Tag: Bandai Namco
News Unknown 9: Awakening Dev Reflector Entertainment Confirms Round of Layoffs
18% of staff impacted
The Bandai Namco-published Unknown 9: Awakening was released last month on PS5 and PS4, and as is sadly commonplace these days, developer Reflector Entertainment has since confirmed a round of layoffs. The decisions will affect 18% of employees "who aren’t assigned to roles that our active projects require". The news broke...
News Bandai Namco Basically Shutters Online Arm Following Live Service Failures
Blue Protocol company "absorbed"
Bandai Namco Online, as its name suggests, is essentially Bandai Namco's online games arm; in recent years it's been responsible for the publisher's live service push in the form of Gundam Evolution and Blue Protocol. And now, the plan is for Bandai Namco Online to be absorbed into Bandai Namco Entertainment in...
Rumour FromSoftware Classic Getting the Remaster Treatment
Give the people what they want
While Bloodborne fans continue to writhe in agony, it appears that the Bandai Namco-published, FromSoftware-developed modern classic, Dark Souls III, could be getting the remaster treatment. That's if the rumour mill is to be believed. This one comes to us by way of insider Nick "Shpeshal_Nick" Baker, so take it with...
News This Is How You Play PS Plus' New Anime Game
Killer within
Make yourself a cup of coffee and strap yourself in, because this is complicated. Bandai Namco has released a five minute trailer attempting to explain how the gameplay loop for its new Death Note adaptation – free with PS Plus Essential this week – works. It’s complicated, so you’ll need to pay attention, and maybe even watch...
News Little Nightmares 3 Ratchets Up Tension with Spooky 'You're Being Watched' Trailer
Stick together
Little Nightmares III is currently in development at Supermassive Games and targets a 2025 launch on PS5 and PS4. Following the adventures of spooky friends Low and Alone, this sequel focuses on cooperative play, and we have an eerie gameplay trailer showing it in action. Whether with an AI or a friend, Little Nightmares requires...
News Manga Masterpiece Death Note Becomes Among Us in Online PS5, PS4 Outing
Day one on PS Plus Essential
You may recall a new Death Note game was rated recently, with many pondering exactly how the manga masterpiece would be adapted. There were a handful of visual novels for the Nintendo DS, and many anticipated publisher Bandai Namco could be creating a new one. Instead, it’s opted for a 10-player social deduction...
News Tales of Graces f Reveals Remastered PS5, PS4 Updates in New Trailer
Up for pre-order at £35 / $40
Bandai Namco has uploaded a new Tales of Graces f Remastered trailer this morning that works to highlight lots of the quality-of-life enhancements the updated PS5, PS4 versions include on top of the visual upgrade. The JRPG is now also available for pre-order on the PS Store ahead of its 17th January 2025 release date,...
News Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero's Upcoming Patch Will Nerf the Game's Secret God Character
Spilling the senzu beans
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero will be getting its first post-launch update later this month. As revealed by the official Dragon Ball Games Twitter account, the patch is planned for a late October release, and it'll feature a handful of adjustments. One of these promised changes is getting much more attention than the others,...
Poll What Review Score Would You Give Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero?
Is it... Perfect?
To say the latest Dragon Ball game is popular would be a severe understatement. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero absolutely exploded onto the scene last week, and it's been racking up massive player counts ever since. Fuelled by nostalgia for the old Budokai Tenkaichi games, Dragon Ball fans seem to be loving every minute of this arena...
Review Unknown 9: Awakening (PS5) - Brand New IP Shows Plenty of Promise
Step into the Unknown
Unknown 9: Awakening is the debut game from studio Reflector Entertainment but not the first entry into the Unknown universe; so far there are novels, comics, and even a dramatised podcast. Thankfully, Awakening is a standalone experience and so you don’t need to delve into any of the other cross-media releases to understand...
News As Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Explodes, Bandai Namco Is Reportedly Cutting Staff and Projects
Apparently pressuring employees to resign
Video games publisher Bandai Namco has been culling both projects and staff due to "lackluster demand". That's according to a new report from Bloomberg, citing anonymous sources "familiar with the matter". According to the report, Bandai Namco's approach to reducing staff is not to make them redundant, but...
News Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Goes Nuclear, Sells Over 3 Million Copies in First 24 Hours
Over 9,000 etc
It's official: Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a massive hit. Publisher Bandai Namco has announced an early sales figure for the anime brawler, and to say it's off to a good start would be a gross understatement. In its first 24 hours on the market, the game surpassed a staggering 3 million copies sold. To put that number into some...
News Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Players Intentionally Training as Lamest, Weakest Z-Fighter
Yamcha is the ultimate flex
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a strange beast to watch from the outside. First, the difficulty of the Great Ape Vegeta fight has caused many to question their sanity, and now the bumbling Yamcha has emerged as something of an inspirational underdog. Like the personification of Piccolo's weighted clothing, players are...
