New Game Preview

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Get a sneak peek at the most anticipated games of the year. From action-packed adventures to mind-bending puzzles, we've got something for everyone. Stay ahead of the game with our exclusive previews!

Planet of Lana 2: Children of the Leaf offers the same warmth, but also a welcome step up in puzzling challenge from the original The original Planet of Lana is a game that has stayed with me since its release back in 2023. Its Ghibli-inspired 2D art direction, its story told in a made-up language, its swelling and emotive music - all of these areas are still, to me, some of the most beautiful in games today. However, I've always felt that developer Wishfully was just scratching the surface with Planet of Lana, and could push to do more with the land of Novo and its intricacies. Read more

Eurogamer.net Previews FeedFeb 5

The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy Preview: One Sim to Rule Them AllWe got to go hands-on with The Sims 4 Royalty & Legacy expansion ahead of it release on February 12, 2026.

Previews – CGMagazineFeb 4

Overwatch 2 Is Just 'Overwatch' Again And Five New Heroes Arrive Next Week Ahead of today’s Overwatch Spotlight 2026 event, I flew to Blizzard’s headquarters to go hands-on with all of the updates and additional content coming in the first season of Reign of Talon, a year-long story arc that kicks off on February 10. Overwatch 2, which Blizzard is officially renaming to Overwatch alongside the update, finally feels fresh again thanks to the five new heroes launching alongside Season 1. Additionally, the first-person shooter’s new sub-roles help to further distinguish its Tank, Damage, and Support heroes with new passive buffs that better align with their specific playstyle and class identity. The team is getting better and faster at creating heroes, multiple developers told me, enabling them to commit to launching 10 heroes in 2026. Players can expect one new hero to launch with each Reign of Talon season, each introducing other game updates like character reworks, new maps, and quality of life changes. We’ve detailed each new character below, along with the new sub-role passives further down. We Played Overwatch's Five New Heroes:   Domina (Tank) Heiress and vice president of Vishkar Industries, Domina is a zone control tank who uses a variety of medium and long-range abilities to poke enemies from afar. One of her major perks allows her to use her Sonic Repulsors to push enemies into her own shield wall, stunning them and dealing 100% increased damage. Primary Fire: Photon Magnum - Medium-range beam that culminates in a high-impact shot Barrier Array - A segmented hard-light barrier deployed in front of Domina. Each segment must be individually destroyed, creating dynamic defensive angles Crystal Charge - Project an explosive crystal and reactivate to detonate it Sonic Repulsors - Push enemies back, stunning them if they hit a wall Ultimate: Panopticon - Fire a hard-light projectile that imprisons enemies and detonates on expiration Passive: Reconstruction - Dealing damage with abilities restores shields Emre (Damage) Once the Overwatch program's gold standard, Emre is a conflicted sharpshooter currently serving Talon. His cyber frag explodes after bouncing, allowing Emre to propel himself to higher ledges. Primary Fire: Synthetic Burst Rifle - Three-round burst weapon Secondary Fire: Take Aim - Hold to zoom in, tightening accuracy and increasing fall off range Siphon Blaster - Temporarily wield a semi-auto pistol with life-stealing explosive rounds. Move faster and jump higher while wielded Cyber Frag - Throw a grenade that detonates shortly after bouncing Ultimate: Override Protocol - An override initiates, transforming you into a living weapon. Fires rapid, explosive blasts or charged mega-shots capable of wiping out teams Passive: Altered Vitals - Passive health regeneration activates sooner and instantly restores 30 health when activated Anran (Damage) My favorite damage character of the bunch, Anran is the older sister of Wuyang and is a potent burst character. Her ultimate can be used dead or alive, and helps to quickly set enemies on