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Switch

Former Switch console exclusive Triangle Strategy is now available on PS5 and Xbox

by admin August 24, 2025

Square Enix has released its tactics RPG Triangle Strategy on PS5 and Xbox Series X/S, following its release in 2022 on Switch and PC.

The game was the second to be developed in the HD-2D style, after Octopath Traveler. It features isometric grid-based combat, a political narrative depicting three warring kingdoms, and tasks players with making moral choices to shape the story.

Triangle Strategy is available on PlayStation and Xbox with a limited-time discount of 30 percent until 3rd September.

TRIANGLE STRATEGY | PS5 and Xbox Series X|S Announce TrailerWatch on YouTube

A VR version of the game is also available for Meta Quest headsets.

Triangle Strategy helped to popularise the HD-2D graphical style, that’s been used in the Octopath Traveler games, the Dragon Quest 3 remake, and forthcoming Switch game The Adventures of Elliot.

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.

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August 24, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

The Rogue Prince of Persia is out now on Game Pass and PlayStation Plus, Switch 2 version coming later this year

by admin August 23, 2025

The Rogue Prince of Persia has finally launched after a period in Early Access. The game is available now on Xbox Series X|S, PlayStation 5, and PC. You can grab it on Game Pass and PlayStation Plus too.

The game will also be headed to the Switch and Switch 2 later this year, but no firm release date for that has been established as of writing.

To celebrate the 1.0 release, Ubisoft has released a swanky new trailer that combines some lovely 2D animation as well as plenty of gameplay, showing you exactly what the game’s like before you decide to grab it or not.

Watch the launch trailer for The Rogue Prince of Persia here!Watch on YouTube

In case you weren’t aware, this new Prince of Persia has a lot of Dead Cells DNA in it, with it being an excellent 2D platformer packing a bold new art style for the series. It’s been quite the journey for the game, leaving the prince very… Purple. He was purple for a while. Here’s to a fancy release for Prince of Persia!

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.

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August 23, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Elden Ring reportedly runs poorly on Switch 2, but is anyone surprised?

by admin August 22, 2025

When Elden Ring popped up at Nintendo’s Switch 2 reveal, it was a promising sign of third-party games finding their way to the new console.

Yet reports from gamescom suggest Elden Ring runs poorly on Switch 2, particularly in handheld mode, citing low framerates in open world environments. Even publisher Bandai Namco seems to be aware of this, as footage capture has not been allowed, which seems particularly damning.

FromSoftware doesn’t have a great track record with performance, though, and after three years Elden Ring still doesn’t run perfectly on PS5, Xbox Series X, or PC. But this is the studio’s first effort on Switch 2, and it’s perhaps a worrying sign for next year’s exclusive The Duskbloods.

ELDEN RING is coming to Nintendo Switch 2Watch on YouTube

IGN described Elden Ring on Switch 2 as a “disaster” in handheld mode, after Eurogamer’s Ian Higton went hands-on at gamescom.

Ian was only able to play in handheld mode, but played the very start of the game. And while he was impressed with the lighting and resolution, the framerate dropped dramatically during both the Grafted Scion tutorial boss and when entering the open world. “As soon as I opened up those double doors and entered into Limgrave and you see the Erdtree in the background, it started to chug,” said Ian.

Further, the demo only has a single graphics mode with HDR switched on, but this could potentially change in the final release.

Both Jon Cartwright from GVG and Nintendo Life’s Felix Sanchez reported similar feedback. Cartwright noted how fog in the distance caused the framerate to plummet and while the game runs at 30fps, it goes “well below when anything a little bit challenging comes up”, including bosses. He was able to test docked mode, which was “better but not perfect”.

Sanchez, meanwhile, was impressed by the graphics despite being not quite on par with current consoles, but in the open world “the framerate just tanks – it’s really bad and I understand why they don’t want you to see this because wowee zowee it is terrible”.

It’s certainly disappointing to hear, especially when Elden Ring does run perfectly fine on PS4 and Xbox One, not to mention the Steam Deck already provides a handheld mode with steady performance. Over on reddit, fans appear to be upset by the news, but not particularly surprised following FromSoftware’s poor optimisation of games in the past.

