Caught up in the excitement of the June 2026 Nintendo Direct and Dragon's Dogma 2 getting a DLC expansion, Capcom made one crucial announcement that many people (including me) overlooked.

On June 25, 2026, Capcom will be removing several DLC microtransactions from Dragon's Dogma 2 and delisting its Digital Edition from the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and Steam's digital stores due to the gameplay changes its Summer patches and Dark Arisen 2 expansion will bring.

These items that will be removed from the base game include:

• Dragon’s Dogma 2 Deluxe Edition
• A Boon for Adventurers – New Journey Pack
• Harpysnare Smoke Beacons – Harpy Lure Item
• Heartfelt Pendant – A Thoughtful Gift
• Ambivalent Rift Incense – Change Pawn Inclinations
• Makeshift Gaol Key – Escape from Gaol
• Art of Metamorphosis – Character Editor
• Portcrystal – Warp Location Marker
• Wakestone – Restore the Dead to Life
• 500 Rift Crystals – Points to Spend Beyond the Rift
• 1500 Rift Crystals – Points to Spend Beyond the Rift
• 2500 Rift Crystals – Points to Spend Beyond the Rift

If you had bought any of these items, you would still be able to use them in-game.

The only DLC items that will remain untouched will be the Explorer’s Camping Gear – Camping Kit and the Dragon's Dogma Music and Sound Collection – Custom Sounds.

As an added bonus, the base game of Dragon's Dogma 2 will receive a permanent discount on all digital storefronts.

Windows Central's take

If you've played Dragon's Dogma 2 since it launched in 2024, you may have caught wind of people giving Capcom harsh criticism over these microtransactions.

While they were available to obtain the game naturally, they were hard to come by and limited in supply, especially the Portcrystal items.

These were needed to activate the game's fast travel system, and the idea of making a crucial in-game item a microtransaction sparked debate about whether or not this broke immersion or was a pay-to-win item that manipulated people to buy their way out of skipping the tedious travel time so they can progress through the game faster.

So Capcom decided to appease its naysayers by making more Portcrystals obtainable in the base game through its latest update, along with creating an Eternal Ferrystone item so they can fast-travel as much as they want without the need for consumable Ferrystones.

Now, I personally didn't engage in these debates back then as I was more annoyed at Dragon's Dogma 2's sub-optimal performance at launch, but I'm happy Capcom's willing to pull back on controversial DLC like this and just make these features a permanent part of the game.

In fact, I'm shocked a big-time company like Capcom is willing to do this because they could've just easily kept it in to make extra money off completionists who can't help themselves (speaking from experience here). You would never see a company like Activision or EA do this with any of their games, so I consider this a small blessing.

It also makes me wonder: if Capcom can remove microtransactions from a game and make their content permanently more readily available in-game, why don't they do it for other games, like Monster Hunter?

Ever since Monster Hunter World, Capcom has been making piecemeal DLCs for the Monster Hunter series. Most of these paid emotes, chat pictures, and cosmetic armor sets can be safely ignored, as their mid-tier designs don't outshine what you get from playing the game normally.

However, recent games like Monster Hunter Rise and Monster Hunter Wilds have had some paid cosmetic gear DLC with insanely over-the-top designs that make most of the weapon and armor designs of the games they come from look lame by comparison.

Examples include the Cosmoloid armor and weapon set in Monster Hunter Wilds, Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak's Lost Code Weapon set, and cosmetic outfits locked behind Monster Hunter Rise's Nintendo Amiibo figures.

Thanks to Dragon's Dogma 2's update, there's no reason why Capcom can't go back to these games and make these cosmetics permanently available through completing extremely challenging quests where you have to fight multiple hard monsters at once.

Now I realize that this change isn't as needed as Dragon's Dogma 2's DLC was because they were paywalling in-game resources for crucial gameplay mechanics rather than optional cosmetic armor pieces.

However, I'd argue that paywalling cosmetic sets is just as egregious as adding prices to limited gameplay resources, especially in a game like Monster Hunter.

Hunting giant monsters and collecting their parts to make gear is part of why I play these games in the first place. If we just start paying money for these awesome-looking weapons and gear instead of earning them in battle, we're no longer playing Monster Hunter; it's just whale hunting.

By removing Dragon's Dogma 2's microtransactions, I'm hoping that Capcom is starting to realize nobody wants to pay extra money for microtransactions for premium, non-free-to-play games that are getting more and more expensive to buy.

Thus, this could potentially lead to Capcom no longer pay-walling any additional piecemeal content for their games and just having them in the base game by default, whether it's gameplay or cosmetic.

Granted, Capcom's not going to stop charging people for extra cosmetics anytime soon, as its most recent games, Pragmata, Monster Hunter Stories 3, and Resident Evil Requiem, have cosmetics DLC outfits you have to pay extra for besides the main game, but there's always hope for the future.

Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen, the large-scale DLC expansion for Dragon's Dogma 2, will be dropping on October 9, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and Steam.

🗨️ Over to you

What do you think of Dragon's Dogma 2's gameplay-related microtransactions? Do you think Capcom should start removing cosmetic microtransactions from all its games and make them earnable in-game by completing ultra-hard challenges?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Capcom fired on all cylinders during the Summer Game Fest 2026 season. It revealed the long-awaited remake of Resident Evil: Code Veronica, Monster Hunter Wilds' highly anticipated DLC expansion, and an unexpected DLC expansion for Dragon's Dogma 2, titled Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen.

This expansion to Capcom's fantasy action-RPG will bring a new region for players to explore, new cosmetic options, twelve new Dungeon Challenges, and many more features based on the players' feedback when they played the base game.

However, players won't have to wait for the Dark Arisen DLC expansion when it launches on October 9, 2026, for new content.

Capcom is rolling out two major title updates for the base game Dragon's Dogma 2, which will add some gameplay adjustments people have been begging for since the game's launch, like improved fast-travel, performance optimization, balance changes, and many other quality-of-life features.

One of these title updates, 3.1, launched on June 10, 2026, and it brought forth the following changes (as stated on the Dragon's Dogma 2 website):

•  Added Features and Adjustments
• Fast Travel/Movement Adjustments
  • Added the fast travel item Eternal Ferrystone.
    * The Eternal Ferrystone will be automatically acquired after talking to Brant during the quest Seat of the Sovran.
    * If you have already completed this quest, the item will be placed in your inventory.
  • Added Portcrystals to Melve, Checkpoint Rest Town and Volcanic Island Camp.
  • Added a Portcrystal as a reward for the quest Monster Culling.
    * If you have already completed this quest, it will be placed in your inventory.
  • Added Oxcart Stopovers.
  • Reduced the time until the Doze Off command becomes available when riding an Oxcart.
  • If an Oxcart happens to be close by, an Oxcart icon will be displayed on the mini map.
  • Extended Oxcart Station departure hours. Oxcarts will now depart from morning till evening.
  • Decreased the amount of stamina used when dashing outside of combat.
• Selecting Load from Autosave after defeat will no longer result in loss gauge accumulation.
• Improved the stats for some equipment found when exploring dungeons.
• Options Additions/Adjustments
  • Added the Free Camera option to Photo Mode.
  • Added the option to toggle the display of patterns left on equipment strengthened in wyrmfire.
  • Added the option to toggle the display of head armor.
  • Changed the wording of the Set to "Examine" Only option in the Button Mapping settings to make it clearer that it does not include Dash.
  • Added the option to enable/disable unhired pawns to approach you and offer their services.
  • Added the option to enable/disable high fives from pawns after battle.
• Reward Adjustments
  • Changed the content of some treasure chests and some enemy item drops.
  • Increased the rewards (mainly gold) for some quests.
• UI Adjustments
  • Added the option to use a Ferrystone from the map by moving the cursor to a Portcrystal.
  • Improved the visibility of the player icon on the map.
  • A notification will now display if your camping kit was destroyed in an ambush.
  • When shopping, you can no longer purchase more than you can hold of a specific item.
  • The stat boosts for Pawns inflicted with dragonsplague will now be reflected on the status screen.
  • Multiple item types can now be transferred at once between the Arisen and Pawns.
  • The Art of Metamorphosis has now been moved to the top of the Pawn Guild Vendor's product list.
  • The order of Lantern and Lantern Oil has been changed at each shop so that Lantern Oil appears first.
  • An hourglass icon will now appear on timed quest notifications.
  • Quest progress will now be displayed for priority quests after loading saved data.
• Pawn Adjustments
  • Added Guardian specialization.
    * Enables the pawn to prevent oxcart raids from occurring while they accompany the Arisen. Also enables the pawn to singlehandedly repel smaller foes that attack the camp, and to reduce the Health of larger ones before the Arisen joins the battle.
    * The Guardian's Tome can be acquired in the following ways.
    - Bought from the Nameless Apothecary in the Nameless Village.
    - As a reward for the quests Claw Them Into Shape and Readvent of Calamity.
    * If you have already completed these quests, they will be placed in your inventory.
    * Added a tutorial for the Guardian specialization.
  • Adjusted behavior when moving, making it harder to fall from cliffs.
  • Increased the stamina recovered when Pawns help you after becoming exhausted.
• Shop Adjustments
  • Reduced inn fees for staying at the inn in Melve, Excavation Site, Nameless Village, Borderwatch Outpost, Vernworth and Harve Village.
  • Reduced fees for all barberie services.
  • Lantern (Fueled) price changed from 1000 G to 800 G.
  • Ferrystone price in Normal Mode changed from 10000 G to 5000 G.
  • Ferrystone sale price changed from 99 G to 900 G.
• Text/Tutorial Display Adjustments
  • Changed fonts.
  • The loading screen has been changed to show tips instead of quest progress.
  • The tutorial for loading from an autosave has been adjusted to reflect the changes to the loss gauge.
  • Added a tutorial explaining the "!" symbol that displays on the minimap.
• Other Adjustments
  • Adjusted the camera angle when approaching a pre-existing Portcrystal.
  • Adjusted the quality of the camera angle when returning from a zoomed view.
  • Added the Hollow Cape to the product lineup at Celeste's Smithy in Checkpoint Rest Town.
• ◆ Bug Fixes
• Vocations
• 【Mage】
  • Fixed a bug where the Arisen's position would slightly move if no input was entered after drawing their sword.
• 【Sorcerer】
  • Fixed a bug where Prescient Flare would not affix to enemies in certain areas of the Tomb of Ku'Myage.
• 【Trickster】
  • Fixed a bug where the effect of the ability Enlightenment would activate without it being equipped.
• Pawns
  • Fixed a bug where the Arisen and allied pawns would be afflicted with debilitations when hit by an unhired pawn's elemental weapon.
  • Fixed a bug where a pawn's appearance would become unnatural when moving.
  • Fixed a bug where a different pawn would speak when a pawn saves the Arisen from falling.
  • Fixed a bug where a pawn would guide the Arisen to the Rocky Lair as if it was undiscovered, even though it had been fully explored.
  • Fixed a bug where after the pawn Luksa was summoned in the Riftstone, Luksa would not disappear even when searching for pawns under different conditions and it would become impossible to interact with them.
  • Fixed a bug where pawn commands would flash rapidly and pawns would not respond.
  • Fixed a bug where pawns would sometimes not dash when far from the Arisen.
  • Fixed a bug where a pawn would stop guiding the Arisen towards a quest immediately after they started.
  • Fixed a bug where the "!" symbol that appears after a pawn discovers a movable boulder would remain on the map, even if the boulder has moved.
  • Fixed a bug where the "!" symbol that appears after a pawn discovers a treasure chest would remain on the map, even after the chest was opened.
  • Fixed a bug where pawns would not use Barrage Shot towards small enemies.
• NPCs
  • Fixed a bug where NPCs would enter your private dwelling in Bakbattahl.
  • Fixed a bug where some NPCs would not be registered in the NPC Logbook.
  • Fixed a bug where NPC voices would not stop when they die.
  • Fixed a bug where NPCs that died during a quest would be revived after waiting 999 days in game.
  • Fixed a bug where you could buy the Saurian Tail from Emerich even if you did not have the required amount of gold.
• Enemies
  • Fixed a bug where an enemy's appearance would become unnatural when held in place by Forbeding Bolt.
• 【Goblin/Hobgoblin/Chopper/Knacker】
  • Fixed a bug where the hit effect would display incorrectly when the Arisen was hit by a burning club or torch.
• 【Harpy/Venin Harpy/Gore Harpy/Succubus】
  • Fixed a bug where the Arisen's behavior would become abnormal when airborne near a wall's surface.
• 【Ooze】
  • Fixed a bug where pawns were unable to avoid explosions.
• 【Undead/Fat Undead】
  • Fixed a bug where enemies would not flinch after a Fighter successfully used the ability Deflect or True Deflect.
• 【Phantom/Phantasm/Specter】
  • Fixed a bug where the simulacrum's behavior would become abnormal after it possesses a foe.
• 【Cyclops】
  • Fixed a bug where unintended behavior would occur when startled while laying down.
  • Fixed a bug where damage was not taken when recovering from a downed state.
• 【Minotaur/Goreminotaur】
  • Fixed a bug where damage taken was greatly increased if hit with Counter Slash or Tidal Fury while charging.
  • Fixed a bug where the enemy would continue to exist in a transparent state when destroyed while petrified.
• 【Goreminotaur】
  • Fixed a bug where the enemy would repeat the same actions after certain conditions were met.
• 【Skeleton Lord】
  • Fixed a bug where the enemy would attack skeletons and other unintended beings.
• 【Lich/Wight】
  • Fixed a bug where enemies could attack for a period of time after death.
• 【Dullahan】
  • Fixed a bug where damage was not taken for a period of time after a grab attack.
  • Fixed a bug where the target being grabbed was not blown away at the end of a grab attack.
  • Fixed a bug where the Thief's Easy Kill counter did not work and damage was taken when used.
  • Fixed a bug where the Arisen's actions became abnormal when countering an attack with Warrior's Tidal Fury.
  • Fixed a bug where the background music did not transition as intended when the battle situation changed.
• 【Drake】
  • Fixed a bug where magic attacks were generated embedded in the ground.
  • Fixed a bug that caused an unnatural appearance after dying while only the chest is glowing.
  • Fixed a bug where death lines sometimes played when drakes aren't around.
  • Fixed a bug where destroyed body parts sometimes reverted back to their pre-destroyed state.
• 【Drake/Lesser Dragon】
  • Fixed a bug where destroyed body parts sometimes reverted back to their pre-destroyed state.
• 【Medusa】
  • Fixed a bug where, at low frame rates, if the enemy was caused to flinch during a specific attack, they would be unable to move afterwards.
• Quests
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Nesting Troubles where Lennart would sometimes be inflicted with the blighted debilitation.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Monster Culling where the wagon would disappear when approaching the location of the soldiers near the Nameless Village.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest The Caged Magistrate where the Arisen would unintentionally move to a different location when using a Sealing Phial.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Saint of the Slums where Elena would be outside her cell after being imprisoned.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest Hunt for the Jadeite Orb where Offulve wouldn't disappear when progressing along a certain route.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest The Guardian Gigantus, where if the player were to approach the bridge just as the Talos destroyed it, the Talos would still throw a spear towards the bridge during the resulting cutscene.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest The Guardian Gigantus where if the Talos was petrified right after destroying the bridge, a cutscene would play as if the Talos was still alive.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest The Guardian Gigantus where progressing to the location where the scene changes at the same time the Talos throws the spear resulted in multiple instances of abnormal behavior.
  • Fixed a bug in the quest A Scholarly Pursuit where, when getting close to the Battahl Purgener, the Arisen's appearance and hitbox were misaligned.
• Gimmicks
  • Fixed a bug where fragments would spawn at their original location when destroying rolling rocks.
  • Fixed a bug where the game would crash when re-spawning rolling boulders after they were destroyed.
• Equipment
  • Fixed a bug where the character's neck was sticking out when wearing Creedbound Armor.
  • Fixed a bug where, when wearing Monarch's Crown, the part that covers the neck would disappear after using a ferrystone.
  • Fixed a bug where body hair was poking through when wearing Robe of the Enlightened.
  • Fixed a bug where protrusions appear to stick out of the ring part of the Tribal Brace armor.
  • Fixed a bug where shields were not sorted properly when sorting by strength.
  • Fixed a bug where only the armor spikes remained when equipping cloak-type equipment while wearing Intrepid Scalecoat.
• Display
  • Fixed a bug where rain entered certain buildings.
  • Fixed a bug where wounds were not displayed when attacking an enemy.
  • Fixed a bug where lanterns would flicker constantly despite being filled with oil.
  • Fixed a bug where the model for Panacea would differ from that on the field.
• UI
  • Fixed a bug where some riftstone names differed between the one displayed on the map and the one displayed in the rift.
• Sound
  • Fixed a bug where, when equipped with a bow, the quiver sound effect would continue to play even after changing weapons.
• Other
  • Fixed a bug where the game would crash during processing.
  • Fixed a bug where falling into water in some places would not result in the activation of The Brine, allowing the player to move along the bottom of the water.
  • Fixed a bug where approaching the Riverside Cavern would trigger a map transition and dialogue as if the pawns had entered the cavern, despite not actually being inside.
  • Fixed a bug where selecting certain head options in the Character Creator would result in the appearance of holes beneath the eyes.
  • Fixed a bug where items could not be obtained by performing the Investigate action after defeating enemies, and subsequently prevented further Investigate attempts.
  • Fixed a bug where certain facial animations did not play in some cutscenes.
  • Fixed a bug where obtaining multiple items simultaneously from a treasure chest while inventory space was insufficient would result in some items being unobtainable.

Windows Central's Take

Personally, I'm happy Dragon's Dogma 2 is getting another shot at life with these updates and DLC expansion because the base game has loads of potential to be one of Capcom's best games thanks to its in-depth combat system and massive open-world riddled with quests and secrets.

However, contrary to my colleague Jez Corden's 4.5/5 Star review of Dragon's Dogma 2, where he praised it for "rewarding the patient and creative with its deep systems and infectious combat," I feel the game is currently held back by some major issues that prevented me from finishing the game, one of which is its subpar performance.

When I played this game back in 2024 on Xbox Series X to help my colleague make strategy guides for it, Dragon's Dogma 2 frequently dipped between 30 and 20 frames per second. This made the controls during combat feel sluggish, and the visuals looked like a stuttery mess when there were too many characters and particle effects on-screen.

Another major issue I had with the game at launch was that traveling in the open-world map was a giant pain because you had limited modes of transportation, running outside of combat consumed too much stamina, and fast travel was only possible through limited resources called Ferrystones.

I understand the game wants to immerse players in its grand world by making them walk through most of it instead of fast traveling everywhere.

However, with my limited free time and giant backlog of games to play, I don't want to waste it running miles across the country to complete trivial fetch quests or waste vital fast-travel resources to chase after Sphinxes to solve their Riddles.

So, I'm glad we don't have to worry about that anymore thanks to this 3.1 Title Update, which has given players an Eternal Ferrystone that will let them fast-travel to any location with a Portcrystal without being consumed upon use like a regular Ferrystone.

However, the update that may convince me to give Dragon's Dogma 2 a second chance will be the 3.2 Title Update at the end of August, which will bring the performance refinements the game so desperately needs.

Not to mention it will bring improvements for its save system, character actions, and the infamous Dragonplague mechanic, adjustments to the UI, Pawns, and enemy stats, and many bug fixes.

If this performance patch can fix Dragon's Dogma 2's stuttery framerate, then I'll be fully on board to return to this game and prep for its DLC expansion when Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen launches on October 9, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

🗨️ Over to you

What do you think of Dragon's Dogma 2's upcoming title updates in the lead-up to its Dark Arisen DLC expansion? Will they convince you to replay the game, or are you holding off until the DLC expansion arrives?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Summer Game Fest 2026 kicked off with a bang as it premiered a cinematic reveal trailer for Resident Evil Veronica, a long-awaited remake of one of Resident Evil's more narratively significant chapters, Resident Evil: Code Veronica.

This got Resident Evil fans clamoring to know how this remake will change the original Code Veronica aside from giving it a gorgeously, deliciously dark RE-Engine makeover.

Thankfully, Capcom has given fans a clue on what to expect as it confirmed in an interview with Campaign Mode (hosted by my friend and former colleague, Samuel Tolbert) that Resident Evil Veronica will be played entirely in a third-person perspective.

Capcom producer Yoshiaki Hirabayashi has also stated that its gameplay will be modelled after the Resident Evil 2 Remake and Resident Evil 4 Remake. Plus, Capcom's veteran developers who worked on those titles will be working on Resident Evil: Veronica.

On a side note, Yoshiaki Hirabayashi mentioned the Veronica remake will be dropping the "Code" part of the original Code Veronica's title, as recent Resident Evil games have adopted either a single word or number in their titles, so they wanted to maintain consistency.

Windows Central's take

For those who have never heard of the original game, Resident Evil: Code Veronica (released in 2000 for the SEGA Dreamcast) was Resident Evil's last game in the franchise to use fixed-camera angles that helped redefine the survival horror genre for years.

It followed one of Resident Evil 2's protagonists, Claire Redfield, as she explored the zombie and monster-infested Rockfort Island in search of her brother Chris Redfield, who went missing after the events of the Raccoon City Incident.

This game was a pretty important chapter in Resident Evil's long-running narrative. It brought back classic Resident Evil villain Albert Wesker from the dead and gave him superpowers. Plus, it stoked the fires of his bitter rivalry with Chris Redfield that would culminate in an action-packed and climactic showdown in Resident Evil 5.

So I'm really curious to see how they'll take some of the goofier aspects of the original Code Veronica's story, like Matrix-style fight scenes, Albert Wesker getting superpowers, or the cringe-worthy side character, Steve (don't even get me started on that guy), and give them a more serious, darker tone in the same style as previous Resident Evil remakes.

As for gameplay, I'm happy Resident Evil: Veronica will be played in third-person, as I preferred that style of gameplay over the first-person perspectives seen in Resident Evils 7, 8, and 9. Although nothing will ever top the fixed-camera perspective of the Resident Evil 1 Remake for me because it is the epitome of classic Resident Evil atmosphere.

Above all, I can't wait to see how the remake will take Code Veronica's grotesque monsters and make them more frightening to fight without having the annoying tank controls of the original game holding us back from enjoying the scares.

Resident Evil Veronica is slated to release on the Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam at a later date.

🗨️ Over to you

What do you think of Resident Evil Veronica being entirely third-person? Do you prefer Resident Evil games with a third-person perspective, first-person camera perspective, or even fixed-camera angles like the original PlayStation 1-era games?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Capcom took the stage at the 2026's Summer Game Fest to show off the reveal trailer for Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance, a large-scale DLC expansion to the latest entry in the Monster Hunter series, Monster Hunter Wilds.

Unlike the base game, which took place on land, the Ascendance DLC will take players on an epic journey through the heavens as we explore floating islands filled with ancient ruins and ravenous monsters to hunt.

Among the new monsters we'll be hunting are an original Flying Wyvern-type creature that resembles a flying fish that divebombs players, the iconic Elder Dragon Kushala Daora who assails players with never-ending tornadoes, and Lao-Shan Lung, a colossal Elder Dragon that hasn't been seen since 2017's Monster Hunter Generations Ultimate.

However, Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance will be giving players new tricks to combat these creatures, as the Slinger gadget players used for firing Slinger ammo in the base game can now be used to supercharge weapons and activate new techniques that will rip enemies to pieces.

Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance is set to launch sometime during 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Windows Central's take

Now, Monster Hunter Wilds and I had a rocky relationship, despite me being a hardcore Monster Hunter fanboy who's been in love with the series since Monster Hunter World.