fire alongside her fiery fans that ignite enemies and stoke the fires with ample oxygen. Primary Fire: Zhuque Fans - Hand fans that shoot fiery projectiles Secondary Fire: Fan the Flames - Hot wind blast that amplifies burning damage Inferno Rush - Propel yourself forward and damage enemies you impact Dancing Blaze - Strike nearby enemies while dodging all damage Ultimate (Alive): Vermillion Ascent - Charge forward, exploding on impact and instantly igniting enemies Ultimate (Dead): Vermillion Revival - Revive yourself in a fiery explosion Passive: Ignition - Hit enemies with fire attacks to burn them Mizuki (Support) This young ninja specializes in locking down enemies, deflecting bullets with his ultimate, and healing allies with his traditional Japanese hat called a Kasa. Mizuki can return to a previous location by marking it with a paper doll. Importantly, Mizuki's healing aura must be maintained by continuously dealing damage and healing allies, requiring players to stay on the front line. Primary Fire: Spirit Glaive - Throw a spinning blade that can bounce off walls, impacting enemies, and deals damage Healing Kasa - Throw your hat to heal an ally, bouncing to nearby allies and healing you when it returns Katashiro Return - Leap forward, leaving behind a paper doll. Reactivate to return and gain increased movement speed while active Binding Chain - Launch a tethering chain that hinders the first enemy hit Ultimate: Kekkai Sanctuary - Create a sanctuary that heals allies and absorbs enemy projectiles from outside the area Passive: Remedy Aura - Heals nearby allies. Healing scales with a resource generated by dealing damage and healing Jetpack Cat (Support) The long-teased Jetpack Cat is finally real. Her ability to tow allies and enemies makes for a ton of clever plays, and her major perk allows her to knock enemies back if she flies fast enough into them. Primary Fire: Bionic Pawjectiles - Mid-range projectile spread that heals allies and damages enemies Lifeline - Toggle into transport mode, allowing an ally to be towed, increases movement speed, and heals your ally Frenetic Flight - Accelerate in your movement direction. Fuel recovery is slower while carrying another player Purr - Pulsing area heal that increases in frequency over time. Knockback nearby enemies when activated Ultimate: Catnapper - Dive towards a ground location, knocking down enemies and tethering the nearest one to you Passive: Jetpack - Permanent flight New Sub-Roles and Passives: Tank Bruiser: Reduces critical damage received. While at critical health, gain movement speed Roadhog, Zarya, Orisa, Mauga Initiator: Staying airborne lightly heals you D.Va, Winston, Doomfist, Wrecking Ball Stalwart: Reduces knockbacks and slows received Reinhardt, Sigma, Ramattra, Junker Queen, Hazard, Domina Damage Sharpshooter: Critical hits reduce ability cooldowns Hanzo, Widowmaker, Cassidy, Ashe, Sojourn Flanker: Health packs restore more health Tracer, Reaper, Genji, Vendetta, Venture, Anran Specialist: Eliminating an enemy briefly increases reload speed Bastion, Junkrat, Mei, Soldier 76, Symmetra, Torbjorn, Emre Recon: Detect enemies below half health through walls after damaging them Pharah, Sombra, Echo, Freja Support Tactician: Gain excess ultimate charge that carries over after using your ultimate Lucio, Zenyatta, Ana, Baptiste, Jetpack Cat Medic: Healing allies with your weapon also heals you Mercy, Moira, Kiriko, Lifeweaver Survivor: Using a movement ability activates passive health regeneration Brigitte, Illari, Juno, Wuyang, Mizuki

Game Informer PreviewsFeb 4

Mario Tennis Fever Hands-On Preview – The Cot GameFever pitch The post Mario Tennis Fever Hands-On Preview – The Cot Game appeared first on WellPlayed .

Preview – WellPlayedFeb 3

Hands-On With Nintendo Switch 2’s Winter 2026 LineupThe Nintendo Switch 2 is about to get some big updates, exclusives, and third-party blockbusters in the first months of 2026, and CGM took them for a spin.

Previews – CGMagazineFeb 3

Virtual Boy On Switch Online Preview: Going Boldly Where Few Have Tread BeforeThe black sheep of Nintendo's hardware, the Virtual Boy, is coming to Nintendo Switch, and we got to try its unique, dedicated peripheral.

