Dailyposts

It was announced this week that Animal Crossing: New Horizons will receive both a Nintendo Switch 2 update and a 3.0 update early next year. The trailer revealed so many new things coming to the game that it was a bit overwhelming, with one huge quality-of-life addition flying right past a lot of players: Batch crafting has finally arrived. source https://www.polygon.com/animal-crossing-update-big-change-qol/

Mortal Kombat still has its share of secrets, and the ability to surprise, more than 30 years after its debut in arcades. A new collection of the franchise’s earliest days, spanning four arcade games, various home ports, and spinoffs, is more than just a well-emulated series of classics (and not-so-classics) — it’s also a rich documentary about the making of the iconic franchise. source https://www.polygon.com/mortal-kombat-legacy-kollection-review-impressions/

Whaaawasthat? The hush before the scream, the prickle on your neck, the first cold snap sneaking under the door? It can only mean one thing: Halloween season is back, and so is Polygon’s annual Halloween Countdown . source https://www.polygon.com/best-halloween-horror-movies-tv-watch-2025/

A favorite game among movie nerds is “Name the best four-film run by any of the great filmmakers.” The consensus winner tends to be Francis Ford Coppola’s 1970s: The Godfather , The Conversation , The Godfather Part II , and Apocalypse Now . That’s hard to argue with, but my personal pick is Alfred Hitchcock’s sequence of four strikingly different masterpieces between 1958 and 1963: Vertigo , North by Northwest , Psycho , and The Birds . These films give you Hitchcock at his deepest, then his most flamboyantly entertaining, and then his sickest. And then there’s The Birds . source https://www.polygon.com/birds-best-horror-to-stream-alfred-hitchcock/

S.S. Rajamouli, the filmmaker behind India’s blockbuster hits RRR and the Baahubali saga , is back… with his Baahubali saga. But slightly shorter. source https://www.polygon.com/ss-rajamouli-baahubali-epic-release/

If you’re a Baldur’s Gate 3 fan who thought your time spent with the Dead Three was over, think again. With the new Dungeons & Dragons Rogue subclass Scion of the Three, it’s like Bane, Bhaal, and Mrykul never left. Does it feel a bit like a shameless tie-in to a popular video game? It sure does, especially looking at all the promotional art for these books. Am I extremely excited to try it out anyway? Absolutely. source https://www.polygon.com/dungeons-and-dragons-forgotten-realms-subclass-scion-of-the-three-baldurs-gate-3/

“Action” is a bit of an odd video game genre label in 2025. Most mainstream games you’ll play in a given year feature some form of action, whether it's Monster Hunter Wilds or Death Stranding 2: On the Beach . We can especially see how messy the genre can become at The Game Awards, which scrambles games with excellent combat into any number of possible genre categories, whether it be Best Action-Adventure or RPG. source https://www.polygon.com/best-action-games-of-2025/

George Lucas himself poked the first hole in the Light/Dark binary with the prequel trilogy, revealing that the Jedi were once too self-assured to see their downfall coming. Decades later, showrunner Leslye Headland pushed that concept even further in The Acolyte : Her short-lived Disney Plus series, set 100 years before The Phantom Menace , paints the Jedi as fallible space cops . Now, in Star Wars: Visions season 3 , director Takanobu Mizuno is pulling that same thread to further unravel the myth at the heart of the franchise. source https://www.polygon.com/star-wars-visions-season-3-ronin-duel-payback/

A woman walking down the street alone at night realizes she’s being followed. As her stalker draws closer, the clicking of high heels on the city street builds the tension to a breaking point, until suddenly… a startling hiss comes from just off-screen. But it's only a bus, which pulls up next to her, and the woman steps inside to safety. source https://www.polygon.com/scary-horror-movies-streaming-october-2025-oddity/

After taking a long break from science fiction, Vince Gilligan is coming home. The Emmy-winning showrunner got his start on The X-Files (he wrote 30 episodes) and even penned the screenplay for Will Smith’s superhero comedy Hancock . But since 2008, Gilligan has been firmly focused on the world of Breaking Bad . This November, with his new Apple TV series, Pluribus , he’s returning to the genre that launched his career. source https://www.polygon.com/pluirbus-vince-gilligan-science-fiction-influences/

None of Weapons ’ paranormal twists or gushing acts of violence spooked fans of Zach Cregger 's witchy drama as much as the proposition of a prequel. After the original horror movie blew up at the box office, and the sinister auntie Gladys (Amy Madigan) lit up the meme economy , Warner Bros.’ franchise talk felt inevitable — but even Cregger has stoked the fires. “I think that the Gladys story is such an interesting story that I think it’s going to feel very separate and stand on its own two feet,” the director insisted in October . “I don’t think it’s going to diminish Weapons .” source https://www.polygon.com/best-freddy-krueger-movie-nightmare-elm-street-3-dream-warriors/

Pluribus is already confirmed for a second season. Former X-Files writer and Breaking Bad creator Vince Gilligan and his team are hard at work mapping out the next batch of episodes for his mysterious science fiction show, which debuts on Apple TV next month. But what about beyond that? How many seasons does Gilligan have planned for Pluribus ? Ahead of the series premiere, we asked the show's creator what to expect. source https://www.polygon.com/how-many-seasons-will-pluribus-be/

Mega Rising is the next Pokémon TCG Pocket expansion coming on Oct. 29 , and along with it is the debut of Mega Evolution Pokémon cards. There will be three featured booster packs: Mega Gyarados, Mega Blaziken, and Mega Altaria . However, that won't be all as Mega forms of Pinsir, Absol, and Ampharos are joining the trio as well. source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-tcg-pocket-mega-rising-expansion-release-time-date-pdt-edt-cet/

