Final Fantasy 9 sidequest discovered after 13 years
Who knows what secrets Shadow of the Colossus could still be hiding.
The 2000 PlayStation hit Final Fantasy 9 will be 13 years old later this year, but that doesn't mean it doesn't still have some secrets. Just this week someone discovered an entire sidequest that had gone undiscovered for over a dozen years.
As detailed by Youtube user GarlandTheGreat (via Gamefaqs user The_Kusabi through the Ultimania guide), the ridiculously obscure sidequest occurs at the Tantalus hideout at the beginning of disc 4. You'll come across Zenero and Benero wondering where Marcus and Cinna are, a line of dialogue most people will see but not think much of. What they don't know is that if you go to Memoria and beat a boss or watch a cutscene, then head back to the hideout, you'll find Genero wondering where Zenero and Benero are. Repeat this process several more times as everyone wonders where everyone else is and eventually you'll receive a Protect Ring at the hideout.
As pointed out by NeoGAF, such obscure findings umpteen years after the fact has happened before with Blood Omen: The Legacy of Kain's mysterious pirate ship.
So maybe all those Shadow of the Colossus secret hunters' efforts haven't been in vain after all.
Android, iOS, PS4, Xbox One, PS3, PS1, PC, Nintendo Switch
Here are our PS Plus Premium and Extra games for April
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered! Squirrel with a Gun! More!
Sony has lifted the lid on its PS Plus Premium and Extra game offerings for April.
Some of these games leaked ahead of schedule, but there are still more than a few surprises joining the service later this month.
The following games will be available for Premium and Extra PS Plus members from Tuesday, 21st April:
- The Crew Motorfest | PS5, PS4
- Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered | PS5, PS4 (Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered will be available to PS5 players, and Horizon Zero Dawn Complete Edition will be available to PS4 players to download)
- Football Manager 26 Console | PS5
- Warriors: Abyss | PS5, PS4
- Squirrel with a Gun | PS5
- The Casting of Frank Stone | PS5
- Monster Train | PS5
PlayStation Plus Premium members will also be able to play the following:
- Wild Arms 4 | PS5, PS4
The Casting of Frank Stone is an interactive game set in the world of Dead by Daylight, and a collaborative effort between slasher aficionados Supermassive Games and Behaviour. We had mixed feelings about it on its release in 2024, with Eurogamer's The Casting of Frank Stone review branding it "an insubstantial origin story", but one with "some precious moments".
Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered, meanwhile, is a souped-up version of Aloy's first outing, with "more than ten hours" of re-recorded conversation motion capture, as well as "countless" graphical improvements said to give the remaster the same visual fidelity of Horizon Forbidden West. Our friends over at Digital Foundry took a look at the spruced up game on its initial release, concluding "yes, the upgrades are worthwhile" in their Horizon Zero Dawn Remastered tech review.
As you may have guessed already, Squirrel with a Gun is about a squirrel with a gun, but amazingly I can't find anything more about it on the site than that. I had a look on Steam, though, and it currently has a "Very Positive" review average, with users generally praising its ridiculous humour.
You can find further details, including a Sony Pictures Core offer, over on the PlayStation Blog.
Has anything taken your fancy from this batch of games? For more on the service, be sure to check out our guide to PS Plus and all the available games.
PS4, PC
PS2
First-person survival horror Total Chaos is getting a Switch 2 port later this month
Portable suffering.
After making a decent splash last year, Total Chaos has found a new platform to terrorize in Nintendo Switch 2, and the best news is we won't have to wait long to return to Fort Oasis.
The first-person survival horror game, which was originally created as an ambitious Doom 2 mod and later remade into a standalone title with higher production values, will infect Nintendo's hybrid console on 29th April. It's already available on PC, PS5, and Xbox Series X/S.
"Total Chaos on Nintendo Switch 2 runs at 1080p in docked mode and 720p in handheld mode, with selectable performance and unlocked-framerate modes targeting 60 FPS," the press release states. It's unclear how many modes and performance settings we're talking about here, but it's always good to have a handful of options, especially when taking into account the variable refresh rate capabilities of the console's own screen. Not every Switch 2 port is making use of that edge, so it's exciting to see more developers actually take advantage of the hardware.
Perhaps more interesting is the mention of "Joy-Con 2 mouse and gyro controls" being included from the get-go. Metroid Prime 4 was an excellent example of how the Joy-Con 2 mouse controls could make FPS shine on the platform, but they feel extremely underutilised so far. If the 60 FPS target is good enough, that might be the perfect way to experience a survival horror that's more fast-paced than most due to its Doom 2 roots.
Last but not least, there will be full version parity, with the Switch 2 release packing all the post-launch content updates when it hits: New Game+ (including an alternate ending), a new relentless stalker enemy type in the Hunter, and more. As someone who personally loved his time with the game on PC, I can say it's the sort of survival horror ride worth revisiting with gameplay tweaks.
Total Chaos on Switch 2 will sell for $24.99 on the Nintendo eShop, with pre-orders going live today in North America. A physical version hasn't been announced at the time of writing.
PC
Old School RuneScape's latest League is out now, pushing thousands of players to cry at kids and get haircuts for the devil
Yama damma doo.
Old School RuneScape has just launched its sixth ever limited-time league event, allowing MMO lovers to dive into a selection of new servers to experience the world under the thumb of the hellish Yama. Called Demonic Pacts, over 150,000 people are playing the game as of writing, mere hours since its release.
Running from today up until the 10th June, Demonic Pacts locks off the starting zone of Lumbridge and Draynor, and instead thrusts the population into the relatively-new Varlamore. From here, a massive list of tasks lies between powerful new pacts that dramatically change the typical RuneScape gameplay.
With boosted XP rates and infinite run energy, Leagues are a faster-paced approach to the grindy MMO, allowing adventurers to blast through levels wish relative ease. There are also relics, which provide massive boons to your character, such as toothless resource gathering, automatic smelting and cooking, and much more.
The League's namesake - demonic pacts - take the form of a Path of Exile style skill tree. By completing select tasks, you can construct a quirky build that flips the whole game on its head. For example, crossbows always hitting their max damage turns a slower ranged damage type into a walking cannon. These, thankfully, are all respecable, so experimentation is encouraged.
For those who complete these tasks, special trophies and cosmetic unlocks can be brought over into the regular Old School RuneScape servers. Some of these tasks are really daunting, but for today, the majority of them are quite simple. Milking a buffalo, getting a hair cut, crying in front of a child, and picking cabbages are a few select prime picks, and only the tiniest slice of the full pie.
Does this sound interesting to you? Let us know how you feel about Old School RuneScape, and its Leagues. If you've not thought about RuneScape in years - you may be surprised to hear it's actually having a bit of a boom right now.
