Since launching in May, Elden Ring Nightreign, the multiplayer roguelike spinoff of Elden Ring, has continued to receive updates introducing new bosses and more. Now, developer From Software has announced the game's biggest update yet – Deep of Night – will go live next month on Thursday, September 11. 

Deep of Night is a "high-difficulty" Expedition challenge mode "designed for seasoned players who have navigated through the Night many times," the studio writes in a press release, suggesting this already-difficult game is going to get a lot harder soon. In Deep of Night, the enemies are stronger than usual. Plus, you cannot specify the target Nightlord for the Expedition, meaning the final boss of the run will be random. 

Alongside this, From Software says ongoing terrain changes will not be reflected, and that special items such as "Depth Relics," which are exclusive to Deep of Night, and weapons with multiple additional but also detrimental effects, will appear on runs. Furthermore, the difficulty increases the deeper you descend, and "the ratings will fluctuate based on wins and losses, affecting the depth." 

From Software says players should aim to surpass Depth 3, and notes that Depth 4 to Depth 5 will "feature an endless battle for those seeking even greater thrills," suggesting that Deep of Night can turn into an endless-run mode. 

The Deep of Night update for Elden Ring Nightreign goes live on Thursday, September 11. 

In the meantime, read Game Informer's Elden Ring Nightreign review. 

Pokémon Legends: Z-A launches in less than two months on Nintendo Switch and Switch 2, and as we get closer to its release, The Pokémon Company has continued to reveal more about the game, including which Mega-evolved Pokémon to expect in it. We learned about Mega Victreebel last week and now, Mega Hawlucha joins the roster. 

"Hawlucha, an entertainer flexing the strength of its pumped-up muscles, is ready to prove there's even more to its showboating style through Mega Evolution," a press release reads. "Bulked by Mega Evolution, it uses its muscles to take hit after hit from opponents' moves and flex its own strength. After luring its opponent into attacking, it retaliates to make them flinch before diving at them using its signature move, Flying Press, to aim for victory." 

Check out Mega Hawlucha in the new video below: 

To celebrate Mega Hawlucha and the upcoming launch of Pokémon Legends: Z-A, The Pokémon Company International has partnered with Consejo Mundial de Lucha Libre (CMLL) to host a special event at Arena México in Mexico City on September 25 at 6 p.m. PT/9 p.m. ET. The showcase will feature four exhibition matches with top lucha libre wrestlers, including Místico, and tickets will be available soon. If you can't attend the event in person, it will be streamed live on the official Pokémon and CMLL channels. 

Mega Hawlucha will appear in Pokémon Legends: Z-A when it launches on Switch and Switch 2 on October 16. 

 

In the meantime, read our hands-on preview with the game to learn why it might be the best Pokémon game in years. After that, check out this Pokémon Legends: Z-A Switch 2 bundle. 

What do you think of Mega Hawlucha's design? Let us know in the comments below!

Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio, the team behind the Yakuza/Like A Dragon franchise, has announced it will hold an RGG Summit next month, immediately followed by an RGG Direct. The summit will bring "the latest info directly from Ryu Ga Gotoku Studio," on Wednesday, September 24, at 4 a.m. PT/7 a.m. ET, and the RGG Direct following it will give "a closer look at some of the studio's latest announcements." 

As for what to expect at the Summit and Direct, RGG doesn't tease anything, though it has various projects in the works like Stranger Than Heaven, a new Virtua Fighter, and almost assuredly, a new Like A Dragon project. The studio also recently released Yakuza 0 Director's Cut, which features new cutscenes and more, exclusively on Nintendo Switch 2, and fans are hoping the team might bring it to other platforms. 

If you're looking to set your expectations, last year's summit included the reveal of Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza in Hawaii. Who knows what we might see at this year's event, but it's less than a month away, so we don't have to wait too long. 

In the meantime, read Game Informer's Like A Dragon: Pirate Yakuza In Hawaii review, and then read our Like A Dragon: Infinite Wealth review after that. 

What do you hope to see at this year's RGG Summit and Direct? Let us know in the comments below!

Though it's not the original Ubisoft team that created Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game behind the upcoming quasi-sequel, Scott Pilgrim EX, Universal picked arguably the perfect team to make this game in Tribute Games. Behind great beat 'em ups like Teenage Mutant Ninja Turtles: Shredder's Revenge and hard at work on Marvel Cosmic Invasion, Tribute Games feels like a great match for Scott Pilgrim's next beat 'em up adventure. It helps that Tribute Games' core leadership includes Jonathan Lavigne, Jean-Francois Major, and Stéphane Boutin, former Ubisoft developers who worked on the first Scott Pilgrim game. And if my 30-minute hands-on demo during Gamescom 2025 is any indication, this team is on the right track.