The Sonic the Hedgehog movie franchise has gradually started incorporating more lore with each entry, like the latest movie's inclusion of Shadow the Hedgehog and his backstory with Maria. Though this has largely delighted longtime fans of the Blue Blur, the titling of the sequel to Sonic the Hedgehog 3 may be taking this fan-service concept a bit too far, with Paramount executives reportedly floating the idea of calling the fourth Sonic film Sonic CD . source https://www.polygon.com/sonic-the-hedgehog-4-movie-title-rumor/

Dungeons & Dragons ’ upcoming Forgotten Realms books , Heroes of Faerûn and Adventures in Faerûn , will offer players an extended look at the lands of Toril, the likes of which we haven’t seen in a long time. Besides (hopefully) extensive lore and locations, the books will also contain plenty of new rules, including Circle Magic spells, of which Wizards of the Coast gave a teaser in a recent post on D&D Beyond . source https://www.polygon.com/dnd-dungeons-dragons-circle-magic-spells-best-use/

The return of Mega Evolutions in Pokémon Legends: Z-A has been a delightful time in the fandom. From the excitement of the newcomers being revealed one-by-one ahead of release, to players forming very strong opinions about all 26 new Megas in the game, there’s a whole lot for Pokémon fans to be excited about right now. source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-legends-za-mega-evolution-zodiac-astrology/

There's no question that Gears of War ranks among the most influential video game franchises of all time. The Microsoft shooter helped popularize Unreal Engine, which is still widely adopted to this day. Its snappy cover mechanics were practically inescapable for a generation, and ultimately influenced series like Uncharted and The Division. Gears of War 2 and its spectacular set pieces may well be one of the best action games ever made, and it's difficult to imagine a world without Horde Mode. Would we even have games like Fortnite were it not for Epic Games' success with Gears of War? But if there's one aspect of Gears of War that's never gotten its due, it's active reload. source https://www.polygon.com/gears-of-wars-active-reload-mechanic-xbox/

A Halloween episode of a late-night talk show gets much scarier than host Jack Delroy (David Dastmalchian of The Suicide Squad and Murderbot ) intended in the highly stylish 2024 film Late Night with the Devil . Colin and Cameron Cairnes put a clever spin on the found-footage genre, supposedly combining a tape of a fateful 1977 broadcast with backstage recordings shot in black and white. After a brief documentary-style intro that lays out the plot groundwork, they effectively tell the story in real time. source https://www.polygon.com/late-night-with-the-devil-halloween-what-to-stream-horror/

Summoners have been a staple of the Final Fantasy series for decades. More often than not, they’re the spiciest magic users in your party, calling forth supernatural entities to dole out splashy elemental attacks, like Shiva for ice and Ramuh for lightning. Depending on the game, these monsters are known as Espers, Materia, Eikons, or just capital-S Summons. Whatever we’re calling them, they create a compelling link between gameplay and narrative that’s been persistent throughout Final Fantasy from the early ’90s all the way up to the modern era. They’re also a clever way to justify some of the series’ most jaw-dropping plot twists. source https://www.polygon.com/final-fantasy-summoning/

Life in outer space isn’t easy. Following a mission gone wrong and an unexpected hibernation, The Outer Worlds 2 drops you right in the middle of an odd world full of weirdly radical factions and overly aggressive creatures. This extraterrestrial trial is all about choices and consequences, but while it’s nice to have a bazillion different ways to approach each situation, it also makes matters more complex… And that’s where this handy collection of The Outer Worlds 2 guides comes in. source https://www.polygon.com/the-outer-worlds-2-guides-walkthrough-tips/

Your character might be all-powerful, but they will need companions in The Outer Worlds 2 . By having more members in your party, you can request help by activating their skills or have someone distract your enemies while you peacefully fire away. Better yet, you can make them mad at you after taking a course of action that goes against their personal beliefs and make them want to leave your party. source https://www.polygon.com/outer-worlds-2-all-companions-how-to-recruit/

If you’ve been binging horror movies all month, as so many people do ahead of Halloween, you may be desensitized to cinematic violence by this final stretch of October. It’s possible you’ve also grown tired of the same old tropes — the lumbering psycho killers and their teenage victims. 2024’s In A Violent Nature , one of the most original horror movies in recent years, solves both of those issues at once. source https://www.polygon.com/in-a-violent-nature-horror-movies-streaming-2025/

With Metroid Prime 4: Beyond finally around the corner, I’ve been reflecting on what it is about Retro Studios’ series that has stuck with me for over two decades now. The first Metroid Prime is an especially memorable game, full of music, biomes, and bosses that I can recall at a moment’s notice perfectly. I can also remember every single piece of Samus’ toolset, from her double jump all the way to her optional weapon upgrades like the Wavebuster. Each one deepens the exploration and opens up the unique shooter combat in ways that felt revelatory at the time. source https://www.polygon.com/metroid-prime-scan-visor-first-person/

The Outer Worlds 2 makes a strong first impression. You belong to the Earth Directorate, a do-gooder organization dedicated to restraining corrupt governments and corporations. After some capital-D Drama, you end up in the Arcadia system, a colony splintered by war between Auntie's Choice (the result of a merger between the first game's two big corporations), the Protectorate (collectivism taken to its worst logical conclusion), and the Order of the Ascendant (like the Catholic church, but with math instead of Jesus). There are also a bunch of rifts tearing holes in space and time, but right now, you really need to reach a relay station for urgent communications purposes. The problem is that it's in the middle of a warzone, and you need to figure out how to get there. source https://www.polygon.com/outer-worlds-2-review/

