A favorite Samsung Galaxy Watch feature might just be making a comeback. MySmartPrice has shared leaked renders procured by tipster OnLeaks that appear to show the full Samsung Galaxy Watch 6 Classic design — and it includes a physical rotating bezel. Samsung notably removed the physical dial from the Galaxy Watch 5, which utilizes a touch bezel that requires users to swipe their finger at the edge of the screen to change between apps or faces. 

The Galaxy Watch 4 had a physical rotating bezel for easy twisting — without necessarily needing to double-check the placement of your finger. Judging by the leak, the bezel on the upcoming model will be slightly thinner compared to those earlier versions and reports suggest it will border a 1.47-inch Super AMOLED display with a 470 x 470 resolution. 

SamMobile also suggests that the Galaxy Watch 6 Classic will be powered by the Exynos W980 chip, giving it around a 10 percent boost compared to the Exynos W920 found in Galaxy Watch 4 and Galaxy Watch 5 models.

It will likely be a couple of months before the return of the physical bezel is fully confirmed. Samsung is expected to announce the Galaxy Watch 6 alongside the Galaxy Z Flip 5, Galaxy Z Fold 5 and Galaxy Tab S9 at its Unpacked 2023 event in the coming months.

Canon has unveiled its cheapest R-series camera yet, the $480 EOS R100 that's similar to the old EOS M50 II with a new mount. It's "designed for new, first-time mirrorless camera or existing interchangeable camera users who previously enjoyed EOS Rebel or EOS M cameras," the company said. For that price, though, it's missing some key features that you'd expect on a modern mirrorless camera. 

The EOS R100 has a 24.2-megapixel APS-C sensor, and and offers slowish 6.5 fps burst speeds and Dual Pixel AF with face and eye detection. To frame your subjects, it offers a basic but respectable 2.36 million dot OLED electronic viewfinder. 

Canon

The 1.04 million dot rear LCD display is where Canon really cut corners to make that price point, though. It doesn't even tilt, let alone articulate, and is a non-touch screen. That means you'll need to set the focus point using the D-Pad and navigate menu choices via the buttons. The EOS M50 II, by contrast, had a fully articulating touch display for $120 more at launch. 

Like the M50 II, you can shoot 4K video at up to 24 fps, though it has a significant crop and you only get contrast-detect autofocus at 4K. 1080p can be shot at up to 60fps and does use the Dual Pixel AF system. Canon didn't specify the crop, but it's a significant 1.5X on the M50 II. 

Other features include support for a single SD-UHS I memory card, microphone and HDMI micro inputs, Bluetooth/WiFi and a tiny 356 gram (12.56 oz) weight. 

As Canon mentions, the main advantage compared to a smartphone is the ability to use multiple lenses. To wit, the company also unveiled a new pancake lens, the full-frame $300 RF28mm f/2.8 that should be great for tourism and street photography. If fixed to the R100, the latter would still be lighter than most mirrorless cameras at about 480 grams. 

The R100 is as basic as it gets, but if you're looking for a new mirrorless camera, it's the cheapest one by far at $480. What's more, you can get it in a kit with the RF-S18-45mm f/4.5-6.3 IS STM lens for $600, still cheaper than the EOS R50, or $829 with that lens and the RF-S55-210mm f/5-7.1 IS STM. Neither has stellar quality, but would give beginners a solid range of focal lengths plus the R100 for less than the price of most camera bodies. That being said, if you can afford $200 more, Canon's EOS R50 is a much better choice. 

Canon

Apparently, the PlayStation VR2 sold way better than its predecessor in the weeks after it became available. During a business presentation, Sony has revealed (PDF) that it sold almost 600,000 PS VR2 units within its first six weeks of availability. That's around 8 percent more than its PS VR sales for the same time window. As PushSquare notes, that number only covers sales until the beginning of April, so Sony has most likely already crossed the 600,000 threshold. Especially since the headset is now available at retailers after being exclusively sold for two months at Sony's website. 

