For years, a lot of China's video game development has happened in the realm of mobile games or as outsourced developers for studios elsewhere in the world. But there's been a shift happening – with big releases like last year's Black Myth: Wukong and plenty more, Chinese developers are aiming for new audiences around the world and seeing massive success. After visiting S-Game's Beijing, China, studio last month to check out hours of its upcoming "kung fu punk" action game, Phantom Blade Zero, I'm feeling pretty confident it's going to be the country's next big video game hit. 

In our newly announced Game Informer issue, featuring Ninja Gaiden 4 – read about that cover reveal here – I wrote eight pages about Phantom Blade Zero, my time in Beijing, China, playing the game and speaking with the game's director, and even about my attempt at becoming a kung fu master in S-Game's Shanghai-based mocap studio (it's not in the cards for me). But that's not all the Phantom Blade Zero in this issue: each copy includes a double-sided Phantom Blade Zero poster!!!

Check out the poster that comes with your issue – at no additional charge, of course – below: 

If you haven't subscribed yet, don't worry because there's still time! Subscribe today by clicking the button below to get this issue, including the Phantom Blade Zero poster, in your mailbox 4 to 6 weeks after you order!

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In 2018, Monstars and Enhance partnered for Tetris Effect, a gorgeous and rhythmic Tetris experience. Now, the same pairing has turned its gaze towards a new pulsing, thumping, timeline-scrolling puzzle game in Lumines Arise.

Arriving on November 11, Lumines Arise is a reinvention of the puzzle classic Lumines, where you clear a scrolling timeline by matching squares of multi-colored blocks. All of this hums underneath wave after wave of music and visuals, in the exact kind of rapturous symphony you'd expect from the makers of Tetris Effect. 

Check out our gameplay from the demo, with a surprisingly welcome S-rank for this rusty Lumines player, and look ahead to Lumines Arise on PS5 and PC via Steam on November 11, 2025.

Ninja Gaiden 4, the long-awaited fourth mainline entry in the iconic action franchise, graces the next cover of Game Informer, and we could not be more excited to feature both the new protagonist, Yakumo, and his counterpart, the series' longtime hero, Ryu Hayabusa, on the full spread of our cover art. The digital issue goes live today at GameInformer.com/NinjaGaiden4, with print subscriptions rolling out in a few weeks. If you haven't subscribed yet, there's still time to get the Ninja Gaiden 4 issue shipped to your mailbox. 

The Ninja Gaiden franchise has been dormant for more than a decade, but 2025 has been a big comeback year for the series. Koei Tecmo kicked off the year with an Unreal Engine 5 remaster of the beloved Ninja Gaiden 2, followed by Dotemu and The Game Kitchen's incredible retro-facing Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound. However, the franchise's 2025 is far from over, as the first mainline entry in more than 13 years is set to hit this October. Just like Ninja Gaiden 4 delivers action starring two ninjas, it also unites two fabled game studios: series developer Team Ninja and the acclaimed action team at PlatinumGames. 

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We flew to Tokyo, Japan, to spend a day in PlatinumGames' headquarters, talking to various members of the team from both studios and playing through the first several chapters of the story. Our cover story explores how Team Ninja united with the studio behind such beloved titles as Nier: Automata, Astral Chain, and the Bayonetta series, plus a deep dive into what to expect when the game launches in October.

The Ninja Gaiden 4 cover story is the centerpiece, but our next issue is so much more than that article. If you're new to Ninja Gaiden, our editor-in-chief Matt Miller runs down the history and importance of the franchise. Wesley LeBlanc spent a week in Beijing and Shanghai, China, to go in-depth with the promising action title Phantom Blade Zero. Marcus Stewart caught up with the indie masters at Shovel Knight developer Yacht Club Games to dig into what makes Mina the Hollower such an exciting prospect. Charles Harte spoke with the team behind Dispatch about rising from the ruins of Telltale Games to create a humorous superhero game. We also have a conversation with prolific voice actor and Critical Role dungeon master extraordinaire Matt Mercer, as well as a piece from award-winning comedy writer Mike Drucker about the legacy of King's Quest and its creator Roberta Williams. 

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We've rounded out this issue with a diverse selection of previews and reviews. Within the pages of this issue, we have previews for Pokémon Legends: Z-A, Skate, Ghost of Yōtei, Battlefield 6, Call of Duty: Black Ops 7, and more. You'll also find reviews for games like Metal Gear Solid Delta: Snake Eater, Ninja Gaiden: Ragebound, Madden NFL 26, Wuchang: Fallen Feathers, Donkey Kong Bananza, and more. 

