After 500K+ hours of testing, we’re are excited to share that all Xbox, Xbox 360 and Xbox One games playable on Xbox One today, except for the handful that require Kinect, will be available – and look and play better – on Xbox Series X|S at launch.

— Jason Ronald (@jronald) October 28, 2020

• Fuller worlds - Coming to next-gen consoles and PC, worlds will now be more densely packed, with "thousands more rocks, alien grasses, and exotic flora on screen at any time".
• 32-player multiplayer - Next-gen console versions will now allow for the maximum player limit when playing together.
• 4K / 60 FPS performance - No Man's Sky should have a new upper limit for performance (although it's not yet clear if Xbox Series S will hit this mark).
• Improved visuals - PS5 and Xbox Series will see "improved shadows, greater draw distances, thousands more objects on screen and improved lighting and volumetric effects."
• Bigger bases - No specifics are given, but next-gen consoles will now be able to create "far more vast and complex bases", presumably in line with the PC version.
• Improved loading times - Hello Games estimates that there's been a 5-10x reduction in loading times.
• Crossplay - All platforms can play together, including between console generations.
• Free upgrades  Existing owners of the game will be able to upgrade to the respective next-gen version, with progress carried over.
• Haptic controls (PS5 only) - "From the satisfying feeling of firing your boltcaster, to the gentle nudge of a building part slotting into place in a space habitat or the firm click of the trigger in your interstellar ship - haptic controls allow players to feel immersed in an alien world as never before."
• Advanced audio (PS5 only) - "Thanks to PlayStation 5’s Tempest 3D AudioTech, players will be able to soak in the ambience of an alien planet, or feel a ship fly overhead like never before."
• PSVR support - Through backwards compatibility, PSVR play of No Man's Sky remains supported on the PS5 version.

By this point, nearly four years into the Switch's life cycle, Nintendo has repackaged almost all of Wii U's most noteworthy games for the system's successor, with only a handful of holdovers yet to make the jump. Pikmin 3 is the latest Wii U gem to be dusted off and repurposed for Switch, and like other "deluxe" offerings, it arrives on the hybrid console packed together with all of its original DLC and a smattering of new content--in this case, a handful of additional missions starring series mainstays Olimar and Louie--making this the definitive version of one of the company's most underrated titles.

Although the side story missions are the biggest selling point, Pikmin 3 has actually received a fair number of other tweaks in its move to Switch as well. There are new difficulty options, a hint system that helpfully nudges wayward players in the right direction, and other additions like badges--unlockable achievements that are doled out upon completing specific tasks or reaching certain milestones. These nips and tucks don't radically alter the experience for returning players, but they do help make the game more inviting for newcomers, especially those who may not already be familiar with the series.

Even without any dramatic touch-ups, Pikmin 3 remains just as delightful now as when it first premiered more than seven years ago, thanks to its wonderfully idiosyncratic blend of strategy and adventure. The centerpiece of the package is the Story mode, which begins--just as previous games did--with a crash landing. This time around, you take control of three new explorers named Alph, Brittany, and Charlie, who embark on an expedition across the cosmos in search of food for their starving planet. En route, their spaceship is struck by a meteor, sending the crew plummeting to the planet of the Pikmin, and it falls to you to reunite the explorers, navigate the planet's perils, and retrieve enough food to save their home world.

By this point, nearly four years into the Switch's life cycle, Nintendo has repackaged almost all of Wii U's most noteworthy games for the system's successor, with only a handful of holdovers yet to make the jump. Pikmin 3 is the latest Wii U gem to be dusted off and repurposed for Switch, and like other "deluxe" offerings, it arrives on the hybrid console packed together with all of its original DLC and a smattering of new content--in this case, a handful of additional missions starring series mainstays Olimar and Louie--making this the definitive version of one of the company's most underrated titles.

Although the side story missions are the biggest selling point, Pikmin 3 has actually received a fair number of other tweaks in its move to Switch as well. There are new difficulty options, a hint system that helpfully nudges wayward players in the right direction, and other additions like badges--unlockable achievements that are doled out upon completing specific tasks or reaching certain milestones. These nips and tucks don't radically alter the experience for returning players, but they do help make the game more inviting for newcomers, especially those who may not already be familiar with the series.

