are being evaluated on their AI usage, encouraged to experiment with AI tools in the service of supposed future productivity, and asked to train their own replacements.

It’s not being framed this way. Rather, executives are speaking about their AI initiatives like Luis von Ahn did: as tools to help people, rather than replace them.

Duolingo’s AI shift has been brewing for years

Of course, Duolingo has been inching towards “AI-first” for years. In 2023, it used OpenAI’s GPT-4 to create AI features that are only available in Duolingo Max, the highest subscription tier on the app.

One of these is “Explain My Answer,” which ostensibly tells users why their response to an exercise is wrong. In general, Duolingo will give you the correct answer if you get something wrong, but it won’t explain why you were wrong. When it comes to typos or misspellings, the error can be obvious. But it doesn’t help users if they’re fundamentally misunderstanding, say, a grammatical concept.

Previously, Duolingo hosted a forum where users could see explanations from other users and native speakers directly in the app. This was removed in 2022.

Now, the Duolingo subreddit is awash with users looking for answers to their questions. And many of them are blaming AI for their confusion. It’s is the scapegoat for nonsensical conversations, translation errors, and just plain awkward exercises.

Without confirmation from Duolingo, it’s impossible to say which of these issues is actually caused by Duolingo’s implementation of AI. In some cases, users are genuinely encountering software bugs rather than AI-created lessons.

But elsewhere, AI has genuinely changed Duolingo’s lessons for the worse. In Aftermath, Riley MacCleod writes that the Irish course he was pursuing has been ruined by AI voices that don’t pronounce Irish words correctly — a dire situation for a language that is literally endangered.

I spoke to Callie R., a former Duolingo user who is learning Japanese. They noticed that there was a mismatch between how words were pronounced by the robotic voiceover in word banks, versus how those same words were pronounced in exercises.

“This is just an aspect of how Japanese is written, that it isn’t possible in general to tell how a kanji is supposed to be pronounced when you see it in isolation,” Callie said. “It makes sense that an automated content generation process would make this kind of mistake, but a human team actively developing the course with learning outcomes in mind would not do this.”

They also pointed to observations from other users that Duolingo’s robotic voice isn’t capable of correctly speaking a Japanese pitch-accent, a crucial aspect of the language, and one that a native English speaker can’t easily pick up on.

“It wasn’t worth literally learning the language wrong on purpose,” they said.

After two years, Callie R. deleted the app and nuked their 700+ day streak.

AI should be good at this

The thing is, language learning is a field where AI large language models can actually be useful. These LLMs aren’t reliable truth-tellers, but they can be functional conversation partners.

Duolingo has long been criticized for not effectively teaching users how to speak — the app naturally focuses more on reading and listening, and the “speaking” lessons are more about pronunciation than they are about actively recalling words from memory. The latter is critical for genuine fluency in another language.

Duolingo is trying to address that flaw with two more Max-exclusive AI features that let users have conversations with Duolingo’s cartoon mascots. The most impactful of these is Video Call, where users can have a brief “phone call” with Lily, Duolingo’s resident depressed goth girl.

I had some conversations with Lily during a Duolingo Max free trial earlier this year. In each, she would ask me a question, repeat back to me what she had understood from my response, and then ask a simple follow-up. We talked about things like what animals or fruits I liked, or how my vacation was going. It forced me to recall Italian vocabulary on the fly, without a word bank to help me out.

This is an area where LLMs excel: generating human language based on speech patterns.

Unfortunately, LLMs fail in exactly the areas Duolingo is trying to disrupt. In his Blood in the Machine newsletter, journalist Brian Merchant spoke with a former Duolingo employee whose job had gone from writing lessons, to training AI how to write lessons, to non-existent.

“We had been working with their AI tool for a while, and it was absolutely not at the point of being capable of writing lessons without humans,” this employee told Merchant.

For Duolingo’s leadership, the flaws in the system are the cost of what they see as the cutting edge. Duolingo’s lessons are not supposed to be good.

“We can’t wait until the technology is 100% perfect,” von Ahn wrote in his email to Duolingo employees. “We’d rather move with urgency and take occasional small hits on quality than move slowly and miss the moment.”

The users who remain tapped into these conversations are suffering no small amount of confusion. A recent study showed that admitting to AI usage can cause people to trust you less. This is the situation that seems to be playing out on the Duolingo subreddit, where users are in a constant battle to figure out what is AI and what isn’t.

Some are deleting the app like Callie R. did. But there is a bubbling fear that a silent majority may simply not care or even be aware of any of these issues. The Duolingo subreddit has over 508,000 members — that’s less than 5% of Duolingo’s reported 116 million monthly users. And the subreddit itself isn’t entirely anti-AI. Plenty of users accept it, or simply don’t think there’s any point in fighting the tide.

Duolingo’s AI policy calls the app’s mission into question

My own Duolingo usage has always been predicated on one assumption: it won’t hurt your language-learning. Plenty of ink has been spilled over the fact that Duolingo most likely can’t make you fluent in another language. Sure, I’ve always reasoned, I know that. But doing a 5-minute Italian exercise every day when I’m too lazy or cheap or unmotivated to seek out a tutor is better than nothing. I am still learning, even if I’m not exactly leaping and bounding towards fluency.

But the influx of AI content puts this justification at risk. After all, language students don’t know what they don’t know.

“I don’t really care that it’s AI as long as there’s oversight and someone willing to pull the plug if it’s not producing real Japanese,” Callie R. said. Instead of pulling the plug, the people in charge at Duolingo are actively enabling users to learn bad Japanese, in the hopes that someday the AI will teach good Japanese instead.

There’s no obvious road map is to get there. LLMs can be taught to speak a language — it’s not clear that they can be taught to teach.

Duolingo is facing a problem of scale: it wants to offer lots of language courses, and creating those courses takes time and money. It has turned to AI to fill the desperate gaps where humans might be right, but can never be fast enough.

What makes Duolingo’s AI creep even more nefarious is that it’s most likely to affect languages with smaller userbases — like Irish or Navajo, both endangered languages. The vast majority of the app’s users are studying English, French, or Spanish. These are the courses that see a real investment of resources.

Duolingo gets great press for creating lessons that purport to familiarize users with Navajo. But what will happen if AI is used to “scale up” the Navajo program, with seemingly few human guardrails to ensure that the exercises are correct?

“Without AI, it would take us decades to scale our content to more learners,” von Ahn wrote in his first statement. “We owe it to our learners to get them this content ASAP.”

My question is… why? Why do we need more content for users immediately, when that content might be wrong or of low quality? It’s here that Duolingo’s mission of making language accessible crashes headlong into its role as a publicly traded company. Lessons need to scale so that users stay on the app, so that the app can make money.

Actually learning a language — or even simply treading water in one — doesn’t have a part to play.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

Season 2 of The Last of Us has faced considerable backlash for its divisive narrative swings and polarizing character arcs. But beyond the bad-faith criticism centered on queer representation or Bella Ramsey not looking enough like her game counterpart, there are deeper, more valid concerns about how the show steadily eroded its lead characters. A lot of the recent conversation has focused on a perceived drop in quality from season 1 to season 2, with viewer ratings for the second season plummeting.

But those accusations are missing the point. The issues fans are complaining about didn’t suddenly appear in season 2; they were already showing in the series’ initial season.

[Ed. note: Significant spoilers ahead for The Last of Us, the TV series and the games.]

Co-showrunner Craig Mazin has a habit of anchoring his stories around a singular narrative event, whether in his HBO series Chernobyl or (less seriously) his Hangover movies. In The Last of Us, that central event is the murder of post-apocalyptic survivor Joel (Pedro Pascal). Joel’s death is foreshadowed thematically throughout season 1, where characters like Henry (Lamar Johnson) and Marlene (Merle Dandridge) are positioned as tragic figures forced to sacrifice loved ones for the greater good before dying.

Their arc lays the groundwork for Joel’s similarly structured climactic decision about whether to sacrifice Ellie (Bella Ramsey) in the attempt to find a cure to the Cordyceps brain infection. When the Fireflies group attempts to dissect Ellie to investigate her immunity to the infection, Joel storms in with seconds to spare, gunning down the doctors in cold blood.

While his choice is in line with the games, the TV adaptation takes detours and different routes to get there. The show’s penchant for spelling out Joel’s conflict, combined with Neil Druckmann’s decision to reinsert cut content from the games to make the story more simplistic and morally palatable, ultimately flattens the ambiguity that made the original The Last of Us game so compelling. Rather than keeping the small moments that broaden the relationship between Joel and Ellie in the game, season 1’s focus on expanded backstories and doomed side characters who are meant to mirror Joel’s arc only dilutes it. The extra material left behind a version of the story that feels safer, less challenging, and far less impactful.

The first season of HBO’s The Last of Us paints Joel in a far more sympathetic light than the game ever did. From episode 1, Mazin, Druckmann, and their writers expand Joel’s relationship with his daughter Sarah (Nico Parker), giving audiences more time to connect with her and understand their bond. The emotional investment they establish for the audience is designed to make Sarah’s sudden death hit harder. But it also spells out everything Joel is thinking in his internal struggle over whether to protect Ellie, making it less ambiguous and more sentimental. While the added sequences with Sarah are affecting, they don’t contribute much to the season’s theme of loss and sacrifice, beyond softening Joel’s image.