If you're not subscribed yet, this is an excellent issue to sign up for, and if you do it today, you'll be just in time to get a physical copy of this issue in your mailbox. Print copies will ship out in the coming weeks, but all subscribers can log in to our website and access the content the same way you're accessing this article starting today.

The announcement of Hollow Knight: Silksong’s release date has created a ripple effect in the indie game community. With the game launching on such short notice – next week, on September 4 – several indie titles that were slated to release on or near that date are collectively jumping out of its blast radius to avoid being overshadowed. Devolver Digital’s Baby Steps joins this list.

The upcoming physics-based walking adventure by the creators of Ape Out and Getting Over It with Bennett Foddy was set to launch on September. 8. Although it wouldn’t have arrived until one week after Silksong, publisher Devolver Digital isn’t taking chances and has delayed Baby Steps to September 23. The game, first announced in 2023, follows an "unemployed loser" named Nate who takes his literal first steps into a fantastical world. Players must master the physics-based walking to awkwardly/humorously traverse environments.

“Nate, the wary, onesie-donned failson at the heart of the eccentric adventure in literal walking simulator Baby Steps, has stumbled after attempting to ascend his greatest challenge yet: launching the week after Hollow Knight: Silksong's surprise release date,” reads Devolver’s press release.

A cute trailer announcing the new release date shows Nate awkwardly climbing atop a giant model of Hornet, the protagonist of Silksong. When Baby Steps launches, it will be available on PlayStation 5 and PC.

Baby Steps isn't alone. Yesterday, publisher Ysbryd Games delayed its tactical RPG Demonschool from September 3 to November 19. The Early Access cozy sim title Little Witch in the Woods, which pushed its long-awaited 1.0 launch from September 4 to September 15.

Indie Metroidvania Aeterna Lucas was also planned to release this month, and is now delayed all the way into next year. Retro RPG Faeland was set to launch out of Early Access on September 9, but this has been postponed to a yet-to-be-determined date. CloverPit, a roguelite slot machine game, had its launch moved to September 26 from its original September 3 date. All of these delay announcements specifically cite Hollow Knight: Silksong as the primary culprit. 

This phenomenon will likely continue, as there are still plenty of smaller titles launching well within Silksong's blast radius. Titles like Jetrunner, Atari's Adventure of Samsara, Deep Silver's Metal Eden, and Bandai Namco's Hirogami are just a few titles arriving right alongside Team Cherry's hotly anticipated sequel. It wouldn't surprise me if these developers are having difficult conversations about whether it's wise, or even financially feasible, to delay their titles or to weather the storm and hope for the best. 

During Gamescom 2025 last week in Cologne, Germany, I went hands-on with No More Heroes developer Grasshopper Manufacture's upcoming action game, Romeo Is A Dead Man, and came away with more questions than answers (but in the best way possible). Fortunately, I immediately transitioned from my hands-on preview to a couch, where I sat across from the game's director, Goichi Suda AKA Suda51, and his interpreter, and asked him the new questions I had. 

But first, let me set the scene of my demo: before gameplay began, I watched a quick intro you've likely seen in the game's reveal trailer that shows Romeo die, then be resurrected and turned into a space cop/FBI agent/expert mercenary/cyborg hybrid. From here, I was brought to a screen with three impeccably designed chocolates. I forgot the name of the first chocolate (and unfortunately didn't write it down), but it represented the game's easy mode; the orange chocolate I chose represented normal, and the ginger-infused chocolate was the game's hard mode. I was then thrust right into the action. 

I'm not quite sure where I was, but it was reminiscent of a junk yard; gray, foggy, and swarmed with zombies and other monstrous creatures Romeo needed to kill. Doing so was a blast, thanks to a combat system that feels fast, fluid, and visceral, with a large selection of weaponry to use. I used a machine gun, a pistol, a grasshopper-shaped rocket launcher, and a fusion rifle, of sorts, as well as a katana-like sword, a colossal two-handed sword, and more. All of them are easily accessible with a combo of buttons tied to the d-pad. I like that each gun has a different feel, and that each melee weapon features its own moveset, all in the name of dismembering and beheading hordes of zombies and everything else that stands in the way of Romeo. 

Romeo Is A Dead Man was, by far, the bloodiest demo I saw during Gamescom, and I previewed more than two dozen games, including Resident Evil Requiem. Despite the gallons and gallons of blood, though, it comes off comedically rather than horrifically, thanks to the game's visual flair. 

