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Castlevania: Belmont's Curse is a new beginning for one of gaming's oldest franchises.
When playing Castlevania: Belmont's Curse, I couldn't stop thinking about Symphony of the Night. Almost 30 years ago, that game reinvented Castlevania as a search-action game, and did it so brilliantly that it earned half of the "metroidvania" portmanteau. Belmont's Curse does not attempt such a dramatic shift. It doesn't change genres or reinvent the series as something entirely new. What it does, however, is achieve a brilliant synthesis, with every component operating at peak performance to deliver a new high for the series. Castlevania is back, and it is fantastic. Put simply, Belmont's Curse is the total package. A sprawling map bursting with mysteries to uncover, joyous traversal tools that make roaming the map feel great, a story that balances a macabre tone with occasional lightness, a cast of creative and well-drawn characters, and hands-down the best combat of any Castlevania game--in fact, among the best combat of any 2D action game, period. What makes all of these synergize so well is the addition of the tarot cards, which serve as an elegant way to fuse the game's disparate elements, and makes them all feel like part of one cohesive whole. At different points your tarot deck serves as mission signposting, environmental puzzles, pieces of story lore, characters to serve as dialogue for Rose, boss locations, and ultimately, your pool of spells. You play as Rose Belmont, daughter of Trevor Belmont, who has trained her whole life as the successor of the Belmont clan. Though silver-maned Trevor is still a capable fighter, Rose volunteers to investigate the otherworldly happenings in Paris, France, eager to prove herself worthy of the family name. But Rose is also afflicted with a cursed red mark on one arm, making her dangerously instrumental to the machinations of Dracula and his armies. The tarot deck is a set of magical cards gifted to Rose by her late mother, Sypha, who passed on the curse to her at birth. Each card represents a follower of Dracula, with honorific names like The Fallen, The Warrior, or The Builder. As you explore the castle you find clues that reveal story details and hints about how to find them, often both simultaneously, and they each have their own roles in Dracula's royal court. When Dracula's castle emerges in the heart of Paris--as you obviously knew it would, this is a Castlevania game, after all--the full deck is revealed, putting the complete array of monsters in your sights. Once you've tracked down and defeated one of Dracula's servants, their tarot card becomes an Arcana you can use as a spell, which then opens its own flexible progression system. It may sound complex, but the system is actually an ingenious way to merge different gameplay elements and make them all feel digestible and cohesive. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse As an example, take the first boss, The Fallen. Finding him is a relatively simple task, given that it's meant to serve as a basic primer for finding clues and navigating the winding streets of Paris. When you defeat him, you absorb his Arcana, which grants you two important tools: a recognizable boomerang axe spell, and an arcane whip that allows you to grab onto grapple points to reach new locations. But this new traversal tool is also a combat tool, since the same function can grab onto any enemy; a well-timed strike while grappling toward the enemy can then do serious damage. Then on top of that, the combat tool itself can also be used for traversal, as enemies flying midair can help you reach distant platforms, as long as you can grapple onto them. It all harmonizes beautifully, and exemplifies Belmont's Curse as a whole--abundant with mechanics that complement and fold into others in surprising ways. Dracula's legion of followers also serve another purpose, as being captured forces them into the tarot where they occupy a mindspace for Rose to speak with. This ultimately gives her characters to bounce off of for story purposes, but the characters are also well differentiated from each other. The Fallen is a gruff creature that comes to feel protective of Rose, whereas Medusa, even imprisoned in Rose's deck, is unsubtly rooting for her to fail and constantly trying to trick her into making moves that will further her master's plans. Lots of characters you find throughout have their own agendas and rivalries, and are often at cross-purposes with Rose or each other, adding a compelling dynamic as they all bicker inside of your head. The regular addition of characters in your deck means that any of them could interject in dialogue to offer some commentary--though the core cast, so to speak, remains the first three that you find. One drawback of having such a dynamic cast of characters is that the protagonist, Rose, is less interesting by comparison. She's a determined heroine archetype and remains that way throughout. She is a central point of gravity for all of the other characters to orbit around, and works on that level, but I do wish she had more agency herself. She is deadset on her mission from start to finish, and not much more. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Each Arcana spell also comes with a set of three objectives to complete, called Works of Mercy. These can be as simple as defeating a set number of enemies with the relevant spell, but often are more complex to incentivize exploration or experimentation. One notable objective for The Warrior rewards you for finding a particular location, which works thematically with that character's story. One of Medusa's has you petrify an enemy carrying a shield, a reference to the myth of Perseus. Your reward for completing these is opening a node to choose one of three power-ups for the spell; once you've completed all three, you're rewarded with extra dialogue from the Arcana character. And so you explore the streets and undercity of Paris along with Dracula's castle in freeform fashion, an open structure lightly guides you toward critical objectives for unlocking new equipment that you need to reach other corners and layers of the world. If you're ever stuck you can refer to your tarot deck for clues that you may not have thought about for a while. The environmental puzzles add just enough brain-tickling challenge to make you observe carefully and think through the clues, without grinding your progress to a halt. And the ability to track down enemies and steal their powers makes for a compelling loop that reminded me of one of my favorite series: Mega Man. I was always eager to take down the next boss and see how they would augment my combat and traversal abilities. Combat is where you can truly see the expertise of developer Evil Empire shine through the most, as its expertise from Dead Cells transfers beautifully to this franchise. Your strikes across the wide variety of weapon types feel forceful and kinetic, and each weapon type has its own advantages and special charged ability. Your basic longsword is well balanced and lets you dash through enemies, while the whip has long reach but only the tip strikes with its full power. I found I favored the lance, with its versatility of long reach as a handheld weapon or the ability to throw it as a projectile, and ultimately stuck with it for a long time even after finding other weapons at higher levels. There are four weapons each across seven type categories, so the seven weapon types offer loads of room for experimentation to dial in on the one you like best, or just swapping situationally. What makes the combat transcendant, though, is the addition of a parry. This is new ground for a Castlevania game, but it also works differently than the parry I've seen in many other games. As a holy shield gained from your second boss encounter, it works independently of your regular strikes. It doesn't interrupt your attacks, and by default the attack button is mapped to a face button while the parry is mapped to the left trigger. That means you can be attacking while also parrying your opponent's attack, making combat a lightning fast series of choices that puts you on offense and defense simultaneously. As someone who has struggled with many parry systems and never quite got into them in other games, this one made a believer out of me. It just feels so good to wail on an enemy, parry a projectile from behind, and then grapple over to finish them off. Belmont's Curse is full of moments like this, as practically every room you enter is occupied by enemies, and frequent forced combat encounters test your mettle against mixtures of them. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse This is not to say combat is easy. Far from it. The cursed streets of Paris and Dracula's castle are littered with monsters and ghouls familiar to Castlevania fans, reimagined for this combat style, and Rose is very vulnerable. It's easy to die even in regular combat encounters, and boss fights take a good bit of pattern recognition to learn tells before you can successfully fend them off. But the combat is so fine-tuned that you constantly feel in control and recognize what you did wrong. Very occasionally the screen would be so full of enemy attacks I missed a parry window because it was hard to read all the visual information at once, but it was rare enough not to detract from the overall experience. Similarly, navigating extended gauntlets of traps can be trying, but they always feel satisfying to complete, and you're rewarded with items like ability-augmenting Relics or further clues for your tarot deck. If combat or traps give you trouble, Belmont's Curse adds a few quality-of-life features and options to ease your growth. For one, you keep all the XP earned during your runbacks to bosses, so even if you have to try a boss multiple times, you're still leveling up and gaining power on the way. You can also turn on the Custom Mode to tweak options like setting a checkpoint right in front of boss doors, boosting your damage output, reducing the damage from traps, and more. There doesn't seem to be any cost to using this system, and you can turn it on or off as you'd like. The one element missing, for good reason, are any extra navigational tools to find your way. It's clear that Evil Empire doesn't mind giving you a leg up on reflex-based challenges, but it still wants you to think through puzzles and explore to uncover secrets. Belmont's Curse also has some of the most inventive bosses I've seen in the series history. One notable boss twice escaped to a different section, introducing a difficult platforming challenge in the middle of the fight to continue it. Another hexes you with a sigil indicating the number of hits you can take before you simply die, forcing you to minimize strikes on you even if you have plenty of healing items to prevent dying outright. Even after 20 hours there are many other bosses in my deck I have yet to find, and I'm eager to see what else Castlevania has to offer. Castlevania: Belmont's Curse Exploring the castle is a visual delight, because Belmont's Curse is gorgeous. Far from a gray-soaked castle, Evil Empire has leaned into its house art style of vivid, saturated hues and unexpected color palettes. The approach to Dracula's castle, in which Rose and all of the enemies are silhouetted against the pink-red color tone of a burning Paris behind them, is one of the most visually arresting moments I've seen in a game lately. The character designs themselves are distinct and creative, like Carmilla, a hemomancer whose slinky red gown is made of dripping blood. I could go on and on, but I'll let you discover them for yourself. Plus as you explore you get treated to new renditions of classic Castlevania music alongside new tunes that fit right into its milieu. Every element in Castlevania: Belmont's Curse works so well both independently and as part of the whole: flexible combat, beautifully acrobatic traversal, fine-tuned environmental puzzles, wide cast of interesting characters, and eye-catching visual panache--all wrapped within a smart tarot system that lets these ideas complement each other. Belmont's Curse feels destined to be regarded alongside Symphony of the Night as one of the best Castlevania games, and one of the best metroidvania games, of all time.
My 2012 belonged to Slender Man. I was easily terrified by creepy, early 2010s computer games like Slender: The Eight Pages, but I couldn't resist their special blend of unicorn blood and twee. Recently, I've been missing the pink bittersweetness of the Tim Burton-style horror games made in those years, like Fran Bow and Alice: Madness Returns, so the inaugural Cozy After Dark Showcase has arrived with a new trailer for Hell Is Other People at just the right time. The teaser from indie developer Miss Self Destruct describes Hell Is Other People--named for the famous Jean-Paul Sartre quote about being trapped in other people's perceptions of you--as "a psychological horror about social anxiety." Its little girl protagonist has onyx eyes and hair that goes nearly down to her fingertips, so she looks a bit overgrown, like she might have washed up on some riverbank. Otherwise, she seems normal, with a thin mattress to curl on top of every night like any other lonely child. But that's not what her mother thinks. https://youtu.be/7VJ07UqoUyI?si=UM_03yezg2sQ1YA-&t=3530 "See what I have to deal with?" Mother says as our little girl stares politely at a party tray of frosted cupcakes. Hell Is Other People's Steam description explains that you won't collect items in your inventory, but social skills, so the girl responds to her mother's snide comment with Guilt--but it isn't impactful. She becomes paranoid, making lines of dialogue seem to jumble and melt together as the girl explains, "When I feel bad, people become so hard to read." You'll have to manage these shifting tides of emotion by consulting your notebook for how normal people behave. Initially, I was drawn to the pretty Gothic caricature of Hell Is Other People, black cats with sharp syringe teeth and patterned arsenic wallpaper, but now I'm feeling understood by it as a true social survival game. When I myself was a strange girl with long hair that blew around on the swingsets, I was much like the Hell Is Other People protagonist; I was desperate for my parents to understand me, and I couldn't understand why they didn't try. My only solace in those years was Tim Burton's corpse bride and monsters like Slender Man--outcasts. It can be pleasant to give up and call yourself a freak, exist among freaks. So I'm excited for the gloomy nostalgia Hell Is Other People brings me when it's out sometime soon.
