When it comes to over-the-top roleplaying games, it’s hard to beat the bonkers worlds and stories I’ve come to expect from the Xenoblade Chronicles saga. With Xenoblade Chronicles 3, massive improvements have been made to combat, quest design, and the RPG sandbox, while retaining the absurd and awesome environments, and a laser-focus on great characters and an impressive (if convoluted) story. Of course, while this third entry evolves in some key areas that make the epic journey more consistently fun than the two mainline games that came before it, it also repeats some of the same mistakes, including sloppy writing, weak bosses, and graphics that often leave something to be desired. Even so, Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is already competing for the spot as my favorite iteration of this beloved series.

At the heart of any Xenoblade game is a fantastically bizarre world and an epic story that’s propelled into utter insanity by the end, and Xenoblade Chronicles 3 is no exception. Everything about the war-torn world of Aionios is completely foreign, from the 10-year life spans the world’s pod-grown residents live, to the constant war to power up “flame clocks” that each faction draws life from, to the Off-Seers who play flutes to release the dead as sprites of light. All of these puzzling elements unravel over the course of the extensive adventure, and being a part of that journey is uniquely satisfying in a way only Monolith Soft seems capable of pulling off.

Even those who have never played a Xenoblade game before will be able to enjoy this extremely self-contained story. There are definitely references and tie-ins to Xenoblade Chronicles 1 and 2, but they’re not crucial to anything so you aren’t likely to take notice of them at all unless you know what to look for. For those like myself who have been following along from the beginning, there’s plenty to enjoy that felt like a nice reward for keeping up with the series for all these years.

But while the story and world are delightfully weird, they aren’t always effectively used, especially when it comes to the extremely hit-or-miss writing that has characters retreading the same developments over and over again and beating you over the head with the story’s themes and ideas. The concepts and characters almost never stop shining, but it’s not always told with finesse, and oftentimes three lengthy cutscenes are used to accomplish what might have just as well been covered with a single line of dialogue. Some sections had so many exhaustive cutscenes occurring one after another that a painful sense of deja vu crept over me and dragged down what was an otherwise interesting development. Not to mention the fact that just about every anime story cliche in the book has been included in the maximum doses legally permitted. Add in some severe pacing problems, like one section that has you go undercover to perform menial tasks, or another that has you trotting across the world to collect pieces of metal, and I often felt like my time wasn’t being respected with so much filler padding out the adventure. Some of that is fine, but in a game that took 150 hours to complete it might’ve been better to trim out some of the unessential parts.

The good news is that, even when the story drags a bit the characters shine brightly, with very few exceptions. Whether you’re hanging out with the brash meathead Lanz and his simple charms or spending time with the studious bookworm Taion, it was really hard for me to not grow to love the ragtag band of misfits and ne’er-do-wells that comprise your party. Sure, they aren’t the most original characters – I’ve definitely seen their like in half a hundred games and shows before – but after so many hours with these lovable scamps, I’ve come to regard them all as my chosen family. That’s especially true when each character is given so much time in the limelight, with every party member getting extensive personal histories and fully voice-acted optional side quests that flesh out their backstories and provide additional color. Even some of the less interesting members like Sena, the under-achieving jock who I considered the runt of the litter, still ended up winning me over in the end thanks to all the time and attention given to developing her.

Of course, it wouldn’t be Xenoblade without bizarre, otherworldly locations to adventure in, and the environments in this one are suitably odd. There’s one area that takes place inside of a giant discarded sword, and another that leads you along the branches of a massive tree. Exploring these areas as you unravel the mysteries of Aionios add to the unpredictability and weirdness of the world in a really awesome way. That said, compared to some of the bonkers destinations from previous Xenoblade games, the places you visit in this odyssey are mild by comparison. There are a few highlights, but nothing that comes close to climbing up a giant dead robot’s elbow or winding up inside the body of an ancient creature. Instead you mostly explore standard settings like a snowy area, a big, sandy desert, or a large body of water with some small islands. It still captures the spirit of exploration and discovery for which Xenoblade is known and there are certainly a few surprises, but I do find myself wishing the developers had gotten a bit weirder with it considering the series’ track record.