As a massive horror nerd and huge fan of Bram Stoker's legendary 1897 novel Dracula , I often struggle to enjoy film adaptations of his work. Many of them go wildly off-script, or focus more on cheap jump scares than on the steadily building sense of dread that eventually bubbles over near the end of the novel. For me, the aptly named Bram Stoker's Dracula — Francis Ford Coppola’s 1992 take on the novel — is the pinnacle of Dracula film adaptations. source https://www.polygon.com/bram-stokers-dracula/

Cultists of Takhisis all over the world, prepare your dark rituals, because Dragonlance is coming back. As announced on X, the legendary creators of the setting, Margaret Weis and Tracy Hickman, are coming back to Wizards of the Coast alongside actor, Dungeon Master, Dungeons & Dragons fanatic, and Tiamat faithful Joe Manganiello. source https://www.polygon.com/dnd-dungeons-dragons-dragonlance-manganiello-hickman-weis/

Decades of watching severed hands crawl around independently in various iterations of The Addams Family or horror-comedies like Idle Hands and Evil Dead II won’t really prepare you for the melancholy animated French film I Lost My Body , which alternates scenes of a hand independently fighting its way through Paris with updates on what its former owner is up to. source https://www.polygon.com/halloween-horror-streaming-recommendations-netflix-i-lost-my-body/

Xbox has found yet another way to raise prices, this time by increasing the cost of its Xbox Development Kit from $1,500 to $2,000. This 33% price hike, first reported by The Verge , is the latest in a long line of expensive choices from the company. Just a few weeks ago, a Game Pass subscription price increase had users in an uproar. This time around, the consequences of this change will affect developers as well as players. source https://www.polygon.com/xbox-raise-prices-development-kit/

GameCube launch title Luigi's Mansion is returning just in time for Halloween, with the game coming to the Nintendo Classics library October 30. It joins a lineup of five other titles from the purple lunchbox console: F-Zero GX , The Legend of Zelda: The Wind Waker , Super Mario Strikers , Chibi-Robo! , and Soulcalibur 2 . source https://www.polygon.com/luigis-mansion-nintendo-switch-2-gamecube-library/

Two teenagers share a private, tender moment at the local high school’s outdoor pool after hours. As they float together, suspended beneath the stars in the quietness of the night, the scene captures the fleeting, heady thrill of adolescent love, completely caught up in the moment, consequences forgotten. source https://www.polygon.com/chainsaw-man-the-movie-reze-arc-review/

It seems 007: First Light may be getting the same theme song treatment as the film franchise, and fans are theorizing Lana Del Rey is at the helm. It wouldn't be the first time the "Summertime Sadness" singer wrote a song for a Bond project — she previously made the song "24" for Spectre , but Sam Smith's "Writing's on the Wall" was ultimately chosen instead. source https://www.polygon.com/lana-del-rey-bond-theme-007-first-light/

Adam Driver's time in Star Wars playing Ben Solo, aka Kylo Ren, continues to be memorable. Kylo Ren's struggle to battle against his own legacy as the grandson of Darth Vader, as well as the manipulations of the people around him, namely Supreme Leader Snoke, was fascinating to watch. By the end of 2019's The Rise of Skywalker , Ren had chosen to turn his back on the dark side, saving Daisy Ridley's Rey in the process, at the cost of his own life. source https://www.polygon.com/adam-driver-steven-soderbergh-ben-solo-star-wars-movie-disney/

The Vintage Cube is one of the most popular cubes on Magic Online , the original digital platform for playing Magic: The Gathering before MTG Arena came around. Now, MTGA players will have a chance to experience true power when the Arena Powered Cube limited event debuts on Oct. 28. According to the official description, "This exciting event is unlike anything else on MTG Arena and will feature some of the most powerful cards from throughout Magic's history, including the Power Nine." source https://www.polygon.com/mtg-arena-powered-cube-magic-the-gathering-vintage/

The upside of this character-action-game genetic modification is a great-playing, highly challenging, and viscerally intoxicating new Ninja Gaiden game — and quite possibly the closest thing that we’ll ever get to a Metal Gear Rising Revengeance sequel. And, honestly, after 2012’s Ninja Gaiden 3 , anything is a step up for Team Ninja’s franchise. source https://www.polygon.com/ninja-gaiden-4-review/

Trainers have finally been able to dive into Pokémon Legends: Z-A over the weekend, beginning to unravel the mysteries behind Lumiose City's rogue Mega evolutions. However, many players have been left with a new question completely separate from the game's main plot: Why is nearly everyone in Lumiose City having an existential crisis? source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-legends-za-lumiose-city-secret-npc-dialogue-sinister/

An issue with Amazon Web Services (AWS), the ubiquitous internet hosting service, took down many of the world's most popular online games in the early hours of Monday morning. Fortnite , Roblox , and Nintendo all reported that their services were unavailable. source https://www.polygon.com/fortnite-roblox-switch-online-down-offline/

There are so many ways to describe Sandfall Interactive’s 2025 RPG Clair Obscur Expedition 33 . Moving, beautiful, exhilarating. Game of the Year frontrunner . But, perhaps most obvious, after a glance at its mime enemies and characters clad in berets with baguettes at their back, is French . The game is French AF, wearing its inspirations proudly, which makes sense; Sandfall was formed by French game developers. source https://www.polygon.com/clair-obscur-expedition-33-sandfall-interactive-interview-french-af/

