When Space Goblin Studio's Astrobotanica was first revealed, I and many others were incredibly intrigued by how this new cozy sandbox survival game would work. You play as an alien who crashlands on Earth in its ancient past, and you must somehow use plants to save your species while surviving a primordial version of our planet.

It's a recipe for disaster but also a gripping premise for your next foray into a game that blends farming, research, base building, and even establishing a relationship with a Neanderthal tribe. There's so much going on in Astrobotanica, yet we know from massive cozy games like Stardew Valley and Subnautica that these many elements can coexist in harmony.

I spoke with Arek Wozniak, Space Goblin Studio's Studio Lead, about the game well ahead of its early access release. What I wanted to get out of this conversation was an understanding of the main gameplay loop, what the developer is aiming to deliver, and what inspired it.

Destructoid: Could you tell me about which games inspired you while making Astrobotanica? For example, it looks and sounds to me as if Subnautica was a big inspiration, even though the games are clearly very different when you get into the details.

Arek Wozniak: The studio is obviously composed of survival lovers, with each member having their own favorites. Subnautica is definitely one of them, and I totally get that the teaser trailer suggests a close cousin due to featuring plant scanning. But Astrobotanica drifts much further, which I’m sure will be obvious when we reveal more of the gameplay in the near future. One of the key focuses is exploration and problem-solving via scientific research. This is, of course, centered on plants, which are the real protagonists of the game.

Coming back to inspirations, I can confess that we’re great fans of Stardew Valley and Potion Craft. I also couldn’t not mention Sea of Thieves, as we’re absolutely in love with vibrant and stylized graphics. Finally, some gamers may also find the vibes of Slime Rancher once they know Astrobotanica better.

Destructoid: Can you explain the initial gameplay loop in Astrobotanica?

Arek Wozniak: CO2 is something you’ll have to replenish constantly but at a low pace. There’s not too much pressure, as ‘cozy’ is our master vibe to stay true to. You’ll be able to come back to your ship where some generators are still running. There will be plants to help you recover your CO2 levels. You’ll also be able to figure out other ways - whether via trial and error in the game or, perhaps, via your own research in abundant literature on greenery.

I wanted to point out really strongly that the lack of CO2 will not be the biggest challenge but something to keep in mind from time to time. Aside from this part, the core gameplay loop is built on the cycle of explore-survive-cultivate-repeat. A great part, and I mean the crucial part for survival in the long term, will require plant research, farming, and processing of the produce. This will become apparent step by step, without imposing, while other aspects, such as potion crafting and interaction with the environment and inhabitants, will also play their part as the game progresses.

Destructoid: How deep do the base-building/farming mechanics go in Astrobotanica?

Arek Wozniak: The base-building and farming mechanics are designed to be quite engaging and functional but without overwhelming complexity. For example, construction is based on blueprints, which helps you focus on gathering resources. Furthermore, structures have functional roles, and once completed and put to work, they will unload your burden so you can focus on exploration and research.

We’re also planning to implement progressing automation, so once you advance in the game, some manual tasks will become automated, such as watering or composting, so you’ll advance to more strategic planning. However, the key feature is potion-making or mixture-crafting. We’re still figuring out how to shape the nomenclature for drinks made of plants, perhaps tonics? Views and ideas are very welcome!

Destructoid: How much of Astrobotanica will we be able to play when it's released in early access?

Arek Wozniak: The plan is to set out at least three islands, each with its custom biomes, beautiful views, abundance of wildlife and foliage, and of course, native inhabitants. They will occupy a minimum area of 1.5 km² each. The islands will also feature cave networks and original mysteries to uncover and puzzles to solve. Players will have access to most options for the character development system P.R.I.M.A.L.

Destructoid: What is your plan for the game's early access development? Do you have a roadmap that you intend to stick to, is it open, or will you do a mix and incorporate requests from the player base?

Arek Wozniak: We’re yet to announce a specific roadmap, but I can reveal at this point that scaling is planned in two dimensions: First, by adding new islands to the map, and second, by developing advanced mechanics such as AI-driven animals. This is at least where we start, but once player reactions, suggestions, and criticism start coming, this plan may evolve a lot.

Destructoid: Astrobotanica looks like it leans heavily into the cozy genre while keeping a foot in the open-world survival crafting space. How does the game bridge these genres, and is it something both cozy fans and open-world survival crafting fans can enjoy together?

Arek Wozniak: It’s exactly right; we wanted to stand on the relaxation side of ambitious games and deliver a contradiction to hardcore survival. Isn’t it great that such games have started to appear in the first place to offer a “safe escape” by immersing into a pleasant and relaxing world? But it couldn’t be further from a shortcut, rather, it's a challenge to remove any obstacles in UX and gameplay to make the experience enjoyable and intuitive. To let it flow. This starts with, for example, the save-game feature, which can be done at any time and at any point. All the way to controlling a large base with abundant farms, which will still be easy and pleasant to manage. I won't comment on co-op play at this point, as this is planned for a slightly later stage.

Destructoid: Farming is an element that often comes to games like Astrobotanica during early access as a fan-requested feature. Why did you choose/need to have it in on day one?

Arek Wozniak: I appreciate you pointing this out. As said earlier, plants, whether you call them flora, vegetation, flowers, or anything else, are the real protagonists in the game. Their life cycles set the tone and tempo, as well as their needs for fertilized soil and water. We just could not start anywhere else than from what gamers call “farming,” but others just call it “nature.”

Destructoid: Has anything outside of the games industry inspired you while making Astrobotanica?

Arek Wozniak: We always appreciated how great a source of accidental knowledge games can be, from learning about the basics of architectural planning via Minecraft to getting to know some carpentry via The Forest, to familiarizing ourselves with aquatic life via Dave the Diver - to name only a few.

So we thought, why not plants? They are older than us on this planet, exist in an abundance of species, and have been, for ages, providing for humans. They are at our fingertips every day for nutrition, healing, helping to express affection, decorating the house, you name it. The rest was practical creativity without imposing. Astrobotanica doesn’t require you to know any plant or reach for an atlas. But if you at some point start distinguishing chamomile from thistle or recognize sage during your weekend walks, it will mean we have done a good job.

Destructoid: What do you want players to get out of the game outside of having a great time playing it?

Arek Wozniak: I’m very humble in this regard, as I totally get it that different people may want different things from gaming. With respect to the variety of views, I hope a common denominator is spending quality, fun, and engaging time.

But let me share my big ambition to plant a seed in gamers' thinking. If just one person will look at their environment differently, let it be appreciation of vegetation around them, some interest in natural medicine, or just getting a potted plant to take care of where they live - I’ll be a happy man.

The post Interview: Understanding Astrobotanica’s cozy gameplay loop & inspirations appeared first on Destructoid.

Famous Bloodborne hacker Lance McDonald just made a very interesting discovery in Astro Bot. While he hasn't found a way to play the game in 120 frames per second, he's found the next best thing: Sony being quietly very naughty.

In a recent tweet, McDonald shows Mister Mosquito's cameo in Astro Bot, then reveals its secretly naughty origins.

Astro Bot features numerous cameos from PlayStation characters, most of them from very popular games. Mister Mosquito, however, is but a novelty stealth game from the PS2 where you just went from room to room trying to suck blood off of people without getting noticed.

Mister Mosquito showing up not as an Astro Bot clone but as an actual tiny mosquito in a bloodless world likely had the few people who noticed his presence scratching their heads. Turns out the reason was fan service in the most in-the-know sense of the word. That cameo isn't a mere reference to Mister Mosquito, but specifically to a level where the titular Mosquito has to suck blood out of a woman while she's sleeping in a bathtub.

There's no actual nudity involved, but anyone versed in anime culture will know the exact purpose of including such a stage in a game.

Mister Mosquito even passes out, in a hearts-in-his-eyes cartoon style, upon mission completion. We can perhaps forgive Sony for this weird mission because Mister Mosquito is from a time before Bee Movie inadvertently taught humankind about the grossness of human-insect lust. Still, it's a pretty peculiar thing to be referencing right now in a game for kids. Did team ASOBI snuck this reference into the game, or, even better, was Sony trying to celebrate the time when developers put all sorts of lewd Easter eggs in games? We may never know.

You can now play Astro Bot on PlayStation 5 or get Mister Mosquito for the PS4 or PS5 from the PlayStation Store.

The post Astro Bot features a surprisingly naughty reference to a PS2 cult classic appeared first on Destructoid.

If you’re looking for a new and very fun game to play with friends, or you want something to give you an excuse to scream out your frustrations, then may I recommend Pico Park 2?

I know that sounds like an incredibly contradictory statement, but if you’ve ever played Pico Park 2 or the original, then you’ll probably understand my position. I love this game. It’s adorable, it makes me laugh, and it’s incredibly fun to play with up to eight friends. But I also hate it, it frustrates me like nothing else, and I have a four-year-old and a kitten, so that’s really saying something. 

I’m pretty sure that the love outweighs the hate in my relationship with Pico Park 2, because regardless of how much it frustrates me in one playing session, I always want to go back for another. The definition of insanity is doing something repeatedly and expecting a different result. I guess I must be insane, because I will always go back for more when it comes to Pico Park. 