It’s also unfortunate that, although Xenoblade 3’s environments are awesome to roam around in, they rarely look pretty due to the Nintendo Switch being pushed to its absolute limits by such an ambitious voyage. I played on my OLED model and switched between docked and mobile mode regularly, but even with Nintendo’s most recent hardware textures are often low-res, there’s frequent pop-in (and out), and oftentimes I just couldn’t help but feel like the world was a bit blurry. The good news is that I quickly got used to these visual shortcomings and, once I accepted it for what it was, it only rarely dampened my enjoyment. Thankfully cutscenes, at least, are crisp and the frame rate runs at a rock-solid 30 even when dozens of things are happening on-screen at the same time, but it’s still sorta disappointing to see such obvious hardware limitations in an adventure that reaches for the stars in so many other areas.

As you explore the world you’ll recruit new party members to your team, fight bizarre creatures, and distract yourself with dozens of hours of side quests that are mostly worthwhile. If you were annoyed by the fetch quests from previous games, you can look forward to the fact that Xenoblade 3 massively improves things in this regard by making many optional quests actually feel substantial by introducing new characters and offering some story snippets that make your effort worth the trouble. In my completionist playthrough I helped a nopon and a human put aside their differences across a series of missions, became best friends with a robot, and helped various settlements resolve their disputes. That said, there are still plenty of missions that feel very much like filler and have you running around collecting berries and rocks or some such nonsense, and those are as gut-wrenchingly unpleasant to do as they’ve ever been – though at least now you aren’t bombarded by them every five minutes.

What’s especially impressive is that some side quests are so impactful that they almost feel like they should have been mandatory. Some end with you getting a new party member or triggering a cutscene that fleshes out an important area of a character’s backstory. And thankfully, most of these missions are even appropriately labeled so it’s easy to identify which ones you should go out of your way to do and which you’d be forgiven to skip. In an adventure that sometimes makes questionable decisions concerning how it uses all the time it demands from you, I was deeply grateful that I felt most of my time spent chasing around side quests was rewarded.

Similarly, numerous improvements have been made to the combat system that make it feel far less repetitive and more engaging than its predecessors. While the foundation of combining auto-attacks, super-powered Arts, and attack combos remains largely intact, a plethora of options have been added that successfully staves off stagnation for over 100 hours – and that’s no small feat! It’s accomplished with (among other things) six playable characters plus a guest NPC that can be swapped out, new transformations that combine two characters into their Ouroburos form making them almost impossible to take down for a limited period of time, and returning chain attacks, which let you deal a ton of damage by playing a simple minigame.

As you travel around Aionios, you’ll encounter all manner of wild beasts, legendary creatures, bloodthirsty humans, and giant robots to fight. Not all enemies are created equal, and fighting against giraffe-like creatures that lazily kick at you doesn’t quite compare to robotic opponents whose movesets and animations make them feel like a lot more work was put into them. But the variety of things to slay at least gives you lots of new experiences throughout the journey.

There’s also an awesome new mechanic that lets characters trade classes with one another and with guest NPCs that have entirely different skill sets. In fact, doing so is incredibly important to progression because you gain new abilities by mastering the classes of your fellow party members. You might become an awesome healer with a laser gun or a soul-stealing boxer who takes abilities from powerful creatures you fell. Playing around with all the classes not only serves as an addictive loop that kept me busy throughout the adventure, but also helps break up some of the monotony we had to slog through in prior iterations of the combat system that tethered you to a single class and lacked variety.

The drawback is that with so many new mechanics and all the complexity of everything Xenoblade Chronicles 3 juggles, you’ll quite frequently be interrupted to read through tutorial cards – and when I say “frequently” I mean those will keep coming at you quite literally until the very end… and even beyond the credits. Not only does this slow the journey in an irritating way, but it can be downright overwhelming to keep track of some many mechanics all at once. I’ve gotta believe there’s an easier way to get me to ingest all of that information without flash cards popping up like I’m studying for the LSAT.

Another major gripe I’ve always had with the series that continues to be a problem in Xenoblade 3 is how characters still shout the same lines over and over again, with no reprieve. I must have heard Eunie say “Hear that, Noah? Lanz wants something a bit meatier,” well over 500 times during my playthrough, and there doesn’t appear to be any way to turn combat dialogue off like you could in Xenoblade Chronicles Remastered. If this sounds like a minor complaint to you, then you most likely haven’t heard someone say the same phrase so many times that it’s become integrated into your very DNA. It’s seriously a harrowing experience, and I’ll never understand why this is still a problem in 2022.