At launch, it gravely disappointed me for its lackluster difficulty throughout the main campaign, subpar performance, and lack of substantial endgame content. Thankfully, post-game updates managed to fix most of these issues, while providing some satisfyingly challenging monsters to hunt like Omega and Gogmazios.

After looking at this trailer, my excitement for Monster Hunter has been lit up again because this expansion looks amazing. The new floating islands locale is easily the best-looking area in the game, the new original Flying Wyvern looks cool, and the new supermoves look fun to use.

Also, it's wild to see Lao Shan Lung again after so many years. This thing that debuted in the original Monster Hunter from 2004 paved the way for multiplayer-scale raid monsters in the series like Kulva Taroth, Jhen Mohran, and Zorah Magdaros, to name a few, and I'm kind of excited to fight it again without being held back by old-school controls this time.

Best of all, we'll doubtless be getting Master Rank quests, which in the past have often been the most challenging in a Monster Hunter game, meaning the story campaign might actually provide some difficulty this time and not be afraid of putting the player in danger.

I can't wait to see what else Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance has in store when it launches sometime in 2027 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

🗨️ Over to you

What do you think of Monster Hunter Wilds: Ascendance? Does it make you want to revisit Monster Hunter Wilds or play it for the first time if you've been holding off on playing until the DLC expansion arrives?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, please let us know through the poll below, the comments section, or our Reddit page.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

It's been just over two years since Capcom's popular open-world fantasy RPG Dragon's Dogma 2 released across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5, but aside from a few small additions and updates centered around fixing bugs and improving performance, nothing major has come to the sequel since then.

Many have been hopeful for a DLC, but there's been no official word of an expansion from the developers yet — though one hasn't been ruled out, either. Now, however, fans believe they've found evidence that a DLC is indeed on the way. And after seeing it for myself, I've gotta say: it's pretty compelling.

All of it comes in the wholesome image posted on the official Dragon's Dogma account on X (Twitter) that celebrates Dragon's Dogma 2's second anniversary, featuring multiple characters from the game enjoying a party at a tavern. It's a neat piece of artwork...but it's also got some fascinating details.

On the table closest to the camera, there's an unfurled letter with text on it — text that matches the in-game script you can translate into English. Naturally, fans did just that, and found that the note says the following: "Sightings of griffins flying in from the northern region of Organ have been confirmed."

That alone is a huge tease, especially since in-game Dragon's Dogma 2 tooltips make mention of a "northern continent" that's entirely separate from the Vermund and Battahl regions. The contents of this letter suggest this landmass is named Organ, and many believe we'll travel to it in an upcoming expansion.

It's not the only piece of evidence, though. Another is that in the background of the scene, you can see a Beastren wearing wintry garb walking out of the party. As many have pointed out, both his braided hairstyle and his choice of clothing aren't currently available or seen in any part of base Dragon's Dogma 2.

On top of that, he's surrounded in a subtle blue glow, and is also the only character in the image that isn't facing the camera. Clearly, Capcom's artists wanted him to stand out in the crowd of NPCs, and stand out he does.

Could this Beastren be a new character from this northern region of Organ? It's impossible to say for sure, obviously, but given that the north tends to be cold and he's got heavy fur clothing as well as a unique hairstyle, it's very possible.

I suppose it's also possible that this picture isn't actually teasing DLC at all, and that everyone who thinks it is is high on hopium. But you know what? I'm shamelessly hopemaxxing, and so are countless fans across the Dragon's Dogma subreddit and the wide web beyond.

Despite performance issues, lacking enemy variety, and friction-heavy systems that controversially limited handholding to an extreme degree (that's something I love, personally), I believe Dragon's Dogma 2 is one of the best new RPGs we've gotten in years, complete with immensely rewarding exploration, stellar physics-driven, Monster Hunter-style combat, and quest design that greatly rewards paying attention to and deeply engaging with its world.

Yes, it's weird — and not always in a good way, either. For me, though, its highest highs far outweigh the lowest lows, and I'd love to have a reason to dive back into Capcom's world. A brand new adventure set in a brand new region would be a great one.

🗨️ Are you a Dragon's Dogma 2 fan?

Capcom's open-world fantasy RPG Dragon's Dogma 2 is a bit divisive, especially with how unforgiving some of its design choices are (fast travel requires very rare items, saving is extremely limited, and, uh, Dragonsplague, among other things). Still, I love it, and I would absolutely love to see it get a DLC.

How about you? Are you a fan of the game? Would you like to see it get a DLC expansion? Let me know in the comments, and be sure to vote in our poll:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Nvidia DLSS 5 was revealed recently to boos and outcry, as the technology appears to apply an AI “slop” filter over games.

One of those games showcased was Capcom’s Resident Evil Requiem, where one of the main characters, Grace, was shown using the new technology.

After reports of developers from Ubisoft and Capcom being blindsided by the DLSS 5 showcase, we now have more concrete details on Capcom’s stance on AI, how it’s used in development, and more importantly, where it isn’t used.

Capcom draws a clear line on generative AI in games

Thanks to a new report from Google Cloud on its collaboration with Capcom, we now have a clearer look at how the company is actually using AI behind the scenes.

In case a Google Cloud collaboration didn’t tip you off, Capcom will be making use of Google’s Gemini AI to help with the development of its games.

Now it is important to mention that rather than replacing developers, Capcom is focusing on one of the most time-intensive parts of development; coming up with ideas.

“One of the most time-consuming elements of game development is to come up with ideas to create a game worldview.”

That workload scales differently according to Capcom, who state:

“In the end, we had to think of hundreds of thousands of ideas, including those that were not used,” Abe explains.

“The time it took for generative AI to analyze the configuration data in the prompt and output it was a few minutes, while Gemini was overwhelmingly fast at just a few seconds, which is a clear advantage in speed-oriented game development.”

Whether you like AI or not, Capcom clearly sees it as a support tool rather than a replacement, with Mr. Abe pointing to its role in helping developers generate ideas more efficiently.

Capcom does not directly comment on DLSS 5 here. However, it clearly sees AI as having real benefits within the development pipeline.

Rather than using it for content in the final product, Capcom is currently focused on using AI earlier in development to help build out ideas, not to apply an AI filter over finished games.

🗨️Do you accept how Capcom will use AI in its development pipeline?

I’m of the mindset that AI is something we can’t really escape, and I just hope that when it is used, it’s done responsibly and doesn’t come at the cost of developers losing their jobs.

At least in this case, Capcom is being upfront about how it plans to use the technology, and based on what’s been shared, players shouldn’t expect to see AI-generated art showing up in the final game.

With that said, over to you. Let me know your thoughts on how Capcom plans to use AI by leaving a comment, and be sure to take part in the poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

NVIDIA's new DLSS 5 tech isn’t quite winning the public over, with many comparing the image-altering technology to some kinds of "AI slop" filters seen in generative AI tools like ChatGPT and other Snapchat.

The CEO of NVIDIA, Jensen Huang, had responded to that criticism, telling users they are “completely wrong.” However, despite claims that developers have “direct control,” Insider Gaming reports that may not have been the case.

Developers at Ubisoft and Capcom who agreed to showcase their games at the DLSS 5 reveal say they were not informed in advance. “We found out at the same time as the public,” said one Ubisoft developer.

Developers at Capcom also told Insider Gaming they were shocked by the publisher’s involvement. According to the report, the company has historically been “anti-AI,” and some developers fear DLSS 5 could shift its stance on generative AI and its use in future games.

Back in January 2025, IGN reported that Capcom was experimenting with generative AI tools to help create ideas for in-game environments, so its stance on AI might not be as “anti-AI” as some may believe.

However, AI use cases like this in development are nothing new, and not quite the type of AI people typically take issue with. That criticism is usually aimed at AI-generated art, which can directly negatively impact the artists behind it.

🎮 How do you feel about DLSS 5?

Is DLSS 5 a huge leap in graphical technology and something you’ve always dreamed of, or is it more akin to AI-generated slop that many, myself included, have come to disdain?

Let me know your thoughts in the comments, and make sure you take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

We're a short while away from the release of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the next big entry in the Monster Hunter's JRPG spin-off series. As a fan, I'm excited to see this underrated Xbox JRPG series finally get a next-gen makeover along with a darker and more mature story, innovations to its turn-based combat and monster-taming gameplay, and of course, a whole batch of new Monsties to ride on with.

Yet, I can't help but feel nervous that it could end up severely disappointing me as Monster Hunter Wilds did at launch, with toned-down difficulty and performance issues so bad that it incited a year of 'review bombs' on Steam.

Fortunately, my paranoia was mostly wiped clean after having an amazing time previewing Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's opening chapters, so I was looking forward to what else it had to offer. After completing the full game, my love for the entire Monster Hunter franchise was renewed because I haven't played a Capcom JRPG this fun in ages, despite some controversial gameplay decisions that may anger long-time fans.

So, what are those decisions, you may ask? Read on to find out in my review of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

This Review was made possible thanks to a code provided by Capcom. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this Review before publication.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Story, art, and performance

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection follows the story of the prince/princess of Azuria, a veteran monster Rider dedicated to saving their kingdom and monster-kind alike from a horrific phenomenon reducing all life to crystal called Encroachment.

To make matters worse, Arzuria is on the brink of war with its neighbouring kingdom, Vermeil, which is aggressively expanding its territory into forbidden ground to escape the Encroachment.

With the fate of two kingdoms and the ecosystem as a whole hanging in the balance, our hero sets forth on a journey along with their Skyscale Rathalos and specially-trained Riders called Rangers to uncover the truth behind the Encroachment and stop it before all is lost.

This game has, without a shadow of a doubt, the best storyline I've seen in a Monster Hunter by a country mile.

While it does feature the typical Monster Hunter affair of an unknown phenomenon causing havoc on the ecosystem, it's made more interesting by the fact that it's causing turf wars between mankind to the point where they're forced to use Monsties as tools of war to survive.

However, don't take this to mean that it's full of doom and gloom.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection hasn't forgotten its adventurous roots, as there are plenty of moments where it immerses the player in the wonders of nature, intriguing worldbuilding, and heartwarming levity to break up the morally grey war story between Arzuria and Vermeil.

Its cast of characters is just as entertaining as the story, as each member of your party has a charming personality and a riveting backstory worth completing their long Side Story quests to fully see.

Even the main Player Character is surprisingly compelling in their own right. They're a gentle soul that loves nature and will do anything to save Monsties and mankind alike, all the while displaying careful tact with regards to handling delicate situations as befitting of a future King/Queen.

In fact, I'd go as far as to say this game has the best batch of characters since the fan-favorite Caravan group from Monster Hunter 4, and I would love to go on more adventures with this bunch of Riders in future games or even DLC expansions.

For those who were afraid that this game was going to suffer the performance issues Monster Hunter Wilds did, I am happy to report that the Xbox Series X version of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's performance is A-Okay.

It runs at a rock-solid stable 60 FPS and 1080p resolution in Balanced mode and 30 FPS with 1440p resolution in Prioritize Resolution Mode (though the Kinship Skill cutscenes will go into 60 FPS).

Prioritize Framerate Mode has 60 FPS (or higher at around 70-90 FPS) and 1080p resolution, but the draw distance will be downgraded as monsters, trees, and other environmental assets in the sandbox exploration areas will look like unfinished textures from miles away until you get close to them, so they can load in properly.

But no matter what mode you choose on Xbox, you will be able to fully experience this game's beautiful, vibrant locales, gorgeously detailed anime character designs, and cinematically flashy super moves during combat without fear of framerate drops or gameplay-degrading stuttering.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Gameplay

Monster Hunter Stories' tried and true turn-based combat and monster-taming gameplay is alive and kicking in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. They feature plenty of refinements and innovative new mechanics to keep things fresh and fun.

Firstly, taming monsters has never been more exciting thanks to the brand new Habitat Restoration system. As you explore the world, you will work to restore the exosystem by finding monster eggs, hatching new Monsties, and releasing them back into the wild to restore their population.

It felt so satisfying seeing this game's vibrant biomes, once nearly devoid of life, get slowly repopulated with monsters you worked hard to save, and it really helps sell the immersive feeling that you are a monster Rider working to keep nature in balance.

It's also rewarding from a gameplay perspective. Repopulating monster populations can lead to unlocking new Monsties to add to your party and unlock insanely powerful and cool new passive and active abilities to use in battle.

And you'll need to master them quickly because turn-based combat in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is no joke. Enemies hit hard, have lots of health, and rarely engage the player in the series' iconic Head-to-Head mechanic, so the player can't rock-paper-scissor their way to victory like in past games.

Once I got the hang of the enemies' new approach in battle and mastered the game's new combat mechanics like the new Longsword and Synchro Rush attack, turn-based battles became incredibly enjoyable to engage in.

The consistently tough enemies kept me engaged throughout my playtime, incentivising me to keep my gear up to date. Plus, it felt so satisfying to outfox enemies using out-of-the-box strategies and optimized Monstie party builds I created after investing so much time in the Habitat Restoration system.

That being said, it is rather annoying that Capcom didn't take my complaints about Battle Allies being uncontrollable in my Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin review to heart and instead doubled down on it.

Granted, the Battle Allies' AI is somewhat more competent than the previous game, as they'll often win in Head-to-Heads depending on which one you bring to fight certain monsters, and you can set their AI to prioritize different targets.

However, they'll still make stupid mistakes that will end up costing you dearly in battle, leading to unintentional frustration. I'd much rather take direct control of them so I can better synergize with their skills instead of praying the AI doesn't use a move that will get them killed.

Yet, this is a nitpick compared to some rather controversial decisions that may turn off not only Monster Hunter Stories fans, but Monster Hunter fans in general.

These decisions include a smaller roster of Monsties to collect in previous (this game has roughly around 80 or so Monsties to collect, whereas previous games had over 100), the lack of any multiplayer feature, and, shocking of all: NO HIGH-RANK POSTGAME.

Now, the first two issues I can forgive because the roster for this game is mostly made of original monsters that hadn't been in the series before (and most of them are really entertaining to use in battle).

As for the lack of multiplayer, I don't mind it being gone in favor of the developers focusing more on the single-player content and story, as it paid off in spades in this game. Though I'm a little sad to see we won't get any more of Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin's Co-Op quests, as I enjoyed them way more than the PvP modes the previous games had.

What I can't forgive, however, is not having a High Rank post-game. High Rank difficulty and post-game content have been a core part of Monster Hunter's identity since the original PlayStation 2 game in 2004.

So seeing a Monster Hunter game at launch, spin-off or not, not have any post-game bosses, post-game areas, post-game Monsties, or even a High Rank difficulty to test our endgame builds to their limits is heartbreaking.

Plus, this will establish a dangerous precedent where we'll no longer get any High Rank content at launch for a Monster Hunter game, setting the whole franchise back if Capcom continues it and we don't speak up on it.

However, and this is a big however, that doesn't mean there's absolutely nothing to do once you complete the main story. If you focus on completing the main story quests with little side-questing, it will take you around 40 to 50 hours.

Yet, I was able to squeeze over 120 hours out of this game by completing every side quest and Battle Ally Side Story, collecting every Monstie, experimenting with the Habitat Restoration system, and hunting down all the Feral Monsters, Invasive Monsters, and Calamitous Elder Dragons because I loved this game's core gameplay and story so much.

So I can assure you that this game will not leave you starving for content. If you can put aside the reduced Monstie roster and lack of multiplayer and a High-Rank postgame (which I totally understand if you don't, as it's an extremely bitter pill to swallow), then you will be in for one heck of a JRPG adventure you won't soon forget.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Should you buy it?

Overall, I feel this game is the Monster Hunter Stories equivalent of Monster Hunter Tri — an ambitious entry that risks taking the series in a new direction with modern-day graphics, a mostly original roster of monsters, experimental gameplay ideas, and a much greater focus on cinematic storytelling.

While the lack of multiplayer and a High-Rank postgame will be extremely disappointing to long-time Monster Hunter fans (which I hope gets rectified with potential DLC expansions), that doesn't mean you should skip out on this game.

Its core gameplay loop of releasing monsters into the wild to restore ecosystems is addictive, and turn-based battles are gratifying while not being afraid of making the player work for their victories.

The graphical artstyle is a delightful feast for the eyes, and the story and character writing were epic, funny, and heartwarming from beginning to end. Not to mention, it has some of the best character writing Capcom has done since its classic Breath of Fire series.

If you're a fan of Pokémon-like alternatives that actually try to evolve the monster-taming genre or if you're a fan of turn-based JRPGs in general, then I highly recommend grabbing this near-perfect gem, as it's worth Riding On for.

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Resident Evil Requiem launched late last month to strong success, becoming the highest-rated new Resident Evil entry since Resident Evil 4 released back in 2005. The game focuses on fan favorite Leon Kennedy alongside newcomer Grace Ashcroft, delivering the blend of action and horror the series is known for.

Players have clearly embraced it, with Capcom confirming that the game has sold 5 million copies across all platforms in just five days.

To put that into perspective, the Resident Evil 4 remake took four months to reach the same milestone, further reinforcing that Capcom is still on a generational run. While Resident Evil Requiem is performing extremely well across every platform it launched on, it is also doing very well on Xbox.

Yes, the platform where apparently nobody buys games. I am joking, of course, but it’s always a laugh to poke fun. Seeing it pass titles like ARC Raiders and the longstanding Red Dead Redemption 2 is great to see for the franchise, and it feels well deserved.

Resident Evil Requiem climbs Xbox sales charts

It's great to see Capcom continue to hit its stride after Resident Evil 6 disappointed many fans when it released years ago. Requiem doing so well during the franchise’s 30th anniversary makes the moment feel even more fitting.

What makes Resident Evil Requiem even more impressive is how quickly it reached 5 million sales. The game hit that milestone in just five days, making it the fastest selling Resident Evil title in the franchise’s history.

For comparison, Resident Evil 5, one of my personal favorites, took two months to reach 5 million copies sold, while the Resident Evil 4 remake took close to those four months. Other recent entries took even longer. Resident Evil Village and Resident Evil 6 both reached 5 million copies after five months.

Resident Evil 2 remake took around a year, while Resident Evil 7 reached the milestone after fifteen months. Resident Evil 3 remake took the longest in this group, reaching 5 million sales after two years. The Resident Evil franchise as a whole has now sold more than 183 million units worldwide as of December 31, 2025, cementing its place as one of Capcom’s most successful franchises.

🗨️ Are you surprised how quickly Requiem has hit 5 million copies sold?

Have you managed to pick up Resident Evil Requiem yet, and if so, how are you finding it? Let me know in the comments, and make sure to take part in our poll below:

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Resident Evil Requiem just released, and I highly recommend you read our review here on Windows Central. Today, though, we are looking at sales, because PC really is driving the Capcom renaissance.

Capcom recently confirmed in its latest financial results that 50% of all game sales now come from PC. That is a significant milestone, and it highlights just how important the platform has become for the publisher.

While some Capcom titles can be played on Linux via Proton, the overwhelming majority of players are still on Windows. Steam’s Hardware Survey shows that roughly 96% of Steam users are running Windows, reinforcing that when Capcom says “PC,” it is largely referring to the Windows ecosystem.

PC makes up 50% of Capcom’s unit sales

Despite rising costs across the industry, and recent reports suggesting affordable gaming PCs could become far rarer by 2028 due to increasing RAM and storage prices, PC gaming is not slowing down for Capcom.

For Capcom, business on PC is booming. In its latest financial report from the end of January 2026, it confirmed that 50% of total game sales now come from PC, and it expects that ratio to continue growing.

Resident Evil Requiem alone is already the biggest Resident Evil launch on Steam, peaking at 344,000 concurrent users. That comfortably surpasses Resident Evil 4 Remake, which peaked at 168,000 concurrent users on Steam.

There is currently no equivalent public data for Resident Evil Requiem on Xbox or consoles beyond physical UK sales charts. In the UK, just 6% of physical sales were on Xbox, although physical editions are increasingly rare in stores in the UK, especially compared to digital purchases.

There were also a few other interesting tidbits in Capcom’s report. It linked the Devil May Cry anime to a boost in franchise sales, and said Street Fighter 6 has benefited from esports growth.

Capcom is also targeting 54 million total units for the fiscal year across new and catalog titles combined. That is a rather lofty goal though.

For Monster Hunter fans, Wilds is still part of its long term strategy. Capcom said it is aiming to maximize sales and profitability over roughly five years through updates, improvements, and pricing measures.

For now though, that’s all the report reveals, Capcom intends to continue to invest in PC as they see it as a strong place for growth, despite current market conditions.

🗨️ What do you think about Capcom’s PC surge?

Are you surprised that half of Capcom’s sales now come from PC, or does it make complete sense given its recent run of hits?

Let me know in the comments, and make sure to take part in our poll below:

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

It's been a long time coming for Resident Evil fans — not counting remasters and remakes, the last mainline entry in Capcom's legendary horror game series was 2021's Resident Evil Village — but Resident Evil Requiem, AKA Resident Evil 9, is finally almost here.

As I write this, the new Raccoon City-based adventure starring none other than the beloved Leon Kennedy and new protagonist Grace Ashcroft is less than two days away from its arrival on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, Nintendo Switch 2, and PS5.

Ahead of launch, it's reviewed exceptionally well, with Windows Central's own Jez Corden calling it "an epic showcase of Resident Evil's best action and survival horror traditions" in his review.

The game's impressive critical reception and high Metacritic scores have fueled hype for the long-awaited title as its release date approaches, and naturally, that means tons of Resident Evil fans want to know exactly when they can play Requiem in their region. Luckily, Capcom has recently announced everything there is to know about its release date and launch times, all of which you can view below:

The above graphic (posted by Capcom itself) and table show precisely when Resident Evil Requiem is scheduled to come out around the world, and includes the game's release date as well as different launch times for different platforms in every major time zone (use this time zone converter if you don't see yours).

In most regions, Requiem is slated to release on console on February 27 at midnight local time, while the game comes out on PC at the same time globally on February 26 at 9 p.m. PST / February 27 at midnight EST. One exception to the former is the console rollout in PST, which is scheduled for 9 p.m. instead of midnight.

Others include the release timing for Nintendo Switch 2 specifically in both CST and BRT. Instead of coming out at midnight in these regions like it is on Xbox and PlayStation, Resident Evil Requiem is dropping on Switch 2 at February 26, 11 p.m. and February 27, 2 a.m. in CST and BRT, respectively.

How about preloading? If you've preordered the digital version of Resident Evil Requiem on any of its platforms, you can preload the game now so that you can jump in right away once the game unlocks in your time zone. I recommend doing this if you have the bandwidth for it, as it's never fun to stare at a download bar on launch day when you could be playing.

Even though release is less than two days away, you can still preorder to take advantage of preloading. Note that Resident Evil Requiem is available for $69.99 on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2, with Loaded offering a sweet deal that brings the Steam version down to $59.99 at Loaded.

Excited for Resident Evil Requiem? Sound off!

Are you looking forward to getting your hands on Resident Evil Requiem? Are you a big fan of Capcom's iconic horror franchise in general? Let me know in the comments.

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2026 has had a bit of a slow start for new game launches so far, though one release that's really crept up on us is Capcom's Resident Evil Requiem, AKA Resident Evil 9.

The latest entry in the studio's prolific survival horror franchise is now less than two days away from its global February 27 release date across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PS5, and Switch 2 — and ahead of that launch, reviews and Metacritic scores for the game have gone live following the arrival of its review embargo.