It’s not a rage game, at least I’m pretty sure it’s not supposed to be, but can you imagine getting eight people together in a level where you’re not allowed to touch each other because doing so will kill you? How about getting eight people moving around and trying to figure out where you are in a room filled with randomly moving characters? The rage is inevitable, but so is the laughter.

Some levels prevent you from moving as long as someone else is. This isn’t so bad with two or three players, but it’s a nightmare with eight. And then you have to consider the fact the platforms are continuously pushing anyone who isn’t moving backwards towards certain death. Can you see where the frustration comes in to play here? 

Then, to add more chaos to the mix, one of the levels has everyone die if more than one person moves at once, and another lets you move only when you can’t see what you’re doing. These three levels are all part of world seven which, if you can’t tell, is not one of my favorites. 

I’ve been playing to write this, and in order to get the screenshots that accompany this article, and once again I have reached the point of rage quitting a pixel platformer puzzle game. But I don’t want that to put you off, because before you rage quit, you’ll have a ton of fun and laugh until your sides hurt. 

Pico Park is also a great test of communication skills, and a bizarrely sado-masochistic bonding experience. You know the age old relationship ‘test’ of building Ikea furniture together to see if you can get through an argument? I can only assume that whoever came up with that had never played Pico Park with their partner.

If none of this phases you, or you're up for the challenge, then you can play Pico Park 2 now. It's available on Nintendo Switch, PC (via Steam), Mac, and Xbox One. Have fun, and remember, you can do this.

The post I have a love/hate relationship with Pico Park 2 appeared first on Destructoid.

Hideaki Itsuno recently announced his departure from Capcom, and Devil May Cry fans are absolutely heartbroken. After all, he's a talented and influential developer who worked on multiple hit games: Apart from his impeccable work on the DMC franchise, he also directed cult classics like Rival Schools and Dragon's Dogma.

Itsuno may not be the most renowned Capcom developer but he's one of the most important ones, and his influence on the company should never be underestimated. He had both a fascinating career and a complex relationship with Capcom, and both should be studied from beginning to end.

His humble origins as a fighting game aficionado

Like most Japanese gamers of his generation, Itsuno was a passionate fighting game fan who Capcom hired in 1994 to work in their Arcade Division. He was obviously a big fan of Street Fighter II, but he also revealed that he played the competitor's titles during this time: "I always loved fighting games, so it was always a certain fighting game with yearly installments. The one I played all the time was the '94 edition", he told Takayuki Nakayama in an interview, referencing the beloved SNK fighter The King of Fighters '94.

He began working on multiple ports of Street Fighter II and even worked as a designer in Street Fighter Alpha until he eventually got the opportunity to direct new fighting game IPs, like Rival Schools and Power Stone. Itsuno applied his vast knowledge to every project he worked on: "Rival Schools was a game where we put a lot of effort into making sure it was easy to play."

He and his team knew that, unlike other arcade fighters, Capcom was eventually going to port Rival Schools to home consoles. With this philosophy in mind, they developed the PlayStation 1 version in just three months, with the goal of selling 1 million copies. This was Itsuno's first experience with home consoles, and it eventually changed the course of his entire career. He also carried his penchant for accessibility over to every subsequent project he worked on.

He transformed Devil May Cry into what it is today

The gaming market was radically changing during the 2000s, and Capcom began taking developers from their Arcade Division and forcing them to work in home console games. In an outrageous decision, Capcom began its plans to make a sequel to their brand-new IP, Devil May Cry, without consulting Hideki Kamiya and his team. The company put Capcom Studio 1 to work on it instead.

The development of Devil May Cry 2 was quite rocky, and eventually, Capcom promoted Itsuno to director during the final months of development, replacing the original director of the game, who ultimately went uncredited. In the book Devil May Cry: 3142 Graphic Arts, Itsuno explains how Capcom practically forced him to direct: "The bosses came in and said, "Alright, do we have a director for DMC2?" Just as we were all thinking, "Nope. We actually don't," they said, "Okay. You do it."

Itsuno tried his best and really put a lot of effort into trying to improve and refine DMC2 as much as he could. But his efforts weren't enough to save what was already a low-quality product, so when Capcom finally released DMC2, fans and critics immediately panned it. "It's strange to be a director as a helper in the first place. But the development of DMC2 was too short, and there were some parts that I felt I had left undone and hadn't been able to be fully satisfied with", he said later in an interview with Famitsu.

Devil May Cry 3 was just what Dante (and the franchise) needed

To the surprise of everybody, DMC2 was a financial success, which led Capcom to greenlight another sequel. Itsuno didn't want this game to be his legacy and he just knew that he could create something truly special if he got to work on it from the beginning. "I even went so far as to ask directly, 'Please let me do DMC3'", he told Famitsu. Capcom accepted, and he immediately began recruiting his team.

He brought most of the DMC2 staff to work in the sequel, and they knew what they had to do: make Dante more energetic and youthful once again, so they decided to make DMC3 a prequel. Itsuno also brought over everything he learned from working in so many fighting games: "I decided to just go all out and include all the fun of combos in fighting games, so I was glad that I was able to compete in an area where I was confident." His experience working on fighting games also influenced the way he utilized music in his games: "Ever since the "Rival Schools" series, I've made a note of directing scenes with the music in mind," he explained in DMC: 3142 Graphic Arts.

Devil May Cry 3: Dante's Awakening quickly became a critical and commercial success. Audiences endlessly praised it for going back to the series' dynamic and challenging roots while also giving Dante his charming personality back. Itsuno and his team didn't just make yet another excellent DMC game, but they also brought new life into the franchise. And this was just the beginning.

Devil May Cry 4 introduced a new protagonist at the worst moment

In DMC: 3142 Graphic Arts, Itsuno revealed how he became the director of the next installment in the series: "Someone else was given control of DMC4, but one of the bosses said, "Dealing with the new PS3 hardware is going to be tough, so we need someone more experienced to take charge. You do it." I wasn't particularly against the idea, so I accepted the position.

Itsuno and his team knew they needed to do something bold and unexpected to keep the Devil May Cry franchise fresh and interesting. That's why they came up with a new devil hunter named Nero. He always had great plans for this new character, but he did fear that he was going to get extremely negative feedback for "replacing" Dante, so he was included as well: "It was a gamble for us to even introduce a new character," he revealed in an interview with Games Radar.

Dante was created by Hideki Kamiya, so it makes sense for Itsuno to prefer the new characters he personally conceived. "I like Vergil and Nero. I have an appreciation for Dante, too, of course, but I feel less of a connection with him because he's not a character I created myself", he said in DMC 3142 Graphic Arts.

Devil May Cry 4 would eventually get a mixed-to-positive reception. Over the years, there was a rumor among fans that Capcom was to blame for this, as they either rushed the development of the game or forced Itsuno to cut a lot of content, but the director never officially confirmed it. Even though it sold over 1 million copies by the end of its first fiscal year, DMC4 didn't meet Capcom's high expectations, especially because its development had a bigger budget than usual.

He left DMC behind in order to work on his magnum opus

During the late 2000s, Capcom decided to follow a brand-new direction, as the company began to prioritize the development of Western-styled games, which were much more popular and profitable at the time. Capcom chose Ninja Theory to develop a brand-new Devil May Cry reboot and even assigned Itsuno as a supervisor and advisor for this new team. The final result was DmC: Devil May Cry, a solid albeit extremely controversial game.

As much as Itsuno obviously cherished the Devil May Cry series, he never felt that the series was his creation, as he explained in DMC: 3142 Graphic Arts: "When explaining my relationship with DMC to people, I like to say that I'm not so much a parent to the series as I am a foster parent. Or maybe "stepmother" is more appropriate. That usually seems to get the point across pretty well."

He did have his own idea for a unique action RPG with an innovative Pawn mechanic that he came up with even before he joined the DMC2 team: "After (development of) CAPCOM VS. SNK 2 ended, I was actually in the middle of planning to launch an original RPG," he said about his new IP.

So, when Capcom asked him for an idea for a large-scale project that could make millions, he pitched what would eventually become Dragon's Dogma, and Capcom greenlit the project. Why did the company approve of it? While executives clearly had confidence in Itsuno based on his impeccable previous work, it was mainly because he convinced them that this was going to be a western-styled RPG, and he even used titles like The Elder Scrolls IV: Oblivion, Fallout 3, and Fable II as examples. This fit perfectly with the company's aforementioned new direction.

The surprise success of Dragon's Dogma

Itsuno began working on this new game with the help of his DMC4 team, and it took them three years to complete it. Thanks to the evolution of home console technology, he was finally able to make his idea into a reality. Dragon's Dogma quickly became a surprise hit because gamers criticized most action RPGs for their lackluster combat at the time, so its dynamic combat system and epic boss fights helped it become a standout title.

The critical and commercial success of Dragon's Dogma cemented the IP as a new RPG icon, and it led to the creation of an expanded version, a spinoff and even an animated adaptation for Netflix. Years later, Hideaki Itsuno would state: "The (game) that was the biggest success in my mind, the one I'm most proud of, that's probably Dragon's Dogma." He even wanted to work ON its sequel almost immediately, but he didn't know that DMC would need him again very soon...