Previews – CGMagazineFeb 3

Virtual Boy Hands-On Preview – Virtual Reality CheckParty like it's 1995 The post Virtual Boy Hands-On Preview – Virtual Reality Check appeared first on WellPlayed .

Preview – WellPlayedFeb 3

I Played Resident Evil Requiem And Pragmata On Switch 2 – And They Ran Surprisingly Well Last week, Nintendo invited me to an event in New York where I played a handful of upcoming Switch 2 titles, including the Virtual Boy and the Super Mario Bros. Wonder DLC . I was far more curious about the event's third-party titles, though. Specifically, Capcom decided to demo Resident Evil Requiem and Pragmata for the Switch 2, and after playing both, I'm shocked at how well Nintendo's newest console handles them.   Both demos are ones we've played before at Game Informer, though it was my first time with either. The Requiem demo is the same as what was offered at Summer Game Fest and Gamescom last year, showing Grace scramble through a dark medical facility to escape a mutated monster in a hospital gown. Meanwhile, the Pragmata demo is now available on PC and features protagonists Hugh and Diana as they hack and blast their way through a station on the moon. The clearest downgrade between the Switch 2 versions of these games and the higher-quality footage I've seen in trailers, presumably captured on other consoles or PC, is in the texture quality. It was especially noticeable in Pragmata, where the sci-fi environment is plastered with high-tech walls. In the PC demo, you can see how shiny and detailed these metallic surfaces are, but on the Switch 2, they're slightly more blurry and less reflective. Outside of cutscenes, however, it was less noticeable, and having played my fair share of subpar Switch ports, it certainly could have been much worse. Requiem was similar but looked cleaner, especially in the lighting. I played with headphones on in the corner of the event space, and I got so immersed that I genuinely forgot which console I was playing on at times. It didn't feel like a Switch 2 version of Resident Evil Requiem – it felt like Resident Evil Requiem. I'm sure that after playing the full game on a more powerful system, I'll eventually be able to pinpoint the differences more accurately, but I was pleasantly surprised to say the least. It's worth noting that I played Requiem in first-person, but in both games, the character models also had a clear downgrade. This is most easily seen in how the RE Engine rendered hair, which is fuller and flows more smoothly on more powerful machines. Like the textures, it was far more noticeable in a cutscene than in a faster-moving gameplay section, but not quite egregious in either. Meanwhile, the performance of each demo was extremely stable. The fast-paced gunplay and puzzle-solving of Pragmata felt buttery smooth, and Requiem felt the same, even though the latter didn't have twitchy combat to test frame rates to the same degree.   There are plenty of caveats. I only had time to play each game in docked mode, but I heard good things about handheld as well. My sessions were also limited to bespoke demos, and it's fully possible that technical success is limited to these earlier builds, or that later areas might look worse. Still, based on what I played, these seem like the best-case scenario for a Switch 2 port. There's an expected, minor drop in visual quality, but the game runs just as well as on other platforms, and you can take it on the go. It's a theoretically even trade-off that has me excited not just for Pragmata and Requiem, but for the other Resident Evil games coming to Switch 2 ( Resident Evil Biohazard and Resident Evil Village launch on Switch 2 the same day as Requiem ), along with whatever else Capcom decides to bring to the console. I play my Switch 2 all the time, but if this is the level of quality to expect from third-party releases going forward, I think I'll be playing that handheld even more often.