At the time of writing, Resident Evil Requiem has achieved a 92/100 on Xbox, a 91/100 on PC, a 90/100 on Switch 2, and an 88/100 on Switch 2 on Metacritic, resulting in an average overall Metascore of 90/100, which is quite impressive. That just pushes the game into "Universal Acclaim" territory, which many of its reviews reflect; here's a range:

• Game Rant (100/100): "Resident Evil Requiem's gripping story and intoxicating gameplay blend are wrapped up in a perfectly-polished experience with eye-popping graphics and a blood-pumping soundtrack. Resident Evil Requiem is a horror gaming masterpiece and one of the best games Capcom has ever made. It's the ultimate Resident Evil game and will be remembered as fondly as the franchise favorites in the years to come."
• Destructoid (95/100): "Resident Evil Requiem is an exceptionally well-made nostalgia romp that elevates everything special about the series, showcasing the pinnacle of both survival horror and action horror in a package that has a little bit of everything but executes it all well."
• PC Gamer (92/100): "Resident Evil Requiem sets itself out with a hard task: wrapping all the best elements of previous Resident Evil games into one. Miraculously it succeeds, with very few moments which left me wanting more."
• IGN (90/100): "Like the result of an experiment conducted in an underground Umbrella Corporation lab, Resident Evil Requiem successfully splices two separate strains of survival horror together into the one highly infectious new mutation. It signals the return of a series legend and the arrival of a likeable new lead, amps up the gore to a new stomach-turning standard, and unleashes a scarier breed of zombie alongside some truly beastly boss fights."
• GamesRadar+ (90/100): "Resident Evil Requiem is the most cinematic, bloody, surprisingly emotional moment for the franchise to-date. Its two protagonists complement one another for a balanced experience that feels more narrativized than ever before, with bombastic combat and strong set pieces amping up the nostalgia without feeling gimmicky. Requiem sees Capcom drawing from 30 years of terror to expand its lore, chart a path forward, and pay homage to a gilded survival horror legacy — one with plenty of life left in it."
• TechRadar Gaming (80/100): "Resident Evil Requiem shines in its incredible first half, which masterfully blends pulse-pounding horror with intense action. Unfortunately, that winning formula isn’t maintained throughout the latter sections, which devolve into fan-service moments strung together by an increasingly sloppy plot. Still enjoyable, but ironic that an instalment about moving on from the past would be so weighed down by it."

Resident Evil Requiem sticks the landing

Given how well-received most recent Resident Evil games have been, expectations for Resident Evil Requiem were very high — especially since it features Leon Kennedy, one of the franchise's most popular characters, as one of its two playable protagonists. These reviews, though, make it clear that at least in the eyes of critics, this latest installment has absolutely stuck the landing.

Indeed, Resident Evil Requiem's Metacritic score is one of the best a new game has recently gotten, with reviewers praising the balance of Leon's brutal and bloody action with the stealthier and more horror-forward gameplay of Grace Ashcroft, the game's other main character.

Critics have also spoken highly of the game's story that brings players back to the remains of Raccoon City to investigate a mysterious new zombie outbreak, along with its connections to past Resident Evil narratives from the past 30 years, its visual detail and graphical fidelity (its gore effects, in particular), and its musical score.

Some have found the pacing between Leon's and Grace's very tonally different sections to be a bit jarring, and have criticized the latter half of the game for feeling disjointed. Overall, though, the vast majority of reviewers seem to love Resident Evil Requiem, as even those with more critical conclusions have rated it highly.

Windows Central's own executive editor and gaming lead Jez Corden reviewed Capcom's latest action-packed horror romp, too, stating that "Resident Evil Requiem is another fantastic entry in the industry's most legendary horror franchise. Sometimes the split protagonist experience can feel a little disjointed, but the dizzying highs are so plentiful you might not even notice." He gave it a score of 4.5/5 stars, which lines up with the title's 90/100 average.

All in all, it sounds like Resident Evil Requiem is not a game to be missed, especially if you're a huge Resident Evil fan or someone that craves the thrill of a good horror experience. You can pick it up across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, PS5, and Nintendo Switch 2 for $69.99.

Are you getting Resident Evil Requiem?

Now that you've seen reviews and scores for Resident Evil Requiem, do you plan on picking up Capcom's latest entry in its legendary horror series? If not, how come? Let me know in the comments.

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On February 22, 2026, Capcom uploaded a new trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, as well as a Developer walkthrough to help newcomers to the series get up to speed on the game's story and gameplay.

The "Go Forth" trailer gives players a deeper glimpse into the game's story while revealing a whole bunch of new monsters to hunt and tame as Monsties that can be controlled as party members in battle.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's story centers around the Encroachment, a mysterious phenomenon turning all life to crystal that has forced the kingdoms of Vermeil and Azuria into waging war against each other for survival.

The trailer hints that the player will eventually uncover the source of the Encroachment while contending with shocking revelations and painful loss of family members along the way.

Over the course of the "Go Forth" trailer, we also get glimpses at several returning monsters from previous games and newcomers to the Monster Hunter Stories series that will be implemented as bosses to beat and potentially new Monsties to tame.

These monsters include Nibelsnarf, Shogun Ceanataur, Ajarakan, Barroth, Seregios, Ibushi, Narwa, and a mysterious egg that may contain an original monster exclusively for this game.

The wait for Monster Hunter Stories 3 is getting too much bear, I need to hunt now!

I was already sold on Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection after being wowed during my preview of the game, but this trailer has sent my anticipation levels into critical mass.

After many years, we finally have a crab monster as a rideable Monstie in the form of Shogun Cenataur. The story is looking even more intense, and seeing Narwa and Ibushi again as enemies to fight has me giddy with nostalgia for Monster Hunter Rise.

While it lacked the gruelling challenge of previous mainline games, Monster Hunter Rise more than made up for it with cool monsters, a slick and colorful art style, an excellent PC port that functioned at launch, and over-the-top arcadey gameplay that, in my opinion, is still vastly superior to Monster Hunter Wilds in terms of focus and execution.

In fact, I'm going to fire up Monster Hunter Rise right now and relive its glorious Sunbreak expansion to kill time before Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection arrives on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

We'd like to hear your thoughts

Are you looking to play Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection after watching this trailer? Which monsters from the mainline Monster Hunter series would you like to see be included in the Monster Hunter Stories games as a Monstie?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

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Monster Hunter Wilds has just received its final major update for the base game titled Ver.1.041.00.00, and it's celebrating the game's 1st anniversary with a bang.

This update has brought more performance enhancements for both consoles and PC, an Arch-Tempered version of Arkveld to battle, new Event Quests to indulge in, and various other bug fixes for all platforms.

Here are some of the biggest highlights of this update, according to Monster Hunter Wilds' patch notes.

First off and most importantly, this patch will be bringing several more performance enhancements for PC, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5 versions, which include:

• Reduced CPU/GPU processing and made adjustments to lower the load on the game.
• Added internal Levels of Detail (LOD) for 3D models, adjusting them to display optimal quality based on the situation to reduce GPU load.
• Optimized monster and endemic life spawn-time processing to reduce CPU load.
• Added effect caching to decrease CPU load when generating duplicate effects.
• Optimized rendering processes to reduce CPU/GPU load.
• Performed other minor adjustments to lower the overall load.

While these performance boosts aren't as extensive as the last PC performance, these changes are receiving a very positive reception based on early impressions.

Recent Steam reviews have been 70% overwhelmingly positive in the past few hours, with many people claiming that the game is in a perfectly functional state.

MHWilds (TU5) - Patch 1.041 VS Patch 1.040 - 1.010 – Performance/Benchmark Test from r/MonsterHunter

However, Reddit user nreal_NeoX points out that the game still suffers from a CPU-bottleneck issue despite it's VRAM usage being reduced and improved 1% lows. Fortunately, the CPU bottleneck is nowhere near as bad as it was before, so gameplay performance shouldn't feel too strained anymore on PC.

As for the consoles, I've tried out the performance patch briefly on Xbox, and I have noticed that the game in Balanced Mode now stays at a relatively stable 30-40 FPS, whereas before it dipped below 30 FPS constantly.

Resolution Mode has the game capped at 30 FPS with sharper anti-aliasing, and Performance Mode has the game running more consistently at 60 FPS than it did in previous patches.

The game on Xbox definitely feels a lot less sluggish to control for me compared to how it did at launch in all modes, but I'll be sticking with Performance Mode despite the dip in resolution quality so I can achieve my frame-perfect counters without input-delay.

Now that we've got the performance changes out of the way, let's talk about gameplay content.

This update introduces Arch-Tempered Arkveld as the final Arch-Tempered Monster, along with new 10* Quests where you have to fight harder versions of Arch-Tempered Arkveld, Rey Dau, Nu Udra, Uth Duna, and Jin Dahaad.

There's also new side missions involving Rudy from Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection and Nadia, a returning NPC from Monster Hunter 4 with new gear and cosmetic rewards up for grabs.

The update has added a ton of new Event Quests with all kinds of rewards ranging from useful armor sets and items to goofy cosmetics. In addition, dozens of Event Quests have also been made permanently available and can now be played offline.

Now's the time to re-join the hunt in preparation for Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming expansion

Perhaps the greatest news that this final update has brought is that people actually care about Monster Hunter again.

According to SteamDB, Monster Hunter Wilds' con-current playerbase on Steam has skyrocketed in the last 24 hours to the point that nearly 80,000 people are playing it on Steam.

I'd imagine the developers at Capcom have regained their spirits now that they've won back the fanbase's trust on PC and console with these updates.

Granted that it's annoying we had to wait an entire year for the game to become stable enough to enjoy it, but it's better than not getting any performance patches at all, like the tragic Wild Hearts never did on Xbox and PC.

Either way, Monster Hunter Wilds is in a very good state both in stability and endgame. If you have been on the fence for this game, now's the time to finally jump in and hunt giant monsters with your friends.

Stay tuned for more Monster Hunter news as we keep out for info regarding Monster Hunter Wilds' DLC expansion and the upcoming release of the JRPG spin-off, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

Over to you

What do you think of this last update for Monster Hunter Wilds? Has it fully redeemed the game after it burned you at launch or are you waiting until it's DLC expansion for more content?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Sony has shocked the world with probably its most stacked State of Play livestream in years. Yet, in the midst of all the exciting new Xbox and PC games announced during it, one announcement slipped under the radar that has me personally stoked.

Capcom revealed that it has shadow-dropped two classic PlayStation 1 titles, Dino Crisis 1 and Dino Crisis 2, onto Steam with a 50% discount for a limited time ($3.99 for Dino Crisis 1 on Steam and $3.99 for Dino Crisis 2 on Steam).

Last year, Dino Crisis 1 and 2 were re-released on PC by GOG in its efforts to preserve old games. Now, Steam users can experience these two classic titles for themselves and on the Steam Deck as they're fully playable on it, albeit with DRM issues they'll need to work around.

For those unaware, Dino Crisis was a series of games that asked, "What if we made Resident Evil but with dinosaurs instead of zombies?" and the result was pure 1990s goodness.

The first Dino Crisis was a traditional survival-horror game with an extreme emphasis on 'survival' as resources, enemies, and puzzles were more deadly and challenging than the PS1 Resident Evil trilogy.

The sequel, Dino Crisis 2, functioned more like an action game where you mow down hordes of dinosaurs with increasingly ridiculous weapons and mechanics that pre-dated the action-oriented entries of Resident Evil, like Resident Evil 4.

Could this lead to a long-awaited Dino Crisis remake?

This is the second time Capcom has re-released Dino Crisis 1 and 2 on PC, and it's giving me hope that the company may be gearing up for a new entry in the series.

Capcom's been on a roll lately, reviving some of its dormant IP like Mega Man, Onimusha, Okami, and even re-releasing Breath of Fire 4 (my favorite Capcom JRPG of all time) onto GOG, so who's to say Capcom isn't preparing for a Dino Crisis remake?

I certainly would love Dino Crisis to make a comeback because this franchise had cool ideas and ways to thrill the player that could be taken a step further with a modern-day remake (I would love to see the One-Eyed T-Rex or Gigantosaurus from Dino Crisis 2 rendered in the RE Engine).

Whether this turns out to be a one-off deal or the beginning of something greater, we'll keep you posted on further news from Capcom regarding Dino Crisis and any potential big-name re-releases of their older titles (here's hoping they'll bring back every Breath of Fire game and old Monster Hunter game to Steam).

Are you excited to play Dino Crisis 1 and 2 on Steam? Are you holding out hope for a Dino Crisis remake?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

I’ve been playing Monster Hunter games for 8 years now, ever since Capcom’s best-selling Monster Hunter World sucked me into its addictive monster-hunting universe.

I’ve done it all, from slaying Fatalis in Monster Hunter World: Iceborne, fighting horror-themed monsters in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, to befriending Monsties in Monster Hunter Stories 1 and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

Given my experience with this franchise (and playing Monster Hunter Stories 3's free playable demo), Capcom allowed me to get a hands-on preview of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on Xbox, the latest entry in Monster Hunter’s Pokémon-like spin-off series, where you tame monsters rather than purely hunt them.

After spending over 20 hours of the game’s first two chapters, I was shocked in the best way possible. Not only is Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection already shaping up to be the best Monster Hunter Stories game, but it also has the potential to be one of the best games in the entire Monster Hunter franchise.

This preview was made possible thanks to a code provided by Capcom. The company had no input nor saw the contents of this preview before publication.

A story that goes beyond hunting monsters

My preview with an introduction to the game’s premise. You play as the crown prince/princess of Azuria, who’s leading a team of monster Riders called Rangers to investigate Encroachment, a mysterious phenomenon that’s turning all life to crystal and driving many monster species to extinction.

The Encroachment situation is so dire that it’s caused Azuria’s neighboring kingdom, Vermeil, to aggressively expand its territory into forbidden lands that Azuria is protecting to escape crystallization, driving both kingdoms to the brink of war.

After a brief, traumatic altercation with Vermeil’s armies, our protagonist sets out on a journey along with the Rangers and their personal Skyscale Rathalos to stop the impending war by discovering the truth behind the Encroachment while saving endangered monster species along the way.

Right from the get-go, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection easily has the best plot hook out of any Monster Hunter game I’ve played, and it’s left me wanting to see where it goes.

It has shades of grey morality, intrigue, and compelling drama, while maintaining the wondrous sense of adventure, love for nature, and power of friendship themes that the series has always had, but done more maturely, to represent how much the series has grown from its child-friendly roots.

Habitat Restoration offers new layers of monster catching complexity

This sense of maturity for the series also extends to Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection’s gameplay. In the beginning, the gameplay loop plays out like its predecessors.

You embark on a journey throughout the world, taking up quests to hunt monsters, exploring vibrant biomes to hunt said monsters, and carving their body parts to craft powerful gear to hunt bigger monsters like the mainline Monster Hunter series.

Along the way, you will also delve into Monster Dens, where you can collect monster eggs and recruit friendly monsters called Monsties to your party to help you explore precarious terrain and battle hostile monsters.

However, that’s where this game’s similarities with the first two games end. Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection introduces a new gameplay mechanic that has me completely addicted, called Habitat Restoration.

Thanks to the Encroachment, the monster population of several ecosystems has dwindled to near extinction. So, our job is to save these monsters by finding monster eggs, hatching them, and sending the newly hatched monsters back into the wilds to repopulate their numbers.

As you restore monster populations, their Ecosystem Rank within a habitat will grow and unlock the chance for newly hatched Monsties to obtain new abilities and passive stat boosts depending on what habitat they were put in.

You can even unlock powerful secret monsters to recruit as Monsties by sending specific monsters to specific regions, and it felt so satisfying once I figured out how to find them.

This Habitat Restoration also synergizes with the Monster Hunter Stories series’ stable Rite of Channelling mechanic that allows you to transfer the Genes of one Monstie to another to grant them stat boosts, passive abilities, status effect immunities, elemental resistances, and new attacks they wouldn't naturally learn.

I spent the majority of my preview time sending monsters into the wild and farming for eggs just to see what kind of new, powerful abilities I could transfer to my main menagerie of Monsties for my efforts in restoring monster populations, and it felt so rewarding to do.

Combat that's both familiar yet totally fresh and more creative

However, not every habitat is safe to release monsters in. Some of them are inhabited by monsters mutated and driven mad by the Encroachment called Feral Monsters that you must put down in order to secure a habitat for restoration.

Additionally, some endangered monster species can only be unlocked by defeating dangerous beasts called Invasive Monsters because they have stolen their eggs for dinner.

This leads me to the combat system of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, which has seen its fair share of improvements from previous games.

Combat in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is a turn-based affair where you, your partner Monstie, and your AI-controlled party members take turns attacking hostile monsters using powerful abilities, weapons, and tools.

It also has elements of Rock-Paper-Scissors, where some special moves have attack types: Power, Technical, and Speed.

During these engagements, you can overpower an opponent to deal extra damage if your move's attack type beats theirs, or cancel an incoming attack outright if you and a party member both use an attack type that beats an opponent’s attack type, resulting in a Double Tacck.

Plus, when you win in these Rock-Paper-Scissors-style engagements (known in-game as Head-to-Heads), you fill up your Kinship Gauge, which, when full, you can mount your Monstie and perform a cinematic super move called the Kinship Skill to decimate your opponents with.

As for what’s changed about Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection’s combat system from previous titles, for starters, characters now use a Stamina Meter that they can use to activate special attacks with instead of Kinship Gauge (but at the cost of slowing the rate at which the Kinship Gauge fills).

Also, you can now carry as many types of items as you want (at the cost of using only a limited number of them), and you can now choose which attack type your special moves will have before performing (except special moves that have no attack type).

As a result, combat feels looser and freer, allowing the player to have more creative ways to take down monsters and no longer feel restricted by certain abilities they like using being locked behind a single attack type like in previous games.

Feral and Invasive Monsters are no cakewalk

However, don’t get cocky in thinking that these improvements will make the game easy.

If you’re not paying attention to a monster’s attack patterns, countering their attack types correctly, and being properly geared up before a hunt, they will destroy you in a flash, especially the Feral and Invasive Monsters.

Feral Monsters are boss monsters that hit like trucks, frequently use attacks that don’t have attack types to avoid being countered in Head-to-Heads, and counterattack if you hit their crystallized body parts while they’re enraged.

The few Feral Monsters I encountered in my preview were tough and encouraged me to try out out-of-the-box strategies to avoid their attacks.

These included using the new Longsword weapon type to parry incoming non-typed attacks and using attacks that focused on depleting an enemy’s Wyvernsoul Gauge to stagger them rather than dealing straight damage.

What's the Wyvernsoul Gauge, you may ask? Another one of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection’s new combat mechanics is the Wyvernsoul Gauge which acts as a stagger meter for enemy monsters that, when depleted, causes them to fall over like in the mainline games.

When this happens, the player is then briefly given the option to activate a Synchro Rush attack where all party members dogpile on a helpless enemy to deal a ton of damage and greatly fill each party member’s Kinship Gauge.

Alternatively, you can choose to let the Synchro Rush option pass and use this opportunity to heal your party, set up buffs/debuffs, or attack an enemy monster’s specific body part without fear of reprisal for a turn.

This opens up new layers of strategies to the combat system that lead to some epic moments where I tripped a Feral Monster and unleashed a barrage of attacks to destroy its crystal body parts while it was helpless, so I didn’t have to worry about being countered anymore.

However, such strategies won’t carry you to victory when fighting Invasive Monsters, which are ten times worse than Feral Monsters.

Invasive Monsters are creatures that have been driven to other areas thanks to the Encroachment and are wreaking havoc in ecosystems they don’t belong in. They are incredibly powerful, have a ton of health, and are almost impervious to all forms of attacks when you first fight them.

Yet the goal when fighting Invasive Monsters is not slaying them but forcing them to retreat. This is accomplished by examining an invasive Monster's behavior, tracks, and body parts for clues and discovering specific methods to counter their Invasive Attacks.

These range from destroying certain body parts at the right time, using specific moves, and other non-conventional methods. So, in a way, battles with Invasive Monsters function more like puzzles rather than straight-up brawls and provide an interesting change of pace from typical battles.

Once you figure out how to force an Invasive Monster to retreat, you can track it back to its den and retrieve the egg of an endangered species you wouldn’t find normally while exploring, hatch it, and send it back into the wild to restore its population.

Once that’s done, you can challenge an Invasive Monster again in its den to finish it off for good using what you've learned from the initial battle.

However, I strongly recommend not fighting them right away before getting stronger gear and Monsties because I was doing no damage with the starter gear and low-level Monsties I had at the beginning of the game.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is shaping up to be another smash hit for Capcom

Overall, I absolutely loved Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection from what I played during the first two chapters, and I’m hungry for more.

It has a complex plot I’m genuinely invested in, the party members you travel with have fun and charming personalities, the combat system feels vastly improved from past titles, and the new Habitat Restoration adds new addicting layers to the monster-collecting gameplay loop.

Not to mention, there are tons of side content to indulge in, like Side Story quests that delve into your party member’s backstories, using Monstie exploration abilities to uncover hidden treasures and gear in the environment, and dozens upon dozens of Monsties to collect.

If this is just what the first 20 hours are like, I can’t imagine how crazy the gameplay will be once I hit Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection’s late game or endgame content.

If you’re a fan of Xbox JRPGs, Monster Hunter, or Pokémon-like alternatives on PC that try to evolve the niche monster-catching genre, I highly recommend putting Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection on your wishlist because this game has the potential to be one of Capcom’s best games of 2026.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is set to release on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

Ryozo Tsujimoto, the lead producer of Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise, took the stage in Monster Hunter Wilds' latest developer update video to reveal news on the game's final base game update releasing on February 18, 2026, and its DLC expansion set to be revealed this Summer.

This update will bring about more performance boosts for consoles and PC, new challenges to overcome like Arch-Tempered Arkveld, new gear and collectibles to obtain in new Event Quests, and much more.

Here's everything you need to know from the Monster Hunter Wilds' February 2026 update.

First of all, the Monster Hunter Wilds' February 2026 update will introduce the final Arch-Tempered monster for the base game, Arch-Tempered Arkveld.

This will be a 10* Event Quest where you get to hunt a much more powerful version of Arkveld that will use the abilities of its Guardian counterpart from the story campaign while incorporating new deadly moves in its arsenal.

There will also be a Challenge Quest version of Arch-Tempered Arkveld to fight on March 19, 2026.

What's more is that there will be new 10* Quest versions of the previous Arch-Tempered monsters to fight that reward players with Timeworn Charms that can be appraised for rare-quality talismans, and Battle-tempered Emblems to reinforce Gogma Artian weapons with.

On top of that, there will be a new Hunt-a-Thon optional Quest where you get to fight four Arch-Tempered monsters back-to-back, serving as the base game's final ultimate challenge.

The February 2026 update will also include the following:

• Monster Hunter Wilds' Weapon and Pendant Design contest winners, the Shatterseal Greatsword and Meatmergency Pendant, will be obtainable in Event Quests.
• A special collaboration with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection where the player can earn Rudy as Palico armor and Monstie egg pendants in a Side Mission.
• An extra Side Mission where the player can earn the armor set of Nadia, an Ace Hunter from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.
• A free Character and Palico Voucher, where players can change their characters' and Palico's design.

Ryozo Tsujimoto then gives players a run-down of various Event Quests that players can take up in the coming weeks.

These quests include fighting an overpowered Rompopolo, a horde of slime monsters (an in-joke referencing the game's anti-arachnophobia feature), and fighting a Rey Dau and Gypceros duo to obtain the Gala Suit and Felyne Star armor sets from Monster Hunter World.

What's more is that all the previous seasonal events will return on a weekly rotational basis, along with a new Anniversary seasonal event. Plus, there will be even more new Event Quests added to the previous seasonal events, whose details will be revealed at a later date.