Devil May Cry needed its savior, once again

In 2015, the success of Devil May Cry 4: Special Edition and DmC: Definitive Edition proved to Capcom that there still was a shared interest in the iconic hack-and-slash franchise. Itsuno decided to pitch Devil May Cry 5, and it worked quite well: "The reactions from everyone around me were positive, and the production discussions went smoothly," he told Dengeki Online in an interview. But Itsuno said on Twitter/X that DMC5 had been in development since 2014, so they likely had plans to revive the franchise much earlier.

In 2013, in an interview for the book DMC: 3142 Graphic Arts, Itsuno said: "That's why even now, the DMC4 staff is clamoring to make a sequel starring Nero. Of course, a sequel with Dante wouldn't be bad either". These ideas would eventually come to fruition in DMC5, a game that featured Dante and Vergil, but Nero was ultimately the main protagonist of the adventure.

Itsuno proudly exclaimed "DMC IS BACK!", and everybody went crazy

He had a concrete idea of what he wanted to make from the get-go, which was helpful in creating a more streamlined development process. Just like they did with DMC3 years before, the team brought back what made the series so beloved in the first place but also implemented fresh new ideas. Surprisingly, DmC also inspired them. "In terms of the flow of the series, after DMC4 there was DmC: Devil May Cry, and after that there was DMC5. The staff had the feeling that they wanted to surpass both works in terms of image creation, and they studied them", Itsuno told Dengeki Online.

Capcom revealed DMC5 during Xbox's E3 2018 conference with a fantastic trailer. Hideaki Itsuno went up on stage and proudly exclaimed, "DMC IS BACK!" He was right: When the game was released months later, it immediately became a critical and commercial success once again. It seemed that everything Itsuno and his team touched turned into solid gold.

Everybody praised Devil May Cry 5 for its many positive qualities, and it seemed that, after years of unfounded negativity, the franchise was back to its roots and was more relevant than ever. Not only did DMC5 satisfy longtime fans, but it also brought in a slew of new fans. And all of them were eager to see where the franchise was going next.

He finally got the chance to work on that Dragon's Dogma sequel

Before DMC5 launched, Itsuno had to make a difficult choice: In an interview with VG247, he said he went to Capcom's founder Kenzo Tsujimoto and said, "Look, I want to make either DMC5 or Dragon's Dogma 2 next", to which Tsujimoto replied "Okay, do whatever you want. Do whichever one you want,' so he prioritized DMC5 and began working on Dragon's Dogma 2 immediately after that. His main goal with this sequel was to expand on everything he did in the original game, including ideas and mechanics he originally had to scrap.

This resulted in Dragon's Dogma 2, released this year by Capcom. Unfortunately for Itsuno, however, the game got a divisive reception due to stuff that was entirely out of his control. The mishandling of microtransactions and optimization issues contributed to the game's negative reputation. Dragon's Dogma 2 is still a solid action RPG, but it was nowhere near as well received as Itsuno's previous projects.

Hideaki Itsuno's undeniable legacy

One should never underestimate Itsuno's contributions to Capcom and gaming in general, especially for someone who started his career as a mere fighting game fan. He may not have created Devil May Cry, but he saved the IP not once but twice, cementing it as one of the most successful and beloved hack-and-slash franchises. And if that wasn't enough, he also managed to develop a unique Western-styled RPG in Japan with Dragon's Dogma, ultimately proving that he's also capable of creating successful new IPs from the ground up.

In his countless interviews and press releases, Itsuno told multiple stories about how the executives at Capcom almost always let him have the final say on which game he would develop next. So it's evident that he was not just a mere employee for the company but that Capcom actually trusted his vision because it was sure he was always going to develop a quality product. Capcom still hasn't responded to Itsuno's departure, but it is definitely going to feel his absence.

When he left, Itsuno stated: "I will start developing a new game in a new environment. I hope to create fun, beautiful games that are as memorable as, or even more memorable than, the ones I have created so far" which tells fans everything they need to know about the future of his career: He's going to keep making incredible video games, regardless of which company he's working for.

The post How Hideaki Itsuno became one of Capcom’s best developers appeared first on Destructoid.

Remnant 2 has received three outstanding expansion packs. Each adds even more variety to one of the game's main worlds, and yet I cannot help but feel like Gunfire Games has missed out on something crucial here.

Remnant 2 is still one of my favorite games and one of the finest shooters we've had in years. The Forgotten Kingdom and The Awakened King expansion packs were both excellent and while I'm writing this ahead of The Dark Horizon's release, I have no doubt it will be great as well. It's a matter of track record at this point.

I fully understand that this will come off a tad whiny and annoying in the grand scheme of things, then, but I genuinely believe that Remnant 2 would've been an even better game had Gunfire Games looked beyond its three base worlds.

Remnant 2 will remain stuck on its three main worlds for good

By default, without any DLC whatsoever, Remnant 2 takes place across several different worlds, dimensions, or universes, whatever you want to call them. The main narrative, however, focuses specifically on three distinctive worlds: the Victorian-esque Losomn, the forests of Yaesha, and the sci-fi horrors of N'Erud.

Each playthrough rolls a randomized selection of maps, bosses, and progression opportunities. The game comes with two full playthroughs' worth of unique content, and each new campaign rolls from this selection, so you never quite know what you're getting. Due to this formula, Gunfire Games could quite easily insert all-new expansions of existing tilesets, and so each of the three DLCs adds a massive chunk of new goodies into its respective world.

The Awakened King added one new playthrough's worth of stuff to Losomn, The Forgotten Kingdom did the same for Yaesha, and The Dark Horizon will do the same for N'Erud. It's quite phenomenal, really! In the grand scheme of things, the issue I have is that this feels like the setup for more. More worlds, more dimensions, more goodies to chase and puzzles to solve.

I can't shake the feeling that this really was the plan at one point in time because the original Remnant: From the Ashes did introduce whole new worlds to its content roster. Swamps of Corsus added, uh, the swampy regions of Corsus, while Subject 2933 took us into the mountainous regions of Reisum. These DLCs weren't outright phenomenal, mind, but they sure did up the ante in terms of variety. Remnant 2 isn't going to have this same opportunity afforded to it, sadly.

Why is Remnant 2 not getting any more DLC?

After Gunfire Games announced that The Dark Horizon would be the final Remnant 2 DLC, I was taken aback. Sure, its heyday has passed by now, and I'm all but certain that the expansions weren't nearly as successful as the base game, but the principal designer of Remnant 2 specifically said there was a "very good chance" more DLC would be coming after the three originally planned ones. With each essentially doubling a given world's content, Gunfire should have had free reign to redirect the game's next chapter into any direction it chose.

Yet, that's not happening at all. With no word from the developers on the matter, we can only hypothesize as to what happened in the background. Given the quality of Remnant 2's post-launch content, I feel bad that I'm disappointed with Gunfire Games choosing to drop the game before exploring a genuinely new world. Yet, at the same time, isn't this more than enough content for dozens of hours of gameplay?

More Remnant is absolutely coming, but who knows when?

There's no way Gunfire Games is going to drop Remnant for good, not given just how successful Remnant 2 was early on. Remember, the game absolutely captured the zeitgeist of its launch window, and everyone and their mum was playing it.

The fact is, though, that Gunfire Games is billing The Dark Horizons as the definitive and final Remnant 2 DLC despite the studio heads' claims that there'd be more content coming down the line. Is Remnant 3 that far along that it makes no sense for developers to stick around working on this entry in the series? I find that hard to believe. Even optimistically, sequels take three to four years to produce in the current industry climate.

While the game's not a live-service title, Gunfire successfully pushed out three massive expansions for each of Remnant 2's main worlds. Why stop there unless something's going on? And, you know, something has gone down: Darksiders 4. Is this a good thing? We'll just have to wait and see. As for myself, though, I feel that Remnant 2 deserved one more year of content.

Remnant 2 is left in a good state, but it could've been even better

It's funny that my only real complaint about Remnant 2, about a year after it first came out, is that it won't get even more content than initially planned. The crux of Remnant 2 is not genuinely novel and unique: it's a gun-fighting Soulslike. Or Souls-lite, if you will. Yet, the execution of the game leaves virtually nothing to be desired, with engaging combat and progression loops, oodles of content, and a better take on exploration and puzzle-solving than I had seen in years.

For what it's worth, I'm hoping that this franchise is, at the very least, thoroughly done with the world of Yaesha for good. We've seen it in the first Remnant, we went back in Remnant 2, and then went back again as part of the sequel's Forgotten Kingdom DLC. N'Erud is infinitely more interesting in my opinion, and I'm happy that we are going back to it as part of Remnant 2's grand and final expansion pack. That's a win, at least.

The post Did Remnant 2 miss out on the opportunity of a lifetime with its DLCs? appeared first on Destructoid.

It's a general rule of thumb with open-world RPGs that if you run across a man yelling in the street, he may have an important quest. That's how I met with Meister Menhard, who swept me into a narrative tale of swords and noble thievery in Kingdom Come: Deliverance II.