Game Informer PreviewsFeb 3

A Worthy Wonderland: Hands-On Impressions With Super Mario Bros. Wonder's Switch 2 + Bellabel Park DLC Platform: Switch 2, Switch Publisher: Nintendo Developer: Nintendo Release: October 20, 2023 ( Switch ), March 26, 2026 ( Switch 2 ) Super Mario Bros. Wonder was one of my favorite games of 2023, so I was more than happy to learn about its substantial update accompanying the Switch 2 version. During a recent trip to New York, I went hands-on with the game's local and wireless multiplayer minigames included in Meetup in Bellabel Park to get a taste of what's coming in the full DLC release. Ultimately, it met my expectations, which is nothing but a good thing. Firstly, I played the Switch 2 update, which gave the game a slight visual boost, but the technical differences are largely negligible. In docked mode, the game now has an admittedly crisper 4k resolution, but thanks to an art style that focuses on bold shapes and bright colors, the Switch version remains perfectly acceptable in 1080p. Combined with such solid framerates, Mario Bros. Wonder's performance wasn't really held back by the Switch, and while a tech upgrade is nice, it's far from the add-on's primary selling point. The main attraction – or attractions, in this case – can be found in Bellabel Park, a new theme park-style area filled with various multiplayer minigames. Attraction Central (just one of the park's areas) is split into two dedicated sections: Local Multiplayer Plaza and Game Room Plaza for online or wireless play. The former is much more fleshed out, with 17 attractions compared to the latter's 6, so we spend most of our time there. I sat on a couch with three others and grabbed a pair of Joy-Con 2s. Our first stop was the character select screen. Everyone on the couch hovered over Rosalina, the newly revealed character exclusive to the DLC, and politely hesitated as the Nintendo representative told us that only one person could play as the intergalactic princess. After a moment, no one had claimed her, so I decided to try her out for myself. Her character model and animations both look great, and while she controls identically to the main cast, it's always nice to play as someone new. We only played one or two matches of each minigame, and each minigame had several stages at different difficulties. The demo's goal was to get us to play as many modes as possible in a short window of time, so we typically tried the first or second level of a longer roster. I imagine it would take an hour or so to make your way through every stage of the modes we played, depending on the players' skill levels, but that's a rough estimate. To start, we played a game that utilizes the Switch 2 mouse controls. Two players each slid a Joy-Con 2 around on a table to draw paths of disappearing platforms (known as Donut Blocks) for the other two, who traverse the level like they normally would. It's a frantic mode that encourages communication. I got the chance to be on both sides of the game, and while the platforming worked out, I did have some difficulties with the mouse. The disappearing platforms are only one block wide per segment, but it locks you into drawing platforms in a straight line, so my diagonal staircases appeared on the screen as steep right angles. Once I figured out the game wanted me to draw flat paths, the attempt ended in victory. Another mode has all four players playing hot potato with a golden Bob-omb. As you head through the level as a group, one of Wonder's talking flowers will call out a player's name to signal that it's their turn to hold the Bob-omb. Every second the bomb isn't held by the correct person, either because it's on the ground or being held by the wrong person, you lose time from the stopwatch at the top of the screen. If it gets to zero, you lose. In my experience, though, we lost far more frequently because we dropped or threw the Bob-omb off a cliff in our mad dash to reach the level's end. This mode was much easier with just two players, because you always know who to throw the explosive to next. After the cooperative side of the park filled each of us with festering resentment for our teammates, we journeyed to the competitive side to work our issues out in a relatively healthy way. The first game we played armed each player with a button they could use to deploy a lightning rod. After a few seconds, it summons a bolt of lightning from the sky, spanning the entire vertical length of the screen, as well as a small area to the left and right on the ground. This stage was also made of four pillars that rose and fell at seemingly random intervals, so avoiding the hazards was especially tricky. For whatever reason, I absolutely dominated this section, only getting hit once while my opponents were each struck 3-4 times. As such, I enjoyed the mode, though it felt a little simple compared to the other ones I played, and I hope more difficult maps are more engaging. Other modes have more indirect competition. In one minigame, all the players have a red light/green light-style face-off with King Boo. The goal is to get as many coins as possible while the ghostly monarch sleeps, but if you're not stationary when he wakes up, you're stunned and drop some of your winnings. A similar mode was devoid of King Boo, but had us each equipped with a baby Yoshi as we raced to eat as many fruits as possible before time was up. We closed out with some local wireless gameplay, so I transitioned to a different TV with the game running. This mode was a race where each player held onto a bouncing ball and had to maneuver across the stage as quickly as possible. Like some of Super Mario Bros. Wonder's other multiplayer gameplay, opponents are represented as ghosts on the screen and can't collide with you, so they're really only present on screen so you can see their progress. I had a great lead for most of the race, but came up against a curved wall at the very end and lost my momentum, ultimately finishing in third place. Meetup in Bellabel Park is about what I expected based on the trailers, and that's a good thing. I had a great time in Attraction Central, and knowing there are so many more stages in each minigame has me looking forward to playing the full release with some family on my couch.

