Reviewed on: Xbox Series X/S
Platform: PlayStation 5, Xbox Series X/S, PlayStation 4, Xbox One, Switch, PC
Publisher: 2K Games
Developer: Visual Concepts
Release: September 5, 2025
Rating: Everyone

A great athlete can sometimes find themselves maligned for off-the-court issues; no matter the incredible numbers they put up night after night, teams can hesitate to bring them on due to these peripheral problems. Lately, I’ve felt similarly about the NBA 2K franchise, with its intrusive microtransactions distracting from its stellar gameplay. With NBA 2K26, those off-court problems aren’t gone, but they’re less disruptive, resulting in a much better experience that allows the series’ longstanding and abundant strengths to shine.

As with any NBA 2K entry, you can step onto the court with confidence; the play is as good as sports gaming gets. Whether you’re passing around the perimeter, driving through the paint, or staying with your assignment on defense, player movement and collision physics feel better than ever before. The tweaked shot meter requires you to carefully select your shot and skillfully time your release, creating a rewarding experience with every possession. When combined with unrivaled attention to detail with regard to lighting, commentary, and visual fidelity, NBA 2K26 looks and plays better than any other sports game.

All these mechanics and improvements permeate 2K26’s robust suite of modes, which include one-off NBA or WNBA play, long-term franchise modes, and single-player career modes. With both the men’s and women’s games included, you can approach these however you like, but I was pleased to see full WNBA integration into the card-collection mode, MyTeam. 

Although modes like MyTeam are typically not a destination for me due to their reliance on microtransactions, I fully immersed myself in the thrill of building a stacked, cross-leagues team of legends of yesteryear and current stars. The loop of playing games, opening card packs, and optimizing my roster sunk its hooks in me, but the busy and confusing interface does little to compel me to stay in the mode.

 

Card-collection modes like MyTeam are tailor-made for microtransactions, so I don’t mind when sports games quarantine them there. However, NBA 2K fans have been conditioned to accept them in the player-focused MyCareer mode, where you need to spend Virtual Currency (VC) to not only upgrade your player, but also their clothes, gear, and shoes. The persistent pop-ups have been toned down, and the grind to earn VC in-game has been slightly eased compared to past games, meaning that while currency woes persist, they’re less intrusive.  

Despite its redesign, The City remains an incoherent mess of other players running, skating, and go-karting around, dressed in the most cognitively dissonant ways possible. It’s particularly irksome since I love the notion of going shopping for shoes or meeting with my agent to talk endorsement deals, but when the route to get there is full of other players in dinosaur costumes and hazmat suits, it annihilates any sense of immersion.

Starting with the story-based prologue, Out of Bounds, I took my character from high school phenom to NBA rookie over the course of a few hours. The story offers you choices, like what teams you want to join or what goals you want to set, but when it comes to seemingly the most significant choice – going to college or playing in Europe as your path to the NBA – the narrative forces your hand. I would have loved to have a true diverging path rather than the mildly impactful decisions the story presents.

Once you’re through the prologue and into the NBA, the story content continues as the mode progresses around goals you set. For instance, I set my first goal as winning the in-season NBA Cup tournament, but you can also choose goals like being named to the All-Star team, hitting certain stat milestones, or other team-based objectives. I love the ability to chart your own course through the league and watching the story react. Navigating through pro hoops is always going to be my destination with MyCareer, but when I wanted a break from the NBA grind, I found plenty to do out in The City. 

Though you can challenge the competition online in a variety of 2v2, 3v3, and 5v5 modes, I was most drawn to the Street Kings sub-mode. Challenging different bosses and their teams in three-on-three first-to-21 games, then recruiting their best players to join your squad immediately piqued my interest; you can even upgrade the teammates by challenging more difficult versions of them after your first victory. Since you need to defeat 10 bosses to challenge the court’s final boss, I had a stacked team of my strongest adversaries heading into the final opponent on one of the two street courts. Then, you can take those teammates into the Hardwood Hall to compete in a massive tournament with modified scoring. 