The Kingdom Come: Deliverance II demo I played at PAX West wasn't geared toward the expected combat and exploration aspects of the massive RPG. There was some swordplay, mind. But mostly my short time with the game introduced me to the choices I can make and their consequences, good or ill.

Choices matter

The demo was roughly 50 to 60 hours into the 80-to-100-hour campaign. At least, that's what Tobias Stolz-Zwilling, the international PR manager at developer Warhorse Studios told me. But before I hit the dusty streets of 15-century Kuttenberg in Bohemia, I was told something else. Stolz-Zwilling directed me to speak with Menhard to start his quest but, in a cryptic tone, asked me to choose any dialogue option except to stay silent. He would explain why after the demo had finished.

With a cloud of foreboding hanging just above my head, I struck up a conversation with Menhard.

He was upset. Based on our conversation, Meister Menhard von Frankfurt, a boisterous German man, was invited by King Wenceslas to start a sword-fighting school in Kuttenberg. Unfortunately, some internal politics have kept him out of class and in the street where he stood issuing challenges. I took him up on his request.

Learning the ropes

As an admission of guilt, I never played the first Kingdom Come game — it's on my backlog! After a gentle razzing by Stolz-Zwilling, he explained that people who didn't experience the original could still enjoy the sequel without needing to play it. You again step into the dirty boots of the former blacksmith Henry, who is on a new adventure. The sequel also won't gloss over the mechanics for new players. In this case, it was sword-fighting.

I took up the blade against Menhard, who promised to teach me the ways with a solid thrashing. This was good news for me because I had no idea what I was doing.

Combat is more intuitive in Deliverance II, but the aspects are the same: You use the mouse or controller to angle your attack; watch your opponent's weapon; strike where their weapon isn't, and guard in the direction of their swing. A rosette in the center shows the direction of your attack via a red arrow.

Menhard and I fought, but I was on the back foot most of the battle. In my defense, this was my first sword fight in the series, and it's not quite as rudimentary as something from, say, The Elder Scrolls. But I somehow managed to turn the fight around, and with a few lucky ripostes, the Meister was on the defense. Before I could claim victory, our fight got interrupted by the guild leaders of the established sword-fighting school. And they weren't happy about the public display.

This was the conversation hinted at earlier. I had the option of saying nothing, but I dutifully defended Menhard against the agitators. There are multiple persuasion techniques you can employ in the game. You can tackle things using a Speech skill, or woo people to your side with Charisma. With Henry's own blood splashed across his face, I somehow managed to convince them to back off — after exchanging some choice words and a bit of coin. But things weren't settled yet.

Backroom schemes

I soon ended up in a tavern with Menhard, who was hatching a plan. To get his training school established, he needed to challenge the current guild and win. But that can only happen if the guild is seeking duels. Naturally, they weren't. And that's where Henry comes in.

I agreed to take a covert mission to sneak into the sword-fighting hall and steal the guild sword. It felt logical at the time. Once the sword was mine, I would put it on display on the walls of the Kuttenberg town hall, indicating they were open for challengers. Easy.

The streets of Kuttenberg were bustling during the day, as townsfolk moved through the streets with supposed purpose. I traveled toward the quest marker, pointing the way to the guild. The trip across the city took longer than expected based on the hand-drawn map. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II is a bigger game than its predecessor, boasting a 25% larger world. Kuttenberg is one of the key locations in the game, and it's certainly no hamlet.

At last, I managed to make my way to the guild. The rectangular building looked unassuming, but the shields decorating the front and the two armed guards were dead giveaways. I staked the place out, looking for methods of ingress. The locked door in the back looked like my ticket in.

Sneaking in the dark

Like with many open-world RPGs, Kingdom Come: Deliverance II lets you wait a set amount of time. I waited for the cover of night. Henry must automatically equip a torch because I had one in hand after the timer ended. I tried putting it away, but Stolz-Zwilling told me it was a bad idea. If a guard happened to be walking by, they would get suspicious of a man meandering in the streets at night without a torch. But what about when I'm inside the guild? Well, that's okay, he said. But how would I see anything? Fair point.

I wandered over to the locked door in the back, where I was introduced to my next challenge: lockpicking. Like with many RPGs, you can pick locked doors. To do so in Kingdome Come II, you drag the cursor around the lock until you see it glow. Next, you need to select it (in my case, holding down the left mouse button), hold right (or the D key), and move the cursor in a circular pattern while staying within the glowing spot. I'm not sure how much the lock difficulty mattered in the demo I was playing, but I managed to clear two locks on my first try.

Regardless, I was in. I ignored the paranoia my still-equipped torch was providing and crouched down to stay quiet. I heard snoring, but that didn't mean I was in the clear. Sneaking through the guild, I managed to find the sword hanging from a wall upstairs. I shoved it into my woolen pantaloons and headed back down.

I was right to be worried; someone was awake. A guard must have heard me because he was stalking the pantry while muttering that he knew I was there. I waited for him to wander into another room before darting to the exit.

Challenge accepted

I hung the sword on the town hall and returned to the tavern, where I waited for Menhard. After giving him the good news, and promising I pulled off the heist without killing anyone, we went to the town hall. Sure enough, the opposing guild showed up, and they were pissed. But the scheme worked, and they agreed to a duel.

Before the demo ended, Menhard said he wanted me to join his motley school as its first student. With blood still caked on Henry's face, I agreed.

Mine was just one tale, and many players may not experience it the exact same way. For example, if I lost the battle against Menhard earlier in the quest, he would have required me to pass a test before joining his school. I guess stealing a sword from under the opposing guild's nose wasn't enough. Instead, I was initiated after pointing out that I narrowly handed him his ass.

Many branching paths await

Wait, what about that warning about staying silent? According to Stolz-Zwilling, refusing to defend Menhard and his crew would result in them getting kicked out of the city. You can still do the quest, but that requires looking for them stewing outside the city walls.

In the roughly 40-minute demo, I experienced multiple situations in which Henry's path could change. I managed to sneak out with the sword. But what if I got caught? What if someone was killed? I can only imagine just how many different ways Henry's story will change based on the consequences of my actions, from swordplay to conversation choices.

The game will feature more than 2.2 million words in its script, which may just eclipse the current world-record holder, Baldur's Gate 3. This suggests that, no matter what choices you make, Warhorse Studios may have thought of an answer. Kingdom Come: Deliverance II could end up providing many water cooler conversations, and I don't plan on missing out when the game launches on February 11, 2025.

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One refrain has echoed through the internet and inside the minds of BioWare fans for some time. At the preview event I attended for Dragon Age: The Veilguard, it was frequently said: “It’s been almost 10 years since the last Dragon Age.”

It’s what I was thinking as I sat down at the PC to play, too. How could I not? 2014’s Dragon Age: Inquisition and its 2015 DLC Trespasser was the last we’ve seen of the continent of Thedas in video game form. Truly, after nearly a decade of waiting, I was just eager to know if there was an executable that would launch Dragon Age: The Veilguard.

Well, the good news is there’s an executable and much more beyond. Dragon Age: The Veilguard is real, and plays like a BioWare back in form, in a way we haven’t seen in quite some time.

The makings of a hero

My preview session kicked off with the introduction, playing a short talk-over from Varric that sets the stage for the action to follow. Solas, our lovable/loathable elf god pal from Inquisition, has been up to some hijinks since credits rolled on Trespasser. He’s set to conduct a ritual of some kind, altering the Veil, the magical barrier between the real world and the Fade. There are demons and other bad things in the Fade, so obviously, Varric and co. want to put a stop to it.

Rather than taking the mantle of the Inquisitor back up, the player’s put in the shoes of Rook, an up-and-coming talent Varric has scouted for his private group of Solas-stoppers. I’ll say first off that, while I like the tavern scene as an intro to your character’s look and an establishing moment for their approach to problem-solving, Rook does feel like they just sprung from the earth a hero. There’s a little choice-making in the character creator to help set up their backstory, but it felt a little thin to me, compared to other BioWare leads.

Thankfully, the character creator shines. It’s an extremely impressive engine, that I’m sure will keep fans of sliders and value shifting tinkering for hours upon hours. I saw a few other press folks get completely lost in the creation tool, and those who finished the preview content early—myself included—went right back in for more.

One of the coolest tools BioWare crafted for the character creator is the triangle slider for faces. Basically, take three preset head shapes and faces, and the creator lets you slide around a triangle, opting for more or less of each one’s individual qualities mixed with the group. It’s hard to describe in text, but seeing it in action is both incredibly intuitive and surprisingly effective.

Qunari characters have been a point of contention leading into Dragon Age: The Veilguard, as the Qunari seen so far have been a bit smoothed-out and human compared to the unique looks of past characters like the Arishok and the Iron Bull. While I did make one I was ultimately happy with, it did take some tinkering, and still had a bit of that smooth look. I think letting the horns extend a bit further down the forehead and temples would help, but otherwise, I mostly liked the Qunari Rook I arrived at, after about 10 to 15 minutes of playing with sliders.

The introduction plays out as we’ve seen it before: Rook and Varric meet up with scout Lace Harding and Neve Gallus, an investigator and mage of Minrathous, and rush to stop Solas from tearing open the Veil with his ritual. Things go wrong, Solas winds up trapped in the Veil, and two ancient elven gods he had imprisoned are let loose on Thedas.