Boss fights are also a bit underwhelming, as you fight a lot of the same class of boss enemies who rarely have anything to differentiate them from one another. They really like throwing big purple humanoid demon creatures at you, for example, which gets quite old pretty fast. They’re also fans of making you fight the same boss twice in a row, with cutscenes serving as bookends between each encounter. And don’t even get me started on the numerous times you defeat a boss only to immediately enter a cutscene wherein the boss defeats you. I get that it’s a very common cliche in JRPGs (and specifically in Xenoblade as a series), but Xenoblade Chronicles 3 really abuses its privileges in this regard, to the point where I began to assume each victory over a boss was going to lead into a cutscene wherein I lose the fight. Put all that together and you end up with boss fights not really being something I looked forward to, even though combat against normal enemies is otherwise fantastic.

What do you get when you cross a game of social stealth with a hero shooter? That's what Deceive Inc wants to find out, with developers Sweet Bandits Studios cooking up a retro-future of funkadelic spies and sassy villains competing for a single prize.

Each round of Deceive Inc kicks off with a simple setup: You've chosen your spy, now you're dumped unceremoniously onto the map, already disguised, one of 12 players with the same objective: Get into a secret vault, get a golden briefcase, and get out.

In a recent hands-on session, I got a chance to check out an early build of Deceive Inc. What I found was a studio trying to make something we haven't seen before—and doing a pretty good job at it.

In a round of Deceive Inc you can take one of several broad strategies to win: You can try to move through increasing levels of security quickly to get to the case first. You can focus on tracking down other spies and eliminating them. Or you can stay low, focus on arming yourself and getting upgrades, then try to snag the case in the final mad rush to escape.

Which you're best at will depend on what your personal skills are and on what character you pick. There are generalists, like Squire, whose silenced pistol, item-finding, and speed bursts let him excel both in and out of combat. Then there are specialists, like Madame Xiu, whose kit is all about flitting about to find and mow down enemies with an automatic crossbow.

I took a liking to Cavaliere, whose dual automatic pistols were superb at ambushing enemies in tight spaces. Combine that with her ability to do kung-fu melee leaps and I felt safe in fights. The icing on the cake was her ability to trap an entire room's electronics, letting you pick juicy places to set up fights.

Of course, you've got to combine the three main strategies to win. The trick with Deceive Inc is that you have to stay flexible throughout the round, which has three phases.

First, you infiltrate. In this phase you want to gather intel points from terminals, then spend them to unlock doors, find items, and hack the terminals that open the secret vault. This is the phase of sneaking, where the map is wide open and there's loot to grab—like the moments after the drop in a Battle Royale. Too conspicuous and another agent will pick you off. Too sneaky and the good stuff will all be gone before you get to it.

Second, the vault doors open. Now you can sneak through escalating security zones towards the prize, but so is everyone else. Anyone who wants to try and get that briefcase is being pushed into a big funnel with the other players. Anyone who wants to wait outside can do so—the rest of the map is still accessible—but they risk being out of position for phase three: the escape.

Once someone claims the briefcase they've got to make it to an extraction point around the map. Problem is, if you run with the case your location gets pinged, constantly, to every other player. After making it to an extraction zone, then, you've got another problem: First calling the escape vehicle, then getting on it, all while every spy left on the map is closing in for the kill. It's an absolute high stakes, chaotic bloodbath.

Through those phases Deceive Inc really shows off what it's about. The gun combat and use of hero skills play really nicely with the stealth and gadget elements, forcing you to figure out how to combine your situation with the tools you have. Combat is dangerous but times to kill are pretty high. You can usually pull off a clever escape if you feel threatened, or change tactics to figure out a way to win.

It's nice that getting your cover blown isn't a death sentence. Not always, at least: Your cover is a shield, so that first hit knocking you out of it has reduced damage. The problem is when you mess up, shooting an NPC or having them blow your cover by going into a restricted area without the right color-coded disguise. That leaves you exposed and vulnerable if another spy is around to notice.

We’ll be keeping a close eye on Deceive Inc as its development progresses. For more stealth multiplayer goodness, click above for the trailer for Spectre, a spiritual successor to Splinter Cell’s Spies vs. Mercenaries multiplayer mode.

There are few premises capable of stealing my heart as quickly as Rollerdrome, but after approximately 30 seconds gliding around on rollerskates while shooting enemies in slow motion, I was completely sold. Immediately doing away with any sense of realism or pretext for the over-the-top chaos, this violent roller derby set me against armed brutes in a battle arena that was part extreme sports game about pulling off stunts and part shooter that had me clearing the course of hostiles while flying over halfpipes. Stuff all that awesome inside a beautiful and stylish cel-shaded world and I found myself positively smitten before the end of the very first level.