Haunted Chocolatier looks like it could be the perfect, candy-bar blend of sweet and creepy once it launches--but developer ConcernedApe doesn't know when that might be. So I'd like to consider an alternate option for after-funeral desserts and try the upcoming Steam game Tearoom of Terror, whose developer, Sundew Studios, was just featured during the new Cozy After Dark Showcase. Sundew studios writer and designer Allie Ast shows off the "cozy gothic murder mystery" Tearoom of Terror in all its Edward Gorey detail during the stream, which was presented by the Dames 4 Games nonprofit. Like Haunted Chocolatier, which will let you melt, swirl, and sell your own fancy chocolates, Tearoom of Terror involves brewing lovely lavender teas and doling out cheesy scones to strange customers, like a seemingly homicidal heiress and an opera singer of no renown. You'll go through the soothing motions of keeping your own Victorian tea parlor running as finely as white lace… but it won't be as lovely as it looks. https://youtu.be/7VJ07UqoUyI?si=9ImYGyEay_hblvLB&t=2876 "You're also the primary suspect in your aunt's murder!" Ast cheerfully reveals. So Tearoom of Terror will also feature moments of deduction like the underrated The Séance of Blake Manor, except you have a stickier relationship with justice than that puzzle game's upright detective. "Find the true culprit, or instead of serving scones, you'll be serving time," Ast warns. Desperate times may call for desperate measures--like an excessive lump of poisoned sugar, or a little pinch of worms to keep your "immoral" clientele in line. Ast explains, "Luckily, the officer has a weak constitution." I'm already preparing business names for my tearoom that will no doubt fail health inspection standards--Sleepy Marshmallow? The Headless Horseradish? So I'm eager for Tearoom of Terror to launch sometime soon. Its demo is available now on Steam.
Dragon Quest creator Yuji Horii has praised the strides AI has taken in aiding game development while showing off a prototype he says took less than an hour to make. Horii took to X to share his latest game, which can be played online for free. The game, which is a simple text-based interrogation title, was created solely through the use of AI prompting, with Horii explaining how much more work it would entail a few decades ago. "Long ago, when I made ‘The Portopia Serial Murder Case’ on a PC, I came up with the story myself, drew the pictures myself, did the programming myself, and created the game all by myself," Horii said, via translation on X. And now, by using AI, even if I can’t draw pictures or program, I can just give instructions to the AI and create a decent game all by myself." Horii has long been a supporter of AI and its ability to speed up game development, with the designer stating in an interview last year that he intends to introduce generative AI into his future games. Although he is now 72, Horii has worked on every mainline Dragon Quest since the series' inception, with his company, Armor Project, co-owning the franchise. Although Horii was not involved, Dragon Quest was at the center of another initiative earlier this year. Publisher Square Enix entered into a deal with Gemini creator Google, promising to introduce an AI-powered partner to players of Dragon Quest X. The chatbot, named Chatty Slimely, is designed to provide help to players through text and voice chat, but will be exclusive to the Japanese-only MMO for now.
The new Street Fighter movie hits theaters in just a few days, and if you're a fan of the Capcom series, you might be tempted to celebrate with some new poster art on your wall. While the official poster for that movie is fine, Mondo's new Street Fighter 2 poster is much better, striking, and it doesn't feature a gallery of floating heads--just one, in fact, being punched off the beefy shoulders of a Shadaloo enforcer. If you're wondering what that piece of fine art looks like, GameSpot can exclusively reveal it for you below. Can you see it? Sure you can! Designed by artist and painter Gian Galang, this Street Fighter 2 poster captures one of the most iconic moments of the fighting game franchise, highlighting the legendary rivalry between Ryu and Sagat. Preorder at Mondo "Street Fighter 2 was the first video game I ever owned, and it reinforced the bond between art and martial arts that I loved as a kid and has defined my career as an adult," Galang said. "I did my best to create an image worthy of the Street Fighter legacy, depicting the Shoryuken between Ryu and Sagat, exploding with lightning, splitting the composition in two." For this poster, Galang created a unique, multi-layered composition, and Mondo has reprinted it as a nine-color screenprint on high-quality paper. The poster will go on sale starting October 16 at 9 AM PT, and it is priced at $90. While you'd think Ken Masters is Ryu's ultimate rival, a storied history between the globe-trotting fighter and Sagat has been explored over the years in film, manga, and comic books. In the original Street Fighter lore, their first meeting resulted in Sagat receiving his iconic chest scar from Ryu's Shoryuken, which drove the Thai fighter to join Shadaloo so he could get his rematch. Street Fighter Alpha changed things by showing that Sagat delivered a one-sided beatdown to Ryu, and in a moment of sportsmanship, he reached out to pick the young warrior up. Unfortunately, Ryu's dark side--the Satsui no Hado--manifested at that point, resulting in him launching a Shoryuken uppercut that left Sagat scarred and beaten. The two would eventually cross paths again, with Sagat picking up the victory over Ryu after his brainwashing at the hands of M. Bison, and since then, they've developed a mutual respect for each other. In more Street Fighter news, the developers behind the popular fighting game series recently remarked that it was on life support 10 years ago, and the Street Fighter movie is out on October 16. Helmed by Bad Trip director Kitao Sakurai, it features a stacked roster of actors, Easter eggs, and a version of Guile's theme music that goes with everything. Street Fighter Movie Cast Revealed, Including An Unexpected Eric Andre Role View Images
I've spent years judging games on things like combat, story, graphics, or how satisfying their open worlds are. But something occurred to me recently--I've not put enough thought into where exactly I would live if I had to move into one of these games. Sure, legendary weapons are nice, and okay, fine, maybe I should be concerned about the fate of the world. If there's an ancient evil force trying to destroy civilization, I guess I could take a look at it. But I'm an adult, and so I have adult concerns. When retiring to my quarters among all of the chaos, do I have enough storage? Is the bathroom a reasonable enough distance from where I sleep? Is there enough natural light? For this highly specific and scientific experiment, I've decided to judge games based purely on how nice--or how practical--it would be to live there. There are no additional points for graphics, narrative, or combat. A lovely house in a terrible location still counts as a terrible house. A vast mansion with a shitty kitchen is just going to rack up my Uber Eats bill. I've judged each property on its layout, facilities, location, storage, outdoor space, and a mysterious parameter that I'm just going to refer to as "the vibe." Of course, considering each house is from a game, I'll also have to focus on how likely it is that I'll be murdered in my sleep, whether supernatural interference is likely, and signs of an impending apocalypse. I'm also assuming that I can afford these places without question. Stardew Valley's Farmhouse Stardew Valley's farmhouse has everything you could reasonably want from a rural property--a comfortable living space, room to customize the interior, and even a patch of land to grow your own food. The real selling point is the garden. Imagine having enough space to keep a variety of animals, grow your own vegetables, and potter around blissfully without having to share an allotment with anyone else. The simplicity is appealing, since you can expand and improve your property over time, making it feel like a home you've actually developed yourself instead of a huge, soulless new build with the same kitchen island as 30 other people in a two-mile radius. However, there are some concerns about the local area. The town is small with limited infrastructure and the economy seems to rely on a small handful of people selling produce to one another. The local mine also has monsters but nobody seems bothered about securing the entrance or introducing an emergency protocol. Overall, I'll give Stardew Valley's farmhouse a strong 9/10. I deducted a point for isolation, dangerous monsters, and a questionable local economy. The Lake House in Alan Wake 2. I love being beside the water, so I was pretty excited to get acquainted with the lake house in Alan Wake 2's expansion of the same name. The views are spot on, it's nice and tranquil, there's plenty of fresh air, what's not to love? Unfortunately, Alan Wake 2 taught me that an isolated property in a heavily wooded area is not the peaceful escape I was looking for. The architecture is beautiful, and the landscape is spectacular, but survivability prospects are poor. Given the plethora of supernatural horrors, I’d like to know whether there’s a hospital within a reasonable distance, whether delivery drivers know my house exists, and whether my insurance company covers mysterious shadow creatures. Sadly, I've had to give the lake house a disappointing 4/10. While the views are stunning, I don't want to live anywhere with such a high density of "strange" occurrences. Animal Crossing: New Horizons' Player's House The joy of Animal Crossing is that you can make the space entirely your own. You can customize your rooms, rearrange furniture, experiment with different styles, and express yourself entirely through your home. The abundance of space outdoors also allows you to create an outdoor space that you want, no matter what that is. There's no penalty for changing things up regularly, and none of the neighbors complain about your eccentric style. Well, not too often, anyway. In the real world, renovations require contractors and a lot of money. In Animal Crossing, I can decorate my entire house in ten minutes with no mess. If you enjoy peace and quiet, as I do, the location is amazing. However, the public transport network leaves a lot to be desired. Then there's Tom Nook. Yes, he provides housing, but his financial arrangements need observing closely. Real mortgage lenders send you a statement, but Tom Nook stomps around the island as the only man with the power to expand your home, making up prices and gaslighting you into believing your home will never be big enough. I've given Animal Crossing's house a 9/10 because of the amazing customization options and enjoyable outdoor living. I deducted one point because I don't trust the landlord. The Sims 4 Okay, I know this one is technically cheating, because you can just make the house of your dreams with few repercussions. The Sims is effectively a property development simulator disguised as a life sim. I've spent so many hours building houses from scratch, planning the layout, choosing the furniture, and recoloring the appliances, only to never even bother with the family that moves in. But it's the fantasy of designing and furnishing a house I could never afford in real life that draws me in. Enormous bathrooms, walk-in wardrobes, a bedroom in the conservatory? It's my (fake) money, my house, and my questionable decisions, and I'll do what I want. Sure, I'm occasionally forced to be the victim of my own choices. A staircase in the wrong place sometimes means my Sims have to walk for 15 minutes just to make breakfast--and that's if they can even make any breakfast because I've filled the counters with appliances and forgotten the need for prep space. Even that's a questionable sequence of events, because the chances of me placing a pretty plant in a spot that the residents believe makes the door inaccessible are pretty high. You just can't beat the customization options though, so if money and building restrictions were no object, I'd have the place of my dreams. That earns it a 10/10. The Bakers' House, Resident Evil 