Gaming

Arms Review: The Sweet Switch Science

Published

July 3, 2017

Lukas Velunta

I love fighting games. But I’m terrible at them. For all my desire to play a real-time game of chess, in which I predict and counter my opponent’s every move, I still launch into a Shoryuken when I meant to let loose a Hadoken. I am mechanically bad at the genre, so I have enjoyed fighting games only at the margins. Arms changes all of that.

Springing into action

Arms is exhilarating from the get go. The sick vocal samba track (which we recommend listening to as you read our review) amps you up for the bouts to come, punctuated (punch-tuated?) by the title screen that strikes with its graphic design. This is from a Nintendo infused with bold new blood.

The game pits people who woke up one day with extendable arms and decided to fight with them, to the adoration of fans worldwide. Just go with it. You control your colorful fighter — in my case, a Chinese woman named Min Min who has literal noodles for arms and a ramen bowl beanie — in over-the-shoulder one-on-one battles where you use your extendable arms as projectile fists. It’s boxing with Voltes V’s ultraelectromagnetic tops.

Mask on, mascots

The art direction in Arms speaks for itself. The characters are instantly recognizable. Hero games are all the rage (think Overwatch), and Nintendo enters the ring with this fighter that fuses the dev team behind Mario Kart with the freshness of Splatoon, proving again that they are the masters of creating video game icons.

Each of the game’s ten characters are instantly readable — you’ll never confuse Ribbon Girl with Mechanica. All thirty of the game’s titular arms (the weapons at the end of Min Min’s noodles) are also easily identifiable, and tell you if this particular fist is electric or fiery, heavy or light. The springiness of the characters’ arms communicates immediately whether your opponent’s attack will reach you, or whether you have enough time to slip in a counter. This readability is aided by the flawless 60 frames per second and 1080p/720p in docked/handheld mode, with antialiasing to boot. These visual elements combine to help you keep abreast of everything at any point during a match.

Float like a butterfly, sting like a bee

Fighting in Arms feels great. I started off using traditional controls in handheld mode, and fell in love immediately. Nearly all inputs are one button, from dashing, jumping, blocking, and activating your super (here called the Rush). Left or right punches are thrown with the respective triggers. You grab by punching with both arms at once. The left analog controls your movement as well as allows you to curve the punch. That’s it. Its simplicity makes Arms not about complicated button combinations, but about spacing, movement, and timing: the fundamental fighter essentials distilled.

There is one egregious issue in the traditional controls — no button remapping. Block is mapped to clicking in the left stick (my least favorite input), which has led to the double-edged sword of me never blocking. This leads to Muhammad Ali-like weaves through punches, but also renders me vulnerable to Rush attacks that I’m unable to dodge fully.

His hands can’t hit what his eyes can’t see

Nintendo polishes a central mechanic to the point that it’s blinding. Grand Prix, the game’s single-player component, does a great job of putting it all together and serving as a tutorial for the brutality of online.

The mode has seven difficulty levels, which represents the most gentle learning curve I’ve ever seen. Ranked is locked behind beating Grand Prix at difficulty level 4, so upon beating the cakewalk level 1, I jumped right into 4… and immediately got annihilated by the CPU. But by taking it one increment at a time, I was trained in the game’s basics. By the time I made it back to level 4, I could stand toe to toe with the AI, and even managed to score a Perfect against the secret final boss.

The mechanics are such that every time you lose, it’s your fault, and the game shows you why. You can review a CPU match immediately afterward with the replay functionality. It lets you see things in slow motion from the opponent’s point of view, from an overhead perspective, and from a variety of cinematic angles. Even if you lose, it still feels good, because hopefully you’ll learn from it.

Rumble, young man, rumble

This positive reinforcement is good training for the saltiness of online. The Party Mode is good clean fun, with a volleyball variant (the ball is a bomb that explodes when it hits the ground) and a basketball minigame (your opponent is the ball, and if your grab succeeds, you dunk your opponent or get three points if you’re behind the line).