Next up, Ryozo Tsujimoto mentions that the Monster Hunter Festa event will take place on February 22, 2026, in Makuhari Messe, Japan.

Plus, Monster Hunter Wilds' final base game will include more performance enhancements for both consoles and PC platforms, building off the back of the game's resoundingly successful PC performance patch.

These include more CPU/GPU optimization, reducing GPU processing loads by adding level-of-detail (LOD) quality levels to 3D models' polygon mesh, and more.

Ryozo Tsujimoto then closes out the presentation by confirming that Capcom is working on Monster Hunter Wilds' large-scale DLC expansion.

It will be similar to Monster Hunter World: Iceborne and Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, and more details on it will be revealed during this Summer 2026.

Capcom has fully redeemed Monster Hunter Wilds for its 1st anniversary

Monster Hunter Wilds has had a rough journey, but at last, it's finally seen light at the end of the tunnel.

At launch, the game disappointed hardcore fans like me with its lackluster difficulty and absence of a substantial endgame, and was review-bombed on Steam for nearly a year for its shockingly subpar PC performance.

Yet the developers never gave up on Monster Hunter Wilds. Though various post-game updates adding in new challenging monsters for hardcore players, balance changes, an insane crossover with Final Fantasy 14, and fixes for the game's PC performance issues, Capcom managed to win back the fans' favor, including mine.

Between this update and the upcoming Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, things are looking up for Monster Hunter in 2026.

Stay tuned for more hunts as we keep an eye out for news on Monster Hunter Wilds' DLC expansion, which will no doubt be revealed during Summer Game Fest 2026.

What do you think of Monster Hunter Wilds now that it's finally reached the end of its post-launch updates? Do you think it's in a better state now than it was at launch, or do you think the game needs more improvements on a fundamental gameplay level, that the DLC expansion could bring?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

Join us on Reddit at r/WindowsCentral to share your insights and discuss our latest news, reviews, and more.

During Nintendo's February 2026 Direct, Capcom arrived with good news regarding Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the latest upcoming entry in the Monster Hunter Stories series.

As of this moment, Capcom has released a free demo for the game, which you can download right now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

The demo will include the opening chapters of the game, and any progress made within it will be carried over to the full game.

As for its contents, the demo will allow players to create their protagonist using its advanced character creator, experience a taste of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's in-depth combat and exploration gameplay, the new Habitat Restoration system, and catch several Monsties to add to their collection of critters.

The vampiric Malzeno has returned for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

On a side note, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection also revealed during its free demo announcement that Malzeno, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, will be featured in the game as no doubt a challenging boss to overcome.

As someone who loved Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, it's pretty cool to see Malzeno make a comeback for this game. Hopefully, this means that Malzeno will become a recruitable Monstie for us to control in battle like Nergigante was for Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

I've been looking forward to playing this game for months because of how much it aims to evolve the gameplay and presentation of the Monster Hunter Stories series.

Thanks to this demo, I finally can get a brief taste of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection ahead of its March 13, 2026 launch for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Are you looking forward to playing Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection? Will you be giving the free demo a go?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

On January 27, 2026, Capcom rolled out Monster Hunter Wilds' long-awaited PC performance patch, which aimed to address the many stability, framerate, and bug issues that had plagued the game's PC version since its release last year.

After being in the wild for a few days, the patch seems to have done the trick.

Players all over the internet are reporting that Monster Hunter Wilds on PC is running much more smoothly than ever, and have even stopped review-bombing it on Steam (as confirmed by @Okami13_ on X).

@Okami13_ tested the game on Steam to see what kind of performance improvements this patch has brought to Monster Hunter Wilds, and he discovered that it has:

• Better 1% lows for smoother gameplay with less hitching and stutter.
• Lower VRAM usage (10+ GB -> 7.5GB).
• Higher FPS in some cases.
• CPU optimizations.
• High-res texture pack is actually usable now.
• Lowered the install size by 45GB with texture pack.
• Some users report that their new frame rate WITHOUT FG = old frame rate WITH FG.
• More graphics options to tweak.

@Okami13_ even also discovered that the DLC Checker system bug that caused massive framerate drops has also been fixed.

What's even crazier is that players like @DeckWizard on YouTube are reporting that the PC performance patch has also improved the game's stability to the point where it's actually playable on the Steam Deck.

After tweaking the game's graphical settings and activating the paid 2X FPS Lossless Scaling app that costs $7 on the Steam Deck, DeckWizard was able to get the game running between 30 and even 60 FPS.

Granted, the visual fidelity of Monster Hunter Wilds takes a big hit as you will need to turn most of the game's graphics to Medium or Low. However, the fact that it's playable at all on Steam Deck when the game isn't Steam Deck certified goes to show how much Monster Hunter Wilds' PC performance has been improved.

Granted, the PC performance patch is not entirely well-received.

Reddit user @Unreal_NeoX also did some testing and discovered that Monster Hunter Wilds on PC is still suffering from a CPU bottleneck issue holding back the game's performance from achieving its true potential.

Monster Hunter Wilds - Patch 1.040.03.01 CPU-Settings Performance/Benchmark Test from r/MonsterHunter

He states, "The CPU bottleneck can be slightly improved with the new settings, but it can not be removed. Even with all CPU options set to the absolute minimum, the GPU can not be loaded to its full capacity."

Unreal_NeoX also recommends updating your computer's BIOS, GPU driver, and Chipsetdriver to make the most of this performance patch while having SAM enabled.

Monster Hunter Wilds' road to performance redemption is hitting the home stretch

In the end, while there are still issues to iron out, Monster Hunter Wilds is a much better place on PC performance wise thanks to this patch.

Fortunately, this won't be the last performance upgrade the game will receive, as the base game of Monster Hunter Wilds will receive one final major update in February 2026.

As stated during the December 2025 Monster Hunter Showcase, this final major patch for Monster Hunter Wilds will feature more CPU/GPU optimization and additional levels of quality (LOD) to the polygon mesh for 3D models (reducing GPU processing load).

The good news is that this performance upgrade will be rolled out not just to the Steam version, but also to the Xbox Series X|S and PlayStation 5 versions, too.

What's more is that the February patch will also include an Arch-Tempered version of Arkveld, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter Wilds. This newly improved Arkveld will serve as the final ultimate challenge for players to tackle in the base game, much like Arch-Tempered Nergigante did back in Monster Hunter World.

Will this final update help Monster Hunter Wilds reach its performance potential on both PC and console? Stay tuned to find out as we keep an eye out for the release date for Monster Hunter Wilds' final post-launch update in February 2026.

What do you think of Monster Hunter Wilds' PC performance patch? Has it made the game more fun and stable for you, or do you think the game needs further improvements?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

While I'm not into men myself, I can certainly appreciate a handsome fellow in the times when I find one in my eyesight. Seeing Leon Kennedy in the trailers for and pre-release gameplay footage of the upcoming Resident Evil Requiem (AKA, Resident Evil 9) were some of those times.

Indeed, the Raccoon City police officer-turned-DSO agent has been widely regarded as something of a dreamboat throughout all of his appearances in the action-horror Resident Evil games, and many fans are swooning over his grizzled visage in Requiem, too. In particular, many Japanese fans have taken to calling him "ikeoji," or "hot uncle," ahead of the game's February 27 release across Xbox, PC, and PS5.

With his slick, fur-collared coat, somewhat tousled dirty blonde hair, and intense eyes, there's a lot to love about Leon's appearance in Resident Evil Requiem — whether you're falling head-over-heels for him, or just think he looks rad. As it turns out, though, Capcom spent an extensive amount of time developing his style and aesthetic, with many women at the developer in particular refining it painstakingly.

"We’ve spent quite a lot of time polishing Leon’s visuals. Leon has many fans among Capcom employees, and women in particular were pretty strict when reviewing his design," explained director Koshi Nakanishi, speaking with Automaton. "They would point out and comment on even the finest details like the wrinkles on his neck. When I mentioned that story in the past, a female fan told me, 'The women developers at Capcom did a really good job.''"

"Throughout the development process, Leon was thoroughly refined, and I think we managed to come through with a design that would make anyone’s heart throb," he continued. I'm inclined to agree; it's difficult to find discussion about Resident Evil Requiem online that doesn't have someone commenting about how hot Leon is, or at the very least, how cool he is.

Notably, though, Leon's handsome appearance isn't the only thing about the character that Capcom took a lot of time to get right. Nakanishi went on to note that the developers also went back and forth on his personality, demeanor, and behavior as well as they zeroed in on how he would act and react to the horrific threats he faces in Requiem after 30 years of surviving various different horrors and monstrosities.

"Every staff member had their own interpretation of Leon’s 30-year-long history, so they would tell me things like, 'Leon would definitely not act like that in this kind of situation,'" he said.

"So, there were more opinions about what he’s like on the inside compared to his looks, and after many discussions, we were able to settle on something that clicked for us. When players see this Leon in the game, hopefully they will be able to find their own interpretation of him as well," Nakanishi added.

Speaking of players and their relationship with Leon, he'll be one of two playable characters in Resident Evil Requiem, the other being FBI agent Grace Ashcroft. Not much is known about the story, though we do know that it takes place in Raccoon City, with both characters investigating a mysterious new zombie infection that has apparent connections to Grace's deceased mother, Alyssa.

As a recent gameplay showcase highlighted, Leon's gameplay will be centered around heavy, intense action, while Grace's will feature slower pacing, tighter spaces, and more of a survival horror focus. My colleague Zac Bowden got a taste of both halves of the game in a recent preview, and called it a "true return to form for classic Resident Evil fans."

Resident Evil Requiem is out on February 27, 2026 on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PS5, with preorders available now.

What are your thoughts on Leon's design in Resident Evil Requiem? Do you find him attractive, or think he looks cool? Would you have preferred a different look for him? Hit me with your take in the comments.

It's been nearly a year since the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, a game that many (myself included) looked forward to playing but were ultimately disappointed by its lackluster difficulty, barebones endgame, and PC performance issues that caused players to review bomb it on Steam for months.

While Capcom has fixed a majority of the game's issues through title updates, it has yet to address the game's PC issues, which have only gotten worse to the point where the DLC's checker system is causing framerate issues (which Capcom has confirmed is a bug).

Hopefully, those technical bugbears will finally be put to bed as Monster Hunter Wilds' biggest PC performance patch will launch tonight at 6:00 p.m. PT (or January 28, 2026, 2:00 a.m. UTC for the rest of the world).

To help fans understand what the PC performance patch will change, Capcom has recently shared patch notes for the update on Monster Hunter Wilds' official website.

The patch notes are as follows:

Major Additions and Changes (Steam)

• Improved CPU/GPU processing specific to the Steam version.
• Reduced shader warming processes performed outside the shader compilation screen to lower CPU load.
• Adjusted texture streaming to improve visual quality while reducing VRAM usage.
• Adjusted the High Resolution Texture Pack to reduce VRAM usage and overall package size.
• Added a CPU tab to the Options menu, allowing players to adjust settings related to CPU load.
• Added new categories to the graphics settings, along with new settings for existing options.
• Adjusted graphic presets and added a confirmation window to automatically update your settings on first launch after updating.
• Expanded the Volumetric Fog setting in the graphics options from two levels to five. The previous "High" setting has been renamed to "Highest," and "Low" to "High," with three new lower options—"Medium," "Low," and "Lowest"—now available.
• Fixed an issue where a warning dialogue incorrectly indicated that the AMD Radeon driver was outdated when using driver version 26.1.1 or later.

Bug Fixes and Balance Adjustments (Steam)

• Fixed an issue where system load could increase around the Support Desk at Base Camp or the Grand Hub due to claimed content status checks.
• Adjusted Variable Rate Shading behavior so it is forced off during upscaling to maintain proper effect visuals.
• Fixed other miscellaneous issues.

Do note that this performance patch will require 2GB of install space, and your PC's video driver must be updated before downloading this patch.

NVIDIA users must update to NVIDIA GeForce 581.57 or newer, while AMD users must update to AMD Radeon 25.9.1 or 25.9.2. Capcom has stated that there are some issues identified with AMD Radeon drivers versions 25.10.2 and higher.

This information regarding video drivers is subject to change at any point due to certain factors, such as NVIDIA and AMD support availability.

Will Monster Hunter Wilds finally get fixed on PC?

It's been a long, bumpy road for Monster Hunter Wilds, but hopefully, this PC performance patch will finally address the issues that have plagued this game since launch.

We'll keep an eye on the fan reception of the PC performance patch and let you folks at home know if it's considered a success or a failure!

Do you believe this PC performance patch will fix Monster Hunter Wilds' performance issues? Are you still playing Monster Hunter Wilds or have you moved on to other games?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

It's been nearly a year since the release of Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest mainline entry in the Monster Hunter series. While it went on to sell over 10 million copies, the game ended up being my biggest disappointment of the year for it's non-existant difficulty, unfinished endgame content, and needlessly convoluted multiplayer system.

Not to mention its performance on PC has been absolutely abysmal to the point players have been relentlessly review-bombing it on Steam. While Capcom has been busy improving its endgame content with post-launch updates that added challenging new monsters, new gear to grind for, and an insane crossover with Final Fantasy XIV, there have been little to no improvements for the game's performance on PC.

However, Reddit user by the name of u/de_Tylmarande has reportedly discovered one of the main causes for Monster Hunter Wilds' subpar PC performance, especially for people using mid-range PC hardware.

MH Wilds - Bad performance mystery (Solved?) from r/MonsterHunter

According to u/de_Tylmarande, the performance issues are partly caused by a system Monster Hunter Wilds uses to check how much DLC content a player owns. They discovered this after doing testing using two separate Steam accounts, where one had no DLC and the other did.

This DLC ownership checking system was running constantly in the background, and they concluded from their testing that the more DLC that was registered to a player's account, the fewer performance hiccups there were.

de_Tylmarande then decided to take it a step further by using a mod that disabled the DLC ownership checking system and was shocked to discover that disabling the system resulted in a 75% performance increase (26 fps with the mod off and 46 fps with the mod on while running in the Windward Plains hub area).

Considering Monster Hunter Wilds has tons of piecemeal DLC items like cosmetic armor sets, Seikret and weapon skins, stickers, emotes, and various other knick-knacks, it would make sense that the DLC ownership checker would cause performance issues.

It essentially forces your PC's CPU to overclock, trying to track if any of them are on your Steam account, and causing Monster Hunter Wilds' framerate to suffer as a result.

Now, it's highly likely this is a bug caused by accident. Yet, it's wild that in nearly a year of releasing post-launches, Capcom didn't catch such a huge game-breaking bug in testing that a random fan on Reddit managed to do in their spare time.

However, there is a chance that Capcom may address this in the coming weeks, as they've announced on their Japanese X account that a performance patch for the Steam version will be rolled out on January 28, 2026.

Although there is also a possibility that Capcom's upcoming patch won't fix the issue regarding the DLC ownership checker, causing frame drops at all.

If that happens, u/de_Tylmarande says he'll finish the mod that disables the DLC ownership checker and release it as open source as a last resort option.

But will either option be enough to fix Monster Hunter Wilds on PC and bring back disenfranchised PC players? We'll keep an eye out to let you know if performance improves on PC officially or unofficially.

Do you think Monster Hunter Wilds PC performance will finally get fixed in Capcom's upcoming patch on January 28, 2026, or will you wait for unofficial mods to do the job?

If you have any thoughts on the matter, let us know in the comments below.

After being postponed for a few days by a Tsunami warning, Capcom has finally uploaded the latest Monster Hunter Showcase event as a VOD, along with new trailers for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection and Monster Hunter Wilds.

There is an avalanche of information to unpack from this presentation, including new gameplay systems in Monster Hunter Stories 3, a preview of the Gogmazios boss fight in Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming 4th update (which will launch on December 16, 2025), Capcom addressing complaints regarding Monster Hunter Wilds' PC performance, and much more.

Here's all the new information announced at the Monster Hunter Showcase.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection — New Gameplay Systems

The Monster Hunter Showcase begins with a trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, showing off brand new gameplay systems.

In this game, you play as a Ranger, a group of monster Riders dedicated to protecting the environment and saving endangered monster species from a life-threatening phenomenon called the Crystal Encroachment.

Not only that, Invasive Monsters are rampaging through the lands, and it's your job to drive them away so they can't damage the ecosystem or its endangered monsters.

Invasive Monsters are a special type of boss monster that will require careful strategy and preparation to defeat. Once they're repelled, you can follow them back to their den and rummage through their nests to rescue any endangered monster eggs these Invasive Monsters have stolen.

Once you have retrieved a stolen egg, you can hatch it and release the monster back into the wild to help repopulate its species.

Once a monster species' population has fully recovered, you can then obtain their eggs in the wild and hatch them into Monsties, which are tamed party member monsters that can be used for exploration and battle.

This is part of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's biggest new gameplay system to the series — Habitat Restoration. As you fill a habitat with eggs from endangered and non-endangered monster species, its Ecosystem Rank will increase.

As a habitat's Ecosystem Rank rises, monster eggs will be easier to obtain, and Monsties hatched from them will have a higher chance of obtaining more powerful genes and skills that will aid them in battle.

Additionally, special eggs that hatch into powerful Monsties like the Dreadqueen Rathian can only be acquired by engaging in the Habitat Restoration system.

The Habitat Restoration can also allow the player to change a monster's natural element and transform it into a Dual-Element Monster by placing it in habitats with a unique element.

For example, if you place a Tobi-Kadachi, which is naturally a Thunder-elemental monster, in a habitat with the fire element, there is a random chance you will encounter an egg that will hatch into a Tobi-Kadachi with Thunder and Fire elemental properties and skills.

A Dual-Element monster's appearance will also be drastically different from a regular monster's to reflect its new innate elements.

The Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection section of the Showcase concludes with Capcom confirming that Arkveld, the flagship monster of Monster Hunter Wilds, will be in the game as a monster to fight and tame as a Monstie party member.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is set to release on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds — Title Update 4

The Monster Hunter Showcase then switches over to covering news regarding Monster Hunter Wilds' 4th Title Update, which is set to go live on December 16, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

The biggest attraction of this update is the return of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate's Gogmazios as a challenging post-game boss fight that can be undertaken with four players and four NPC Support Hunters at the same time.

Slaying Gogmazios will reward materials to craft special armor sets and upgrade the Artian Weapons into their final form — the Gogma Artian Weapons.

Gogma Artian Weapons are powerful weapons that can be forged with one Set Bonus Skill and one Group Skill chosen at random and re-rolled to the player's liking.

Upgrading Artian Weapons into Gogma Artian Weapons can also allow players to reset their passive stat bonuses or keep them so they can be enhanced even further.

Gogmazios isn't the only notable piece of content coming in Monster Hunter Wilds 4th Title Update, as it will also include:

• Arch-Tempered Jin Dahaad to fight in a Permanent Event Quest with new armor sets as rewards.
• A Transcendence System that will allow you to 'transcend' High Rank Armor Sets to their full potential, which will increase their defense stats and improve their Decoration Slots.
• Optional High Rank Side Quests, where you can take on several 9* Tempered Monsters to unlock special nameplates as rewards.
• Hunting Exercises where you can take on 9* Tempered Monsters.
• Two New Support Hunters to take with you on hunters (Griffin the Great Sword wielder and Nightmist the Light Bowgunner).
• A ton of free and paid DLC to obtain, including poses, Layered Armor, Layered Weapons, Gestures, Pendants, and more.
• A free Character Edit Voucher and Palico Edit Voucher to change the looks of their character and Palico.
• New Event Quests, where players can obtain special gear, fight tougher monsters, and farm Heavy Armor Spheres to upgrade their armor sets.
• A Free Challenge Quest involving Arch-Tempered Jin Dahaad.
• A new seasonal event called Festival of Accord: Lumenhymn (which will run from December 19, 2025, to January 14, 2026), where players can obtain special gear, gestures, and decorations for a limited time.

Monster Hunter Wilds — Final Update and Performance Improvements

After rounding out news for Monster Hunter Wilds' 4th Title Update, Capcom decided to do an encore by revealing news for the game's final content update that is scheduled to launch on February 18, 2026.

This final content update for the game will include:

• Arch-Tempered Arkveld as the final Arch-Tempered to hunt.
• A new weapon and pendant created by fans from an "Original Weapon and Pendant Design" content.
• A collaboration with Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, where players can obtain a pendant and Palico armor inspired by Rudy from Monster Hunter Stories 3.
• A Latin-American Spanish voice language option.

Capcom closes out the Monster Hunter Showcase by revealing its plans for improving Monster Hunter Wilds' performance on console and PC platforms.

When the game's fourth title update launches, the console and PC versions of Monster Hunter Wilds will receive CPU/GPU optimization improvements.

These improvements include:

• Improving processing time by distributing process access frames for elements that demand the heaviest load, like players, monsters, and graphical user interfaces.
• Reducing processing load by cutting the number of simultaneous effects and improving collision detection for the Seikret and Palico.
• Other enhancements like optimizing and reducing memory usage.

Capcom then announced that the Steam version of Monster Hunter Wilds will be getting an exclusive performance patch in January 2026 that will improve CPU/GPU optimization and include options and presets to reduce processing loads.

The patch will also contain improvements for shader compilation processing to reduce stuttering, VRAM usage refinements, and upgrades for the High-Resolution Texture Pack to improve texture streaming speeds.

Capcom goes on to say that it will add even more CPU/GPU optimization for both console and PC versions of Monster Hunter Wilds in February 2026, while also adding levels-of-detail (LOD) quality to the polygon mesh for 3D models to reduce GPU processing loads.

Also, Capcom is re-examining memory-related processes to identify if further potential performance improvements could be made.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

A slightly odd and amusing saga has mostly come to a close, with a new leak confirming what many have been guessing for months, as longtime Resident Evil mainstay Leon Kennedy will be present in Capcom's upcoming Resident Evil Requiem.

The leak comes as players noticed a new image for Resident Evil Requiem on the PlayStation Store (via IGN) that quite clearly shows a more grizzled, bearded Leon in the background behind the new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft. What makes this chuckle-worthy is how Capcom has responded (or rather, how it hasn't) to inquiries surrounding Leon over the past few months since the game was announced.

For months, rumors and reports swirled that Leon was in the game as a secondary playable character after Grace, though with disagreements as to just how significant Leon's role would be. Personally, I'm expecting something similar to Chris Redfield in Resident Evil Village, where Chris was playable for a specific sequence but was clearly the secondary protagonist behind Ethan Winters.

Fans looking forward to seeing more of Resident Evil Requiem can look forward to the Game Awards 2025, where it's confirmed that Capcom will be showing another look at its next survival-horror experience.

Maybe this will even coincide with the official unveiling of Leon Kennedy in the game? I got to see some hands-off gameplay of Resident Evil Requiem back during Summer Game Fest 2025, while executive editor Jez Corden later got to play that same demo during Gamescom. We both came away impressed, and Resident Evil Requiem is easily one of my most-anticipated games for next year.

Fortunately, I won't be waiting long to play it (and neither will you), because Resident Evil Requiem is scheduled to arrive on Feb. 27, 2026. Are you excited for the latest entry? Let me know in the comments.

Resident Evil Requiem is slated to launch on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Epic Games Store and Steam), PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Today was when the next Monster Hunter Showcase was supposed to go live and give players the latest news on Monster Hunter Wilds and Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

However, Capcom has announced on its social media platforms that the Monster Hunter Showcase has now been postponed due to a recent tsunami warning issued in Japan.

The tsunami warning in question was caused by an earthquake off the north-eastern coast of Japan at 2:33 pm GMT | 9:33 am ET | 6:33 am PT with a 7.6 magnitude (as reported by Sky News).