7 At first glance, the Baker family home is a lovely rural property. There's lots of space, it's got character, and it's secluded enough to appeal to anyone looking to escape the city. On closer inspection though, the place is filthy. The interior is falling apart, and there's a general vibe that suggests the previous owners didn't take maintenance very seriously. There's also the small matter of the other residents. I'm not especially fussy, but I don't want to find evidence of a long family dispute in the form of biological horror. The kitchen is the worst part. You'd like to think that a food preparation area would have a certain level of hygiene, but not here. On the plus side, the house would probably be pretty cheap. If you can find a surveyor willing to inspect it, it might be a great bargain. Having said that, I've had to give it a 1/10 because I fear the cost of renovating such a large space would be astronomical. There's also a weird smell. Any Minecraft House Minecraft's argument for building your own home from scratch is pretty compelling. You can choose the location from a variety of different biomes, but you also have to source the materials, design it, and construct it yourself. That said, there are countless possibilities. I could build a lakeside cottage, a modern mansion in the mountains, or a cozy woodland treehouse. However, there are some practical considerations. Depending on where you build, you might need to worry about hostile mobs appearing outside your front door, or even inside your house if you haven't put enough thought into how you'll light it. Building an amazing house in the middle of nowhere is all well and good, but getting the resources and traveling elsewhere is tedious. If you have the best kitchen in the world, it won't matter if the nearest village is a 30-minute boat ride away. The only local transport is a horse--or a minecart, but you'll have to build the network yourself. It's also a completely unrealistic construction process. You can punch a tree, turn it into planks, and build a house without ever speaking to a professional. That said, it earns 8/10 for limitless potential, although the process is brutal if you have no basic survival skills. The Normandy, Mass Effect I know that technically the Normandy is a spaceship, but I'm willing to make an exception and include it on the basis that it has bedrooms, living quarters, a kitchen, and enough facilities to make it feel like an oversized shared apartment. The location is unusual, but the views of the galaxy are unrivaled. The beauty of the Normandy is you can use it to travel between star systems, making the commute more bearable than most. It certainly beats the London Underground. The main problem is that your neighbors are your colleagues, and your workplace is on board. That takes away the separation between home and work. It's hard to relax when somebody's discussing a mission briefing in the corridor outside your room. The escape provisions are not up to scratch. If the ship gets into trouble, you suddenly have no home either. I've given it a 7/10 for the incredible views and great facilities, but I'd prefer a house where my employer can't drag me to an emergency meeting before breakfast. Croft Manor, Tomb Raider If I didn't have to think about the heating bill, Croft Manor would be a pretty great place to live, but it does have a few drawbacks. It's huge and very striking to look at, and there are enough rooms that all my friends could come and stay over without question. There's space for entertaining, fitness, storage, and other activities, but I'm not sure how much of it is actually useful. A house that big would quickly become a nightmare to maintain. I don't have enough hours in the day to do all of the cleaning in my own modest four-bed, let alone Croft Manor. There are also questions about security--there needs to be a sensible system for keeping unwanted visitors out, especially with such a vast collection of priceless artifacts. The grounds are beautiful though, and I've always wanted my own pool. If someone else was paying for the maintenance, I'd gladly take the keys. Croft Manor gets an 8/10 because it's unclear whether the manor comes with Lara Croft's bank balance. With so many options to choose from, it's hard to decide where I'd actually live. There are plenty of customization options in Animal Crossing and The Sims, but Stardew Valley's outdoor space and slower pace of life are also appealing. Some properties show that location, maintenance, or neighbors matter just as much as the internal space on offer. The only thing I know for certain is I wouldn't buy the Baker house even with a substantial discount.
Unlike Sony, which has decided to move toward a digital-only game marketplace starting in 2028, Nintendo is sticking to an "agnostic" approach for the Switch 2 console. In a new interview, Nintendo's VP and general manager for Latin America, Bill van Zyll, said the company will still offer both physical and digital versions of games to meet consumer demand. "Historically, we’ve been very agnostic," van Zyll said to YouTuber Coelho no Japão. "We go off what the consumer prefers, and take that into account very heavily. We also have a platform that was just launched. We're barely just over a year into NS2 (Nintendo Switch 2), and it's got both digital and also physical--that capability. There are no plans to ditch physical. We know how much the fans like it as well, so our position has been to be agnostic." https://youtu.be/BaLVcqavw74?t=715 Like its predecessor, the Switch 2 lets you run games by using either foul-tasting physical cartridges or downloads from the Nintendo eShop onto the console. One big difference in this generation is the introduction of Game-Key Cards as a low-cost solution for developers, which act as authentication keys for games. These will require you to both insert the cart and download the game to the Switch 2, but since the cartridges aren't tied to your account, you can still sell them off at a later date if you choose to. Some Switch 2 games--like first-party Nintendo games and the upcoming Stellar Blade: Complete Edition--do contain the full game on the cartridge. While not everyone is a fan of Nintendo's Game-Key Cards, the middleground between digital and physical games is still more well-received than Sony's push for an all-digital future. The company is still cautiously pushing ahead with its plans, but as critics have argued, there are several big risks attached to this drive to transition away from physical media.
Apple is having an Indie Games Week on the App Store, highlighting a new title in the store each day. By the time of publishing, almost all of the games should be available to pick up on either iPhone or iPad. The biggest inclusion is No Man’s Sky, although that is the one game of the seven that isn’t available now, and instead, will release on the App Store later this month on October 28. Developer Hello Games’ Sean Murray says that an iOS port of No Man’s Sky has actually been in development for years, but has been held up by the fact that the studio is still releasing free updates that expand the game’s scope. Those expansions would launch, and then the team would have to go in and get them up and running on iPhone and iPad after the fact, having now only caught up. Those that have been playing the game on other platforms will be able to sync their progress on those devices with their App Store copy. The game can be played with a controller, touch screen controls or a combination of both. Murray says the touch controls are particularly great for when having to navigate the game's various menus and systems. It seems that the time put into the port was worth it, as No Man’s Sky will run on iPhones and iPads released as far back as 2019. The game will load graphical settings for the optimal experience based on the device the user owns, but those can be manually adjusted. When asked about any optimizations the game might have for the upcoming, folding iPhone Duo, Murray says that while the team is excited to get their hands on the hardware and see what can be done, the studio’s big focus has been making sure the game runs smoothly on as many mobile Apple devices already in people's hands as possible. The six other titles that have been announced are SloClap’s Sifu, the stylish martial arts game released for PC and consoles in 2022, Poncle’s Vampire Crawlers, the follow-up to the hit indie title Vampire Survivors, Double Dagger Studio’s open-world adventure game Little Kitty, Big City, the roguelike, deck-builder 9 Kings from Sad Socket, Bippinbits’ tower defense game Dome Keeper, and the management sim Yes, Your Grace 2: Snowfall from Brave at Knight. Each of these six titles is under $10, with some requiring an upfront purchase and others allowing players to check out the game before buying it. Over the last few years, Apple has made big strides in the gaming space, with its M-series Macs boasting serious graphical capabilities and its iPhones now supporting AAA titles like Control and Death Stranding. This week, Apple will be hosting a Welcome Home event, which is rumored to reveal several new home-focused products, including the first Apple TV revision in four years. That device is allegedly powered by the company’s A19 chip, the same SoC inside last year’s iPhone 17, meaning those same AAA titles, and No Man’s Sky, could potentially be making their way to Apple TV as well.
Bandai Namco has dropped a new trailer for Tekken 8, and while this one is mostly focused on everyone's favorite Kangaroo, Roger, it also included a brief tease of one of the most ridiculous characters in anime: Yujiro Hanma. The sneak peek at the Gigachad of fighting anime is quick, but it does show off the character's infamously toothy grin and morning-splits flexibility that would make Jean-Claude Van Damme jealous. While there's no release date yet for when Hanma will be added to the game, the trailer still lists him for the winter season, and Bandai Namco says he'll get his own Tekken 8 trailer at the Tekken World Tour Finals on January 17, 2017. That suggests Hanma will be added to the game soon after, if previous Tekken 8 trailers are any indication. https://youtu.be/fehoyeYVOtE If you're unfamiliar with the source material, Hanma is essentially the apex predator of strength within the Baki universe. While most characters in the manga are somewhat limited by the rules of physics, Hanma is an anomaly: an undefeatable collection of muscles that can do the impossible. Why? Because he's Yujiro Hanma. While his son, Baki, is the protagonist of the manga and anime, Hanma is arguably the breakout star thanks to the sheer absurdity of his feats. US presidents have to regularly swear their loyalty to him, he once stopped an earthquake by punching it, and even being struck by lightning doesn't bother him. Because he's Yujiro Hanma. If there's one thing his Tekken 8 character model accurately captures, it's the ridiculous amount of muscle mass he has. Tekken 8 was built in Unreal Engine 5 and designed to showcase hyper-realistic human anatomy in real time. To pull this off, the developers doubled the digital bone structure from Tekken 7 to 8 for each character and implemented a system that automatically triggers auxiliary bones to drive realistic muscle bulging, twisting, and tightening based on character positioning and movement. On top of that, dynamic muscle striations, bulging veins, and sweat effects are also baked into each character, while a special dual-mesh system prevents clothing clipping. All of this is a lot of fancy tech for a split-second glimpse of muscles bulging before they land a knockout blow, but it feels custom-made to show off Hanma's physics-defying physique. Since launch, Tekken 8 has expanded its roster with several new and familiar characters, including a reborn Heihachi Mishima, Anna, and Final Fantasy 16's Clive Rosfield. It hasn't been smooth sailing recently, as several controversial balance updates, gameplay systems that stripped away defensive options, and aggressive monetization choices have led to community backlash. Longtime Tekken development chief Katsuhiro Harada also left Bandai Namco late last year, and he has since set up a new studio at SNK.
Valor Mortis is a lot more than a soulslike in first-person, often to its own detriment.