Of course, the Switch 2 is weaker compared to PS5 or Xbox Series X, but it does have VRR capabilities – it’s not clear if this has been implemented by the developers.

Perhaps this poor performance shouldn’t come as a surprise. Two years after the base game launched, FromSoftware released the Shadow of the Erdtree expansion. Yet, as Digital Foundry reported last year, this still did not fix many underlying technical issues with the game, particularly its long-standing stuttering. Seeing issues with the Switch 2 version suggests FromSoftware just doesn’t intend to fix them, with performance seemingly not a priority.

Digital Foundry also examined the Elden Ring Switch 2 trailer from its initial reveal, noting its seemingly poor performance, despite its impressive pixel count. It seems frame pacing issues from the trailer capture are present in the game itself. Still, when Cyberpunk 2077 – an infamously more technically demanding game – runs well on Switch 2, it’s disappointing to see FromSoftware struggling.

Elden Ring remains without a Switch 2 release date beyond this year, so there’s still time for fixes to be implemented. It’s the first FromSoftware-developed game to make it to Nintendo’s Switch family (there’s been no mention of an external team handling the port), as the previously released Dark Souls Remastered was handled by Virtuos. But it won’t be the last. As revealed earlier this year, FromSoftware has the Switch 2 exclusive multiplayer game The Duskbloods on the way.

Will it suffer a similar fate? It’s unclear what engine that game is being created in, but considering it’s a Switch 2 exclusive from the ground up, you’d hope FromSoftware would optimise the game accordingly rather than shoehorning Elden Ring to make it fit. Yet the precedent of poor performance – and FromSoftware’s seeming apathy towards it – has already been set.

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August 22, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Tales Of Xillia Remastered Getting Physical PS5 And Switch Versions

by admin August 21, 2025

Tales of Xillia Remastered launches for PS5, Nintendo Switch, Xbox Series X|S, and PC on October 31. This remaster brings the 2011 PS3 action RPG to modern platforms for the first time, and upgrades the experience with higher-resolution visuals, a new auto-save system, and other gameplay tweaks. It also includes most of the DLC content released for the original PS3 version–minus a few licensed costumes. Tales of Xillia Remastered will be available digitally on all platforms, but physical editions will be available for PS5 and Switch. Preorders are available for $40 at Amazon.

Tales of Xillia Remastered Preorder Bonuses

Tales of Xillia Remastered preorder bonuses

If you preorder any version of Tales of Xillia Remastered, you’ll get the Super Adenturing Assistance Set, which includes a few helpful in-game items:

10x Apple Gel
10x Orange Gel
10x Life Bottle
10x Panacea Bottle

$40 | Releases October 31

Tales of Xillia: Remastered is available in a $40 physical standard edition for PS5 and Switch. It includes a copy of Tales of Xillia: Remastered and features reversible cover art. If you preorder, you’ll also get the Super Adventuring Assistance Set outlined above.

Physical PS5 and Switch preorders are available at Amazon. Digital preorders are available for Switch, PS5, Xbox Series X|S, and on PC via Steam.

Tales of Xillia Remastered follows dual protagonists Milla and Jude, fugitives on the run after accidentally uncovering a nefarious plot by the Kingdom of Rashugal to create a weapon of mass destruction. The pair vow to prevent Rashugal from using the weapon, setting them off on a journey across the magical world of Rieze Maxia. Along the way, they amass a team of party members to aid in their mission. As the party, players explore a vast overworld and explore towns and dungeons. The game uses a unique action combat system where two party members sync up to deliver powerful “Link Arte” attacks.