Thousands of citizens have been told by the Japanese government to evacuate as a tsunami up to three metres high is expected to follow the earthquake and cause widespread damage to low-lying buildings.

The developers at Capcom are following the evacuation order by cancelling the Monster Hunter Showcase until further notice.

This Monster Hunter Showcase was meant to reveal more information regarding Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming 4th Title Update, which will feature the return of Gogmazios from Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate as an endgame boss.

It was also meant to show off more features of the upcoming title update, such as:

• New endgame systems like upgrading the Artian Weapons to their final form using Gogmazios materials and upgrading armor into Transcendent Armor with higher defense.
• PC performance improvements to address CPU and GPU complaints players have been review-bombing the Steam version about for months.
• Easier methods to obtain Armor Spheres.
• Balance adjustments for all Weapon Types.
• New 9-star quests.
• A new Seasonal Event called the Festival of Accord.

The Monster Hunter Showcase was also meant to show us new information regarding Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the latest entry in Monster Hunter's turn-based spin-off series.

Back in October 2025, the game showed off its character creator system, opened pre-orders, and released a trailer revealing the return of Yama Tsumaki, an Elder Dragon that hasn't been seen in a Western-released Monster Hunter title since Monster Hunter Freedom Unite.

Stay tuned for more updates as we keep a close eye on the new broadcast date for the Monster Hunter Showcase.

Capcom has just unveiled the latest trailer for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection. While it doesn't give us more gameplay, it does cover more of the game's story and characters, and provides details on the game's Deluxe Edition and pre-order bonus.

It also reveals the return of an old-school monster I've wished were in Monster Hunter Wilds, but decided to make a comeback here instead. Here's everything you need to know about the next entry in the Monster Hunter Stories series from this new trailer.

The trailer largely shows more of the game's lush locales, which are under threat of being destroyed by the mysterious Encroachment phenomenon, turning everything into crystal.

It also gives us brief glimpses of the game's characters, whom our protagonist will meet on his journey, from the antagonistic forces of the Vermeil Empire to other Monster Riders who may join him as party members.

The biggest surprise, however, is that at the end of the trailer, it reveals that Yama Tsukami, a giant monster that hasn't been seen in a western-released Monster Hunter game since 2008's Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, will at long last return to the franchise as an epic boss fight.

The trailer then closes out with confirmation that pre-orders for the game have gone live, along with information regarding its pre-order bonus and Deluxe Editions.

Pre-ordering the game will net you access to the Skyscale Queen Layered Armor Set for Eleanor.

There will also be amiibos to purchase for the Nintendo Switch 2 version that will unlock Skyscale Rathalos Layered armor sets for the main character and an outfit for Rudy.

On top of that, if you happen to have save data from Monster Hunter Stories 1, Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin, and Monster Hunter Rise, you gain automatic access to Layered Armor sets from those games.

At long last, I can finally fight Yama Tsukami in Monster Hunter Stories

I was dead-set on getting Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection after seeing its extended gameplay deep dive, but the addition of Yama Tsukami being a boss has now sealed the deal.

I've never fought this monster personally since it was locked behind Monster Hunter Freedom Unite, and I don't have a PSP on hand anymore.

So, the idea that I'll finally get to fight this hot-air balloon Cthulhu in Monster Hunter Stories, let alone a modern Monster Hunter title, has got me more excited than when Capcom announced Omega for Monster Hunter Wilds.

I can't wait to ride on with my Monsties and finally have my dream match with Yama Tsukami when Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflections launches on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

FAQ

Capcom has prepared a very special treat for Resident Evil fans this Halloween. During a recently released trailer recapping Resident Evil's history, Capcom has announced that pre-orders are live for Resident Evil: Requiem for home consoles and PC.

On top of that, Capcom has announced details regarding the game's special editions, pre-order bonuses, and much more.

Here's everything you need to know from Resident Evil: Requiem's pre-order announcement.

First and foremost, you can now pre-order the game at your favorite online and local retailers for the following platforms: Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam and Epic Games Store.

Additionally, there will be two special editions of the game and a pre-order bonus to purchase alongside the Standard Edition.

Pre-ordering the game will grant you access to a special DLC costume called 'Apocalypse', which is no doubt a reference to the Resident Evil: Apocalypse movie.

Next up, Capcom has a list of announcements regarding the game's Nintendo Switch 2 port.

Capcom has collaborated with Nintendo to release a Resident Evil amiibo of Grace Ashcraft in 2026 and a Resident Evil: Requiem themed Nintendo Switch 2 Pro controller for February 27, 2026.

Additionally, the Nintendo Switch 2 will receive the Resident Evil Generation Pack in 2026, which bundles together Resident Evil 7: biohazard Gold Edition, Resident Evil Village Gold Edition, and Resident Evil: Requiem.

Capcom then rounds its announcements up by stating that Resident Evil: Requiem will have a collaboration with Fortnite to celebrate Resident Evil's debut on the Epic Games Store.

By ordering the game on the Epic Games Store, you will receive a Grace Ashcroft costume to use in Fortnite after the game releases.

Are you ready to return to Racoon City for its requiem?

If my colleague, Jez Corden's preview of Resident Evil: Requiem is anything to go by, this game is shaping up to be Resident's darkest entry yet, both figuratively and literally.

It has a somber yet horrifying setting as we're returning to Raccoon City decades after it was blown to ruins at the end of Resident Evil 3, and the nightmarish monsters you will encounter will require the use of lights to drive them away, as bullets will not save you this time.

I enjoyed my fair share of Resident Evil games over the years (my favorite being the Resident Evil HD Remaster), so I can't wait to see new horrors await us when Resident Evil: Requiem launches on February 27, 2026.

FAQ

We're only four months away from the release of Resident Evil: Requiem, the latest and possibly darkest installment of Capcom's iconic survival horror franchise to date.

To help players catch up, Loaded is offering a massive Halloween sale for several titles in the Resident Evil series, like the Resident Evil Remake Trilogy ($33.99), Resident Evil 7: Gold Edition ($9.89), and the Resident Evil HD Remaster ($4.49).

Additionally, Newegg's got a special 72% discount for Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition for $13.99.

Why Resident Evil is the quintessential series for Halloween and beyond

The Resident Evil series is often considered to be the pinnacle of survival horror games, and for good reason.

Many of them are extremely polished, atmospheric, enjoyable titles that veer back and forth between keeping you up at night with their nightmare-inducing monsters to providing cathartic power rushes as a reward for mastering their resource management and combat mechanics.

Out of all the games in this post, the most plot-relevant ones are Resident Evil HD Remaster and the Resident Evil Remake Trilogy, as their stories help set the stage for Raccoon City's ruined state in Resident Evil: Requiem.

Resident Evil HD Remaster may be a remaster of 2002 remake, but this game still holds up even after 23 years for boasting some of the most beautiful, gothic pre-rendered backgrounds, perfectly-paced gameplay, and terrifying moments that will catch you off guard even on repeat playthroughs.

However, if you want something more modern, the Resident Evil Remake trilogy is the way to go.

Each game in this collection will have you quaking in your boots with its adrenaline-pumping scares, scarce resources you will need to be careful not to waste, and memorable characters you will want to help survive the horrors coming to consume them.

While not directly connected to Resident Evil: Requiem (from what we've seen thus far), Resident Evil 7 and Resident Evil: Village are still worth playing regardless.

It's an incredible duology of titles that helped kickstart Capcom's redemption arc back into popularity during the late 2010s and early 2020s for their in-depth gameplay, spooky locales rich with secrets, and possibly the best villains in the franchise outside of Albert Wesker.

With these 70-80% discounts for Resident Evil Remake Trilogy ($33.99 at Loaded), Resident Evil 7: Gold Edition ($9.89 at Loaded), Resident Evil HD Remaster ($4.49 at Loaded), and Resident Evil Village: Gold Edition ($13.99 at Newegg), you will save dozens of dollars and have months of unforgetteble content to chew on before Resident Evil: Requiem arrives on February 27, 2026.

FAQ

Last weekend, during Gamescom Asia, Capcom attended the event to show off footage of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, the latest upcoming entry in Monster Hunter's JRPG spin-off series.

It was virtually identical to the gameplay demo shown at Tokyo Game Show 2025, demonstrating its exploration and combat systems but with a couple of key differences.

It showed off gameplay footage of the female protagonist that the player can choose to play as, and our first look at the game's robust character creator system.

A few days after the event, Capcom then uploaded the gameplay segment of the character creator onto the official Monster Hunter's official social media account, X, so that the general public could more easily see it, and it's looking mighty impressive thus far.

In previous Monster Hunter Stories titles, the character creator system has been fairly simple compared to modern mainline Monster Hunter games. You have your standard hair and skin color options, with some additional facial expression options to fit the series' more anime art style.

The character creator in Monster Hunter Stories 3, on the other hand, is going to include double the amount of customization options as previous entries, possibly so it can be on par with the insanely detailed character creators seen in Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Wilds.

We have mountains of customization options from eye shape/color, jaws, front and back hairstyles, lip shape, skin color, tattoos, and extra cosmetic accessories to boot.

There's even an option to let you adopt hairstyles based on iconic Monster Hunter monsters, like in Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin.

One of the extra accessories that caught my eye is that we can have Wyverian Ears, a cosmetic that lets you cosplay as one of Monster Hunter's elven-like race.

This is interesting, as this cosmetic option is usually locked behind a microtransaction paywall in the mainline games like Monster Hunter Wilds and Monster Hunter Rise.

Meaning that fans who wanted to semi-play as a Wyverian instead of a human in Monster Hunter games had to pay extra cash to do so.

The fact that we don't have to do that in Monster Hunter Stories 3, and we can use this cosmetic item off the bat, just for buying the game, is pretty awesome, and it's something that Capcom should do more often.

Let us fight for our cosmetic rewards, not pay for them.

In my personal opinion, Capcom's been getting obsessed with locking cool cosmetics and animations behind expensive microtransaction fees, and it should stop doing that.

Either let us have them in the main game by earning them through quests, fight for them through difficult Event quests, or at least reduce the cost so they don't cost you nearly hundreds of dollars when bought altogether.

But I digress, for slightly overpriced DLC won't stop me from playing Monster Hunter games (unless the gameplay disappoints me like Monster Hunter Wilds did at launch), especially Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection, as it looks absolutely stunning thus far.

The Monster Hunter Stories games are some of my favorite Pokémon-like titles on PC, and I can't wait to play the 3rd entry as it's already looking like the first, true, next-gen evolution of not just the Monster Hunter Stories series, but of the creature-collector genre as a whole.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is set to be released on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter has gone ballistic with Tokyo Game Show 2025 announcements.

More info has been revealed for Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming crossover with Final Fantasy XIV, an extended version of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection's Nintendo Direct September 2025 trailer was shown, and we now know the first two entries in the Monster Hunter Stories franchise are finally coming to Xbox consoles!

However, the announcements aren't over yet as GameSpot has uploaded an exclusive 18-minute gameplay preview for Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

This video gives us our first detailed look at this upcoming Xbox JRPG's turn-based combat and exploration, which is a nice change since the trailers have mostly consisted of cinematics with brief snippets of gameplay.

Does it retain the gameplay formula of its predecessors? Let's dive into this gameplay preview to find out.

The preview begins with our protagonist, the crowned prince (or princess, as you can decide their appearance and gender during character creation) of Azuria, exploring the woods with their companions, Simon and Thea.

Right off the bat, we can see Twisted Reflection will retain the same exploration gameplay as past Monster Hunter Stories titles, but on a much bigger scale.

The level design of the dungeons and open-world regions that connect them are gigantic compared to Monster Hunter Stories 1 and Monster Hunter Stories 2: Wings of Ruin's smaller maps.

Plus, the new regions are littered with all kinds of platforming segments that will require the help of your Monsties (monsters that can be tamed by the player so they become party members) to traverse and discover hidden pathways that contain secret items and collectibles like Poogies.

Two things I noticed that are different from previous games are that you can now switch which Monsties you're riding without having to dismount, and that Rathalos, the series mascot, is now your starting Monstie.

These very welcome changes I appreciate because they save time having to change Monsties on the fly while exploring, and you can pull some sweet platforming tricks by switching Monsties in mid-air.

Also, I am so glad you don't have to wait until near the end of the game anymore before you get your hands on a Rathalos, because one of the greatest joys of this series is soaring through the sky using a Monstie's Fly ability, taking in the glorious, colorful environments.

However, gameplay in Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection isn't just a nature hike, as you routinely come into contact with hostile monsters that want to eat you.

We quickly find this out with battles that show off the game's turn-based combat, which is confirmed to follow the structure of previous titles.

Turn-based battles in Twisted Reflection have the player character, their Monstie, and secondary guest allies take turns whacking enemies with deadly weapons and abilities.

However, battles in Monster Hunter Stories are somewhat unique compared to other JRPGs, as they have a Rock-Paper-Scissors element to them.

Each character can perform Power, Technique, or Speed-type moves in battles. When a character attacks their chosen target and the defender is planning to fight back against the attacker (as presented by a glowing bar between them), they can engage in a Head-to-Head.

If a character's attack type beats out the other's (Power > Technique, Technique > Speed, Speed > Power), they win and inflict extra damage to their enemy, but if they both use the same attack type, it's a draw and they deal neutral damage to each other.

If a party member and their Monstie both use an attack type that beats out their opponent's, they cancel the enemy's attacks and perform a Double-team, dealing twice as much damage as their regular attacks.

After getting into fights with smaller monsters and finding the frozen remains of a Khezu, killed by a mysterious phenomenon called Crystal Encroachment, the protagonist gets into a fight with a bat-like monster called Paolumu.

During this battle, we get an introduction to the concept of switching weapons in battle to exploit an enemy's weakness (elemental and weapon types). It also shows how breaking an enemy's parts or depleting their Wyvernsoul Gauge through regular damage can knock an enemy out of their transformed states to save your team from devastating attacks.

We also get a glimpse of one of Twisted Reflection's new gameplay mechanics, the Synchro Rush. When you topple a monster through various means, a Quick-Time-Event will pop up on-screen that, when pressed, will enable your entire party to dogpile on the helpless enemy with a barrage of lethal attacks.

It's a cool mechanic and a fun incentive for players to find out optimal ways to knock an enemy down for big damage cash-outs.

The player then proceeds to finish off the Paolumu by mounting their Monstie after they fill their Kinship gauge (by dealing damage or winning Head-to-Heads) and unleashing a cinematic super move called a Kinship Skill.

At one point in the trailer, an unexpected challenger appears in the form of Chatacabra from Monster Hunter Wilds, but there's something strange going on with it. It's infected by Crystal Encroachment, resulting in the beast becoming insane and widely attacking everything in sight.

This is where we get possibly the biggest new gameplay addition of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection – Feral Monsters.

Feral Monsters are dangerous variants of regular monsters that have gained increased strength and health, and new Feral Attacks to use in battle that their normal counterparts don't have. For instance, the Feral Chatacabra's Feral Attack has it shoot Great Thunderbugs from the crystals on its body to shock and paralyse party members.

To stop a Feral monster's Feral Attacks, you will need to destroy their crystallized body parts, but they'll automatically counterattack if you try, so you will need to find a safe opening to attack them.

Fortunately for our heroes, that opportunity comes when the player depletes the Feral Chatacabra's Wyvernsoul Gauge, which staggers it and triggers its transformed state.

In this state, the enemy monster won't counterattack if you go after its crystallized body parts, but you will be in danger of suffering the monster's increased attack power while it's in its transformed state.

This creates an interesting strategic dilemma where you have to decide which body part to go after.

You could attack a Feral Monster's crystal body parts, so you won't have to worry about Feral Attacks later on in the fight. Alternatively, you could try to knock it out of its transformed state immediately because you fear your party won't survive the enemy's heightened attack power for long.

This is only the beginning of Monster Hunter Stories 3, and I can't wait to learn more

Thankfully, our heroes manage to overcome this monster with careful, strategic strikes that destroyed the crystal body parts before finishing it off with Rathalos' signature Kinship Skill, the Sky-High Dive, concluding the gameplay preview.

As a fan of Monster Hunter Stories, I'm loving what I'm seeing so far of this game. It's like the series is finally getting the chance to evolve now that it's no longer constrained to just mobile game platforms and being developed for next-gen, home consoles in mind.

The stylised anime graphics look gorgeous while retaining some of the detailed fidelity of mainline titles. Meanwhile, the combat looks more fun and involved than ever, with the concept of Feral Monsters sounding enjoyable and challenging.

I can't wait to see what new monster-hunting adventures await us and what new Monsties we can tame when Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches on March 13, 2026, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds had recently received a gameplay presentation by Capcom at Tokyo Game Show 2025, showcasing all the content coming in its 3rd Title Update, which will launch on September 29, 2025.

This free update is looking to be the biggest one to date as it will feature a collaboration with Final Fantasy XIV, where players get to hunt a giant killer robot called Omega Planetes, obtain several Final Fantasy-themed gear and cosmetics, and much more.

After Capcom's Tokyo Game Show 2025 round-up concluded, people attending the event got their hands on playable demos where they fought Omega Planetes and uploaded their exploits onto the internet. Needless to say, the footage looks horrifying as Omega Planetes is already looking to be the hardest boss amongst Monster Hunter Wilds' massive monster roster yet.

Be warned: there will be spoilers for the Omega Planetes fight, so if you want to go into the fight blind, this is your only warning.

For those unaware, Omega Planetes is a gargantuan war machine inspired by Omega, one of Final Fantasy's most powerful superbosses and one of Final Fantasy XIV's raid bosses that was added in the MMORPG's Stormblood expansion.

From what's been in gameplay footage uploaded by the likes of GameSpot, Omega Planetes will appear to utilize many of its abilities from its FFXIV counterpart and incorporate new mechanics and attacks that players will need to watch out for.

Omega Planetes' regular attacks consist of blasting players with lasers, ramming them with its hardy body, burning people with flamethrowers, and barraging players with a rain of missiles and rocket punches.

In addition, Omega Planetes can fire Mustard Bombs, which will leave giant patches of scorching fire on the ground that will burn any player standing in them. If a player gets targeted by this attack, they will need to move away and position it on a corner so players can have room to safely move in.

Some of Omega Planetes' attacks can also inflict a nasty status effect called HP Penalty, which cuts a player's max HP down by a huge chunk, and there's no way to cure it other than waiting for it to wear off.

Unfortunately, Omega Planetes isn't going to give you a chance to recover from it. To combat this, a player can draw the boss's attention away from the group by damaging it until the player obtains its Enmity (as represented by a glowing red arrow directed from the boss).

To make matters worse, Omega Planetes won't be the only monster you fight in this hunt, as it can create minions called Omega Micros to harass players with kamikaze attacks.

Killing these Omega-Minis will generate a shield that can protect you from Omega Planetes' attacks for a short time. You will definitely need to take advantage of this during the later portions of the boss fight as Omega Planetes will eventually enter Pantokrator Mode.

Pantokrator Mode has Omega Planetes become enraged and start firing off nearly all attacks in its arsenal at once in all directions. To get Omega Planetes out of this state, you will have to inflict Wounds on its legs and exploit them with Focus Mode attacks, deal enough damage so they will break and knock this killing machine down.

But those aren't the only tricks Omega Planetes has up its chassis. In the third phase of the fight, the boss fight will fly off and summon a hologrammatic clone of Nerscylla to fight you while Omega Planetes prepares to charge its ultimate move, the Delta Attack.

You will need to dump all of your firepower into the hologram Nerscylla as fast as you can to generate a shield upon its demise so you survive the incoming Delta Attack. If you don't, it's game over, as this beam can wipe out all players in a single hit.

If you manage to survive, you will enter the final phase where Omega Planetes pulls out all the stops to destroy with every move in its arsenal, including employing the infamous 'Larboard' and 'Starboard' laser attacks that Final Fantasy XIV fans will recognise.

Prepare the most, out-of-this-world hunt in Monster Hunter history

As someone who's fought Omega in Final Fantasy XIV, Omega Planetes will look like a really faithful and fun recreation of the raid boss in a Monster Hunter setting.

It also looks insanely tough as it is packed with devastating AoE attacks, and MMO-style mechanics that will require a whole squad of players to help you overcome, much like the Behemoth fight from Monster Hunter World's crossover with Final Fantasy XIV.

Not to mention, this is probably the first hunt we have to take advantage of Monster Hunter Wilds' mechanics to their fullest, instead of optionally using them.

For example, there will be multiple monsters to face in this fight, like Omega Planetes and Nerscylla, each with differing elemental resistances (Omega Planetes is weak to Thunder while Nerscylla is weak to fire).

This means we will have to bring a Thunder-elemental and a Fire-elemental weapon and swap between mid-fight via the Seikret mount, so that we can kill the Nerscylla quickly and avoid the Delta Attack in time.

Also, keep in mind, this is most likely the 'normal' version of the Omega Planetes boss fight. I say this because, speaking from experience fighting Behemoth in Monster Hunter World, there's probably going to be a harder, Tempered version of Omega Planetes to hunt, and I would be so up for it if that's the case.

Over the course of several title updates, Capcom seems to be taking my complaints of the game being too easy to heart by vastly improving the endgame content and adding more challenging monsters to the roster, like Seregios and Lagiacrus in its 2nd Title Update.

Now it seems we're going to witness the culmination of their efforts with their Final Fantasy XIV collaboration, and I can't wait to dive into it and farm Omega Planetes' part to forge that sweet Dark Knight armor set.

However, will this update be able to bring back disenfranchised fans who review-bombed the game for its poor PC performance, among other issues? We will have to wait until September 29, 2025, when Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update launches.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Capcom’s TGS 2025 showcase has come and gone via YouTube, and there’s a lot to like if you’re an Xbox fan. The presentation covered everything from big upcoming releases to mobile exclusives, making it one of the most varied lineups at the show. It offered a little something for everyone, so let’s dive into the trailers and announcements.

Pragmata

Capcom kicked off its presentation with a deeper look at Pragmata. The new footage mixed cinematic scenes with third-person gameplay, showing off combat that includes hacking abilities, weapon variety, and upgrade options. It looks like a fun blend of action and strategy, with more to uncover as development continues.

Pragmata is set to launch on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC in 2026, with a playable demo available for TGS attendees.

Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection

Right after Pragmata, Capcom revealed the Mega Man Star Force Legacy Collection. While I was always more of a Battle Network fan, this package is a strong celebration for Star Force players. It includes a high-resolution filter, a music player, a gallery of over 1,000 images, and more.

Capcom has added modern touches like assist and difficulty options, plus rare event-exclusive cards that are now available in-game. For those who enjoy competition, it also supports online PvP with both casual and ranked matches.

The collection launches in 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Resident Evil Requiem

One of the most anticipated games at Capcom’s showcase was Resident Evil Requiem. Capcom reminded fans of its release date, February 26, 2025, but didn’t reveal much new beyond that. Still, there is a new trailer to check out.

Even so, Requiem is shaping up to be a must-play entry in the series. If you want a deeper look at what to expect, check out our hands-on impressions from our very own Jez Corden.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword

Following Resident Evil, Capcom showcased a new story trailer for Onimusha: Way of the Sword. First revealed at The Game Awards in 2024, the game is set in a dark fantasy version of Kyoto and follows legendary swordsman Miyamoto Musashi.

After being granted the Oni Gauntlet, an artifact filled with supernatural power, Musashi embarks on a journey to sever his ties with it. The game looks like a fresh action-adventure experience and marks the first mainline entry in the series since Onimusha: Dawn of Dreams back in 2006.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is scheduled to release in 2026 for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection

Perhaps the most surprising announcement for Monster Hunter fans at TGS, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection is finally going multiplatform. Previous Stories games were usually limited to Switch or PC, but this third entry is coming to Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC.

