I'm loving how fast and furious Shinobi: Art of Vengeance is
Developed by Lizardcube, the studio behind the terrific Streets of Rage 4, Shinobi: Art of Vengeance looks to take a classic Sega series back to its roots. It's a side scrolling action game where I need to slash through enemies, vanquish bosses, and do a bit of platforming for good measure. My 45-minute demo let me run wild through two of its gorgeously animated levels, getting a feel for the balance Lizardcube is striking here between retro and modern.
When I try to describe it on paper, it might sound a little boilerplate. The platforming has me double jumping and air dashing around 2D environments. Combat is a matter of dishing out sword combos, hitting evasive rolls, tossing out a shuriken or two, and spending energy to activate special skills. It's all par for the course, I know, but those familiar ideas are made thrilling once I start to realize just how quickly I can take out a screen full of enemies.
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Art of Vengeance is designed in such a way that I never felt like I needed to stop moving during a fight. If an enemy tries to attack me during a combo, I can hit my evasive dodge and exit it into a new combo. If I need to jump in the air to avoid an unblockable attack, I can come back down with a dive kick by hitting my heavy attack button and chain into a combo from there. My favorite detail comes anytime I stun an enemy. When a red mark appears above a foe, I can press both bumpers to launching into a finishing strike that will also ricochet through every other stunned enemy in the room. The more I get all of this down, the more I realize that I simply never have to stop moving once I get on a roll. It feels as much like a fighting game as it does a side scroller.
That sense of lethal speed goes a long way towards making Art of Vengeance feel more exciting than a lot of recent retro brawlers that are very similar to it on paper. It aims to make Shinobi feel like a phantom that cut through waves of enemies in the blink of an eye. Even when I'm dropped into familiar scenarios, like when I need to stay on a boat as enemies fall in around me, it feels like I'm playing something entirely new rather than another cookie cutter retro cash-in.
I'm eager to see how much deeper it all goes. My demo only gave me a taste of its exploration, as I could occasionally find platforming challenges that led me to hidden collectibles. Each level has five to find and those can be spent at shops to unlock even more maneuvers, like one that extended my combos even further with additional hits. I had tons of moves to work into my attack strings by the end of the second level I played, including a charged punch and a counter stance skill. I hope more moves keep trickling in in later missions, giving me more attacks I can pepper into my ballet of blades.
Shinobi: Art of Vengeance launches on August 28 for PS4, PS5, Xbox One, Xbox Series X/S, Nintendo Switch, and PC.
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Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Icelandic Developer Aska Studios Is Ready to Talk About Their Debut Title, Gang of Frogs
'Frogs, Hippos, tadpoles, crabs,' this is just the start of what you can expect from Aska Studios' first game, Gang of Frogs. Aska Studios is a studio out of Iceland that has been working on their debut title, Gang of Frogs, for the last two years. If you know me at all, you know that I have a deep love for Iceland, especially their gaming culture, so when the opportunity to talk to the team about the game came up, I just couldn't pass on it. Gang of Frogs is a roguelike, shooter, deck-builder, and its art style is absolutely stunning. Pairing that with a studio with tons of experience across the board, a community-first approach, and a lot of light-hearted fun, it looks like the game has a strong future ahead. I was able to sit down with Aska Studios Co-founder and Gang of Frogs Game Director, Halldór Heidberg, to learn more about their Icelandic studio and what we can expect from the game in the future. Read to the end for more information on how to play Gang of Frogs a lot sooner than you think! Tell us a little bit about Aska Studios and how it came to be. Halldór Heidberg: Aska Studios was founded at the end of 2022 by me and my childhood friends. Ever since we were 10 years old, we dreamed of building video games together, even going so far as to sketch out ideas and concepts on paper way back then (Which are still kept safe and sound in my co-founder's basement). In 2022, we found ourselves growing up and involved in different industries, myself in games and film, Friðrik in programming and Jóhannes in sound engineering and the music world. Suddenly, it just made sense to combine our complementary skill sets and realize our dream of making a game together. Since then, we have been extremely fortunate to get top talent from across the industry to join our team, people who have worked on everything from Call of Duty to Marvel movies. Most recently, we had Ólafur join our founding team with his previous experience from CCP Games, Riot Games and 1939 Games, and we are really excited about the next chapter for Aska Studios. At Aska, we pride ourselves on the highly effective remote work culture we have built in the last few years, and this allows us to work with the most talented people from across the globe, which bypasses one of the biggest problems we have, being on a small island in the North Atlantic — access to gaming industry talent. We have 15 people now working on the team, along with a network of contractors, all laser-focused