If you've played Shredder's Revenge, Scott Pilgrim EX will feel familiar. Beyond it being the same developer, Scott Pilgrim EX is being developed in the same engine as Tribute Games' previous TMNT game. Honestly, "familiar" is a word I thought a lot about while playing this demo (complimentary). It plays familiarly because of the engine; it sounds familiar because Scott Pilgrim vs. The World: The Game composer Anamanaguchi is back in the composer chair for Scott Pilgrim EX. Scott Pilgrim creator Bryan Lee O'Malley is working with Tribute Games on the game's narrative; and of course, some of the characters you know and love (and hate) are back. 

With 15 years in between Scott Pilgrim vs The World and Scott Pilgrim EX, it was nice jumping into the latter and realizing almost immediately that Tribute Games did an excellent job at emulating the arcade fun of the former. But for all the familiarity of Scott Pilgrim EX, what I'm most impressed with is the ways Tribute Games is attempting to evolve the beat 'em up formula it's been working in for so long, with smart inspiration from the River City Ransom series. 

Before hopping into a stage, myself and the other members of the press I was playing with in this 4-player couch co-op session selected our characters. I chose Ramona Flowers, the magic-user, and my colleagues selected Scott, the all-rounder character, Roxie Richter, the "tiny terror" and ninja with smoke bombs and more, and finally, League of Evil exes brawler Lucas Lee. We then selected our stage from the sprawling map of Toronto, Canada, and jumped right into the action. The combat feels great, with combos galore baked into each character, and unlockables, accessories, and more to collect as you progress. 

We're guided toward our main objective, with word from Tribute that side objectives or side quests exist to pick up, too – we later complete one that tasked us with defeating a set number of enemies in a specific period of time. This takes us right across the screen to another area of town, but going from left to right is not the name of this beat 'em up game. Instead, we traversed all across the map, beating up enemies along the way and stopping at shops to heal up and purchase new items to equip, left and right, up and down. Scott Pilgrim EX is not a linear adventure, and seeing a game in this genre going wide is an exciting change. 

 

Thirty minutes wasn't enough to see just how wide Scott Pilgrim EX goes, but what I've already seen has me excited at the prospects. I love the beat 'em up genre, but they feel centered around arcade fun exclusively, often shallow in depth as a result. Scott Pilgrim EX seems keen to change that, providing the arcade fun you know and love of Scott Pilgrim and adding unique touches of depth that I think could keep me playing long after I finish the golden path with open map traversal, RPG aspects, and more. 

These four characters were great fun, if the enthusiasm my colleagues and I shared means anything, and with seven planned for the final game, I look forward to who else Tribute Games has added to this adventure. But for now, I wait. 

Scott Pilgrim EX launches on PC and consoles in early 2026. 

The PlayStation Plus Essential tier gives subscribers free games every month, and recently, those games have been particularly excellent. Last month's offerings included Lies of P, one of the best games of 2023, but the upcoming September lineup announced on the PS Blog manages to top even that; you'll get Psychonauts 2, Viewfinder, and Stardew Valley, one of the most beloved indie games of all time.

Stardew Valley got a substantial 1.6 update last year, so if you haven't played it in a while, you'll be greeted by some new features, including new dialogue, new crafting recipes, hats for pets, and, for some reason, the ability to drink mayonnaise. I don't know who's out there saying, "I'd love to play Stardew Valley, but it's a deal breaker that you can't drink mayo straight from the jar," but if that's you, you're in luck.

The other two games are nothing to sneeze at either. Psychonauts 2 scored a nine from us when it released back in 2021 and even made its way onto our top ten list from that year. It's the long awaited sequel to Double Fine's platformer from 2005, and we did a retrospective on the studio's history back when it was featured on the cover of Game Informer issue 336. Meanwhile, Viewfinder is a delightful puzzle game from 2023 that reminds me of Portal in the best way – its photographic puzzle solving is incredibly creative game design.

All three games will be available for subscribers on September 2. You can still download August's games (Lies of P, My Hero One's Justice 2, and DayZ) until then.

Will you be checking these games out on September 2? Let us know in the comments!