Horizon Forbidden West 's narrative director Ben McCaw has said that the game has been designed so it's possible to focus purely on the main story, suggesting that you'll be able to skip most of the side content.

Speaking with IGN , he said "We wanted to make sure that there's a certain path through this game, where if players want to experience the main quest and kind of get to the end of the story as quickly as possible, that they could do that, and also there's definitely a progression through this game that's really focused on combat."

However, judging by IGN's preview on the game, you'll have plenty of reasons to stray from the main path as Guerrilla Games has worked to make side activities more meaningful and ultimately contribute to Horizon's world.

"It's great to have a huge open world, but if all of the activities in it feel tacked on or not related or not essential, that's not a great feeling ... If there is going to be an activity in the world, a board game, a melee pit, even a camp or outpost associated with Regalla's rebels, and things that return from the previous game, they all need to feel part of the world. They all need to be part of the story" McCaw explained.

For example, sidequests are woven into the overall story, with McCaw promising that any NPC you aid will return in some capacity afterwards. Some will also offer more worthwhile rewards such as a new weapon type.

Boring game? No, board game

IGN's preview has confirmed a couple of entirely new side activities as well, such as a dedicated board game called Machine Strike which involves using machines to capture terrain.

You'll be able to acquire new game pieces throughout the adventure, each one having their own stats, and it implements parts of the main game like the armor plating from the machines Aloy fights in the wild and her Overcharge ability.

There is also an optional arena mode that has you attempt different combat challenges within a time limit. Completing them will earn you medals that can be spent on acquiring new equipment and there are online leaderboards so players can compete with one another.

Horizon Forbidden West will launch next month on February 18 for PlayStation 5 and PlayStation 4. While there is plenty of PS5 footage to gawk over, we have yet to see any dedicated PS4 gameplay , although screenshots confirm that it will at least look just as pretty as it does on PS5.

Elden Ring will be less stressful than Bloodborne, but not in the way you think

It sounds like Elden Ring may not run up your blood pressure as high as Bloodborne , Sekiro or Dark Souls 3 , as producer Yasuhiro Kitao explains that elements of the game have been developed to actively keep player stress levels low.

As reported by IGN , Kitao stressed this notion in a lengthy interview during the Taipei Game Show 2022. "With the game's world being so large, that can produce real depth and breadth of enjoyment, but it can also lead to unnecessary stress for some players," said Kitao. "The dev team has been very careful to avoid that where possible."

Interviewer Misuzu Araki added that this was understandable: "With battle already being fairly difficult, I can understand wanting to reduce stress elsewhere." Kitao agreed, adding "especially as the enemies are so strong."

But how exactly has stress been reduced?

Torment-free travel

FromSoftware's intention to create a stress-free environment does seem counter to the hostile nature of the worlds in its back catalog. From the poisonous, framerate-destroying swamps of Blighttown to the parasitic infestations of Senpou Temple, From's games are for the most part rife with danger.

However, Elden Ring being an open world title changes things. And as Kitao explains, that low-stress design mostly pertains to traversal of the game's world: "Horses provide a stress-free method of traveling across the long distances the player needs to travel in the game."

Kitao also suggested that air currents exist for that same reason – to provide players an easy way to ascend cliffs with ease: "That system was introduced as a means of quickly and enjoyably moving vertically upward in order to explore those higher areas."

Additionally, we've already seen some of these stress-free elements of Elden Ring in action, even before the interview detailed above. For example, we know that fast travel will be a part of Elden Ring, which makes sense for such a huge game world. However, unlike From's previous Soulsborne titles, Elden Ring also features a map, on which the player is able to jot down their own waypoints that then appear in the game.

Finally, running back to collect your dropped currency (known as runes in Elden Ring) on death is one of the most nail-biting undertakings in FromSoftware's games, and that's another element of Elden Ring where the developer has elected to reduce stress significantly.

"With the map being so vast, [traveling back to collect runes] can become an unwanted stress for the player," explained Kitao. "With that in mind, we have identified a number of difficult spots, places with lots of enemies or powerful foes, as points at which many players will die and need to re-attempt that challenge.

"The player is able to select the option of respawning very near the spot of their death for these locations. This kind of measure is another example of the team's efforts to implement systems to mitigate player stress caused by the sheer magnitude of the game map."

We're looking forward to experiencing these stress-free elements in Elden Ring when the game launches on February 25, 2022 for PS5 , Xbox Series X /S, PC and previous generation consoles. All these new conveniences should mean we'll still lose our minds, albeit at a blissfully slower rate.

Does Microsoft’s purchase of Activision Blizzard give Guitar Hero a new lease of life?

A bevy of franchises will likely soon be joining team Xbox, as Microsoft today announced it’s agreed to buy gaming publisher Activision Blizzard for close to $70 billion. Alongside Call of Duty , Warcraft, Diablo , and other huge brands making their to the company’s portfolio, another much-loved series received a mention: Guitar Hero.

The rhythm game series got a brief shoutout on the official Xbox website , hailing it as one of many titles heading to Microsoft, along with the likes of Crash Bandicoot , StarCraft, and Overwatch .

It’s the first mention of Guitar Hero from a games publisher in several years, as the series hit a dry patch of mainline releases some years ago after focusing on a mobile release.

The most recent game in the series, Guitar Hero Live, was released back in 2015 to a middling critical and commercial reception. So much so that Activision sold its developer, FreeStyle Games, to Ubisoft a couple of years later.

Microsoft’s decision to highlight the brand in today’s acquisition statements might suggest it has a brighter future ahead.

Analysis: more mobile games

Once a beloved game for letting you live out your rock ’n’ roll dreams in the innocent safety net of your own bedroom (with a miniature plastic guitar to boot), Guitar Hero had a solid run that ran out of steam by the early 2010s. The attempt to revive the brand with Guitar Hero Live, which had the added novelty of accompanying POV videos taken from the perspective of professional lead guitarists, didn’t pan out.

So, what’s likely to happen to the franchise under Microsoft’s wing? It might be prudent to expect a big push on mobile. Alongside all its talk in today’s announcement about Xbox Game Pass , streaming, and reaching new players, Microsoft hasn’t been quiet about setting its sights on the mobile market , angling it as a big reservoir that needs to be tapped.

With the series having already established itself on mobile, and many other music rhythm games finding success on the Google and iOS app stores, Microsoft might see the platform as a natural home for Guitar Hero.

That’s not to say more ambitious projects are out of the question. Last year, Unplugged: Air Guitar translated the fundamental Guitar Hero system to the Oculus Quest. It lets you rock out in rhythmic, gamified form in VR, without even the need for a silly plastic guitar to cling on to.

It might be expecting too much to think Microsoft will take Guitar Hero in the same direction, though, not least for the fact it hasn't banked on VR as heavily as its competitors.

In the immediate future, you can be pretty sure of one thing: the Guitar Hero series might be coming to Xbox Game Pass. Microsoft made clear that they’ll be putting as many Activision Blizzard titles on Game Pass as possible, and there’s no reason why this series of decade-old games should be an exception, licensing issues aside. It might be time to dig out that Les Paul again.