The concept behind Rollerdrome is simple, yet brilliant. What if you could do tricks, catch sick air, and grind rails like in an extreme sports game, while simultaneously taking on waves of enemies with an extensive arsenal of guns? But what’s impressive is just how well it nails both the skating, extreme sports fantasy and the badass John Wick-esque slow motion shooting mechanics.

For example, doing tricks is the only way to resupply my ammo reserves, meaning that I couldn’t just focus on killing enemies, but I had to do so with style or I’d find myself with an empty mag and quickly get eliminated. This did a great job at mandating the pulling off of dope tricks and forced me to find a balance between flexing on the enemy with my skating prowess and blowing said enemy away with a grenade launcher at point blank range. Learning to perfect that balance and juggle these two objectives to clear levels was an absolute joy and immediately addictive.

The more matches I won, the more deadly weapons I unlocked. Beyond my basic guns akimbo, I acquired a shotgun that was extremely deadly but required proper timing to use effectively, and a grenade launcher that had very limited ammo but dealt enormous damage over a large area. But as I became more deadly, so did the enemy, and by the end I was fighting ninjas who blasted me with blue kamehameha waves and even a battle mech that descended upon me with missile launchers. Rising to the challenge to defeat these enemies required precise timing and aim, but also that I continue to hone my skill at grinding along rails and performing more complex tricks to quickly reload my ammo.

Aside from the obvious and unsubtle joys of roller-based homicide, Rollerdrome also features a completely stunning cel-shaded art style that fits so wonderfully with the over-the-top premise. Stages are deceptively beautiful in their simplicity, like one area that had me gliding around a ski lift and another that had me taking down enemies in a shopping mall. Everything just looks so clean and crisp and practically begged me to use it as a playground to carry out my gnarliest murder sprees. Also, I found it really amusing just how emotionless my character was as she flew through the air and shot people – pure ice in the veins of this one.

Based on the first handful of levels, Rollerdrome seems to focus on a near future where lethal roller derby has swept across the land as a popular sport. As a newcomer to the deadly games, I rose through the ranks while picking up tidbits about the lore and as I slowly learned more about the state of the world and my place in it. I have no idea if the story is going to have a serious tone or be complete nonsense, and I’m not really sure I would mind either way, but gaining a small window into the setting in between death matches was a nice way to take a brief break in between bouts of blasting away my enemies with a shotgun while grinding a rail.

I’ve only played the opening hours of Rollerdrome, but it’s safe to say that I already find myself addicted to its fast-paced gunplay, legitimately impressive skating mechanics, and of course, a premise that had me chuckling to myself from beginning to end. I look forward to honing my skills when Rollerdrome is released next month.

In March of 2020, Animal Crossing: New Horizons was the biggest game in the world because it came at a time when gamers just needed a place to exist when they couldn’t do so in the outside world. Two years later, Disney Dreamlight Valley aims to capture that same magic, but instead of animal-like villagers joining your island, it’s populated with some of the most beloved and iconic Disney characters of all time. And although Disney Dreamlight Valley’s life-simulation aspect isn’t quite up there with the likes of Animal Crossing and Stardew Valley based on my playtime thus far, its magic does have a hold of me, and it’s proven that it is indeed fun to do the impossible.

When I first booted up Disney Dreamlight Valley, I never expected to be reminded so much of Kingdom Hearts (more on that later) – yet here we are. Starting with the story, your ambiguous character is dropped onto a mysterious island with very little clue as to what is going on. You’re instantly met with Merlin, of Sword in the Stone fame, but unfortunately even he isn’t much help. See, everyone in the Disney kingdom is infected with something called “The Forgetting” which essentially means they’ve, well, forgotten everything. While some may be disappointed that these characters may not be privy to the backstory we’ve all grown up with, I do feel it’s the best way to include familiar characters while also having them be enough of a blank slate for the player to build a bond with all their own.

That’s about as far as the story’s gone with the small amount of progress I’ve made for this preview, but it’s enough to hook me. Everyone has lost their memory, and it’s your job to help them get it back while building them a new home – got it. I honestly don’t really play these types of games for the story anyways, and this is where Disney Dreamlight Valley thrives. Just like in Animal Crossing, I wanted to be dropped onto a messy island that needs my care with semi-vanilla characters to build a relationship with, and that’s exactly what I got.

When you’re finally allowed to start exploring, the first thing you’ll notice is that your island is an absolute mess, and that’s exactly how I like it. Learning the locations and landmarks of your new virtual home is key to becoming attached to it, and having to spend the first few hours cleaning it up taught me everything I needed to know about this place. In that time, I tidied up some Night Thorns (the thing that’s made everyone forget everything), helped Goofy fix up his seed stand, and even built a shop for Scrooge McDuck. I also got to fish, mine, dig, cook, craft, and plant crops. It’s all here, just with that magical Disney spin.