The soulslike genre has been around long enough now that it's easy to pick out its most recognizable traits. Whether it's managing stamina in combat, the risk of losing progression with each death, health items and enemies that respawn when you reach a bonfire, lantern, or some other recognizable checkpoint; all of the best in the genre adapt these in their own distinct ways. Valor Mortis is no different, but attempts to stand out through its shift in perspective. By moving the action to a first-person view, Valor Mortis affords itself novelty, which works well with snappy and satisfying combat that rewards deft parries and patience in equal measure. But it's also marred by a weak story and sluggishly paced opening hours that betray the more captivating moments in its second half, where Valor Mortis' most interesting narrative beats and combat encounters finally deliver on some of the potential you can see being established in the hours prior. You play as William Dowsett, a very British-sounding member of Napoleon's army who returns from the dead only to find former allies taken over by corruption sweeping across Europe. The corruption has twisted people; large red boils replace the heads of riflemen, infantrymen have their spines snapped as they are transformed into grotesque and rabid attack dogs, and piles of bodies have become living masses of flesh that slowly crawl toward you when you least expect it. It's a familiar world that has been transformed into a nightmare for William as he attempts to reconnect with missing comrades and understand how the war has found itself in this state, leading him to answers that will likely be far less surprising for you as a player. Valor Mortis' story is frustratingly straightforward, and wastes a setting so rarely used in action games. William's slow realization that the war he's been waging on behalf of the bloodthirsty Napoleon Bonaparte might not be as noble as he assumed is annoyingly drawn out for how predictable it is. It's hard to get invested with a main character who has little more going for him than verbalizing his disgust over the consequences of a war he so recently was proud to be a part of, blissfully ignorant to the horrors he was unleashing on innocent citizens along the way. Conversations with the game's supporting cast don't help either, with none making a lasting impression. Once Valor Mortis starts exploring the villages and cities besieged by Bonaparte and his corrupted forces, there are more compelling stories to discover. You'll come across brief echoes that capture fleeting conversations from the past, distilling short but often heartbreaking stories. They effectively convey the desperation some civilians endured when faced with a foreign, oppressive force taking over their day-to-day lives. There's an entire city filled with orphans who scurry around underground tunnels, and another nearly entirely underwater after a heinous war crime extinguished a rebellion without care for civilian casualties. They're effective at contextualizing why so much of the world around you is desolate and broken without having to see those events play out, and they do a great job of making you hate an antagonist you'll hardly ever see. It's frustrating that it takes a while to get here, however, with many of Valor Mortis' opening hours taking place across battlefields that, while twisted by the corruption around them, ultimately blend together in forgettable ways. These areas are almost strictly linear, with clear paths from beginning to end and only slight detours to explore. Around the halfway mark, this monotonous world design flips around entirely--you move from abandoned villages to burning cities and down into labyrinthine catacombs beneath an eerily empty university. These spaces feel more like small hubs, with smart shortcuts back to resting points (represented here as lanterns, which restock your healing vials and respawn enemies as you might expect) that make them feel more carefully considered in comparison to the opening hours. Valor Mortis' combat is where it takes its biggest swings. Its shift to a first-person perspective is the most immediate and distinct change from typical soulslikes, but its split between melee and ranged combat and multiple weapon options are equally impactful. It is still all about crowd and stamina control, as well as a familiar reliance on parries, too. The tighter field of view makes it important to intelligently choose which enemies to engage and when, though off-screen markers help alleviate potential frustrations the perspective change would otherwise introduce. Melee combat is fast and responsive, with parries being especially satisfying to pull off given the tight windows that make many duels, especially those against bosses, exhilarating. I rarely tired of hearing the sound cues of a critical attack, be it from a stealth attack or through breaking their posture, accompanied by violent, contextual executions that varied based on the weapons I had equipped. Ranged combat is given a greater emphasis than most other soulslike games too, and you'll routinely be challenged to pick off enemies from afar while juggling those within striking distance. "By moving the action to a first-person view, Valor Mortis affords itself novelty, which works well with snappy and satisfying combat that rewards deft parries and patience in equal measure" There is a range of offensive weapons and abilities on offer, each of which is introduced as you progress through the story. Included are three types of swords: a rapier that excels at parries and building posture damage, a two-handed claymore that forgoes parries entirely in favor of slow, powerful, and magically imbued attacks, and a well-rounded saber that balances damage and posture damage. Firearms are similarly varied, with a quick-firing pistol, a slow but powerful blunderbuss that's devastating at close range, and a two-handed musket that's great for picking off enemies from afar. You're also granted three transmutations, or magical abilities, which allow you to hurl fire at enemies, freeze them with stasis, or absorb and reflect their damage back at them, as well as the ability to wall-run (which feels just as good as it did in developer One More Level's Ghostrunner series). Each of these weapons and abilities feature its own upgrade trees, with specific materials required to unlock each sequential node. I ended up finding enough materials to nearly max out each upgrade tree without specifically hunting for them, which allowed me the freedom to experiment with each one without having to commit to specific configurations. This seems by design, given that you'll always have one sword equipped in your main hand and either a firearm or spell in your off hand, similar to Dishonored or BioShock 2, as well as the ability to swap either one at any time. Despite the freedom of choice, I was surprised by how little I swapped between the various options, especially when it came to both swords and magical abilities. The saber, which is the first weapon you're given, fulfilled my needs so perfectly that I only briefly dabbled with both the rapier and claymore before changing back. The rapier's slightly additional posture damage never made up for its inability to block attacks without perfect parries, and the claymore is introduced so late and is incapable of performing parries entirely, stripping out one of the most satisfying elements of the entire combat loop. The same goes for the three transmutations, as I found myself mostly sticking to fire given its effectiveness against most enemies. Building up enough stasis on enemies consumed more nephtoglobin, or mana, than it seemed worthwhile, and the act of absorbing and returning damage with the third ability always felt more clunky in practice and less effective than just sticking to the far more satisfying parrying mechanic. These two other abilities are utilized more often in environmental puzzles, though these are predominantly used to initially explain how the abilities work. They go mostly ignored afterward, annoyingly not building on the gameplay design introduced early on. Enemy variety is partly to blame. Valor Mortis features a relatively shallow pool of foes and takes a long time to start combining them in ways that make you consider how to approach a fight in specific ways. You'll be fighting the same slow-moving and weak infantryman in your first and last hours of the game, which saps some of the satisfaction out of the combat when you're pulling off the same parries against the same attacks for hours on end. In a similar fashion to the level design, this starts resolving itself when you have the full complement of weapons and abilities at your disposal, at which point enemy combinations and slight variations start becoming more abundant. With the added benefit of more open spaces to explore and more opportunities to deliver surprises with enemy placements, Valor Mortis' combat eventually starts to shine. It's just a pity that it takes some time to get there. That might be a blessing or a curse depending on what you're coming to Valor Mortis for, but it has a noticeable knock-on effect that's difficult to ignore. Runbacks after death were far less tense because of how familiar and, in many cases, sparse enemies were. Character progression, which is governed by an upgrade tree with no branching paths to commit to, didn't drastically change the way I played, instead just giving me a means to buff my attributes to keep up with the escalating damage and health pools of enemies. I was rarely seeking out a specific upgrade to help deal with new foes because I had become accustomed to fighting the same ones over and over again. Thankfully boss fights offered some reprieve to this, as they tend to feature a good variety of enemies, large and lumbering to small and nimble, that inject the combat with a sense of challenge and tension. There are many other elements outside of combat, too, that only start to really click closer to the game's climax. Early stages are so preoccupied with introducing you to new weapons and abilities and providing you with spaces to learn each one of them that they feel disjointed and unfocused. At one point you're taking out distant groups of enemies conveniently placed next to explosive barrels to showcase the effectiveness of your new musket, and at another you're engaging in a long platforming sequence where you need to string together wall runs and grapples while maintaining pace with a moving cart through a mine shaft. Ultimately, all these issues stem from a lack of restraint; There are too many disparate ideas that feel at odds with the best aspect of Valor Mortis, making it feel directionless at times. Valor Mortis betrays the heights it reaches in its second half. Its first-person combat is snappy and satisfying, but the limited enemy pool, underutilized weapons and abilities, and lack of consistent challenge ultimately prevent it from shining. And while this historical period is novel to explore with a dark, supernatural twist, it doesn't play host to a wider, captivating story, and is only salvaged by smaller, emotionally charged vignettes that effectively convey the consequences of a war that its protagonist so naively comes to terms with. There are the bones of a great game here--one that would benefit from a tighter focus on its engaging first-person combat and a trimming of the superfluous mechanics that detract from the ones that work. Instead, it's an uneven experience that delights as much as it disappoints.
Star Citizen's single-player mode, Squadron 42, has made a reappearance with a new trailer showing off the mode's impressive cast and interstellar warfare. In development for 12 years, the ambitious mode blends outer space dogfighting and first-person action, set during an era when hostile alien forces have pushed humanity to the brink of defeat. As a rising star in the United Empire of Earth Navy, players must push back the invaders and save the day. The new trailer is the best look yet at the mode and the many, many actors who play various characters in the story mode. From Mark Hamill (who knows a thing or two about space combat) to Gary Oldman, the rest of the cast also includes Gillian Anderson, Ben Mendelsohn, Henry Cavill, Andy Serkis, John Rhys-Davies, Rhona Mitra, and more famous faces in the mix. For the player characters, Ian Duncan (Broken News) plays the male player character, while Alix Wilton Regan (the new face and voice of Tomb Raider games) portrays the female player character. https://youtu.be/i4rVtLAenmk With development being led by Wing Commander creator Chris Roberts at Cloud Imperium Games, the trailer includes a healthy mix of cinematics and gameplay, showing off on-foot sections, life aboard the capital ship that players will be stationed on, minigames, and the space combat that fans of the genre have shown up for. There's no solid release date yet for the mode, but a Q2 2027 release window is listed instead, and you can wishlist it now on the CIG website and Steam. As of 2023, CIG described the standalone campaign as feature-complete, and the team said it was working on "dialing in" the gameplay so it would feel as "immersive as possible." Squadron 42 has been brewing in the background ever since Star Citizen was first announced, with the mode seemingly being close to release earlier this year and then getting a delay to 2027 so that it could escape being overshadowed by GTA 6--which to be fair, is a strategy that many games have opted for recently. "Much like the rest of the industry there is no way I want to launch my spiritual successor to Wing Commander, a game that has had 12 years of blood, sweat and tears invested into it, launching into the attention buzz saw of GTA 6," Roberts wrote in a blog post earlier this year. "While GTA 6 isn’t launching on PC this November, pretty much all outlets and most content creators will be all over it, not leaving a lot of room for other coverage." Development on Star Citizen is still ongoing, and the game has raised over $1 billion in funding since it was first announced. A large chunk of that cash comes from CIG selling spaceships that can cost as much as $5,000 each, money that the game's devoted fanbase is happy to spend on the project. Worryingly, Star Citizen was in the spotlight after a recent developer livestream intended to show the game off in a positive light. But instead of seeing what Star Citizen could be, the gameplay shown off was littered with bugs, glitches, and palpable tension between the developers as they attempted to salvage the broadcast.
