It has been a properly packed week for video game news. Rockstar has offered a clearer look at how weapons and NPC behaviour will work in Grand Theft Auto 6, Hideo Kojima’s Physint has found a new publishing partner in Xbox after PlayStation stepped away, and Nintendo has unloaded a ton of announcements including a very real Ocarina of Time remake.
Then there are big updates for No Man’s Sky and Valheim, some new releases, and a pretty complicated response to Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine. So yeah, there is a lot to get through.
Key Takeaways
- GTA 6 will limit visible weapon carrying and make NPC reactions depend on how threatening a weapon appears.
- Xbox will publish Kojima Productions’ Physint after PlayStation cancelled its involvement in the project.
- Nintendo revealed Kirby and the World Beyond, Metroid Ravenous, and an Ocarina of Time remake due 5 November 2026.
- No Man’s Sky Cosmos, Valheim 1.0, and the divisive Marvel’s Wolverine reviews round out a packed week.
Table of Contents
- GTA 6 weapon mechanics are built around NPC reactions
- Xbox is publishing Kojima Productions’ Physint
- Nintendo Direct highlights: Kirby, Metroid, Star Fox, and more
- The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake arrives in November
- No Man’s Sky Cosmos, Valheim 1.0, and the week in releases
- Marvel’s Wolverine reviews are all over the place
- A busy week with some genuinely big shifts
GTA 6 weapon mechanics are built around NPC reactions
Rockstar’s Rob Nelson has shared more details on GTA 6’s weapon system, and it sounds like Rockstar is moving away from the ridiculous infinite weapon wheel approach of GTA 5.
In GTA 5, I could pull an entire shotgun, rifle, or RPG out of nowhere directly in front of somebody and, most of the time, the population would barely care. That worked for the older, more arcade-like feel of GTA, but it would look pretty goofy in a world that is trying to sell a much more detailed and reactive simulation.
That is the core idea here. Rockstar says the older approach does not fit the behavioural sophistication it wants from GTA 6’s population. NPCs will notice weapons, and their reaction will depend on how threatening the situation looks.
The reported system works roughly like this:
- I can carry two concealed handguns without openly alarming everyone around me.
- I can carry larger weapons, such as long guns, but they are physically visible.
- If I am carrying two large weapons, one can be on my back while the other is held in my off-hand.
- Walking around with a long gun slung on my back may be tolerated.
- Holding that gun out in public will make NPCs uncomfortable, prompting them to move away or otherwise react.
That last part is where it gets interesting. It is not simply a binary system where a gun makes everyone instantly panic. Rockstar is apparently building degrees of reaction into the population. A weapon stored on my back creates one social read. A weapon in my hands creates a much more immediate threat.
It is not as if no game has ever had people respond to weapons, of course. But in an open world as dense as GTA 6 is aiming to be, that additional nuance could make everyday decisions feel way more deliberate. Even just deciding whether to walk into a shop armed could matter.
It also sounds as though vehicle storage will be important. With less room to carry a miniature army on my person, the trunk could become the practical place to stash extra firepower. That feels closer to Red Dead Redemption 2, with a little Max Payne 3 energy thrown in. I am very curious to see how much this system affects heists, free-roaming chaos, and basic exploration.
For more of Nelson’s comments, GamesRadar’s report on GTA 6 weapon reactions has the additional context.
Xbox is publishing Kojima Productions’ Physint
Now for some juicy industry drama. Xbox has announced that it is working with Kojima Productions to publish Physint, Hideo Kojima’s upcoming tactical espionage game. It is a major shift because Physint was originally announced as a PlayStation partnership.
Given Kojima’s history, the tactical espionage label has naturally led a lot of people, myself included, to think of this as a return to the kind of space he occupied with Metal Gear. Not necessarily a Metal Gear clone, obviously, because Kojima is Kojima, but definitely a project that feels closer to those roots than Death Stranding.
PlayStation’s public statement was diplomatic. The company said it had made the difficult decision to stop collaborating on Physint, while praising Kojima’s vision and stressing that its broader relationship with him remained strong.
Kojima’s own statement was a lot more direct. He said that Kojima Productions had received notice in mid-June that PlayStation Studios was cancelling the project. He then explained that the studio spent the following three months looking for a new partner before finding one in Xbox.
That bluntness is notable. These situations are normally wrapped in vague corporate language, with everyone trying to pretend the break-up was completely mutual. This one did not really go that way.
The story gets messier through reporting that PlayStation had concerns about Physint missing milestones, going over budget, and still being early in development. Honestly, I understand how those concerns arise. Kojima games can take a long time and cost a lot of money. That is not exactly surprising at this point.
Still, I cannot help feeling that PlayStation may have handed Xbox a big win here. Xbox is already working with Kojima Productions on OD, and now it has added another high-profile Kojima project to its catalogue. Even if Physint takes a long time to arrive, simply having the project is a statement.
People have also pointed to the reported 2.5 million sales of Death Stranding 2: On the Beach across PS5 and PC. Whether that was enough for PlayStation’s expectations is unclear, but the wider situation has raised fair questions about how much space major platform holders are willing to give prestige projects that may not fit cleanly into a conventional blockbuster model.
I am a massive Kojima fan, so I can understand both sides. His projects are ambitious, strange, expensive, and rarely quick. But it is also good to see real competition between the platform holders again. Xbox needs wins, PlayStation cannot keep coasting on goodwill forever, and a little old-fashioned back-and-forth makes this whole industry more interesting.