News Manga Masterpiece Death Note Is Getting a PS5, PS4 Adaptation
Ratings board Lights the way
The gaming industry’s greatest leaker, the Taiwan ratings board, has outed another unannounced title. This time it’s an adaptation of the wildly popular Death Note manga, which had a hugely successful run in Shonen Jump between 2003 and 2006. It was later adapted into an anime. The game, published by Bandai Namco,...
Poll Are You Playing Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero?
Your wish is granted
A successor to Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 in all but name... Did you ever truly believe that this day would come? It's a great time to be a Dragon Ball fan, because Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a roaring return to that classic arena fighter formula, where an absolutely massive character roster is the main selling...
Zero hour
Close to two decades after its release, beloved PS2 arena fighter Dragon Ball Z: Budokai Tenkaichi 3 has been handed a sequel in all but name. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero is a throwback of epic proportions — the kind of all-out, franchise-encompassing brawler that's been sorely missed beyond the Naruto Ninja Storm series. Zero's biggest...
News Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero's Great Ape Vegeta Fight Is Driving Players Insane
Monkey tragic
A specific fight in the new Dragon Ball game is driving players up the wall — and having struggled through it ourselves, we can absolutely see why. Early on in Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero's story-based Episode Mode, you go up against Vegeta's Great Ape form — a giant enemy that offers up a much different challenge to your...
Round Up Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero PS5 Reviews Go Super Saiyan
Is the Metacritic over 9,000?
We’re deep into our Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero playthrough and fully intend to bring you our verdict very soon. However, in order to properly put the title through its paces – including its all-important online mode – we’re delaying our write-up for a few more days to bring you a thorough review. That hasn’t...
News Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero PS5 Pre-Orders Tracking Above Call of Duty on PS Store
Krillin it
Only a few things in life are guaranteed: death, taxes, and Call of Duty's endless popularity. However, you should never bet against anime, either — and it seems the weebs are coming out in force to support Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero on PS5. The next entry in the Budokai Tenkaichi series in all but name, Sparking! Zero is a hotly...
News Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Will Go Hard in Early 2025 on PS5, PS4
Brain bleach
Bandai Namco has slapped a date on Bleach: Rebirth of Souls, its adaptation of Tite Kubo’s iconic manga and anime series. Due out in “early 2025”, as confirmed during this new Tokyo Game Show trailer, the title promises to let you “use each character’s unique skills to get the advantage in stylish swordfights”. This trailer...
News Bandai Namco's Big Cross-Media Bet Synduality Kickstarts PS5's 2025
So noir, so far
Synduality: Echo of Ada, the game portion of Bandai Namco’s big cross-media push – which is already an anime on Disney Plus, of course – will launch on 23rd January, kickstarting a potentially crazy year for PS5. Available for $39.99, the online extraction shooter will offer seven days of Early Access for anyone who pre-orders...
News Tekken 8 Heihachi Looks Like an Absolute Beast in First Gameplay Reveal
Twigs will be snapped
What's a Tekken game without Heihachi? Tekken 8's obviously bringing the big man back as a DLC character, dropping next month on the 4th October, and now Bandai Namco's decided to grace us with a gameplay demonstration. Simply put, the still-not-dead grandad looks like an absolute monster. He retains many of his signature...
Preview PS5's Sparking! Zero Feels Like Dragon Ball Z, But You May Need Super Saiyan Reflexes
We speak to producer Jun Furutani and play for over three hours
Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero producer Jun Furutani’s smile is as wide as Goku’s chest when we tell him the game feels like an interactive anime; it’s clear this has been Bandai Namco’s goal from the beginning. Having played the latest entry in the acclaimed Budokai Tenkaichi...
News Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Reveals Full 182 Character Roster Ahead of Next Month's PS5 Release
Dragon Ball Z movies confirmed
After a wave of leaked footage hit the web last week — most of it highlighting a bunch of unannounced characters — Bandai Namco has gone ahead and finished off its character reveals for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, via a new trailer. <related ids="172073"> The final launch roster consists of a whopping 182...
News In an Unprecedented Twist, Sony Is Licensing Freedom Wars to Bandai Namco
Run it back
Many of you will have seen the unexpected news that iconic PS Vita classic Freedom Wars is making a comeback on PS5 and PS4 early next year. The title will be published by Bandai Namco, and it’ll also launch on Nintendo Switch and PC. So, what’s going on, considering this is an intellectual property wholly owned by Sony? Well, if...