The original Tales of Xillia was the thirteenth Tale game to be released at the time, though like most of the games in the series, Xillia features its own story and can be enjoyed without having played the others, However, Xillia also got a direct follow-up, Tales of Xillia 2, that takes place one year after the events of the first game, and given how many other Tales games have received remasters in the last few years, it seems likely we could see a remaster for Xillia 2 soon. And when we say soon, we mean it–the latest Tales remaster release, Tales of Graces f Remastered, launched earlier this year on January 17. Like Xillia, it also got a physical release on Switch and PS5, which you can grab for $30 at Amazon. Tales of Symphonia was also remastered a few years ago. Physical copies are harder to come by, but you can grab PS4, Xbox One, and Switch copies at Amazon.

While these remasters are great for exploring older Tales games, those who want to check out the newest games in the series can grab Tales of Arise, which launched back in 2021 for PS5, PS4, Xbox, and PC, or Tales of Zestria, which launched on PS4 in 2015. Physical console versions for both games are available at Amazon, while PC players can pick them up at a discount at Fanatical. In fact, several other Tales PC releases are on sale at Fanatical, including Tales of Berseria, Tales of Vesperia: Definitive Edition, and Tales of Symphonia. We’ve rounded up all the Tales game releases in the list below.

Tales Physical Editions

Tales PC Deals at Fanatical

Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom.

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August 21, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Trails In The Sky 1st Chapter Switch 2 Upgrade Pack Is One Whole Dollar

by admin August 21, 2025

The upcoming remake of The Legend of Heroes: Trails in the Sky is getting a Nintendo Switch 2 edition. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter’s Switch 2 edition is a digital-only release, but the Switch physical edition can be upgraded to Switch 2 for one whole dollar. Preorders for the physical edition of Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter are available for PS5 and Nintendo Switch. The highly anticipated turn-based RPG launches September 19 for $60.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter features entirely overhauled 3D visuals, new voice acting, turn-based and real-time battle systems, and a bunch of new side quests and regions. Widely regarded as one of the best entries in Nihon Falcom’s sprawling catalog of Trails games, Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter should be the ideal entry point for newcomers and a welcome treat for longtime fans.

$60 | Releases September 19

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter’s physical edition is up for preorder at Amazon, Walmart, Target, and Best Buy.

As mentioned, the Nintendo Switch 2 edition is only available on the eShop, but Switch owners can upgrade their copy–physical or digital–for only $1. The Switch 2 edition has higher resolution and frame rates as well as faster load times.

If you’re unsure if you want to preorder the remake, we’d recommend checking out Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter’s Prologue Demo, which released August 21. The demo is available to play now on PlayStation 5 and PC, and the Switch version should be downloadable soon. The progress you make in the demo can be transferred to the full game.

Returning players will probably be happy to learn the remake could take twice as long to beat. In an interview with the Japanese gaming publication Gamer, Nihon Falcom president Toshihiro Kondo discussed how the 3D game world, new voice acting, and other updates naturally add to the game’s length. Playthrough times for Trails games can vary significantly from one player to the next, but if it took you 40 hours to complete the original, it might take you closer to 80 in the remake.

Trails in the Sky originally released on PC in Japan in 2004. The English localization debuted on PlayStation Portable in 2006. Subsequent ports and enhanced editions for PS3 and Vita were exclusive to Japan. A worldwide Steam port released in 2014, and this edition is still sold today (for $20). For reference, Trails in the Sky has a “Very Positive” review average based on over 6,000 Steam reviews.

Nihon Falcom’s Legend of Heroes franchise dates back to 1989, but the 2004 release of Trails in the Sky marked the beginning of the modern “Trails” series. More than a dozen Trails games have been released over the past 20 years. While there are numerous arcs within the Trails series–Trails of Cold Steel, Trails through Daybreak, etc.–playing Trails in the Sky and its two sequels is highly recommended to fully appreciate the franchise’s excellent worldbuilding and lore.

Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter

Trails in the Sky follows adoptive siblings Joshua and Estelle Bright, who join the Bracers peacekeeping organization. They’re soon caught up in an international conspiracy and must join forces with various other characters to thwart a deadly coup. Trails in the Sky 1st Chapter was made in the same engine as the Trails through Daybreak duology. And just like the Daybreak games, the remake pairs the franchise’s traditional turn-based combat system with real-time action gameplay.

