Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Gearbox Software
Release: September 12, 2025 (PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PC), 2025 (Switch 2)

Borderlands 4 features a seamless open world, but your journey seems to culminate in an assault on the Timekeeper's stronghold city, Dominion. Though not much is known about the densest environment in Borderlands' history, Gearbox gave me a guided tour of the city. While I can't share everything I saw and heard, here is everything I can say about this late-game zone.

In contrast to much of the rest of Borderlands 4's open world, you don't get access to Dominion until later in the game when you are on your march to confront the Timekeeper. Using an event that occurs on Pandora's moon, Elpis, which is now in the orbit of Kairos, the Vault Hunters can enter Dominion with the hopes of facing off against the Timekeeper.

Once inside the walls of Dominion, things aren't as orderly as the Timekeeper's obsession would lead you to believe. The various Borderlands 4 factions are at each other's throats within the city limits, and, without spoiling anything, the city isn't quite what I expected coming in; the Timekeeper values order at any cost, but the city in which he bases his operations feels oddly chaotic. As I watch creative director Graeme Timmins give me a tour, the Timekeeper taunts his Vault Hunter in their ear. 

And despite the Vault Hunters knocking on the door, he's keeping his composure. "Even though we're breaking in, really trying to get to the Timekeeper, he's still in his element," senior project producer Anthony Nicholson says. "He's still very calm and sure of his plan and what he has in store."

But even if playing solo, the Vault Hunter storming Dominion won't be alone. "Obviously, you make a lot of friends along your way, and they're all going to help and contribute to your time here in the city," Timmins says. 

Throughout the game, players can see Dominion in the distance, similar to how Hyrule Castle is always visible to players in The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild. It's intentionally placed so that players are aware of the goal, and it remains front-of-mind. "As you're starting your journey in Fadefields, you'll see that tower in the distance," global creative executive and former Game Informer editor-in-chief Andrew Reiner says. "That's actually there. That's not a skybox. It's not in the background. [You] can fly out of here, back to the starting point of the game. That content is always there."

Dominion serves as the home of Borderlands 4's main antagonist, the Timekeeper

The design of Dominion appropriately feels like the culmination of the game, as each zone you visited in the rest of the game has a dedicated biome within the city limits. Additionally, the city is extremely dense and vertically oriented, with numerous places to climb and explore. "As you move throughout the missions and go through each of these different districts, you get more of the story that's evolving and unfolding," Nicholson says.

Timmins and Nicholson share additional details, both about Dominion and the Timekeeper, which I won't disclose in the interest of maintaining surprises. However, Timmins is excited for players to explore this area. "There are a lot of important story moments that happen here in the city," he says. "It is a whole 'nother zone's worth of content. It's also the most content-packed. Being the city, we prioritized really making it feel like an urban sprawl. We slammed together lots of locations that are stacked on top of each other." 

The main story will give you a tour of the various districts within Dominion, which, like Borderlands 4's open world, can be explored seamlessly. But players can go off the beaten path to experience additional content. "There's tons more side-missions that are located here as well," Timmins says. "Actually, some of my personal favorite side-missions happen to be in the city. And they're pretty lengthy, too. Some of the side-missions in Dominion, in particular, have a lot of chained missions that you end up spending a lot of time with some of these NPCs, and some of the relationships you actually make in the side-missions in the city, in particular – or at least for me – stand out as some of the more interesting ones.”

There were plenty of more details to cover surrounding Dominion, but I withheld them from this story for the sake of avoiding spoilers. Suffice it to say, the environmental storytelling will shatter some of your preconceived notions you may have had coming into Dominion for the first time. If you're itching to storm Dominion and take down the Timekeeper, you don't have much longer to wait, as Borderlands 4 arrives on September 12. 

For more on Borderlands 4, head to our magazine hub for the vast array of exclusive content.

When I reminisce about the Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater series, my most cherished memories center around the first three entries. THPS 1-3 was my prime with the franchise, the games that introduced me to Mr. Hawk, his skateboarding friends/rivals, and skateboarding culture in general.

These are the titles that convinced me that I, too, could skateboard, to the point I went down a rather tall half-pipe before learning how to stay upright on a board. “I nail the 900 all the time in the games, so surely this isn’t so hard,” I confidently thought. This attempt went about as well as Peter Griffin walking down stairs. Misplaced confidence aside, this exemplifies my obsession with the first three games, as they inspired me to do something very, very dumb.  

