A new look at Fable’s style-weaving combat https://ift.tt/0MvX2yZ
When we think about combat in Fable, we think about more than defeating enemies. We think about giving players the tools to approach encounters in their own way, experiment with different abilities and create a Hero that feels unique to them and their preferred playstyle.
That’s why combat in Fable is built around what we call “style-weaving.”
Style-weaving allows players to seamlessly combine strength, skill and will, weaving together melee attacks, ranged weapons and magic in ways that feel natural and rewarding. From the beginning of development, one of our goals was to ensure combat feels smooth and responsive and fun, whether you’re landing a perfectly timed melee strike, chaining abilities together or unleashing powerful magic in the middle of a fight.
Some Heroes may favour a direct, aggressive combat style, charging headfirst into danger with a sword in hand and a loadout full of high-damage spells, like Fireball or Lightning. Others may prefer a more tactical approach built around enemy manipulation and controlling the battlefield, utilising spells like ‘Befowl’, which allows the player to turn an enemy into a chicken temporarily, and Lift, which temporarily lifts enemies into the air before slamming them back down to the ground.
As you progress through the game, you’ll unlock new weapons, abilities and magical powers that can be combined in different ways, allowing you to discover a playstyle that feels right for you. The choices you make in combat are yet another personal expression of the Hero that you’re becoming as you venture through Albion.
We also recognise that players are looking for different levels of challenge as they travel throughout Albion. Some will want a more relaxed game, with a focus on the world, story and characters around them. Others will seek a greater challenge that pushes them to master every mechanic and system available. That’s why Fable allows players to choose the combat intensity that’s right for them and tailor the experience to suit their preferred playstyle.
Ultimately, the combat system supports the same philosophy that runs throughout the rest of Fable: player choice. We want players to feel ownership over the Hero they create, the decisions they make and the way they tackle every challenge they face.
Marvel’s Wolverine: Details on Logan’s mutant abilities, game features, and more https://ift.tt/NbSqtoW
Today, we’re stoked to share with you our Features Trailer for Marvel’s Wolverine! Narrated by Liam McIntyre, who plays James “Logan” Howlett, here’s a slice of what’s coming to the game on September 15… that’s just a few short weeks away!
So, check out the trailer and read on for additional insights.
Marvel’s Wolverine features fast, fluid, and ferocious combat with an emphasis on aggressive momentum. It’s all about getting in close and laying into enemies with everything you’ve got: claws, kicks, barrages, and critical strikes to start things off.
Learn new Techniques for enhanced combat moves or unleash rechargeable Special Techniques like the Tornado Spin to reclaim territory, chin check brash Reavers with Knee Breaker, or drill into ‘em with Spiral Strike. Whatever your speed, four Special Techniques can be equipped at once for seamless combat integration.
Evolve with Adaptations that amplify Logan’s momentum on the battlefield. Absorb more bullets, increase Rage effectiveness, expand parry windows, or straight up terrorize foes during mid-fight. This only scratches the surface; there are dozens of Adaptations to tune to your playstyle.
Go even further with Rage, a three-tiered pool of adrenaline that leans into survivability, resilience, and fury… in that order. Make a last stand against the odds and fight another day, or go berserk and kill without mercy to sustain Logan’s Rage.
Marvel’s Wolverine features an original story that will take Logan to places around the world, but things get dicey. Bolivar Trask is hellbent on executing his plans against mutantkind. It’s up to Logan and Jean Grey, alongside members of Team X, to sever his plans before it’s too late. In a world with too few mutants to form safe havens or organized heroic ensembles: this is a critical moment for mutant survival.
And while you’re out travelling the world, testing your battle skills against villains like Omega Red and Deathstrike, make sure to chop it up with your crew or take a detour between encounters: use senses to seek out Nightmare Doors to complete a variety of combat and traversal challenges; sniff out collectible whisky bottles to uncover Logan’s forgotten memories; or listen for material crates to craft suits inspired by comics, movies, animation, and more.