Later in season 1, Joel begins having panic attacks after witnessing the deaths of young survivor Sam, who succumbs to the Cordyceps infection, and his older brother Henry, who shoots Sam, then himself. The psychological detail of Joel’s trauma is absent from the game. His emotional vulnerability is meant to parallel the internal struggle he’ll face when deciding whether to save Ellie or let her be euthanized in the attempt to find a cure. But in the game, Joel’s lack of remorse is the point: He’s a man shaped by grief who clings to a second chance to save his daughter. His story isn’t depicted as a redemption arc. His decision to save Ellie isn’t driven by new traumas or softened by emotional fragility. It’s a brutal, morally complex act that left players debating his actions for years.

By layering in this extra context — the grief, the panic, the fatherly sorrow — the showrunners push audiences to empathize with Joel’s decisions. Joel is a broken man after his daughter dies, and he becomes obsessed with saving Ellie because he couldn’t save Sarah. But the show dulls the original narrative’s challenging dilemma about his choices over Ellie. Instead of leaving viewers unsettled by Joel’s capacity for violence, the way the game does  — by having him kill dozens of people who are simply trying to develop a cure —the show guides us toward justifying his actions by framing them through a series of emotional parallels.

By the time Joel makes his choice, we’ve been conditioned to empathize with his dilemma. Even the season’s most praised addition, the expanded backstory about the relationship between Bill and Frank (Nick Offerman and Murray Bartlett), is ultimately meant to mirror Joel’s final decision about whether to selfishly save Ellie or let her die for the greater good.

The original The Last of Us game is rich with quiet, intimate moments between Joel and Ellie, small beats that slowly and organically build their bond. The show, however, often sidelines these in favor of expanding peripheral characters like Ellie’s mother Anna (who doesn’t appear in the game), Anna’s friend Marlene, who promised she’d find a cure through Ellie (despite Joel killing her in the season 1 finale), and the loss-stricken Kathleen Coghlan, an original character who mirrors Tess’ revenge story, which was ultimately cut from the original game because the developers didn’t find her cross-state vendetta against Joel realistic.

These additions are primarily meant to underscore thematic parallels with Joel’s decision to save Ellie, but the execution feels heavy-handed, and the dynamic between the protagonists is no longer at the forefront of the story. The show restructures or rewrites original scenes to telegraph themes of loss and sacrifice more explicitly, stripping away the ambiguity that made Joel’s final choice so morally complex. Instead of letting the audience wrestle with the ethics of his actions, the show nudges them toward sympathy.

Season 2 continues this pattern with Ellie, softening her portrayal by dialing down her violent tendencies in favor of a more overtly sympathetic depiction. The season focuses more on the effects of parenthood than on Ellie’s quest for revenge against Joel’s killer. It’s as if Mazin and Druckmann are actively sanding off the rougher, more challenging edges of the games’ narrative, perhaps in an attempt to avoid the backlash and misreadings that followed The Last of Us Part 2. But in doing so, they risk diminishing what made the story resonate in the first place: its refusal to offer easy answers.

Ultimately, the backlash to The Last of Us season 2 isn’t just about controversial plot points or representation — it’s about the culmination of narrative choices that have gradually chipped away at what made the original story so powerful. By softening Joel’s brutality, sanding down Ellie’s rough edges, and over-explaining themes that once thrived in moral gray areas, the adaptation trades nuance for clarity and catharsis for comfort. These aren’t new problems: They were seeded in season 1. Season 2 simply made them impossible to ignore.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

The Forsaken Fortress is the first area (arguably a dungeon on a technicality, but not really) you’ll go to in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker. For many, it’s a terrible memory. You’re forced to use stealth with no actual weapon in hand, making it a painful process if you don’t know what to do and where to go.

Luckily for you, I’ve replayed The Wind Waker to help you out. (And honestly, the good news is that this dungeon isn’t nearly as bad as I remembered it being, so… hopefully that’s the same for you.)

Below we’ll give you a walkthrough on how to get through the first visit of The Forsaken Fortress in The Wind Waker, how to turn off all three spotlights, and where to go to climb the fortress.

Note that this walkthrough is for the Nintendo GameCube version of the game, also playable on the Nintendo Switch 2, if you have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. While this walkthrough may work for the remastered version (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for the Wii U), there may be differences between the two versions, so keep that in mind if you’re using it for the latter. We wrote this guide using the original GameCube version on the actual GameCube, so if there are differences between this version and the NSO version, we’re working it out — and we’ll update this guide if it needs it.

The Forsaken Fortress, explained

You get launched over to this horrifying island full of monsters and home to the most evil being in Hyrule — and your sword goes flying off into the distance. Great! This situation forces you to use stealth techniques to navigate to the end of this area. Rather than running in with three hearts and swords a-blazin’, you’ll need to sneak around, turn off the three spotlights, and climb up the fortress to find your sister.

All of that said, note that our walkthrough will detail how to get the compass, treasure map, and some other loot along the way, but we do not go into expansive detail about out-of-the-way treasure. You will come back here later and you’ll be able to freely explore with sword in hand, so don’t worry too much about missing out on anything on your first visit.

You can tackle the Forsaken Fortress spotlights in any order really, but we’ve listed them in the order we found it most convenient.

[Ed. note: This guide is missing a Piece of Heart. I’m sorry, I have failed you. Note that if you don’t get it on your first visit here, you can return to get it later, but I am going to update this guide once I replay on the Switch 2 to include the Piece of Heart.]

Forsaken Fortress spotlight #1

Right off the boat, follow the path straight up until you see the flat area with red rupees and spotlights. If you’re a fiend for rupees, you can use the nearby barrels to hide from the spotlights and grab the rupees — but you can also just wait until you turn all the spotlights off and come back for them later.

If you’re not grabbing the rupees, turn right and go up the path further, ignoring the huge doors in the flat area.

Keep following the path upwards, ignoring the hallway that allows you to go indoors. You’ll see a ladder leading up to the first set of spotlights at the top. Head up there and be prepared to take out a bokoblin.

As instructed by Tetra, you’ll want to use your shield to block the Bokoblins attacks, which will eventually make them drop their weapon. Then you can pick it up and use it against them. There will also be a vase full of sticks nearby that you can wield. (Break the vase open and use one of the many sticks to take out the Bokoblin.) After doing this, your first spotlight will be taken care of.

Forsaken Fortress spotlight #2

For the second spotlight, you’ll want to strategically drop on to a ledge from the above spotlight. Here’s a redux of the image above but with a new location in mind:

Drop down to those huge doors and head inside. Once you’re inside, you’ll be chased down by lasers, so quickly roll forward to open a chest with a yellow rupee (worth 10 rupees) inside.

Climb up the beds on the left side of the room using the ladders and head into the door on your right (though don’t jump across the platform).

You’ll now be back outside in one of the outdoor hallways. Head out of the opening on the right side and climb up the ladder to get to the second spotlight.

You know the drill: block the attacks, pick up the enemy’s stick, and beat them down with it.

At this point, we recommend getting caught by enemies and thrown into jail. You can do this quickly by either getting caught by a spotlight or going into the big doors at the flat area (the ones we initially told you to ignore), and running into a moblin, who will take you away to jail. Most of the indoor hallways of this area have these moblins around, so it shouldn’t take too long to get thrown into prison.

Forsaken Fortress spotlight #3

Now that you’re in jail, you’ll have a pretty straight shot to the remainder of the spotlights and the final area of the Forsaken Fortress with no need to find ladders and get confused.

From jail, jump up on the table and then the bookshelf. Break open the vase to show an exit. (Wow, classic Zelda move.) Crouch down using R and crawl through the hole.

Head down the only open path and you’ll find a chest with the dungeon map inside. Yay!

Use the skills you learned on the pirate ship to jump on to the nearby hanging lantern and swing across. Enter the door on the right and run straight — you already got the two spotlights outside, so you can just keep going.

In this room, there’s a chest behind some barrels straight ahead. Crack that open to get the compass.

Jump using the lantern to swing across the way and enter the door. You’ll be outside again!

Turn left to the opening in the outdoor hallway and walk up the ramped path to get to your third spotlight. There will be another ladder with a gap between the ladder and the floor that you can ignore for now.

Yep, yep. Climb up that latter, smack down the bokoblin using its own weapon and now the third spotlight will be deactivated.

Once you’re done here, jump back down to the outdoor hallway you came from and keep heading north back inside.

Climbing the Forsaken Fortress

You should be back in yet another room that looks like the previous ones. As usual, swing across the gap with the hanging light and enter the door on the other side.

Turn left and push the crate down, which will give you a shortcut back to the starting flat area. If you wanted those red rupees from before but were too lazy to stealth through it, you can grab them now.

After grabbing the rupees (or not) just keep heading straight through the outdoor hallway you came out of. A short cutscene will play showing roaming moblins and a huge door.