In addition to announcing PS VR2's successful launch, Sony has also shared some information on its future plans. Apparently, the company intends to put more and more money into developing new franchises for the PlayStation over the next few years. By fiscal year 2025, it's aiming for a 50-50 split of PlayStation Studios investments' between old and new IPs. Based on the graph it presented, it's mostly been focusing on well-known franchises for the console, such as God of War and Horizon, these past years. In 2019, for instance, it only put 20 percent of its investments on the development of new properties. For fiscal year 2023, its focus is still on current IPs, though not by much: 40 percent of its PlayStation Studios investments will go towards new franchises. 

One other area that Sony intends to put more money in is live service games like Destiny 2 and MLB: The Show. By fiscal year 2025, it expects 60 percent of its PS5 investments to go towards live services and 40 percent towards traditional games. Further, the company expects sales from add-on or downloadable content to keep growing in the future. Sony has also revealed that it expects the PS5 to overtake the PS4 on all key metrics very soon. It believes the PS5 would have more monthly active users playing more hours on the newer console by February 2024. To note, Sony sold more PS5 units than it predicted for fiscal year 2022 after it solved its supply chain crisis to release more consoles. 

Sony has launched a successor to its popular compact ZV-1 vlogging camera, the ZV-1 II, which addresses a big issue with the past model. Namely, it has a new wider lens that lets you fit your entire face into the frame with e-stabilization turned on, addressing the biggest complaint I and others had with the ZV-1. It also offers new settings that provide a more cinematic look, but otherwise, the camera is largely a rehash of the previous model.

As before, the ZV-1 II has a 1-inch (16mm diagonal) stacked BSI sensor borrowed from Sony's RX100 V, just like the original ZV-1. The body is unchanged and the controls are the same, and it has a nice flip-out display as before — but no electronic viewfinder. 

Sony

The built-in 3-capsule microphone deliver better sound quality than the built-in mics on most cameras, and it has a 3.5mm microphone jack (but no headphone port, sadly) and multi-interface shoe that supports select Sony mics. 

The biggest addition is a new 18-50mm (35mm equivalent) f/1.8-4 lens that's wider than the 24-70mm f/1.8-2.8 lens on the past model. With the latter, the ZV-1 was barely wide enough with electronic stabilization off. With e-stabilization enabled, it was effectively too tight for vlogging unless you have super-long arms. The new lens is now equivalent to 23mm with stabilization on, which is wide enough, though just barely. 

Sony

There are some drawbacks, though. While the ZV-1 had optical stabilization on the lens that was good for handheld shooting (but not vlogging), the ZV-1 II is lacking that function. And of course, you lose 20mm of zoom range, and the new lens is also slower at the 50mm end. So buyers will need to choose between the new model's wider field of view or the longer and faster lens on the original ZV-1. 

Video is largely unchanged, with 4K limited to 30fps despite the fast stacked sensor. While you do get S-Log2 and S-Log3 shooting modes, it only supports 8-bit and not 10-bit video, so the log modes won't considerably improve dynamic range. What's new is the Cinematic Vlog setting first introduced with the ZV-E1. It uses a 2.35:1 aspect ratio for that CinemaScope feel, and quick access to filters, looks and more.

As before, you get Sony's Product Showcase setting that quickly shifts focus to objects presented to the camera, along with a Bokeh Switch that instantly opens the iris as much as possible to blur the background and put the emphasis on the subject. Sony promises fast autofocus via its Hybrid AF system, that uses AI to lock onto your subject's eyes, whether they're people or animals. It also has a handy built-in ND filter that reduces exposure by three stops to allow for better background bokeh on sunny days. 

The new ZV-1 II will be available in June 2023 for $900, more expensive than the $800 price for the ZV-1 at launch. Once it hits stores, Sony may discount the ZV-1 (it currently sits at $748), giving potential buyers something extra to think about.