In addition to our original Battle Reborn suit, designed by Insomniac Games, we’re talking legendary stuff inspired by Weapon X, Old Man Logan, Ultimate Wolverine, Patch, or even down to civilian staples like a tank top or a leather jacket. And you can choose to toggle some of those cowls and hats on or off. Acquire more suits for health upgrades or gain access to new claws: bone claws, notched claws, curved claws, reflective claws, angled claws, and more claws. Look sharp, stay sharp.
Note to you: hit L2 + R2 outside of combat to pop your claws.
Let’s not forget about the features available at launch inside Logan’s Nightmare Cabin. Take it up a notch in New Game Plus with exclusive Techniques and Level Caps, re-experience snippets of the story in Mission Replay, slash high scores in Nightmare Challenges, or crop masterpieces in Photo Mode at any point during gameplay (available with a day one update*).
Marvel’s Wolverine also includes over 100+ new, returning and improved Accessibility Features from previous Insomniac games, like High Contrast visuals, Audio Description (English), Global Game Speed, and Strong Haptic Signals.
By nature of the character, Marvel’s Wolverine is unapologetically violent and gory. To give players more choice in how they experience the game, we included new categories for violence and adult language toggles. These alter dynamic blood and dismemberment, and filters for English-only adult language.
Check out a list of Accessibility options in Marvel’s Wolverine here.
Sink your claws into Marvel’s Wolverine when it drops on September 15, 2026 on PlayStation 5 consoles! Wishlist and pre-order on the PlayStation Store today, or pre-order via PS Direct or at your local retailer. You can also pre-order the Digital Deluxe Edition featuring exclusive suits, claws, and bonuses!
*Internet connection and account for PlayStation required.
Whisper of the House opens its doors on PS5 today https://ift.tt/Dv40OpJ
Hello, PlayStation players! I’m Zhicheng, producer at GD Studio.
Our team has always been fascinated by the quiet stories that live inside ordinary rooms: the cup left beside a bed, a plant turned toward the window, or a dusty letter tucked behind a stack of books. These small details can tell us who lived there, what they cared about, and what they may be trying to forget.
That idea became Whisper of the House, a cozy organizing game where tidying is more than a satisfying task. It is also a way of listening. Today, we are opening the doors of Whisper Town to PS5 players.
A room can tell a whole story
In Whisper Town, you take on the role of the town’s all-around housekeeper. Residents ask for help moving into new homes, clearing cluttered rooms, preparing shops for opening day, arranging treasured keepsakes, and sometimes finding a missing cat. Each request begins with a practical problem, but the objects you touch gradually reveal the person behind it.
We designed rooms as small portraits of their owners. A carefully preserved object might suggest a memory someone cannot let go of. A half-finished corner can reveal an abandoned plan. Even the placement of something ordinary can change the feeling of a space. We wanted players to experience the pleasure of making a room functional while also wondering why it looked that way in the first place.
This is why we do not treat organizing as a checklist with only one correct answer. Some commissions ask you to understand what a resident needs; others give you more freedom to create a space that feels right. As you decide where things belong, you are also interpreting a life through its belongings.
Making every object worth touching
Whisper of the House contains more than 1,800 pieces of furniture and over 10 home layouts. That variety matters because decorating should feel personal, whether you want to build a book-filled study, a sunroom crowded with plants, or a secret base stocked for every emergency. Wallpapers, flooring, and selected furniture can also be adjusted in color or texture, giving you more ways to shape a room’s atmosphere.
But quantity alone was never the goal. We spent just as much time thinking about tiny reactions. Press a button on an old gramophone, squeeze a bath duck, or pull a single tissue from a box, and the room responds. These interactions do not always advance a quest. Instead, they reward curiosity and make the town feel handmade, playful, and alive.
To make every action feel deeply satisfying, we paired these interactions with rich, tactile sound design. The soft clink of ceramic, the rustle of a turning page, and the quiet breeze outside your window all come together to create a calming, ASMR-like soundscape. Our aim is for picking up, moving, and placing an object to feel immediate and immersive without disturbing the game’s gentle rhythm.