Those warm and mildly painful memories do not apply to Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4. Released in 2002, I didn’t have the means at the time to buy the game for my PlayStation 2. It was the first Tony Hawk game I didn’t own, instead borrowing a copy from a friend or playing it at their house. The game did not hit for me.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 4

Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4 changed gears by featuring a free-roaming world. Gone were the run-based challenges and the two-minute timer. Instead, players had free rein to explore the larger parks to complete objectives at their leisure. This blueprint would form the foundation for subsequent entries, such as the Underground and American Wasteland games. Perhaps I was resistant to change as a then-14-year-old, or maybe I was subconsciously experiencing burnout with the series after playing a new game for three years straight, but I did not enjoy THPS 4 nearly as much as its predecessors.

This initial impression cemented Tony Hawk 4 in my brain as a “so-so” experience for years. I didn’t touch it again after 2002, but as time passed and my critiques became fuzzier, I began to wonder if I hadn’t given the game a fair shake. So when Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 3 + 4 was announced, I was excited to revisit the fourth game with a new coat of paint and a fresh perspective. Like many THPS 4 fans, I was disappointed to learn developer Iron Galaxy didn’t just make the game look better; it effectively remolded it in the two-minute timed image of THPS 3.

Tony Hawk's Pro Skater 3 + 4's College level

I understand the motive for this approach. THPS 3 is the best-reviewed entry in the series; why wouldn’t you want the comparatively more polarizing fourth game to mirror that successful blueprint? However, this means the original design I hoped to reevaluate no longer exists. But it’s a shame, because this approach robs players of one of the best, but least talked about, benefits of a more faithful remake: the opportunity to reassess.

It’s one of the reasons I loved the 2020 Demon’s Souls remake. It didn’t “get” the appeal of the game when it first arrived in 2009. I disliked the hub-based structure and high difficulty. “This is stupid and hard,” I thought as those rolling skeletons dudes cut me down for the umpteenth time. “How on Earth could someone enjoy this?” I gave up on the game quickly and never looked back. It wasn’t until Dark Souls introduced an interconnected world that the appeal clicked for me, and I fell in love with From Software’s then-new sub-genre of action games. As I played and enjoyed future entries like Bloodborne and Sekiro, Demon’s Souls was long-branded in my mind as the “weird” entry that wasn’t very good.

Demon's Souls (2020)

Replaying Demon's Souls for Game Informer via the 2020 remake, which was largely a graphical facelift, I found myself enjoying and appreciating the game far more for what it is and tries to do, now that I had a fresh perspective to view it from. If developer Blue Point had more radically changed Demon’s Souls’ hub-like design to more closely resemble Dark Souls’ more successful template, it might have resulted in an even better game. But then I would have just viewed this as Blue Point “fixing” Demon’s Souls, further cementing my existing, perhaps somewhat bad-faith opinion that the original iteration was always terrible.

I wish I could do the same for Tony Hawk’s Pro Skater 4. Looking back, I know my criticisms weren’t completely fair, and I would have loved to re-experience it from a place of excitement rather than burnout or mild resentment at its changes. Even if I still didn’t like it as much as the first three games, I’d at least be able to form a more educated and measured opinion as to why. I’ll have to hunt down an original copy of the game to do this, if for no other reason than in hopes my opinion will improve enough to spur me down another half-pipe.  

Reviewed on: PlayStation 5
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S
Publisher: EA Sports
Developer: EA Tiburon
Release: July 10, 2025
Rating: Everyone

Last year signaled the return of EA’s collegiate football franchise for the first time in over a decade. College Football 25 was not just a big success; it was one of the best sports games of 2024. Like a standout freshman bursting onto the scene, College Football 25 was a pleasant surprise, but College Football 26 aptly demonstrates it wasn’t just beginner’s luck, delivering an equally impressive sophomore effort.

The on-the-field action is as good as video game football gets. Choosing from the vastly expanded playbook, receiving the snap, scanning the field as the pocket slowly collapses, and getting off a pass just before the rushers overtake your line is ceaselessly thrilling. Similarly, improved route defense and unique AI for each QB drove me to love each white-knuckled defensive stand; exhaling as the ball falls harmlessly to the ground, signaling my opponent’s failed comeback attempt is an unrivaled sense of relief. 

The feeling of momentum as you march your offense down the field or sack the opposing quarterback multiple times in a drive is palpable, made even more apparent through the well-illustrated college pageantry and the famously rowdy crowds. I love how the College Football series plays with nerves when in a loud, hostile crowd, as some players get rattled, some confuse the play call, and others can’t hear you if you call an audible at the line. 