At the heart of Stories 3 are twin Rathalos born from the same egg, a first for the series. You take on the role of Azuria’s only Rathalos Rider, caught between kingdoms on the brink of collapse.

Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection launches on March 13, 2026, with a playable demo available at TGS.

Game updates, expansions and mobile exclusives

That’s not all Monster Hunter fans have to look forward to. Monster Hunter Wilds is receiving two major updates this year.

Title Update 3 launches on September 29, 2025, and features a crossover with Final Fantasy XIV. The update adds Dark Knight armor and weapons, new Omega boss encounters, and the Pictomancer job adapted into Wilds.

Looking ahead, Title Update 4 is scheduled for December 2025. It brings back the elder dragon Gogmazios, last seen in Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate, along with new end-game content for veteran hunters.

Street Fighter 6 fans have more to look forward to with the reveal of Year 3 content. C. Viper joins the roster on October 15, 2025, bringing her gadget-driven combat style back to the series. The same update also introduces a Banshee’s Last Cry crossover, adding a new mode and cosmetics.

In a pleasant surprise, Ace Attorney Trilogy is getting a free update. It adds a gallery mode, a music player, and a scene creator, along with quality-of-life features like an episode selector and a story mode that auto-solves puzzles for a more relaxed playthrough.

On the mobile front, Capcom revealed two new titles. Monster Hunter Outlanders is an open-world spin on the series designed for phones, with a closed beta scheduled for November 2025. Resident Evil: Survival Unit, as the name suggests, is a new survival-focused entry built for mobile devices.

Is Xbox missing out on anything?

For Xbox fans, the good news is that only one title nothing* is skipping the platform! It always stings when a release that feels like it should land on Xbox doesn’t make the cut, whether due to exclusivity deals or whatever else.

Capcom Fighting Collection 2, a retro compilation featuring eight classic fighting games, will release on Nintendo Switch, PlayStation, and PC, but it's already available on Xbox.

Capcom’s showing this year was strong. The announcement of Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection coming to Xbox was a genuine surprise, marking the first time the series has ever been released on the platform.

During its pre-Tokyo Game Show 2025 program, Capcom hosted a presentation for Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update, which is confirmed to launch on September 29, 2025.

In this presentation, we were given an in-depth look at the game's upcoming collaboration with Final Fantasy XIV, in which players will be tasked to hunt Omega Planetes, a monster inspired by one of Final Fantasy's most infamous superbosses.

It turns out this Title Update 3 will be even crazier than we initially thought from its Gamescom trailer.

This is because the update will give the players the power to assume the Dark Knight and Pictmancer Jobs from Final Fantasy XIV, a new Arch-Tempered version of Nu Udra to fight, a ton of cosmetics to collect from fighting Omega Planetes, Event Quests, DLC, and more.

Here's a round-up of all the news on Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update.

Everything coming in Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd title update

Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update will add a new quest where players get to meet Alpha and Omega, a couple of characters traveling from Final Fantasy XIV.

They need your help to stop Omega Planetes from invading your world and blowing it to space dust.

Omega Planetes will be one of the toughest battles in the game yet, as it will blast players with a barrage of lasers, missiles, and rocket fists to reduce them to smithereens.

If players manage to defeat this mechanical marauder, they'll be rewarded with materials to craft special equipment lifted directly from Final Fantasy XIV.

One of the things this special equipment includes is the Bale Armor, a Dark Knight gear set from Final Fantasy XIV's Shadowbringers expansion.

This armor possesses the "Soul of the Dark Knight", a set-bonus armor skill that lets players activate "The Blackest Night" ability, which consumes a portion of the player's health to form a shield and then counterattack if an enemy hits it.

There will also be a new Great Sword to go with the Bale Armor called Shadowbringer, which possesses a mysterious, passive weapon skill that boosts your attacks.

Another piece of special equipment you can forge from Omega Planetes materials is the Soul of the Pictomancer. This item lets you wield the powers of the Pictomancer Job introduced in Final Fantasy XIV: Dawntrail.

With magical paint and brush, you can conjure works of art to come to life and attack your enemies with a flurry of magical mayhem.

The Soul of the Pictomancer and Bale Armor's "The Blackest Night" abilities can be activated as an item in your item hotbar or through custom radial menu shortcuts, much like Akuma's abilities from Monster Hunter Wilds' Street Fighter VI crossover update.

The rest of the rewards for taking part in the Final Fantasy XIV collaboration include a cosmetic costume for the Seikret that transforms it into a chocobo, an armor that transforms a Palico into a Morbol, and various pendants, gestures, hunter profile backgrounds, and hunter profile poses.

The rest of the presentation then discusses other content that will be available in the 3rd Title update, which is as follows:

• Arch-Tempered Nu Udra
• New DLC gestures.
• Cosmetic DLC Pack 3 which will include new cosmetics, quest completion animations, music, Pop-up tent items, and more.
• New Event quests and Challenge quests.
• A new autumn event called Dreamspell.

The presentation then capped with a teaser for Monster Hunter Wilds' 4th Title Update, which will arrive in December 2025.

This teaser reveals that the next monster players will face is Gogmazios, the final boss of Monster Hunter 4 Ultimate.

This gargantuan Elder Dragon is regarded as one of the toughest bosses in the entire franchise for its unholy strength, producing endless amounts of oil to trap players in, and firing laser beams that can kill players in one shot, even with endgame gear.

In addition to Gogmazios, the 4th Title Update will have various gameplay improvements, expanded Endgame content, and a winter-themed seasonal event.

Congratulations, Capcom, you've gotten me to care about Monster Hunter Wilds again

I never thought I'd say this, especially after ranting about Monster Hunter Wilds' lackluster difficulty at launch, but I'm beyond excited to play Monster Hunter Wilds again after seeing this update's full details.

Omega Planetes looks really cool and faithful to the Omega boss fight in Final Fantasy XIV. I also think the new gear looks insane, and seeing Gogmazios finally make a comeback to the mainline series after so many years is a pure delight to see.

I can't wait to join the hunt again and reduce Omega Planetes to scrap when Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update launches on September 29, 2025.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

When does Tokyo Game Show 2025 start?

Tokyo Game Show, one of the world's biggest gaming conventions, is right around the corner as it's scheduled to go live on September 25, 2025, across the following time zones on YouTube and Twitch: 03:00 AM PT | 6:00 AM ET | 11:00 AM BST | 7:00 PM JST

The event will run from Thursday, September 25, 2025, until Sunday, September 28, 2025. I highly recommend you stay tuned during those three days so you don't miss out on any announcements, as this is one of the biggest Tokyo Game Shows yet.

This year's Tokyo Game Show is brimming with hundreds of game studios, from indie developers to blockbuster AAA studios across the world, looking to show off their latest creations to the world. These companies attending include, but are not limited to: Sony, Sega, Square Enix, Capcom, Konami, Atlus, and even Microsoft.

What can we expect to see at Tokyo Game Show 2025?

As I mentioned, we have big-time studios such as Square Enix, Capcom, and Microsoft attending the event to show off their latest games. While we don't know what games Microsoft will bring to the event, rumors are flying around that it may reveal Forza Horizon 6 at Tokyo Game Show 2025.

Square Enix has recently announced that their Tokyo Game Show 2025 line-up will include the following games:

• Dragon Quest I & II HD-2D Remake
• Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles
• Octopath Traveler 0
• Final Fantasy VII Remake Intergrade
• The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales
• Killer Inn
• Dragon Quest X Online
• Final Fantasy XIV
• Dragon Quest III HD-2D
• Magic the Gathering's collaboration with Final Fantasy
• Final Fantasy Trading Card Game

The major highlights of this line-up are the long-awaited Xbox port of Final Fantasy VII Remake, the HD-2D Remakes of the first two Dragon Quest mainline titles, and the dream-come-true remaster of Final Fantasy Tactics.

Final Fantasy Tactics is considered to be one of the greatest titles in the entire Final Fantasy franchise, but I sadly missed out on the original 1997 classic as I was too young to understand tactical RPGs at the time.

So I'm looking forward to seeing it in action at the show before it releases later on September 30, 2025, on Xbox, PlayStation, and PC via Steam.

The studio I'm looking forward to hearing news from the most is Capcom, which has confirmed it will bring its biggest upcoming titles to the show, like Resident Evil Requiem, Pragmata, Onimusha: Way of the Sword, and Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

Capcom will also share news on already released titles like Street Fighter 6 and Monster Hunter Wilds.

Among Capcom's line-up, I'm personally keeping a close eye on the news for its Monster Hunter titles as I am a huge Monster Hunter fan.

I'm hoping to see how Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection will evolve the Monster Hunter Stories sub-series with its darker story direction and new Monsties from Monster Hunter Rise.

I'm also praying we get to see more footage and a launch date for Monster Hunter Wilds' crazy crossover with Final Fantasy XIV, which will add rideable Chocobos and FFXIV's infamous superboss, 'Omega', to Monster Hunter Wilds' massive monster roster.

This is just a taste of the dozens of games you can expect to see at Tokyo Game Show 2025, and that's without getting into the unexpected grand reveals of unannounced games that will most likely be revealed at the show.

With this guide, you will be able to witness these announcements and find new, exciting upcoming Xbox titles and upcoming PC titles to put on your wishlist when Tokyo Game Show 2025 commences on September 25, 2025.

Ahead of Gamescom 2025, I was lucky enough to be among the first members of the public to go hands-on with Resident Evil Requiem, the ninth mainline entry in the industry-leading horror series.

Resident Evil has had its ups and downs over the years, but remains one of the most prolific video game franchises in history — a rare feat for the horror genre, which many find too uncomfortable to experience.

Capcom experimented with dialling back the horror in favor of action here and there, but quite firmly took the game back to its roots with Resident Evil 7 and 8 "Village," delivering landmark visuals and refreshed first-person gameplay in the process. Capcom has also been masterfully remaking classic entries in the franchise, with Resident Evil 2 and 4 more than living up to their predecessors, honoring the legacy while modernizing.

Silent Hill has also seen a resurgence in recent years, and even newcomers like Cronos: The New Dawn look incredibly promising, too. But after going hands-on with Resident Evil Requiem last week, I'm confident that this legendary horror franchise will remain the genre's apex predator.

A blinding glimpse into fresh horrors

For our demo, I was put in control of a new protagonist, Grace Ashcroft, an FBI Technical Analyst who has very limited experience when it comes to working in the field.

Capcom hasn't been shy about explaining why Grace was chosen as this game's new protagonist, noting that experienced staples like Leon Kennedy or Claire Redfield are far too experienced dealing with mutant horrors and undead abominations to convey that full sense of fear. As Grace, you'll feel that familiar sense of vulnerability as she navigates a near-future world of genetic experiments gone wrong and synthetic viruses triggering localized apocalypses.

At the beginning, Grace finds herself strapped upside-down to a medical table, being drip-drained of blood. What will immediately strike you is the visuals, panic-induced sweat beads on Grace's blood-spattered skin with familiar RE Engine realism, running at smooth 60 FPS, complete with immaculate lighting. And that last note in particular — lighting — played a big role in this early demo.

After composing herself, Grace realizes she's in some kind of hospital, which seems very recently abandoned. There's nobody around, and the electricity is on the blink — half the hallways are shrouded in pitch-black darkness, illuminated only by lightning from the storm raging outside.

Early on, I found a lighter, reminiscent of the classic key item from as far back as Resident Evil 1. The lighter is more than a throwback — it offers the tiniest reprieve from the gloom, and allows you to explore the game's detailed environments for crucial items.

There are other ways to light the way. In what I initially thought was just heavy detailing, most rooms in the demo had interactive light sources. Lamps, light switches, and fuse boxes can help you shed light on the situation. And the visuals are truly immaculate here. When playing in Resident Evil Requiem's third-person mode (the first in the series that lets you swap between both), the way the lighter flame illuminates through the textures of Grace's hair is realistic in a way I've not seen reproduced in a video game before.

Capcom cleverly uses the lighting to tease anxiety out of the player, shrouding otherwise innocuous objects in just enough darkness to make you question every shape, every corner, where threats could potentially lurk. Capcom has used lighting this way in previous games, too, of course, but the technical bump seems to have given the horror maestros some additionally panic-inducing toys to play with here.

Why all this emphasis on lighting, though? Well, it seems that Resident Evil Requiem's enemies are eager to use the darkness against you — to terrifying effect.

A new nemesis for a new nightmare

It's not long after exploring that Grace finds her first corpse. A medical researcher, seemingly — endowed with a familiar white lab coat, and wracked with that similarly familiar decrepit, infected, rotting skin. These ones don't have a chance to come back to life, though.

Through the darkness, horrifying digits begin creeping over the poor scientist's cadaver with all the warmth of a hungry tarantula. Grace is then confronted by the jagged teeth of a ten-foot hulking mockery of a humanoid, who proceeds to have a light snack of the chilled brains of the deceased doctor. It's a fittingly horrifying introduction to who (or what) is quite clearly set to be Grace's nemesis.

At this point, you have no weapons. All you can do is run and hide. In third-person, Grace will stumble and struggle to keep her footing, as panic sets in. Luckily for Grace, it seems that Requiem's introductory boss-grade freak has relatively poor eyesight, relying on sound, at least to some degree. Your only defence here is to flee into the light, which sears the flesh clean off this surprisingly agile ,mutated cannibal.

Grace can use bottles and other random objects to lure threats away with noise, but I did find some sneaky handgun bullets beneath a cupboard at one point — but alas, no gun. I also found an "empty" ink ribbon; are we returning to finite save files again? That would certainly be interesting in 2025. Or will they serve some other purpose? Time will tell, surely.

I didn't have much time to ponder the ink ribbon, though, as the lights failed, and the entity crawled out of a hole in the ceiling and gave chase once again.

Scrambling to escape into a fully lit hall with Grace mere inches away from freedom, the demo ended with a tantalizing note from Capcom: "This is merely the overture to our darkest symphony."

Capcom's darkest symphony

Resident Evil Requiem launches on February 27, 2026, assuming there are no delays, and even this brief glimpse into Capcom's new nightmare has my synapses on edge, wracked with questions. Where exactly is Grace? Who strung her up like a blood bag and left her to rot? What is the thing chasing you? What are the scientists infected with? Is the T-Virus back? Why is the monster photosensitive? How does Requiem tie into Resident Evil Outbreak, given that Grace is the daughter of the aforementioned game's protagonist?

Capcom says that Requiem is its "darkest symphony." I felt like the obscuring technical gloom and twisted setting gave that note a double meaning. Grace's vulnerability comes through strong, with top-grade digital acting and photorealism, and despite the mutant horrors that lurk in Resident Evil, the big evils tend to embody amoral, humanity-eschewing corporate interests.

Grace is investigating her mother's murder, though, hinting at a more personal horror story that might hit closer to home than some of Resident Evil's sci-fi predecessors.

All of the big questions will be answered early next year, when Resident Evil Requiem finally drops on Xbox Series X|S, PS5, and PC.

Capcom and Square Enix took the stage at Gamescom 2025 to reveal that Monster Hunter Wilds will get an upcoming crossover event with Final Fantasy XIV and vice versa.

In Monster Hunter Wilds, players will get a chance to ride the Final Fantasy series' iconic Chocobos as cosmetic skins for the Seikret mounts and catch the speedy Cactuar to add their Endemic Life collection.

In addition, Monster Hunter Wilds will add a boss from Final Fantasy XIV to its extensive monster roster — Omega Planates.

Omega Planates is based on Omega, one of the Final Fantasy franchise's most infamous superbosses that made its debut in 1992's Final Fantasy V as a secret, optional boss and has made appearances in future titles since.

Omega is a giant beetle-like robot armed to the teeth with lasers, rocket punches, and tons of world-shattering explosives.

It's often regarded as one of the toughest bosses in Final Fantasy history as Omega is impervious to nearly all forms of damage, it has a mountain of health to chip at, and it can wipe out players in the blink of an eye if they're not prepared.

The Final Fantasy XIV version of Omega is particularly special, as that game made an entire Raid storyline around it, which had players fight Omega numerous times.

Omega was even later given an Ultimate Raid-tier boss fight in Final Fantasy XIV: Endwalker that pushed raiders to the limit.

Players will get to hunt this Omega and ride Chocobos as part of Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update, which will be released sometime in late September 2025.

Meanwhile in Final Fantasy XIV, its Dawntrail expansion will feature a crossover event where players can obtain Monster Hunter Wilds' Seikret mount and take on the intimidating Arkveld in a special Trial raid fight.

Arkveld is Monster Hunter Wilds' flagship monster that was once thought to be extinct and is now on a rampage planning to make everything else extinct.

Arkveld attacks players using the chain-like appendages on its arms as weapons and bombards them with Dragon-elemental explosions, which have a mile-wide radius.

This crossover event will go live for Final Fantasy XIV in early October 2025.

Do note that in order to unlock this fight, players will need to be Lv. 100 and complete the Main Scenario Quest "Dawntrail.

Just when I'm losing hope for Monster Hunter Wilds, one of Final Fantasy's most insane bosses has convinced me to start hunting again.

This isn't the first time that the Monster Hunter has had a huge crossover event with Final Fantasy XIV.

Monster Hunter World had a collaboration with Square Enix's popular MMORPG that added the iconic Behemoth as a boss, and it ended up being one of the hardest in the whole game.

With the addition of Omega, we might be in for a crazier challenge, as this mechanical monstrosity is no joke.

I personally fought Omega in Final Fantasy V Pixel Remaster and Final Fantasy XIV, and this thing kicked my butt for many hours on end to the point I was tempted to look up guides on how to beat it.

The Final Fantasy V version of Omega was especially gruelling as it required you to build a very specific party composition and pray you were able to kill Omega faster than it could kill you.

Normally I'd be terrified at the thought of fighting Omega in Monster Hunter Wilds (especially after how nightmarishly difficult fighting the Behemoth was in Monster Hunter: World), but I'm actually happy they're adding this boss to the game.

This boss may help solve the lackluster difficulty problems Monster Hunter Wilds has been suffering from since launch earlier this year.

The endgame update buffing Tempered Monsters is a good start, but we need more challenging monsters that push players to the limit using every tool at their disposal and encourage them to prepare for the hunt with the best gear possible instead of relying on Focus Strikes and Wounds to knock enemies down.

Either way, I can't wait to fight Omega and obtain all kinds of cool gear from farming its metallic hide when the 3rd Title Update for Monster Hunter Wilds launches in late September 2025.

Let's hope this update will also come with Optimization upgrades for the PC version to win back fans who've been review bombing Monster Hunter Wilds for months.

As for the Final Fantasy XIV crossover fight with Arkveld — while I don't play the game anymore after the Dawntrail expansion disappointed me, I'm happy for Final Fantasy fans getting to fight another Monster Hunter monster other than Rathalos which was added in Final Fantasy XIV: Stormblood.

Arkveld was a really cool monster to hunt in Monster Hunter Wilds, and I hope he'll be just as fun to fight in Final Fantasy XIV and potentially give players a chance to earn a mount version of Arkveld for their mount collection.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the latest entry in Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise, has recently received the patch notes for its next major update that's set to go live on August 13, 2025.

According to the game's director, Yuya Tokuda, this patch will add several new Tempered versions of challenging monsters to address fans' complaints of the endgame content's lackluster difficulty.

In addition, a new endgame reward system will be implemented to complement the new Tempered Monsters, and several adjustments will be made to the game's mechanics, systems, and weapon type balance.

Here are the major highlights of what you can expect from Monster Hunter Wilds' Ver. 1.021 Update.

Hunt new 9★ Tempered Monsters

The first significant content addition from this update is the inclusion of several Tempered versions of the toughest beasts from Monster Hunter Wilds' monster roster.

These include new Tempered versions of Rey Dau, Uth Duna, Nu Udra, Jin Dahaad, Gore Magala, Arkveld, Mizutsune, Lagiacrus, and Seregios.

They will appear in 9★ Quests and will be available to hunt once a player reaches Hunter Rank 100.

With the addition of these new challenging monsters, Capcom has decided to implement a new rewards system tied to completing 9★ Quests as an incentive to take them on.

These new rewards are Glowing Stones, which, when appraised, can transform into special Talismans that grant the player powerful passive Skills.

Unlike the regular craftable Talismans, which offer a preset set of passive Armor Skills, these new Talismans, formed from Glowing Stones, have completely random skills attached.

Additionally, the randomized Talismans offer not only armor skills, but they also grant weapon skills and Decoration Slots, which can fit both armor and weapon skill Decorations.

So with a bit of luck, you could end up acquiring powerful Talismans that open up tons of new possibilities for creative weapon+armor set builds, much more so than regular Talismans could.

However, do note that the randomized Talismans can't be upgraded, and due to their randomized skill set, it could take you a good long while to farm for Talismans with the specific skill and Decoration slot set you want.

Several weapon and game system balance adjustments

New Tempered Monsters isn't the only new thing this update is bringing to Monster Hunter Wilds.

It will also include several balance changes to the game's vast array of weapon types, specifically for Great Sword, Long Sword, Sword & Shield, Dual Blades, Hunting Horn, Lance, Switch Axe, Charge Blade, Insect Glaive, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun.

For the most part, these balance changes include increasing the attack power of each weapon's techniques, making them easier to combo moves together, and making the Bowguns' elemental ammo and Special Ammo Modes more viable during endgame hunts.

The most interesting change is with the Dual Blades, which has received a brand new move called the Turning Tidedrill. This is a new finisher that can be performed after the Focus Strike: Turning Tide by pressing △ (PS5), Y (Xbox), or the default Right Click (PC).

This will allow you to drill your Dual Blades into a monster's wound instead of riding down their spine like a demented spinning top of death, if you wish to continue assaulting a monster without messing up your positioning.

The update will also include several game system changes like making it easier to swim and use items underwater while fighting Lagiacrus, increasing the duration of all cooked meals, adjustments to several Armor Skills, tweaks to Support Hunters and the Seikret mount, and more.

For more detailed information on these changes and several miscellaneous bug fixes, you can check out the full mountain-sized list of patch notes for this update on Monster Hunter Wilds' official website.

Monster Hunter Wilds needs a difficulty spike for the whole game, not just the endgame content.

To say that Monster Hunter Wilds is one of the biggest disappointments of 2025 would be an understatement.

This game had a strong launch in February 2025 by selling over 10 million copies, gathering over a million concurrent Steam users, and receiving worldwide critical acclaim.

However, several months later, the fans have turned on Monster Hunter Wilds with review bombs criticizing the game's poor optimization on PC, unremarkable story campaign, lack of meaty end-game content compared to previous titles, and aggressively dumbing down the series' beloved challenge thanks to incongruent and excessively streamlined gameplay mechanics.

To Capcom's credit, it has been trying to address these issues through its post-launch patches, with this latest one aiming to add much-needed content and difficulty to the game's endgame content as Capcom promised it would back in March 2025.

While I commend Capcom for that, I feel this is a small band-aid on a huge, gaping wound of an issue. In my opinion, it's not just the endgame that's lacking in difficulty; it's the entire game.

Monsters in Low Rank and High Rank quests (with some exceptions) barely do any damage to the player (even with un-upgraded gear), die too quickly to the new game mechanic's, and the game constantly warns when you're about to die with the flashing health bar, taking the unpredictable, adrenaline-pumping danger away from hunts.

While this new update may make Tempered Monsters threatening again, it's not going to solve the problem of players being forced to sit through 50-60 hours of a mediocre story campaign hunting weak Low Rank and High Rank monsters just to get to the exciting endgame content.

