After checking various weather tools located nearby, then inputting their data into an old fashioned computer system, Will must get the lighthouse ready for the impending storm. However, as is usually the case, something goes wrong and the power goes out partway through the night, leaving a boat on a collision course with the rocky shore. Will is awakened, and attempts to right the wrong, before being alerted to a truck pulling into the driveway. It’s then that he learns that he must return to town, and discovers that a natural disaster has wiped out his neighborhood, displacing people, killing others and leaving some missing, including his son.

To be honest, this one caught me off guard, as I hadn’t heard much of anything about it before seeing it on a release list. I quickly looked it up, and requested a review code, which I received weeks later. Now, after playing through it over the course of one long, overnight, session, I can share my thoughts with you.

Part walking simulator, part puzzle game, part narrative experience and part sailing adventure, WILL: Follow the Light has numerous aspects to it. The core of the game, though, involves exploring different environments to find clues as to where your son has gone, although it’s learned early on that he was with Will’s estranged father. This sets our protagonist out on a lengthy, first-person, adventure through difficult terrain and sometimes dangerous seas.

Not long into what is about a six hour long campaign, the main character helps fix up a sailboat that’s been in his family for years. This involves one of the game’s sometimes tedious and annoying puzzles, but we’ll get to those later. What’s important to talk about now is the fact that this seafaring vessel — named Molly — is an important part of the experience. You see, there are several parts of this story where the player must sail (or drive, using the slower motor) the boat from one place to another, sometimes unsure of where to go and — in another situation — while dealing with severe fog and rock-filled waters. The goal is to plot your course using longitude and latitude, then correctly manipulate the three sails in order to take advantage of the wind — something I never really got good at.

Although it’s not made clear exactly where it takes place, this game is set somewhere in the north, where islands are spaced out and both frozen tundra and polar bears are not uncommon. You’ll sail through calm, rocky and stormy seas, and will also dock at various locations, including different parts of islands located in the arctic. There aren’t any objective points, but it’s not too difficult to find where to go — for the most part — and the game will reset you if you go too far off course. Thanks to this, the sailing is solid, but it becomes a bit much after a while. That’s why I’m glad they gave us the opportunity to skip some of the longer treks.

In true walking similar fashion, there are a number of puzzles to be found in WILL: Follow the Light. The player must read directions regarding how to start a generator, find fuses and turn them on in the correct order, use winches and lifts to move heavy items, and push boxes, carts or the like, in order to get them out of the way or use them to climb upon. Then, there are others that involve putting things together using a number of different parts. These ones are very tedious, frustrating and cumbersome, with controls that leave a lot to be desired. Sometimes it seemed like I had to point a small part (like a washer or rivet) right at the exact little pixel before it would allow me to place it.

The aforementioned puzzles sometimes took me out of the game, and affected my enjoyment of it. I didn’t mind some of them, but others were overly involved, cumbersome or obtuse. Some just took too long, with too much trial and error. I’ve gone on record to say that I’m not much of a puzzle game guy, but I do enjoy walking sims and light puzzles. A number of these were far from  the best I’ve experienced, but the odd one was smart and enjoyable to solve.

As players make their way through this journey, they’ll visit different lighthouses, explore various types of buildings, and even travel in unconventional ways. On top of that, they will meet some deadly creatures, and have to deal with the elements. The main character goes through quite a bit, including severe inner turmoil that hits upon themes of abandonment, grief, isolation and sadness. The game wants to send a message, and it does so pretty well, even if the narrative still leaves questions.

Those who take their time with this one will find numerous hand-crafted wooden boats, children’s drawings, cassette tapes, tea containers, notes and little replicas of the planets in our solar system. Some of these act as tracked collectibles, which fill shelves in the Molly yacht’s cabin, and can be used to fill a model of the solar system. I thought that I’d found everything, but I missed one planet and one boat, much to my chagrin.

Part-way through WILL: Follow the Light, players will find and put together a special type of lantern. At this point, a new type of discoverable ‘item’ becomes noticeable; that being coloured drawings that are floating in the air or on a wall, or something. Using the correct coloured light (be it blue or red), and standing in the proper spot, will lead to the drawing disappearing and a ghostly recreation of a past event playing out. This can be used to learn more about the story, discover clues and the like.

The lantern can also occasionally be used to light your way, but that isn’t its only other use. You see, there’s a puzzle that allows you to add something to it, so that it can melt frozen things, like gearboxes or doors. This allows you to access new areas, as well as at least one puzzle.

With all of that put together, there’s quite a bit to this game. It doesn’t do anything particularly great, but it does things well enough to be enjoyable, outside of certain parts and puzzles that really drag and can be boring. I enjoyed my time with it, but was admittedly ready for the end to come.