The main attraction to Disney Dreamlight Valley over something like Animal Crossing (sorry I keep comparing it to Animal Crossing, but it really is similar!) is its questing system. Dreamlight Valley is always giving you something to do, and its story and daily quests are a large part of that. Every character has a seemingly endless supply of missions for you to undertake, and while the early ones are mostly geared towards teaching you how to play, there is a Disney charm to them that eventually becomes essential to building relationships with the characters, which not only provides story beats, but also helps raise relationships with them.

Every character you meet has a friendship level with their own set of rewards. And while you could eventually make it a personal goal to max them all out, I found it was best to see who offered what, so I could focus specifically on attaining those rewards. When you first drop on the island, there are only a handful of villagers to complete missions for and build bonds with. Merlin is your tour guide, teaching you everything you need to know while driving the story forward, Goofy is a vendor, always eager to buy and sell things you might collect, and Scrooge McDuck acts as this game’s Tom Nook, always lightheartedly pestering you for coins to upgrade the various village landmarks, including your home.

Remember when I mentioned that Dreamlight Valley gives me Kingdom Hearts vibes? Well that comparison is not just because there are Disney characters in a video game. I’m so sorry to have to do this again but….just like Animal Crossing, you’re not just building an island for yourself, you’re building it for other villagers to come and stay. To make this happen, you’ll need to visit other worlds, each complete with their own setting and iconic Disney friends.

For this preview I was only allowed to visit Moana’s world, and unlike Kingdom Hearts’ truncated retelling of an iconic story with a Heartless twist, these are just small quest lines with the sole objective of getting the classic character to come live on your island. After sailing around with Moana to find a lantern for her boat, she agreed to live in my world, and even brought over a list of Hawaiian themed items for me to craft and build. Each world visit is nowhere near as extensive as you would find in Kingdom Hearts, but gives you enough of a story reason why you’re living on an valley filled with random Disney toons.

At first, I wasn’t sure where the meat of the gameplay for Disney Dreamlight Valley would be coming from. Cleaning up my island didn’t take THAT long, and I was burning through quests at a pretty rapid place, but once Moana joined and I realized she had her own set of quests and needs, it dawned on me. Disney has nearly limitless amounts of properties. And since Dreamlight Valley is a live-service game, with enough player support, I can’t even imagine what your world can look like in a year’s time. I was only able to visit a few of the starting biomes, but your valley seems pretty big, and every time you log in, your villagers will literally be begging for your attention.

The promise to be able to build and live in your very own Disneyland (of sorts) is bold, but seems very achievable in Dreamlight Valley. This isn’t a farming simulator, however. If you’re aiming to be a hardcore manager of crops and watering systems and looking to raise as much profit as possible, this isn’t the game for that. Crops grow in minutes, your watering can never runs dry, and chugging apples and cookies can re-energize your character in seconds. No, winning in this game means forming bonds with your villagers, building a house and town to your exact liking, and dressing up in a seemingly unlimited amount of outfits for your characters. With countless Disney properties at Gameloft’s disposal, Disney Dreamlight Valley has the potential to be fun for as long as your imagination holds up, and I can’t wait to play more.

Mark Medina is a Senior Editorial Producer for IGN. You can find him on IGN's weekly PlayStation podcast, Beyond, or on Twitter @Mark_Medina.

It's been a bit of a long wait, but Bayonetta 3 is finally set to hit Nintendo Switch consoles by the end of the year in the UK. In fact, it'll be out on October 28.

If you're interested in preordering the game, we've got all the relevant info you need right here, including how to preorder the Bayonetta 3: Trinity Masquerade Edition right now.

This is set to be an incredibly popular special edition of the game, so if you're after it, you should definitely secure your preorder as soon as possible to ensure you don't miss out.

Where to Preorder Bayonetta 3 in the UK Right Now

If you are going to preorder the game I highly recommend preordering at Amazon because of its preorder price guarantee.

You don't have to pay until the game dispatches, and if it drops in price at any time you'll automatically be getting the best price possible from the Amazon listings. Also, you won't have to pay a £5 delivery charge for the likes of the Trinity Masquerade Edtion unlike at GAME.

What's Included in the Trinity Masquerade Edition?

The Trinity Masquerade edition comes with Bayonetta 3 (a physical copy, which is worth mentioning), a fancy art book, and several alternate covers for the game.

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.