Shifting the title from Dreadwolf to The Veilguard makes a bit more sense now, seeing it all play out. Solas certainly isn’t out of the picture; both his history and present predicament play into the action at hand. But dealing with Ghilan’nain and Elgar’nan, the elven gods that got let out, is a more pressing and immediate issue. The former in particular is visually striking, adding some unsettling body horror to this world. In fact, just be ready for a lot of creepy blight-related horror in The Veilguard, especially whenever Ghilan’nain is around.

There are plenty of minor antagonist factions too, from the Venatori to the ever-present Darkspawn, to fill the combat arena. The latter, Thedas’ long-time scourge, looks a bit different this time around, thanks to some Plot Reasons I won’t get too deep into. Suffice to say, I wondered why they looked different, and received an answer.

Rallying the guard

To fight the gods, you’ll need a good squad. And quickly, Dragon Age: The Veilguard gets you into the rhythm of building your party. We played two different missions, one recruiting the Veil Jumper Bellara Lutare, and another rescuing assassin and soon-to-be fan-favorite Lucanis Dellamorte from a magical underwater prison.

Immediately, this felt so familiar. That steady cadence of venturing out on missions to get new companions, talking to them back at base, and eventually unlocking new bits of their story or character-specific quests to encounter is one of the main appeals of BioWare for me. Thankfully, Veilguard has it locked down.

Like I said, Lucanis is charismatic from the jump. A suave assassin with a hint of magic and a darkness stirring within him? Sign me up. Harding’s own entanglements with magic seems to be leading her into investigations of dwarven culture, so that’s a huge bonus for anyone who loved the Orzammar sections of Dragon Age: Origins. Neve, Davrin, and Taash are all standouts I’d love to spend more time with, too. It’s a nice feeling, to have a group of likable, interesting companions that you just want to spend more time around. Chatting, laughing, maybe even smooching? Yes, there is romance.

Romance is obvious, because Dragon Age: The Veilguard adopts a similar chat wheel to its predecessors. Options will appear on the wheel, and they’ll usually have their tone communicated with a little art in the center; a stalwart knight might indicate a stoic response, for example, while the heart is an obvious green-light for flirting.

Everyone gathers and hangs out at the Lighthouse, a former base of operations for Solas inside the Fade, now home to the Veilguard. It has plenty of its own secrets to uncover, including some neat lore about Solas’ rebellion and the lore at large. There’s a workshop for upgrading equipment too, and this place also links into the Crossroads, an evolving zone with combat challenges and links to new areas that open up over the course of the game.

The world outside

With Dragon Age: The Veilguard taking place in the northern portion of the map, it seems like the focus is very much on new sights and sounds rather than old ones. While Orlais and Ferelden were mentioned, the adventures we saw focused on new regions we’ve really only heard about, like Minrathous and Treviso.

These areas are gorgeously realized and brought to life. I legitimately found myself stopping to take in the sights, whether it was the imposing panopticon-esque Templar watchtower in Minrathous or the alleyways of Treviso. It’s not all city streets, though; the Arlathan forest was filled with nature, contrasted with ancient ruins and technology.

It’s a bit hard to peg down a single “look” for Dragon Age: The Veilguard. It can be extremely colorful and bright in battle, or shift to staunch black-and-white for important moments. Magic ripples and crackles in the air, the blight oozes, and the grim fantasy of all it can feel foreboding in the right moments. More than a few moments were taken to show off just what BioWare can do with some modern technology, and they really worked.

All of this operates around a hub-and-spoke world design that truly works. Rather than another open-world entry, BioWare is opting for several zones that can link up to each other, while also spinning off into their own mission areas. Mass Effect 2’s Omega is an easy and familiar comparison point. These are worlds that can be explored, with stories and quests to find, but also then lead you off to special areas for the big quests.

These regions change, too, sometimes due to your own actions. I can’t really dive into details, but there are decisions you make that won’t just change whether someone likes you or not, but can leave permanent marks on the world. What I will say is that these changes are tangible ones you’ll contend with, rather than just a background alteration, and I loved how these changes were shown in-game.

Draw swords

Of course, aside from adventuring and chatting up companions, there’s also the combat. Many pillars of Dragon Age are still alive in The Veilguard: the Warrior/Rogue/Mage class split, using abilities to set up combos and detonation effects, and there are many returning spells and magical abilities.

Everyone gets a little extra oomph of power in Dragon Age: The Veilguard, though. Warriors can throw their shield like Captain America in their sword-and-shield stance, or hit a button to swap to their two-hander and start swinging. Rogues still feel combo-heavy, able to output huge amounts of damage and lock down single targets, though using gadgets and a bow felt fairly viable too. I didn’t spend too much time with Mage; it felt a bit slower to me, and besides, I’m pretty certain a lot of writers were spending their time flinging spells.

I personally loved playing the Rogue. Leaping into combat, dodging around giant axe swings and spells, and then throwing down a Lightning Flask to stagger my enemies into a brutal finisher felt great. The Ultimate skills take things a step further; mine threw out a bevy of explosives in an area in front of me, which was incredibly useful in boss’ add phases.

Combat in The Veilguard did have some noticeable shifts, though. I didn’t see health bars on my companions, which felt like it indicated they may not have them. Also, control was strictly limited to my character, with the occasional tactical menu pulled up to order an ally to fire off a spell at a certain target.

In practice, this felt a little less like Origins’ planning and tactics, and more like Mass Effect 2, a game I found mirrored quite often in The Veilguard. It means the action moves fast, battles are exciting, and everything narrows in on finding opportunities to do damage and stay alive. But I did feel some of that tactical layer peeled away in the process, at least for what I played.

I’m also curious to see how upgrades pan out, as the ones we picked up seemed to run the gamut from interesting additions (chance to proc Bleed on the final hit of a combo) to fairly mundane ones (a straightforward numbers boost). It can be hard to get a gauge on the power scale of an RPG in just one slice, but given the lengthy amount of time we had—over six hours, by my estimate—it did make me wonder.

A world in need of saving

Dragon Age: The Veilguard arrives at a juncture for BioWare. It’s not just the first Dragon Age game in almost a decade, but it’s also the newest RPG from a studio that’s been on rough waters. Mass Effect: Andromeda was, to use a tired phrase, a bit of a mixed bag, and Anthem was a noteworthy stumble.

The Veilguard itself went through its own iterations, and now has studio hopes hanging on it. Sure, there’s a new Mass Effect in the oven too, but eyes are on BioWare now to see if it can still do what BioWare has been notoriously known for: beefy RPGs with compelling characters and enthralling worlds.

After hours spent with Dragon Age: The Veilguard, I’m feeling much more positive than I was going in. Many of my concerns about what a BioWare game looks like, in 2024, were quickly washed away. The Veilguard is BioWare as hell: it’s got compelling characters, enthralling worlds, and plenty of beef.

Yet this crew, formed of some familiar faces and some new ones, seems to be making their own mark on it too. I can sift out the pieces that feel like older BioWare, sure; the ones that spark familiar tones of past games. But there’s some new ideas too. I love the world state changes, the quest-specific zones and areas, and the recontextualization of so many Dragon Age norms thanks to our new, northern locales.

Dragon Age: The Veilguard seems like it could see BioWare reclaiming its spot as a maker of big, exciting RPGs, and that’s encouraging. Walking in, I was just looking to see if the game was real. Now, I really can’t wait to get back to it.

_{[Travel and lodging for this preview was provided by the publisher.]}

The post Hands-on: Dragon Age: The Veilguard has action, companions, and world-building in full BioWare form appeared first on Destructoid.

Indiana Jones and the Great Circle is on the way, and with it set to release in only a few months, we've learned quite a bit about the Bethesda Softworks title. Now, we're finding out why Indy won't be so focused on guns.

The Great Circle's place in the overall Indiana Jones franchise timeline, which legacy characters from the films will appear, and details about the story have all come to light. Developer MachineGames has also been revealed how the game will approach gunplay, with The Great Circle apparently leaning away from guns for the most part, forcing players to progress by other means.

Speaking with Edge magazine (via GamesRadar), The Great Circle creative director Axel Torvenius explained: "We do not encourage gunplay. It's not being pushed as the primary way forward. The primary way forward is always trying to use your wits and your whip."

Torvenius went on to assert that this approach was taken to remain true to the Indiana Jones character fans have known for decades. Since Torvenius made these remarks, some Indy fans online have questioned the validity of the claim, arguing that The Great Circle team made the wrong call with the game's relationship with firearms.

In reality, I think Torvenius is right. Extensive gunplay has no place in an Indiana Jones video game.

Indiana Jones is a professor, not a gunslinger

An element of Torvenius' chat with Edge that seems to be overlooked in the gunplay debate is his succinct explanation of who Indiana Jones is.

"At the end of the day, he's a teacher and a somewhat clumsy archeologist," Torvenius said. "He just happens to have this passion that puts him in these weird situations constantly with enemies and traps." Through that brief summary of Dr. Jones, it's understood entirely why trying to turn The Great Circle into just another first-person shooter title would be the absolute wrong move.