Sony

The popular Backbone One is an excellent accessory that brings a controller-like experience to your iPhone or Android device. It was so successful that the company collaborated with Sony last year to build a PlayStation Edition. This model replaces all of the face buttons with the traditional PlayStation controller layout, with a white finish to match. The PlayStation Edition has been exclusively available for iPhone, until today. Backbone and Sony have collaborated once again to bring the PlayStation Edition variant to Android devices.

As a refresher, the Backbone One PlayStation Edition is an accessory designed in collaboration with Sony that is the closest you’ll get to having a DualSense controller while on the go. Sony says that it will be detected as a DualSense controller within its own PS Remote Play app. That means you’ll be able to play your PS4 or PS5’s catalog of games with something that looks and feels similar to a standard DualSense controller, regardless of whether you have an iPhone or an Android device. Though, you don’t necessarily need this controller specifically to play your games through PS Remote Play. Other controllers will work similarly, just without the special controller detection.

Of course, you’re not exclusively tied to PS Remote Play. The Backbone One will be compatible with other game streaming apps including Xbox Game Pass, Nvidia GeForce Now and Microsoft Luna. The controller accessory will also work with any other games that support standard hardware controllers such as Call of Duty: Mobile. The Backbone One PlayStation Edition for Android will be available starting today for $99.

The next big update to your Ford EV might bring some decidedly old technology. Ford chief Jim Farley has revealed that the brand will add AM broadcast radio to its 2023 Mustang Mach-E and F-150 Lightning models through a software update following discussions with politicians about the emergency alert system. It will also be included on all 2024 Ford and Lincoln vehicles, including the previously announced Mustang coupe.

Ford cut AM radio from its 2023 EVs after data showed that less than 5 percent of customers used it, according to spokesperson Alan Hall. The company was also concerned about interference with the EV system, and was trying to reduce cost and manufacturing challenges. You could still stream AM stations, but conventional broadcasts weren't available.

The decision comes less than a week after a bipartisan group of senators and House representatives introduced a bill, the AM for Every Vehicle Act, to require the older radio format in new cars without charging a premium. They believe AM is "essential" during emergencies, and that removing it could put public safety at risk. A trade group that includes Ford, the Alliance for Automotive Innovation, claimed the measure was unneeded as the Federal Emergency Management Agency (FEMA) can deliver alerts through FM, satellite and streaming.

This isn't an altruistic gesture, then, and it's unclear how Ford will address potential interference problems. Even so, this may be good news if you live in an area prone to natural disasters. You can buy EVs from Ford knowing you'll get potentially life-saving warnings. This also applies pressure to BMW, Tesla and other vendors that have dropped AM radio in newer cars.

Rumors have been swirling around Ableton’s Push 3 for years. Arguably the best hardware controller for one of (if not the) most popular DAWs (digital audio workstation), the Push 2, was released in 2015. And nearly eight years later it’s still head and shoulders above much of the competition. But there are some modern amenities that it’s lacking. And Native Instruments changed the game in 2020 when it released the Machine+, a controller for its desktop suite that could also function as a standalone music production box thanks to an Intel Atom CPU and 4GB of RAM.

Considering the long lead times required for product development, it’s safe to assume that Ableton was already hard at work on its new controller when Maschine+ was announced. But I’d also venture to guess that the company watched the reaction to Native Instruments’ box closely and tweaked its plans accordingly.

