Tag: Bandai Namco - Page 2
Mini Review Once Upon a Katamari (PS5) - An Eccentric, Joyful Time Capsule
All hail the Prince
Once Upon a Katamari brings back Bandai Namco's cult classic franchise with an all-new game that feels ripped straight from its PS2 prime. By and large, this is the same Katamari Damacy madness we all fell in love with 20 years ago — roll a ball around each stage, gathering up myriad objects to make it as big as you can. With...
Hey Jude
Having been shackled to the PS3 ever since its release all the way back in 2011, it's great to see Tales of Xillia make a deserved comeback through Tales of Xillia Remastered. Part of Bandai Namco's ongoing mission to re-release just about every Tales title on as many platforms as possible, Xillia Remastered is a predictably solid...
News Bonus Elden Ring Items from New Tarnished Edition Delayed to 2026
Switch 2 version is delayed, pushing back PS5, PS4 items
FromSoftware has made the decision to delay the Nintendo Switch 2 version of Elden Ring to 2026, with the knock-on effect being the bonus items contained within this new Tarnished Edition also having been pushed back on PS5, PS4. The updated version comes with two new starting classes (Knight...
Round Up Once Upon a Katamari PS5 Reviews Roll Up Some Big Scores
Bundles of fun
Once Upon a Katamari is the first all-new instalment in Bandai Namco’s ball rolling brand for quite some time. It’s also a rather good one. The embargo for outing lifted earlier today, and it’s already wrapped up some pretty big scores. Its aggregate rating on Metacritic is at about an 80 on PS5, which is sturdy stuff for this...
News Tales of Xillia 2 Remaster Confirmed in Development, Still No Word on a Xillia Bundle
Xillia and Xillia 2 will release separately
Tales of Xillia Remastered is out on PS5 in just over a week, and we're looking forward to it — but will Tales of Xillia 2 get the same treatment? The answer to that increasingly popular query is yes, according to a new Famitsu interview with series director Yusuke Tomizawa (as reported by...
News Disappointment As Tekken 3 Is the Latest PS1 Classic to Launch without Trophies
As expected, unfortunately
For whatever reason, Bandai Namco does not want Sony to add Trophies to its emulated PS1 games. While most of the platform holder’s own classic games have been updated to add in gongs – either at launch or later – Bandai Namco’s selection of re-releases remain Trophy-less. And unfortunately, the highly...
News Yes, Licensed Manga Hero Gon Is Still Included in Tekken 3 on PS5, PS4
We were worried he may be Gon for good
Tekken 3 rarely gets re-released, with some speculating it may be due to its inclusion of licensed manga character Gon. To be fair, the legendary fighter did feature on Sony’s ill-fated PS Classic micro-console (albeit the PAL version), and publisher Bandai Namco was releasing licensed Gon tie-ins as...
News Stay Tuned for the Announcement of a New Dragon Ball Game in January
What could it be?
Announcements of announcements? Are we still doing those? Apparently so, as the official X (or Twitter) account for Dragon Ball video games has confirmed a new title will be unveiled in January. It’ll be presented as part of the Dragon Ball Genkidamatsuri, a real-life event scheduled to take place at the Makuhar
News Armor King Has Arrived in Tekken 8, But Patch 2.06 Can't Stop Concerns Over Game's Future
Armor through it
It's a day of celebration for many a Tekken player, as one of the series' most popular characters — the awesome looking Armor King — has arrived as the latest DLC fighter in Tekken 8. In some ways, Armor King's highly anticipated return is the shot in the arm that Bandai Namco's brawler has been begging for. You may recall that...
News Tekken 8 Newcomer Miary Zo Bursts into the King of Iron Fist Tournament This December
Madagascan energy
Bandai Namco has released the first full-length gameplay trailer for Madagascan newcomer Miary Zo in Tekken 8, who will launch first for Season 2 Character Pass owners on 1st December. Everyone else will get access to the character from 4th December. As seems fitting for someone from Madagascar, a lot of Miary’s moves are...