Haunted Chocolatier, the second game from Stardew Valley creator, Eric Barone, has been in development for more than five years, having been announced in October 2021. While there's no official word on the Haunted Chocolatier release date, Barone has been discussing the development of the game, including who it's for and more about the playstyle. In a recent interview with GQ, Barone said that Haunted Chocolatier is "more of an action RPG," although it is still what he'd call "a town game." "The main focus is more about adventuring, finding equipment and getting more powerful. There are monsters, there are boss fights. It's for the people in Stardew Valley that go into the mines," he explained. https://youtu.be/kJy7LF789lo Writing on the Haunted Chocolatier website, Barone regularly apologizes for the game "taking so long," but reassures fans that he's making good progress on the game. "I won't compromise on the quality of the game by rushing it or releasing it too early," he adds. Still, now that we have more information on what the game might entail, the wait feels like it will be worth it. According to GQ, Barone has "returned to isolation" to focus on finishing Haunted Chocolatier. "I really want to recapture that feeling that I had when I was making Stardew Valley," Barone said. "Everyone's watching me, and if I don't do things a certain way, it might disappoint millions of people." Haunted Chocolatier is also shaping up to be bigger, and creepier, than Stardew Valley. In 2025, Barone said he "hoped" the game would release within the next five years, so we should get our hands on it before 2030, all being well. Fingers crossed.
Elden Ring is the culmination of FromSoftware’s experience making some of the best Soulslikes (and, in reality, creating the subgenre). It’s both spectacular and brutal, with a unique world to traverse that remains one of the best open-world maps in video game history, even years later. Shadow of the Erdtree amps that difficulty up to 11, and I’m sorry to say it, but your New Game+ save isn’t ready. At least the discount sweetens the deal. Stepping back into the well-worn shoes of your Tarnished—and, if they’re anything like my character, blowing the dust off after sitting around for years—it’s time to head to the Realm of Shadow. This new map is a twisted, even more death-filled take on the Lands Between. Considering how much death happens there, well, that’s saying something. Look, you may have defeated Radahn, and you’ve likely slaughtered Malenia so many times that you’re starting to feel like “Let Me Solo Her.” Good for you. The Shadow of the Erdtree expansion will show you just how unprepared you are. I mean that as someone who beat the final boss of the expansion pre-nerf. Yes, FromSoftware decided the climactic fight was too challenging. Let that sink in. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=nDRmL_VrEgY Fortunately, you won’t simply stumble through the expansion, cheesing bosses and enemies in the hopes of reaching the end. New weapons give you a reason to change up your build, while Scadutree Blessings boost your attack power and damage negation within the Realm of Shadow. Don’t get me wrong; it’s still hard. At least with some upgrades, it isn’t as hard. Shadow of the Erdtree, all jokes aside, is how an expansion should be done. It addresses one of the biggest mysteries in the base game while introducing a new map, new gear, and an interesting narrative told in familiar FromSoftware style. It’s an Elden Beast of a DLC, one that I can no longer play Elden Ring without. I’m not alone in my positive thoughts. The Steam reviews put it at 85% positive, earning the expansion a ‘Very Positive’ rating. In our 10/10 Shadow of the Erdtree review, Tamoor Hussain says that the DLC is “FromSoftware’s victory lap, an unmissable tour de force that is every bit as brilliant as the original game.” If you’re looking to finally play it, you can get Shadow of the Erdtree for just $35.19 / £30.79 at Fanatical. That’s a 12% discount, and while it isn’t massive, Steam hasn’t discounted the expansion. It’s still better than paying full price, and you’ll get a Steam key, so there’s no need to buy an extra copy of the base game on another platform. Just watch out for the Misbegotten. You’ve been warned.
If you walked into my room at any time (please don’t), chances are you’ll find me playing more adult games. No, not talking about those—I mean specifically Call of Duty, Grand Theft Auto VI, Cyberpunk 2077, or The Blood of Dawnwalker. Perhaps I’ll be enjoying Kingdom Hearts or a dash of Pokémon, but in reality, most of the time it’ll be more mature experiences. However, I’ve recently stopped my first proper The Witcher 3 playthrough almost instantly in favor of Dressmaker. And you could join me too, thanks to a tasty discount. Nothing satisfies me more than a well-placed slice that cuts down a monster or taking on side quests to uncover a story off the beaten path. However, I’ve found that I’m equally satisfied by a little bit of hard work. Dressmaker isn’t just about making dresses—it’s about each decision impacting the final product, working toward your client’s requests in a professional, respectful manner. I’m not typically playing the best cozy games. Sure, some experiences like Stardew Valley and, well, Dreamlight Valley (I like valley games, apparently) will scratch that part of my brain. Dressmaker, fortunately, is one of those cases where it does. Every element, from concept to the finished product, feels as important as the one before, culminating in a finished piece that feels rewarding to see completed. Personally, I’ve always been quite a creative person. It’s why games that, even with more violence, capture my interest: I’m able to customize my experience further. Dressmaker takes that aspect (without the ultra-violence, of course) and puts it at the focal point of the experience. Every element of the dress, from colors to cuts to fabric, can be chosen by you. That makes every single dress you make—and you’ll make a lot—as special as the last. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=YZKhzajdu58 You don’t have to make each dress formulaic, either. You can decide to turn various video game characters into dresses for a bit of a theme in your shop, or you could potentially specialize in a certain selection of colors of your choosing. The concept is simple, but the pure enjoyment you can get from it isn’t. Despite the game taking the world by storm, you can actually grab Dressmaker at a discount with Fanatical, dropping it down to just $12.74 / £11.56 when using the code "FANATICAL15" in your cart. That means you’ll save 15% off the listed price, making it cheaper than Steam and giving you the dressmaking shop of your dreams at a lower price. Now, if you don’t mind me, I’m going to make a dress that’s perfect for Geralt. It’s the least I can do since I’m ignoring him now.
If you feel like the Persona-ification of Fire Emblem has gone too far, it may be a good time to go back to a 3DS classic.
Today at New York Comic Con, Wizards of the Coast announced the first 2027 Universes Beyond expansion set for Magic: The Gathering. Marvel’s Darkhold Destiny will pit Doctor Strange, Thor, Ghost Rider, and more against cosmic villains like Hela and Dormammu in 2027. The set will include normal and Collector booster packs, and four pre-constructed commander decks themed around Marvel heroes and villains, including the Midnight Sons. Multiple cards were shown during the hour-long panel, including Magic, who transforms into Darkchild, Gargantos, and the titular Darkhold. Darkhold Destiny tells an original story co-created by designers at Marvel and Wizards of the Coast. Along with that story, a brand-new character created for this set will be introduced in a Marvel Infinity comic series starting in February. Mechanics include Vengeance, an Adventure-like gameplay feature that lets you cast spells from your graveyard and return the permanent it's attached to back to the battlefield, and the return of the Arcane subtype for spells. Darkhold Destiny launches April 9 in big-box retailers and local game stores.
Minesweeper has been around for decades and it's probably overdue for some modern flourishes. Now there's a Triple-A Minesweeper parody that offers a hilarious look at what a Minesweeper update might look like. The Triple-A Minesweeper was created by writer and programmer Mike Lacher, and it's fully playable as a browser game on his site. Aside from the intentionally pretentious title cards touting the involvement of Unreal Engine, Nvidia, Bink Video, and Wwise, Triple A Minesweeper looks and plays almost exactly like the regular Minesweeper. However, the best way to enjoy this parody is by simply not doing anything at all. The main character, "Sweeper," will sit around and repeat things like, "I gotta sweep these mines," while receiving calls from newly created characters in the game. Lacher seems to have taken his inspiration from Grand Theft Auto 5, Metal Gear Solid, and even Cyberpunk 2077. Among the callers are Nora, a potential love interest for Sweeper. Additionally, an underworld figure called The Don repeatedly calls for Sweeper to head down to his club while hinting at the latter's sinister past in Singapore. Meanwhile, the chipper DJ Dan celebrates Sweeper's efforts on behalf of New Dawn City. In another amusing touch, Sweeper never acknowledges any of the other characters and keeps repeating the same lines over and over. It is possible to complete the game, which triggers a twist ending that probably wasn't that difficult to predict. Although Lacher leaves the parody on that note, it would have been even funnier if the game's coda mentioned that Triple-A Minesweeper flopped and cost Microsoft hundreds of millions of dollars. Microsoft hasn't done too much with Minesweeper in the past few years, although it was added to Microsoft Teams as a playable game. The company has also previously created a Minesweeper-themed ugly Christmas sweater.
There are a lot of Fortnite skins that look cool or have an interesting gimmick, but there are very few that have any kind of feature that's truly unique, something you genuinely cannot get from any of the dozens of skins sitting in the item shop each day. For example, there are dozens of skins that make a noise or trigger a visual effect when you get a kill, but there's only one skin which has a human hand in place of its head, and whose hand-head snaps its fingers after a kill. That's the level of unique we're talking about here--features that are only available on a single skin or set of skins. Let's dive in. Sinister Glare Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time I figured I oughtta start with this one since I mentioned it in the opening--this fella's head-hand snaps its fingers whenever you get a kill. Five Nights at Freddy's set Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time Each of the Five Nights at Freddy's animatronics skins take visual damage during a match whenever the player takes damage, and the damage persists until you die or the match ends. Beavis and Butt-head Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time Both of these skins do their iconic chuckle when you get a kill while wearing it, but they're unique because they also chuckle at each other's kills. So if you're running a Beavis and Butt-Head duo, they'll both laugh every time either of them gets a kill. Moncler Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time This pair of skins, a collaboration with the luxury fashion brand Moncler, feature clothes that change color based on elevation. The clothes are black at lower elevations, and white at higher ones. Ayida Source: Level-up pack from Chapter 3 Season 4 Exclusivity: Unknown, no level-up pack has ever returned There's only one Fortnite skin that looks like it was pulled from the pages of a monochromatic manga, and it's Ayida--one of those old level-up packs from all the way back in Chapter 3. Mystique Source: Chapter 2 Season 4 battle pass Exclusivity: Permanently locked and will never return Mystique, the Marvel character, is a shapeshifter, and this skin included a built-in transformation emote that would let you become the most recent skin you defeated in a fight. This doesn't seem to be an ability that Epic wants to add for any other skin--we've had other fictional characters with similar shapeshifting abilities in their own universes, like Himiko Toga from My Hero Academia, that got their own skins without the transformation ability. Spider-Punk Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time Spider-Punk's entire body flashes different solid colors any time he takes damage, deals damage, opens chests, gets a kill, or heals. Dead Ball set Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time Each of the zombie soccer players has a loose-hanging jaw that flops around when you dance or move. Blinky Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time Blinky is a naked, human-shaped container for Christmas lights that blink on and off at random. Wednesday Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time Thing, the hand on Wednesday's shoulder, points at whatever you're looking at when you aim down sights, and it snaps its fingers when you open chests. Peely Source: Chapter 2 Season 4 battle pass Exclusivity: Permanently locked and will never return The original Peely skin gradually ripens and starts turning brown over the course of a match--it happens naturally over time, and not as a response to taking damage. Only the original, battle pass-exclusive Peely does this. Bunnywolf and Llion Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time Bunnywolf changes to have a bunny-shaped head when you pull your pickaxe out, and changes to a wolf head if you pull out a weapon. Llion is the male-body version of the same thing, switching between a Llama and Lion head. Candyman Source: item shop Exclusivity: none, can return any time This sentient collection of Valentine's Day candy turns its head around and looks into the camera after every kill.