If you’re looking for evidence that the currently dominant mode of horror-as-social-satire wasn’t invented by Get Out , look no further than 1989’s Society . This extraordinary movie, directed by Brian Yuzna, lays out a conspiracy plot about a cabal of rich Beverly Hills socialites who prey on those less fortunate — then literalizes it in an unbelievably grotesque climax that will remain seared into your brain for decades. (I should know, I first saw it in the ’90s.) source https://www.polygon.com/society-best-horror-to-stream/

Red Dead Redemption 2 launched seven years ago this month, and it's still Rockstar's most successful satire. Sure, Rockstar hasn't done anything new since 2018, so it's not like Red Dead has any fresh competition. But with Grand Theft Auto 6 just over the horizon, I'm reminded just how well Red Dead 2 handles its critiques of American society. It has something to say about the emptiness of American ideals and how dangerous they can be in the hands of the wrong people, and it's not afraid to say it. source https://www.polygon.com/red-dead-redemption-2-anniversary-rockstar-satire-gta/

In Pokémon Legends: Z-A , Mega Evolutions are one of the main features, as so many of the Pokémon are capable of Mega Evolution, and it's a mechanic you'll need to use to take out some powerful enemies down the line. source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-legends-z-a-plza-mega-evolutions-list-stones-locations/

Wes Craven and New Line Cinema turned Nightmare on Elm Street into a nine-film franchise, complete with novels, comics, a video game, and a TV spin-off. Could The Black Phone have the same staying power? Could this become a long-running horror series like the Freddy Krueger movies, but with longer-lived protagonists instead of a new batch of Freddy-chum in every installment? Before any of that, the first question would be, “Will there be a Black Phone 3 ?” source https://www.polygon.com/will-there-be-a-black-phone-3-scott-derrickson-c-robert-cargill-interview/

These days, it’s not rare to see A-list actors appear in major video games. Giancarlo Esposito in Far Cry 6 . Keanu Reeves in Cyberpunk 2077 . J.K. Simmons in Baldur’s Gate 3 . Half of Hollywood in Death Stranding 2 . While such casting announcements are par for the course in 2025, the trend itself kicked off in earnest 15 years ago, with the release of Lionhead Studios’ Fable 3 . source https://www.polygon.com/fable-3-15-anniversary-retrospective-cast/

Vivienne Medrano’s Helluva Boss is a much more frantic, antic adult animated series than its sibling program, Hazbin Hotel . While they’re both revved-up, high-energy shows, full of dark comic elements and surprisingly deep emotion, Helluva Boss is more episodic and often more lightweight, with individual installments still carrying a larger plotline forward, but a lot of the action centering on in-the-moment hyperactive fun. source https://www.polygon.com/helluva-boss-ghostfers-animated-adult-horror-what-to-watch/

These days, I turn to Amazon’s Prime Video streaming hub to watch more movies than Netflix, Hulu, and Disney Plus combined. The service has “the goods” (i.e. movies made before 2011, tons of schlock ). But, boy, the interface stinks. Whether navigating on a TV device or a laptop or a phone, trying to find something half-decent on the service is often a chore. So let me do you a favor. source https://www.polygon.com/3-masterpieces-buried-on-prime-video/

Since debuting nine (!) years ago, Stranger Things has been regularly dubbed “Amblin-esque,” despite the show expanding beyond E.T. and Poltergeist pastiche to incorporate riffs on Terminator and Die Hard . The Duffer Brothers’ series has its unique lore-driven high points — season 3 sings as a Russian-conspiracy-fueled romp — but it tends to work more as a 1980s pop culture Easter-egg-a-thon than a skin-crawling horror mystery. In fact, I would say the experience the Duffers have aimed to replicate over 35-plus hours (with more to come when season 5 debuts in November ) is accomplished in a mere 85 minutes in the 1987 movie The Gate . source https://www.polygon.com/the-gate-1987-watch/

With Final Fantasy 7 Rebirth , director Naoki Hamaguchi made it clear that his remake of a beloved classic would honor the original story while also feeling like its own distinct tale. Though there’s still much to be discovered about the path he is taking us — and whether we will like it or not — it’s evident that Hamaguchi’s ambitious three-part remake project is creating the foundation on which the Final Fantasy series can thrive in future generations. source https://www.polygon.com/naoki-hamaguchi-interview-final-fantasy-7-remake/

Pokémon Legends: Z-A is the first mainline Pokémon game for the Nintendo Switch 2 (and the fourth for the regular Nintendo Switch), but, as it's in the Legends series, it's fairly different from your normal Pokémon experience. For this trip through Lumiose City, originally in Pokémon X and Y , you'll need to rewire your brain and relearn everything you know about Pokémon battles as the classic turn-based combat has transformed into real-time battles. You won't have much time to learn as the Z-A Royale has been sprung upon you, but don't fret as our guides will make the challenge as simple as bonjour. source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-legends-z-a-plza-guides-walkthroughs-where-to-find/

There are tons of Pokémon that have special evolution requirements in Pokémon Legends Z-A , just like in the games that came before it. Some Pokémon just need some specific stones thrown at them, some need to be traded, and some even need to be specific genders. If you're sitting around with your level 40 Pumpkaboo wondering why it hasn't evolved yet, then we're here to help you figure that out. source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-legends-z-a-plza-special-evolutions-list-stones-items-trade-all/

If you want your Pokémon to learn new moves (or relearn their old moves ) in Pokémon Legends: Z-A , you'll just need to find the specific menu option to do so. Following the trend from the more recent Pokémon games that came before this one, there's no move tutor NPC or anything like that. You can just do all this from a menu! source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-legends-z-a-plza-teach-relearn-new-moves/