Street Kings is also a great place to earn VC that can be used to either buy gear or level up your character, which alleviates the grind to an extent. But even if it’s not as annoying as past entries, the game still lets you know you could just instantly be a great player if you pull out your credit card. Combine that with a shared pool of VC across modes, and the multi-purpose currency almost forces you to pick a lane and stay with it; I would have loved to buy some packs in MyTeam or get my favorite shoes in MyCareer, but I’d much rather improve my player’s three-point attribute.

The W offers a similar experience, but it’s far more streamlined and lacks much of the pageantry of the men’s side. Rather than a fleshed-out backstory, you basically choose whether you want to be a young gun or an established star from Europe, then experience many of the narrative beats through dry press conferences. I’m glad the WNBA has its own version of a single-player career mode, but it’s clearly an afterthought to its NBA counterpart.

On the more traditional side, I’ve always loved NBA 2K’s franchise modes. I’m particularly impressed by MyNBA, which lets you establish your dream scenarios; do I want to play in the ‘80s, ‘90s, or ‘00s with fairly accurate rosters, draft classes, and historical rule changes – not to mention era-specific filters – or do I want to try and lead my favorite team to the championship in the modern era? The attention to detail is so precise that even minor inaccuracies, like a fan holding a sign that references the Wizards at a Washington Bullets game, felt glaring. Still, that’s a tiny nitpick in the grand scheme of such an impressive offering.

Though its upgrades in this year’s entry are minimal, MyNBA offers so many options and lets you decide the level at which you want to engage with the mode. On one save file, I took control of Jordan’s Bulls as I tried to recreate the magic of Chicago in the ‘90s; I played every game, kept my finger on the pulse of the free agent market, and did everything in my power to nab the best rookies in the draft. On my other save file, I played as the 2026 Timberwolves. I didn’t play very many games, but I wheeled and dealed throughout the regular season and finally brought an NBA championship to Minnesota.

The absolute glut of content is impressive and intimidating all at once, and NBA 2K26’s on-the-court performance is so good that it’s worth the annoyances that come with the franchise. Whether you want to chart your custom character’s career through the NBA or WNBA, take the reins and rewrite your favorite franchise’s history, or build your dream roster of players from across eras, NBA 2K26 gives you all the tools to do so. 

Score: 8.5

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Possessor(s) is the next action game by Heart Machine, a studio best known for the well-received Hyper Light Drifter and Solar Ash, as well as the currently early access Hyper Light Breaker. The Metroid-style 2D search action game is coming this November, and a new trailer breaks down its story premise and combat mechanics.

Coming to PlayStation 5 and PC on November 11, the game takes place in a quarantined city overrun by demons following an interdimensional catastrophe. Players control Luca, a high school student who becomes mortally wounded during the calamity, losing both of her legs. To survive, she makes a desperate deal with a demon named Rhem to restore her body. Though Luca and Rhem don’t always get along, the two must cooperate to escape the city and bring down a corrupt corporation that has been siphoning demonic energy for its own gains.

Luca uses ordinary makeshift weapons, ranging from a guitar to a computer mouse, to execute stylish directional combos and air juggles to conquer her demonic adversaries. As the journey progresses, she gains new powers to access new areas, such as a wall-running ability and a whip for swinging across gaps. 

We played a slice of Possessor(s) during Summer Game Fest in June and were largely impressed with its well-tuned, if familiar, action. You can read our full impressions here.

Microsoft and Asus have revealed the price points for their two models of the handheld PC, the Xbox ROG Ally. And, unsurprisingly, they’re not cheap.

The Xbox ROG Ally was revealed in June during the Xbox Game Showcase and is an Xbox-branded model of Asus’ Steam Deck competitor, the ROG Ally. The device’s primary selling point is its ability to run Xbox games and apps natively, including those from Game Pass, allowing players to access their Xbox software library on the go. Powered by Windows 11, the Xbox ROG Ally can also run other platforms such as Steam, Battle.net, and GOG.