There’s a more serious 1v1 fight mode, but it’s peppered in between the sports modes and the absolutely insane 1v1v1, 2v2, and 3vCPU modes. It’s a great way to practice against real people, and the lobby is refreshingly presented — there will be times when you aren’t matched up, but you can peek into the progress of ongoing fights via the bubbles in the lobby. As of the most recent patch, a proper Spectator Mode has been added, but that’s currently limited to four in a lobby — two fighting, two spectating (normal lobbies have a max of 10 players).

The real meat of Arms is in Ranked. It’s gated behind beating the Grand Prix at level 4, so everyone there should theoretically know how to play. I say “theoretically” because I rocketed from ranks 1 to 7 without losing a single best-of-three game (Ranked peaks at 15 for now). I’ve never been competitive at a fighter before, and there’s nothing like the mind game of prediction, counter-prediction, and reading your opponent.

It’s early days yet for Arms, and figuring out the intricacies and depth brought by the different characters and arms (each of the ten characters can use all of the thirty available arms) is exciting. By getting in on the ground floor, we’re building the metagame in real time. It’s a good start for Nintendo’s branching out into games as a service.

Fast casual

“Let’s play,” I tell Belle, my cousin. We’re waiting for our food at Pancake House, and I figure this is the perfect time to live out a Nintendo Switch commercial. For medical reasons, I’d never tried the motion controls before. Belle boxes in real life, so I know she’ll like this. I pop off the neon blue and red joy-cons and hand them to her, and take out another pair. They’re Arms yellow, vibrant as a highlighter.

She looks through the character screen with great interest. “Is she black?” says the palest, most privileged woman in our family who’s learning about social justice at the Ateneo de Manila University. She’s talking about Twintelle. “She uses her hair to punch? I want her.”

By this point, I’ve had Arms for a week and am deep into Ranked with Min Min. I use a different character for the first time — Kid Cobra, who’s tearing through the tier lists because of his innate advantages in the current metagame that is focused on charged attacks and dashes.

We play three best-of-three matches, and Belle wins every time. Maybe Arms makes savants out of us all.

[irp posts=”13796″ name=”Mario Kart 8 Deluxe review: The quintessential Switch game”]

Gaming

CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION physical edition now available for Switch 2

Zack Fair’s story comes to Switch 2.

Published

September 24, 2026

GadgetMatch

Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia and SQUARE ENIX have released the physical edition of CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION for Nintendo Switch 2 in Southeast Asia.

Players can also purchase the game digitally on the platform. Availability may vary by region and retailer.

Zack Fair’s story returns

Set in the mako-powered metropolis of Midgar, CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION follows Zack Fair, a young operative in Shinra’s elite SOLDIER unit.

Zack investigates the mysterious disappearance of SOLDIER operatives alongside his mentor, Angeal, and the legendary Sephiroth. His journey reveals the events that shaped the world of FINAL FANTASY VII and his connection to Cloud Strife.

The game revisits Zack’s story with an HD graphical overhaul of its character models, user interface, and environments. It also features fully voiced dialogue in English and Japanese, alongside an updated action-combat system.

Players can trigger Limit Breaks and Summons as they battle their way through the story. The game also supports handheld and docked play on Nintendo Switch 2.

A look back at Zack’s legacy

Originally released as a remaster of the PSP classic, CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION offers a refreshed take on one of the franchise’s most significant prequel stories.

In our GadgetMatch review, we explored how the remaster brings Zack Fair’s journey to modern platforms while preserving the emotional core of his story.

The release also gives players another way to experience the events leading into FINAL FANTASY VII, ahead of the upcoming FINAL FANTASY VII REVELATION, the third and final entry in the FINAL FANTASY VII Remake series.

For more information about CRISIS CORE -FINAL FANTASY VII- REUNION and other Bandai Namco Entertainment Asia titles, visit the official website.

Gaming

Dune: Awakening makes it way to the PS5 and Xbox Series X

Surviving the harsh land of Arrakis one sandstorm and bloodlust at a time

Published

September 22, 2026

Gab Orlina

Back in June of 2025, Funcom released its multi-nominated open world survival game, Dune: Awakening. Inspired by the renowned movie franchise, the game takes place within the deserts of Arrakis as players survive and thrive through intense combat and strategic decision making. Now, in the big 2026, Funcom is finally bringing that experience to PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S players as Dune: Awakening officially launches on console!

