Its been almost four years since Bayonetta 3 was announced as a Nintendo Switch exclusive, and since then? Nary a peep from developer Platinum Games, who have been very busy working on all manner of other projects in addition to a threequel starring the sultry witch with the longest of legs and a fondness for high-heel firepower. Speaking on Hamster’s Arcade Archives streams, Platinum’s notoriously prickly and Twitter-blocking mastermind Hideki Kamiya noted that progress was still, well, progressing on Bayonetta 3.

Has Bayonetta 3 been thrown onto the same pile of cancellation that Scalebound currently inhabits? Not a chance, says Platinum Games.

Tis the month of love! February has long been considered to be that time of the year where romance reigns supreme, and what could be a better love story than Twilight when it comes to the passion of video games? Whether your tastes may lie in vanquishing undead Nazi scum, replaying an old classic or taking down titans with a single punch, there’s a lot to look forward to.

PlatinumGames, developer behind high-octane action games like Bayonetta, Vanquish and Darryn’s favourite game of all time, Metal Gear Rising: Revengeance has announced a partnership with Chinese gaming giant Tencent that’ll bolster finances while keeping the company independent. The company is also responsible for contemplative RPG Nier: Automata, Astral Chain, and the criminally underrated Wonderful 101.

Last week saw a proper remaster port of Vanquish slip through Microsoft’s fingers, but this week? It’s official. Here’s the kicker: Sam Gideon won’t be alone in his return to flatscreens, as a certain leggy witch will be joining him for the ride. Bayonetta will also be popping up, in a tag team of action that promises remastered visuals in 4K resolution at 60fps on PlayStation 4 Pro and Xbox One X.

With Resident Evil 2 returning this month and reimagining Raccoon City as a deadlier hive of the undead, we started to thinking about the most important things in life: Which weapon would we want with us if we were ever stuck in the middle of a zombie apocalypse? When it comes guns, swords and all manner of exotic tools of destruction, video games have never been short on ideas for death dealers.

In video game development, original ideas are often seen by other games, scooped up and implemented in a variety of ways. On and on the list goes, with examples in just about every genre that you can think of. There’s something to be said however, for a game which takes inspiration from its contemporary and actually improves on the formula. Here’s five such examples, of video games that ripped other games off beautifully.

Though the first game’s starting to show its age as far as visuals go, the relentless action remains timeless. Fast, frantic and frivolously fun, it’s still worth playing. The sequel, however, improves upon everything; deliver a more focused, more nuanced and more refined. It’s a glorious masterclass in design and flow.