With patience, you’ll need to use the barrel to the left of you to sneak by the moblins. Walk when their backs are turned towards you and stop moving when they’re looking at you. If they catch you, you’ll go back to jail, so you’ll want to be pretty careful here.

Once you’re by the door, you can take the barrel off and head through. You’ll be back outside. Climb up the stairs and use the barrel directly at the top of the stairs to pass another moblin that’s sniffing around. Once you get far enough from the moblin, take the barrel off and just run up the pathway.

You’ll eventually hit this gap:

Jump down and push the crate down by the ladder to create another shortcut back up here. Climb the ladder back up to the gap. Face the wall and hold down A to sidle along the wall, carefully crossing the gap using the tiny ledge.

You’ll eventually hit another ledge with hearts on it. Sidle across the same as before. Head up the stairs and across the ominous holes in the ground to get your sword back — and fight a green moblin. With your sword in hand, it shouldn’t be too much of a problem. Take it out and head into the big doors for the finale to play.

With that, you’re done with this visit to the Forsaken Fortress! You’ll be back (a couple times, actually), so don’t miss it too much.

For the first “real” dungeon, check out our Dragon Roost Cavern walkthrough.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

Dragon Roost Cavern is the first “real” dungeon you’ll complete in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker (not counting the stealthy tutorial of Forsaken Fortress) and it’s where you’ll unlock your first major tool: the grappling hook.

The Rito people who inhabit Dragon Roost Island know something is up with their guardian dragon, Valoo, and while they say they’re working it out… nah, we’re gonna do it ourselves. Long story short — we need Din’s Pearl, which is being clung to by Komali. Komali is upset about Valoo and the recent passing of his grandma and finds comfort in the pearl. So we gotta fix up Valoo and the pearl is ours! Easier said than done, though.

Below, we explain how to get through Dragon Roost Cavern and beat the Gohma boss in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker.

Note that this walkthrough is for the Nintendo GameCube version of the game, also playable on the Nintendo Switch 2, if you have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. While this walkthrough may work for the remastered version (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for the Wii U), there may be differences between the two versions, so keep that in mind if you’re using it for the latter. We wrote this guide using the original GameCube version on the actual GameCube, so if there are differences between this version and the NSO version, we’re working it out — and we’ll update this guide if it needs it.

Part 1: Entering Dragon Roost Cavern

After following Valoo’s new attendent Medli, she’ll ask you to throw her up on to the nearby ledge. She can’t fly super well yet, so you’ll just need to huck her up there timed with the wind aiming at the target cliff. (You can tell how the wind is blowing by paying attention to all those ashy particles on the screen.)

Once she ends up there, she’ll give you an empty bottle for your troubles and saunter off into the cave on her own, but we’re not going to just let her do that by herself.

Use the empty bottle she just gave you on the nearby water to fill it up and then dump the water on the dried-up bomb flowers on the cliffside. Huck that bomb at the huge rock clogging up the spring, and viola! The spring will fill, allowing you to cross and make it onto the cliff that Medli left on.

Use the nearby bomb flowers and, aiming carefully, throw them into the stone pots to create a pathway across the lava. Now you’ll be able to enter the actual dungeon.

Part 2: Finding the Dragon Roost Cavern dungeon map

Now that you’re actually in the starting room of Dragon Roost Cavern, you’ll need to pull some statues to find the proper entrance. Pull the leftmost block forward and the middle block where the left block originally was to open up the cave.

Head inside and take out the two bokoblins and then use one of the two sticks (on fire, thus making a torch) to light up the unlit braziers on the left side. If the fire on the stick extinguishes, bring it up to the lit torch on the right side to relight it.

A chest will appear after lighting the two torches, with a small key inside. Use the key to open the door.

Slash at the broken planks blocking your path with yours word and head left (the only way you can go). Make note of this pile of skulls, as I’ll be referring to it in the future for directions’ sake.

Tread and jump carefully on the path along the wall, jumping down onto the cliffside to drag out the metal block once you get there. You’ll need to use this block as a bridge from one of the plank paths to the other.

Jump across the cliffs and cross the bridge in the center of room, mindfully dodging the fiery lava and keese (though yeah, you can just kill the keese if you want). Use one of the bomb flowers to blow up the huge rock in front of you and head into the newly revealed doorway.

In this next room, we’re going to learn a new mechanic: throwing water-filled jugs at the lava to create temporary stone platforms to help you cross.

Throw a bottle towards the platform on the left to get the nearby chest with the Dragon Roost Caveern dungeon map inside.

Use the water bottles to now create a path to the platform with the ladder on it to bounce out of here. Be careful climbing the ladder as a red chuchu will jump down. You might as well wait for it to come down before you bother climbing up and proceeding on to the next room.

Part 3: Finding the Dragon Roost Cavern compass

Right away, a bokoblin with a huge sword will jump out from behind a boarded up area. You’ll need to take it out and then use its sword to break the next few set of planks. (If the planks aren’t broken and make an X shape, you need a bigger weapon or fire to destroy it.)

When you climb up the small ledge to break another set of planks, two red chuchus will fall off the ceiling, so be prepared to swing at them. Once they’re gone, break the planks and grab the small key from the chest and head towards the nearby door — not before two more red chuchus fall from the ceiling. You know the drill.

Now you’ll be back in the big lava room. Use the nearby rocks and throw them carefully at the bombs on the wall to blow up the huge rock — and now we’ll have a path back to the starting area (and the pile of skulls I mentioned earlier).

Use the key to unlock the door past the skulls. Right away, there’ll be a path on the right that you can ignore for now. Just head straight, taking out any red chuchus that cross your path.

Once those are gone, break open the blocked little area to the left of the gated door to find a bokoblin with a stick. Take it out and grab the stick, light it on fire using the nearby braziers, and use that to destroy the planks on the right side of the door.

Activate that switch and head through the door.

Fresh air! Head across the bridge, taking out the bokoblin and climbing up the ladder, mindful of the lava shooting out from the wall. Wait for it to stop before you cross.

At the top of the ladder, a bird-like enemy (a kargarok) will lunge at you, so take it out, but be careful to not fall off the cliff while doing so. Once that’s gone, sidle carefully along the plank, avoiding the fire again.

Walk around the huge bomb-able rock and hold on to the ledge of the wooden plank on the wall and carefully climb across like so.

Continue scaling the cliff and use the singular bomb flower nearby to bomb that huge rock from before. With that out of the way, jump down and enter the newly revealed door.

This room has rats in it and the King of the Red Lions will note that you can give them some food in exchange for items. If you bought the Bait Bag from Beetle, you can huck some bait at them for some small items, if you want.

Otherwise, pull one side block and one middle block out to create a staircase up and continue on. Pull out another block from the wall, climb up, and open the chest on the right side to get the Dragon Roost Cavern compass.

To leave this room, you’ll need to break one of the nearby vases to get a stick, light it on fire using the brazier, and then carefully throw it across the room at the boarded-up doorway.

Once you do this successfully, climb up and grab a small key from the chest to exit this room.

Part 4: Finding Medli and getting the grappling hook

Run up the stone steps on the right and carefully fight the kargarok hanging out at the tip of this cliff. It’s protecting a small key in its nest, so grab that and open the door to end up on a very dark room.

Create a torch out of the nearby sticks and brazier and continue forward, lighting the torch in the next room (and revealing a ton of keese). Open the chest in this room for a Joy Pendant before you light the boarded-up doorway on fire. Light the two remaining braziers and head out.

Before you cross the bridge, use a nearby bomb flower on the nearby cauldron with a stone on top. This will create a teleport point for you. Jumping into this pot will take you back to the entrance of the dungeon (and vice-versa).

Cross the bridge and you’ll be locked into a dark room with a bokoblin. Take out the bokoblin, but before you do, you’ll need to take out two more hidden ones in the room. The first one will be in a pot on a shelf to the east of the door you came in from. Roll into the wall to get the shelf and pot to drop, revealing the bokoblin.

The third one will be in the mess of pots on the lower level, towards the east side. Just break them open with your sword and it’ll pop out eventually. Use one of the sticks that these things dropped to light the unlit brazier on the west side of the room to get Treasure Chart #39 (which will eventually net you 200 rupees if you follow it).

Climb up the ladder to leave the room and you’ll be in a lava room with a ton of water pots. Huck one pot to bridge the gap between you and the centipede-thing (called a magtail) and then use another pot to stun the magtail. Hit it with your sword while it’s curled up in a ball — hitting it while it’s uncurled and moving will deal no damage to it.

Once the magtail is out of the way, use another water pot on the lava plume in the back of the room, turning it into a lava elevator. Ride that bad boy up and head out of the room. You’ll now be able to see the boss room, but we have no key yet, so. Ignore that.

Use the bomb flower (directly north of the door you came in from) to blow up the two big rocks. One will reveal another warp pot and the other will be the path you have to go down. Head into that door.

Fresh air, yet again. Climb up the stairs on the right quickly (they crumble as you run up) to find Medli being held captive. Slice through the two green bokoblins and then a moblin to free our girl.

Once she’s out, talk to her and she’ll give you her precious grappling hook — along with a tutorial about how to use it. Climb up on the stairs to the left of her prison cell and use the hook to jump across the gap, continuing to do so to follow the path until you’re back at the door that brought you outside.