Even after playing through WILL: Follow the Light, I’m still not sure where, exactly, it’s supposed to be set. It seems like a Nordic country, but I’m unsure. The main character sounds British or Scottish, so I first wondered if that was the case, but other accents were all over the place, and he drove on the right side of the road. Some of the terminology used — like calling the trunk of a car its boot — and how often Will talks about tea made me confused. I guess it’s just set in the north, in an area of varying accents.

The above is a roundabout way of saying that the voice acting is hit and miss, while the writing is solid but unspectacular. The music is good — especially at the end — and the sound effects are as well.

The game looks pretty good, and has a nice colour palette to it. It’s got varied environments, different times of day, and even the Northern Lights, which looked really nice. There are also some impressive water and wave effects to be found. That said, its character models, certain locations and its animations tend to look and feel dated. The controls are also occasionally cumbersome.

In conclusion, WILL: Follow the Light is a relatively interesting and ambitious game that doesn’t completely succeed in executing all of its ideas. There’s quite a bit of good to be found within, but some tedious and frustrating puzzles, some dated mechanics and repetition hold it back. It’s also held back by the feeling that what you’re tasked with doing is sometimes just tedious busy work. Being that it’s a narrative focused walking simulator with heavy puzzle elements, it will only appeal to certain gamers, but that’s ok.

This review is based on the XBOX Series X version of the game, which we were provided.

In case you missed it, here’s a recap:

• Gears of War: E-Day opened the show, with a new look at the beginning of Marcus Fenix’s battle against the Locusts. The game will be a day one Game Pass title, when it releases on October 6th, but it will not be coming to PlayStation anymore.
• A new story trailer for Playground Games’ Fable revealed that actress Hayley Atwell will play its villain, Isabel. They also confirmed a release date, with that being February 23, 2027. It will also be on Game Pass day one.
• Halo: Campaign Evolved will feature new missions set before the original campaign. They were introduced through a new trailer narrated by Sgt. Johnson. It will also be available via Game Pass on release day.
• Resonance: A Plague Tale Legacy will be released on August 27th, for XBOX Series, PC and PS5. This is another day one Game Pass offering.
• A new trailer for Persona 4 Revival was shared. It’s releasing on February 18th, 2027, for XBOX Series, PS5 and PC. Expect this one on Game Pass as well.
• We finally got a decent look at State of Decay 3 — the first game in the zombie survival series since Microsoft acquired its developer in 2018. This one is coming to XBOX Series, PS5, PC and Game Pass in 2027.
• Rare is bringing a creation suite to Sea of Thieves. They call it Custom Seas, and it’ll allow players to create their own modes, hangouts, challenges, cinematics and more. It’s part of Season 20, and will be added into the online multiplayer game on June 18th.
• We got a new look at Metro 2039. 4A Games’ next post-apocalyptic shooter will be released in February, for XBOX Series, PlayStation 5 and PC.
• Bad Magpie is a somewhat cute puzzle game about a bird who leaves destruction everywhere it goes. This one is coming to PC, XBOX Series and Game Pass. Expect it next year.
• Koei Tecmo and Team Ninja shared a new trailer for Wo Long 2: Wings of Ember. The sequel to the 2023 historical action game will launch early next year, for PC, XBOX Series and PS5. It will also be coming to Game Pass.
• Start your own cult in the satirical cult game, Join Us. It was revealed today, and is coming to Game Pass. When it releases in March, it’ll be available for XBOX Series, PlayStation 5 and PC.
• Senua — a new game in the Hellblade series, which surprisingly doesn’t feature the franchise’s name in its title — was announced. This one looks to be more action and combat heavy. It’s coming to XBOX Series, PlayStation 5 and PC, as well as Game Pass, in 2027,
• Doom: The Dark Ages will receive its Revelations story DLC on July 7th.
• SEGA finally showed us its long anticipated Crazy Taxi reboot, which is called Crazy Taxi: World Tour. It’ll be released in 2027, for XBOX Series, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2 and PC.
• Age of Empires IV received a new trailer for its Raiders of the North expansion, which is coming to all platforms this autumn.
• Mojang brought a new trailer for Minecraft Dungeons II, which is coming to XBOX Series/Game Pass, Nintendo Switch/Switch 2, PlayStation 5 and PC. It’ll be out on the 29th of September.
• Use first-person magic tricks to fight your way out of Hell, in Magicians: The Devil’s Deal. This one is in development for XBOX Series, PlayStation 5 and PC, and is also expected to come to Game Pass when it launches next year.
• Valor Mortis — the historical shooter — received a visceral new release date trailer. It’s coming to XBOX Series/Game Pass, PlayStation 5 and PC on September 24th.
• The Elder Scrolls: Online is going to incorporate the Thieves Guild, as well as heist quests, on July 8th.
• Microsoft Flight Simulator 2024 will add US National Parks on July 4th, and will get National Championship Air Races this fall.
• Where Winds Meet will be getting a Hidden Mountain update this July, and is also coming to XBOX/Game Pass.
• A new, classic styled, sidescrolling Castlevania game was announced. Called Castlevania: Belmont’s Curse, it’s coming to XBOX Series, PlayStation 5 and PC on the 15th of October.
• A beautiful looking anime life sim named Vivarium was announced. It’s coming to XBOX Series/Game Pass, PlayStation 5 and PC in 2027.
• Persona 6 got a short teaser featuring a logo, and the news that it’s en route to XBOX Series, PlayStation 5 and PC next year. Expect this one on Game Pass too.
• We’re getting a new Spyro game, and it’s called Spyro: A Realm Beyond. It was announced via a colourful trailer, and is coming to all current gen platforms, plus Game Pass, in Spring 2027.
• InXile provided a new look at the characters and time mechanics of Clockwork Revolution. This one is going to be an XBOX console exclusive, but is coming to PC. It’ll be out in 2027, and will also be on Game Pass.
• Fallout 76’s Infestations update is now live on all platforms.
• Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4 closed out the show. They highlighted the game’s extraction mode, DMZ.