Launching on October 16, pre-orders are now live in 38 countries for the two models: The ROG Ally and the more powerful ROG Ally X. Here's what they cost:

Xbox ROG Ally X (1TB): $999.99

Xbox ROG Ally (512GB): $599.99

Click image to enlarge

These premium prices were to be expected (especially since the standard ROG Allies are generally quite expensive), but the sticker price may sting from potential Xbox converts still reeling from Microsoft's recent announcement of a second price increase to its Xbox Series consoles starting next week. Xbox and Asus likely knew it would have to bite the bullet as well, as they seemingly withheld revealing the price for as long as possible while eying the economy to determine the appropriate pricing. It will be interesting to see how many players will be willing to shell out that kind of money for an ROG Ally, given the rising prices of video game hardware across the board going into the holiday season. 

If you're looking to buy an Xbox ROG Ally but can't decide between the two models, you can read more about the specs of each version here. Do you plan on buying an Xbox ROG Ally? Let us know in the comments.

Nintendo of America president and chief operating officer Doug Bowser has announced his retirement from the role, effective at the end of the calendar year. Devon Pritchard, who joined Nintendo in 2006 and has served as the leader of the Sales, Marketing, and Communications division since 2021, has been named as Bowser's successor.

Bowser joined Nintendo in 2015 as vice president of sales and marketing, before receiving a promotion to senior vice president of sales and marketing in 2016. In 2019, then-president and COO Reggie Fils-Aimé announced his retirement, and Bowser was named his successor. Although Fils-Aimé ushered Nintendo of America from its disappointing Wii U era into the prosperous Switch era, Bowser oversaw the tail end of the Switch era, which also saw rapid expansion into the film and theme park industries, as well as the start of the Switch 2 era. 

"Leading Nintendo of America has been the honor of a lifetime, and I am proud of what our team has accomplished in both business results and the experiences we've created for consumers," Bowser said in a press release. "Now, it's time for the next generation of leadership and Devon's track record speaks for itself. She is an exceptional leader, and her promotion is a testament to her strong performance and strategic contributions to the company's growth. I have full confidence that she will guide the company to even greater heights."

Pritchard, as executive vice president of revenue for marketing and consumer experience, is currently responsible for managing physical and digital sales growth, and oversees all aspects of marketing, advertising, events, social media, and original content. According to the press release, Pritchard plans to build on the ways fans can connect with Nintendo's characters and worlds.

"I am humbled and excited to take on this new role," Pritchard said in that same press release. "Doug has been a fantastic mentor, and I look forward to building on the incredible foundation he has helped establish. With characters and worlds that offer something for everyone, my focus will be continuing to build on Nintendo's legacy of surprising and delighting our longtime fans, while at the same time welcoming new players into the Nintendo family."

Doug Bowser addressing the media at the Switch 2 reveal event in April 2025

In addition to Bowser's impending departure and Pritchard's upcoming promotion, Satoru Shibata will join Nintendo of America as chief executive officer in addition to his roles as managing executive officer, corporate director, and member of the board at Nintendo (NCL). Pritchard will also join the Nintendo of America board of directors and become an executive officer at NCL.

"During his tenure, Doug made numerous contributions to bring smiles to the faces of people connected to Nintendo," Nintendo president Shuntaro Furukawa said in the press release. "I would like to express my gratitude for his strong efforts. Devon, who will become the next president, has also made many contributions to Nintendo over the years. I am confident that, like Doug, Devon will continue to support Nintendo's important mission of creating smiles."

Bowser's retirement is effective on December 31, 2025.

Reviewed on: Switch 2
Platform: Switch, PC
Publisher: Supergiant Games
Developer: Supergiant Games
Release: September 25, 2025

Hades, which left early access back in 2020, is one of the best and most influential roguelikes of all time, so there's perhaps no greater sign of the talent at Supergiant Games that their own follow-up, Hades II, blows it out of the water. The formula is refined into its ultimate form; the combat is more complex (but just as intuitive), and the story is grander and more thrilling. Hades II is the pinnacle of the roguelike genre, a position I previously granted its predecessor, but one that its sequel has handily earned.

