Some mild spoilers follow for Star Trek: Discovery Season 4, Episode 1. We’ve avoided revealing any major plot points here, but watch the episode first if you don’t want to know anything about it before reading this review!

Michael Burnham has finally taken the center seat as captain of the USS Discovery in Season 4 of Paramount Plus’s flagship series. The Sonequa Martin-Green character’s ascension to captain was teased at the end of last season, and indeed as far back as the opening moments of the series premiere in 2017. But even though Burnham is now running the Disco, she’s still finding herself chafing against authority as the new season kicks off — even as the Federation is confronted by a mysterious new threat.

Indeed, to illustrate the core conflict at the heart of Burnham as captain, the show’s writers have invoked the classic Kobayashi Maru test that Starfleet Academy cadets take. You know the one — it forces them to confront a “no-win” scenario. Captain Kirk famously beat the test through some distinctly Kirkian methods, but like that famed leader, Burnham has trouble dealing with the concept of the needs of the many outweighing the needs of the few. This, it seems, will be a theme for the character this season. How many times can she risk it all in the hopes of pulling out a win from death’s door?

Things kick off in “Kobayashi Maru” with a sort of First Contact mission for Burnham and David Ajala’s Book, as the pair attempt to deliver a shipment of dilithium to a planet of butterfly people. Yes, butterfly people — but it actually works way better than it sounds. (These guys amass glowing butterflies around them to form wings and fly.) The mission is all part of the Federation’s attempt to rebuild itself in the aftermath of the previous season’s events, where we learned that “The Burn” had effectively ended interstellar travel, and as a result, the United Federation of Planets. Now, the Federation is rebuilding, and it’s attempting to recruit former member planets back into the fold.

Of course, Burnham and Book’s mission doesn’t go so great at first, and the result is a scene that reminds us once again that the scope and design of Star Trek: Discovery remains truly expansive. The days of fake-looking cave sets on Star Trek are long gone, with alien landscapes like this one now the norm, allowing the characters here to run through weird forests, jump off cliffs amid huge, floating chunks of granite, and just generally visit strange new worlds. There, I said it.

It’s also nice to see the Discovery on a more traditional Star Trek-style mission for a change, and the chemistry between Martin-Green and Ajala has been a highlight of the show since the latter actor joined the cast last year.

Doug Jones’ Saru also gets a lot to chew on in this episode. It starts with him making an almost Spockian entrance a la Star Trek: The Motion Picture, as he is now living back on his homeworld and struggling with whether or not to return to his friends in space. Here, the question of what is truly home is raised — is it your town, your country, your planet, your galaxy, or something else? — and it applies not just to Saru’s situation, but to the bigger question of if the Federation can survive in the far less utopian 32nd century. And hey, this is Star Trek, so it’s a question that also applies to us in the 21st century.

There’s also a lot here for long-time fans of Trek, from the new uniforms of the Discovery crew — which kindaaaa feel like they’re gonna take some getting used to — to new and interesting variations on classic aliens (one character is human/Bajoran/Cardassian) and even some iconic Trek name-dropping.

The bigger mystery of the season, which has been heavily promoted in trailers and interviews already, begins to emerge in this episode as the crew are called upon to save an out-of-control space station that is being affected by a spatial anomaly — but which also poses a grave danger to the bigger galaxy. Mary Wiseman’s Tilly and Blu del Barrio’s Adira are rewarded with a few nice moments as a result of this plot, but the main conflict of the hour is between Captain Burnham and the new Federation president, Rillak. It looks like the prez will be a recurring character this season, and the uneasy relationship between the two that’s established here should fuel some fun confrontations in the weeks to come.