The next all-new entry in the series, Trails Beyond the Horizon, is scheduled for January 15, 2026. Preorders are available for PS5, PS4, Nintendo Switch, and Switch 2. Like many Nihon Falcom games, the $60 Deluxe Edition of Trails Beyond the Horizon will be bundled with multiple goodies (an art book and digital soundtrack).

If you want to check out more Trails games, GameSpot sister site Fanatical has deals on a bunch of them for PC (Steam keys). Fanatical is also offering discounts on multiple games in the Ys series, Nihon Falcom’s long-running action-RPG franchise. Unlike the Trails series, Ys games largely standalone experiences, so you can play them in any order.

Nihon Falcom Games – Physical Editions

Trails through Daybreak II

We also rounded up a list of physical editions for PlayStation and Nintendo consoles that you can still buy for near MSRP or below.

Notable deals include Trails through Daybreak II: Deluxe Edition for PS5 and Nintendo Switch for $35 (was $60). Daybreak II released earlier this year, and this is by far the best price so far. You can also save big on Ys X: Nordics for PS4 or Nintendo Switch. Over at Amazon, Tokyo Xanadu eX+ for Nintendo Switch is up for grabs for $33 (was $50). Tokyo Xanadu isn’t related to Ys or Trails, but it’s an action-RPG that fans of both series would likely enjoy. Keep in mind that Nihon Falcom games generally don’t stay in print for long, and resellers often sell Trails games for far above MSRP.

Upcoming Nihon Falcom Games

Disclosure: GameSpot and Fanatical are both owned by Fandom.

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August 21, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Switch 2 Reportedly Getting Starfield In 2026 As The Ports Start Flowing

by admin August 21, 2025

Cyberpunk 2077 might not be the only massive sci-fi RPG on Switch 2 for long. Could Starfield get ported as well? Why is Dead Space‘s old Creative Director all-in on AI? And How did an AI replica of a real content creator make its way onto the official First Descendent TikTok channel? Welcome to the latest edition of Morning Checkpoint, Kotaku‘s brief daily roundup of gaming culture and news, where we’re doing a bunch of clean-up from the first day of Gamescom 2025.

Starfield will reportedly come to Switch 2 in 2026

Podcaster NateTheHate, who’s quickly developed a reputation for accurate leaks around upcoming Nintendo announcements, now claims Bethesda’s open-world sci-fi RPG is coming to the company’s handheld hybrid next year. “Indiana Jones and the Great Circle won’t be the only Bethesda game coming to Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026,” he posted on X yesterday. “See that planet? You can go there. Aside from landing on PS5…Starfield is planned for release on Nintendo Switch 2 in 2026.” FromSoftware’s The Duskbloods has also been confirmed for Switch 2 in 2026, and Nintendo has yet to reveal any of its expected slate for the console’s second year. Starfield is reportedly coming to PS5 next year as well, seemingly closer to whenever the second expansion launches.

The First Descendent blames TikTok for AI slop video

Nexon’s free-to-play loot shooter, also known as “Gooner Destiny,” accidentally shared an AI-generated ad on TikTok that ripped off another content creator. The publisher now says a TikTok marketing program automatically solicited the ad and linked it to The First Descendants’ account with no controls to verify copyright infringement or other content concerns. Sounds bad! “We will also be committed to continuously being more transparent and responsible to regain the trust of our community and creators,” the company writes. “Once again, we deeply apologize for the disappointment and inconvenience this incident has caused.”

Final Fantasy 14 could be coming to Switch 2

Director Naoki Yoshida told VGC at Gamescom that Square Enix is in talks with Nintendo about porting the hit MMORPG over. “The discussions have been positive, so I do hope that players will look forward to hopefully good news in the future,” he said. It sounds like Final Fantasy 16 isn’t out of the question either. Yoshida added, “For me, it’s just my aim to provide Final Fantasy 14 and 16 to as many players as possible, and I hope that as many players as possible will be able to enjoy those two games.”