The result is the Ableton Push – not Push 3, not Push+ – just Push. And it makes a hell of a first impression. It comes in two configurations, a basic controller for $999 and with a processor for $1999. With a processor it can function as a fully standalone instrument, like the Maschine+. But it still also offers tight integration with Ableton Live 11 when connected to a computer. It has 64 MPE enabled pads, that pair perfectly with Live’s latest updates. It has a built-in battery for truly untethered creation. And, in a pleasant surprise, even if you stick with the controller only variant to start, you’ll be able to upgrade it with a DIY kit later this year for full standalone operation.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

But let’s start with the hardware. Physically the new Push and the Push 2 are very similar. They’re both hulking black slabs that seem like they were ripped out of the control panel of an alien spaceship. The screen appears to be exactly the same. And that’s not a bad thing. It’s a large, reasonably high resolution LCD with excellent viewing angles. It refreshes fast enough that you actually watch your MIDI notes scroll by in real time as you record them. The UI itself is simple and intuitive but attractive. There’s no unnecessary graphics or anything, just clean lines and text.

The knobs, buttons and pads all feel great. One of the new additions to the controls is a large jog wheel to the right of the screen that is a delight. It’s reminiscent of the one on Polyend’s Tracker, but more noticeable detents. (Another fun feature Push borrows from Tracker is auto generated project names, which comes in handy.) And the pads. Well. They’re the first I’ve encountered that truly give Akai’s a run for their money. I think I still have a slight preference for the feel of an MPC’s larger pads but, those aren’t MPE capable so, Ableton wins? My only complaint about the hardware really is that the pads might be too sensitive. But that can easily be fixed by going into the settings. Which you should probably do anyway to tweak the responsiveness to your liking since MPE can be fickle and unforgiving at times.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Around back you’ll notice you’ll find a bunch of new connections too. There’s USB-C for connecting to a computer to control Live, a 12v DC connector, and two jacks for connecting sustain pedals just like on a Push 2. But those pedal jacks can also send CV now, so you can control modular gear. There’s also a USB-A port for connecting class compliant MIDI controllers, so if pads aren’t your thing you can connect a keyboard, or play one instrument with the keyboard while knocking out drum tracks on the Push directly. You’ll also find ⅛” MIDI in and out ports.

More importantly, there are two audio ins and two audio outs, plus a headphone jack and two ADAT jacks for connecting to other audio gear. See, the new Push – even without a processor in it – is also an audio interface. Granted it only has ¼” jacks (switchable between balanced and unbalanced), so not ideal if you’re recording vocals and need an XLR jack with phantom power. But if you’ve got another audio interface already with ADAT you can connect it to the Push and then suddenly you’ve got eight or 12 or however many inputs to work with. It is truly capable of being the centerpiece of a recording studio now.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

If you opt for the Push with a processor you’ll find an 11th Core i3 inside, with 8GB of RAM and a 256GB hard drive. That might not sound like much, but it’s plenty of power to handle most audio processing, especially without the overhead of trying to handle a windowing system and security software and those 16 Firefox tabs you haven’t closed in about three months. In fact, I noticed far less latency working with live audio on the Push directly than I do on my XPS 15 with a 8th gen Core i7 CPU, 32GB of RAM and a second generation Focusrite Scarlett interface. If you’re concerned about your $2,000 MIDI controller / groovebox becoming obsolete though, Ableton says it expects to make processor upgrades available in the future.

That Intel NUC Compute Element does chew through the battery pretty quickly, though. Ableton estimates that Push can get two to two-and-a-half hours out of the battery, which lines up with my anecdotal experience so far. The Push is kinda big and heavy at 8.7 pounds, I wouldn’t exactly call it portable. But it’s actually been great to sit down on my couch at night, after the kids go to bed and chip away at this review without an elaborate setup or being tied to an outlet.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Hardware is all well and good, but what is really going to make or break the experience here is the software and, well, so far so good. A few intriguing things to note at the top, the Push is running Linux. Which means that, technically, Ableton Live 11 has been ported to Linux. I don’t think you should get your hopes up about an official port being made available for that Mint box you’ve been building, though. I’ve also been told that VST support on Push is technically possible, though obviously that would require getting developers on board and converting their plugins.