Capcom choosing the exact same subtitle for two separate expansions in two different games makes a lot of sense. Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is not only a thematically relevant title, but thanks to the first game's expansion of the same name, it also conveys to longtime fans what to expect: namely, a new gameplay cycle focused on reworked loot and plenty of dungeon crawling. The key difference this time around is that instead of heading into the labyrinthine depths of a cursed island, you've got an entirely new region to explore. As someone who loved Dragon's Dogma 2, I couldn't really ask for much more. Yet changes to some of the game's core systems also dilute what made it so unique when it launched back in 2024. I know it's always been a fairly divisive game, and these changes are intended to make the experience more approachable, but they also strip away some of its magic in an effort to appeal to more people. Dark Arisen is still a great expansion, transporting you to a fascinating new region with more loot to earn, fantastical beasts to slay, and stories to behold, but it also shifts Dragon's Dogma 2 in a slightly different direction. To start with, Dark Arisen alleviates some of the game's intentional friction by reducing how often you need to travel on foot. The Eternal Ferrystone was already added to the game a few months ago, letting you freely fast travel to any portcrystal without expending a scarce resource. Those same portcrystals are located at every key location in Dark Arisen's new Norgan region. You still have to reach them on foot first to activate them, but once you do, you can simply teleport from one side of the map to the other. Using the Eternal Ferrystone is entirely optional; you can still traverse almost all of Norgan on foot if you desire, so the friction is still there if you want it. However, Dark Arisen also feels designed with unlimited fast travel in mind. The first settlement you come across, for instance, acts as a hub of sorts, letting you manage your gear, rest at the inn, and pick up a fair few side quests, so you're intended to return here often. Meanwhile, many quests require you to visit the same locations over and over again to speak with specific characters. Heading off on foot might be an option, but it's never incentivized and feels antithetical to how it wants you to play. I'm not a fan of this change. I can acknowledge that giving players more choice is a positive, but the back-and-forth quest design and reliance on fast travel means you never really feel like you have options when traversing Norgan. This has a fairly significant knock-on effect, too: Without embarking on foot more often, I rarely stumbled into the emergent moments that made the base game so thrilling. And without that palpable sense of adventure, Dark Arisen feels less like Dragon's Dogma and more like any number of action-RPGs, rendering this a fundamental change to its identity, rather than an improvement. When Dragon's Dogma 2 launched, traveling the regions of Vermund and Battahl felt treacherous, especially in the black of night. The world was as hazardous as the enemies you encountered, and campsites provided a welcome respite on your weary travels. Now, those feelings of everpresent danger and welcome safety are mostly gone. There's no risk when you can freely fast travel out of danger or skip a journey entirely. The game's uncompromising design has been softened to broaden its appeal. The same goes for changes to its save system. By letting you roll back to a manual "Interim Save" at any time, there's no longer any risk involved in your decision-making. You won't have to live with the consequences of accidentally angering a bunch of guards in Battahl's jail or fret over when to use the Unmaking Arrow. This one-hit-kill item still triggers an autosave as soon as it's fired, creating tension the moment you decide to draw back the bowstring, but the ability to select an earlier save robs it of its finality. If these changes were strictly tied to Dark Arisen, they wouldn't be quite as detrimental. Yet this sanding down of its intentional friction affects the base game, too. By changing these systems, Capcom has fundamentally altered what made Dragon's Dogma 2 so fantastic. The emergent moments that happened on the road, the interplay between its systems and physics engine, and the need to deal with the consequences of your actions--all of this combined to make the base game an unpredictable and powerful adventure that stood apart from other similar games. I enjoyed its resolute design because it forced me to tackle the world on its own terms, providing a challenge that captured a rousing sense of adventure. I still thoroughly enjoyed Dark Arisen, despite these changes, but there's also this nagging feeling that something's missing. Norgan, for its part, has moments where that classic Dragon's Dogma abrasiveness returns. The frigid region offers a nice change of pace from the verdant forests and arid deserts explored previously, with jagged, snow-capped cliffs; frozen rivers; icy tundras; and dilapidated, long-abandoned castles. The hyperboreal climate doesn't just provide a visual shift, either; the weather can be both an ally and a foe. Sudden blizzards blanket the screen in heavy snowfall, obscuring your view within a few feet and taking the mini-map out of action. You also can't fast travel during these intense whiteouts, which restores the feeling that you're battling the elements just as much as the ghouls and monsters waiting to ambush you. On the flip side, you can also use the environment to your advantage, knocking down giant overhead icicles to crush your foes, throwing and skewering them on pointy shards of ice, and rolling boulders downhill that grow larger as they pick up more and more snow. You'll appreciate the extra help when facing down demonic goatmen and abominable snowman-esque monstrosities with gnarly mouths that cover their entire torsos. At first glance, Norgan's map might seem fairly small, but there's a sprawling verticality both above and below the surface that hides its true density. New climbing hooks and grapple points have been introduced to help you tackle the elevation changes, while interconnected dungeons and caves reveal shortcuts amid expansive ancient ruins and the piles of loot therein. Speaking of which, Dark Arisen entirely reworks the game's loot system with the addition of Relics. You'll unearth this generic gear in chests and on the bodies of defeated enemies, and can then take it to one of the new vendor characters for appraisal, revealing what kind of equipment you've found, its raw stats, and, on occasion, whether it has any special attributes that enhance weapon skills or grant passive abilities. This creates a Monster Hunter-esque loop as you explore and defeat powerful foes to gather more Relics, before returning to the appraiser to reveal what you've found and upgrade your character. An unseen dice roll determines the type and quality, and no single piece of gear will remain in use for too long before you'll invariably find something better, but this is still a marked improvement over the base game's uninspired loot system--where I think I purchased more usable weapons and armor than I actually found. The base game's map has also received a similar gameplay loop of its own, with the addition of 12 repeatable dungeons known as the Lost Rite Trials. While you can easily travel back and forth between Norgan and Vermund/Battahl, these new dungeons are designed to be tackled before venturing into the snowy north, setting you up with more powerful gear to make the transition easier, with repeat visits netting more and more loot. Some of these dungeons are fairly straightforward (reach the end and kill everything along the way), while others rely on different mechanics or require prerequisites before you can enter. One such trial, which asks you to enter as either an Archer or Magick Archer, features rooms filled with support pillars you can shoot down to topple the terrain and wipe out groups of enemies. Aside from better gear, completing each Lost Rite Trial nets you an Offering Flame. These can be used at various Obelisks scattered across the frigid Norgan landscape to unlock new vocation skills and stat buffs that boost health, damage, and so on. The new skills are welcome, though bumping up the amount of skills you can equip at one time from four to six is a more notable improvement. Having more options at your disposal opens up the game's combat a tad more, and somewhat makes up for the lack of new vocations. As someone who's already maxed out most of the game's classes, though, I realize I might notice the dearth of new ones more than most. One of the more surprising things about Dark Arisen is how much I enjoyed its self-contained story. Okay, maybe "enjoyed" is the wrong word, but I was definitely more invested in seeing how things would unfold than I was in the base game. It's a solid-enough vehicle for getting you from point A to B, even if it's still just remixing themes from the first game. More characters are involved, and you spend significant time with them, so there's at least something to latch onto. The writing still has little time for subtlety or nuance, but it's appropriately broody, and the story eventually leads you to some fantastic set pieces and locations. At over 20 hours long, Dragon's Dogma 2: Dark Arisen is the kind of hefty expansion we don't see very often. I might like this softened version of the game a little less than I did before, but even if some of its prickly nature has been smoothed over, Dark Arisen still offers a whole bunch more of what I loved about Dragon's Dogma 2 in the first place. For first-time players, and those returning with new hopes, it's a more approachable game, and I hope this helps it reach a broader audience. Whichever side of the divide you fall on, there's something here for both. That might sound blasphemous to some, and its vision isn't as unflinching as it was once before, but Dark Arisen--and Dragon's Dogma 2 on the whole--are still well worth your time and attention.
Call of Duty: Modern Warfare 4's campaign is playable a week early for people who preorder, and now we know the DMZ mode will be as well. Activision has announced that MW4's extraction-based DMZ mode will be playable starting Tuesday, October 20, which is three days before the game launches. Campaign early access, meanwhile, starts on October 16. How to get in To access DMZ mode before everyone else, you need to preorder any edition of MW4, including the standard or Vault versions. The perk applies to all platforms: PS5, Xbox Series X|S, Switch 2, and PC. What is DMZ? Described as the "definitive extraction shooter experience," DMZ in MW4 is an open-world game mode featuring other human players and AI combatants. Players will search the map for loot, craft gear, and complete objectives. Like in other extraction-based games, you need to reach the exfil point to make it out with all your rewards. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=SV5vKAAkQkQ DMZ originally debuted with 2022's MW3 as a free-to-play beta inside Warzone, but this version left a lot to be desired. The new version of DMZ for MW4 seems like a big step up, and it includes a new social space this time as well. For lots more, be sure to read up on GameSpot's previous coverage of the new version of DMZ.