There's no denying that there is a certain level of violence to Indiana Jones' adventures. Enemies and allies alike are constantly being thrown into harm's way as Jones seeks out the world's most powerful and mysterious artifacts, hoping to keep them out of the clutches of evil. More often than not, his fists, whip, and cunning are enough to keep him and his friends alive. Whittling the tools at players' disposal down to these bare essentials minimized sounds like it should make for a more authentic Indy portrayal and a more engaging game.

Even the movies minimize gunplay

At the same time, there is a case to be made for Indiana Jones' gun use. After all, when push comes to shove, he's never afraid to pick up a firearm to get out of a bind. Who could forget the iconic Raiders of the Lost Ark confrontation with the Cairo Swordsman, who tries to pull Indy into a fight with his flashy sword skills only to be shot in the blink of an eye? There's also the Indiana Jones and the Last Crusade rescue of Dr. Henry Jones Sr., where his son mows down a group of enemy soldiers with a machine gun to aid in their escape. Thus, it's evident that to some extent guns are tied closely to Indy.

However, the key thing to understand is that in the aforementioned examples, and pretty much any other one could pull from the Indiana Jones movies, guns are only used briefly. After he shoots the Swordsman, he holsters his pistol, and once the enemy soldiers are laying dead on the ground, he tosses the machine gun aside. Taking conflict to such an extreme isn't Indy's goal, but he's willing to do it under specific circumstances, particularly in life or death scenarios. Maintaining that mentality in The Great Circle is the right way to go if Torvenius and the other minds behind it want to emulate Indy's movie characterization.

Clearly, the folks at MachineGames have done their homework on Indiana Jones and his unorthodox conflict resolution skills to prepare for The Great Circle. Time will tell how their efforts pan out when the game launches on December 9 for Windows, Xbox Series X, and Xbox Series S.

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The final DLC for the action RPG souls-like Remnant 2 will take players into an all-new area of N'Erud, the sci-fi construct that was once home to the Drzyr as they searched the universe for sentient life, but instead found the center of the universe. Remnant 2: The Dark Horizon adds the drone-wielding Warden archetype, a massive sprawling new area of N'Erud, a new Prism system that essentially adds further end-game, and a new boss rush mode.

The Dark Horizon

I recently sat down with Ben Cureton, Principal Designer at Gunfire Games, and Cindy To, Principal Level Designer at Gunfire Games, to get a hands-off preview of everything new coming in the final DLC for Remnant 2, and wow is there a lot. For starters, even though I was expecting The Dark Horizon to take place on N'Erud, what I wasn't expecting is the massive size and verticality of the new overworld area coming in the DLC.

As they showed me the new area, To explained that a large portion of the new area takes place in the farming area of N'Erud, where the Drzyr used various types of machinery to cultivate and tend to their crops and food supply. The verticality reminded me of the Elden Ring: Shadow of the Erdtree DLC, where there are plenty of higher and lower elevation areas to explore.

To assist players with navigating the new area, a new mechanical glider will give players the freedom to glide around the map to traverse longer distances with ease. According to Ben and Cindy, this is the biggest area they've created for the DLC, and it certainly shows. Of course, the new area will delve more into the N'Erud-specific storyline, and feature a new world boss for players to take on.

Attack of the Drone

The new Archetype in The Dark Horizon is the Warden, who comes equipped with a secret weapon: the Drone. Ben showed off the three different stances of the Drone, in which the automated companion can focus on regenerating your shields, healing you, or even attacking enemies. This makes the Drone extremely versatile and a potential boon for solo play, but also a powerful option in co-op.

By default, the Drone will automatically follow the player around. But you can "attach" it to an ally instead, in which the ally will use its skills to assist the target ally instead. The Warden's Trait, Barrier, increases the effectiveness of any shields the Warden applies. This means if you put the Drone on an ally and it replenishes your ally's shields, it will also replenish yours. As Ben put it, the Warden is a "Master of Shields", and Barrier is a game changer for any shield build.

I'm curious to see what sort of builds players much better than me will come up with, especially when mixed with some of the other unique Archetypes like Archon and Summoner.

Prisms - A new Grind

Also coming in The Dark Horizon is a new system called Prisms. Players can obtain Prisms through a variety of means such as buying them from NPCs, looting them off bosses, and a few other methods as well. Once you acquire a Prism, they gain experience when you do, allowing you to level them up. Once leveled, you can activate the prism and choose from one of three different stat bonuses that become a permanent addition to the Prism.

In total each Prism can have five stats, and once you've filled all five slots, leveling the Prism will grant upgrades to the five chosen stats. Using this system, you can try and build a Prism that synergizes with your build, such as defensive stats, offensive stats, utility, and more. Some stats can even unlock secret bonuses in which they pair up and merge into one, freeing up another slot for another stat. Once the Prism reaches the maximum level of 50, you can choose to wipe it clean and start from scratch.

It's an interesting new system that essentially adds another grind, to Remnant 2, which in my opinion was certainly needed. The great thing is, it's the stat bonuses from Prisms are supplemental. You can certainly complete all content in Remnant 2 without them, and even just throw together one that "works" for your build. But the option is also there for min-maxers to super grind out the perfect stats for on a Prism to fit their build, which adds a ton of replayability, making it a fine addition to the final DLC.

Boss Rush - A New Mode for all Remnant 2 owners

The final addition with The Dark Horizon DLC actually doesn't necessarilly required the DLC to do. A new Boss Rush mode allows players to take their character into a "triple threat" randomly generated dungeon, killing hordes of enemies to spawn Aberrations. Once the player defeats the Aberration, they can then take on the world boss for the dungeon. Defeating the boss allows the player to choose one of three temporary buffs before heading into the next dungeon.

At the beginning of each Boss Rush attempt, players can choose to enter take on three, nine, or a staggering 27 bosses in order to successfully complete their Boss Rush run. Once the run ends, whether in defeat or victory, players receive a lot of XP as well as loot for every boss defeated including elusive drops and weapons.

Through the Boss Rush mode, players will have another option for farming gear they've been unable to get through their Story and Adventure mode runs. The hefty XP gains also compliments the new Prism system, giving players a fun new way to farm XP and level their Prisms. This new mode is available to all players without needing to purchase the new DLC. However, you won't be able to encounter DLC bosses in Boss Rush mode unless you own the DLC they are from.

All in all, this seems like a hefty final DLC for Remnant 2. All great things—and Remnant 2 is indeed great—must come to an end. But I can't think of no better finale for the action RPG. The new storyline and area could have been enough, but the addition of the new Prism system and Boss Rush mode will add even more replayability to Remnant 2, giving players plenty to do long after they complete the new content. Oh, and I also got to see one one of the new weapons in the DLC. I don't want to spoil anything, but I'll describe it in one word: badass.

Remnant 2: The Dark Horizon releases next week on September 24 on PC, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. The Dark Horizon DLC will be $9.99, and is inlcuded in the Ultimate Edition which gives access to all three DLC packs. The major content update that adds the new Boss Rush mode also releases alongside the DLC.

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You've probably played (or seen) Vampire Survivors gameplay by now. You start out underpowered and must move around the map auto-attacking enemies until you earn enough experience to unlock a new weapon or item.

Over time, you'll get even stronger more weapons and upgrades, each one synergizing with the others in your growing arsenal. But what if I told you that those weapons and items could be Pokemon-like ancient spirits with a whole range of abilities? Enter Wildkeepers Rising.

Guardian up

That entire premise is exactly what sold me on Wildkeepers Rising. Developer Lioncode Games has evolved the genre that Vampire Survivors epitomizes and made something that feels fresh and new. Each level sees your character, a Wildkeeper, start with nothing but a single weapon. You'll explore a huge map with biomes and varied terrain in search of Guardians to help you push back the waves of enemies rushing you.

Guardians are ancient spirits who have been sealed away. You'll see them on the map from the start of a level, and choose between a few with every Guardian Stone you collect. The design for these spirits is inspired by the works of Hayao Miyazaki & Akira Toriyama, and they really are outstanding. Each one has a distinct design that tells a little story about what its abilities are, whether that's a huge twisting tail, massive jaws, or an arachnid-like appearance.

The game retains a top-down 2D view, but the hand-painted nature of every sprite makes them look a lot more tactile. It just brings the game to life in a way that looks like you should be able to reach out and pick up each character on the screen. Like an army created from 2D images drawn onto paper but with the thought processes and detail behind them that you'd expect from a movie like Princess Mononoke.

Over the course of any level, you can collect up to four Guardians, but they're not all offensive powerhouses. For example, Buzz is a huge beast with a powerful attack and special spin ability and Riza lays eggs that produce tiny spiders that swarm enemies. But then there's Smack, a chunky little spirit who buffs the attack power of his fellow Guardians.

The goal is to craft a team of four Guardians who complement each other. So, you could pick up Buzz first to get your damage out. Then, you can grab Smack to ensure you've got increased damage for everyone throughout the run. Later, you can acquire Kiraboom, who builds up energy for an explosive special attack. Finally, you can get my favorite, Murkle, who is a blue snail that fires purple globs at enemies with an almost machine gun-like speed.