There is one way of getting third party instruments on Push though – Max for Live, a development platform inside the DAW. Support for Max is huge as it can really open the possibilities of the Push as a standalone instrument. Ableton even recently released a pack of building blocks and tutorials to encourage people to build their own Max for Live devices. And there’s companies like Fors that build incredible commercial products that run on Max. Support right now can be spotty since the controls need to be properly mapped for Push. And even some of Ableton’s own Max devices like the Inspired by Nature series don’t work properly at the moment.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

But don’t worry, Ableton’s built-in devices are excellent. And while I might be sad not having access to my favorite softsynth in standalone mode, you can easily build a complete and highly polished track using nothing but the default Live instruments and effects. But if you do need more variety, you can install Ableton sound packs directly over wifi. You can also drag over your own sample library using the Continuity feature in Live 11. You’ll see Push showup in the sidebar when connected to the same wifi network. Though, oddly, you can’t transfer over USB.

In addition to dragging over samples you can pull over presets, collections and favorites. I highly recommend, by the way, that you use the Collections in Ableton to organize your goto sounds, effects, et cetera. While the jog wheel is certainly an improvement, it can still be a bit of a slog navigating through long lists of presets and samples. Organization – not my strong suit – is clearly key to getting the most out of Push as a standalone instrument.

One incredible feature of continuity though, is being able to connect to your Push and pull a project you started in standalone mode into the desktop app for final arrangement. Which is kind of essentially because, while Push seems great for jamming, live performance and sketching out ideas, you can’t do fine tuned arrangement editing or mix down to audio.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Obviously the price is going to be an issue, though. The standalone configuration costs $1,999, while the controller only variant will set you back $999. The DIY upgrade kit is expected to ship later this year for $1,049. That's a lot for a MIDI controller, even one as nice as this. And while I'm fairly certain there aren't any DAWs in a box as powerful as what Ableton has put together, they're also not nearly as expensive. Even Maschine+ is only $1,199. 

I’ve only had Push for about a week and am still coming to grips with the workflow. So this is really more of an extended hands-on than a full review. While Ableton is my DAW of choice and I own a Push 1, the differences are significant. Plus there are still some software kinks to iron out. I’ve encountered a handful of bugs, especially when trying to edit MIDI notes in the piano roll. And once the entire unit froze up on me. But the Push is currently running prerelease firmware and requires a beta version of Live 11 to take advantage of Continuity. I plan to continue testing Push and revisit it for a longterm review.

Roland’s synth lineup seems a little odd at times. It doesn’t really offer much in the midrange. Its only two pure synthesizers in the $500 to $800 space are the 13-year-old Gaia SH-01 and the eight-year-old (and objectively hideous) JD-Xi. The company has mostly been focused on its miniaturized classics in the Boutique range and building out its groovebox lineup for the last few years.

The company’s SH-4d doesn’t perfectly fill this gap in the lineup, but it’s a big step in the right direction. It’s a synth-focused desktop groovebox with lots of hands-on controls, a rich sound engine, and a more than reasonable price of $650. The question is: In an increasingly crowded field of experimental digital synths and well-established analogs, has Roland done enough with the 4d to carve out a niche for itself?

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The heart of the SH-4d is built around Roland’s Zen-Core engine, but it’s not actually Zen-Core compatible. Instead, the company took the building blocks and arranged them into simplified oscillators. This is great news because, at least in hardware form, Zen-Core has primarily shown up either as overly complicated and menu-divey, or as a glorified preset browser. Here there are 11 different oscillators that range from emulations of classic Roland machines like the Juno-106 and SH-101, to metallic FM tones, PCM samples and 31 different wavetables. And there are enough hands-on controls that you can actually do some serious sound design without having to dig seven layers deep in an incomprehensible menu system. This is the closest Roland has come to knob-per-function in a long time, and the company deserves credit for that.