Microsoft's latest console exclusive, Gears of War: E-Day, launched this week, and now we've gotten the first glimpse at how the game is performing commercially. Multiple analysts have weighed in, and there are numerous factors at play beyond pure sales, due to Game Pass and other factors. So let's break things down. Rhys Elliott of Alinea Analytics released a report that said the game has sold about 230,000 copies so far, with Steam sales accounting for 168,000 and Xbox (across console and PC) making up the other 62,000. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=teClq4qYyzQ Straight sales do not tell the whole story, though, because E-Day is available on Game Pass, which Elliott said "cannibalized" the majority of sales. He said Alinea's data showed than 1.7 million people acquired E-Day through their Game Pass subscription as opposed to buying a copy outright. There is more nuance there, too, as Elliott said that 722,000 of the 1.7 million people who played E-Day through Game Pass bought the $30 Premium upgrade, which got them in early and awarded them with extra content. "So despite selling far fewer copies on Steam, Xbox accounts for almost three-quarters of the revenue (roughly $26 million of the $37 million, versus about $11 million on Steam). So '230,000 copies' undersells the paying audience. Including the 722,000 upgrades, nearly 950,000 people actually paid something for E-Day." Elliott concluded that these are "soft numbers" at a time "when Xbox badly needs revenue wins." In this environment, Elliott said E-Day's $70 edition is "functionally dead on Xbox." "In a world without day-one Game Pass, many of these folks would have bought E-Day at $70. They paid $30 for five days early access to something they don’t own. Xbox is, in effect, charging its most valuable customers the least, based on a hangover from a tried-and-exhausted strategy from a previous administration," he said. More to the story Game Pass creates recurring revenue for Xbox, and it's big business. For the latest fiscal year, Game Pass brought in nearly $5 billion in revenue. E-Day's inclusion on Game Pass adds value to the service for Game Pass members. However, Elliott said Game Pass is no longer growing, putting Xbox "at a crossroads." Xbox CEO Asha Sharma has alluded to this as well, saying Game Pass was one of Phil Spencer and Sarah Bond's big bets that did not pay off. “Our core business weakened, and we added more teams, more investment, and more time, hoping for a better outcome,” she said. Microsoft spent many billions of dollars acquiring numerous developers with the aim of funneling content to Game Pass. The strategy did not work, and now Xbox has made major changes to Game Pass, including removing the biggest day-one new release it ever had in the Call of Duty franchise. New releases are no longer included at launch, so players have to buy them outright or wait a year until they come to Game Pass. "When a game this bloody awesome and well-reviewed [Gears of War: E-Day] does this softly on its home platform, the model--not the game--gets brought into question," Elliott said. Mat Piscatella of Circana reminded people that E-Day's revenue was not totally cannibalized in practice through its inclusion on Game Pass because a person had to pay $23/month for Game Pass in the first place. Beyond that, Piscatella pointed out that that not everyone who played E-Day through Game Pass would buy the game outright if that was the only way. What about a PS5 version? Many people expected Microsoft to release E-Day on PS5, in part because Microsoft's own documents showed that a PS5 version was in the works and because Gears of War Reloaded came to PS5 a year ago. A PS5 edition of E-Day was reportedly canceled at the last minute; Microsoft denied this, but no one believes that. Microsoft's Aaron Greenberg has said E-Day is not a timed exclusive for Xbox, meaning it may never come to PS5. However, he said the same thing about Starfield, and then it came to PS5, so people are understandably hesitant to believe what the company says. Elliott previously said Gears of War: E-Day (along with Clockwork Revolution) are being sent out to die due to their exclusivity to Xbox. They are also coming to PC, but not PS5. Elliott told GameSpot that Microsoft will never succeed in the console space and promising fans exclusive games to help drive console sales is not going to make a difference. “Console as we know it is over for Xbox–and has been for a while. There’s no turning that ship. But they still need to pretend to care until they’ve transitioned to pastures where they can return to growth (if they succeed),” he said. “A Gears console exclusive does not shift meaningful numbers of Series X units. Exclusivity as a hardware-driver is over for them, because the install base it would drive simply isn’t responsive enough to justify the cost of building hardware at a 5x component premium. And those games are on Steam anyway,” he added. Elliott went on to say that Gears of War: E-Day and Clockwork Revolution are “sacrificial lambs for hearts-and-minds, not economics.” E-Day sequel possibilities Will there be a sequel to E-Day? That remains to be seen, but The Coalition's Mike Crump said E-Day creates a "great foundation" for the franchise to grow. Crump also stated that a potential sequel could be made much faster. The studio has no other games in development that have been announced publicly. Microsoft bought the Gears of War series from Epic in 2014 for an undisclosed sum. There have been big changes at Xbox lately as part of Sharma's effort to "reset" the Xbox business and help it grow. This has included mass layoffs, studio closures, and game cancellations. Recently, Sharma said Xbox was at an "all time low" but is now growing again, though she didn't provide any data to support her claims.
Learn about the new quests, characters, and rewards waiting ahead of your leveling journey through Azeroth.
Arc Raiders is sending you back to Spaceport once again, this time to the Water Towers to track down a stash of weapons. This quest requires you to take a lot of photos, though, so come prepared to show off your photography skills. When you're ready to dive in, here's what you need to know about completing the When Everything Falls quest in Arc Raiders. In This Article Go to the Water TowersPhotograph a security boothPhotograph a reinforced busPhotograph the breach in the wallsPhotograph the Arrival Building security roomPhotograph Port A of the Launch TowersPhotograph the Launch Towers control roomPhotograph the launch platform You need a camera for this quest, so be sure you bring one with you. If you tend to have aggressive lobbies, you'll want to bring an augment with a safe pocket to store your camera when it's not in use, of course. Go to the Water Towers The first step of the quest requires you to make your way to the Water Towers POI on the northwestern tip of Spaceport. When you arrive, you'll begin receiving updated objectives regarding taking photos of various locations around Spaceport. The first two are a security booth and a reinforced bus. Photograph a security booth Walk down the road a bit from the Water Towers to find a security booth. Take a photo of the security booth to cross this one off your list. Photograph a reinforced bus A little further down the same road is a collection of reinforced buses. Take a photo of any of them to finish this one. Photograph the breach in the walls From where the reinforced buses are, look east to see a breach in the walls. Breach in the walls Take a photo of the breach. Photograph the Arrival Building security room Next, you need to photograph the security room at the Arrival Building, which is located just north of where you are. Arrival Building When you arrive, go around to the northwestern side of the building on the outside. There's a door here that needs to be breached to enter the security room. Security Room Once you breach the door, head inside the security room. Take a photo of the security room. Take a photo of the security room. Photograph Port A of the Launch Towers Walk out the front door of the Arrival Building (western side of the building) to spot the Launch Towers in the distance. Snap a pic from outside of the Arrival Building. You can simply snap a photo from here to get credit for this portion of the quest. Photograph the Launch Towers control room Now head up to the Launch Towers and through one of the side doors to enter the interior. Enter the Launch Towers. Inside, take a zipline up to the control room. Take a zipline to the control room. Snap a pic of the control room. Photograph the control room. One photo left to go! Photograph the launch platform Lastly, head up to the very top of the Launch Towers and take a picture of anywhere up here to count for the launch platform, which completes the quest. Take a picture of the launch platform at the very top of the towers. With that done, you should head over and check out our full Arc Raiders mission list for help with any other quests you've got lingering in your tracker.
Arc Raiders has plenty of quests with strange or out-of-the-way solutions, but few put you in the position to pull off a Mission Impossible-style feat like Empathetic Prototypes. In this quest, you can use your awesome grappling hook skills to wrap up your task. Here's everything you need to know about completing Empathetic Prototypes in Arc Raiders. In This Article Reach the Trench Towers in the Spaceport TrenchFind the magnetic lock on the crate and manually disable itSearch the cargo crateDeliver the Project Pathos Empathy Core to Lance We'd recommend you bring an augment with a safe pocket on this quest, as you'll need to extract with a specific item you'll obtain. Choosing to go through the quest without a safe pocket could result in having to redo the entire quest if you die before extracting. More importantly, you'll want to bring a Grappling Hook with you. It's a good idea to store it in your safe pocket until you need it, as you can only buy a limited amount of these in any given week. Reach the Trench Towers in the Spaceport Trench When you're ready to get started, head to the Trench Towers in the northern area of Spaceport. Approach the North Trench Tower and look straight up toward the roof. Use your grappling hook to attach to the edge of the roof, then climb your way up. Grapple to the roof. At the top, walk around the side of the roof and enter the only door here. Then head down the stairs. Go through the only door on the roof. There will be some thin windows straight ahead. Attach your grappling hook to one of them, then go ahead and jump out the other side. Attach your grapple to the window, then hop out. You'll now be dangling outside of the North Trench Tower. Look down to spot a crate attached to an arm. You need to land on this crate. You're going to need to drop onto this crate. It may require a little bit of swinging back and forth, or you may be able to drop and spam the grab button to catch the side of the crate. Find the magnetic lock on the crate and manually disable it However you manage to land on the crate, note that you'll need to then carefully drop onto the arm connected to it. Drop the crate to the ground. When you drop onto the arm, you can interact with a prompt here to drop the crate to the ground. Search the cargo crate Now use your grappling hook on any nearby wall to give yourself some slack to reach the bottom of the trench where the crate fell. Interact with the crate in the trench. Interact with the crate. You'll automatically obtain the Project Pathos Empathy Core in your inventory. Deliver the Project Pathos Empathy Core to Lance All that's left to do now is extract with the Project Pathos Empathy Core in your possession. Here's to hoping you brought a safe pocket for it to go in! Once you return to Lance to finish Empathetic Prototypes, make sure you check out our full Arc Raiders mission list for help with any other quests you've got in your log.
Arc Raiders is sending you back to the ever-dangerous Stella Montis for the Someone Else's Shoes quest, tasking you with scanning and searching for androids once more. This time around, you'll also need to reach the Control Room and search for some clues, so let's fill you in on how to do all of that. Here's how to complete Someone Else's Shoes in Arc Raiders. In This Article Scan any android on Stella MontisFind the android in Research Lab 3 in the Medical BayReach the Control Room in the Western Tunnels and search for clues Scan any android on Stella Montis Your first goal in Someone Else's Shoes is to scan any android on Stella Montis. This can be done in any POI on the map, as androids are located in a variety of spots. However, to cut down on unnecessary extra legwork, we'd recommend just heading over to find one in the Medical Bay on the western side of the map, as you'll need to be there for the next step anyway. Medical Bay We used the one that spawns here on the top floor of the Medical Bay, but there are plenty of others in the area. Next, you'll need to find a specific android in the Medical Bay. Find the android in Research Lab 3 in the Medical Bay After scanning the previous android, head to Research Lab 3 in the Medical Bay. Its exact location is marked on the map below. Research Lab 3 When you arrive, interact with an android on a stretcher here. Interact with the android on the stretcher. This will update your quest objective once more. Reach the Control Room in the Western Tunnels and search for clues Lastly, you'll need to trek across the map to the Western Tunnels. This location is on the bottom floor just north of the Loading Bay POI. Western Tunnels When you arrive, you should spot the Control Room in the center of the tunnel area. Head inside. Control Room Interact with the console here to complete the quest. Interact with the console to complete the quest. With that done, you can extract from Stella Montis and go turn in the quest back in Speranza. There's likely still more to do, though, so for additional help with quests, be sure to check out our full Arc Raiders mission list.