on making Gang of Frogs into the best game we possibly can. What is your role at the studio? Halldór Heidberg: Founding a company requires you to wear probably all the hats over time, and that has definitely been my experience as well. My passion has always been on the creative side of things, and I have led our creative efforts since day one, but through this process, I found myself loving the process of building a great team and given the calibre of people we have on board at the moment, I think that has been going pretty well. As for my role, it has evolved gradually over time. As the studio grows, I'm able to step more into a full-time game director role, but it's been everything from company management and business development to character design throughout the process. is well-known for game development. How has being a studio based in Iceland benefited your team? Halldór Heidberg: I think there are benefits and drawbacks to being based in a small country like Iceland. The biggest drawback is obviously access to talent and connection to the wider games industry, although this has improved in the past decade, especially with how successful CCP Games has been; they have really seeded the market with amazing people. In terms of benefits, I think the biggest benefits for us have been being a part of a tight knit industry in Iceland where we can seek advice or input from industry veterans and powerhouses fairly easily, something that might be more difficult if we were a small studio in LA looking for some face time with CEOs of bigger gaming companies. I also think the company culture and vibe is very Icelandic, something about being from a small island and having to fight for your existence creates oversized ambitions, perseverance, and a fighting spirit, all of which I think define the day-to-day culture of the team. No one is afraid of challenges, and we are excited to pursue ambitious goals. You have people on your team all across the globe, despite being headquartered in Iceland. What does Aska Studios gain by branching out in that way? We get a lot from the global nature of the team, not only do we get to work with talent that would be difficult to find if we were only looking within Iceland, but we also get different perspectives from people that come from very different backgrounds to us, and that, ultimately, creates a much better end result when it comes to the game. This also helps us better understand regional nuances, whether that is understanding how to build a good game for the North American market or the Asian market and this aligns well with our ambitions with the game, ultimately we just want to make something worthy of people's time and want to see as many people as possible find their inner frog and enjoy conquering hordes of space crabs. What kind of experience does the Aska Studios and team have, and how have you been able to harness that talent for this game? Halldór Heidberg: The team around the game has a lot of experience. We often say that we are first-time founders backed by industry veterans, and I think the resumes of our team back that statement up fully. We have members of the team who have previously worked at Activision/Blizzard, Riot Games, CCP Games, Raven Software, Mountaintop, Warhorse, and more. This means that everything that makes it into the game, from gunplay to the UI/UX design, is backed by years of real experience with what works and what doesn't. If you combine this level of talent with a high-trust company structure and a culture that emphasizes regular feedback and open communication, it is amazing to see what can be accomplished without a specific need to 'harness' any talent; good stuff just flows from talented people in this case. is the first game to come out of Aska Studios. How did the concept come to be? Halldór Heidberg: About four years ago, I created the character Hank, a reptilian hammerhead shark, which ended up being quite well-received and became the captain of the frog crew in Gang of Frogs. I've been a massive frog fan my entire life. There are no frogs in Iceland, so moving abroad as a kid, they really stood out. They are these very memeable, loveable creatures, and I just felt they hadn't been represented like I wanted them to be in games. So after Hank, it just made sense to keep building this universe, Frogs, Hippos, tadpoles, crabs and in the future greatly expanding this roster. 'About four years ago, I created the character Hank, a reptilian hammerhead shark, which ended up being quite well-received and became the captain of the frog crew in Gang of Frogs.' What can you tell us about ? Halldór Heidberg: Gang of Frogs is really the game a lot of us wish we had access to today, nothing super complicated, just fun, action-packed and pretty! We absolutely want to invoke the same type of feelings and experience we remember fondly from our childhood playing some of the early consoles, where you could absolutely get lost in a virtual world and have a great time while doing it. Obviously, a gang of frogs is unique. Why frogs? Halldór Heidberg: Frogs are just fantastic. Our mantra is that Frogs > No frogs. Originally, we had plans to include many types of animals, but as the game progressed, the frogs just stood out as our favourite of the bunch. They are fascinating animals, and a lot of people around the world love them. Being able to interpret different characters as frogs in terms of how they are built, what colours they are and how they accessorize is a fun project as well. But even though the game is called Gang of Frogs, who knows if more types of animals will join the fray? What makes it different from other