Choosing your starter Pokémon in Pokémon Legends: Z-A is one of the earliest decisions you'll need to make in the game, and it can be a tough choice! Chikorita is an adorable little yam-thing, Tepig is a great pig friend, and Totodile is a fantastic little gator. So which one should you pick? source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-legends-z-a-plza-starter-choice-evolutions/

Videoverse , a 2023 visual novel set inside a fictional video game console's built-in community app, is coming to Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 4, PlayStation 5, Xbox One, and Xbox Series X on Nov. 14. It's arrival on Switch is especially notable given that the game is heavily inspired by Nintendo's now-defunct Miiverse app . source https://www.polygon.com/videoverse-console-port-november/

A giant, demonic creature with black horns and a long tail is only one of the images the name “Diablo” invokes. Throughout the years, Blizzard’s long-running series of action RPGs has worked with the somber tone of the dark fantasy, a language players have become used to. While preserving this valuable tradition, the team responsible for Diablo Immortal has found that they can still create a fun game even if they don't take the whole dark fantasy setting too seriously. source https://www.polygon.com/diablo-immortal-emil-salim-interview-druid/

In my Battlefield 6 campaign review , I explained how the single-player component of the first-person shooter misses the mark in almost every respect, from the seemingly random locations as you gallivant across the world to forcing you down narrow, linear paths when the series has always been about war on an epic scale. Well, it's safe to say multiplayer is by far the more worthwhile piece of Battlefield 6 , to the extent that it appears to be the start of a series comeback. source https://www.polygon.com/battlefield-6-multiplayer-review/

There are few moments as exciting in gaming as the release week for a new Pokémon game. Anytime a new game lands, it feels like everyone you know is playing it at once and everyone has an opinion on it. Pokémon Legends: Z-A is no different. It’s a make-or-break game for developer Game Freak, which has a chance to atone for the sins of its rocky Nintendo Switch era and right the ship once again. I can’t wait to dive in myself and see what the return to Lumiose City has in store for me, for better or worse. source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-conquest-2025-recommendation/

The universe surrounding the adaptations of Hannibal Lecter books is both rewarding and soul-crushing. There are some real duds, such as Brian Cox's Manhunter , the 1986 adaptation of the 1981 novel Red Dragon . But there are some incredibly rewarding pieces of media, too, like the 1991 film The Silence of the Lambs , featuring Anthony Hopkins as the disturbing cannibal, and Jodie Foster as the tough-as-nails FBI trainee Clarice Starling . source https://www.polygon.com/best-hannibal-episode-sakizuke/

The fifth and final season of Stranger Things will begin its rollout this November, the first of three volumes in a multipart release schedule. Teased by the show's cast and creators as the most action-packed season yet , co-creator Ross Duffer has now offered fans even more insight in a new Instagram post. source https://www.polygon.com/stranger-things-season-5-volume-1-episodes-runtimes/

KPop Demon Hunters , the animated sensation following demon-hunting K-pop girl-group Huntr/x, is, without a doubt, getting a sequel . However, if you expected it to be a live-action adaptation — an idea that has been floated around a couple of times since KPop Demon Hunters was released on June 20 — you'll be sorely disappointed. source https://www.polygon.com/kpop-demon-hunters-live-action-not-interested/

Critical Role Campaign 4 delves into the brand-new setting of Aramán, a world that is vastly different from that of Exandria, where the previous three campaigns were set. In this world, the gods were slain by mortalkind only 70 years ago, magic has gone wild, and we’re left with people having to come to terms with governing themselves without divine intervention. After watching the first couple of episodes, I can safely say that award-winning storyteller Brennan Lee Mulligan took the challenge of creating this new world even more seriously than I imagined. source https://www.polygon.com/critical-role-campaign-4s-lore-guide/

Once Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 players reach the game’s final act, all bets are off. Instead of being limited to 9,999 damage, players can instead now deal hundreds of thousands — even millions — of points of damage with their attacks. In a recent video interview with two co-founders of developer Sandfall Interactive, I was curious just how much damage the team was able to mete out when crafting Expedition 33 . source https://www.polygon.com/clair-obscur-expedition-33-sandfall-interview-player-damage-numbers/

Director James Whale was on a tear for the first half of the 1930s, directing three of the very best Universal monster movies: Frankenstein (1931), The Invisible Man (1933), and Bride of Frankenstein (1935). During that run, he also made The Old Dark House (1932), which isn’t quite so famous, on account of being out of circulation for several decades, and eventually thought lost. Now a restoration and the rise of free streaming has made it one of the era’s more perpetually accessible classic horror movies. Though it’s more overtly comic than Whale’s monster movies, where the humor is more macabre, it’s nearly their equal in mixing gothic atmosphere and memorably strange, often funny characters. source https://www.polygon.com/old-dark-house-early-james-whale-horror-classic-what-to-stream/

Every few days, 27-year-old Rosario checks Steam. He wants to make sure his visual novel about a queer sex worker, Parfum Nostalgique , is still up on the popular PC game distribution platform. He's heard of games getting pulled from Steam for simply having LGBTQ+ content, and just as many stories of creators who are surprised their games have survived an ongoing culling. "Nobody really knows what gets a game taken down," Rosario told Polygon in an interview. source https://www.polygon.com/steam-adult-games-physical-releases-parfum-nostalgique/