While Guardians can faint, they won't die. They'll be incapacitated for a short time and then return to the fight. Lioncode Games explained how there will be items in the early access version of the game, and more may be added over time, some of which could help heal Guardians and your Wildkeeper.

More control at your fingertips

Unlike other bullet heaven titles, you've got a little more control in Wildkeepers Rising. Guardians follow you with predictable movement patterns so you can direct damage as you explore and pursue objectives. Each Guardian also has a special ability that you can trigger. Saving these for moments when you feel overwhelmed or one of the choke points on the map, like a bridge, is imperative.

As you might expect, there are more than just Guardians and items to acquire in the game. You're presented with a slew of upgrades to choose between as you gain levels. These can boost everything from speed to health, attack power, and even push a Guardian's special ability to be even better. Teh game has a rarity system that guides you through the best upgrades to pick for your current build, but you're free to craft whatever sort of build you fancy.

I asked Lioncode Games if there was a limit on these upgrades. It explained that, while you'll eventually hit a point where you can't upgrade an aspect such as speed if you keep picking speed upgrades each time you've offered them, there's no hard limit on how many upgrade screens you'll see. This means that you can keep growing in power with every run until you reach your objective.

A reason for each run

The map in Wildkeepers Rising has been carefully crafted with three distinct biomes: The forest, desert, and caves. They're far from the basic 2D backgrounds that act as an excuse for rushing around killing enemies in other bullet heavens. Trees, rocks, and other parts of the environment can't be passed through or over by enemies, Guardians, or the player's character, making for engaging runs where enemies track you around paths and obstacles.

You can use this to your advantage in the forest and kite enemies to a choke point before wiping them out with a special ability. Likewise, enemies can surprise you somewhere like the caves and pin you against a wall with wave after wave of minions until you're overwhelmed. This means you've got to pay attention to where you're going and learn the map over time so you don't get caught out.

Wildkeepers Rising features a story with main and side quests to keep you invested in the world and push you to do just one more run to see where said story is going. It won't all be available when the game is released in early access, but you'll be able to play a decent chunk to get an idea of how the gameplay loop and flow of every run works.

Objectives range from reaching a specific point on the map to rescue a Wildkeeper or Guardian to retrieving an item or beating a boss. These massive foes are the true test of your understanding and skill in the game. If you know what you're doing, you should be able to stomp them with a well-crafted build you've constructed while making your way to the boss.

It's not all high-octane action, though. Between missions, you can visit the spirit realm to check in on every Guardian you've rescued and used so far. In this location, you'll see them in their homes and get an idea of how they interact and what they get up to when you're not around. This is the game's version of a Pokedex or Paldeck, which I think is essential. In games with creatures like this, there's nothing better than getting to know the beautiful and intriguing creatures you're playing around with.

This is where you'll finally have a chance to appreciate the artwork in Wildkeepers Rising. The enemies look mad and dangerous while you're out on a mission, and the panic of almost being overrun takes all your focus. Having a space to really look at each Guardian's appearance and take in the intricacies of their design is a really nice feature.

A long road ahead

As I've mentioned a few times, Wildkeepers Rising is still in development and will be initially released in early access on Steam. Lioncode Games has a roadmap for features it wants to add, such as weapons, more Guardians, and the game's entire story. However, it's also aware that it must work with its community to identify features players want in Wildkeepers Rising and implement them as well.

The gameplay I was shown during a preview event looked like a fantastic base upon which to build. You can already see how frantic runs are going to become as enemies move around the map through available paths to hinder your progress and create some intense moments.

The most exciting element is definitely the range of Guardians on offer and the fact that they can be upgraded so regularly over the course of a 20 to 25-minute run that you feel like you're always growing in power. These rewards for standing your ground and fighting back against enemies are more than enough to make me want to stretch a run out a little longer before completing an objective and moving on.

At the time of writing, Lioncode Games plans to have various difficulty levels to make every mission engaging and give you a reason to return and replay the story. There's a lot to love, from the elements on show, but with more, I can see myself losing dozens of hours collecting Guardians and seeing just how far I can push a build or challenge run.

The important thing is that nothing is off the table for Lioncode Games. It's ready to work on what players want from Wildkeepers Rising, and I think that's a fantastic stance for a game like this that could easily go on to entertain its community for years to come.

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It's hard to believe we've had 8 years of Stellaris, but it's true. Since releasing back in 2016, Stellaris has nine core expansions, a single narrative expansion (Astral Planes), and about a dozen content packs including story-specific content and new playable species. The newest expansion, Stellaris: Cosmic Storms, adds new dynamic Cosmic Storms that affect gameplay, a new Origin, Storm Chasers, 3 new Civics, and some new technologies built around the new storm mechanic. Through and through, it's more Stellaris, which is always a good thing.

Stellaris: Cosmic Storms (PC [Steam], [Microsoft Store], [GOG])
Developer: Paradox Development Studio, Behaviour Rotterdam
Publisher: Paradox Interactive
Released: September 10, 2024
MSRP: $12.99

Into the Eye

As the title of the expansion would suggest, Stellaris: Cosmic Storms' main big new feature are its new dynamic cosmic storms. There are eight unique storms in total: Electric, Particle, Gravity, Magnetic, Radiant, Stardust, Shroud, and Nexus. These storms completely replace the old existing Space Storms, which were rather inconsequential in their former structure.

Let me start by saying, each of these storms are absolutely stunning graphically. Most of them add a swirling particle effect of colors that really light up entire systems, often with chaotic flashes of lightning and other cosmic explosions throughout the storm as it circles an area.

Each storm has a general effect that affects your systems in the storm, regardless of the actual storm type: +0.2Monthly Devastation to your planets and increased Emergency FTL Damage Risk, but then there is a slew of other pros and cons based on which of the eight storms it is. For example, a Magnetic Storm increases station and ship upkeep but reduces Metallurgist Upkeep.

As you can imagine, depending on where the storm hits, what sort of empire you're building, and what stage of the game you're in, the storm can be a huge headache, a nice buff, or rather meaningless. In the end, I think that the biggest issue I have with the storms, is depending on when and where they hit really changes how big of a deal they actually are, but of course, that's the intent.

An all-new ascension perk, called Galactic Weather Control, allows you to generate Cosmic Storms manually using your Science Ships. This can be a pretty big boon if you have cloaking technology researched and placed on your Science Ships, because you can cloak into enemy territory and start generating some destructive storms.

One of the biggest problems with the storms is their duration. In most cases by the time I start to move things around to try and optimize the impact of them hitting, the storm ends and I'm just left with the aftermath effects, not the meaningful modifiers that existed why they were raging on. I get wanting the storms to have a more randomized and unpredictable effect, but I feel like there needs to be a bit of a balancing act between their randomness and being able to capitalize on them.

I have a feeling we're not in Kansas anymore

Anytime I see a new Stellaris expansion get announced, I quickly look to make sure there's a new Origin I can look forward to trying it. In Cosmic Storms, Storm Chasers is that new origin. Traditionally speaking in Stellaris, some Origins are big gameplay changers, paving the way for unique builds that can really add some new build potential. Others, however, are more story-focused or even just provide some unique mechanic that add a new element of gameplay to the core Stellaris experience.

I'm no min-max expert at Stellaris, but the Storm Chasers origin feels like more of a flavorful narrative origin than one of the game-changing options. Going with Storm Chasers gives you a weather map overlay to track cosmic storms, as well as see their effects. As you advance through technology, the map improves, eventually even showing you forecasts so you know when and where storms will hit certain systems. You become a galactic meteorologist, essentially.

You also get a few storm-focused benefits like an increased chance for storms to spawn in your borders, a higher chance of getting storm-related research options, and more unity per storm building that you build. However, being a fearless Storm Chaser also results in a shorter lifespan for your leaders, and they are less effective in council positions. In return, your entire species gets a trait called Storm Touched, which adds 10% of resources from Jobs, and reduces Amenity usage by 10%. The benefit certainly outweighs the negative, but it's certainly no game-changer like Clone Army, Necrophage, or Progenitor Hive.

It's a cool origin option if you really want to have some insight into the new Cosmic Storms as they work their way across the galaxy, but the benefits pale in comparison to some other origins, which is why I think this is more of a fun option than an impactful one. Storm Chasers almost feels like an origin dedicated to going, "Hey, let's go full-fledged into seeing what's new with these storms."

Riding the galactic waves

In the end, Stellaris: Cosmic Storms is a very unique DLC, for better and worse. The new storms certainly add a new element that you'll have to learn and adapt to while playing. But in a lot of ways it ends up just adding some more difficulty, and in some cases tedium. For veteran players, I imagine the added difficulty will be appealing to shake up the game, but at the same time, I can't help but wonder if some players will simply opt to disable this DLC unless they really want to do a playthrough with the storms enabled.

The beautiful visuals of the storms single-handedly elevate the Stellaris experience, and I can see some real potential from the new storm system if Paradox continues to build on and expand it, adding more opportunities to earn rewards for properly handling the storms or even making it a more streamlined risk/reward system. But in its current form, Cosmic Storms falls a bit short of being a "must-have" Stellaris expansion like Utopia, or Apocalypse. That being said if you're like me and just always want more Stellaris, there are plenty of entertaining layers in Cosmic Storms to make it a worthwhile addition to your the best grand strategy space game on the market.