There you have it. That’s what XBOX brought to the table during this busy summer announcement season.

Keep in mind, though, that they followed it up with a more in-depth look at Gears of War: E-Day.

Featuring a translucent green shell, which is reminiscent of the Halo green original XBOX, the console and controller pay homage to the past. Both bear an anniversary logo, and other nice nods to the history of the consoles. This includes black and white bumpers on the controller, and the console’s power light being green.

We don’t know what the price will be for this console, but we don’t expect it to be cheap. We do know that it features a disc drive (thankfully), as well as a 1TB SSD.

Both the console and the controller will be available this November and, according to reports, the controller will be available separately. However, they will only be sold in ‘select markets.’

A couple years later, they followed it up with a fantasy game inspired by Zelda, called Ravenlok, which I played through, reviewed and quite enjoyed. I still think about it.

Fast-forward to the end of May, 2026, when they followed their earlier effort up with a second round; that being Echo Generation 2. We received a code for it, and can now share our thoughts. Sorry they’re a bit late, but some health problems got in the way.

Although it features the number two in its title, this is actually a prequel to the first title, and a different type of experience. You see, instead of being a turn-based RPG, this follow-up is a deck builder with turn-based combat. It’s all about using cards to do battle.

Surprisingly, this narrative is broken up into chapters, in a kind of grid system. You can choose which of several to play first, and the order you tackle the others. For the most part, they aren’t long; coming in at around an hour each in my experience.

The ‘first’ chapter is reminiscent of Stranger Things, as you play as a young girl who’s been locked up in a facility and is breaking her way out. She’s got powerful abilities that are represented by strong cards, so this will be easier than average. It’s a short chapter, too, which kind of sets the strange story up.

Next up — for me, at least —were Jack’s two chapters. A former soldier, we find him taking a vacation at the shore with his wife, son and young daughter. All of a sudden, during a beautiful sunset perfect for a family picture, an explosion occurs and strange zombie creatures begin to come out of the woods. This causes Jack to have to fight them, sometimes with the help of his family. Their goal is to escape to the presumed safety of their suburban home.

After that, I played through the bounty hunter’s chapter. Set in a beautiful, futuristic city, full of aliens and neon lights, it involves looking for targets and doing the bidding of a creature who owns a nightclub.

Last up was a mostly black and white segment, starring a zombie looking for her son. She traverses a ruined landscape, including barren wastelands, polluted waterways and an old factory, and does battle against creatures like skeletons and robots.

All of these chapters tell parts of the story, but they still feel disconnected. That’s partially because of the fact that the latter part of the game ends up being a challenging boss rush, which doesn’t give you much in the way of safety or checkpoints. I was really liking the game up until then — which surprised me, because I’m not a deck builder fan, or at least didn’t think I was — but boss rushes are often a frustrating and weak way to end a game.

At this point, you do a frustrating puzzle to power on a generator, then perform a ritual. Afterwards, you get to choose three of the heroes you played as to form your end game team. Then, there are three rounds of boss battles, each of which has three enemies. It starts one on one, then becomes two on one and afterwards becomes three on one, as you get your full party. There’s only one checkpoint during this, as you visit a lobby, where you can upgrade a card and whatnot, before taking on the final trio.

Before I played through this one, I had heard that the end game was a frustrating pain. This worried me, and made me think that I maybe wouldn’t be able to finish it. However, I surprised myself by beating it all in one go. Although I didn’t think I had, I’d done enough fighting and levelled my characters up enough, with good enough decks and badges. A couple of the latter came in handy. More about them later, though.