Personally, I feel Capcom should give players the option to remove the flashing warning health bar in the options menu and buff up the damage output and health of Low Rank and normal High Rank monsters to incentivise the player into improving their skills and gear throughout the entire game instead of at the end.

Not only will this give players a great sense of accomplishment for taking the time to prepare hunting monsters, but it will also make them better players and enjoy the game from start to finish.

Either way, this update is a step in the right direction that I hope Capcom continues to tread on so that Monster Hunter Wilds can truly fulfill its potential and become one of the best games in the series.

In the meantime, we'll keep an eye out for more updates on Monster Hunter Wilds and news regarding the next upcoming Xbox title/upcoming PC title for the Monster Hunter Stories series, Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Fans who have waited for the Street Fighter 6 Outfit 4 lineup will be happy to see it rolling out today, as Capcom is finally bringing a wave of swimsuit-themed skins to characters like Cammy, Chun-Li, and others, to fit into August's dwindling summer vibes in the latest installment of its hit fighting game.

The Outfit 4 lineup is launching today, Tuesday, August 5, 2025, coinciding with the launch of Sagat, the first character being added as part of the Year 3 Pass.

Capcom previously showed concept art for the new looks, teasing skimpy attire for a large chunk of the game's roster, accounting for some high-ranking player favorites. That was just the concept, though, which doesn't quite compare to seeing the entire vision realized. Now, we've got the full reveal, which you can see in the sizzling trailer below:

As the concept art already showed, these are some of the showiest, skimpiest outfits in the series yet. A.K.I., Cammy, Chun-Li, Jamie, Kimberly, Luke, and Manon are all included, meaning there are seven swimsuit skins in total.

These are all really cool outfits, too. I particularly like Chun-Li's design, infusing her classic colors into a stylish one-piece that's paired with a cute hairstyle. Cammy's look is bold, and I expect it's quickly going to become a fan-favorite for somewhat obvious reasons.

Really, my only criticism is that I can't help but point out that things are slightly lopsided here. I'm glad at least some of the guys made the cut, but seriously, Ryu and Ken couldn't be included to help balance it out? They ranked pretty high when I first evaluated the cast back at launch!

I suppose there's always next year, but given the timeline we've had so far, the year after might be reasonable. It's taken a while for these outfits to launch, as the Outfit 3 lineup arrived all the way back in December 2023. Fans have been waiting, but I have to imagine most players will be happy with the direction Capcom is taking with these costumes.

I have to say, it's interesting how multiple companies are all going in a similar direction with cosmetics. NetEase Games recently launched a wave of swimsuit skins in Marvel Rivals to great success. It's not a criticism at all, just fun to note.

C. Viper is next up for the Year 3 additions

Capcom also shared the first look at C. Viper, the next character planned to join the lineup. She doesn't have an exact release date at this point, but she is set to arrive at some point in Autumn, and like Sagat, is included as part of the Year 3 Character Pass. You can check out C. Viper's debut trailer above.

We'll be waiting a bit longer to get a look at her moveset, so until then, players will have to speculate what has changed and what is still the same since her appearance in Street Fighter 4.

Alex and Ingrid are next up after C. Viper for the Year 3 additions, though players will have to wait until early 2026 before either of them are available.

Street Fighter 6 is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, PlayStation 4, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Capcom's Monster Hunter franchise has risen to worldwide stardom over the last several years, taking players on a wild ride hunting the biggest, baddest monsters in video game history.

One such title is Monster Hunter Rise. This game is an arcadey take on the Monster Hunter formula, where you fly through the air to chase monsters and face down hordes of them at once with powerful super moves in Tower Defense-like 'Rampage' hunts.

This game normally has a modest MSRP of $39.99 at most retailers. However, Amazon is hosting a last-minute Amazon Prime Day sale for a digital code for the Xbox version with an insane 75% discount, taking it down to $10.00.

If you want to get your hands on one of Monster Hunter's best games for dirt-cheap, don't miss out on this discount before it goes away at the end of today.

Why should you buy Monster Hunter Rise over Monster Hunter Wilds?

Monster Hunter Rise is a co-op action hunting game released in 2021 for the Nintendo Switch before being later ported to Xbox and PC via Windows and Steam.

This game had you play as a hunter of Kamura Village, sworn to defend their home from an encroaching horde of monsters banded together by a mysterious phenomenon known as the 'Rampage'.

Like any Monster Hunter title, your goal is to hunt monsters, skin their hides upon slaying upon, and then use their body part to forge mighty weapons and armor so you can hunt bigger monsters.

Monster Hunter Rise sets itself apart from the rest of the series with many unique mechanics exclusive to this game. For one, it has a Palamute mount (a precursor to Monster Hunter Wilds' Seiket mount), which can help you travel maps faster than on foot when riding it.

Secondly, Monster Hunter Rise features the powerful Wirebug mechanic. This godlike insect can allow players to fly through the air like Spider-Man, perform mighty super-moves that can decimate monsters, and even briefly take control of monsters via the Wyvern Riding technique to beat up other monsters.

Thirdly, in addition to regular hunting missions where you must track and kill your target in the wild, Monster Hunter Rise features unique Tower Defense-like missions called Rampage quests.

In these missions, you must set up siege weapons and fortifications to protect Kamura Village from hordes of monsters looking to raise it to the ground, culminating in epic boss fights with unique Apex Monsters leading the pack.

When I first played Monster Hunter Rise when it came out on the Nintendo Switch, I wasn't endeared to it. Its High Rank content was incomplete at launch due to the pandemic, and the game's frame rate performance and resolution were severely held back by the Nintendo Switch's outdated hardware.

It was a decent action game, but it felt rushed and unfinished. However, thanks to numerous post-launch updates adding more monsters and fixing its incomplete High Rank content, and a well-done PC port which vastly improved its frame rate and resolution (which is carried over in the Xbox version), I grew to appreciate and love Monster Hunter Rise.

It was an over-the-top departure from the mainline titles like Monster Hunter World, which focused on grounded combat and preparation, and instead embraced high-flying Devil May Cry-esque combat insanity.

The new Japanese-inspired monsters were a joy to fight, the combat system was vastly in-depth with many Wirebug super-moves and weapons to play with, and even the Rampage quests were a fun change of pace from regular hunts once I figured out how to optimize my siege equipment and force monsters into choke points.

And this all without getting into its DLC expansion Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, which vastly improved almost every aspect of the base game while adding tons of new monsters to hunt and endgame content to partake in.

However, even with post-launch updates and performance improvements, Monster Hunter Rise isn't perfect. Due to be a Nintendo Switch port, the graphics aren't the most detailed in the world (in fact, it looks on par with PlayStation 3 games), so you won't be getting a next-gen visual feast for the eyes with this game.

Additionally, the plot basically amounts to "There are monsters trying to eat us, go kill them," and doesn't evolve much beyond that.

If you're looking for a game with a complex plot and captivating character development, you're better off with JRPGs like Metaphor ReFantazio (which is currently on a 45% discount sale) and Persona 3: Reload (which is also on sale for a 49% discount).

Finally, due to its arcade-like nature with Rampage Quests and Wirebugs, Monster Hunter Rise lacks the hardcore challenge and difficulty curve that previous games like Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter 4 had.

It may look intimidating at first for newcomers, but once you get the hang of its mechanics, you and your friends will be able to slay monsters in no time without much difficulty (with some endgame exceptions).

Now, that last statement makes me sound hypocritical, as I heavily criticized Monster Hunter Wilds' for a similar lack of challenge.

However, I would gladly take Monster Hunter Rise over Monster Hunter Wilds in its current state any day of the week for many reasons.

Monster Hunter Rise has a more charming and colorful art style, its combat is way more complex and interesting, it has more endgame content and monsters, and its performance on Xbox and PC is FAR more stable than Monster Hunter Wilds is currently.

For further context, Monster Hunter Rise on Xbox and PC is able to reach a consistent framerate of 60fps or even 120fps with 1080p or 4K resolutions.

Monster Hunter Wilds, meanwhile, can barely perform at 60fps without sacrificing visual fidelity on Xbox. Plus, the PC port has been having so many crashes and stability issues, that fans have started review-bombing Monster Hunter Wilds.

So if you're looking for a fun, complete Monster Hunter experience to play with friends online while waiting for Capcom to fix Monster Hunter Wilds with post-launch updates, then I highly recommend Monster Hunter Rise.

In fact, now's the perfect time to get into Monster Hunter Rise as a digital code for the Xbox version is currently being sold with a Rathalos-sized 75% discount, thanks to Amazon Prime Day.

That means for a limited time, Monster Hunter Rise's usual MSRP of $39.99 has been reduced to $10.00 at Amazon. This is the lowest price I've ever seen this game drop to, so get on it while you can, as this deal's duration ends TODAY.

With the $29.99 you will be saving with this deal, you can use it towards purchasing an Xbox Wireless controller (which is having $28% discount at Walmart) or the Razer Wolverine V2 Chroma controller (which is also having $41% discount at Walmart) to help you perform those Wirebug supermoves with greater input accuracy.

However, there's a stipulation with this discount when buying Monster Hunter Rise on Amazon. In order to access this discount, you will need to sign up for Amazon Prime Membership.

It's a worthy price to pay, as becoming an Amazon Prime Member will reward you with various other benefits.

These include access to Amazon's multimedia streaming services, same-day shipping when ordering physical products, and access to other discount deals like this sweet 26% discount for the Seagate Storage Expansion Card for Xbox Series X|S, so you can install extra space for your Xbox Series X|S to fit in Monster Hunter Rise.

Capcom has just released, on its japanese website, a new fiscal year report showing game sales revenue from April 2024 to March 2025.

According to the report (as shared via @HazzadorGamin on X), revenue through Capcom games sold on Steam has risen by a monumental 61.1%, selling over 28 million games on Valve's digital platform.

This roughly means that Capcom has generated $366 million on Steam alone, and this is only accounting for 31.1% of Capcom's total revenue.

That being said, the fiscal year doesn't have much good news for Capcom's console games sales. Capcom's game sales on PlayStation systems once made up 10.5% of the company's total revenue in 2024, but those figures have been omitted from this report, confirming that it has dropped below 10%.

Unfortunately, we can't say anything about the state of Capcom's game sales numbers on Xbox and Nintendo Switch systems, as they are not featured in the report.

Capcom's been a financial hot streak, yet the quality of its PC games don't reflect that.

I personally believe that a huge factor in Capcom making a ton of money on Steam is due to the success of Monster Hunter Wilds, which was released just a few weeks before the end of the 2024-2025 fiscal year on February 28, 2025.

This highly anticipated entry in Capcom's Monster Hunter series broke sales records by shipping over 10 million copies in just a month on Steam, Xbox Series X|S, and PlayStation 5.

Also, it's worth noting that Capcom released other titles to help boost its revenue during 2024 before Monster Hunter Wilds came along, which drew players in.

These include the original, artistically rich strategy/action game hybrid, Kunitsu-Gami: Path of the Goddess, and Dragon's Dogma 2, the long-awaited revival of Capcom's cult open-world RPG series, Dragon's Dogma.

That being said, despite Monster Hunter Wilds helping Capcom make bank, the game has received a ton of "Overwhelmingly Negative" reviews on Steam over the past couple of months.

PC players have been criticizing Monster Hunter Wilds' for its subpar PC performance even while running the Best graphics cards, the lack of a true challenge fighting the monsters, its minuscule amount of endgame content, and more.

Capcom's been busy helping fix the scarcity of Monster Hunter's endgame content, with free titles adding new enemies to its monster roster. The first title update added Miztzune and High-Rank Zoh Shia, while the recently released second title update added Lagiacrus and Seregios.

Capcom even released a mini-update that you play as Akuma from the Street Fighter series, complete with his own unique move-set that functioned differently from the main weapon types.

Yet even with these cool updates, players are still not satisfied as they are complaining that these updates barely do anything to upgrade the PC version's performance. People are experiencing crashes, framerates tanking below 30fps, aliasing galore, and other optimization issues.

Judging from the aforementioned fiscal year report, it's quite possible that Capcom rushed Monster Hunter Wilds out the door before it was properly optimized to get out before the fiscal year for 2024-2025.

It paid off big for Capcom, but the quality of Monster Hunter Wilds suffered heavily as a result.

You'd think after the optimization issues Dragon's Dogma 2 had when that game launched (as my colleague Jez Corden discovered in his review of Dragon's Dogma 2), Capcom would've realized that the RE Engine isn't designed to run big open-world games like Monster Hunter Wilds.

However, I'm guessing it was too late to back peddle in time to change Monster Hunter Wilds' so it was able to run with the RE Engine better. Perhaps due to being too far into development or not willing to compromise, missing out on meeting the fiscal year deadline.

Thankfully, Resident Evil Requiem hopefully won't suffer these problems.

Capcom confirmed in a developer interview (only available on Resident Evil's website), that it will not be an open-world multiplayer game (as it was originally going to be according to the leaked rumor), because Capcom says the fans didn't want the Resident Evil series to go in that direction.

However, Capcom will need to do more than simply keep RE Engine-made games away from open-world structures if it hopes to maintain the quality of its upcoming PC games and even upcoming Xbox games.

In my opinion, Capcom needs to take time to properly optimize each game, take fan feedback into serious consideration with regard to game design and performance, and not rush out products to meet deadlines and make a quick buck.

Otherwise, the fans will turn on them as they did with Monster Hunter Wilds and not stick around to purchase anymore of their products, bringing Capcom's recent financial success on Steam to a grinding halt.

Will Capcom heed the fan outcries and learn from its lessons to maintain its high sales revenues for the next fiscal year without sacrificing the quality of its upcoming games?

Will it be able to finally fix the performance issues of Monster Hunters Wilds so fans will stick around to play more of its free title updates and probable DLC expansion?

We will have to wait and see what Capcom's next move is to find out.

Capcom had recently concluded its June 2025 Capcom Spotlight event with a massive gameplay showcase for Monster Hunter Wilds' upcoming second free title update, which will be launching on June 30, 2025, alongside similarly swim-themed content for Street Fighter 6.

We already knew that the 2nd Title Update would feature the return of the fan-favorite monster Lagiacrus (as teased in the 1st Title Update), but we were not prepared for what the rest of the update would entail.

Not only will this update include Lagiacrus, but it will also feature another returning monster called Seregios, the cosmetic Layered Armor, Arch-Tempered Uth Duna, more cosmetic DLC and event quests, and the shocking return of underwater combat from Monster Hunter Tri!

Here's all the new info on Monster Hunter Wilds' second Title update announced during the June 2025 Capcom Spotlight event.

The showcase begins by fully unveiling what Lagiacrus will be like in Monster Hunter Wilds. For those unaware, Lagiacrus is a large Leviathan-class monster that attacks its prey by lunging at them with its jaws and zapping them with lightning produced from its back spikes.

And from the looks of the gameplay trailer, Lagiacrus will fight just as he did back in 2009's Monster Hunter Tri, but extremely sped up now that the beast is powered by next-gen hardware.

What's truly shocking is that partway into hunting Lagiacrus, players will be forced to fight it underwater, confirming that underwater combat will be making an unexpected return to the Monster Hunter series just for this fight.

Underwater combat was a unique mechanic that was only ever featured in Monster Hunter Tri and in 2011's Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate.

It was a controversial system that had players fighting Leviathan-type monsters under the sea. Most players didn't like underwater combat at the time because it had stiff controls, and most of the weapon types weren't effective underwater.

Yet it was memorable for showcasing the true strength of Leviathan-type monsters like Lagiacrus, who were far more dangerous underwater than on land.

Now, 14 years after its last appearance in Monster Hunter 3 Ultimate, underwater combat will be returning in Monster Hunter Wilds, albeit in a reworked state.

You can't use your weapons underwater, so you will need to use your Slinger to activate environmental traps to damage Lagiacrus or grapple onto it to stab it in the eye with a knife normally used for carving carcasses.

Lagiacrus isn't the only classic monster coming to Monster Hunter Wilds, as Capcom revealed he will be joined by Seregios, who was last seen causing havoc in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak.

Seregios is a Flying Wyvern that flies as fast as a speeding bullet, divebombing its enemies with lightning-fast kicks and claw attacks. It also dislodges its scales to fire as projectiles at players, inflicting the health-draining Bleed status if they get hit.

Seregios was a tough foe to face in Monster Hunter Rise: Sunbreak, and will no doubt be a menace to fight in Monster Hunter Wilds now that we don't have Wirebugs anymore to chase after it in the air.

To complement the returning monsters, Capcom revealed that the next Arch-Tempered monster for Monster Hunter Wilds will be Arch-Tempered Uth Duna.

The regular Uth Duna was a massive, tanky, Leviathan-type monster that had tons of health, strength, and the ability to cause massive waves that could swallow up players. With this in mind, the Arch-Tempered version will no doubt be twice as hard to deal with, so make sure to prepare your gear for the upcoming fight.

Capcom then went on to describe various gameplay system additions that will be included in the 2nd Title Update.

First off, Monster Hunter Wilds will receive a Layered Weapon system, which will allow players to change the cosmetic appearance of their weapons upon crafting their final form in the weapon forge tree.

Other system additions include:

• New brightness filter options for Photo Mode and the ability to hide characters like Alma, the Seikret, and your Palico from view while in Photo Mode.
• The ability to swap Alma with Erik as your handler during hunts.
• A new Support Hunter named Mina, and the ability to choose which Support Hunters can join you while playing solo.

After that, Capcom stated the 2nd Title Update will include tons of new Event Quests with unique gear rewards, cosmetic DLC (some of which are free while others have to be paid for), and a new limited-time festival called Flamefete, which will host unique quests and rewards.

One of the biggest Event Quests to look out for is the Fender Special Collab quest. This quest will reward players with an emote that will let them play a virtual version of the $2,000 Rathalos-themed Fender guitar, in case you don't have the cash to buy the real guitar.

Finally, Capom announced that Monster Hunter Wilds' 3rd Title Update will arrive in late September 2025, and it will feature another new monster to hunt and a Fall-themed limited-time festival.

Will this massive update help Monster Hunter Wilds overturn the recent Overwhelming Negative reviews on Steam?

Normally, this update would be a massive cause for celebration. Two classic monsters are being added to Monster Hunter Wilds' giant list of monsters, we don't have to wait for the DLC expansion for Layered Weapons, and there is a ton of cool Event Quests on the way.

Unfortunately, things have not been looking good for Monster Hunter Wilds as fans have been review bombing it on Steam, criticizing the game for its subpar performance on PC, lackluster difficulty, and barren endgame content.

With the 2nd Title Update, I can definitely say that people won't be short on things to do during the Endgame as we'll be forging plenty of new gear from hunting Seregios and Lagiacrus, and crafting all kinds of fashion sets with the Layered Weapons system to complement the Layered Armor system.

Not to mention, Tempered Monsters in general have been massively buffed in the last update, providing players with the endgame challenge that was missing at launch.

As for the PC performance issues, according to the update's patch notes, Capcom is planning to implement several improvements for the Steam version.

These improvements include DLSS4 and FSR4 support, multi-frame gen support for NVIDIA DLSS, and separating the upscaling and frame generation options in the graphics menu.

Will it be enough to win back the fans' favor? We'll have to join the hunt to find when Monster Hunter Wilds' 2nd Title Update goes live on June 30, 2025.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

While the Capcom Spotlight presentation on Thursday was mostly smaller updates, Street Fighter 6 players got a sizzling reveal with the confirmation that Outfit 4 DLC is underway, with some skimpy summer looks for the already-hot Street Fighter 6 cast, while Monster Hunter Wilds fans celebrated the return of underwater combat.

Capcom took the time to show off conceptual swimsuit designs for some of the cast, including Cammy, Chun-Li, Jamie, and Luke. You can see the outfits in the gallery below.

Jamie and Luke are both relative newcomers (Luke was technically added to Street Fighter 5, but only right at the end of that game's lifecycle) so I don't have a historical comparison to pull from for either, but they're both showing off some muscle.

Chun-Li's one-piece outfit draws on some classic inspiration, using her iconic blue color and the same swirl design as outfits she's had in the past. Cammy's bikini look is bold however, and it'll easily be the most risqué look anyone has in-game when it arrives.

There's no exact release date right now, and we only have concept art to go on at the moment. Still, given the steamy summer theme, it feels right for these skins to launch at some point sooner rather than later.

It's also worth noting that Outfit 4 has been extremely long in the making, with the Outfit 3 lineup launching all the way back in December 2023, just a few months after the game first launched.

Still, if the final results match what was shown here, I imagine Capcom is about to make enough money to keep the game's live service going for another few years, if not more. Street Fighter 6 isn't the only game showing skin this summer, with Marvel Rivals also slated to get a new lineup of outfits sometime soon.

The cast of Street Fighter 6 is also set to grow more on August 5 with the arrival of Sagat, the first addition in the Year 3 expansion. His teaser trailer can be found below:

As far as other Capcom games go, I went hands-on with Pragmata, saw quite a bit of Resident Evil Requiem, and interviewed the developers of Onimusha: Way of the Sword at Summer Game Fest 2025.

All three of these big games are currently slated to launch in 2026, with Resident Evil Requiem snagging a February release date. That game stars a new protagonist, FBI agent Grace Ashcroft, though there's increasing suspicion that Capcom is hiding a more seasoned secondary playable character.

Street Fighter 6 is currently available on Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam), PlayStation 5, and Nintendo Switch 2.

Japanese developer and publisher Capcom is delivering constant hits, with critical and commercial successes from established franchises, while also reviving older series. That seems set to continue with Onimusha: Way of the Sword, an action-adventure game set to launch next year.

During Summer Game Fest 2025, I got to attend a theater presentation that showed over 20 minutes of gameplay from Onimusha: Way of the Sword. After, I also had the chance to speak with director Satoru Nihei and producer Akihito Kadowaki through the assistance of a translator.

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is the first new Onimusha game in 20 years, something Nihei says is a result of multiple factors.

"It's all about finding the right people," he says, noting that it can sometimes be difficult with how many projects Capcom has going at once. He adds that development on this game started when the Onimusha team came together in 2020.

In Way of the Sword, players step into the shoes of a warrior named Miyamoto Musashi, and he isn’t just any random samurai. He’s equipped with an Oni Gauntlet, a mystical device that can absorb the souls of his fallen foes, empowering him and granting him supernatural techniques.

Even so, Musashi isn’t exactly happy about this arrangement, as he wishes to prove his strength through normal means. He’s reluctant about using the power of the Gauntlet, but he’s forced to tap into his strengths to face the Genma, nightmarish creatures clawing their way into the world.

These demonic foes slaughter helpless villagers with wanton abandon, inflicting brutality on the inhabitants of Kyoto, especially around the historic Kiyomizu-dera temple.

As I watch Musashi fight back against the invaders, his movements are swift and precise, with careful attention to detail on the animations as he swings his sword to cut through enemy ranks.

His blows are brutal, lopping off limbs or bisecting foes entirely, something Kadowaki says the team really focused on using with the company's proprietary RE Engine.

"Specificially for Onimusha, [the developers] were looking into creating a system for dismemberment for the enemies," he says, adding that the team believes having an active dismemberment system will make combat feel more satisfying for players.

Once enemies are killed, their souls linger on the battlefield and can be absorbed by Musashi using the Oni Gauntlet. This has to be done manually, as the souls don't stay forever, though, and will disappear or even be absorbed by enemies if players wait too long, something that Nihei believes helps to separate Onimusha from other action games.

Musashi has more tricks up his sleeve and can redirect attacking foes into his surroundings, knocking enemies into the environment. A nearby fire or even a table can be turned to his advantage in an instant.

As the presentation continues, a floating Genma absorbs the souls of an enemy that died nearby, becoming empowered and gaining dangerous new attacks. Musashi is capable of deflecting enemy ranged attacks, which is key to staggering certain foes.