Cozy on the surface, curious underneath
Whisper Town is warm and welcoming, but it is not completely ordinary. As you help its residents, strange details begin to appear: the number 42 floating inside a museum, a rumor about a mischievous ghost near the well, cracks that seem to hide something impossible, and letters that raise more questions than they answer.
We like to call this side of the game ‘cozy snooping.’ You are never forced to rush toward the next revelation. Instead, mysteries sit quietly beside the organizing and decorating, waiting for observant players to notice them. The same attention that helps you find the perfect place for a keepsake may also help you spot something that does not belong.
This balance was important to us. The game is a comforting place to slow down and build beautiful spaces. But if you look closer, there is always a reason to stay. The town’s hidden story grows from the same objects, homes, and relationships that make its daily life feel cozy.
A home of your own
Helping other people is only part of your life in Whisper Town. The rewards and furniture you collect can be used to create a space that belongs entirely to you. There is no single ideal home and no pressure to follow one style. You can make something neat and minimal, cheerfully crowded, carefully themed, or wonderfully strange.
That freedom captures what we hope players take from the whole game: organizing is not about making every room look the same. It is about understanding what matters, choosing what to keep close, and creating a place where a story can continue.
Whisper of the House is available today on PS5. A 20% launch discount is active for a limited time. We cannot wait to see the rooms you create, the residents you meet, and the secrets you uncover. Get it now on the PlayStation Store and see you in Whisper Town!
Hands-on report: Star Wars Zero Company https://ift.tt/TZs2vPi
The galaxy far, far way is a ripe battleground for strategy games, although Star Wars has only seen a handful of them over the years. Developer Bit Reactor, in collaboration with Respawn Entertainment and Lucasfilm Games, are changing that with its band of misfits and mercenaries taking charge in an explosive turn-based tactics title on PS5 that changes how you engage with the legendary Clone Wars.
Set around 20 BBY – near the end of the destiny changing Clone Wars – you play as Hawks, a former Republic officer now leading a squad of mercenaries looking to get out of debt from the brutal Hutt family. But when the so-called Zero Company are recruited for a lucrative operation, they quickly find themselves in a plot involving the Infinite Coil, a deadly, Separatist-aligned cult, rumoured to possess abilities some consider to be… unnatural.
I got fired into the fray with the full game ahead of its August 27 launch, to see how Star Wars Zero Company fits into the expansive conflict.
Feels like Star Wars
With the title screen’s stirring strings and booming horns, Zero Company sounds just how you’d want a Star Wars game to sound. The emotional John Williams inspired score sets the tone, matching the rich yet dusky space-Western colours of its visuals.
If its unmistakable style somehow doesn’t convince you of the game’s Star Wars credentials, Zero Company’s optional character creation menu before you start the game fully seals the deal. A large selection of races, from human and Torgruta, to Weequay and Twi’lek, can be extensively modified across facial details, body types, and outfits. Even their voice and dialogue is affected by which type of personality you choose for them, such as rogue, mentor, or professional.
Going a bit deeper, you can select your character’s talent on the battlefield, including the ability to draw attacks, or sabotage and detonate objects, their combat style specialisation, and weapon class – snipers can strap up with a longarm blaster, or if you’re a Han Solo type then a pistol might be more your tempo.
Droids on deck
Astromechs can be added to your unit, too. Although not as robust or versatile as their more humanoid teammates, they’re valuable support units that can buff allies with AP (Action Points) to provide the opportunity to perform more activities on the field. Oh, and you can tweak their personality as well, if you prefer to be bombarded with sassy chirps and beeps. A great antidote to the hilariously whiney Battle Droids you sometimes fight against.