Questions and Notes from the Q Continuum:

• Line of the week: “I feed her, love her, give her cat treats.”
• I alluded to it above, but man, those new uniforms seem so stiff… I really miss the old Disco-style blue suits.
• Was that a Tribble tribbling its way down the corridor? Are Tribbles… members of the Federation now?!
• The dominant species of Kaminar are now allies in the 32nd century, and we see them working together here — Saru’s Kelpiens and the Ba'ul, a.k.a. the scary guys who used to hunt the Kelpiens. They have a cool underwater base too.
• Spacedock Archer! And we even got a few bars of the Star Trek: Enterprise theme when it was introduced.
• And just a heads up: I won’t be reviewing Disco weekly this season, but I may check in here and there when and if something momentous happens.

Ryo Ga Gotoku Studio is currently working on Yakuza 8 as well as another unannounced game, and intends to "take great care" of the Judgement series.

In a conversation with Famitsu (translated by IGN Japan), Ryo Ga Gotoku studio director, Masayoshi Yokoyama, said “I can’t go into any details about Yakuza 8 yet, but I can reveal it will be a continuation of the story of 7, set a few years later.”

Yokoyama hinted that it will further follow the story of Yakuza: Like a Dragon protagonist Ichiban Kasuga, and confirmed that "the story will be set in the present day for the year the game goes on sale.”

He also spoke about the studio's other projects beyond the mainline Yakuza series. "We will also take great care over the Judgement series," he said, although did not go as far as saying a third game in the series is in development.

“Beyond Judgement, we would love to tackle an all-new game as well, once the pieces are in place," Yokoyama said. "In addition to both Yakuza and Judgement, we are working on other unannounced titles too.”

It should be noted that the translation from Japanese to English is not clear cut in this instance, and so it is unclear how many unannounced titles Ryo Ga Gotoku is working on; it could be a single game or multiple new ones. Based on Yokoyama's statement about a wish to work on "all-new" games but only when the pieces are in place, though, it seems likely the in-production game(s) are from an existing series.

These new projects come in the wake of Yakuza series creator Toshihiro Nagoshi leaving the studio, along with previous studio head, Daisuke Sato.

“Although I do personally feel a little sad to take a new path without Mr Nagoshi and Mr (Daisuke) Sato, the staff have a strong sense of pride in what we are making," said Yokoyama. "The passion within the studio is hotter than ever.”

For more on the games of Ryo Ga Gotoku Studio, check out our reviews of Lost Judgement and Yakuza: Like a Dragon. And to buff up your series knowledge, check out the things you (probably) didn't know about Yakuza.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Capcom has officially announced that Pragmata, its mysterious project for PS5, Xbox Series X, and PC, has been delayed into 2023.

We'd previously seen that Pragmata had been pushed from its original 2022 release window to 2023 earlier this year, when a sizzle reel at Sony's CES 2021 press conference noted the delay. Now Capcom has reaffirmed that delay, posting a new in-engine video clip to its social media channels featuring the little girl from the original trailer showing off a whiteboard slate with the new release window.

An update on #PRAGMATA:

Our team is hard at work on the project, but to ensure this will be an unforgettable adventure, we've decided to shift the release window to 2023. In the meantime, we have a brand new artwork to share with you. Thank you for your patience.🌑 pic.twitter.com/3ZTOkIWEYD

— PRAGMATA (@PRAGMATAgame) November 18, 2021

"Our team is hard at work on the project, but to ensure this will be an unforgettable adventure, we've decided to shift the release window to 2023," reads the Tweet. "In the meantime, we have a brand new artwork to share with you. Thank you for your patience."

The artwork also features the same girl from the trailer, standing in a clinically clean sci-fi environment. A tubular machine behind her features a logo that reads "1:1 GDLIIATNCAH myosotis". It's unclear what this means, but a myosotis is a type of flower often known as a forget-me-not, and so it may be that memory is a theme explored by the game.

Pragmata was originally revealed in 2020 with a stunning, if indecipherable trailer featuring an astronaut, the little girl from this new artwork, a cat, debris falling from the sky, and a technological monster. How all that fits together is so far unknown, but looks like we'll be waiting even longer to find out exactly what Pragmata is. The mystery continues.

