The good ol' GameCube got some love during today's Nintendo Direct with the reveal of a remake for Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life for the Nintendo Switch, now called Story of Seasons: A Wonderful Life. It's coming next summer.

The original Harvest Moon: A Wonderful Life came out in 2003 for the GameCube, and while it only featured a male protagonist, this remake appears to include the female protagonist from Another Wonderful Life as well. Unlike a number of other Harvest Moon games, A Wonderful Life takes place over a set amount of time, with characters (including the protagonist) aging, and the protagonist's child growing up and choosing a career based on how you influence them over the course of their life.

This new version appears to be largely faithful to the originals, but with significant graphics and music upgrades from the GameCube version. New features will include new events, enhanced festivals, more recipes, and brand new crops, as well as a new camera feature. Here's hoping the remake lets us marry any of the bachelors or bachelorette candidates from either of the first games that we want!

Update: A press release has confirmed you can play as a male, female, or non-binary protagonist and marry any of the bachelors or bachelorettes you want regardless of gender. (Celia, hello)

Way back in the day, we gave A Wonderful Life an 8, saying it was "truly addicting" and praising the new focus on family, growth, and nurturing.

See our full list of Nintendo Direct announcements for more news about upcoming Switch games.

Xenoblade Chronicles 3's second expansion is bringing new quests and a new mechanical hero called Ino to the game on October 13.

Announced during September's Nintendo Direct, Ino's arrival includes a whole new quest line for players to enjoy, the completion of which will add Ino to the party, expanding the gameplay and class options available to the player.

The second expansion - which is available as part of the Season Pass which costs $29.99 / £26.99 - also introduces Challenge Battles to the game for those seeking tougher battles.

Players can fight a series of enemies in a boss rush style mode that awards a variety of rare accessories and special objects for a strong performance.

Two further DLC expansions are included in the Season Pass, the third of which is expected to be released by April 30 next year and includes another new hero, new quests, and more. The fourth and final expansion will be released by the end of 2023 and promises to bring an entire new storyline to the game instead of just random quests.

In our 8/10 review of the main game, IGN said: "Xenoblade Chronicles 3 can take some meandering detours across its massive 150-hour campaign, but great characters and addictive tactical combat make it all well worth the time."

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Octopath Traveler, the Square Enix RPG featuring eight protagonists each with their own separate but converging stories, is getting a sequel. It will arrive far sooner than we expected, on February 24, 2023.

Update: A Japanese trailer confirms that Octopath Traveler 2 will not be a Switch exclusive, and will arrive at launch for Switch, PC (via Steam) and PS5/PS4.

Announced at today's Nintendo Direct, Octopath Traveler 2 will feature eight new protagonists, travelling through the world of Solistia - including merchants, scholars, thieves, and more.

We gave the first Octopath Traveler a 9.3 at launch for its "beautiful style and outstanding take on traditional turn-based combat" that "pushed JRPGs forward rather than paying homage to the greats." Though initially a Switch exclusive, it's since found a home on PC, Xbox, and Stadia, and has even gotten a mobile spin-off in Champions of the Continent.

We've technically known about the Octopath sequel announced today since way back in 2019 when Square Enix revealed a new console game was in production, but this is the first we've seen of it since.

See our full list of everything announced at Nintendo Direct for more news.

Joe Skrebels is IGN's Executive Editor of News. Follow him on Twitter. Have a tip for us? Want to discuss a possible story? Please send an email to newstips@ign.com.

It turns out that the Fire Emblem game that leaked several months ago is real after all, and will be called Fire Emblem Engage.

During today's Nintendo Direct, Engage will focus on a new protagonist, Alear, who has a real wild hairstyle. Alear is known as a "divine dragon," and is a member of a royal family that was once revered as deities, but he's been asleep for one thousand years when he awakens at the start of the game.

Notably, characters in Engage appear to be paired in some spiritual way with past Fire Emblem heroes, with Alear paired with Marth. Sigurd and Celica also made appearances. Fire Emblem Engage appears to include elements from Fire Emblem: Three Houses such as its town building and relationship elements as well.

It's planned for release on January 20, 2023, and a "Divine Edition" with collectibles will also be on sale.