A comic book universe can only contain so many canonized stories, thus Marvel’s “What if…?” was born. The chance to imagine any farfetched, world-breaking idea hasn’t just been a boon for Marvel Comics writers, it’s also given novelists permission to go long and build an entire plane of the multiverse for themselves. source https://www.polygon.com/kitty-pryde-phoenix-force-book-excerpt/

The best zombie parodies are often great zombie stories in their own right. Take Shaun of the Dead , which sets out to skewer the genre but winds up putting most other undead movies to shame. The same goes for Zombieland — less of a satire, but definitely a comedy — which still manages to get in some good scares. And then, there’s the Community season 2 episode, “Epidemiology.” source https://www.polygon.com/community-zombie-episode/

Pokémon Go is having a Solosis Community Day event on Sunday, Oct. 12 from 2-5 p.m. in your local time. source https://www.polygon.com/pokemon-go-solosis-community-day-shiny-reuniclus-moveset/

Last month, Bandai Namco revealed Dragon Ball Daima ’s best characters would be coming to Dragon Ball Sparking Zero as part of the 2024 arena fighter’s season pass. It was the final piece of announced additional content for the game, which revived the Budokai Tenkaichi series (known as Sparking in Japan) after 17 years. Still, players are craving more to do. source https://www.polygon.com/dragon-ball-sparking-zero-one-year-later/

This classic 1951 creature-feature was the model for John Carpenter’s 1982 horror masterpiece The Thing . Both are based on the 1938 novella Who Goes There? by John W. Campbell Jr. and concern a team of Arctic (or Antarctic) researchers dealing with first contact with a hostile alien being that crashes its UFO in the ice. source https://www.polygon.com/the-thing-from-another-world-best-horror-to-stream/

Netflix’s endless scroll can feel like a labyrinth. For every buzzy new release, a true gem gets buried six menus deep. Just try finding anything made before the year 2010! source https://www.polygon.com/best-movies-masterpieces-on-netflix-oct-11-2025/

I hope Mark and Eve are fully recovered from the events of Invincible 's season 3 finale, as their next challenge is right around the corner. At New York Comic Con's Invincible panel on Friday, Oct. 10, Amazon showed off the first trailer for Invincible season 4 and announced it would premiere in March 2026. source https://www.polygon.com/invincible-season-4-trailer-release-date/

It’s debatable how much the term “gaslighting” can be applied to the Netflix thriller The Woman in Cabin 10 . On a scale from a note-perfect summoning of the 1944 film Gaslight (which involves a scheming man manipulating his new wife into thinking she’s crazy) to just using the word to describe garden-variety lying, it falls somewhere in the middle. But it’s clearly intended to recall classics like Gaslight and more conspiracy-minded descendants — mysteries like Flightplan or Breakdown , where the search for a missing person is complicated by others insisting the person was never there to begin with. On this level, The Woman in Cabin 10 is a sloppy belly-flop into the drink. source https://www.polygon.com/the-woman-in-cabin-10-netflix-review/

During a career-spanning interview ahead of the 2019 premiere of Primal , animator Genndy Tartakovsky admitted to Polygon that he had a singular ambition: “I want to be the best.” He wanted his shows to connect with big audiences, he wanted to surprise them with every turn, and he wanted to make it splashy as hell every single time. source https://www.polygon.com/genndy-tartakovskys-primal-takes-a-radical-horrifying-turn-in-season-3-trailer-reveal/

But the movie — directed and co-written by Phil Johnston, a writer on Wreck-it Ralph and Zootopia and co-director of Ralph Breaks the Internet — likely isn’t what any Dahl aficionado was expecting. It’s vastly different from the book in its plot, its cast of characters, its tone, the specifics and atmosphere of the world it takes place in, and even in its attitude to the horrible couple at the center of the story: Dahl’s unforgettable, irredeemable monsters, Mr. and Mrs. Twit. source https://www.polygon.com/netflix-the-twits-movie-roald-dahl-interview/

Absolum , like so many of its roguelike peers, is a game about experimentation. Four heroes set out on a quest to defeat a mad tyrant and save their realm, but they are all but destined to fail on their first attempt. The only path to victory is through change, mixing and matching magic spells to more effectively cut through rooms full of soldiers, lizards, and suicidal mushrooms. Even their route to the big bad can’t remain static, as being bold enough to venture down new paths will lead them to new spells and secrets. You don’t win a war without shaking up your tactics every now and again. source https://www.polygon.com/absolum-review/

2024’s The First Omen is one of the best prequel horror movies of all time, but it stands on its own merits as an excellent possession flick. The story follows a young American woman (Nell Tiger Free) who travels to Rome to begin her service at a Catholic orphanage during a time of political unrest in late-’60s Italy. There, she encounters a malevolent force that shakes her faith to its core and unravels a chilling conspiracy, one designed to usher in the birth of the Antichrist. source https://www.polygon.com/first-omen-possession-horror-movie-what-to-watch/

I’m about 18 hours into Sucker Punch Productions’ latest samurai adventure Ghost of Yōtei , but I’ve barely made any headway on the main story. It follows orphaned Atsu as she seeks revenge against the people who — oh, look at that cute fox ! I must follow, whereever it leads me. source https://www.polygon.com/ghost-of-yotei-open-world-exploration/

Marvel Rivals Season 4.5 is about to bring a new hero into the arena. Please welcome Matt Murdock, better known as Daredevil, who will take on the role of a versatile duelist. Of course, that’s not the only novelty set to arrive in the second half of Season 4 , a.k.a. the Heart of the Dragon season. source https://www.polygon.com/marvel-rivals-season-4-5-release-time-date-edt-pdt/