Watch Game Informer's Hades 2 Review:

For the unfamiliar, the Hades games are action roguelikes, where each run has players gathering an arsenal of upgrades (known as boons) to turn their character into a god-slaying weapon. After each run, most of which will end in a death, the player immediately returns to their home base, where they can talk to their companions to access new story content and use the rewards from the last attempt to make themselves even stronger. Like much of the design in the Hades games, it's a simple yet genius gameplay loop, turning losses into immediate gratification and fueling you to do another run as soon as possible.

Hades II takes place an undisclosed number of years after the first game, and now centers on Melinoë, the younger sister of Zagreus and a daughter of the titular god of the underworld. That god, along with most of the underworld's inhabitants we came to know and love in Hades, has been imprisoned by Chronos, his time-wielding father. Rather than break out of Hell, Melinoë starts each run by breaking into Hell, working her way down to Tartarus to thwart her grandfather. The way Hades II recontextualizes familiar locations and characters reminds me of the relationship between The Legend of Zelda: Breath of the Wild and Tears of the Kingdom (a comparison I do not invoke lightly), where I'm equally excited to try new things as I am to revisit old favorites.

Melinoë is armed with six new weapons, each completely different from the last, ranging from a pair of magic wands to a heavy-hitting battleaxe. To make combat even more complex, each attack also has an omega form, unleashed by holding down the attack button, which creates more powerful, sometimes completely different moves. A normal attack with the twin blades, for example, unleashes a combo of slashes and stabs, but the omega version teleports you behind the nearest enemy for one explosion of damage. It's such a simple and intuitive mechanic that I sometimes forget it's not present in the original.

The amount of new content in Hades II could be overwhelming, but it's introduced at such a steady rate that it never feels that way. On my 40th run, in a save file where I had already fought every boss the game had to offer, I unlocked the sixth weapon and encountered a god whose boons I had never seen before. Even 40 runs in, I discovered elements that make the game feel entirely new. There is a finite amount of improvements – it's only a game, after all – but it incentivizes discovery so much that you feel like there's something new to unlock around every corner, and for many, many hours, that's true.

The reason Hades II has its hooks in me, above all else, is the way it rewards the player. This consistent introduction of unlockables, including weapons, boons, arcana cards, familiars, companions, fish, seeds, minerals, and more, means that even when you fail a run, that one failure is promptly interrupted by a stream of rewards. It's hard to leave a session of Hades II feeling frustrated because it's explicitly designed to make you feel the opposite, and I gladly welcome the relentless flood of dopamine.

The plot is similarly structured around defeat, with each loss unlocking new dialogue with those around you. This was also the case in the first game, but Hades II is larger in ways I won't spoil, and the fact that the narrative feels completely seamless and linear regardless of your actions is extra impressive here. And despite Hades II expanding the scale of this world of Greek gods significantly, dialogue and story maintain their character-first approach. You often learn who a person is and what they care about before even learning their name or relationship to the main characters, and I greatly prefer that. The narrative, while fairly straightforward, ends in a place I did not expect, but loved, especially its mythological take on generational trauma.

These characters also continue the series tradition of being beautifully designed, with each new god or titan introduced blowing me away with their striking, modern designs. Overall, the game looks and runs gorgeously, and that includes my Switch 2 copy, where I noticed no performance issues. I also need to mention the music; Darren Korb has done it again, and I especially enjoyed hearing themes from the first game being reimagined in new ways. There's also one dynamic, musical boss fight that's particularly impressive, with the backing track altering when the respective musicians are removed from the battlefield.

Sixteen months of early access have sculpted Hades II into a truly unforgettable experience. After roughly 50 hours and 53 runs between its first iteration and final release, I'm somehow still itching to go back for more. Melinoë's journey showcases Supergiant's expert world-building, combat design, and sharp dialogue to a degree that somehow surpasses one of my all-time favorite games. Godlike, indeed.

Score: 10

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