Use the grappling hook to travel from platform to platform towards the east — and use this as an opportunity to practice quickly using your grappling hook. You’ll need it.

Part 5: Finding the Dragon Roost Cavern boss key

Head inside and cross the bridge, taking out the two bokoblins (one will be struggling trying not to fall off the bridge and the second will jump out of a pot). With them out of the way, spin attack at the ropes connecting the bridge and you’ll drop down directly on to a path below.

Open the chest for another Joy Pendant and then head into the only door in the area.

Stand on the shakey platform inside the huge cage and spin attack again to break the ropes off the platform, creating another lava elevator.

Drop down and enter the cave, jumping across the platforms carefully until you hit the ladder. Climb up and then face the south of the room from the cliff. Aim your grappling hook at this lever to open the door behind you.

Once it’s open, carefully turn around and leap back on to the cliff and enter the door. Grapple across this lava to land on a suspiciously empty platform. This platform has a secret Tingle Statue on it — but since the Tingle Tuner requires a GameBoy Advance connection to use and this is… a Nintendo Switch 2 port, we’re not really sure how this works. (We’ll update this guide once we figure that much out, though.)

Anyway, grapple back on to the hook and orient yourself so you can jump on to the eastern platform. Keep swinging and jumping along the path and you’ll eventually be in the boss key room.

To get the boss key, you’ll need to stun the magtail, striking it right before it’s about to hit you — it’ll open its pincers and vibrate a little right before it attacks, which is when you should strike. Once it’s curled up, pick it up and place it on the nearby switch to quell the flames around the boss key chest. Open it up to get the boss key.

So now you have two options: you can backtrack to the boss room manually (and now fire keese will spawn, making the journey more annoying) or you can save, return to the title screen, and reload your save to just spit you back at the beginning of the dungeon, where you can take the warp pot to the boss room.

We recommend doing the latter, but if you want to do the former, it’s the same path going back, but you will need to make another lava elevator in the room where you broke the bridge. Just use one of the water pots nearby on the lava plume next to where you opened the Joy Pendant chest to do so.

Optional: Backtracking for a treasure chart (Piece of Heart)

You don’t have to do this, but this treasure chart will give you a Piece of Heart, so if you want more Heart Containers… you should. You’ll need to reload your save or backtrack to the beginning of the dungeon and head into the previously locked door near the skulls I kept mentioning. Remember this door? It’s pretty close to the beginning of the dungeon, but you’ll need to head back in there.

Now you can head right, using your grappling hook to cross the gap that I told you to ignore earlier. Beware because all the enemies in this room will also respawn.

Once you grappling across, just break the planks and open the chest to get Treasure Chart #11.

Part 6: How to beat the Gohma boss fight

Head back to the boss room either by backtracking or using the pots. Grapple across the lava and take out the magtail. The two chests nearby have a yellow rupee (worth 10 rupees) and a Knight’s Crest.

Head into the big ominous boss door once you’re healed up and ready.

Realistically speaking, you don’t have many tools at your disposal at this point, so Gohma isn’t that much of a threat. The whole gimmick here is centered around your newly obtained tool (your grappling hook) which is par for the course for these older Zelda titles.

Gohma will slam its claws around, often getting stuck in the ground. When it’s stuck, use the grappling hook to grab Valoo’s tail, which is hanging down from the ceiling directly above Gohma. Landing the shot and jumping off will make a piece of the ceiling fall off, cracking Gohma’s armor. Repeat this three times until its armor is completely gone. You don’t have to land on any of the elevated platforms or anything like that.

It will get progressively harder to do this, as Gohma will wise up and stop getting its claws stuck so often — which is why we noted you should practice landing your grappling hook quickly. If its claws are also in the way, you can dodge roll under them to get away from whatever attack Gohma is serving up.

Once the armor is destroyed and gone, you can use the L trigger to lock onto Gohma’s eye and quicky use your grappling hook to drag it closer to you and then unleash a flurry of attacks on the vulnerable eyeball.

It took about two complete melee combos to defeat Gohma this way.

Once it’s all dealt with, it’ll drop a Heart Container and a magical gale will appear, warping you out of the dungeon and back to your boat.

Medli and Komali will both say thanks and hand over the pearl. Medli will also note that you should visit the Wind God’s Shrine (as per Valoo’s instructions), pointing out where it is. If you haven’t already done this, you will need to head there to learn the Wind’s Requiem before you can leave the island.

With all that done, you can get on your boat and head south as the King of Red Lion instructs. At this point, you can backtrack back to Windfall Island if you want, but you cannot head anywhere else without the boat telling you that you’re not ready, so you might as well head south to the Forest Haven.

For the next major dungeon, see our Forbidden Forest walkthrough.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

The Nintendo Switch 2 has changed Mii character creation, Polygon can confirm after going hands-on with the console. When creating new Mii avatars, players won’t be able to choose between male or female options like the Switch, but rather between two “styles.”

The new system offers players a generic avatars, with the option to customize the Mii. And if you’re wondering whether or not the Mii characters were redesigned, no, they weren’t. Instead, Mii look unchanged, carrying over the debut design from the Nintendo Wii.

While the genderless direction serves as a change for the Mii characters, Nintendo isn’t new to adopting this “select a style” language for gender preference.

In 2022, Splatoon 3 introduced the concept to the franchise, allowing players the freedom to style the Inklings with whatever clothes and hair excited them. Certain hairstyles were no longer locked to females and males, thus giving players more control over how they expressed themselves in Inkling customization and creation.

Two years before Splatoon 3, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was released with similar options, opting to refer to gender as “styles.” Even before this, 2012’s Animal Crossing: New Leaf gave players the choice to dress gender neutral — the recent Mii change appears to be just an extension of that.

Nintendo Switch 2 launches on June 5, 2025.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

One of the cooler aspects of Mario Kart World is its expansive roster, which includes NPC characters who typically do not share the limelight with stars like, say, Luigi and Peach. Excitement around the Moo Moo Cow was immediate after Nintendo revealed it was a playable character, and now that the racer is out, we can see the impact of its popularity in any given Mario Kart race.

Cow is everywhere, based on screenshots and videos being shared by people who managed to get the Switch 2 on launch day. It kind of makes sense: While some characters are locked behind specific conditions, the kawaii bovine is available from the moment you boot up. As a result, social media sites are brimming with lobbies that are non-stop Cow. It’s gotten bad enough that some players are declaring that Cow is “monopolizing” the kart game.

新作マリオカート、ウシ大人気でマジ草#マリオカートワールド pic.twitter.com/My1dGFS0UU

— マメソラ (@mamesora14) June 5, 2025

24人皆牛🐮のマリオカートカオスすぎるw#マリオカートワールド pic.twitter.com/6uNVC6cZeC

— ワイチ⁉︎ (@456_win) June 5, 2025

牛でキノピオファクトリー世界一来た！！#switch2 #マリオカートワールド #MKWorldWR #マリカワ pic.twitter.com/bj6HWJX145

— マッチ∴_MK (@match_MK) June 5, 2025

牛でキノピオファクトリー世界一来た！！#switch2 #マリオカートワールド #MKWorldWR #マリカワ pic.twitter.com/bj6HWJX145

— マッチ∴_MK (@match_MK) June 5, 2025

“Everyone is maining as moo moo cow so who is my second option that showcases my interesting personality?????” joked Twitter user cecililytweets. By the time you read this, though, Mario Kart World will be in the hands of even more players, so trends may shake out differently as time goes on and people realize it’s Cows all the way down. Some might even end up disliking the character after they realize they’re participating in digital cannibalism or they become disgusted by what the it looks like when the cows get muddy:

This is the realism we need in videogames. Cows doing the most cow thing possible.#MarioKartWorld #NintendoSwitch2 pic.twitter.com/wuvl3CZgZt

— Laempchen ⛩️🦊 (@Laempchen_x3) June 5, 2025

It’s just as likely that Cow will continue dominating lobbies, in the same way that Fortnite became a cacophony of Sabrina Carpenters and the original Mario Kart 8 saw a bevy of Luigi players following the explosion of the Luigi death stare.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

Square Enix announced that the beloved strategy game Final Fantasy Tactics is getting a lavish enhanced version called Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles. Square Enix revealed a breathtaking teaser trailer at Sony’s State of Play showcase on Wednesday.

The game’s visuals offered a look into a polished and refined version of Ivalice, an updated look for our hero, Ramza Beoulve, and a glimpse at the game’s deep customization and strategic combat, revamped for a modern audience. Additionally, the game offers two different versions to fans: an enhanced version and a classic version of the game.

The enhanced edition adds fully voiced dialogue, an optimized UI, graphical refinements, and other quality-of-life features, while the classic version preserves the OG feel of the PlayStation title plus the translation incorporated into the PSP port, Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions.

Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles is scheduled to launch in Sept. 30, 2025 for PlayStation 5, with pre-orders opening today.

The original Final Fantasy Tactics was released for PlayStation in Japan in 1997 and then in 1998 in North America. Serving as a spin-off of the main FF series, the game focused on strategy-based combat for its turn-based battles and was met with critical acclaim upon release.