News Marvel Tokon May Be Out Next Year, But ArcSys Is Not Done with Dragon Ball FighterZ Yet
New character next year, balance update imminent
In an extraordinary announcement, Dragon Ball FighterZ is getting a new character next year. The game, which first launched in 2018 on the PS4, was ported to the PS5 natively in 2025. But the addition of Goku (Super Saiyan 4, DAIMA) as DLC in Spring 2026 will mark the first roster expansion in over...
News PS5 Soulslike Code Vein 2 Couldn't Be More Anime If It Tried
Watch an enormous four-minute trailer
Code Vein 2, the imminent anime Soulslike from Bandai Namco, has received a massive four-minute story trailer. The publisher was actually showing this one in a theatre behind closed doors at the Tokyo Game Show, but now it’s released it to the public. When we first watched this we didn’t understand it...
Review Little Nightmares III (PS5) - Faithful Sequel Keeps It Creepy, But Plays It Safe
Better off Alone
Playing through Little Nightmares III feels like slipping back into a familiar dream, one longtime fans will recognise the moment it begins. Supermassive Games hasn’t tried to reinvent the series in any wild way, opting instead to mirror the grotesque horror and endearing puzzles that have defined Little Nightmares from the...
News My Hero Academia: All's Justice Goes All-Out on PS5 from 6th February
Fight the good fight
A story that may have slipped through the cracks while yours truly was taking a time out is that My Hero Academia: All’s Justice is coming to PS5 on 6th February, 2026. And do you know what? It looks like a small step up in budget from your typical arena-based anime brawler. It’s definitely no Jujutsu Kaisen: Cursed Clash,...
News That New Digimon Game's Turning Out to Be a Huge Hit
Time stranger
Despite enjoying popularity primarily in the 90s, we’d probably rank Digimon in the niche category these days. But we’d be wrong, because new game Digimon Story Time Stranger is blowing up in a big way. While we’ll need to await a lot more information, fans have noticed that the game has peaked at over 70k concurrent players on...
News Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Tops 200 Characters, Teases Yet More DLC in 2026
It's over 200!
To no one's surprise, Bandai Namco will continue supporting Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero into 2026, with the game's new trailer teasing an announcement for January. Believe it or not, the bombastic brawler's been out for close to an entire year at this point, having initially launched for PS5 on the 11th October, 2024. In that time,...
Review Digimon Story Time Stranger (PS5) - Monster Taming RPG Squanders So Much Potential
De-digivolution
The core of Digimon Story Time Stranger is fantastic. As is the case with the Digimon Story Cyber Sleuth games, the underlying system of discovering, raising, and evolving your Digimon is where this long-awaited RPG excels. However, all too often, Time Stranger stands in its own way, sidelining its brilliantly addictive gameplay...
Mini Review Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac (PS5) - Fine Remake Won't Set the World on Fire
The Pac is back... again
While best known for his arcade roots, Pac-Man's PlayStation history is arguably best defined by the Pac-Man World trilogy. Following the 2022 remake of the original Pac-Man World, the question on many fans’ minds was whether Pac-Man World 2 would be getting the same treatment. Three years later, Now Production and Bandai...
News Stop Bugging the Original Everybody's Golf Dev About a Game It Didn't Make
"We kindly ask for your understanding"
Clap Hanz has been making Everybody’s Golf games since the PS1 days, but it didn’t create the latest version, which released earlier this month on the PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch. Sony actually licensed the franchise out to Bandai Namco, retaining ownership of the intellectual property but having little...
News Code Vein 2 Adds to an Increasingly Stacked 2026 PS5 Release Schedule
Soul oh levelling
Anime Dark Souls-style sequel Code Vein 2 will add to an increasingly packed early 2026 release schedule, with a 30th January release date locked in. A new trailer showed off the stylish title’s gameplay in all its glory, complete with several larger-than-life boss fights and character designs. You can check out the footage,...