Expansive battle options
The bulk of Star Wars Zero Company is spent on detailed and highly destructible arenas where protagonist Hawks and their band of Operatives have to achieve a mission objective while staying alive against a rival squad. AP is used to move, attack, or perform talents specific to class or character, such as a 100% accurate shot for the sharpshooters, or a party-wide stats buff. There are also more generic options including the ability to use overwatch, where you can set an area of retaliation that will trigger an Operative attack if an enemy moves inside of it.
But while there are lots of different objectives, from rescuing an injured ally to blowing up a target object, there’s a lot more to Star Wars Zero Company than just its turn-based combat.
Exploration home and away
Some areas allow you to walk around various hives of scum and villainy, letting you pick up clues and information from its environment and citizens. Particular conversations and investigations have binary choices for you to make, earning you occasional rewards and stat boosts which will play into another important layer of the game – the Den.
Acting as a hub for your Operatives, the Den is your home for campaigns, letting you chat to your squad, recruit new members, customize load-outs and appearances, buy weapon mods, and heal any injured teammates. Parts of the Den can be upgraded over time to enhance your utilities or offer more space as your team grows. You can even have a little strum on Hawks’ guitar-like Marfaset.
But the real fun comes from the base’s Holotable, where you can select which missions to dive into, whether it’s campaign driven or side quests, including character specific tasks. The Holotable also gives you the option of non-combat Operations for gaining information or loot, which can lead to tricky narrative choices. Some are binary that can affect the outcome of the Operation, while others require a bit more nuance via multiple decisions, and some will affect your influence on the Galaxy Map, where gaining authority in certain zones unlocks rewards.
Star Wars Zero Company doesn’t let you wade into everything, though – the story moves forward each time you select a mission, meaning you have to prioritise your jobs. And if you don’t recruit or speak to some characters – or they’re killed in battle via the optional permadeath system – their specific missions won’t be available, either.
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Bonds and consequences
There are also Dilemmas where you have to make a choice that all your Operatives have an opinion on. Your decision affects a wider system where bonds between each Operative change based on whether you side with them during a Dilemma, if you partner them up to perform assists on the field, if they complete missions together, or if you decide to take up character-driven quests.
Good bonds earn Focus points to enhance an Operative’s skills, as well as teaching each other passive abilities and unique tricks – although I enjoyed hearing them complement each other on their good shooting during a battle.
A galaxy of Star Wars surprises
Of course, there’s a lot more hiding beneath Star Wars Zero Company’s Beskar hardened surface, not least the amount of lore. Early missions feature a monocle wearing Gorga the Hutt and references to the Black Sun Syndicate, while later on… well, let’s just say if you’re familiar with the Clone Wars era you won’t be disappointed by some of the significant events and brutal characters you’ll come across. And that’s not even getting into when Jedi join your party…
Start crafting your favourite blaster load-outs when Star Wars Zero Company launches on PS5 tomorrow, August 27.
Hands-on report: Mega Man: Dual Override and Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen https://ift.tt/P1iJa6v
Gamescom looms on the horizon, and this year Capcom heats things up as it overclocks the Blue Bomber in Mega Man: Dual Override, then cools them off with a venture into the frigid and hostile Norgan region in Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen. I got to go hands-on with both to see what Capcom is cooking — here’s what I played.
Mega Man: Dual Override
Eight years since Mega Man’s last new outing, Mega Man: Dual Override is a strong update to the Blue Bomber’s classic side-scrolling adventures.
Dual Override streamlines the traditional Mega Man controls by mapping the Slide ability to the Circle button, instead of requiring you to push down and X, the jump button, as in Mega Man 11. That makes it easier to string moves together and react to danger.
Dual Override also does away with extra lives and adds checkpoints throughout levels. Those changes help cut down on frustration as you fight through tough areas — they’ll still test you, but you won’t have to run through a whole stage to give a difficult spot another try.
At the start of a level, you can choose one of three Custom Chips to equip, which gives you a powerful ability you can activate with R2. The first generates a shield that protects you from damage, while the second automatically charges your Mega Buster for more powerful shots without needing to hold down Square, and fires a blast of two charged shots when activated.