News Stone-Cold PS Vita Classic Returns in Freedom Wars Remastered PS5, PS4
Good morning, Sinner
Like a bolt out of the blue, apparently in celebration of the game's 10th anniversary (has it really been that long?), an HD remaster of the PS Vita action RPG, Freedom Wars, has been revealed. The best part is you won't even have to suffer through another interminable prison sentence before it arrives, breaking out on PS5 and...
Preview Unknown 9 Awakening Plays Like a Long Lost PS3 Remaster on PS5, PS4
Invasion of the body hopper
Unknown 9 Awakening feels like a remastered PS3 game, and we mean that in the nicest possible way. This cross-media debut from Montreal-based studio Reflector is part of a wider push into comics, books, and more. But its largely linear level design and small-scale combat skirmishes feel like they were designed over a...
News Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Confirms 12 Dragon Ball GT Characters
GT outta here!
Fans of the relatively divisive Dragon Ball GT rejoice! Bandai Namco has confirmed that 12 characters from the spin-off anime series will be playable in Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero, and you can catch them in action via the above trailer. Just to clarify, we've got: Goku (GT, Super Saiyan, 3, 4) Vegeta (GT, Super Saiyan 4) Pan...
News Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree Patch 1.14 Makes the Final Boss Easier
Nerfed in six different ways
FromSoftware has today deployed a new PS5, PS4 patch for Elden Ring DLC Shadow of the Erdtree that works to make the final boss fight a little easier. Due to the subject of this update, there will be spoilers below. The battle against Promised Consort Radahn has been changed in six different ways, as detailed by the...
News Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Looks Really, Really Promising in 25 Minutes of Raw Gameplay
Got soul
When Bleach: Rebirth of Souls was first announced as an arena fighter, we had our concerns. Anime-based brawlers have been so hit and miss over the years that we couldn't help but question the direction — especially when it comes to such a beloved franchise like Bleach, which has been out of the spotlight for so long. Thankfully, we've...
Mini Review Gundam Breaker 4 (PS5) - An Impressively Addictive Return to Form
Break it back down
How do you follow up on the disaster that was 2018's New Gundam Breaker? Well, in the case of Gundam Breaker 4, you simply return to the basics, and remind yourself of what made the series so much fun in the first place. This sequel goes out of its way to keep things focused: you grind out missions, collect parts, beef up your...
News More Tales Announcements Incoming for Series' 30th Anniversary
More Tales to tell
Earlier this week, Bandai Namco revealed Tales of Graces f Remastered. But what fans may not realise is that this was actually just one of multiple announcements that the publisher has planned, in celebration of the series' 30th anniversary. Officially, Tales turns 30 in December, so it sounds like we might be getting a staggered...
News Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream Announces Open Beta on PS5 in September
Raid ready
In case you hadn't heard, the next Sword Art Online game has a multiplayer co-op focus, as you and a bunch of other players tackle quests and giant monsters together. Sword Art Online Fractured Daydream is out for PS5 on the 4th October, but a couple of weeks before it drops, you'll be able to take the title for a spin thanks to a newly...
News Don't Worry, Tales of Graces f Remastered Is 60FPS on PS5, PS4
Ageing Graces-fully
Good news, everyone: Tales of Graces f Remastered won't be following in the very disappointing footsteps of Tales of Symphonia Remastered. That is to say, it'll be a 60 frames-per-second revival on PS5 and PS4 — something that Symphonia's re-release couldn't manage on Sony's last-gen console, or the PS5 when played via...
News Tales of Graces f Remastered Slashes to PS5, PS4 in January 2025
Goodness Graces
Rumours of remastered Tales games have been doing the rounds for a while now, and one of them's just been confirmed. 2010's Tales of Graces f — originally an enhanced PS3 re-release — is being revived on modern consoles next year as Tales of Graces f Remastered. It's coming to both PS5 and PS4 on the 17th January. According to...
News Hori to Release PS5 Drum Controller for Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival
Port drumming up 120fps performance
Update: We promised we’d get confirmation, and now we have the official details on a PS5 drum controller for Taiko no Tatsujin: Rhythm Festival. Scheduled to be released by Hori alongside the game, the wired peripheral will also work on PS4 and Windows PC. The official blurb reads: “Based on the popular...
Preview Directive 8020 a 'Huge Step Forward' for the Dark Pictures Series on PS5
Narrative IP levels up for next entry
Supermassive Games generally releases its trademark style of story-focused horror games at such a consistent rate that it might come as a surprise its premier franchise, the Dark Pictures Anthology, has now been missing in action for two years. That's normal for any other developer, but the Guildford studio...
News Little Nightmares 3 Focuses on Co-Op Gameplay in Latest PS5, PS4 Trailer
It takes two
Bandai Namco has shared a new trailer for Little Nightmares 3, the next entry in the series being developed by Supermassive Games. Focusing on the gameplay between the two main characters, the trailer hones in on co-op as they explore another dark and unsettling world. The game can be played solo (with an AI companion) or in two-player...