Game Informer PreviewsFeb 3

I Played The Virtual Boy Games On Switch 2, And It Was Actually Kind Of Cool By all accounts, I am not the target audience for the Virtual Boy. The ancient VR console was launched and subsequently discontinued years before I was born. I'm extremely prone to motion sickness, and I wear glasses, which seldom fit in gaming headsets. Also, word on the street was that the console sucked, and that I wasn't missing out on much. As such, I've never been interested in even trying it, and haven't had many opportunities, but that changed last week. Nintendo flew me out to New York to play some upcoming Switch 2 titles, and I knew I had to do my due diligence and try the new Switch 2 peripheral and the accompanying library of Virtual Boy games . I entered the event, and after procrastinating by playing basically every other game present, I peered into a pair of plastic ruby-colored lenses. And honestly? It was kind of cool. Many of the complaints about the Virtual Boy are still valid. It's a headset with legs, so you can only play it if you're sitting at a table with the correct height. Nintendo's representatives had an adjustable table ready for the demo, but the best the average person can probably do is an adjustable desk chair. I also can't imagine I'd love leaning into one of these things for hours at a time, but I didn't have the option on the day of the event. That said, it didn't make me motion sick or give me a headache, and I'll typically have motion sickness triggered within minutes of starting a game, VR, 3D, or otherwise. I suspect it has to do with the higher quality screens developed over the last 30 years, as I didn't have to strain my eyes to see what was going on. To that end, my glasses also fit into the headset just fine. I wear wide frames, so I bet most pairs would fit, but I heard from another attendee that she had trouble with her glasses, so it probably varies by person. Still, I was able to wear it comfortably, and the visor successfully blocked out any of the room's overhead lighting. The actual gameplay experience was similarly positive. The Virtual Boy is an odd, gimmicky console with genuine 3D graphics, thanks to its stereoscopic lenses. It was cool to see developers from the mid-90s being creative with the newly added depth, especially as someone with a lot of nostalgia for the 3DS. Landing 3D blocks in 3D Tetris is surprisingly challenging, and Virtual Boy Wario Land uses the background as a secondary area to jump into and side-scroll through. I also played a bit of The Mansion of Innsmouth (known as Innsmouth no Yakata in Japan), which is coming to the US for the first time with this classics collection. I enjoyed it less, partially since it didn't make use of the 3D as effectively as the other games I played, but after only a few minutes with it, I can't make a complete verdict. A cardboard Virtual Boy on display I did not get a chance to play with any of the most recently announced quality-of-life features , like the option to change red pixels to another color or the rewind feature. Both features are coming later in the year, so this isn't a huge shock. I was far more disappointed, however, that I didn't get a chance to try out the weird little cardboard headset, which I'm endlessly curious about. They had one in a glass display, though, and it seemed much smaller in person. At $24.99, it's far more affordable than the proper model, and I'm not quite enthusiastic enough about my experience to get the $99.99 plastic peripheral, so I hope the cheaper model is at least comparable to use. I'm far from a Virtual Boy convert, but I'm definitely not a hater either. People speak so poorly of the 1995 model that I fully expected to immediately reject the Switch 2 version, but I came away mildly impressed. When the baseline expectation is "headache, neck pain, and nausea" but the actual experience is "huh, pretty neat," I think it's fair to say this exceeded my expectations. It's far from a perfect device, but it very well may be the best way to revisit Nintendo's worst console.

Game Informer PreviewsFeb 3