After I mowed down enough enemies in this junkyard-like area, I warped into cyberspace, another visually distinct part of the game with its own narrative ties. There was a boss at the end of this area, but I wasn't able to reach it as my time to interview Suda51 had arrived. Before diving into what I learned from my interview, I'll close out my preview thoughts here by saying I continue to grow increasingly intrigued by what the hell Romeo Is A Dead Man is doing each time I see and play it. It's hard to explain what this game is, but that's part of its charm, and I can't wait to find out how all its seemingly disparate pieces connect when it launches next year. 

Discussing Romeo Is A Dead Man And Grasshopper Manufacture With Suda51

Game Informer's Wesley LeBlanc: There is a lot going on in Romeo Is A Dead Man, but from a broad approach, what are the inspirations behind the game? 

Suda51: You may have noticed playing a bit of the game, but a few of the main influences and inspirations for the game are Back to the Future and Rick and Morty, which itself was inspired by Back to the Future. We wanted to do something with space time and time travel, and the whole thing started off with looking to those two properties. 

There are so many distinct art styles in Romeo Is A Dead Man. What are some of the inspirations behind that? 

As far as the art and visual style go, that aspect of the game didn't have much to do with the [Back to the Future and Rick and Morty] influences. Where that came from was basically, I wanted to make sure all the staff members working on the game were able to do their best and what they're best at.

For the art, if we have one staff member good at Western-style comic book art, I'd say, "I want you to draw this scene, it'd look really great with your style." Somebody else is really good at a different style, and I would think of a scene for that person in particular to work on. It was about finding a proper rhythm for each scene, matching the content of the scene and what the characters are doing, and how it could be portrayed best. 

I try to match up all the members of the staff to a scene, let them do the best at what they do, and jamming it all together. 

That's a very different director approach from what I hear about studios in the West. What's your philosophy behind that directorial style and letting people do things in their own vision?

It's pretty simple, really. As far as my philosophy goes, I want it to be fun. We want to make fun games that people like playing, and we want everything about game development to be fun, too. In game development, there's a lot of heavy s*** to deal with, hard times to deal with, so I wanted not just playing the game to be fun, but the development and creation of it to be as fun as possible, too. 

I lay out my ideas in meetings, and we might have some planning, but I let people from any department talk, tweak versions of ideas, and create a collaborative process. Anyone can cross out ideas, combine something to make new ideas, or take separate ideas and turn them into different things. We try to make it as fun as possible, and I want everyone to have as much fun as they can creating the game. We want them to know their opinions are heard and respected. 

Romeo Is A Dead Man director Suda51 and editor Wesley LeBlanc at Gamescom 2025

How do you factor in game balance with that approach? 

A lot of game developers don't like thinking like this, because it might "ruin the balance of the game" if there are too many ideas. I don't care about that personally; I want the game to be fun and interesting. As far as balance goes, I'll take care of that in the end. If you have a good idea, let everybody know, and in the end, I'll make sure everything is as balanced as possible. 

I think the team we've put together, they trust me to take care of that balance, which is why they feel free to put out different ideas they have. They can trust in me. Balance is probably one of the things I'm best at as a game developer – taking all these ideas that might not seem related, and balancing them.

Can you talk to me about the process behind the game's combat design? 

As far as the combat goes, that was actually mainly up to one of our lead programmers, Toru Hironaka, who has been at Grasshopper for years. I kind of left the combat and general action up to him because I know he knows what he's doing. 

From the beginning, I knew there were going to be gun-type weapons and sword-type weapons, and I wanted to make both appealing. I knew we had to make them fun to use and as interesting as any other weapon, so I talked with Hironaka and said, 'These are the systems and action I want, do what you do best." I had other staff members give input, too. 

As far as the action stuff goes, it's mainly Hironaka leading, but as a whole, [Romeo Is A Dead Man] came together the way it did through the power of teamwork. It's never just one guy doing everything by himself. 

The time between your last release and Romeo Is A Dead Man [due out in 2026] is the longest in development history at Grasshopper Manufacture. Why? 

The main reason it took so long is timing, basically. For example, right around when we started on Romeo Is A Dead Man, it was right about the time we left GungHo Entertainment and joined NetEase, and we increased staff members, and it took them time to get used to how we do things and vice versa. Also, up through No More Heroes III, we worked on Unreal Engine 4, but Romeo Is A Dead Man is being developed in Unreal Engine 5, so our first year developing [Romeo Is A Dead Man], it was people learning Unreal Engine 5, learning how to work with each other, learning how the company works, and everyone getting used to each other and everything. 

That's the biggest reason it took so long. It's not necessarily that the game is huge, and it wasn't the worst possible timing; everything just happened at the point in time that would result in us taking the most time to get the game done. 

Romeo Is A Dead Man launches sometime next year on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.