Key Note Gaming

Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will require around 200GB of storage when it launches next year, director Naoki Hamaguchi has warned. The Square Enix developer talked about the install requirements for the remake trilogy's long-awaited conclusion during an interview with VGC . When talking about how Final Fantasy 7 Revelation will compare to previous entries in the series, he confirmed that the final chapter of Cloud and Sephiroth's story will be especially demanding. "Things are still getting worked out, but it’s probably going to be around 200GB of game," Hamaguchi said when asked about additional downloads for physical versions of Final Fantasy 7 Revelation . "I understand there are a lot of opinions about this topic, but at the end of the day, the fact is we need to overcome the hardware to a certain extent. "One thing I want to say is, even though the game will not be on the full disc, in the position we’re in, because discs may be dying out, or maybe stayi...

Developer Rebel Wolves' September success story, The Blood of Dawnwalker , cost just $40 million to make. Information related to the Warsaw, Poland-based studio's behind-the-scenes activities comes from a new Bloomberg report. It included the news that Rebel Wolves managed to bring The Blood of Dawnwalker to life and find a solid audience with little more than the $40 million budget supplied by NetEase Inc. Game designer Konrad Tomaszkiewicz, who previously served as one of the leading developers behind games like The Witcher 3: Wild Hunt and Cyberpunk 2077, worked on early versions of Rebel Wolves' first game with a small team back in 2022. Tomaszkiewicz self-funded the project for that first year as the team hammered out its prototype in hopes of finding a partner, with NetEase later stepping in with the fund the game while acquiring 26% of the studio. The $40 million figure comfortably lands The Blood of Dawnwalker in the AA space instead of the AAA realm where games oft...

Remedy Entertainment's games have always been inspired by the late, great filmmaker David Lynch , who passed away in January 2025. Best known for the influential muder mystery series Twin Peaks and cult classic thriller Mulholland Drive, Lynch's penchant for merging surrealism with horror and absurism made him iconic as a director and screenwriter. Those inspirations are clearly seen in 2019's Control and especially in 2023's Alan Wake 2. Now, Remedy's latest game Control Resonant features an Easter egg that pays tribute to him with one of the most powerful quotes from Twin Peaks. Throughout the open zones in Control Resonant, you'll find tons of details in the environment that build up its fictional version of New York City. One is a movie theater with a marquee outside that reads: "NOW PLAYING: FIX YOUR HEART OR DIE." It's a reference to a line from 2017's Twin Peaks: The Return in which the character Gordon Cole (played by David Lynch himse...

In the wake of fierce online backlash, Professor Layton developer Level-5 has released a new statement apologizing for the mistrust caused by generative AI use in its recent showcase for upcoming titles, insisting some examples spotted by fans were simply human error. Not only that, but the studio has insisted that some mistakes flagged as AI errors by eagle-eyed commenters on social media were actually human mistakes. The Japanese studio has now vowed to clean up these offending portions. For those who missed it, Level-5 released its “VISION 2026 II: Dreams” presentation on YouTube on September 10. Narrated by a cartoon version of CEO Akihiro Hino, the showcase walked viewers through the studio’s upcoming releases, including Yokai Watch 2: Haunted Domain, Decapolice, and a first look at Professor Layton and the New World of Steam . However, shortly after the video dropped, social media was flooded with comments and reaction videos . Commenters scrutinized backgrounds and art, noting ...

Magic: The Gathering’s Marvel Super Heroes set may have given way to the game’s return to Middle-earth with The Hobbit, but that means discounts are getting more regular on the prior, spandex-clad set. The good news is that these savings extend to the Commander Decks, including the Doom Prevails one focused on supervillains from the Marvel Universe. Not long ago, the deck was being sold for significantly more than the MSRP, reaching above $80. Now? It’s dropped from its $75 price to $64.95 . And yet, if you’re looking to pick up a deck from the set, it’s not the one I’d recommend. Skip Doom Prevails, Buy This Precon Instead It pains me to say it in the Year of Doomsday, but Doom Prevails just isn’t the most cohesive deck you can pick up from the set. It leans into the Connive mechanic to drain foes of life and trigger plenty of discard effects, but it’ll need some elbow grease (and investment) to get it onto the same level as some of its rivals. There’s a copying subtheme, token gener...

Bruce Straley, the game director behind The Last of Us and various Uncharted games, finds modern AAA games to be "boring." As part of an Edge magazine story about the state of the games industry, Straley spoke about the AAA landscape. He noted that he finds the big blockbuster titles to be "boring," partially because of the lack of risk-taking. Straley pointed to God of War Laufey as an example of a game that obviously takes a lot of effort and skill to achieve, but may not innovate in notable ways. “God of War Laufey, I look at that game, and every pixel is mindblowing," he said. "The amount of work and skill that’s gone into every single frame… I’ve made those kinds of games, and I’m still blown away. But when I actually look at what you’re doing in the game? I’m not excited. And that’s nothing against the God of War team. Just, across the board in triple-A, it feels like there’s no opportunity to inject fresh, innovative ideas.” The irony, as many peo...