Thankfully, Roland also blessed the SH-4d with the larger, higher-res screen we’ve seen on machines like the Jupiter-XM and MC-707, rather than the painful two-line displays on the TR series and the VerseLab, so navigating the menu is less aggravating. In general, the menu system also feels more streamlined than on a lot of other Roland devices. I’d stop just short of saying it’s intuitive, but it also didn’t send me into a rage spiral.

There’s only a handful of things that felt like they required an unnecessary amount of menu diving: the effects, the matrix and the mixer, most notably. There’s obviously a limit to how many buttons and knobs Roland could fit on the face of the already pretty crowded SH-4d, but I’ve seen mod matrix patching handled more elegantly by both Arturia and ASM. The four faders can be used in a mixer mode, which is great but you have to switch to pattern mode, then hit the sound button to access it, when it should really be a single button press away. And the effects section only exposes two parameters directly, everything else requires going into a menu.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

The effects in general are pretty great, at least. The delay and the chorus are excellent. The reverbs are a bit lackluster, but there’s a whole suite of other effects (95 in total) ranging from an absolutely incredible bit crusher, to lo-fi vinyl warbles, to the DJ looper from the SP-404. And the fattener is so good I kind of wish it had its own dedicated slot like the reverb, delay and chorus do.

Brief aside: Why is there so much noise in the Juno chorus emulation, Roland? It’s basically unusable until you go into the menu and turn it down (or off), at which point it’s excellent. What’s truly wild is that it’s set to 30 by default and goes all the way up to 127! At full tilt it’s just a white noise machine. Great for the synth nerd who has trouble sleeping, I guess.

That one gripe aside, the SH-4d sounds incredible. Truly. I am not always the biggest fan of the Roland sound. I think its modern synths have a tendency to be a tad cold and clinical. But the 4d mostly avoids this (unless that’s the stated goal, such as in the Wavetable or PCM oscillator). The presets do an excellent job of showing off the unique characteristics of each model and even take some of them in places you might not immediately think of. Sure, the SH-101 is great at bass and leads, we all know that. But did you know it can also shine while playing mellow pads? Well, thanks to modern technology blessing us with a polyphonic emulation of one it can.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Roland includes nice touches here, like graphically representing the layout of the Juno-106 and SH-101, or showing a ring modulator diagram on the screen. In general, the oscillators themselves feel carefully polished. The two knobs directly below the screen, the four faders and the four buttons below those have immediate and obvious uses usually that are reflected in some way on the display.

The middle two buttons under the faders are how you turn on and off the saw and square wave in the Juno model, for instance. And in the Cross-FM engine you can draw an envelope using the faders. Oh, and speaking of drawing, there is a drawing oscillator. Here you can create a completely custom waveform by using the four faders, by recording as you move a knob in real time, or step by step with incredible granularity. It is loads of fun and a quick way to get something that is completely your own. Another twist of the knob and you can square off the edges to get something that sounds like it’s straight from an Atari 2600. Then feed that through a bit crusher and *chef's kiss*.

From here the signal goes through a simple high pass filter and a resonant multimode filter. The multimode filter is decent enough. It doesn’t self-oscillate, but it’s still pleasantly aggressive. I do wish the filter drive a bit stronger, though. It adds a little extra oomph, but doesn’t reach the giddy destructive highs of what Roland has in the SP-404.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

All of this leads us to the sequencer, which is what makes the SH-4d more of a groovebox than a true synthesizer. There are four polyphonic synth tracks and one rhythm track that you can use to create loops up to 64 steps long. The sequencer is reasonably feature packed and mostly easy to use. Each part can have its own length, playback mode (forward, reverse, forward and reverse, inverted or random), shuffle rate and more. There’s also probability and substep options, though you do have to do a little menu diving to get there. And, while the keyboard on the SH-4d is not velocity sensitive, you can connect an external controller or dial in velocity manually on a per step basis. The only major limitation is the lack of pattern chaining or a song mode.