Even without any dramatic touch-ups, Pikmin 3 remains just as delightful now as when it first premiered more than seven years ago, thanks to its wonderfully idiosyncratic blend of strategy and adventure. The centerpiece of the package is the Story mode, which begins--just as previous games did--with a crash landing. This time around, you take control of three new explorers named Alph, Brittany, and Charlie, who embark on an expedition across the cosmos in search of food for their starving planet. En route, their spaceship is struck by a meteor, sending the crew plummeting to the planet of the Pikmin, and it falls to you to reunite the explorers, navigate the planet's perils, and retrieve enough food to save their home world.

Watch Dogs: Legion releases on Thursday, October 29. While we reviewed the game on PC, other outlets playing the Xbox One version have encountered overheating issues on Xbox One X. Ubisoft says it plans to release an update on October 30 that's intended to resolve the issue.

Watch Dogs: Legion takes the foundations and ideas of its predecessors and expands upon them exponentially. The core conceit of Legion lies in the old adage of "strength in numbers," which manifests in the game letting you recruit and play as nearly any character you come across, amassing a ragtag crew of freedom fighters. This open-ended stance to fighting the system is a significant change for the franchise, and it's bolstered by improved hacking and social-engineering gameplay. Legion's approach, while admirable, does have some unintended issues that make its powerful message of unity waver at inopportune times, but it still manages to make a profound statement about hope with its novel approach to player agency.

Watch Dogs: Legion takes the foundations and ideas of its predecessors and expands upon them exponentially. The core conceit of Legion lies in the old adage of "strength in numbers," which manifests in the game letting you recruit and play as nearly any character you come across, amassing a ragtag crew of freedom fighters. This open-ended stance to fighting the system is a significant change for the franchise, and it's bolstered by improved hacking and social-engineering gameplay. Legion's approach, while admirable, does have some unintended issues that make its powerful message of unity waver at inopportune times, but it still manages to make a profound statement about hope with its novel approach to player agency.

Legion is set in a near-future, more technologically advanced London. Longstanding hacker group DedSec has been framed for a series of bombings in the city, and its members are branded as terrorists. This, however, was all engineered by the mysterious rival hacker group known as Zero Day. In the chaos after the bombing, London and its citizens are effectively caught in the vice-grip of encroaching fascism and suffocating capitalism due to the occupation of Albion, a private military group, as well as criminal and corporate enterprises taking advantage of the power vacuum. With many key operatives dead or missing, DedSec London starts from scratch by crowdsourcing new members made up of like-minded citizens wanting to liberate the city.

The London in Watch Dogs: Legion is presented as a more advanced and exaggerated version of the real-life London. However, this interpretation of the city still reflects the present mood of 2020, albeit with more of a cyberpunk-dystopia aesthetic. The city's history and its iconic landmarks are the backdrop for stark futurism. The majesty of Buckingham Palace and the bohemian charm of Camden are washed with parcel delivery drones, holographic advertisements, and self-driving cars that flood your line of sight. Of course, all of this also makes for an exciting playground for your hacking antics.

Ring of Pain is a roguelike card game that's too damned creepy to not live rent-free in your head long after you're finished. You play as someone trapped in darkness, unsure of who can help you out and who intends to lead you into ruin. The constant uncertainty leaves you always second-guessing yourself, while the action manages to keep you firmly in the moment as you juggle satisfying risk-reward choices. This balance of feeling both powerful and vulnerable--but in different ways depending on your choices--manages to shake up potentially repetitive attempts to navigate the rings of cards in your efforts to escape this eerie, unsettling world.

Each run in Ring of Pain starts out largely the same: It's just you and a circle of cards that probably want to kill you. Two cards in the circle are in the foreground and can be viewed and interacted with immediately. Cards feature an interesting array of spooky creatures that can be fought or dodged, items to be collected and equipped, stat boosts, potions, curses, or doors to be passed through into another new dungeon ring. There’s a menagerie of different cards to come across, which keeps you constantly on your toes and never too sure of what to expect--but there are still patterns and hints to the madness, such as themed dungeons that keep things purposeful rather than totally random. The rings cycle through depending on your actions--you might find a card that shuffles the ring, or a card might cycle itself through the ring to chase you--and how you choose to navigate them will determine your play style.

You don't have to clear a ring to move to the next stage, just to get to a door. You have your own base stats, which change based on the items and boosts you find and equip. It’s best to think of yourself as a sort of customizable creature card with slots augmented by what you find. Most of the equipment will have basic stat augments, but others will offer interesting strategies like gaining health from curses or knocking back creatures after an attack. Each little factor can greatly determine how effective you are in satisfying ways that alter available strategies. The knock-back ability can make slow but devastatingly strong enemies a total non-issue as they no longer have a chance to attack, while without it even sneaking past them can be risky business.