Still, while I ended up liking the boss rush more than expected, as well, it’s not the ideal way to finish a game. It felt a bit rushed. That said, it was better than I’d heard. Be warned, though, that the final boss can make it so that you can’t see which cards you’ve got, which is annoying and unfair.

As mentioned, Echo Generation 2 is a deck builder with turn-based combat. You’ll generally have two characters in your party, but will sometimes have three, and they can each have their own decks. Each character, be it Jack (melee/guns), the bounty hunter’s animal companion (elemental effects), or one of the other several playable characters, has his, her or its own type.

If you take your time exploring the environments, which include a forest, a cabin, a house, labs, the testing facility and the futuristic city with its markets, night club and back alleys, you’ll find new cards. Some will be duplicates, but others will be a great boost to your deck, depending on what you want. You can also earn and find money, which can be used to purchase other ones from vending machines or merchants. Usually, these end up being things like chocolate bar cards, to heal you.

It should be noted that there are also a few opportunities to level up one card of choice.

The combat is generally pretty straightforward, but those who love these types of games or like to play strategically can design their decks for different build types. Some cards allow you to mark enemies, some make them bleed, some add effects to them and others can allow you to take an extra turn or bide time. Others are attacks of different types, health, shield or regeneration cards.

There’s a poorly explained battery system, which only allows certain cards to be used a finite amount of time per battle. You’ll see the green battery icons above them, and how many you see will tell you how many uses they have left. This wasn’t a big issue on normal.

In Echo Generation 2, each character levels up independently, and they all have their own skill trees. The upgrades found within include increased attack power, more health, the ability to use an extra card per turn and more. However, given how brief the chapters are, most won’t max their skill trees or come all that close. That is, unless they go back and repeatedly fight enemies who respawn when you leave each room. Some may want to in order to be stronger for the boss rush. I took my time, and fought every enemy at least once, but fought some twice or thrice.

Enemies run the gamut, from aliens to monsters, to zombies, to mechs and infected soldiers.

This game also features a badge system. When you find them, they can be equipped to give you perks and boosts. The problem is that they’re mostly limited, and are specific to each set of characters. Most chapters didn’t seem to have many. I think I found just one or two in the zombie chapter, and I took my time.

On the presentation side of things, Cococucumber’s latest is a treat for the eyes and ears. It’s set in the 80s, features classic sci-fi charm and elements, and has a good soundtrack. The visuals are next level, though. Echo Generation 2 — with its blocky, retro, voxel art style — is often beautiful, especially in scenes like Jack’s camping trip. It always looks really good, but a few too many sections take place in boring environments like labs, offices, bunkers and testing facilities, meaning it doesn’t get enough opportunity to show how stunning it can be.

When I found out that Echo Generation 2 is a deck builder, I was disappointed and worried that I wouldn’t like it. However, I’m glad that I did. I really enjoyed, and got into the early part of the game, and it’s something that I could have played longer. However, the unfortunate decision to make the end game a boss rush against inter dimensional aliens who barely featured in anything else slightly hurt my enjoyment and the game overall. I wish they’d chosen to do something different.

Still, despite that downside, Echo Generation 2 is a good, short, and fun game to play through. I’m glad that I gave it a chance, and will remember it fondly. Hopefully the first one will go on sale soon, so that I can revisit and finally complete it.

This review is based on the Xbox Series X version of the game, which we were provided with.

It was also confirmed that this one will release on all platforms (Xbox Series, PlayStation 5, Nintendo Switch 2, and PC) on the same day.

“In this climactic conclusion, Cloud Strife and his loyal companions face a world that teeters on the brink of annihilation. Grieving a beloved ally, and with their nemesis Sephiroth nearing godhood, the party takes to the skies aboard the airship Highwind in a race against time to stop Meteor, the ultimate destructive magic, and the total obliteration of the planet.

With deft gunslinger Vincent Valentine and cantankerous pilot Cid Highwind aboard, the heroic team will journey freely across the entire planet and explore expansive new areas, harness a new job system in combat and forge unbreakable bonds to overcome the greatest threat they’ve ever faced.”

Check out the reveal trailer, and gameplay footage, below:

Instead of being set on a spaceship, Alien: Isolation 2 is going to take place on a station situated on a planet.

Check out its debut trailer below:

Stay tuned for more on gen Atlas as it develops further. Know that it’s been confirmed for PC, Xbox Series and PlayStation 5.

They call it Stellar Blade: Blood Rain, and it’s said to take place after the events of the first game. That said, it stars a new protagonist named Evie.

So far, Guild Wars 3 has only been confirmed for PC and PS5. The first beta test is scheduled for Fall 2027.

As part of a new Crewmate Training Simulator, players will enter a controlled experience at the MIRA R&D plant. However, they’ll control a character named Guard, who’s responsible for keeping things in check. That is, until a murder occurs and things spiral out of control.

Among Us Story: On Guard is coming to PC and Nintendo Switch.