Fire Emblem Engage first leaked back in June, with photos of the protagonist's strange red and blue hair and a number of other characters surfacing online. Earlier this year, we gave Omega Force's musou spinoff Fire Emblem: Three Hopes an 8 for being "a true hybrid of Fire Emblem’s social gameplay and Warriors’ battles" that works "despite overstaying its welcome and missing the mark when it comes to the more intimate interactions." And the most recent full Fire Emblem game, Fire Emblem: Three Houses, got a 9.5 for being "ambitious telling of a land at war helmed by captivating leaders, in which no side has all the answers."

For everything else from today's Nintendo Direct, check out IGN's full roundup.

Fatal Frame: Mask of the Lunar Eclipse, the Wii entry in the famous survival horror series, is finally coming to the West for the first time.

Announced as part of today's Nintendo Direct, a localised version of Mask of the Lunar Eclipse will be available on Switch early in 2023. This entry follows Ruka Minazuki who, after mysteriously disappearing as a child, explores an abandoned hospital in search of her lost memories. The hospital is, of course, full of all kinds of nasties, which can be repelled with Fatal Frame's classic tool, the camera obscura.

The original version of this fourth game in the Fatal Frame series was released in Japan back in 2008. While a European release was announced, it never made it to the West. This new Switch version, then, marks quite the event for Fatal Frame fans.

For more, catch up on everything announced during today's Nintendo Direct in our roundup right here.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Features Editor.

Sofia Szamosi's Unretouchable is shaping up to be one of the most memorable debut graphic novels in recent years. It's a book that's already inviting comparisons to Persepolis, and not just because of the similarities to Marjane Satrapi's art style. This is a graphic novel that tells a deeply personal story set against the backdrop of a cutthroat industry.

Unretouchable follows the story of Olive, a student who lands a highly desirable internship at a digital photography company. Unfortunately, the glamour and mystique are quickly replaced by disappointment and self-loathing as Olive discovers just how much the fashion industry relies on image editing software and virtual models to create the illusion of physical perfection. Olive's internship becomes a personal odyssey as she struggles to disengage from the Internet and learn to accept herself.

IGN can debut an exclusive preview of Unretouchable, which is available in stores now. Check it out in the slideshow gallery below:

Unretouchable is heavily inspired by Szamosi's own experiences as a photo editing intern

"In 2016 when I did the internship that inspired this book, I became increasingly alienated with the world of digital images," Szamosi tells IGN. "The allure was gone, nothing looked real. Whether a beauty ad or someone’s Instagram selfie, the divide between the commercial and interpersonal was blurred to oblivion- it all looked like the same shameless promotion, advertising to someone or other."

Szamosi continues, "I came to feel that social media provided an illusion of connection that actually stood in the way of more meaningful interactions. Social media was my lonely island - a way to look out and look down on others, removed and protected from the risks of human contact. I am so spongy, constantly absorbing and spewing out the visual world around me. Social media preys on my vulnerabilities to keep me mindlessly scrolling and buying, and along the way I’m soaking up all sorts of cultural norms and ideologies I might not even like. And, beneath all the energy it takes to create and consume digital content, a world of creative energies lies dormant. There is a cost to all this visual stimulus, and it is a deadening of my own creative voice."

For Szamosi, the real challenge was finding some sort of balance - taking advantage of the human connection and career opportunities social media provides without being dragged back into the black hole that is living life "always online."

"I stayed off social media for a few years; it was invigorating, productive, and good for my soul. But as long as I live in a world full of other people, writing off social media forever isn’t sustainable. Especially not when I have a book to promote! ;) I see a lot of evil at work on social media; there is also a lot of art, joy, connection, and fun. And there is the money. My workload today includes a part-time job in social media marketing. Diving deep into the world of trends, hacks, and the nature of algorithms, I am finding another way to process my social media alienation - to make money off it, and find the interesting parts."

Unretouchable is published through Lerner Publishing Group's Graphic Universe imprint. The book is available in both hardcover and softcover versions and can be purchased through Amazon and other retailers now.

In other comic book news, DC finally revealed the Joker's real name after 80 years, and IGN recently spoke with Fantastic Four: Full Circle creator Alex Ross about how he wants to see the FF integrated into the MCU.

Jesse is a mild-mannered staff writer for IGN. Allow him to lend a machete to your intellectual thicket by following @jschedeen on Twitter.

Steam Deck developer Pierre-Loup Griffais has unveiled a whole range of Valve’s original working prototypes for the new handheld.

As part of the Steam Deck’s launch event in Asia, Valve has put together a display of the Steam Deck’s original prototypes, and Griffais has unveiled the never-before-seen line-up on Twitter.