Six years after the release of One-Punch Man season 2, Variety reports that the third season of the hit superhero parody anime will finally be available to stream across several global platforms on Oct. 12. source https://www.polygon.com/one-punch-man-season-3-watch-where-how-release/

We got a taste of Ejae (Rumi), Audrey Nuna (Mira), and Rei Ami (Zoey), the glorious singers behind KPop Demon Hunters' fictional K-pop band Huntr/x, during their brief stint on Saturday Night Live . There, the girls featured as cameos in a sketch that had them fighting demons alongside rapper Bad Bunny. Entertaining, sure, but only a small taste of their vocal prowess. source https://www.polygon.com/kpop-demon-hunters-huntrix-jimmy-fallon-golden/

Nintendo's latest release is just as surprising as the shadowdrop of an Among Us -inspired Fire Emblem game . On Tuesday, Nintendo released the animated short film " Close to You ," without notice and without any kind of explanation. It's a big swerve from a company that loves to swerve. source https://www.polygon.com/nintendo-close-to-you-what-why/

For the 64th time since its release, Fallout 76 is expanding. (Yes, that’s a real stat!) This December, the post-apocalyptic MMO will receive a massive update in the form of Burning Springs . It will add new weapons and quests, take players to Ohio, include references to Fallout 3 and New Vegas , and even tie into Season 2 of Amazon’s Fallout TV series. What was once an outlier in the Fallout universe has slowly become its centerpoint. source https://www.polygon.com/fallout-76-burning-springs-interview/

Mythology from all over the world is full of fairy tales about childless folk who pray to the gods , unwisely invoke fate , or bargain with the supernatural for a child — only to wind up raising something that isn’t human. These stories are often dark, but they generally turn out well for the adoptive folk, whose parental loyalty and love is rewarded in the end. source https://www.polygon.com/2021-weird-fairy-tale-lamb-what-to-watch-horror/

The Black Ops 7 beta was scheduled to finish at 10 a.m. PDT on Wednesday, but that deadline has been pushed back by 24 hours, meaning players now have until Thursday to play the next Call of Duty game. source https://www.polygon.com/black-ops-7-bo7-beta-extended-new-map/

Released on Oct. 6, 2000, Digimon: The Movie weaves together three arcs from the Digimon Adventure series, charting the DigiDestined’s journey from their first encounter with Digimon to a high-stakes digital battle and a new generation’s adventure. It begins with siblings Tai and Kari witnessing a Greymon vs. Parrotmon showdown in Tokyo. The action then shifts to Tai and fellow DigiDestined Izzy, along with their partners, as they fight the internet-born Diaboromon before a nuclear strike. Finally, it concludes with Willis and the next generation of heroes confronting a corrupted Kokomon in the U.S. to save their friend. The film blends action, humor, and emotion, serving as both a nostalgic capstone for the original cast and a bridge to the next chapter. source https://www.polygon.com/digimon-the-movie-25-years-anniversary-anime-box-office/

After walking towards the Far Lands for over 14 years, streamer KurtJMac’s “Far Lands or Bust Marathon Subathon”, also known as the FLoB-a-Thon project, has been completed. The virtual hike, which began in March 2011, reached its end goal on October 4, 2025, when KurtJMac finally walked into the fabled, vertical Far Lands at the edge of the Minecraft map. source https://www.polygon.com/minecraft-far-lands-14-year-journey/

Long before Blumhouse, A24, and Jordan Peele, there was Stuart Gordon. The experimental theater director turned cult horror filmmaker made more than 20 films between 1985 and 2007. Many of them were schlocky B-movies full of cheap special effects, buckets of fake blood, and transgressive sexual behavior. The best of the bunch — which was also Gordon’s directorial debut — offers all three. source https://www.polygon.com/reanimator-streaming-online-free-october-2025/

2025 is, without a doubt, the year of KPop Demon Hunters . Sony Animation's smash-hit animated film, following the fictional K-pop girl group and demon hunters Huntr/x, has dominated Netflix since its release. It has also dominated with its theatrical release , broken Billboard records , and even become a sensation over on the fanfiction website, Archive of Our Own . (We get it, Polytrix fans.) source https://www.polygon.com/kpop-demon-hunters-huntrix-live-golden-snl/

The Game of the Year race has reached its tipping point. While we’ve had a clear-cut field of nominees for the bulk of 2025, September threw several wrenches into the conversation. With Hollow Knight: Silksong , Hades 2 , Ghost of Yōtei , and even Silent Hill f emerging as possible contenders at The Game Awards, at least one highly acclaimed game is going to miss the cut without an expansion of the field of nominees . If you’re looking at games on the chopping block, Blue Prince ’s chances may be looking dire right now. source https://www.polygon.com/blue-prince-goty-game-awards-localization-issue/

Before there was Skinamarink , 2023’s low-budget experimental horror oddity that took the watching-Shudder-at-2 a.m. sicko crowd by storm, there was Heck , 30 minutes of lo-fi nightmare fuel that's somehow even more unsettling than the feature it inspired. source https://www.polygon.com/skinamarink-watch-heck-short-inspiration/

Hollow Knight: Silksong 's story continues Team Cherry's narrative style from its first game, tucking bits of history and character development here and there. When you piece it all together, you're left a little astounded over how something that started out so simple ended up being so important in the end. Like the rest of Silksong , almost every part of the story is better and more ambitious than its predecessor, with a strong central idea and a remarkable twist. source https://www.polygon.com/hollow-knight-silksong-story-breakdown-lace-weaver-lore/