News Try Out Little Nightmares 3 Ahead of Release with Free PS5, PS4 Demo
Sleep uneasy
If you’ve been itching for Little Nightmares 3, then its free PS5 and PS4 demo should give you a reason to stay up late today. You can download the demo through here. While your save progress won’t transfer to the full version, you’ll be able to experience the outing’s opening area: the Necropolis. The blurb teases:...
News Digimon Story Time Stranger Datamine Confirms Massive Roster of 452 Digimon
A monstrous undertaking
With the release of Digimon Story Time Stranger's demo last week, dataminers have done their thing and delved into the game's code. The big reveal? The upcoming RPG really does feature over 450 playable Digimon — a number that Bandai Namco had previously teased in the title's marketing materials. To be more precise, the...
News One Piece PS5 Makes Massive Improvements to Five Year Old Musou
Well, Luffy here
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 first launched over five years ago, so it’s a miracle this PS5 version exists at all. But publisher Bandai Namco is going all-in on the re-release, which will deploy alongside a third Character Pass, featuring six new characters. And here’s a first look at the game, comparing PS4 footage to PS5...
News Classic Sony Series Everybody's Golf Sells Best on Switch in Japan
Nice shot?
Considering the sheer popularity of the Nintendo Switch in its native Japan, it was always going to prove an uphill battle for the PS5 version of legendary Sony series Everybody’s Golf to outperform it. And now we have physical sales data available, we can see that the newest entry Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots has sold best on the Mario...
News Digimon Story Time Stranger Demo Out Now on PS5, Save Data Carries Over
Don't be a stranger
A playable demo for Digimon Story Time Stranger will be dropping at some point before launch, the game's producer has confirmed. In an interview with Japanese outlet Gamersky (as spotted by Gematsu), producer Ryosuke Hara says that the demo will be made available "soon", but he stops short of giving us an actual date. We would...
Preview Teamwork Is the True Terror of Little Nightmares 3
Screamwork makes the dream work
It’s a testament to the success of the two previous Little Nightmares titles that this third instalment exists at all. With Swedish series creator Tarsier switching to new title Reanimal, publisher Bandai Namco has turned to Until Dawn developer Supermassive Games to make this co-op focused threequel. In some...
Preview Why Digimon Story Time Stranger Will Scratch Your Pokémon Itch on PS5
Gotta Gomamon
It’s been decades since this author has interacted with anything involving Digimon, but at a recent behind closed doors Bandai Namco event, the key art proved an attractive draw. Building on the blueprints of past Digimon Story titles, specifically Cyber Sleuth – which first released on the PS Vita – and its pseudo-sequel...
Review Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots (PS5) - First Non-Clap Hanz Entry Is a Subpar Effort
Bogey
Everybody's Golf is one of those franchises many people associate with PlayStation, as it's been a fairly consistent presence on each console since the very start. Unfortunately, developer Clap Hanz is no longer partnered with Sony to deliver these consistently fun golf games, and duty has fallen to HYDE for Everybody's Golf: Hot Shots, the...
News Tekken 8 Patch 2.05 Finally Fixes 'Identical Chest Parameters' for Female Characters
It's for the breast
The latest patch for Tekken 8 is here, and despite featuring just a handful of balance adjustments — most of which address buggy interactions anyway — it's still a very important update. Well, depending on who you ask... Indeed, version 2.05 deals with a heinous issue of female characters sharing the same body model. Or more...
News Master This Dragon Ball MOBA Starting Next Month on PS5, PS4
League of manga legends
As if September wasn’t already action-packed enough, Bandai Namco has dated Dragon Ball: Gekishin Squadra, its MOBA-inspired manga adaptation for 9th September on PS5 and PS4. The game, billed as a team-oriented tactical take on the series, will see you assume one of several different characters, each with a different role...