This success eventually led to more games in the Tactics franchise, including 2003’s Final Fantasy Tactics Advance for the Game Boy Advance*, 2007’s Final Fantasy Tactics A2: Grimoire of the Rift* on the Nintendo DS*,* and an enhanced version of the original game for the PSP with Final Fantasy Tactics: The War of the Lions. Various ports of Final Fantasy Tactics were released years after, including a port to iOS and Android in 2013, Mobage in 2014, and then the Nintendo Wii U virtual console in 2016.

While Tactics is commemorated for many reasons, one of the franchise’s most defining features included the robust job system, which saw players customizing their characters with different classes and unique abilities, injecting a new concept into the FF mythos.

Fans have been begging Square Enix to revisit the Tactics franchise for years but to no avail. But the wait and longing are finally over; Final Fantasy Tactics has officially returned.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

Funny weird karts, shiny costumes, and a cow aren’t the only tools Mario Kart Word gives you to show your personality. You can show everyone how cool – and good! – you are with cool stickers that you can unlock in the game.

Mario Kart World offers a multitude of options when it comes to stickers and each one can give that additional flavor you might want to add to your favorite character and kart. But if you have been hit by a rogue Green Shell and have no idea what to do with the stickers, don’t worry. Below, you will find a complete rundown on how to use stickers in Mario Kart World.

How to use stickers in Mario Kart World

Right from the initial screen in Mario Kart World, you can access the “Stickers” menu, which displays the ones you have already unlocked. Stickers work only as cosmetics you can add to your kart and profile, having no effect on your character or vehicle during a race.

You can select only one sticker and change the sticker you’re using whenever you want by accessing the Stickers menu from the starting screen (the icon changes to the sticker you’re currently using) or in the kart selection screen (when in the latter, press the + button).

When you select a sticker, it will appear in the corner of your character’s portrait (during online races as well) and on your vehicle. You can’t customize where the sticker is located on your kart or bike. On some vehicles, like the Biddybuggy, we couldn’t even see where the sticker was.

How to get more stickers in Mario Kart World

As you play the game and do all the things Mario Kart World allows you to do, you get more stickers. Since you unlock stickers by completing certain milestones in the game, they are great when it comes to sending a message to your competitors. You might want to let them know you’re an experienced player by using a sticker given only after driving a certain number of kilometers; or that style comes before speed with a sticker you got after landing 100 tricks.

The best strategy to get more stickers and hit the right mood you want for a race is to play the game as much as you can, exploring all it has to offer. Play all the cups, grab all the coins. Eventually, you will have enough stickers to pick one to match your setup.

Did you just get a Nintendo Switch 2? Are you trying to unlock every character and outfit in Mario Kart World? Or maybe you’re trying out The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker for the first time and you need a walkthrough for those pesky stoplights in the Forsaken Fortress? Either way, we have your back when it comes to helping you sort stuff out.

We have guides explaining how to set up your console (moving data from your original Switch to your Switch 2) as well as guides for things like getting external storage sorted out.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

Nintendo Switch 2’s GameShare and GameChat are two new ways to play multiplayer games with friends, even if your friends don’t own the game you want to play. One of you needs to own a Switch 2 and a GameShare compatible game to get started, though who you can play with, which games work, and how to create a session depends on whether you’re using GameShare or GameChat.

Below, we explain how GameChat and GameShare work, along with how to create or join a session and which games are compatible with each function.

What is GameShare on Nintendo Switch?

GameShare is Nintendo’s term for the process by which you share games locally, either between two Switch 2 systems or with a Switch 2 as the host console streaming to an original Switch. “Sharing games” isn’t a particularly apt description, though, as it’s tied to multiplayer play only.

This isn’t how you’ll loan out Virtual Game Cards so others can play your games alone. GameShare is just for playing a selection of multiplayer games with someone via a local internet connection, for example, playing Super Mario Odyssey with one player as Mario and the other as Cappy.

You also can’t use GameShare to stream games online – only locally – and the person receiving the streamed game can’t continue playing it after the host ends the stream.

What’s the difference between GameChat and GameShare?

GameChat functions in mostly the same way, in that it’s designed for people to play multiplayer games together, even if one of you doesn’t own the game. However, it’s only compatible for streaming between Switch 2 consoles. You can’t use it to share games between a Switch 2 and an original Switch, and there’s a small handful of games exclusive to GameChat’s version of sharing.

GameChat also lets you share online without a proximity requirement for the person receiving the streamed game. Nintendo is offering a trial period where anyone can use GameChat for free until March 26, 2026, but after that, using it will require a Switch Online subscription.

How to use GameShare

The person hosting the GameShare session — which can only be done using a Switch 2 – needs to launch the game they want to share. Then, follow the steps you usually take to play multiplayer in that game. For example, in Mario 3D World + Bowser’s Fury, you press the “R” button to open the online menu and pick GameShare or GameChat from there, while in Mario Odyssey, you select a two-player game from the main menu.

If you’re the person receiving the streamed game:

Choose “GameShare” from the home menu bar on the Switch or Switch 2.Pick which user account you want to use.Search for a GameShare session.Select the one you want.

The host will confirm they want you to join, and you’re good to go from there. You can end a GameShare session by closing the game, ending multiplayer, or exiting to the main menu, depending on which game you’re playing.

How to use GameChat

Using GameChat is a bit more involved than setting up a GameShare session. The first step is making sure you have the person or people you want to play with added to your Switch friend list. You can’t use GameChat with random strangers. The first time you boot GameChat up, you’ll need to link a phone number to it as well. Nintendo provides a QR code you can scan using any scanner app on your smartphone. Then, you need to:

Select the Nintendo Account you want to use.Verify your email.Verify your phone number by inputting a code Nintendo texts to you.

Once that’s all set up and ready, you can press the “C” button on the right Joy-Con to create a GameChat session and a GameChat invitation to anyone on your friend list, assuming they have a Switch 2, or check your own invitations to join a session. You can also start a GameChat session from the online or multiplayer options menu in compatible games or by pressing the “C” button while you’re playing a game.

While you can only share certain games via GameChat, you can still use the function to stream whatever you’re playing so the friends in your GameChat session can watch it or just, well, chat. For those hang-out sessions, you can all play different games, regardless of whether they’re compatible with GameShare.

All GameShare and GameChat compatible games

As of Switch 2’s launch, you can stream these games locally using GameShare:

Super Mario Odyssey*Captain Toad: Treasure Tracker**Big Brain Academy: Brain Vs. BrainSuper Mario 3D World + Bowser’s FuryClubhouse Games: 51 Worldwide Classics*

Nintendo also lists Super Mario Party Jamboree: Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV as a GameShare-compatible game.

These are the GameChat-compatible games:

All listed GameShare-compatible games except Mario Party Jamboree*Split Fiction* and Split Fiction: Friend PassSurvival KidsFast Fusion

Nintendo will likely add more games to this list, and we’ll update as that happens.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

The Switch 2 is finally here, and so are its various launch titles. But unlike the launch of the Switch 1 — which saw everyone and their mother eagerly diving into Breath of the Wild — the Switch 2 isn’t launching alongside a massive new RPG from a beloved Nintendo franchise. It is, however, launching alongside a massive RPG: Cyberpunk 2077.

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition is the only non-Nintendo RPG on the Switch 2 launch title list, so it’s likely to see a good amount of players. Of course, you can still relive Breath of the Wild’s glory days or dive into Tears of the Kingdom — both games have Switch 2 versions available to purchase — but if you’ve had enough of Hyrule (or are just looking for something a bit more gritty), it might be time to check out Night City.

For those of us who witnessed Cyberpunk’s notoriously bumpy launch, “Cyberpunk running on a Switch” may sound like a recipe for disaster, but so far, the game seems to be performing quite well according to folks who have booted it up. It uses Nvidia’s DLSS upscaling to ensure Night City appears vibrant and alive, and features both a performance mode (targeting 40 frames per second at 1080p when docked or 720p when handheld) and a quality mode which aims for 30fps at 1080p regardless of whether the Switch 2 is in docked mode or handheld mode.

The Switch 2’s Joy-Con 2 controllers also add some additional variety to gameplay, allowing players to use motion controls to attack enemies with a katana. Even CD Projekt Red agrees that the Switch 2 experience is optimal. Lead programmer Charles Tremblay described it as “the best way to experience the game on the go.”

Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition includes both the base game and the award-winning Phantom Liberty DLC, making it ideal for seasoned Netrunners and Night City newbies alike.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

If it ain’t broke, don’t fix it. This seems to have been Nintendo’s watchword for the Switch 2 — and not just in terms of the design of this iterative sequel to the Switch, a runaway success that’s likely to become Nintendo’s biggest seller ever.

When it comes to marketing and promotion, too, Nintendo seems determined to follow the Switch playbook to the letter, even to the extent that the packaging looks so similar it might confuse people. The company’s plan for unveiling, promoting, and launching the Switch 2 maps exactly onto the strategy it used for the Switch eight years earlier: a basic video reveal, followed three months later by an in-depth Direct, game announcements, and press previews, followed just two months later by the launch.