Xbox’s announcement is available through its official Physint partnership update.
Nintendo Direct highlights: Kirby, Metroid, Star Fox, and more
Nintendo had an enormous week too. A Nintendo Direct brought updates and new announcements across Switch 2, including new editions of Pikmin 4 and Hyrule Warriors: Age of Calamity.
There is also Star Fox Adventures coming to Switch 2. It is a weird game, no question, but it is cool to see it getting another shot at life.
The bigger new game reveals were these:
- Kirby and the World Beyond, an open-world-looking Kirby adventure where Kirby gets a seriously powerful sword and tears through reality to enter different realms.
- Metroid Ravenous, a new 2D Metroid game with a much more brutal tone, slick-looking enemies, and some very cool, early-2000s-style box art.
I am not the biggest Kirby person in the world, but Kirby and the World Beyond looks like a lot of fun. There is something inherently hilarious about taking this little pink guy and making him a reality-ripping destroyer of worlds.
Metroid Ravenous, meanwhile, has me immediately interested. I loved Metroid Dread, and this looks like it understands what makes 2D Metroid work: dangerous-looking creatures, oppressive environments, fast action, and that great mix of sci-fi exploration and pure menace.
The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake arrives in November
Nintendo also celebrated the 40th anniversary of The Legend of Zelda. That is a ridiculous number to say out loud. The celebration includes a concert tour, a Zelda movie officially titled The Legend of Zelda, and a bunch of themed Switch 2 hardware, controllers, and amiibo.
The huge news, though, is The Legend of Zelda: Ocarina of Time remake.
Nintendo showed actual gameplay rather than simply throwing out a logo and vanishing for three years. The remake appears to preserve the original structure and gameplay while adding visual detail and smaller changes rather than rebuilding it as a giant open-world game.
That is probably the right call. Ocarina of Time is one of the most important and formative games ever made. It does not need to be turned into an endless sandbox. The real question is whether the remake can preserve what made the original dungeons, pacing, atmosphere, and sense of discovery so special.
The visual style has already created the usual Zelda art-style debate. Some people think it is too hyper-real or slightly uncanny. Personally, I like it. Link’s big expressive eyes keep him stylised, while the environments have more texture and presence. The altered tunic details are a nice touch too.
My biggest remaining questions are about voice acting and the dungeons. Voice acting can absolutely make or break the tone, and the dungeons need to feel like more than pretty recreations. Still, Nintendo putting the game out there and showing it properly is a strong first step.
No Man’s Sky Cosmos, Valheim 1.0, and the week in releases
No Man’s Sky has somehow reached its 10-year anniversary, and Hello Games is still dropping huge updates like it is trying to prove a point. The latest is the Cosmos update, which adds more space-station building and spacefaring-focused content.
At this point, No Man’s Sky is basically a different game from what launched in 2016. Cosmos looks massive, and it is wild that the studio is still finding major new directions for it.
Valheim has also hit version 1.0. It is one of the few survival games of this type that I have genuinely enjoyed, so I am very interested in getting back into it.
Elsewhere, BlizzCon is happening soon, which means more Blizzard news is likely right around the corner. As for releases and launch updates, here is the quick rundown:
- Mewgenics is now available on more platforms. It is very weird, as expected, but fans of The Binding of Isaac should feel right at home.
- War Dogs has entered early access for anyone looking for a competitive shooter.
- Halloween: The Game has now fully launched. It is janky and a little busted in places, but I still found charm in it. Its single-player elements do a decent job of respecting the original John Carpenter film, especially given the game’s budget.
Marvel’s Wolverine reviews are all over the place
Reviews are now out for Insomniac’s Marvel’s Wolverine, and the conversation is all over the place. I came away disappointed, which genuinely bums me out because Wolverine is one of my favourite characters. I am currently rereading Weapon X, so I was very ready for Insomniac to give this character the same definitive treatment it delivered with Spider-Man in 2018.
That is not really what happened for me.
The common criticisms around combat being simple and the game being fairly handholdy did not bother me too much. A straightforward action game can absolutely work. Wolverine should feel immediate, brutal, and satisfying.
My larger issue was that the story and characters did not resonate with me. There are cool moments, strong cutscenes, good Wolverine skins, and flashes of exactly what I wanted. But after finishing it, I did not feel much. I was not thrilled in the way I hoped I would be.
That does not make it some apocalyptic disaster, despite what social media would have everyone believe. It just means the game did not land for me in the places where it mattered most.
More importantly, one review should never be treated as the final word. I have been wrong before, and every critic has been wrong before. Sometimes I dislike a game that somebody else loves. Sometimes I love a game that somebody else cannot stand. That is just how this works.
I always recommend checking multiple reviews, considering what each person values, and then deciding based on what matters most personally. My full thoughts are available in the Marvel’s Wolverine Before You Buy review, with more discussion to come once the game is out and the story can be discussed more openly.
A busy week with some genuinely big shifts
GTA 6 making NPC reactions and weapon visibility part of the core sandbox is exactly the kind of detail that could make Vice City feel more alive. Xbox picking up Physint is a major twist in the Kojima and PlayStation story. Nintendo has given Zelda fans a remake to argue about for the next several months, which is honestly the natural order of things.
Then on top of all that, No Man’s Sky is still huge, Valheim is finally at 1.0, and Wolverine has become one of those releases where the conversation is almost as interesting as the game itself.
Busy week. Pizza’s on me.