There’s a handful of performance-friendly features as well, like a master effect channel for buildups and breakdowns. Plus, you can mute parts and even individual drum sounds on the dedicated rhythm track. One thing missing is the Step Loop function found on even its cheaper instruments, like the recent Aira Compact S-1.

I’ve got to say the rhythm section is great, too. I was initially kind of skeptical of it. I really wanted Roland to just focus on making an approachable and affordable synthesizer, rather than continue its “everything and the kitchen sink” approach. But, it really is excellent and not an afterthought at all. There are 26 instruments in each kit, which can combine two different waveforms, with their own pitch envelopes and EQ settings. Roland probably could have gotten away with just tossing some 808 and 909 samples in here and calling it a day. But the rhythm section has its own rich and powerful sound design tools.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

Unfortunately, Roland didn’t stop at a five track sequencer with a surprisingly rich drum machine. There are a few features here that are a bit of a head scratcher. The biggest one being D-Motion where you can assign parameters to an X and Y axis, then tilt the instrument to change them. It’s gimmicky and pretty unnatural on something that’s over 14 inches wide and weighs just shy of four pounds.

The visual arpeggiator is in a similar boat. It has a handful of modes that allow you to control playback by bouncing notes, playing pong or drawing in a sequence Etch-a-Sketch style. I wanted to like them. But the reality was they were not particularly useful, not even for idea generation, and I grew bored with them after a few minutes. I’d have rather Roland used that D-Motion button on the front for something more immediately useful like quick access to a mixer mode, or Step Loop for creating quick fills.

Photo by Terrence O'Brien / Engadget

On the whole, though, I think Roland has a winner on its hands. I’d love to see a version in the future with a proper keyboard – perhaps one with aftertouch. And I still have my struggles with the Roland workflow. But this is my favorite instrument from the company outside of the SP-404MKII, which is an entirely different beast.

The SH-4d has plenty of hands-on controls, a rich palette of synth engines and it sounds great. Add to that a solid build, the ability to be powered by a handful of AAs, and a much cleaner interface than many other Roland instruments. The top notch drum machine and multi-track polyphonic sequencer are just icing on the cake. This is easily my favorite Roland synth in a long time. And the fact that it only costs $650 only makes it that much more appealing.

Square Enix wants a hit Final Fantasy game that’s just as popular as any game in the storied history. It’s taken seven years to get from the tepidly-received Final Fantasy XV to Final Fantasy XVI, and the company continues to wrestle with what a FF game is in 2023.

The company courted nostalgia with FF7 Remake (and the Pixel Remaster series). At the same time, its MMORPG, Final Fantasy XIV, continues to be a huge success – but what about the prestige title? It has a plan, and it involves giant-summoned monster battles with different styles of play, a single controllable protagonist with guest-star allies, a support dog that grows up with you, horny antagonists, wicked moms and several bleak plot twists to help establish the plot and characters relatively early on. I won’t spoil the story much, but the early segment covers warring nations, vicious family dynamics, slavery and more. I spent six hours playing through the game's opening chapters, and thought: This plan might work. Although heavy in battle tutorials, the opening of the game does a good job of teasing the narrative beats and major players, which is crucial not only to JRPGs like Final Fantasy, but to modern games in general. It’s just a shame the main character is called Clive.

I played some early chapters, which focused on the childhood years of Clive, flanked by his younger, ailing brother, Joshua, who was chosen to house the power of the Phoenix (giant mythical flaming bird, usually wielding healing powers in Final Fantasy lore). This is the game’s first example of an Eikon; magical summoned beasts that seem to live through their wielder, passed on through lineage and seemingly the cause of uneasy peace between nations. Each is assigned to an elemental beat of a fantasy RPG.