Even by Nintendo’s standards, this was a conservative campaign. But this caution hasn’t really paid off. Despite the Switch 2’s similarity to the Switch — or, perhaps, because of it — this has been a very different launch in a very different context, and the playbook hasn’t run nearly as smoothly. In the short weeks since its full reveal in April, the Switch 2 has faced controversy and negative headlines, and Nintendo has seemed unusually fumbling in some of its responses.

Some of these headwinds will have been foreseen by Nintendo. Surely no one in the Kyoto or Seattle offices was expecting a positive reception to the console’s $449.99 price — a $150 jump up from the Switch and a historical high for a Nintendo console, even adjusting for inflation. With that sticker price set, there wasn’t much for execs like Bill Trinen to do but explain the economic context, make the best case for the console they could, and take everyone’s anger and disappointment on the chin.

Much the same will have been true for the furor over the $79.99 price of Mario Kart World. In a sense, Nintendo drew the short straw here, publicly taking the fall for a price hike that many other publishers are expected to employ before the end of the year. But Nintendo made the issue more contentious than it needed to be through inconsistency and lack of transparency in its communication about pricing across the board.

Charging for the Nintendo Switch 2 Welcome Tour demo software; gating one of the console’s primary features (GameChat) behind a Nintendo Switch Online subscription; charging variable amounts for Nintendo Switch 2 Edition upgrades to Switch games; these are all individually defensible decisions, but Nintendo’s messaging about them was jumbled and incomplete. Taken together with the Mario Kart World price, these decisions created a sense that Nintendo was nickel-and-diming customers and (rather ineptly) trying to hide it.

Other things happened that were at least partly beyond Nintendo’s control, but that contributed to a sense of instability around the launch. The Trump administration’s chaotic tariffs policy caused a delay to pre-orders and some pricing changes; when pre-orders eventually did go live in the U.S., many retailers’ systems couldn’t cope with the demand (the midnight timing set by Nintendo didn’t help.) Nintendo’s own invitation-only pre-order system was more orderly, but still overwhelmed. Although Nintendo had reportedly delayed the launch of the Switch 2 to provide adequate stock, it still seemed unprepared for the scale of demand.

Nintendo made some rare unforced errors, too. It didn’t get out in front of the controversial game-key cards — physical editions of games that don’t actually contain the game data — instead allowing news of them to trickle out via a support page. This was one of several technical details about the new system that Nintendo flubbed. In one small but inexplicable error, Nintendo originally promised support for variable refresh rate displays in docked mode, and then quietly removed mention of this feature from its websites, before eventually being forced to apologize for the mistake. It has not been able to confirm or deny if the feature might be coming in a future system update.

Some of Nintendo’s difficulties with the Switch 2 campaign seem due to the company being pushed outside its comfort zone, both by the nature of modern video game platforms and by the console’s relationship to its predecessor.

This is the first time Nintendo has ever marketed a console with a “2” in its name (although you could argue it has used words like “Super” and “Advance” similarly in the past). The company usually prefers to talk about innovative features and gameplay experiences rather than technical specs. But the pitch for Switch 2 is pretty straightforwardly “Switch, but more powerful,” and the console’s high price means its biggest market will likely be the core gaming demographic — one that’s used to comparing hardware specs before making purchases. So Nintendo has been forced to start talking about things like variable refresh rate, performance modes, and DLSS. It took the unusual step of making three hardware technicians the stars of the big Switch 2 reveal; in interviews and Q&A sessions, they seemed out of their depth, sharing dry, obviously scripted responses.

Tech fetishism is a weird look for Nintendo, but a command of the details is essential in a modern console launch. This is as much about continuity as novelty. Players want to know what’s new and what’s improved about the new console, but they also want to feel a seamless and reliable continuation of the experience they had on the previous one. Since backward compatibility with digital libraries became the default position with PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X, a whole series of new questions have been raised about new console platforms, including, notably: How will my old games be improved?

Nintendo’s innate pedantry and brand caution are a bad fit for the messaging challenge of a modern generational transition, where people crave simplicity but the answers to their questions can get quite complicated. That’s how we’ve ended up with a game called Super Mario Party Jamboree — Nintendo Switch 2 Edition + Jamboree TV. That’s why we have only this week seen footage of the free update to Pokémon Scarlet and Violet running much better on Switch 2 — something another manufacturer might have made a key selling point. That’s why we’re all still so confused about Virtual Game Cards*,* game-key cards, GameShare, and GameChat.

Will any of this matter? Has Nintendo blown it? Probably not. In the short term, the Switch 2 is all but guaranteed to sell out of its initial stock allocations. In the longer term, there are only two things that can sink it, and a fudged PR rollout isn’t likely to linger long enough in the collective memory to be one of them.

The first of those is if the experiences offered by the new console and its games are disappointing. It’s too early to say, but that seems unlikely. Initial responses to Mario Kart World suggest the game’s quality and scope will overwhelm concerns about its price, while the console and its features seem to have been engineered with typical attention to detail. And despite its complexities, there’s nothing about the Switch-to-Switch-2 transition that’ll be as alienating or confusing to the general public as the festival of cognitive dissonance that was the move from Wii to Wii U.

The second thing that might sink Switch 2 is its price. On this question, we probably won’t know the answer until next year, once Nintendo starts to run out of hardcore customers who were always going to buy one regardless. Amid a cost-of-living crisis, breaking the $400 barrier could really hurt Nintendo with its traditional family audience. At the same time, PlayStation 5 has been selling extremely well at a similar price point for over four years now. It’s more powerful, but history shows players place a value on portability — the original Switch launched at the same price as a PS4 Slim and did just fine.

Marketing a game console is a marathon, not a sprint. Soon, Switch 2 will be in our hands, and the controversy and confusion of the last eight weeks will be a distant memory. But if Nintendo is going to keep the Switch’s momentum rolling into the next generation, it clearly has a few things to learn.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

The Nintendo Switch 2 has the Virtual Game Card system, which lets you share your games with friends. (To be clear, the original Nintendo Switch has this too, but you may have seen a notice about it while setting up your Switch 2.)

Nintendo has continued its habit of pushing the envelope when it comes to sharing fun with friends and family with this industry-changing innovation. Digital Switch games are now considered Virtual Game Cards and have the ability to be swapped back and forth between other Nintendo Switch or Switch 2 consoles.

Below, here’s a detailed explanation of how Virtual Game Cards work and everything you need to know before sharing your digital library.

How to access Virtual Game Cards on the Nintendo Switch 2

If you own digital games from your previous Switch console, upon booting up your Nintendo Switch 2 during setup, you’ll receive a notification acknowledging the digital games as Virtual Game Cards. For more information on these Virtual Game Cards, you can find them in the Virtual Game Card menu accessible from your Nintendo Switch home menu. In the navigation menu, the third option from the right is where you’ll find said menu.

How to use Virtual Game Cards

When you purchase a digital game from the Nintendo Switch eShop or redeem a code from a retailer, your game will be loaded on your system as a Virtual Game Card. Once loaded, you can select the game from your Switch home menu and enjoy your title.

Upon selection of a game, you’ll gain access to a new menu offering a new set of options:

Load on This System — Allows you to load the Virtual Game card on your current system, making it available for use. This is the default state of a Virtual Game Card.Load on Other System — Allows you to load the Virtual Game Card locally onto another Nintendo Switch system. You can trade virtual game cards between both the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 consoles, but you cannot trade Nintendo Switch 2 cards backward to a Nintendo Switch.Lend to Family Group Member — Allows you to lend the game card to another Nintendo Switch console for up to 14 days, as long as the user is in your Nintendo Family group.

When trading game cards with a family group member, you must first bring the two consoles close together to establish a connection. Once you lend out the card, they have access to it for up to two weeks, and during that time, you no longer have access to the software. Once the deadline has been reached, the virtual card is automatically returned to the original owner, and you’re able to collect the game card on your own as well. You can lend out three separate games to three borrowers at a time, but you can’t lend one game card to multiple people at once.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

The Forbidden Forest is the second full dungeon in The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker, and it’s where all the bad stuff happens around the Forest Haven. You’ll visit here after Dragon Roost Cavern.

The poor Korok need your help, as they’re about to put on a concert, but their lead musician, Makar, has fallen into the Forbidden Forest (despite the fact that the Great Deku Tree has told him many times not to fly over there). The tree promises to help Link out if he goes to find Makar, which is now the second time Link is being promised a pearl in exchange for help in a situation that does not really involve him, but that’s OK. The tree gives Link a Deku Leaf, which allows him to glide using magic or blast air forward, which is pretty nice.

Once the Korok teach you how to manipulate the wind and glide successfully, you’ll land in the Forbidden Forest, which is filled with unique enemies and an important item: the boomerang.

Below we walk through how to clear the Forbidden Forest in The Wind Waker, grabbing all items and treasure maps along the way.