co-op shooters, aside from the frogs? Halldór Heidberg: Gang of Frogs is a rougelite shooter, that already sets it apart from most core gameplay loops within the shooter genre. The game can be equally rewarding to hardcore players who want to grind to the end game and to players who just want a quick trip to space for some action to unwind at the end of their day. But the truly unique aspect of the game is its deckbuilding core. In each run, the player must manage their economy to purchase cards that represent upgrades, modifiers, weapons and abilities and based on the deck a player builds throughout a run, their experience can be vastly different. From being a DPS machine with a damage boosted minigun to being an explosive specialist with grenades and airstrikes at their disposal the game will offer over 100 billion build combinations at launch in addition to permanent upgrades and more all serving to make each playthrough feel different and give the player a lot of agency in choosing their preferred path every time they play. What do you think players will be most excited or surprised by when they go hands-on with ? Halldór Heidberg: We are definitely trying to maximize the fun factor. It is our core belief that if players decide to invest their time and money into Gang of Frogs they should be rewarded with a fun experience that is worth their time. The art style in is beautiful and colourful. What was the inspiration behind it? Halldór Heidberg: We are '90s babies, so we are greatly inspired by Y2K aesthetics. I generally believe the colourful, contrasting worlds, odd characters and adventurous themes will resonate with a lot of players today. Movies/games such as Treasure Planet, Atlantis, Ratchet & Clank, all sorts of 90s anime and other themes really hold a lot of thematic inspirations. We call the games art direction 'Historical Cyberpunk' or putting neon lights into flying wooden ships and building skyscrapers out of crooked stone and wood buildings, which would be quite related to Steampunk, however, minus all the brass and gears. You mentioned a community on Discord. How has having a place for the community to grow and interact affected the development and the team? Halldór Heidberg: We have been extremely lucky to have found a dedicated core group that is interested in the game early on. Now, as we start getting closer to releasing the game in early access, we are working closely with the community on every step we take. This means regular playtests and being very open about what we are doing and what we are thinking about when we make changes or add new things to the game. It can be hard for people that spend all day, every day thinking about the game to notice things that might not work or realize that the wrong assumption was made a few months back, so having the community there to help us identify what we can do better and what we are doing well is invaluable and really allows us to build the best version of Gang of Frogs we can. It's also just a great place for us to get to know people and for people to get to know each other. What has the reaction to been like so far? Halldór Heidberg: So far, the reaction has been fantastic! The trailer we released has received close to three million views across different channels and through content creators sharing the trailer and their thoughts on it, which is something we are delighted to see. Reading through the comments, we can also see that there is an appetite for the type of game we are creating, something you can play with your friends and just enjoy the fun of playing together without having to worry about fairness in matchmaking, hackers or any of that stuff. Add to that a humour-laden narrative and interactions, and you have all the ingredients for a great night of gaming action, fun, humour, what's not to love? People also seem to like the art and visual style of the game, and we believe there is a lot that we can do within this new world we are building that can deliver countless hours of fun to our players. Our initial playtests were also extremely promising, with most people who play the game saying that it is fun and they would like to play more, which is always a good sign. But we will, of course, continue to listen to the feedback and our community to improve the game all the way up to launch. Can you tell our audience anything about upcoming playtests or events, or how to stay up to date on ? Halldór Heidberg: Absolutely! We would love to see everyone join our Discord community and sign up for future playtests through there. We aim to run tests bi-weekly for the time being and then do more frequent and longer play tests as we progress further in development. We are rapidly increasing the number of players involved in each playtest, so players who sign up now shouldn't have to wait for a long time before they get their chance to play the game and give us feedback. Through Discord, we will also be doing dev hangouts, Q&A sessions and preview streams in the near future. The Discord server can be found here or through our website. We would also love to see people wishlist the game on Steam so they are notified when the game is released. Our Steam page can be found here. Finally, we have social media accounts we post on occasionally, but we will be more active there in the coming weeks and months, so for anyone interested in following us there, they should connect with us on the following socials: Tiktok: Instagram: X: Facebook: CGMagazine is happy to announce that Gang of Frogs will be hosting its next playtest on July 31st, 2025, so make sure to join their Discord for your chance to go hands-on with the game.