Continuing on, Musashi makes his way to the temple. There, the Oni Gauntlet speaks to him, arguing with an almost-sassy tone about what he should do next.

"It's actually something that's very important for the dev team to implement because it's going to serve as a way to provide information, but the interaction between Musashi and the gauntlet is going to provide more context to the world around Musashi and why he's on this journey in the first place," explains Nihei. "It allows us to flesh out the narrative a lot more."

As the conversation between Musashi and the gauntlet continues, visions of the past are conjured up around him, showing spirits of those who were slaughtered here. According to Nihei, the team wanted to explore the juxtaposition of a beautiful temple with the murky stories that persist in legends.

"Kyoto's an extremely old city in Japan, and it has a lot of legends, a lot of folklore. There's a lot of dark and occult-like stories that are found everywhere you travel around the city," Nihei says.

"As game developers and creators, we felt that has a very entertaining element to it. There's a very interesting contrast between the current beautiful image of Kiyomizu-dera and these dark fantasies."

Within the temple, Musashi confronts Ganryu, a rival who also has an Oni Gauntlet. Ganryu has no qualms about unleashing the gauntlet's power, using devastating attacks that put Musashi on the defensive.

Ganryu's attacks render heavy destruction all around as he laughs madly, but eventually, Musashi is victorious. I'm not at all confident that his rival is gone for good.

While Onimusha: Way of the Sword is not coming to PlayStation 4 and Xbox One, Kadowaki indicates there's no one element that's possible because of being designed around the latest gaming hardware, and instead, the game is just scaled around what the latest consoles can do.

He gives an example, saying that while the PlayStation 5 could handle 10 enemies surrounding Musashi, if the game had to be developed for the PlayStation 4, then that number might be cut down.

To close out the presentation, I see another boss fight, with Musashi taking on a massive creature called Byakue that tears into the world through a bleeding wound in reality.

During this duel, I noticed that the quick and elegant movements remain, but whenever the attacks clash in a parry, Musashi visibly struggles, exerting pressure and force before pushing the monster back. When I asked the developers about this, Nihei confirmed it was a conscious choice.

"That's one of the things [the team] really focused on for the game, because we felt that for a lot of these bigger enemies, if Musashi reacted the same way he did with regular-sized enemies, it didn't really make a lot of sense and it also didn't seem realistic," he explains.

"Everything should have a weight to it, you can feel the danger. It gives it a more unique feeling compared to other titles in the genre."

From the brutal combat to the dark tone, I'm impressed with everything I've seen, and I can't wait to play this game next year. As my final question, I asked Nihei what he wants players (whether longtime fans or newcomers) to know about Onimusha: Way of the Sword.

"We're creating a game that's steeped in dark fantasy elements," he says. "We're going to have a lot of charming characters brimming with personality. We believe that people are really going to like the cast of characters as well as the story."

Onimusha: Way of the Sword is slated to launch at some point in 2026 across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam), and PlayStation 5.

Things are not looking good for Monster Hunter Wilds, especially on PC.

After a successful few months of selling over 10 million copies, garnering over a million concurrent Steam players, and receiving critical acclaim (including a 4/5 star review from us at Windows Central), people have recently started turning on Capcom's latest entry in the vaunted Monster Hunter series.

According to the game's Steam page, fans have been review-bombing Monster Hunter Wilds to the point where its rating is now at "Overwhelmingly Negative".

Criticisms from fans range from Monster Hunter Wild's lack of substantial end-game content compared to previous Monster Hunter titles, the series' vaunted challenge being aggressively dumbed down due to incongruent and overly streamlined mechanics, a brief and forgettable story campaign — and, most notably, its subpar performance on PC.

Fans have stated that Monster Hunter Wilds' optimization on PC remains poor after several months, even when they run the game with the best PC graphics on the market. Verified reviews decry the game's frame rate, constant stuttering, numerous graphical glitches, gameplay bugs, atop crash events.

As a result, Monster Hunter Wilds' one million-plus concurrent Steam player base, has gradually dropped to below that of the far-older Monster Hunter: World.

Indeed, fans have even started returning to playing Monster Hunter: World seeking the challenge and content breadth Wilds has yet to offer. As of writing, it has twice the amount of concurrent players that Monster Hunter Wilds has right now, despite Monster Hunter: World being over seven years old and no longer receiving updates from Capcom.

Monster Hunter games are generally known for their "long tail," as in strong post-launch content and endgame mechanics coalesce to keep the game fresh for elongated periods of time. Monster Hunter Wilds' endgame is vanishingly brief, given that the game's difficulty curve eliminated the necessity to grind gear, as monster battles were too easy to require any learning or counter play.

Will Monster Hunter Wilds be able to win back the fans' favor?

I'm somewhat torn over this situation. On the one hand, nobody wants to see a game fail to live up to expectations and be reviled by the public when the developers have worked long and hard on it. On the other hand, I feel vindicated knowing that more are starting to realize Monster Hunter Wilds' deep flaws. We called out most of its issues and lack of real danger months ago.

Now, granted, Monster Hunter World and Monster Hunter Rise suffered similar fan backlash when their base games first launched before being improved by Title Updates and DLC expansions. However, these issues are taken to a detrimental extreme in Monster Hunter Wilds, especially on PC, thanks to the game's subpar performance, which has yet to be addressed in the first Title Update or the Akuma update.

Hopefully, future Title Updates (like the Lagiacrus Title Update launching at the end of June 2025) will be able to win back the fans by adding more significant endgame content that will keep players coming back for more and fixing the PC version's performance issues.

The disruption of Monster Hunter Wilds' gameplay ecosystem could lead to a permanent abandonment from some long-time fans, whose expectations simply haven't been met with Wilds — so far.

Monster Hunter Wilds is available for purchase on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Capcom's Pragmata was first announced all the way back in 2020, but after going dormant for years, it finally reemerged in the lead up to Summer Game Fest 2025, with a new trailer shown during PlayStation's June State of Play.

When I visited Capcom at Summer Game Fest to check out Resident Evil Requiem and some other stuff, I also got to play about 20 minutes of Pragmata. Going in, I was told I was my group was one of the first to play it outside of the company, and I really didn't know what to expect.

I'm happy to say that what I played is fairly different than anything I was imagining, and while it's only a smaller slice, I'm curious to see more in the future.

My time with Pragmata opened on an abandoned research station where a man named Hugh is gravely injured. An android named Diana (who has the form of a young girl) helps heal Hugh's injuries.

While he's confused as to what's going on, there's not much time to ponder, as the duo are almost immediately attacked by other (seemingly less-advanced) androids.

It's here the core loop of Pragmata becomes apparent, and it's pretty unique. Androids have thick armor and take extremely low amounts of damage from your weapons, making them almost impossible to kill...until they're hacked. Hopping onto Hugh's back, Diana helps by hacking androids via a real-time minigame that plays out with a controller's face buttons.

You have to juggle dodging and firing with pulling up the hack, with sounds frenetic (and it is) but after just a couple of minutes, it became surprisingly intuitive. I'm genuinely shocked at how good it feels, and I was invested in trying to hack enemy androids as quickly as possible.

Exploring the station reveals a bit more on the gameplay front. In addition to his pistol, which has infinite ammo but recharges slowly, Hugh can pick up heavier guns to use against the machines.

These guns are powerful, with a weapon that causes a paralyzing field that traps anything within standing out in particular.

These guns are immediately discarded upon running out of ammo, however, meaning I was always on my toes looking for more. There's also some mild platforming elements, as you'll have to jump and dodge lasers or mantle up to a new level.

Running on a PlayStation 5 Pro, everything looked good as you'd expect from a game running on RE Engine, though the framerate did feel a bit inconsistent when various particle effects went off.

By the end of the session, I was really feeling the flow of combat,

While I really enjoyed this slice that I've played, I do still have a number of questions. Games require escalation, and I'm excitedly fearful as to how complicated the hacking might look like toward the end.

I also still don't have a great grasp on where the story is headed, so it would be beneficial for Capcom to share more on that front in the future.

All that said, I'm now looking forward to a game that, a few months ago, I wasn't sure would ever see the light of day.

Pragmata is slated to launch at some point in 2026 across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam), and PlayStation 5.

If you're a survival-horror fan like me, Resident Evil Requiem from Capcom was one of the biggest announcements during all of Summer Game Fest 2025. For this ninth mainline entry, Capcom is promising to once again return to its foundation of horror, while also providing high-adrenaline action.

I got a taste of the first half of that promise when I attended a theater presentation from Capcom, taking a look at 20 minutes of hands-off gameplay that shows FBI agent Grace Ashcroft thrown into an utter nightmare.

The hands-off demo began with little additional context outside of the reveal trailer. Grace wakes up inside a heavily dilapidated building with no idea of where she is, hanging upside down and hooked up to something slowly draining her blood.

Straight away, it's clear this game is aiming for astounding visual quality. Capcom's impressive RE Engine has powered fantastic-looking visuals ever since it was introduced, especially in the Resident Evil games, but things are taken to a new level here. Sweat drips down Grace's neck, and dim lights pierce the room with amazing believability, while Capcom notes the demo was played on a PlayStation 5 Pro.

After getting free, the first-person gameplay begins. Everything is dark and moody, with only a handful of flickering lights, while dark halls are briefly illuminated by cracks of lightning as a storm rages outside.

Grace explores carefully, slowly opening doors and trying to find anything that can help her escape. Notably, there are no weapons to be seen at this stage, with Grace limited to just a lighter. In a new twist for the Resident Evil series, Grace can also gather bottles, throwing them as a distraction for enemies.

She seriously needs them, because it becomes clear after a while that the building isn't entirely abandoned, and something is coming after Grace. It's a nightmarish creature, with gigantic, clawing hands. It's covered in blood and bandages while towering over everything else, practically filling a room as it shambles around.

With no weapons, Grace can only evade or distract this thing temporarily, made all the more difficult by how it climbs up into the ceiling, burrowing through the building and making it hard to tell exactly where it is at a particular point.

While Capcom cuts from point to point to avoid spoiling the exact solutions, it's also clear that Grace's gameplay is going to revolve heavily around puzzles. Different doors need different keys; she'll need to find some way of reaching a tall shelf, and so on.

It's a very classic structure for a Resident Evil game, just with the stress level amplified as she is at least initially bereft of weaponry.

As the demo drew to a close, Capcom pulled a "one last thing" moment in perhaps the most creative way I've ever seen. As the shambling monstrosity closed in on Grace, the gameplay suddenly paused. The team opened the options menu and flipped a toggle from "First-person" to "Third-person."

The cheers in the room were deafening.

Resident Evil Requiem isn't the first game in the series to let players swap between first and third-person gameplay — 2021's Gothic-infused entry Resident Evil Village added the option through the Winters Expansion DLC — but Requiem is the first game to be built around this idea from the start. I'm excited to see which option players end up preferring, even if I'll probably stick with first-person myself.

The presentation wowed me, and I'm already sold on the survival-horror vision that Capcom is constructing as it returns to Raccoon City. There's a mutated elephant in the room, however, and that is that the storied Japanese publisher is promising fierce action for this game as well.

That action was nowhere to be seen in the demo, and while I'm sure she'll prove capable, I'd argue it'd be tonally inconsistent if Grace suddenly goes full guns blazing.

Maybe there's another, more familiar co-lead currently being hidden?

We won't be waiting years to find out, as Resident Evil Requiem is slated to launch on Feb. 27, 2026, across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC (Steam), and PlayStation 5.

Capcom has been on an absolute tear over the last several years with the Resident Evil series, and the company is aiming to continue that streak with Resident Evil 9.

During Summer Game Fest 2025, Capcom revealed that this next game in the series is called Resident Evil Requiem and it's releasing on February 27, 2026.

The trailer opens by showing a man walking through a busy office until he gets to the cubicle of FBI Agent Grace Ashcroft.

He explains to Ashcroft that "another body has been found" and says he specifically needs Ashcroft's eyes on the crime scene.

Grace seems to see traumatic flashbacks of the Remwood Hotel where her mother was murdered eight years ago.

The next thing we see is Grace struggling to get out of some kind of contraption that has her hanging upside down.

A creepy voice comes on to say, "I know now that you're the one that I've been searching for. The special one. The chosen one, Miss Ashcroft."

Following that, the music surges as unsettling scenes showing the dilapidated and largely abandoned Raccoon City flash on the screen, complete with grotesque abominations in the shadows.

It looks really good, and we can't wait to return to Raccoon City once more.

Capcom has been on a roll recently, and I hope that continues with Requiem

Over the last decade, Capcom has launched an impressive array of Resident Evil games with consistent critical acclaim and commercial success across new entries and several remakes alike.

In 2017, Capcom launched Resident Evil 7: Biohazard, which brought back a tight focus on survival-horror after criticisms were widely levied against the action-heavy Resident Evil 6.

Biohazard was followed by a remake of Resident Evil 2 in 2019, and a Resident Evil 3 remake in 2020. After Resident Evil Village in 2021, the company also launched a remake of Resident Evil 4 in 2023.

I'm really hoping that this next entry in the series can keep the momentum going.

Resident Evil Requiem is slated to launch on February 27, 2026 across Xbox Series X|S, Windows PC, and PlayStation 5.

Yuya Tokuda, the director for Monster Hunter Wilds, has uploaded a Director's Letter recapping all the new content that will be added to the game in its next update, launching on May 28, 2025.

The May Update will include all kinds of new activities for players to indulge in, like a Street Fighter 6 Collaboration quest, new Tempered Monsters to slay, balance adjustments to weapons, and more.

Here are the biggest highlights for Monster Hunter Wilds' May Update (as taken from Monster Hunter Wilds' official website).

Monster Hunter Wilds May Update - Street Fighter 6 Collab

The first major content highlight (and undoubtedly the star of the update), is a collaboration with Street Fighter 6, the latest entry in Capcom's flagship fighting game series.

In this collab, players will embark on several new quests where they will get to interact with Akuma, one of the deadliest fighters in the entire Street Fighter universe. Upon completing these quests, you will get to unlock a special armor set and cosmetic layered armor that transform you into Akuma himself.

Unlike the Akuma armor set previously featured in Monster Hunter Rise, Monster Hunter Wilds' version will grant you special items that grant you the ability to perform Akuma's moves and combos lifted directly from Street Fighter 6.

If you wear the regular armor set and layered set together, it will power up these moves to the point where they could deal significant damage to even the toughest monsters in the game.

Monster Hunter Wilds May Update - More Tempered Monsters

As Capcom stated back in March when they were going to make the game harder, Monster Hunter Wilds' May Update will feature several new 8★ Tempered Monsters to hunt when players reach Hunter Rank 41.

These new 8* Tempered Monsters are Gore Magala, Rey Dau, Uth Duna, Nu Udra, and Jin Dahaad. These buffed up beasties will have more health, better resistence to the wounding mechanics, and have increased stats for multiplayer scaling.

In addition, the spawn rate of higher-difficulty level quests (with multiple monsters and Tempered Monsters with higher strength ratings) will now be increased based on your Hunter Rank.

Monster Hunter Wilds May Update - Weapon Balance changes

Next up is that the May Update will implement a ton of balance changes to weapons and the game systems, as well as various bug fixes.

While there are too many changes to list here (you can read full patch notes on Monster Hunter Wilds' website for more details), we can say that the Hammer, Hunting Horn, Gunlance, Light Bowgun, and Heavy Bowgun received the biggest improvements.

The aforementioned weapons received massive buffs to their damage output and various tweaks so that each weapon type's moves are easier to pull off.

Monster Hunter Wilds May Update - Miscellaneous

Lastly, Capcom listed several quality-of-life improvements and other minor new features that will be added in Monster Hunter Wilds' May Update. These changes (as taken on the official Monster Hunter Wilds website) includes:

• Hunters will be able to rest in the Grand Hub and Suja, Peaks of Accord. Resting restores all destroyed Pop-up Camps.
• A confirmation window will no longer appear after obtaining an item when your item pouch is full. The obtained item will automatically be sent to your item box.
• The visibility of the remaining time of meal effects is improved. The countdown will display 10 minutes before expiration.
• Notifications have also been adjusted in Ver. 1.011. Notification frequency in locales has been lowered, and only high-priority targets will be displayed in the Environment Overview.
• Improvements to Camera behavior during hunts, and joining multiplayer quests for private lobbies and squad lobbies.
• Being able to view the individual endemic life you have captured.
• Optimizations to VRAM usage and fixes to crashes due to insufficient VRAM. (Steam only).
• The rewards for 8★ investigations and field surveys have been increased.
• Guild Point rewards for fishing have been rebalanced.
• Certain whoppers and rare fish have had their rewards increased, while others have had their rewards decreased.

More changes will be coming in Title Update 2, but will they be enough to make Monster Hunter challenging again?

All the new content coming to Monster Hunter Wilds in this update sounds pretty cool, especially if you're a fan of both Street Fighter and Monster Hunter.

Monster Hunter has had crossovers with Street Fighter ever since Monster Hunter 4, but this is probably the craziest one yet, as I've never seen an armor set flat give you an additional move-set on top of your equipped weapon type. I'm curious to see how it will play out and if it will influence the abilities of other collaboration gear in the future.

However, what I'm most interested in is the new batch of 8★ Tempered Monsters. I have gone on record multiple times that Monster Hunter Wilds' difficulty was extremely disappointing for hardcore fans like me.

One of the many major issues I had was that a majority of the monsters (except for 8★ Tempered Arkveld), just felt so weak to fight due to relatively low HP and getting constantly get stun-locked by this game's Wound and Focus Strike mechanics to the point where they couldn't fight back half the time.

When Arch-Tempered Rey Dau and High Rank Zoh Shia arrived in the First Title Update, I was excited because they were the first monsters I fought in the whole game that posed a real challenge.

They had tons of health, hit like trucks, and they weren't being tripped constantly by attacking their Wounded parts. It was one of the few times I had to put in effort and use the game's combat mechanics to their fullest to achieve victory, and it was a breath of fresh air.

Seeing that resiliency is being applied to the new batch 8★ Tempered Monsters in the May update is a step in the right direction to help make the endgame content more appealing for players.

However, I would much rather see this sort of balance tweaking be applied to all of Monster Hunter Wilds' monsters (both Low Rank and High Rank), not just the Tempered Monsters.

That way, the Low Rank Story campaign won't feel like a cakewalk tutorial for endgame content anymore as you will be constantly challenged throughout the whole game, be forced to utilize the combat mechanics and armor sets to their fullest potential, and be rewarded with the immense satisfaction of overcoming the odds like the in older games.

Capcom has said that it is planning to make more balance changes in future updates. So hopefully my wishes for Monster Hunter Wilds to be a more challenging game from beginning to end will eventually come to pass, but we'll have to wait to find out.

In the meantime, we'll have Akuma teaching us how to beat monsters with only our fists to busy when the May Update launches for Monster Hunter Wilds on May 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.

Developer Capcom hasn't officially revealed the next Resident Evil game — assumed to be Resident Evil 9 — yet, but rumors about the game's structure, setting, and plot have circulated online for many months. Now, there's a new leak that suggests the title was at one point very, very different compared to other entries in the legendary horror series.

The information comes from Dusk Golem, a known Capcom insider, who shared it in a thread on social media this week. In their posts, they allege that Resident Evil 9 began life as a "big open world multiplayer game," with Capcom initially conceptualizing it as the opposite of Resident Evil 7's linear single-player experience due to its underwhelming sales performance at release.

"So RE9 originally started development in 2017 ... after RE7 underperformed at launch to Capcom's expectations. RE7 went on to have a huge tail in sales, but this was a bit reactionary," they explained. "And the original version of RE9 was trying to be the opposite of RE7, IE big open world multiplayer game."

Dusk Golem then went on to note that after Resident Evil 7's rebound, Resident Evil 9 got a major rework that changed Capcom's vision for the project close to the launch of Resident Evil Village in 2021. One of the only holdovers from the original concept is that Leon Kennedy — a fan-favorite character from Resident Evil 2, 4, and 6 — remains the protagonist.

"RE9 originally starred Leon & Jill in a fictional island based off Singapore. ... That was where the old scrapped version of RE9 took place. HOWEVER, AGAIN, this is the old RE9, the project got a pretty heavy reboot in 2021 around the time Village came out, though a few things stayed the same like Leon is still the main character," they continued. "The rest I'll let Capcom reveal, I've decided to be more a tease than a leaker, as I've said. But I find scrapped game stuff interesting."

So when will Capcom reveal Resident Evil 9 officially? There's no way to say for sure, though in a separate post, Dusk Golem commented that they believe the game will get an announcement in 2025 and then come out at some point in 2026. If that's going to happen, Summer Games Fest on June 6 seems like a good time for it; it's worth noting that fans think they spotted an "IX" teaser for Resident Evil 9 in a Resident Evil 4 Remake video posted in late April, so the timing makes sense.

Dusk Golem didn't mention how Resident Evil 9 was rebooted, but given the eventual success of Resident Evil 7 and how popular Resident Evil Village was out of the gate, I'm assuming it's been reworked into another single-player experience — and if that's the case, I'm glad.

While I'm typically pretty open to studios trying new formats and ideas with long-running franchises, I have a strong desire to see Resident Evil specifically stick closer to its roots. Great single-player horror games are few and far between, and Resident Evil is one of the only series that's had consistently strong showings recently. Plus, you know...we all know how the last Resident Evil multiplayer project turned out.

Besides, Resident Evil Village already introduced some nonlinearity with its optional locations, secret paths, and some more open-ended zones, and I'd like to see Capcom keep exploring that semi-linear approach in single player before making something radically new with a full-fledged open world and multiplayer gameplay. Let me know if you agree or feel differently in the comments, though.

It's worth noting that while Resident Evil Village — the latest chronological entry in the franchise — is usually $40, you can get it on PC for just $14.99 at CDKeys thanks to this discount. The console versions I've linked to in the box below are on sale, too.

Capcom has just announced via its official website and The Game Awards' X account that it has achieved its highest sales figures and operating income records in the company's history within its 2024-2025 fiscal year report (ending on March 31, 2025).

According to the report, Capcom's net sales were ¥169.6 billion ($1.14 billion), up 11.3% year-on-year, while its net income was ¥48.45 billion ($327.5 million), up 11.7% year-on-year. This is the eighth consecutive year that Capcom has broken sales records, and the 11th consecutive year it has increased its operating profit growth.

On top of that, Capcom has announced that it has sold over 51.87 million video game units worldwide. This success is largely thanks to Capcom's flagship franchises like Resident Evil, Street Fighter, and, of course, Monster Hunter.

Monster Hunter is currently Capcom's biggest franchise, with Monster Hunter World selling over 28.2 million copies, Monster Hunter Rise at 16.7 million copies, and the latest entry, Monster Hunter Wilds, selling over 10 million copies in just a month after its release.

After declaring this financial success, Capcom stated, and I quote from it's official website, "Moving forward, for the fiscal year ending March 31, 2026, Capcom anticipates net sales of 190,000 million yen and operating income of 73,000 million yen, which would result in nine consecutive years of record high profit at all levels and eleven consecutive years of over 10% operating income growth."

In short, things are going well money-wise for Capcom, and the company is confident in its future endeavors.

If Capcom's upcoming Xbox titles/upcoming PC titles like the new Okami and Onimusha: Way of the Sword live up to fans' expectations after being a dormant Capcom IP for so long, then fortune will continue to smile for this legendary studio.

Monster Hunter Wilds, the next-gen successor to one of Capcom's best Xbox games and best PC games, Monster Hunter World, is now available for purchase after launching on February 28, 2025, for Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC via Steam.