The director of Callisto Protocol is going all-in on AI

Glen Schofield told The Game Industry “AI is going to be fantastic.” He said he’s holding seminars about how AI can make creatives more efficient and thinks the technology will be an inevitable part of game development in 5-10 years, but he’s not sure exactly how it will all shake out. “Is it going to be an engine?” he said. “Right now, it’s a whole bunch of things that just kind of suck it in… and into what? It’s going to have to settle down a bit before we actually use it.” Schofield also claimed Callisto Protocol sold over 5 million copies, but regretted not delaying it. He said AAA games are not dead and is looking for someone to pay him to make another.

High on Life 2 gets a release date

The sci-fi comedy shooter will arrive on PC and console, including on Game Pass, on February 13, 2026. Ralph Ineson, best known as Cid in FF16 and more recently Galactus in The Fantastic Four: First Steps, will be voicing the newest gun in the game.

Triangle Strategy shadow-drops on Xbox and PS5

The HD-2D homage to games like Final Fantasy Tactics was previously a Switch exclusive on console. Square Enix’s port is now on Xbox with a starting discount of 30 percent off.

Stalker 2 comes to PS5 in November

The survival horror shooter makes the jump on November 20 as more former Xbox console exclusives get ported and help round-out Sony’s previously anemic 2025 release slate.

The biggest lines at Gamescom are for Silksong

THIS IS THE LINE OF HOLLOW KNIGHT SILKSONG ON PRESS DAY AT 9AM. #Gamescom pic.twitter.com/lNz1q62AZ5

— Daan K. 🔜 Gamescom 2025 (@NintenDaan) August 20, 2025

The Hollow Knight sequel is getting a special announcement on August 21—a release date, hopefully?—but in the meantime, attendees at Gamescom are making the Silksong demos at the Nintendo and Xbox booths the highlights of the show so far. Nintendo Life already went hands-on and confirmed the Metroidvania Soulslike supports 120Hz refresh on Switch 2 in TV mode.

ICYMI:

Watch This:

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August 21, 2025 0 comments

Game Updates

Elden Ring Switch 2 Impressions Sound Not Great

by admin August 20, 2025

Elden Ring is one of the most exciting third-party games coming to Nintendo Switch 2. Who among us doesn’t want to get our shit rocked on the go? Well, according to folks who have played FromSoftware’s action RPG at Gamescom in Cologne, the system is apparently struggling to run the game in handheld mode, and to make matters more worrisome, Bandai Namco is reportedly not letting people record footage of it.

Nintendo Life posted a video on its YouTube channel discussing the port and said that while they only played the Switch 2 port for about 15 minutes, the game looks pretty good visually, but leaves a lot to be desired in terms of performance. The tutorial ran pretty well at a locked 30fps. Once they reached the open world, everything changed.

“It’s really bad, and I understand why they don’t want you to see this, because wowie zowie, it is terrible,” Nintendo Life video producer Felix Sanchez said. “Of course, you’re never going to see the light of this—maybe it will just release in that state, but I can’t imagine they will do that—It was like playing Ocarina of Time. It was like 20 frames per second, sometimes I was like, ‘This has dropped [to] 15 frames per second.’”

Sanchez says that in the Switch 2’s handheld mode, the game was “incredibly unstable” in the open-world segments, even in surprisingly static areas where few enemies were on screen at once. You can hear his full impressions below:

So if you’re wondering why Elden Ring footage is conspicuously absent from the internet’s Gamescom coverage, now you know that Bandai Namco has prohibited it. The game is supposed to launch on the Switch 2 this year, but it doesn’t have a release date at the moment. It’s entirely possible the game could be delayed into 2026 to fix things up, or that things could turn around by the time it finally comes out. Whatever the case, it sounds like Elden Ring on Switch 2 has not made the best first impression.

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August 20, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Indiana Jones Is The First Big Microsoft Game Announced For Switch 2

by admin August 19, 2025

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is Microsoft’s first release confirmed for Switch 2. The stealth action adventure will hit Nintendo’s handheld hybrid in 2026, but the new DLC will arrive next month on PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, and PC.