During the demo, I got to see roughly six Eikons in action. Sometimes they were going toe-to-toe. Other times, their human host channeled them for upgraded moves and damage. I particularly enjoyed the opening beats of Clive’s adulthood chapter, where you’re forced to navigate a cliffside as Shiva and Titan hurled giant glaciers and boulders at each other. I caught a glimpse (or fought with) beasts representing fire, ice, earth, lightning and wind. However, as you’ve probably gleaned from the teasers and snippets up until now, Ifrit, another fire-based beast, is setting things aflame. That’s not allowed, apparently. Why? I do not know.

Blessings from these Eikons form the basis of Clive’s skills and magic. Equipped with “a blessing from Phoenix” (his brother), the protagonist starts with sword skills, including lifting, rushing, and elemental attacks. Square Enix claims this is the first fully-fledged action RPG in Final Fantasy history, and it doesn’t play like any of its predecessors.

Square Enix

There is no menu. All your items and attacks are done through button combinations and assigned shortcuts, with some degree of customization. I had my doubts from Final Fantasy XV, but Clive proves to be surprisingly agile and most battles were fluid and, honestly, exciting.

While allowing you to swap between enemies, the battle system shines brightest when you’re pitted against big solo enemies or boss fights. As soon as multiple enemies are dashing around, and the camera’s spinning, it’s a bit chaotic – a lot like Forspoken, another game from Square Enix.

Like Forspoken, there’s a smoothness and style to combat here that comes as more moves and skills are added. Clive can switch between Eikon-based movesets, not only differentiated by elemental attributes but by playstyle, too. For example, earth-based Titan attacks offer up a shield and counter system, while wind-based skills manipulate the distance between you and each enemy. If you can counter, or make a well-timed dodge in battle, you’ll be rewarded with a star. At the end of the fight, those stars will translate to battle spoils: extra accessories, items and resources.

My demo was almost exclusively controlling the heroically named Clive. However, there are support actions you can trigger from the d-pad, which directs your faithful hound, Torgal, to heal, strike or distract enemies. I also briefly fought alongside allies, but there didn’t seem to be any way to guide their behavior.

As you’ve probably seen teased in several trailers, FFXVI offers up different styles of battles when giant Eikons go head to head, razing castles, literally creating canyons and glaciers. Sometimes these played like rhythm action games, carefully timed evasions and attacks, while another was like an on-the-rails shooter. Hopefully, this variety spreads across the entire game.

Beyond the Eikon battles, all ofthe boss fights are where this system shines most. And if you’re wary of the notion of a live-action Final Fantasy, the game does feature an intelligent way to make the game more accessible through special accessories.Some of these will auto-heal you (if you have the potions for it) while others can widen the timing window for counters and parries. These offer a way to tailor the game to keep it challenging but avoid difficulty walls – and there were a few even in this early demo.

Outside the fights and the main campaign, there were hints of fetch quest horror, but the ones included in my demo were blissfully nearby, working more to show where to get your supplies and do more lore-building – which is what side quests should do. Still, there wasn’t anything reaching Witcher 3 levels of side quest hell just yet.

Square Enix

Another feature introduced in FFXVI is Active Time Lore (a play on Active Time Battle, the turn-based battle system of older FF games). Here, you can pause during the game and cutscenes and dive into who’s talking, where they’re from and even the region you’re in. It’s a fantastic way of transmitting the plot and everything without overwhelming the player – it reminds me of the X-ray feature on Amazon Prime Video.

FFXVI producer Naoki Yoshida has pointed out that he sees the latest entry as heavily inspired by the likes of God of War, mentioning both the books and TV show Game of Thrones in the same interview. There’s a lot of the latter here. Also, I think this is the first time I’ve seen Final Fantasy characters show… lust? There are some horny people here and for once it’s not tongue-in-cheek, so to speak. So far, this appears to be a different kind of game – I’m intrigued to see how the whole thing turns out. Square Enix has added that it'll be launching a demo featuring the opening beats of the game ahead of its release.

Final Fantasy XVI launches on 22nd June 2023.

Square Enix noted this was a special preview build of the game built for press. Content may differ from the final version.

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