 

That pageantry and rowdiness carry into the traditions, with energetic crowd sing-alongs of songs like “Mr. Brightside” or “Enter Sandman” hammering home the electric stadium atmosphere. Though the cheerleaders and fans sometimes look alien during their closeups, I appreciate every small touch Tiburon added to create an authentic collegiate experience. This includes the addition of various real-world coaches, complete with play calling that mimics their real-world tendencies. 

It all adds up to an incredibly immersive experience, complemented by a strong commentary team. However, they clearly don’t have enough names in their audio bank, so you should get used to them referring to most players by their position rather than their name. Also, they sometimes lack context for why a team would run the clock down or call a timeout in a specific situation, which removes a layer of immersion.

The strong gameplay and pageantry permeate each mode, whether you’re engaging in a one-off against friends online or taking part in long-form modes, which are my typical destinations in sports games. Dynasty delivers a streamlined, fantastic experience of running the college football program of your choice. Though you’re in charge of several off-the-field responsibilities, on-the-field performance is as important as ever, as each team jockeys for a spot in the playoffs. In my first season, I relished the opportunity to take the unranked UCLA on a run to a spot in the playoffs, only to experience the harsh sting of defeat as the magical season came to a devastating end in the first round against a powerful Notre Dame squad.

Although that loss was a tough pill to swallow, I had leveraged the revamped scouting tools to have an optimistic offseason. Thanks to the improved feedback to your actions, I landed a five-star lineman to help protect my QB, and several four and three-star recruits to replace players who were graduating or testing the Transfer Portal. Even though I had leveled up my coach’s persuasion to try to prevent players from leaving, I was hit hard. Thankfully, it seems like other schools were too, and I was able to secure more quality players to bolster both sides of the ball.

I have an attachment to my Dynasty team that will cause me to play a few more seasons, but I am also enjoying the Road to Glory experience of bringing my own player up through his college career. Starting with making a high school highlight reel to impress recruiters, then working to secure scholarships from your top schools is fun, but the real mode starts once you reach your college of choice. The continued upward trajectory of your career, going from a player fighting up the depth chart to a Heisman contender, is a compelling reason that continually tempts me to play that mode instead of Dynasty every time I start College Football 26.

Other modes, like College Ultimate Team and the online suite received incremental improvements as well; I like the new online scouting option that tells you your opponent’s tendencies before you step on the field, and I had a great time completing challenges in Ultimate Team and quickly building my roster, but I will always spend the most time in the more traditional long-form modes.

College Football 26 didn’t throw out the playbook from its first year back, but it didn’t need to. Instead, iterative improvements and quality-of-life adjustments build upon an already strong foundation. Like my Dynasty team, EA Sports’ newest series is quickly amassing prestige as one of the best sports franchises today, and College Football 26 only helps its case.

Score: 8.5

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Developer Sucker Punch Productions’ Nate Fox and Jason Connell, co-directors of Ghost of Yōtei, appeared in voice today for an 18-minute presentation detailing a bit of the game’s story and new features ahead of its release on PlayStation 5 on October 2.

In Ghost of Yōtei, players control Atsu, who the citizens of Ezo (which contains Mount Yōtei) seee as the Onryō, a ghost hellbent on revenge. The rumors circulating around her are not entirely untrue, as she is out for revenge and will stop at nothing to achieve it. Atsu’s family was slaughtered by the Yōtei Six, a group that she has sworn to kill one by one. After her family is killed, Atsu left Ezo, but has returned 16 years later fully prepared to act out her plan of vengeance.

The showcase for the game shows that, when returning to Atsu's childhood home, players can push a button to instantly travel back in time to when Atsu was a child to gain a better understanding of her past and her family. It's unclear where this ability is limited to, but the technology looks impressive.

As players explore the world and get into trouble, they will collect cards that represent clues and potential locations to explore. When you interrogate a character after defeating them, you will apparently get a choice of cards. Some cards will push you towards interesting places with upgrades. Others will show you where to get into fights. The card system is how you will keep track of various missions.

Also, as you fight on your path to take down the Yōtei Six, your reputation will grow, as will your bounty, making Atsu more susceptible to random passerby trying to start trouble. Atsu can also chase bounties herself, which will be part of the card collection system.