Yahoo
5 hours ago
- Yahoo
Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase July 2025: Everything Announced at the Surprise Showcase!
Nintendo has been on a roll with surprise Nintendo Direct announcements, so here are all of the Partner Showcase announcements from the Direct announced just yesterday. The last Nintendo Direct was dedicated to only Mario Kart World, giving fans a sneak peek at what's under the hood for the latest Nintendo Kart racer. Now that Mario Kart World is out, Nintendo sets its eyes on the future and has unleashed a new Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase for fans to check out everything playable on Nintendo consoles, but not published by the company itself. Now that the Nintendo Switch 2 is out in the wild, titles like Cyberpunk 2077: Ultimate Edition can be played on a Nintendo console, giving fans a new catalogue of games and opportunities that may become available for the Nintendo successor console. Unfortunately, FromSoftware's The Duskbloods did not make an appearance, but other exciting and surprising announcements did. Everything revealed from the Nintendo Direct can be seen (alongside trailers) below. Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase July 2025: Everything Announced Monster Hunter Stories 3: Twisted Reflection The first announcement made at the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase in July 2025 is a return for the Monster Hunter Stories franchise on Nintendo. The next title in the Monster Hunter Stories franchise after Wings of Ruin launched way back in 2021, Monster Hunter Stories: Twisted Reflection, is coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026. Once Upon a Katamari The next title in the Katamari franchise is coming to Nintendo consoles, and it allows players to do battle by competing to see who can build the biggest Katamari. Once Upon a Katamari launches on Nintendo Switch on October 24. Just Dance 2026 Edition The next title in the Ubisoft Just Dance franchise is coming to the Nintendo Switch console, and it features a party mode letting fans hit the dance floor together. Just Dance 2026 Edition launches on October 14. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero Dragon Ball's latest fighting title is finally coming to both Nintendo Switch consoles. Everything fans enjoyed from the previous Sparking! Zero release is included—this time with added motion controls exclusive to the Nintendo versions. Dragon Ball: Sparking! Zero launches on both Nintendo Switch systems on Nov. 14. Plants vs. Zombies: Replanted The original Plants vs. Zombies experience is coming back in glorious HD, and it will be available for both Nintendo consoles. Replanted is landing on Switch on October 23 EA FC 2026 A port of the latest EA FC title, EA FC 2026, is coming to both Nintendo consoles. The Ultimate Edition is available for early access on Sept 19, and the Standard Edition is available on Sept 26. Pac-Man World 2 Re-Pac The sequel to Pac-Man World is also getting a 're-pac' with Pac-Man World Re-Pac 2, and it will be rebuilt from the ground up for both Nintendo consoles. It's coming to both the Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 on September 26. Final Fantasy Tactics: The Ivalice Chronicles Fans will be able to step into the story of ambition, betrayal, and honour that defined a generation. Fans will follow the exploits of Ramza Beoulve, a knight of noble birth sent to help restore the kingdom of Ivalice. The Ivalice Chronicles is coming to Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2 on Sept 30 Persona 3 Reload The critically acclaimed and fan-favourite Atlus remade title has been announced and reloaded for Switch 2 at the Nintendo Direct. Persona 3 Reload is coming to the Nintendo Switch 2. Fans will have to face the Dark Hour on Nintendo Switch 2 when Persona 3 Reload arrives on October 23. Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment The next title in the Hyrule Warriors franchise has been revealed, and it will cover the canonical events that occurred before The Legend of Zelda: Tears of the Kingdom. Fans will be able to tell the untold story of the Imprisoning War when Hyrule Warriors: Age of Imprisonment releases exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2 this Winter. Borderlands 4 Gearbox Software's next title in the Borderlands series, Borderlands 4, is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 on October 3. Madden NFL 26 The latest EA Sports Madden franchise title is coming to the Nintendo Switch 2, as revealed at the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase. This will be the first time a Madden title has been available on Nintendo since Madden 13 on the Wii and Wii U consoles. EA Sports Madden NFL 26 releases for Nintendo Switch 2 on August 14. Chillin' by the Fire A cozy firebuilding simulator was then revealed at the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, and it allows players to hang out around a digital