If you’ve been craving a horror-slasher film that’s a lot of dumb fun and will make you wince all at the same time, there’s a good chance Bone Lake is on your radar. This new horror movie from director Mercedes Bryce Morgan arrived in theaters on Oct. 3 with an absurd premise and the suggestive title to match. source https://www.polygon.com/bone-lakes-ending-explained/

With an unprecedented leak of the world’s most anticipated game, September 2022 might’ve been one of the worst periods in Rockstar’s history. It was a breach that cost millions of dollars and wasted thousands of human work hours. Worse, it triggered a special kind of mortification, when the public gets to judge an unfinished product that was never meant for their eyes. source https://www.polygon.com/gta-6-map-size-location-interiors-rockstar-leak-community/

The 1952 Finnish movie The White Reindeer is one of the great lost classics of folk horror. Although it won prizes at Cannes and the Golden Globes in its day, it was largely forgotten until a gorgeous 4K restoration started doing the rounds in 2017. It’s an eerie, utterly otherworldly dark fairy tale set on the desolate, snowbound fells of Sápmi (the Arctic region sometimes known as Lapland, though the native Sámi people consider that name pejorative). source https://www.polygon.com/the-white-reindeer-best-folk-horror-to-stream/

When we left My Hero Academia at the end of season 7, I knew the upcoming Final Season would open with one of the most emotional fights in the series. But despite already reading it in the manga, I forgot just how powerful this fight would get. Episode 1 (or episode 160, if you follow the overall numbering), titled "Toshinori Yagi: Rising Origin," drops us right in the middle of the battle between a now-Quirkless All Might and All for One, who has recovered his youth and his now heading to his "other half," Shigaraki, to take over his body. source https://www.polygon.com/mha-my-hero-academia-season-8-final-episode-1-scene-grandma/

Critical Role Campaign 4 delves into the brand-new world of Aramán, a world that is vastly different from that of Exandria, where the previous three campaigns were set. In this world, the gods were slain by mortalkind only 70 years ago, magic has gone wild, and we’re left with people having to come to terms with governing themselves without divine intervention. After watching the first episode, I can safely say that award-winning storyteller Brennan Lee Mulligan took the challenge of creating this new world even more seriously than I imagined. source https://www.polygon.com/critical-role-campaign-4s-lore-guide/

[ Ed. note: This article contains spoilers for Critical Role Campaign 4, episode 1.] source https://www.polygon.com/critical-role-campaign-4-characters-cast/

If you're a member of Amazon Prime and are looking forward to the upcoming second season of Fallout , then a prime opportunity has just fallen on your lap: Amazon's giving away a fresh lineup of games for free, including Fallout: New Vegas Ultimate Edition . source https://www.polygon.com/amazon-prime-gaming-fallout-new-vegas-givaway/

The world of Digimon Story: Time Stranger is filled with compelling mysteries and cool-looking Digimon to evolve, but navigating the digital world of Digimon games for the first time might feel overwhelming. From how to help your Digimon unlock new forms to the best skills to run with your agent, there’s a lot to learn. source https://www.polygon.com/digimon-story-time-stranger-beginners-tips-tricks-guide/

Plenty of games are challenging enough, but that hasn’t stopped people from trying to make them even more challenging via unconventional means. We’ve seen Dark Souls 2 beaten by someone using a guitar controller , a streamer reach level 100 in World of Warcraft using a dancepad , and many other hard game/weird controller combos. Just recently, the YouTube and Twitch streamer Dr. Doot beat Hollow Knight: Silksong using an electric saxophone. source https://www.polygon.com/hollow-knight-silksong-dr-doot-saxophone-playthrough/

Andy Weir’s science fiction novel The Martian became an instant bestseller when it was published in 2014, but despite its popularity, it was an odd choice for a big budget film adaptation. Originally self-published by Weir, the novel relies extensively on the internal monologue of astrobotanist and mechanical engineer Mark Watney as he goes into painstaking detail about how he survives after being stranded on the red planet by growing potatoes and pulling parts off of old NASA vehicles. The book is light on dialogue and heavy on explanations of chemical reactions. source https://www.polygon.com/the-martian-book-vs-film-matt-damon-andy-weir/

If you’re starting your Ghost of Yōtei adventure, you’ve got a wide world ahead of you. Sony’s samurai epic drops you into a sprawling field densely populated with things to do. There are quests upon quest to discover, tons of side activities, hidden trinkets, and more hidden throughout Ezo. Like any open world game, it can be a lot to take in at first. These Ghost of Yōtei beginners tips will help you navigate a busy world and equip you with everything you need early on. source https://www.polygon.com/ghost-of-yotei-beginners-tips/

It’s been 18 years since Magic: The Gathering first visited Lorwyn–Shadowmoor, a fantastical setting inspired by Celtic folklore. But early next year, fans will finally return to that world in Lorwyn Eclipsed . Unlike the first iteration, which took a relatively straightforward approach to its source material, Lorwyn’s homecoming is going to get decidedly weird. source https://www.polygon.com/mtg-lorwyn-eclipsed-dark-crystal/

Amazon's cloud-gaming platform is getting a big "rethink" in 2025, the company announced Wednesday , promising a "completely redesigned and reimagined Amazon Luna that combines innovative social party games with amazing blockbusters." In addition to streaming hits like Hogwarts Legacy , Indiana Jones and the Great Circle , and Kingdom Come: Deliverance 2 , the new Luna will include GameNight, a collection of family-friendly social party games. source https://www.polygon.com/amazon-luna-2025-redesign-gamenight-snoop-dogg/