News Elden Ring Nightreign Will Get Even Tougher in New Hard Mode
Out on PS5, PS4 in September
On top of its base difficulty and the Everdark Sovereign fights, Elden Ring Nightreign will become an even tougher game next month with the introduction of a new hard mode. Available from 11th September 2025 in a free update, Deep of Night will be "a high-difficulty challenge mode designed for seasoned players who have...
News Digimon Story Time Stranger Really Is a Digimon Game with a Budget
Story trailer is a hit
Bandai Namco's released a new story trailer for Digimon Story Time Stranger ahead of the RPG's release on the 2nd October, and we think it really hammers home the fact that this is a Digimon game with... well, an actual budget for once. Don't get us wrong, Digimon Story: Cyber Sleuth is a rock solid Digimon title and that...
News Bandai Namco's Big TGS Booth Includes Code Vein 2, Digimon, More
Time strangers
Bandai Namco has announced its slate of software for the Tokyo Game Show, which is scheduled to start on 25th September at the iconic Makuhari Messe. The lineup will include the following PS5 games: Code Vein 2 Digimon Story: Time Stranger Everybody’s Golf: Hot Shots Little Nightmares 3 Once Upon
News Stellar Blade's Director Wants to Join the Tekken Tournament, But He'll Settle for Eve
The King of Iron Fist
Recently, an old photograph of Stellar Blade director Hyung-Tae Kim with Tekken boss Katsuhiro Harada emerged on social media, prompting the latter to comment on it. “How nostalgic,” Harada wrote. “ once told me that he liked Tekken Series. I met him again backstage at The Game Awards late last year, and he had become a...
News Once Upon a Katamari's Opening Scene May Be the Jolliest Thing You'll See Today
Can you handle the whimsy?
Bandai Namco has released the opening movie for Once Upon a Katamari, and it's a reminder of just how whimsical and fun the series is. The first brand new entry in a long time, this time-travelling arcade adventure has you visiting different periods to roll up historical objects and turn them into stars. The intro video...
News Tales of Xillia Remastered's Gameplay Improvements Make It More Than a Graphics Upgrade
The Grade Shop awaits
Tales of Xillia Remastered will launch with a bunch of welcome improvements, Bandai Namco has revealed. A couple of these enhancements were already shown in the game's announcement trailer, but the revival's official website has a full list of additions. The bottom line here is that the Xillia remaster seems to be a more...
News Tales of Xillia Remastered Releases October for PS5, Xillia 2 Not Included
Finally
As was strongly suggested by last week's leak, Tales of Xillia will be the next Tales of game to get the remaster treatment. Tales of Xillia Remastered will launch for PS5 on the 31st October, so it'll be here before you know it. The revival will feature several new quality of life improvements, including objective markers and an enemy...
News The Next Tales of Remaster Will Be Officially Announced Tomorrow
All in on Xillia
The next Tales of remaster will finally be announced this week. Or more specifically, the reveal is happening tomorrow — that's the 19th August. This unveiling will not be part of Gamescom Opening Night Live, by the way. The announcement is happening live on the official Tales of YouTube channel at 3pm BST / 4pm CEST / 7am PT /...
Rumour Tales of Xillia Leaked as the Next Tales Remaster
Hey Jude
A supposed mistake on Bandai Namco Europe's YouTube channel has revealed that Tales of Xillia is going to be the next Tales title to be remastered. Fans have been waiting on this announcement for months, with the publisher teasing that a big reveal would be happening before the end of summer. According to the leak, the announcement video...
News One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 Fans Revolt Over Price of New DLC
Here's the full lineup
As expected, One Piece Day has mapped out the upcoming DLC support for 2020 title One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 – although there’s no word on the release’s previously announced PS5 port. Character Pass 3 will add six playable characters to the release’s already robust roster, with the content spread across two packs...
