Without warning, Square Enix launched Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD on Xbox Series X/S and PC earlier today. If you’ve been bummed that the remaster of the 2014 RPG was locked away on Switch 2, today is your day (unless you only own a PlayStation).

The HD Remaster of Bravely Default, which originally launched for the Nintendo 3DS over a decade ago, features sharper visuals, an improved interface, new minigames, and expanded online features, among other improvements. The game first launched alongside the Switch 2 last June. To celebrate the launch, the game is currently 20 percent off ($31.99 down from $39.99) on Xbox and Steam. 

Bravely Default centers on four warriors of light who embark on an adventure to save the world of Luxendarc from an invading darkness. The turn-based battle system centers on its Brave and Default mechanics where players choose to spend points to execute several actions at once (Brave) or accumulate those points across multiple turns (Default). The game is the first in a series that includes Bravely Second: End Layer (2016) and Bravely Default II (2021). 

Players can pick up Bravely Default Flying Fairy HD Remaster on Xbox Series X/S and Xbox for PC as well as on Steam. You can read our review of the original version of the game here. 

As the Game Developer’s Conference (GDC) rolls on this week, one of the biggest keynotes came from Xbox. That’s because the company took the stage to reveal new information on Project Helix, the recently revealed codename for its next-generation console.

As previously detailed by Xbox CEO Asha Sharma, Project Helix is being designed to play console and PC games. The keynote states that as part of Xbox’s multi-year partnership with AMD, Project Helix will be powered by a custom AMD SoC (basically a multi-integrated microchip) and is co-designed for the next generation of DirectX and FSR.

What that means is that the hardware will deliver, according to an Xbox Wire post by vice president Jason Ronald, “an order of magnitude leap in ray tracing performance and capability [that] integrates intelligence directly into the graphics and compute pipeline, and drives meaningful gains in efficiency, scale, and visual ambition.” Or, to put it plainly, games will look more realistic, boast more dynamic worlds, and feel more immersive overall.

Ronald also reveals that Xbox plans to ship alpha versions of Project Helix to developers starting in 2027. He also discusses Xbox’s strategy for “breaking down the barriers between console and PC games” to create more seamless cross-play across multiple devices. The goal is to give studios a simplified development path to help reduce production costs.

To this end, Xbox is also taking a page from the ROG Xbox Ally by introducing an Xbox mode to Windows 11 in April, starting in unspecified select markets. Xbox mode lets players switch seamlessly between work and game applications, “with a familiar full screen and controller optimized Xbox experience while embracing the openness of Windows,” according to Ronald.

With developers getting their first look at Project Helix next year, we probably shouldn't expect a full reveal until 2028 at the earliest. It's hard not to feel a little surprised that Xbox is openly discussing its next console already, until you realize it will be six years since the Xbox Series X/S launch this November. The flow of time is a strange and unsettling beast sometimes. 

Platform: PC
Publisher: DrinkBox Studios
Developer: DrinkBox Studios

Drinkbox Studios is commonly known as the team that brought us the Guacamelee series and Nobody Saves the World, but perhaps my favorite title in its catalogue is Severed, which originally released in 2016 on the PS Vita. While that game features fun touchscreen-based combat and an intriguing minimalist story, what stuck with me the most is its striking art style. As I walked up to the station where I’d spend the next 20 minutes playing Drinkbox’s latest game, Blighted, I immediately noticed echoes of that gorgeous Severed art style, even as the gameplay deviates from it.

Vibrant, contrasting colors and a psychedelic vibe permeate every inch of the isometric action RPG. And the notion of a corrupted world, which was central to Severed’s premise, reverberate off Blighted’s own. In Blighted, the protagonist comes from a culture with a fascinating tradition surrounding their dead: When someone passes away, they plant a tree seed in their brain before burying them. Then, when that tree sprouts and bears fruit, the people consume that fruit, allowing them to experience memories of their ancestors.

It’s a fascinating premise and a beautiful (if not strange) tradition. However, when the Sorcisto, the game’s evil antagonist, learns that if he eats your people’s brains, he will receive their memories and mystical powers, he consumes your entire village. Unfortunately for him, this process results in Sorcisto becoming overtaken by Blight, which transforms him into a grotesque monster. As the sole remaining member of your village, you must travel the dangerous surrounding lands to recover the memories of your people and defeat Sorcisto.