“As part of the Asia launch press event, we made the design lab into a showroom of development history,” he said. “My favorite are the playable prototypes: bootable Deck family tree from mid-2019 to now, from a couple of hand-built units onto gradual mass production.”

As part of the Asia launch press event, we made the design lab into a showroom of development history. My favorite are the playable prototypes: bootable Deck family tree from mid-2019 to now, from a couple of hand-built units onto gradual mass production. pic.twitter.com/TpU5I8D50p

— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) September 12, 2022

Valve’s Steam Deck was released on February 25, 2022, but was in development for years. The above display depicts different iterations of the Steam Deck throughout its development from mid-2019 – showcasing the different designs the company went through before finalizing the Steam Deck.

While the basic elements have remained the same, the Deck has seen different experiments with colorways (including colored face buttons), D-Pads, sizes, button shapes, and more. It looks as though there was at least one version that was a fair bit slimmer, too.

“The best part is that they (mostly) all still boot, serving as an exciting reminder of how far things have come since,” said Griffais, uploading a video of a Steam Deck prototype running (below). “This one has a Picasso APU, at about half of the GPU power of the final Deck. The flatter ergo was an interesting experiment and taught us a ton about comfort.”

The best part is that they (mostly) all still boot, serving as an exciting reminder of how far things have come since.

This one has a Picasso APU, at about half of the GPU power of the final Deck. The flatter ergo was an interesting experiment and taught us a ton about comfort. pic.twitter.com/yLwTtDDYlo

— Pierre-Loup Griffais (@Plagman2) September 12, 2022

IGN’s Steam Deck review gave it 7/10 and said: “When the Steam Deck is living up to its promises, it's absolutely incredible. Playing GTA 5, God of War, and other modern games on the go is an absolute joy, and the hardware and controls feel good to hold even though it’s a big chubby boy of a handheld.”

Considering the final Steam Deck is our favorite “big chubby boy” it makes you wonder how it would have played if the unit was a bit slimmer. I’m just not sure we’d want to give up the extra GPU power.

Want to read more about the Steam Deck? Check out the different Steam Deck models as well as when you can expect your Steam Deck to arrive.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

The Coalition has pledged 1% of all future net revenue from Gears of War games and merchandise to suicide prevention charities, with Crisis Text Line announced as its first partner.

Studio head Mike Crump revealed the commitment on Xbox Wire, saying that Gears of War has always stood for belonging and The Coalition's message amid soaring suicide rates in the United States is to 'Never Fight Alone'.

"We are proud to announce that The Coalition will donate 1% of net revenue from all Gears of War games and merchandise to organizations working to prevent suicide and combat loneliness through mental health advocacy," Crump said. "This is a multi-year commitment our studio is making to give back to our community and create real-world impact."

Crisis Text Line, which The Coalition's hopes will be the first of many partners, is a 24-hour, seven days a week high quality text-based mental health support and crisis intervention service, available in the U.S. (in English and Spanish), the UK, Canada, and Ireland. The service is available by texting "PAUSE" to 741741 or on WhatsApp at (443)-SUPPORT.

"In 2021, we had 1.3 million conversations with texters who needed help with issues like anxiety, depression, and suicide," said CEO of Crisis Text Line Dena Trujillo. "We’re honoured to partner with The Coalition and the Gears of War franchise to increase access to mental health support and suicide prevention services.

"Partnerships like this are so critical to addressing the mental health crisis in America and reaching our vision for an empathetic world where nobody feels alone."

More than 700,000 people die by suicide each year according to the World Health Organisation, with many more attempts made. Suicide is also the fourth leading cause of death among 15 to 19 year olds.

The Coalition's Never Fight Alone programme also encourages people to engage in positive mental health behaviour and support the pledge in a number of ways, firstly by checking in on friends and family through a text, DM, phone call or otherwise.

It also encourages people to save its support numbers (texting "PAUSE" to 741741 or on WhatsApp at (443)-SUPPORT).as contacts so they're readily available if needed, by joining the conversation about suicide prevention on the @GearsofWar Twitter, and by purchasing the first Gears of War Never Fight Alone t-shirt from the Xbox Store (or Game Planet in Mexico).

If you are having suicidal thoughts, the National Suicide Prevention Hotline in the U.S. is available 24 hours a day at 1-800-273-8255. A list of international suicide hotlines can be found here.

Ryan Dinsdale is an IGN freelancer. He'll talk about The Witcher all day.

