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.