MachineGames’ latest port to a Nintendo platform didn’t get a specific release date, so we have no idea if it’s coming in the first half of 2026 or the holiday season. We also don’t know what it will look like since there was no accompanying gameplay teaser. I guess all those Switch 2 dev kits really did go out late, even to places like Microsoft.

But we did get another trailer at Gamescom for the upcoming Order of the Giants DLC expansion coming to Indiana Jones. Also a release date: September 6. Here’s the new footage:

It looks neat, although Troy Baker seems to be reverting back to his usual voice a bit. Story expansions are hit-or-miss with single-player games, but Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is close enough to feeling like a movie that I could see a bite-sized adventure being a nice treat.

Microsoft hasn’t yet announced any other ports for Switch 2, including ones that feel obvious like Sea of Thieves or Diablo 4. Hopefully, Indiana Jones means the dam is about to break on all of those, though it seems like we’ll have to wait until next year, and possibly beyond for most of them.

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August 19, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Finally, we’re about to get more info on Switch 2 exclusive Kirby Air Riders

by admin August 18, 2025

Nintendo has announced that a Kirby Air Riders Direct will air tomorrow, 19th August. The video presentation will be approximately 45 minutes long and deliver info on the upcoming Switch 2 exclusive.

The news of the Direct was posted on Nintendo Today, the publisher’s mobile app.

Tune in tomorrow Tuesday, August 19th at 2pm UK time for a livestreamed Kirby Air Riders Direct featuring about 45 minutes of information about the upcoming Nintendo Switch 2 game.

Very little on the game has been revealed so far, although we got this description on the game’s listing on Nintendo.com.

Kirby Air Riders, a brand new title originated from the Nintendo GameCube classic racing-action game Kirby Air Ride, is coming to Nintendo Switch 2 this year – directed by Masahiro Sakurai.

A trailer for Kirby Air Riders was released back in April. The trailer, which you can watch below, doesn’t give much away, and we’ve had to wait four months to get new info on the game.

Watch on YouTube

This is a news-in-brief story. This is part of our vision to bring you all the big news as part of a daily live report.

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August 18, 2025 0 comments

Game Reviews

Cult favourite PC and PlayStation game, Shenmue 3, is being reworked for PS5, PC, and Nintendo Switch 2.

by admin August 18, 2025

Shenmue 3 is coming back, with Yu Suzuki and publisher ININ Games announcing the Enhanced edition. The reworked and tweaked version of the 2020 game will be arriving on PS5 and PC as before, but also hitting Xbox and Nintendo consoles (TBC, but I think it’s probably safe to say that’ll be Switch 2 rather than the original Switch).

As well as improved visuals and image scaling support, there’ll be increased NPC density, a Classic Camera mode, tweaks to health and progression, expanded QTE windows, and more.

Key Enhancements:

Enhanced Graphics & Performance – Sharper textures, richer details, faster load times, and smoother gameplay.
4K Texture Uplift – Refined, more detailed environments and characters.
DLSS/FSR Support – High-quality upscaling without sacrificing performance (supported platforms only).
Increased NPC Density – The city village Niaowu feels more alive with more characters populating the streets.
Classic Camera Mode – An optional camera perspective inspired by Shenmue I & II, alongside the modern view.
Gameplay Tweaks – Optional stamina system adjustments, health restoration before fights, and reduced money barriers for smoother progression.
Improved Interactions – Cutscene and conversation skip options, expanded QTE timing window for more accessible gameplay.
Menu & UX Enhancements – Streamlined navigation and helpful purchase alerts.
Optionality First – All major changes can be toggled to preserve the original experience for purists.

Step back into Ryo Hazuki’s world, which is now more vibrant, more responsive, and more accessible than ever, guided by Yu Suzuki’s vision.

ININ Games has said that owners of the original Shenmue III on PS4 and PC will be able to upgrade to the new Enhanced Edition, but more details on how that will work are coming at a later date. Expect the full reveal of Shenmue 3 Enhanced Edition at Gamescom this week.

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August 18, 2025 0 comments