Consistently haunting me in Control Resonant is an enemy called the Hiss Transporter. Simply put, it’s a demonic-looking bus that hits hard and spawns waves of Hiss Passengers--enemies horrifically fused with bus seats. This recurring miniboss is not only a long slog to fight, but it’s also terrifying. It consists of the front end of a city bus, floating vertically and emanating a threatening red glow. Its hull shakes erratically, as do the Hiss Passengers sticking out of its windows, appearing forcefully crammed halfway in, forever bound to a fate of damnation. As the noise of its loud, distorted horn rings through the city streets, it slams into the ground to damage you with shockwaves, while overwhelming you with additional Hiss Passengers. You’ll have to dispose of the Passengers exposed on both sides of the bus before executing this Transporter in a glorious and fulfilling explosion. Despite my hatred of these bus fights (pun intended) from a play perspective, I can’t help but love the idea and imagery. The Hiss Transporter is a simple concept that is executed majestically, and it’s only one of many examples of how developer Remedy Entertainment turns familiar objects and items into something fantastical. The first Control game established the concepts of Altered Items and Objects of Power, which are essentially ordinary objects imbued with special (and often dangerous) properties. It’s an idea that goes all the way back to Alan Wake and the Clicker, an ordinary light switch that becomes all-important to the story. One of the more famous Altered Items in Control was the center of a side quest, which followed an agent who had to continuously stare at a refrigerator that would become dangerous when it wasn't observed. The main story also features a seemingly normal floppy disk that becomes corrupted by the Hiss and leaves a trail of death before being pacified. Prominent in the backstory of Control protagonists Jesse and Dylan Faden is a slide projector that opens doorways to other dimensions--an ability that often foments chaos and havoc, as it did when it released the Hiss into the Oldest House. Remedy never fails to create stunning imagery using mundane elements. Control Resonant focuses less on these artifacts compared to its predecessor, but you’ll still find mundane items used for hostile purposes on the streets of Manhattan. The game’s first boss is a great example of repurposing the familiar for violent purposes, with the Artist Resonant surrounded by street signs and chunks of concrete, while utilizing stoplight poles as elegant battering weapons. There is a method to Remedy’s apparent madness, and it’s not just that it’s hilarious to see domestic appliances and office supplies become tools of destruction. This practice of recontextualizing the ordinary into something sinister is a technique in the horror, surrealism, and “new weird” genres that Control inhabits. By depicting recognizable, everyday objects in a new light, with changes to their appearance, behavior, and function, practically anything can approach uncanny territory. Your familiarity is challenged, and you’re confronted by the discomfort that what you usually know isn’t what you’re currently seeing and experiencing. The late David Lynch was a master of this practice in his films and television shows. While Lynch was generally tight-lipped about the meanings behind his dreamlike works, many academics and movie enthusiasts have defined "Lynchian" as juxtaposing the mundane with a dark surrealism. In many cases, Lynch achieved this feeling using common items or household appliances. Think of the radiator in Eraserhead, which contains a miniature dreamlike world, or a ceiling fan in Twin Peaks signifying the presence of a malevolent entity. Lynch frequently used electricity as a motif in his works, and he described his fascination with this power source and phenomenon on a few occasions, providing rare insight into his artistic decisions. In 2006, Lynch described how electricity “runs many things in our world, and it’s beautiful. It’s sometimes dangerous, but it’s magical.” Electricity is a well-known concept, but it’s powerful and still has a degree of intangibility and ambiguity. In other words, there is a fear of not knowing what something familiar is fully capable of, and the forces it may contain. The familiarity of Manhattan is turned on its head to create an unsettling feeling in Control Resonant. Remedy Entertainment--in particular, creative director Sam Lake--has made it no secret that Lynch is a major inspiration behind the studio’s work, and that shows in the aesthetics, tone, and themes of Alan Wake and Control. The studio also utilizes this technique of uncovering forces within something that appears innocuous. When it came to the Objects of Power, Remedy found inspiration in the real-life utility of floppy disks to operate nuclear missiles, and the idea that mere everyday objects can lead to destruction, giving them meaning beyond their basic appearance and function. So what makes the bus in Control Resonant so scary? We’re used to buses serving as (hopefully) reliable means of public transit, and a bus arriving at a stop is usually a relieving image. But seeing this twisted image of a bus puts it in a new light--the imagery of the passengers stuffed through the windows incites a feeling of claustrophobia and panic that an overcrowded bus might provoke. Its brutal ground-pounds remind me that buses are hunks of metal that can be absolutely lethal at high speeds, with the horn turning into an omen of inevitable disaster. Every time I see one of these buses out in the open, I’m instilled with a sense of dread--and that means Control Resonant is working.
After my six hours of hands-on time with Phantom Blade 0 in LA, I was sold on the game. The boss design is amazing, the soundtrack is killer, and the beautiful wide linear environments have great metroidvania style side distractions. Obviously, the crown jewel of developer S-Game's production is the motion-captured martial arts combat, and it did not disappoint. But as I kept fighting, something unique and unexpected stood out to me and, after having a talk with director and CEO Soulframe Liang, who confirmed what I experienced, I now better understand what S-Game is trying to accomplish. Let me ask you this question first: How the hell do you translate this into a video game? Wuxia, Chinese martial arts with a touch of fantastical elements, is a beautifully choreographed art by talented martial artists, but there are moments in these fight sequences that are a complete blur of frenetic clashing steel, so you can't just drag and drop this concept into a video game. Who’s attacking? Who’s defending? How do you interpret this rapid but calculated chaos into an interactable medium without it being just a generic quicktime event? https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=II4vNv7tGyA The answer is you attack and defend simultaneously (like this). Modern video game combat design has a very commonly adopted core philosophy: If you see an attack, you dodge/parry/etc., and while the enemy is recovering from their attack, you punish and counterattack. It's a commitment to one or the other, and a sort of call and response system. I am severely oversimplifying it, and every game is different; it's not always that black and white, but it's never really choreographed to all happen together as part of a cohesive system. (Well, okay maybe in some very rare occasions.) But even with games so fast that you can’t tell who's on offense or defense, like Ninja Gaiden, slowing down the action reveals it still consists of turn-based decisions. Wuxia, unlike popular western-style fantasy or Japanese-style swordplay, is exactly that: half combat, half choreographed dance. So while there are some games that get somewhat close to this idea, S-Game's goal is to have Phantom Blade 0 authentically perform the whole routine. “If you watch a lot of Hong Kong Golden Age kung fu movies, you will feel all the swordplay in Chinese kung fu," Liang said. "They are all attacking while defending, so it happens at the same time. You will [see] this very dynamic, fluid combat scene in the movie. "Previously there were not so many games coming out of China bringing the authenticity of Chinese kung fu and Chinese gameplay into the gaming industry. So [with] the assistance of Donnie Yen and his team, we have [built] everything from the ground up. We had to rethink all these combo systems--defending and attacking--to see how we can implement the movement of Chinese kung fu into a playable game." So how did studio S-Game execute this idea? In Phantom Blade 0, there are light and heavy attacks, and combos alternating the two. But this game does something strange that most games character action games do not, most of these attacks have no commitment, almost a taboo in combat design. Additionally, if you’re in a string of attacks, you can often continue where you left off uninterrupted after the parry. It sort of reminded me initially of the Dual Blades system in Wuchang Fallen Feathers, which clashes with incoming attacks. But that’s attacking TO parry or clash, Phantom Blade 0’s system has both attacking and defending as separate systems in tandem at the same time. Once I rewired years of “your turn then my turn” gaming habits out of my head, this subtle gameplay tweak completely changed the pace of combat. Unlike other players I was watching, I rarely found myself just waiting in place for the enemy to attack, and instead I was rushing in while paying attention to enemy cues simultaneously, knocking away sword strikes left and right. In this same system, enemies are capable of parrying your attacks, and if you slightly mistime a parry mid-offense, it will be blocked and eat into your Sha Chi. A fully whiffed parry, meanwhile, will often knock you off your feet and stop your barrage, so there is incentive to stay locked in. Combining that with familiar systems like special skills, buffs, stances, equipment loadouts, and combos means that integrating this complicated system was a conscious decision. Making its complexities work was crucial for S-Game to differentiate Phantom Blade 0. “It's still very hard because we have to make sure people understand the combat system. They can use intuitive, fundamental judgment to pull off all these skills and do all this fighting," Liang said. "It’s a kind of a conflict between accessibility and creativity. But we then find a balance point to keep the attacking while defending vibe. But actually there are certain periods of defending and certain other periods [of] attacking, we just blur the line.” Blurring the line sums up the concept. Phantom Blade 0 still has moments of pure offense and pure defense just like in any other action title and wuxia itself, but its exciting twist is eliminating the transitional moments between them to allow players to blend both seamlessly. Phantom Blade 0 is the perfect home for this idea, and although I’m not the first to point this detail out, it’s clear this mechanic has been severely underutilized by other players. In talking to others at the event, I realized that they didn’t quite understand what I was talking about, or even know of its existence, and I imagine some players seeing it now may think it makes the game trivial or make it look way too chaotic to understand what is happening. But trust me when I say seeing it in action and playing it are two completely different experiences. And after six hours of hands-on time on the hardest difficulty, I found Phantom Blade 0's wuxia-inspired combat so liberating.
EA and Battlefield Studios have unveiled more details on Battlefield 6's upcoming Season 5, and it includes a new feature that fans have wanted since day one: a proper server browser. Battlefield did indeed launch with a server browser, but--considering how it only supported Portal mode--it wasn't the one fans wanted. One of the game's producers asked why players even want a full server browser. Now, in response to the feedback, Battlefield Studios is adding a proper server browser with the Season 5 update this December, allowing people to create their own servers and set rules like map rotation and other particulars. Classic-era Battlefield games had server browsers, and fans flocked to them because they could pick and choose exactly the maps and modes they wanted to play. https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-5ufBOI6Dto&feature=youtu.be Season 5 rolls out in waves, beginning with Siege of Las Vegas on October 13, which adds two new maps: Vegas Strip and Area 51. For Battlefield 6's battle royale RedSec, Siege of Las Vegas adds a new version of the mode called Rapid Royale, which promises faster rounds with smaller player populations. Battlefield 6's Season 5 will also include a Halloween event running October 20 through November 7, featuring a "limited-time scenario" that has players hunting down "secret tech" beneath Area 51. This scenario, which Battlefield Studios stressed is non-canon, includes a celebration of aliens and the Dead Space series, taking players to environments based on the 2023 remake. There will also be Dead Space-themed cosmetics to unlock. Phase 2 of Season 5, called Casino Heist, begins November 10, adding a new map called European Casino. Finally, Phase 3, known as Frozen Aces, arrives on December 8, and as its name suggests, it will bring cold weather to Las Vegas, along with a new operation across the Vegas Strip and Area 51. The Battlefield 6 server browser also arrives during the Phase 3 of Season 5. Battlefield 6 was 2025's best-selling game in the US, even outperforming Call of Duty: Black Ops 7.
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