Despite being an isometric RPG, Blighted pulls heavy inspiration from Metroidvanias and the Soulslike genre. As the hero navigates the world, they encounter all manner of hideous creatures with distinct powers. Managing your stamina bar, you can attack, dodge, and parry enemies – or blast them at range with your gun, which operates on a cooldown – and the better you do, the more difficult the game becomes; while playing with the developers, they cranked up the level of Blight using a debug menu that won’t be in the final game to demonstrate how much more aggressive and powerful enemies become when you’re on a hot streak. However, you can expect better rewards during this time.

As you fight through and explore the various biomes, you solve environmental puzzles, unlock shortcuts, and learn about the corruption of this beautiful world. You also encounter massive bosses with their own suites of powers. These huge, ungodly creations unleash powerful attacks, with color coding about which can be parried and which must be dodged.

After defeating the two bosses I faced off against, I obtained their abilities. The catch? To earn it, your character must consume their brains, creating a compelling narrative about how we can sometimes become the very monsters we hate in the relentless pursuit of our goals. I can’t wait to see how Drinkbox further explores these themes in the narrative.

After defeating one monstrous boss, my character earns a stomp move, which not only offers an area-of-effect attack but also a way to clear certain barriers. As someone who has played his fair share of Metroidvanias, this immediately scratched that part of my brain, as new paths were suddenly available to explore as I returned to one of the areas I was navigating before that boss battle.

I played my entire demo in two-player co-op, which can be done locally or online in the full game, but it is designed fully with solo play in mind. Just like in Soulslike games, sometimes it’s just nice to have someone else to draw the boss’ aggro for a little bit.

I was intrigued by Blighted ever since I first saw it at the tail end of 2025, and when you combine it with the studio’s excellent pedigree and this incredibly fun demo, it’s one I will absolutely be watching for when it comes to Switch 2 and PC this fall.

Jeff Kaplan, former vice president of Blizzard Entertainment and lead director on Overwatch, left the company in 2021 after it demanded Overwatch generate recurring revenue or it would lay off 1,000 employees, according to a recent interview on the Lex Fridman podcast. In that time, Kaplan founded a development studio called Kintsugiyama and it has revealed what it has been working on all these years.

A far cry from the fantasy of Warcraft and science-fiction of Overwatch, The Legend of California is an open-world survival shooter game set in California during the gold rush era.

In the game players will survive and compete for resources in the "mythical Island of California." It is designed to be played alone, or you can survive and thrive (or die) with up to three friends. Along with expected survival mechanics, like cutting down trees to make shelter, you can also tackle outposts filled with enemies to make money. The persistent online world will also let you build a ranch, stables, and explore mines.

 

The Legend of California is coming to Early Access on PC by way of Steam some time in 2026.

In February of this year, New York Attorney General (NYAG) Letitia James sued Valve over the loot boxes present in games like Counter-Strike 2, Dota 2, and Team Fortress 2. In a report from Reuters, James said that the mystery boxes were "promoting illegal gambling and threatening to addict children" and referred to them as "quintessential gambling" in violation of New York gambling laws.

Today, Valve posted a statement on steampowered.com sharing its thoughts on the lawsuit. The blog post was not attributed to anyone specific, but in it, Valve writes about mystery boxes being perceived as gambling. "We don't believe that they do, and were disappointed to see the NYAG make that claim after working to educate them about our virtual items and mystery boxes since they first reached out to us in early 2023," the blog reads. "We rarely talk about litigation, but we felt we should explain the situation to you."

In the post Valves equates its mystery boxes to playing cards, citing Pokémon, Magic: The Gathering, baseball cards, and Labubu as equivalent products. It also highlighted its efforts to shut down gambling sites taking advantage of Valve items, writing that it has shut down more than one-million Steam accounts that attempted to engage with gambling activity.

Valve writes that the NYAG wants to eliminate the ability to share and transfer digital items and demands that more personal data be collected to aid in age verification. "We believe it’s in our and [Steam users'] interest to only collect the information necessary to operate the business and comply with law," Valve writes, and continues saying, "It may have been easier and cheaper for Valve to make a deal with the NYAG, but we believed the type of deal that would satisfy the NYAG would have been bad for users and other game developers, and impacted our ability to innovate in game design."

Valve also responded to NYAG comments made about video games as they relate to real-world violence. "Those extraneous comments are a distraction and a mischaracterization we’ve all heard before. Numerous studies throughout the years have concluded there is no link between media (movies, TV, books, comics, music, and games) and real world violence. Indeed, many studies highlight the beneficial impact of games to users."

Valve wrote that it will comply with any laws the New York legislature passes governing mystery boxes, but ended the post with, "Ultimately, a court will decide whose position—ours or NYAG's—is correct. In the meantime, we wanted to make sure you were aware of the potential impact to users in New York and elsewhere."

You can read Valve's full statement here.