News Unknown 9: Awakening's Release Date Now Known to Be October on PS5, PS4
Unknown not unknown anymore
Bandai Namco has announced a release date for its upcoming action adventure, Unknown 9: Awakening. This game, a big part of an ambitious cross-media series, will come to PS5 and PS4 on 18th October, 2024. Alongside the release date news comes the above new trailer, which starts live action (featuring the lead character's...
News Of Course Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Will Be Blowing Up at Gamescom Opening Night Live
Holding out for a zero
Set to release on the 11th October, the marketing machine for Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero has been in full flow for months now, as Bandai Namco pumps out trailer after trailer on a near weekly basis. As such, it's no surprise whatsoever to hear that the anticipated fighter will be featured during Gamescom Opening Night Live...
Random Divisive Dark Souls 2 Is Seeing a Resurgence and Some Revisionist History
Actually, we always thought it was good
Dark Souls II is something of an odd duck. Following the breakout success of the original Dark Souls, FromSoftware boss Hidetaka Miyazaki supervised the sequel but turned his attention to Bloodborne, which was developed in parallel. Love it or loathe it, the perception that Dark Souls 2 is somehow lesser,...
News The Cell Saga Looks Glorious in New Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Gameplay
Perfect
If we had to pick a favourite Dragon Ball saga, it would probably be the Cell Saga. The storyline has everything: a mysterious stranger with a sword who's capable of obliterating Frieza all over again, a plot that involves cool time travel elements, immense character development for Vegeta, Gohan's ascent as a warrior, and a roster of...
Slime to grind
Aside from being a total pain in the arse to type, That Time I Got Reincarnated as a Slime: Isekai Chronicles is an action RPG based on the popular anime of the same name. The adaptation offers a brief introduction to the source material, before plopping you into one of the property's later story arcs. Those unfamiliar with the...
News Elden Ring Squashes Shadow of the Erdtree Bugs in Latest Update, Here Are the Patch Notes
Available now
A new game update for Elden Ring is now ready to download and install on PS5 and PS4. Bandai Namco and FromSoftware announced the new patch earlier today, taking the smash hit action RPG to version 1.13.2. It's far from the biggest update the game has ever seen, but it makes a handful of notable bug fixes to Shadow of the Erdtree. A...
News Elden Ring 'Really the Limit' for How Large FromSoftware's Games Can Be
Size matters
Elden Ring is a monstrous beast by most video game metrics, but according to developer FromSoftware, the size and scale on display are about the limit of what the studio can manage without compromise. We should all probably keep this in mind whenever the title that has to follow the Elden Ring act is inevitably revealed. That's...
News Years After Its Reveal, PSP Remake Fate/Extra Record Re-Emerges for PS5, PS4
Fate no more
Fate/Extra Record, a remake of the PSP classic Fate/Extra, was announced eons ago – in 2020, to be precise. However, we’ve not heard a peep out of the project since – well, not until this weekend at least. During the Fate Grand Order Festival this weekend, developer Type-Moon released a new trailer, confirming the title for a 2025...
News Damn, the Saiyan and Namek Sagas Look Good in New Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Gameplay
Classic clashes
Another week, another Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero trailer. This time, we're taking a look at storylines that most Dragon Ball Z fans will be incredibly familiar with at this point: the Saiyan and Namek sagas. Featured in countless Dragon Ball games up until now, Sparking! Zero seems to be doing these classic tales justice, flaunting...
News New Elden Ring Patch 1.13 Buffs Skills and Summons, Weapon Types Better
The Lands Between becomes buff city
FromSoftware has issued a new Elden Ring patch today for PS5, PS4 systems, bringing it up to version number 1.13. It's an update affecting both the base title and the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion, and in an unexpected change from the norm, 95 per cent of the patch notes speak of buffs instead of nerfs. A very...
News Real-Life Martial Artist Shows You How to Fight Like Poland's Prime Minister Lidia in Tekken 8
Polished
Tekken 8’s brand of combat often defies physics and human capabilities, but with the release of fictional Polish Prime Minister Lidia Sobieska as DLC recently, one industrious martial artist has attempted to replicate some of her combos in real-life. The results, while a lot slower than you see in the game, are fairly accurate –...
News Bleach: Rebirth of Souls Reveals Ichigo, Rukia, Uryu in Stylish Gameplay Trailers
And so it begins
Bandai Namco has released not one, not two, but three new gameplay trailers for Bleach: Rebirth of Souls. They provide character-specific looks at the upcoming fighter, with Ichigo Kurosaki, Rukia Kuchiki, and Uryu Ishida taking to the stage. They're pretty stylish trailers, and give us some insight into how each character will...