In terms of exploration, Sucker Punch showed Atsu sliding down a hill, a new ability, and finding an Altar of Reflection, which gives her access to new abilities. You can buy maps to important locations from cartographers, but taking some inspiration from Zelda: Breath of the Wild, Atsu can also look through a spyglass in the distance and mark interesting locations players want to explore without ever entering a menu.

As was the case in Tsushima, the wind will guide you to your new destination, but Fox and Connell point out that you can now guide your horse through paths of flowers to ride faster.

Fox and Connell also made frequent points that the game is designed to be taken at whatever pace players want. Along with story missions and exploration, Atsu was briefly shown playing a game with coins sliding across a table and cutting down bamboo, just as Jin Sakai did in Ghost of Tsushima.

When you’re not riding your horse and playing games, Atsu gets into fights and uses a broader range of weapons than Jin. She can use a katana, kusarigama, ōdachi, dual swords, or spear. She also has access to bows and arrows, muskets, kunai, bombs, and blinding powder. Her arsenal is deep.

In one sequence shown, Atsu grabbed an enemy from a distance using a kusarigama to pull them close and kill them. Then she threw a spear at an enemy from a distance before closing in with dual swords to the rest of the group. She has no qualms with using whatever is necessary to win a fight. We also saw a stealth sequence where Atsu took out a collection of three enemies at high speed without alerting anyone, much like Batman was able to do in Arkham Knight. Weapons can be changed mid-combat, and it will apparently be necessary for each fight to move between weapons.

We also learned at least a little more about animal companions. Atsu has a wolf with her, or can choose to have a wolf with her, and we saw a scene where the wolf helped her take down an enemy very quickly.

In the open world, Atsu can set up camps to rest and cook food, but it will also make various characters and peddlers show up. The implication from the presentation is Atsu can set up camp and invite specific peddlers to join her where she can buy various tools, weapons, clothes. Sucker Punch showed off tons of various clothes options and combinations. These various character-based shops will let you know when they have new inventory.

Two music tracks from the game from composer Toma Otowa are apparently immediately available on various streaming services. The soundtrack is using Eastern instrumentation with Western flavors to hopefully craft something unique and authentic.

The game, at launch, will be playable in Japanese with English subtitles, and Sucker Punch has once again partnered with famed Japanese film director Akira Kurosawa’s estate for Kurosawa mode. This mode allows you to play the game in black and white, adds film grain and audio effects and more. But Kurosawa isn’t the only director Sucker Punch is working with. Miike mode, inspired by director Takashi Miike (13 Assassins, Ichi the Killer), zooms the camera in closer and adds more blood and mud. Watanabe mode, inspired by director Shin'ichirô Watanabe (Samaurai Champloo, Cowboy Bobop) lets players explore while listening to lo-fi beats that have been curated by Watanabe.

Photo mode is also making a return, which is good news as it produced some of the most impressive photo mode images of the previous generation of consoles. One photo during the segment showed Atsu with a bear. Maybe it’s another friendly animal partner?

Ghost of Yōtei is coming to PlayStation 5 on October 2. So far? It looks fantastic.

 

Ghost of Yōtei is one of our most anticipated games of the year. Thanks to today's State of Play livestream, we learned a lot more about the game, including its new combat, its beautiful open world, its new director modes, and much more. The game looks like something special, and Sony is seemingly on the same page, opting to release two limited edition PlayStation 5 consoles on the same day as the game.

There are two versions of the console. One has a white base with gold design across it, mimicking a Japanese art practice known as kintsugi, where cracked pottery is repaired with lacquer and gold, highlighting the fact that it shattered. It mirrors Atsu's onryō mask, which has seemingly undergone the same process. The bundle also includes a controller with a similar design. If the gold isn't to your taste, there's a white and black version instead, which is meant to mimic Sumi-e, an art style defined by brush strokes of black ink.

These bundles will include the disc drive version of the console along with a digital copy of Ghost of Yōtei Standard Edition, complete with pre-order content, an in-game mask, and seven PSN avatars of Atsu and each of the Yōtei Six.

 

If you already own a PlayStation 5 but still like the design, you can instead purchase console covers for the slim or pro models, which will be available on direct.playstation.com. The covers, however, are not available for the base model PS5, and if you want the black covers, you'll have to buy a whole new console. Meanwhile, both versions of the controller will be available as a standalone purchase.

The PS5 bundles, controllers, console covers, and Ghost of Yōtei will all be available on October 2, later this year.