Matt Purslow is IGN's UK News and Entertainment Writer.

Beyond the HD facelift, Grand Theft Auto Definitive Edition comes with a slew of changes and enhancements to introduce these three classics to a modern audience. Here are some of the biggest differences we’ve spotted so far..

1. COMBAT

The three games share a lot of the same changes across the board – namely the GTA 5-inspired gameplay enhancements such as combat controls. Previously, you’d have to cycle between weapons mid-combat using both triggers, and use the right bumper to aim and one of the face buttons to fire. This control scheme was often a little bit hectic during tougher gun fights.

In the Definitive Edition the process has been simplified with the welcome inclusion of the Weapon Selection Wheel. It also slows the game down like Grand Theft Auto 5. Both aiming and firing are now handled with the triggers as you’d expect in 2021, and the Weapon Wheel slowdown provides respite if you’re in need of gathering your thoughts during combat.

2. RADIO STATIONS

The process of choosing your favourite radio station has changed, with that too receiving the GTA 5 style selection wheel.

3. DRIVE-BYS

But the improvements aren’t just for those on-foot combat encounters, as drive-bys are now much easier to pull off. Originally, you’d be awkwardly driving and using the face buttons to look left or right and then firing your weapon, which wasn’t all too intuitive. Now, Grand Theft Auto 3, Vice City and San Andreas all feature improved vehicle gunplay, and it’s as easy as looking around using the right stick and firing your weapon in whichever direction your camera is facing.

4. GPS

The GTA Trilogy also has an updated navigation system featured throughout all three games. Before Grand Theft Auto 4 introduced the GPS to our HUDs, maps in GTA were pretty rudimentary, with San Andreas allowing you to add a target to your map and the previous games not offering much else. But much like GTA 4 and 5, you can now place waypoints wherever you wish, with your car creating a route to your desired destination.

5. CHECKPOINTS

Another much needed quality of life improvement is the ability to restart a mission immediately after failing it, and mid-mission checkpoints for those particularly long outings. So whether you’ve failed to follow that damn train or somehow landed in the ocean, this checkpoint/restart system solves a lot of problems.

While there’s plenty of positive, quality of life improvements to be found, some changes are a little questionable…

6. WORKING OUT

Prior to the mobile port, in the gym’s you’d need to alternate between two face buttons to increase your power and continue gaining those reps when weight lifting. The more muscles you have, the easier it’ll become to fulfill a harder workout. Now the entire process has been simplified, reducing this mini-game to a single button input, which somehow has introduced a bug allowing CJ to, without any effort, lift the heaviest weights – despite having no muscle.

7. AUTO-CLIMB

Another holdover from the mobile version is the inclusion of an Auto Climb feature, which has CJ climbing over obstacles without needing to jump, all while sprinting. This might sound useful but can often lead to CJ falling to his death. Thankfully, this can be turned off in the options menu.

8. AIMING

In the original San Andreas, aiming at an enemy brought up a coloured reticle effect, which indicated how much health an enemy had. Green for full health, orange for half and red for danger. But in the Definitive Edition, this feature has been removed and swapped out for a white outline instead.

9. ANIMATION

CJ no longer has a unique walking animation for when he’s either skinny or super buff, something which was noticeable in every other prior version before the mobile port.

10. RUN AROUND LOS SANTOS

Another fan favourite from the PS2 and Xbox era that didn’t make the cut was the couch co-op “Run-Around LS” mode. As the title suggests, this allowed two players to run around Los Santos, causing as much havoc as they desired. Sadly, this is no more.

11. CINEMATIC CAMERA

The Cinematic Camera isn’t included in the Definitive Edition either. While not a deal breaker, it was a unique way to experience these cities from a different perspective. Sadly, even GTA 3's top-down camera angle – a reference to earlier GTA games – didn’t make the cut either.