News Katsuhiro Harada Wants to Show Off the Unfinished Tekken X Street Fighter
Apparently it was 30% finished
For a good few years, Tekken X Street Fighter was one of the most talked about topics among gamers. You may recall that this collaboration between Capcom and Bandai Namco did result in the release of Street Fighter X Tekken, a 2D-style fighter that we personally enjoyed but found itself embroiled in a number of...
News We're Sold on Digimon Story Time Stranger Thanks to This Rideable Digimon Trailer
All aboard
As if Digimon Story Time Stranger didn't already look like the best Digimon game in... well, possibly forever, its new gameplay trailer is the icing on the cake. In case you didn't know, you can ride atop your allies in the upcoming RPG — but we underestimated just how many 'mons you'll be able to take for a spin. The video showcases a...
News One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 Sails Away with Surprise PS4 Patch as New DLC Looms
Official PS5 port can't be far away
One Piece: Pirate Warriors 4 is over five years old at this point, but when it comes to Bandai Namco’s anime success stories, it rarely drops support. Earlier this year, the publisher confirmed that it will be extending the musou sequel’s lifespan like Luffy’s limbs, with a PS5 port and a new
News Tekken Boss Wanted 'Muscular' Pac-Man as a Character, But the Idea Was Brutally Shot Down
It was deemed "reckless"
Tekken series boss Katsuhiro Harada has shared some cracking stories over the years, but this latest one has truly tickled us. It involves a "muscular" version of Pac-Man being a playable fighter in the original Tekken, which sounds like one hell of a gimmick. In a new interview with Japanese outlet 4Gamer (as translated...
News Anime Crossover RPG Super Robot Wars Y Snags PS5 Demo, Progress Carries to Full Game
That's Y
A demo covering the full first chapter of Super Robot Wars Y will launch on PS5 this week, Bandai Namco has confirmed. Out on the 8th August, the demo should give you a decent idea of what this long-standing series is all about. Super Robot Wars has always been a pretty big deal in its native Japan, but this is the first time it's been...
Return of the King
Armor King has been fully revealed for Tekken 8, and he looks fantastic. Bandai Namco has really doubled down on the brutality of his moves — especially his wrestling grapples and throws. Even his combos have been given a bone-breaking makeover. He's almost guaranteed to be a hit amongst players when he launches on the 17th...
News Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac Continues the Series' Return on PS5, PS4 This September
Pac it up
Pac-Man is 45 years old this year, and Bandai Namco is celebrating with not one but two games starring the mascot this year. The first was Shadow Labyrinth, and now, Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac has been officially announced. Here's the announcement trailer: This is a remake of the PS2 platformer, in the same vein as 2022's Pac-Man World...
News Once Upon a Katamari Brings the Series Back with a Brand New Game on PS5
Releases this October
The Katamari Damacy series is one of gaming's greatest joys, and so it's great to see it make a grand return with a brand new entry: Once Upon a Katamari. Unlike the remasters released in the last few years, Once Upon a Katamari is an all-new game, as you can see in the reveal trailer: In this game, you'll need to roll up...
News FromSoftware Delays Its Elden Ring Nightreign Updates Due to Tsunami Alerts
Two updates pushed back one day
FromSoftware has delayed two Elden Ring Nightreign updates that were set to go live imminently because of the now ongoing tsunami warnings affecting Hawaii, Japan, and some parts of the USA's west coast. Overnight, an earthquake measuring 8.8 magnitude on the Richter scale struck the Kamchatka Peninsula of Russia,...
News Elden Ring Nightreign Adds Duos Mode in Major Free Update Next Week on PS5, PS4
Just the two of us
Bandai Namco and FromSoftware have announced a new way to play Elden Ring Nightreign when its next big update hits next week. As shown off in this new trailer, the multiplayer title will soon include Duo Expeditions, allowing you to play as a twosome rather than a trio: A free game update will take Nightreign to version 1.02...