The final chip lets you summon the robotic dog Rush with his Coil spring, so you can use him to bounce over large gaps or up to high ledges.
As you destroy enemies, you’ll also charge up your Override ability. When activated, Override switches your Mega Buster to rapid-fire, making it great for battling bosses.
You can charge up two full meters of Override, which can make the ability last for a very long time. When it runs out, though, it leaves Mega Man overheated and drained, and your Mega Buster fires more slowly while he recovers.
I blasted through three quick levels on the path to battling a robot named Twinkle Girl, each with a slightly different take on a World’s Fair exhibition-like theme.
Dual Override throws plenty of classic Mega Man obstacles in your way, from precision platforming to battling a variety of quick, tough robots, including mini-bosses standing guard at the end of each level.
At the end of the final stage, I took on Twinkle Girl, a quick boss whose fireworks theme translated into a few different pyrotechnic weapons. After I dished out enough damage, Twinkle Girl kicked into a second phase that added more fire-themed attacks to the fray. She put me through my paces before I took her down, with the help of Override.
Mega Man: Dual Override does a great job of feeling like an old-school Mega Man game, but with some smart, modern sensibilities. With more intuitive controls, checkpoints that get you back into the action fast, and smart abilities that can give you an advantage, you’re able to tune Dual Override’s challenge level to be to your liking, while still fighting your way through levels that will test your skills. Mega Man: Dual Override launches next year on PS5.
Dragon’s Dogma 2: Dark Arisen
The DLC addition to Dragon’s Dogma 2 expands the story with a new chapter that takes players and their pawns to the desolate north. The frozen region of Norgan has been abandoned by the people who once lived there, and is now littered with the remnants of past lives and conflicts.
Dropping me into the role of a high-level fighter, the first thing Dark Arisen 2 tasked me with was uncovering Spoils, a new type of loot that’s scattered across the region. These are lost artifacts and gear from past battles that have left Norgan in ruins. Fighting enemies, opening chests, and scrounging through buildings and villages can all yield Spoils, and they’re something you’ll want to look for wherever you go.
At the Norgandian settlement where the demo began, a woman offers to appraise your Spoils, transforming them into powerful Relics — weapons and armor from the past with enhanced stats, and even the ability to unlock new battle skills for your character. But you’ll need Rift Crystals to transform Spoils into Relics, so you’ll want to be discerning about which items you choose to invest in.
My team and I trekked across the wilderness and through some foothills toward a mountain stronghold, encountering some Norgan natives, including burly barbarians and direwolves.
Eventually, we came across a towering, wooly giant, wielding a tree trunk as a weapon and sporting a huge amount of health. The giant creature doesn’t just try to wail on you with a tree, though — it also breathes an icy torrent that slows and damages you.
While we spent plenty of time hacking away at the creature, the icy landscape also provided some environmental options for dealing with it. At one point, I hacked through some ice to trigger a small avalanche, sending frozen debris tumbling down toward the giant while my pawns distracted it. After a lengthy and pitched battle, we felled the beast and claimed some powerful Spoils for the trouble.
Soon after, we reached the stronghold, which stood just above a frozen river. Like the avalanche, it was possible to break chunks of ice to drop enemies into the waters below, and nearby icicles suspended from bridges and gates made convenient hazards to drop on enemies.
Inside the stronghold, we found the Fallen Dragon, a heartless, undead creature. My pawns and I fought the creature in a difficult boss fight, during which it would spew piles of undead creatures that could swarm and overwhelm our team.
The demo ended with the dragon still looming over us — even though I hacked off its head, it’s clear it won’t be defeated so easily.
The Dark Arisen preview provided plenty of combat and a quick look at the beautiful and sprawling world of Norgan, and I’m excited to uncover its mysteries when the DLC launches on October 9.
Both of Capcom’s demos made a big impression for Gamescom 2026, and suggest players have some exciting, intense battles waiting for them in the year ahead.