Note that this walkthrough is for the Nintendo GameCube version of the game, also playable on the Nintendo Switch 2, if you have a Nintendo Switch Online + Expansion Pack membership. While this walkthrough may work for the remastered version (The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker HD for the Wii U), there may be differences between the two versions, so keep that in mind if you’re using it for the latter. We wrote this guide using the original GameCube version on the actual GameCube, so if there are differences between this version and the NSO version, we’re working it out — and we’ll update this guide if it needs it.

Part 1: Finding the Forbidden Forest dungeon map and compass

This section is combined because the dungeon map is right in front of you once you actually enter the dungeon. Take out the green chuchu monsters and open the chest between the two braziers on the right to get the Forbidden Forest dungeon map.

Once you do this, it’s time to learn about the first dungeon gimmick: the blue flowers. These things cannot be attacked when you’re close, as they’ll close their “eyes” and become kind of immune to damage. You’ll need to pick up a boko nut in the grass to the left of the door and then throw the nut at the flower from afar. This will explode the flower and let you freely go through the door.

In the next room, drop down and take out the nearby boko baba (the man-eating flowers that come out of the bulbs). Use one of the sticks dropped by the boko baba and light it on fire using the nearby brazier and then use that to light the plant on top of the chest on fire. You’ll get a Knight’s Crest from the chest.

Use the boko bulbs to launch yourself back up and continue launching forward, being careful of the vines. You’ll need to use your Deku Leaf to glide from bulb to bulb after getting launched.

Once you shoot up enough times, there will be a northern door with another blue-eye plant on it. Use the nearby bomb flower on the right to blow up the flower by placing it and walking away before it explodes. Beware of more chuchus that will show up in the tall grass.

Head into the next room and use your Deku Leaf to blow air at the spinner on the left to bring the gondola over to you. Hop on the gondola and use the leaf to blow southward, propelling the gondola forward.

In the next room, there’ll be some peahats (the flying enemies) and more boko babas. Use the Deku Leaf on the peahats to flip their protective propellers up, allowing you to kill them. Continue forward, taking out the boko babas and using the remaining bulb to shoot up.

Once you’re at the top, use the Deku Leaf to bring over another gondola. Ride the gondola using the same method as before over to the other side, put the boko nut on the gondola, and ride it back to the door. Use the nut on the door flower. Before you head into the door, use your Deku Leaf to glide down to find a chest directly under that northern door.

Open that chest for a red rupee (worth 20 rupees). Use the bulbs to head back up and go into the door now.

This next skinny room will have vines that shoot out of the ground when you get too close (and you can’t see them until then), so proceed carefully. Use the Deku Leaf to blow the nut in the center of the room forward when there are no vines around. Use the nut on the door flower and proceed.

In this huge central room, head right, using your grappling hook to grapple onto a peculiarly shaped branch and onto the next platform. Patiently jump across the moving platforms to the northern ledge. Pick up the boko nut and carry it to the western door by jumping across the huge floating tree in the middle. Use the nut on the door flower.

Before you head inside, jump on the alternating platforms to the south of the western door to head to a high-up ledge. Use the Deku Leaf to blow these leaves away to reveal a warp pot that’ll take you back to the starting area of the dungeon.

Glide back down to that western door and head inside. This room has morths, nasty little sea-urchin like things that will chase Link down and stick to him. Use a spin attack to both fling them off and make quick work of them. The chest in the center of the room has a yellow rupee (worth 10 rupees) as well as more morths. Once you’re done in here, just keep heading forward.

This next room can be tricky to follow, as again, there are vines that will shoot up out of the ground, blocking your path and more or less creating an invisible maze. Walk ahead slowly and carefully to avoid taking damage from the vines.

First, you’ll want to head to the south of the room to access a bomb flower. You can carefully follow the path how we laid out on our little janky map:

Once you follow this, you should be at the bomb flower safely. Pick it up and use it to blow up the blocked-off entryway to access the chest with the compass.

Use that same bomb flower (which will respawn) and huck it on to the platform in the southwest corner of the room. This may take a few tries to get right, as you’ll need to be just far enough from the vines to not have them get in the way, but close enough that the bomb will land and blow up the wooden planks. Once those are blown up, backtrack to the front entrance of the room.

Now to get the chest you just unveiled, you’ll need to go this way:

Open the chest for a small key and then use the nearby bulb to fling yourself up, gliding over the vines just back to the entrance to this room. You can break the pots nearby for some rupees and a Joy Pendant, too.

Part 2: Unlocking the boomerang

Head back to the room with the big dangling tree in the middle and enter the northern door using your newly obtained small key. Get rid of the peahats and then use the gondola to cross.

The next room will have some dangling nuts, boko babas, and a mothula — a disgusting enemy that shoots morths out of its butt. Take them down with your sword (no need for any fancy methods). Use the boko bulbs to climb up the layers of foliage.

At the top, use the grappling hook on a point next to the northernmost door and climb the rope all the way up so that you end up standing on top of the hook point.

Then grapple on to the next point and drop down on the platform below. Climb up the alternating platforms and cut down the small trees to reveal a chest with a Joy Pendant inside.

Glide back down and enter the northern door that was near the grappling points.

Inside is the disgusting (again) mothula, this time with wings and all. Use your Deku Leaf to blast it with air, temporarily stunning it, and then unleash a flurry of attacks. Repeat this until the boss is dead, being mindful of its swooping attacks and morths.

Once its dead, you’ll get access to a big chest with the boomerang inside! Hell yeah, now we’re cookin’ with gas.

As mentioned in-game, the boomerang can lock on to multiple targets, hitting them before returning to Link. Get some practice in by hitting the two crystals above the room entrance in one swoop.

With the boomerang, you can now get rid of peahats pretty quickly, opting to boomerang them to death rather than wasting your time with the Deku Leaf. You can also lock on to enemies using the L-trigger for quick kills. With all that in mind, head back into the previous room (the one with all the layers of leaves).

Part 3: Getting the Forbidden Forest boss key

Take out that peahat with your new trusty boomerang and then approach the door with two flowers on it. Use your boomerang from a distance to kill them both simultaneously and head into the door.

Use your boomerang to slice all those dangling boko nuts off their vines so you can glide across safely. Consider using this time to practice using the boomerang quickly — you will need it.

Once you’ve glided across, open the chest on the left for a Joy Pendant and head into the door. At the top here, you’ll want to slide those five blue vines using the same method you used for the boko nuts, but you’ll want to make sure to get all five of them in one go. Again, this is more good practice for the future.

Once you do this, that enormous tree that was in the middle of that one room will fall down, opening a new path. Fall or glide into that hole and enter the single door in that room.

In the next room, use your boomerang on both the peahats and morths and then proceed on the right path. Continue on, taking out any chuchus that block your way but be mindful of the dexivines, the blue grabby tentacles coming out of the ground. They won’t hurt you, but they will suck away your magic, which still sucks. They also don’t really die, as they grow back, so mostly just dodge and ignore them.

Jump across the flower platform to get a yellow rupee from the chest and then use your boomerang to cut the flower down.

Optional: Grab Treasure Chart #15 (Piece of Heart)

Before you continue on, use the bomb flower to open the blocked off path to the north, and then head into that door. Take out any peahats that are giving you an issue and then jump up the platforms in the northwest, taking out the morths and deku baba.

Jump into the bulb that appears and glide on to the platform in the north. Use your Deku Leaf on the nearby propeller to summon the gondola and ride across. Pick up the bomb flower and throw it into the hole in front of where the gondola now sits.

You should hear it blow up and the “you solved a puzzle” jingle will play. Open the chest inside to get Treasure Chart #15 — which will eventually lead you to a Piece of Heart.

Crawl through the hole in the back of this giant tree and then head back to the aforementioned giant floating flower.

If you stopped to get the chart above, you’ll need to climb back up and re-cut the flower down. Once you do, use your shield to deflect the projectile from the nearby octorok. Then you’ll need to use your Deku Leaf to fire off air behind the flower, pushing it forward in the water.

At the 90-degree angle, you should see two more octoroks. Block their projectiles back at them and then continue on your floating journey and enter the doorway.

Now you should be in the boss key room. Climb up the stump in the center and use your boomerang to activate all five white crystals consecutively. You’ll either need to go counterclockwise starting from the northwestern crystal or clockwise from the northeastern crystal, as the tree in the north will block your boomerang if you try to connect those.

Once you do this, the gate to the boss key will open, so head down and grab that. After this, two moblins will get dropped into the arena and you’ll need to beat them before you can leave. You can use your boomerang to stun them, making this fight a bit easier than it used to be.

With those out of the way, climb back up the stump and use the grappling hook on the point above towards the northeast. Jump to the doorway and head inside. You’ll be back at the room with the water and the morths, so just continue to the eastern exit.

In the room with the flower in the water, activate the propeller with your Deku Leaf and then use the bulb to the west to help you glide back up.

On this floor, use your boomerang to get rid of those two door flowers to the east and head inside. You’ll be in a thin room with two more mothulas. Take them out and open the chest that appears to get a Joy Pendant.

Continue on and you’ll now be in the boss room. Break open the jar of sticks, light a stick on fire using the braziers, and light the wooden lid on top of the pot above to the left of the boss door. This will let you warp between the two other pots we’ve seen so far.

