As the new year begins, Xbox has once again started things off with a new Developer_Direct. As they shared earlier in the month, this Direct would focus on DOOM: The Dark Ages, South of Midnight, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33, and a brand-new game. Here is everything that was revealed during the Xbox Developer_Direct January 2025 edition.
After 13 years, Ninja Gaiden is set to make its long-awaited return with Ninja Gaiden 4. The game is being co-developed by Team Ninja and PlatinumGames and features a brand-new protagonist, Yakumo. Following the events of Ninja Gaiden 3, a significant amount of time passed and players will find themselves arriving in a gruesomely transformed Tokyo following the return of the Dark Dragon, which has plunged the city into chaos. With a new protagonist comes new mechanics such as traversal using wires and rails and a new combat style, the “Bloodraven Form.” This new style manipulates the blood of oneself and enemies, transforming it into a massive weapon capable of slicing through multiple foes at once.
In addition to the reveal of Ninja Gaiden 4, Team Ninja also announced the definitive version of Ninja Gaiden II. Ninja Gaiden II Black is a remastered version of Ninja Gaiden II powered by Unreal Engine. It features some of the additions of Ninja Gaiden Sigma 2 while adjusting the weapon upgrade system to more align with the original relase.
Ninja Gaiden II Black is available now. Ninja Gaiden 4 is set to release this Fall.
Compulsion Games shared more details on the story and gameplay for South of Midnight. The game follows Hazel as she journeys across the South in search of her mother following a hurricane which caused catastrophic flooding and made their home to be swept down the river. As she makes her journey, she discovers she is a Weaver, someone who possesses magical powers and can see how our threads connect to form the woven tapestry of our fates.
With her new abilities, Hazel will overcome obstacles such as defeating enemies and removing barriers, from ‘conjuring’ past incarnations of objects to use them to overcome traversal and puzzle challenges, to combat-based spells to take on the biggest foes.
South of Midnight features a number of Southern-inspired locations – from flooded country sides, abysmal swamps, and Appalachian mountains. The game’s heart, however, is a story about family and healing. South of Midnight will release on April 8, 2025.
Sandfall Interactive has provided more details regarding its debut title, Clair Obscur: Expedition 33. During the Developer_Direct, the developers talked more about the game’s story, original world, and how it puts its spin on turn-based combat with its reactive-real-time, turn-based hybrid system.
Clair Obscur: Expedition 33 is set to release on April 28, 2025.
ID Software is going back to basics with DOOM: The Dark Ages. During the Developer Direct, ID talked about what’s new for combat, exploration, and the story for this prequel to DOOM (2016). DOOM: The Dark Ages will lead right into the Slayer’s testaments in DOOM (2016), serving as something of an origin story for the previous two games. The story will include exciting new characters alongside old allies, and of course, terrifying new villians.
With the aim to make the story and lore much more approachable, bringing deep story beats out of the codex and into incredible cutscenes for maximum impact, ID Software has rethinked about the game handles combat and exploration.
ID Software said that in DOOM Eternal, players felt like a fighter jet. In DOOM: The Dark Ages, players will be an iron tank, ready to stand and fight. To bring the focus to a grounded experience focused on the sheer power the Slayer weilds with devestating melee abilities and the return of strafing, new weapons like the Shield Saw are part of the forefront.
The Shield Saw can be used to both block incoming fire, decapitate foes from afar, or traverse the environment. New melee weapons include the huge, spiked flail, an electric guantlet built to pummel and paralyze incoming foes, and a fierce spiked mace. Each come with their own combos and upgrade options. Ranged weapons include a hulking double-barrel shotgun and a preposterous-looking machine gun that fashions high-speed rounds by breaking down actual skulls.
Exploration in DOOM: The Dark Ages has undergone the most changes compared to the past two games. The biggest change is that levels are less linear and has a level of freedom that has not been in a DOOM game. Players will have autonmy over which areas they can explore and which objectives they want to pursue. With the Shield Saw, exploration opens up even more with the ability to traverse across broken bridges, scale up ledges, smash through hidden paths, and crack into treasure troves nestled in every corner of the world. Exploration isn’t just encouraged, it’s rewarded with loot, upgrades, and secrets.
ID Software has announced that DOOM: The Dark Ages will release on May 15, 2025.