For the newbies finally getting it on console, here’s all you need to know:

Take the lead or do it together

Dune: Awakening takes you into the desolate land of Arrakis, and gives you the option to do it on Single Player or Multiplayer upfront. Through your own bidding in strategy, combat, and resource management, your goals are simple: survive the terrain, make more allies than enemies, and conquer the land through your affiliation to the powers that be.

This version of the game is as exact and as one-to-one as it possibly could with the PC version released last year, down to the story arcs, quests, and PvE/PvP areas you take on. Since launch, Funcom has introduced new weapons, areas, and cosmetics through DLCs that will be available to console players, as well. Also, several key features in story and mission progression that have changed on the PC version will take into effect.

If you want to engage with multiplayer, it is still a viable option when you want to gather more resources and reinforce your bases against other players and the natural elements. However, you still won’t be able to host your own server on a console just yet, as it is more stable to do so on the PC version.

Become whoever and whatever to survive

Character customization became the game’s bread and butter through its extensively library of features and unique take on story progression. As you begin your journey, Lady Jessica welcomes you in and asks you on your origin story, mentorship, and initial skill set — all of which are to your choosing based on your play style. Honestly, none of these completely influence the difficulty in progressing the story too much but it will give you full control of the experience.

As you progress further into the game, you will unlock more skills and abilities to aid you in your quest for power and survival. These will help you earn XP, along with accomplishing tasks, gathering resources and researching newer technologies, plus engaging in combat both within the PvE and PvP areas. Ultimately, you and, potentially, other players must build enough rapport and influence to shape the world of Arrakis to your liking.

Consistent visual expectations

For most players on the PC version, graphical fidelity relied heavily on the hardware of choice. When transitioning the game into a console-friendly environment, Funcom worked out the details seamlessly by adding a Performance and Quality mode. In this fashion, you can opt for crystal-clear graphics at a decent 30 FPS or go for a constant 60 FPS to keep up with the action.

Left: Performance | Right: Quality

No matter which mode you choose, the overall visual identity of the game doesn’t change drastically. Environments look rich and vibrant, while the tiniest of details within character models are preserved. Although, given frame rate differences, rendering of background elements also reflects that but it won’t ruin the gaming experience.

Dune: Awakening will be available on the PlayStation 5 and Xbox Series X|S on September 22. For Xbox Game Pass owners, this will also be a Day One release with Play Anywhere support and cross-play within Xbox and PC players upon launch.

Funcom has also planned an exciting map update later this year plus potential DLC tie-ins to the upcoming Dune: Part Three theatrical release in December.

Gaming

Valve unveils price of the Steam Frame

The VR headset starts at US$ 1,059.

Published

September 15, 2026

Luigi Leonardo

The trifecta is complete. Almost a year after announcing their new hardware, Valve has finally unveiled the price tag of the Steam Frame, complementing the Steam Machine and Steam Controller revealed a few months ago.

Whereas the Steam Machine is a console of its own, the Steam Frame is a traditional VR headset with a pair of controllers for both hands. Unfortunately, despite being in a different segment, the headset is not immune to the rising prices of technology. The Steam Frame will start at US$ 1,059 for a 256GB model and can go up to US$ 1,299 for the 1TB model. On the plus side, each box will come Half-Life: Alyx packaged along with the headset.

Here’s a more detailed rundown of what you’re getting. The Steam Frame will ship with the Snapdragon 8 Gen 3 chipset, paired with 16GB of RAM. Each eye comes with a 2160 x 2160 LCD screen, putting out images at up t0 a 144Hz experimental refresh rate. As mentioned above, the headset will start with 256GB of storage but can go up to 2TB. It will come packaged with SteamOS 3 and a rechargeable 21.6Wh battery.

This might be a hard buy for some. The industry currently has more affordable options, for one. Also, virtual reality isn’t the most thriving segment of gaming today.

If you’re still decided on buying one, however, Valve is using its lottery system. Interested customers can sign up from now until September 17. The company will then randomize the purchasing order. Those who draw the first ones in the lottery can get a purchase email as soon as September 18. Meanwhile, anyone who registers after September 17 will automatically be put at the back of the queue.