Optional: Grab Treasure Chart #1 (200 rupees)

Head into the warp pot so that it sends you back to the beginning of the dungeon. Enter the doorway and use the bulbs to climb upwards. Rather than entering the door near the bomb flower, keep entering the bulbs to keep gliding higher up in the room, making sure to avoid the wiggling vines.

Keep launching up and gliding to the next available bulb until you eventually see this chest in the southwest corner. Use your boomerang to break the flower off the chest and open it for Treasure Chart #1 — which will eventually lead you to 200 rupees.

Head back to the entrance of the dungeon and enter the pot, which will take you to the middle of the dungeon. Enter it again to go back to the boss room.

Part 4: How to beat Kalle Demos

Inside the room ahead of the boss you can break open these pinecone nuts for magic pots, rupees, hearts, and if you’re unlucky, morths. Just make sure you’re ready for the boss before heading into the boss room.

Once you head inside, you’ll see Makar, but he’ll get gobbled up by a big disgusting vine-y plant.

Right away during that little cutscene that plays out, you may have gotten an idea of what you need to do — and why I kept insisting that you need to practice flinging that boomerang quickly.

The strategy here is to use the boomerang to break all the vines at the top of the enemy so that it drops to the ground. You will not be able to break them all in one throw, so you’ll need to dodge its claw-like vines while you try to get the top vines down. The claw-vines will glow before they drop down on Link. Whew.

Once you do so, you’ll be able to attack the center of the flower. If you stay inside the flower attacking too long, Link will get chewed up and spit out a bit once the flower re-closes — but in my opinion, the greed for damage was worth the HP loss. It only took two instances of de-vining the boss for me to defeat Kalle Demos.

If you’re struggling, keep running and rolling in circles around the boss to avoid the claw-tentacles. You’ll notice that if you take too long to get all the top vines down, they will grow back, so speed is the key here.

Once you do enough damage to it, it’ll start buying its attack-vines into the ground, forcing them to pop up and chase you down, somewhat similarly to how the vines in the rest of the dungeon popped out. Keep running and dodging, making sure to throw that boomerang at every chance you can get.

After you defeat Kalle Demos, Makar will be free. You can talk to him, collect the Heart Container, and take that whirlwind that spawned out and back to the Deku Tree to claim your reward: Farore’s Pearl.

With all those cutscenes over, you can head back to the King of the Red Lions and he’ll talk about your next destination: Greatfish Isle. However, at this point you can freely explore the ocean without your boat yelling at you, which means you can start cracking open treasure maps and exploring other islands.

That said, a lot of the game’s content may be walled off by items and upgrades you unlock in the future, so don’t be surprised if your ventures are cut a little short.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

Upon receiving my Nintendo Switch 2 and Nintendo Switch 2 Pro Controller delivery on this cold, wet June launch-day morning, I was blessed to find a gift from Sam Walton himself. (OK, maybe not Sam, who’s been a ghost since 1992.)

While I expected to open my package to reveal Nintendo’s hot new console, lo and behold, nestled in the reusable bags placed on my front porch were two cans of pizza-flavored Pringles with two bottles of Coke to wash it all down. I’ve witnessed many console launches in my day, but I’ve never been gifted snacks to power my initial gaming session with a brand-new console.

Switch 2 gamers have flooded the internet with details on their Nintendo Switch 2 hauls. While some brag about claiming their new console at midnight or being able to find one without a preorder, others brag about the flavor of Pringles they received from Walmart. Some unlucky individuals didn’t receive the snack care package, while others received the snacks with other miscellaneous bonus goodies, including wet wipes, Tide samples, and Band-Aids.

Apparently, Walmart knows just how messy a good gaming session can get. Reception has ranged from confusion to appreciation, with some believing this is some ploy to save face after Walmart started cancelling pre-orders a few days before the Switch 2’s release. No matter where you land in the discussion, this bizarre pre-order bonus will be remembered when we look back on the Nintendo Switch 2’s launch.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

Elden Ring Nightreign has shot out of the gates, selling 2 million copies its first day, yet the critical and player reception hasn’t reached the same highs that most of FromSoftware’s games do. Matchmaking in Nightreign is something of a challenge: you literally can’t quit it, and the game isn’t balanced for solo play, despite efforts with a recent patch. If you loved Elden Ring, but are finding that its spinoff isn’t landing for you, here’s a rec: go back in time and give Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons a shot.

Hunters still return to Yharnam each year in March to celebrate Bloodborne’s anniversary (10 years ago now!), and we still hold out hope for a sequel that might never come. When discussing Bloodborne, however, one thing that doesn’t get mentioned enough are its Chalice Dungeons. They are in some ways a proof of concept for FromSoftware’s weird multiplayer experiments beyond summons and invasions.

Chalice Dungeons offer hunters procedurally generated levels of varying difficulties. You can successfully tackle them solo or play as a pair with a buddy (unlike Elden Ring Nightreign, which doesn’t support two-player co-op… yet). They include tough bosses, mobs of enemies, and all the bullshit ways FromSoft enjoys killing you. This weekend I died to a hiding skeletal enemy who threw flame vials at me and to a mob of enemies who were unexpectedly summoned after I stepped on a tile.

Similar to Nightreign, which returns old Dark Souls bosses to the fray, hunters can find already-bested Bloodborne bosses in the Dungeons, like Rom or the Blood-Starved Beast. For trophy hunters, you’ll need to scour the depths of the game’s Chalice Dungeons to find Yharnam, Pthumerian Queen, and defeat her on your quest for the game’s Platinum.

Perhaps the best thing about Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons is that they’re included as part of the base game. During or after your 50-hour journey through Yharnam, you can take a detour through some randomized dungeons at no extra cost. With Nightreign, the feeling of “This couldn’t have been a free update?” is hard to shake.

Both Bloodborne’s Chalice Dungeons and Elden Ring Nightreign show FromSoftware isn’t afraid to experiment within its tried-and-true Soulsborne formula, and it’ll experiment further with next year’s The Duskbloods, exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2. “Not Bloodborne II” will feature PvPvE online multiplayer “for a broad range of game-design ideas, while also letting us leverage our experience of designing challenging enemy encounters,” according to director Hidetaka Miyazaki. The Duskbloods will make for back-to-back experimental multiplayer releases for the studio, leaving fans wondering when its next big single-player adventure will drop.

At the moment, though, FromSoftware is going all-in on multiplayer releases. So if Elden Ring Nightreign ain’t for you, Yharnam will always be there waiting, good hunter.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed

No Man’s Sky is nowhere close to winding down even nine years after it was first released — and the newest update, available June 4, adds totally new gameplay mechanics and compatibility with the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 console. Even better, the Switch 2 Edition is free for players who already own No Man’s Sky for Switch.

Dubbed the Beacon update by developer-publisher Hello Games, this free update is as important for existing PC and console players as it is for prospective players receiving their Switch 2 in the mail on Thursday. The update adds what is essentially a city-builder within No Man’s Sky, “bringing towns and their management” to the game, according to a news release.

Here are the gameplay updates, in full:

Players can become town mayor and take ownership of multiple settlements. You can construct buildings and upgrade each one, with new building types like jukebox bars where you can choose the music, merchants where you can build custom starships or even ponds you can chill and fish at.

Each inhabitant can be conversed with, with their own abilities and attributes to manage. As town mayor you’ll be enlisted to welcome new settlers, resolve disputes, and make choices to create prosperity.

A well managed settlement can make their owners rich in resources, but they need to be protected. Travellers can hire a squadron of wingmen, who will now defend towns when they come under attack from roving pirates.

That means the players who enjoy the surprisingly cozy elements of No Man’s Sky will have plenty to do beyond the somewhat limited base-building options. It also adds a new element of space combat, arguably one of the biggest draws of the game, in the form of the wingmen.

As for Switch 2 support, it’s not just a box to check — Hello Games says it’s spent a year making sure the game “feel at home on Switch 2,” pushing beyond the self-described “technical miracle” that was getting No Man’s Sky on the original Switch. The fine-tuned upgrades for the Switch 2 Edition include better resolution and frame rate, high-res texture support, and higher pixel density, as well as support for touchscreen and cross-saves.

“For the last year we’ve had this secret room with some Switch 2 dev-kits from Nintendo,” Hello Games said in its release. “New platforms are always exciting and our small team has loved pushing the new hardware to its limits.”

If you haven’t played No Man’s Sky yet, or soured on it before any of the last several updates, it’s well worth diving back in despite the game’s age. In fact, its age is a boon in this case, since Hello Games has taken every opportunity to update the procedurally generated world using player feedback and ultimately getting closer and closer to realizing the true vision for the game.

I just picked up No Man’s Sky for the first time a few weeks ago (unrelated to this update, which I haven’t played yet) and have yet to reopen my other long-running games since. It’s endlessly exploratory and beautiful to look at, not to mention a testament to the devs’ commitment to their expansive, ambitious project.

No Man’s Sky’s Beacon update is available on June 4 for Mac, Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Windows PC, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X. It will be available for Nintendo Switch 2 on June 5 when the Switch 2 is released.

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From Polygon via this RSS feed