12. SPECIAL VEHICLES

Special vehicles in GTA San Andreas, such as the forklift, dozer and others, can no longer have their unique animations controlled with the right analogue stick. Instead, there’s a d-pad button prompt allowing only for the maximum or minimum of any action – no more direct 1-to-1 control like in the originals.

13. PHOTO ALBUM

The camera, an item used throughout San Andreas, no longer allows players to save snapshots to the photo gallery. Although you can easily save pictures and videos with whatever share function the system you’re playing on has, this game mechanic was removed way back on the mobile version and is still nowhere to be seen.

14. SPEED BLUR

A nice touch found in the original versions of San Andreas for consoles was the inclusion of speed blur on the screen when tanking it in a car or when activating nitrous. The faster you went, the more prominent the effect was, but it’s absent in the Definitive Edition of San Andreas. The same goes for other small visual effects such as the haze from flames, the engine wash of the Hydra and even the jetpack as well.

15. HEAD-TURNING

In Grand Theft Auto 3 and Vice City, both Claude and Tommy Vercetti turn their heads when the player presses down the analogue stick to look behind them. Another small but cool detail lost in the Definitive Edition.

16. DIFFICULTY

Mission difficulty has also seen some changes. The infamous Demolition Man mission in Vice City adds an extra 30 seconds to the players clock and during the mission Ceasar Vialpando in San Andreas, the lowrider competition has now been made easier by removing most of the actions needed to pass, enlarging the circle to hit the button and it even warning the player what button to press next.

17. GRAPHICS

Grand Theft Auto Trilogy: Definitive Edition looks a lot different compared to its predecessors. Nearly every texture has had a bump in resolution and detail, from roads, to weapons and even characters – but some have fared better than others.

18. LIGHTING

Funky character models aside, the rebuilt lighting system found within this updated trilogy is both a blessing and a curse. In Vice City, the iconic shopping district of Ocean Beach looks beautiful at night, populated with its many neon-lit storefronts and hotels. The pinks and greens create an ’80s aesthetic that looks great in motion.

In GTA 3, the oppressive highrises of Liberty City offer little light and can make some cutscenes and even general gameplay too dark for viewing.

19. DRAW DISTANCE

Although it was more of a technical limitation of the time rather than an artistic one, the fog and light haze found in the original versions of San Andreas added to the game’s sundrench LA atmosphere. Now, thanks to increased draw distance, you’re able to spot just about everything in front of you. Most of the time, this isn’t an issue but I’ve got to admit it’s weird seeing Mount Chiliad from the bridge near Grove Street, or seeing the entirety of the map while flying around a jet – which makes the world feel incredibly small.

20. IMPROVED WORLD DETAIL

However, there are some nice additions such as enhanced detail in trees and other foliage, making the forests around Flint County in San Andreas, or parks and neighborhoods around Liberty City, a touch more realistic. On top of that, 3D parallax interiors are also included for a bunch of buildings and windows throughout each of the three games, breathing more life and depth into these vibrant cities.

21. THAT RAIN…

One last thing – don’t get caught out in the rain, as certain updated environmental effects are a bit of a mess. During a storm, rain falls in thick, white lines that can easily obscure your vision while driving around at night.

Far Cry 6 is down to just £39.99 in the UK for one day only. This is an incredible discount on the brand new open-world world shooter from Ubisoft, with the game usually £59.99 at list price.

That isn't all, however, as Amazon also has a whole collection of limited-time deals on Ubisoft games today (see here), with the likes of Riders Republic coming down to £32.99, Watch Dogs Legion for £18.85, or Immortals Fenyx Rising for just £16.99. But, these discounts are only available for one-day-only, so they expire by 11;59PM GMT on November 18. Get in quick so you don't miss out, here are the very best deals available in the sale.

Black Friday: Ubisoft Games on Sale, Far Cry 6 for £40

Robert Anderson is a deals expert and Commerce Editor for IGN. You can follow him @robertliam21 on Twitter.