campfire. Chillin' By The Campfire, surprisingly, launches later today exclusively for Nintendo Switch 2. Hela In Hela, fans will step behidn the furry shoes of a tiny mouse exploring a stunning world inspired by Scandinavian folklore. This small Nintendo Switch 2 co-op mouse-laden adventure arrives on Nintendo Switch 2 sometime in 2026. Star Wars Outlaws The latest Star Wars title is finally coming to Nintendo. Ubisoft's Star Wars Outlaws and the adventures of the scoundrel Kay Vess are coming to the Nintendo Switch 2 on September 4. Cronos: The New Dawn As an agent of a secret collective, you'll need to uncover the mysteries of the world while travelling through a dystopian time-jumping survival horror narrative. Rifts will allow players to travel back in time and meet people from the past to enhance the player's abilities, but doing so will make your character closer to losing their sanity. Cronos: New Dawn launches on Nintendo Switch 2 on September 5. Yakuza Kiwami & Yakuza Kiwami 2 The Yakuza franchise is back on Nintendo, and only for Nintendo Switch 2! Fans will be able to embody the Dragon of Dojima, Kazuma Kiryu, once again in Yakuza Kiwami and its sequel when it launches on the Nintendo Switch 2 on November 13. The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales A brand new HD-2D action RPG has been announced from Square Enix at the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase, and players will explore this world as the adventurer Elliot alongside his companion fairy, Fae. From the creators of Octopath Traveler and Bravely Default, combat is surprisingly deep, with seven weapon types in total. Elliot can equip different types of magicite to change things up. Players can control Elliot and Fae separately, or two players can play both characters at the same time. The Adventures of Elliot: The Millennium Tales is for Nintendo Switch 2, and it will launch next year. Octopath Traveler 0 The last announcement at the Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase is the next title in the Octopath Traveler series, and another HD-2D title deployed by Square Enix on the Nintendo Switch and Nintendo Switch 2. Fans can expect to experience a story of restoration and retribution over the divine rings, set in the realm of Orsterra. Octopath Traveler 0 will land on both Nintendo Switch and Switch 2 on December 4. That wraps the entire Nintendo Direct Partner Showcase for July 2025. Fans can head to the official Nintendo website for more information on any of the announced releases. Solve the daily Crossword
Yahoo
7 hours ago
- Yahoo
Silent Hill F Was Going To Be Set In The Real Japanese Location, But Mount Fuji Wouldn't Move
While deciding on a location for Silent Hill f, the production team hit a snag when they tried to use the real 'Silent Hill' as the setting—Mount Fuji killed the tone. As revealed in March 2025, Silent Hill f is all about atmosphere. The development team leaned into the idea of 'finding the beauty in terror' as the guiding vision for the game's grotesque imagery. It was also confirmed that this instalment would mark a first for the franchise: it would be set in Japan, not the fictional American town of Silent Hill. According to a new Famitsu interview with the developers (as reported by VGC), lead writer Ryukishi07 said the team initially considered Japan's Shizuoka Prefecture as the setting for Silent Hill f. In the (Google Translated) Famitsu interview, the development team explains that finding the right location was key in developing the heavy atmosphere associated with the Silent Hill franchise. Ryukishi07 explains that using real-life settings as the basis for the title would have a heavier impact on players, so the team visited many locations in Japan to find the perfect fit. Ryukisho07 says, 'I used real locations as the basis for the image. In fact, since it's [literally] Silent Hill, we even visited Shizuoka Prefecture as a potential location (laughs).' Shizuoka can almost literally translate to 'quiet' or 'silent,' when put into English, so the irony wasn't lost on Ryukishi07. There was only one problem for the team, though: Mount Fuji's extreme presence killed the mood. Ryukishi07 says, 'However, when we actually went there, we felt that the presence of Mount Fuji as seen from Shizuoka was too overbearing and it didn't seem suitable for a Silent Hill setting.' The development team rejected a location in Japan due to Mount Fuji's looming presence draining the atmosphere of the setting, so they determined it would not be good enough for the horror delivered by the franchise. As revealed in March, the setting used in Silent Hill f is based on the small town of Kanayama, in the city of Gero in Gifu prefecture. The fictional twin is known in-game as Ebisugoka, a long way from the previous US location of Silent Hill. Silent Hill f will launch globally on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series S/X, and PC on September 25. Solve the daily Crossword