Poorly received action game Babylon’s Fall will be shut down early next year, less than a year after it was released.

The online hack-and-slash from Square Enix debuted to catastrophic reviews and has now effectively been canceled, with the game being shut down completely in February 2023.

“With the desire of delivering an exhilarating online multiplayer action RPG set in an elaborate high fantasy world, we launched the game’s official service on Thursday, 3 March 2022, and have continued to undertake additional development and operations,” said an official statement. “However, it is with deep regret to inform you that we will be terminating the game’s service on Tuesday, 28 February 2023.”

It is with deep regret that we are terminating the game's service on February 28, 2023.
Please read our full Notice for further information.https://t.co/mvaFYmOkYB

Thank you so much for your support and playing BABYLON'S FALL.

— BABYLON'S FALL (@BabylonsFall_EN) September 13, 2022

Babylon’s Fall launched earlier this year on PS4 and PS5 and was met with a lot of criticism. A generic style and dull combat failed to capture the imagination of its players, and now it looks as though the game’s life cycle has come to an end, after announcements that Square Enix would “not reduce the scale of development” following its shaky start.

Although the game will officially shut down in February next year, digital sales have been stopped immediately following the announcement, so you’re out of luck if you were planning to give this one a go.

The game will continue to launch its third and final season, regardless:

“In terms of the plan moving forward, Season 2 will run until Tuesday, 29 November 2022 as scheduled, and the Final Season will begin with the maintenance scheduled on the same day,” said the announcement. “This Final Season is the period during which you can earn the ranking rewards of Season 2.”

Additionally, Babylon’s Fall will continue in-game events until the game is brought offline: “As a way of expressing our gratitude to all our players, we plan to implement as many events and other initiatives as we can, leading up to the end of the service.”

These include events missions and quest boosts for those still clinging to the game following its death knell, but you have to wonder how many active players there will be at this point.

IGN’s review of Babylon’s Fall gave it 4/10 and said: “Ultimately, Babylon’s Fall just isn’t good. It’s not terrible or broken, it just 'is,' and does little to justify investing your time into it.”

Want to read more about Babylon’s Fall? Check out the gear and emotes it “borrowed” from Final Fantasy 14 and find out what happened to get Babylon’s Fall off to a rough start.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.

Batgirl star Brendan Fraser has hit out at the DC film’s cancellation, calling it "the canary in the coal mine" for the battle between streaming and theatrical feature releases.

During an interview with Variety, the 53-year-old Batgirl actor explained why he was disappointed:

“The fans really wanted to see this film made,” he said. “Leslie Grace is a dynamo. The movie was shot and conceived for a smaller screen. In this age that we’ve come out of now between streaming service versus theatrical release, it wound up being the canary in the coal mine.”

Fraser was set to star as the film’s villain, Firefly – a disgruntled veteran who becomes a pyromaniac. Although Firefly was based on one of DC’s longest-running villains, the character would have had an entirely new origin story.

Unfortunately, we’ll never get to see how Fraser’s villain stacks up. Batgirl was unceremoniously canceled back in August in the wake of the high-profile Warner Bros. Discovery merger. As such, it looks as though the film’s secret funeral showing is the first and only time anyone will see it.

“What did we learn from this?” said Fraser. “Work with trusted filmmakers, like Darren.”

Fraser recently stunned Venice Film Festival attendees with The Whale – a film by director Darren Aronofsky which tells the tale of a 600lb man who’s trying to pick up the pieces of his broken life. It’s already been tipped by audiences and critics for awards success. It looks as though making The Whale was a more positive experience for Fraser.

As well as his recent brush with the Batgirl supervillain role, Fraser also recently starred in Doom Patrol – DC’s off-kilter comic book show for The CW which saw the former Mummy star suit up as Cliffe Steele, known in the comics as Robotman.

As for being the “canary in the coal mine,” many DC fans have worried that Batgirl’s cancelation could lead to other DC movies being canned.

Although Joker 2, The Flash, and Blue Beetle seem to be safe, there are plenty of other DC films that could be affected. And with Warner Bros. Discovery still looking for its own Kevin Feige, it could be some time before we find out exactly what’s going on with DC’s upcoming slate.

Want to read more about Batgirl? Find out about the #ReleaseBatgirl movement and why Batgirl’s cancelation makes no sense when it comes to the box office figures.

Ryan Leston is an entertainment journalist and film critic for IGN. You can follow him on Twitter.