_{[These impressions are based on a retail build of the game provided by the publisher.]}

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While most Helldivers 2 players are eagerly awaiting the game's 60-day update to see if it brings back lapsed fans and makes the game feel as fun as it did at launch, they still have a job to do. The Second Galactic War rages on, and we need to get back to strategizing about how we tackle them.

At the time of writing, the current Major Order in Helldivers 2 tasks players with killing 100 million Warriors and 45 million Bile Spewers in Terminid planets. This shouldn't be too tricky because, as a community, we've slaughtered 100 million Terminids in just 3 hours before. However, there's a secondary element to the Major Order that's split the community down the middle, and they're not making progress on either front.

While players could focus all their attention on the Terminid objective, the secondary objective is way too tempting. If they manage to liberate Tarsh and Mastia, two worlds currently under Automaton control, then they'll be given the Orbital Napalm Barrage Stratagem. I'm sure this is only for the duration of the Major Order, but that doesn't matter. I and many other players want to get our hands on that Stratagem so they can set Terminid worlds aflame and boss the Major Order goals.

Unfortunately, not every Helldivers 2 player wants the same thing. In fact, it seems as though some players aren't even aware that they could get this incredibly powerful Stratagem to help us clean up the rest of the Major Order.

It's been three days, and Tarsh and Mastia still require liberation. There are 8,000 Helldivers in the Automaton system trying to get this Stratagem, but there are 12,000 in the Terminid system just hammering the Major Order.

In the past, they've coordinated so well that we've been able to make Game Master Joel bend the rules in Helldivers 2 in the past. The community has also worked together so well that it's actively dodged Stratagems and inadvertently saved the game's fictional children from annihilation.

Now, though, when I log in to play or check out the Helldivers 2 subreddit, it feels like they couldn't plan a piss-up in a pub. The problem is twofold in my eyes. First, there's a genuine lack of coordination because there are fewer players in the game. That's a symptom of many waiting to see what the upcoming major update does to balance the game and make it enjoyable to play once more.

The second issue is pretty simple to understand. I even fall into this trap myself sometimes. Killing Terminids is just too much fun. Terminid missions feel easier, especially if you have an incendiary weapon as your primary. They explode in a satisfying fountain of green blood, and they don't have red lasers that light up the screen so much you can't see or flying drones that spawn camp your reinforcements.

I understand the pitfalls they're falling into as a community. Honestly, all I want to do is fight bugs and have a fun time. But we need to get out of this funk where we keep missing each other and just work together again.

With just over a day left on the current Major Order, my hope is that enough Helldivers 2 fans swoop in and free those Automaton planets so players have the ability to set an entire planet on fire with napalm and burn bugs faster than ever.

This Stratagem is more than just a bomb with more fire than you've ever seen in Helldivers 2. It's a symbol of our determination. This Major Order is deliberately awkward, forcing players into the two camps they've always been split between: Bug Divers and Bot Divers. Right now, players need to be Helldivers if they're going to be in a fit state for the major update patch notes on September 17, 2024.

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Every so often, a game comes along which injects pure joy into the lives of those who play it. One such game, Super Crazy Rhythm Castle, is currently available for free on Epic Games Store and I urge you to go and give it a try. 

Super Crazy Rhythm Castle might be, and I don’t say this lightly, the most fun I’ve had playing a video game in a very long time. I have laughed so hard I’ve been reduced to tears and been physically incapable of continuing before getting a grip, I’ve thrown a soccer ball at my fiancés head (in-game, of course, I’m not a total monster) in order to stop him from scoring more points than me, and I’ve raced along the river in a musically charged boat. 

Essentially, Rhythm Castle is Guitar Hero with the added side-problem of puzzles needing to be solved. While you’re trying to play the music in time with the moving colored blocks, you also need to stop some bizarre baby creatures from screaming by kicking gems into their faces (seriously!), or use weed killer to prevent vines from covering the moving platform of notes. 

The ‘Super Crazy’ part is taken very literally in Rhythm Castle, and everywhere you go there’s something new, hilarious, and at times highly frustrating to overcome. For instance, at one point the king (who you’re trying to beat musically, at least I think that’s the end goal of the game) decides that simply throwing music challenges at you isn’t enough. To amuse himself, and make things harder on you, he decides that the platform on which you stand needs to spin around in circles. 

Now, I know my left from my right. I’ve gone approximately three decades knowing how to use my hands, and yet when the notes begin spinning around in circles, it’s hard to remember which side is which and whether I’m even the right way up. That level has a warning for those who suffer from motion sickness. If that doesn’t reflect the frustration you may feel while playing it, then nothing will. 

The music in Rhythm Castle is hugely varied, and there’s something for everyone. In the first six songs, I heard everything from Hippo and Frog (which is what reduced me to tears, and I’m still not quite sure why) to Heavy Metal, which is exactly as it sounds. In between, you’re treated to this absolute earworm that is still stuck in my head days later and is now a permanent addition to my soundtrack of life:

There's even an area where you can take game cartridges, which are found through the rest of the game, to play old video game soundtracks. I won't spoil what's to come if you choose to play, but you're in for a wild ride of both nostalgia and mild panic.

Anyway, like I said, Super Crazy Rhythm Castle is currently available for free on Epic Games Store. If you’ve got some friends who you want to drag on an absolutely bizarre ride through music, then you’ve got nothing to lose by downloading it. I’m not sure I would have ever played if it hadn’t come up for nothing, but I’m forever going to be thankful that I’ve experienced the crazy joy that it brings.

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I’ve been reading since I was very young, and I’ve spent many hours in both public and school libraries with my nose buried in a book. As a teenager, and admittedly ever since, I’ve found myself drawn to stories of first love and discovery. 

There are countless books about first love out there, and they all come with their own heartwarming moments, as well as a whole heap of relatable moments. Over my many years, I’ve come across some books which stand out for their storytelling, or how long their lessons remain with you. I’ve scoured my physical and online libraries to list 10 of the best.

It probably won’t escape your attention that a lot of the books on this list have been turned into movies. All of them are very good adaptations, and if you’re not willing to give up your time to read the books, then I can highly recommend each of their silver screen counterparts before diving into the source material. 

The Fault in our Stars

John Green (2012)

Just going to start this list with possibly the most heartbreaking story on it, The Fault in Our Stars, which has been adapted into a blockbuster movie.

Imagine meeting someone, falling irrevocably in love with them, and then losing them to the scourge that is Cancer. Then, as if that isn’t bad enough, imagine doing this while battling your own fight against the disease during your teenage years. It’s a heartbreaking and terrifying prospect, you will sob while being unable to put this book down, and the story told by John Green will stay with you forever in some capacity. 

It Only Happens in the Movies

Holly Bourne (2017)

Recently dumped by her boyfriend, with her parents going through a divorce, Audrey has given up on the idea of love and romance. At least until she gets a job and her coworker begins a relentless endeavour to win her over. 

I think we’ve all been in this situation at least once, where love feels like too much hassle and having our heart broken all over again isn’t worth the risk of falling for someone new. Whether it’s happened recently, or we remember that feeling from our younger years, It Only Happens in the Movies is relatable at any age and enlightening for a younger audience. 

Five Feet Apart

Rachael Lippincott (2018)

There’s a whole subsection of teenage romance books which revolve around young people with medical issues. I’ve noted one in The Fault in our Stars, but there are two more on this list, and Five Feet Apart is the second of them. It’s also been adapted into a movie.

Two teenagers with Cystic Fibrosis meet and fall in love, but cannot get within five feet of each other due to the risk of infections because of their compromised immune systems. They can’t touch, not to hold hands or god forbid they kiss, but the events which take place bring them much closer together than it’s safe for them to be. I honestly never thought I'd find a book to rival The Fault in Our Stars in terms of "this is going to break your heart", but this one is definitely up there. Bring some tissues.

Everything Everything

Nicola Yoon (2015)

The last of our medically induced hardship romances is Everything Everything, which again, has been turned into a movie that I can highly recommend. 

Imagine spending your whole life in a self-contained bubble because you’re so sick that even stepping foot outside of the bubble could cause you serious harm or worse. Then, a cute boy moves in next door and suddenly, you find yourself wanting to venture outside of the safety of home. That’s where this story starts, but it certainly isn’t where it ends. 

There’s an absolutely heartbreaking twist in Everything Everything which will have you questioning everything, but the true joy in this book comes from the growth of its characters, as well as their love for each other and the determination to be more than you think you can be. 

Crazy Little Thing Called Love

Tom Bromley (2002)

Moving on to something slightly less gut-wrenching and more light-hearted, Crazy Little Thing Called Love focuses on Will and his adventures upon joining a band. The singer of the band is rich, has the most amazing girlfriend who he insists on taking for granted, and Will wants better for her. Ideally, he would be the better person she would fall in love with. 

There’s a lot of sexual moments in this book, so I can’t say I recommend it to a particularly young reader, but I first read Crazy Little Thing Called Love when I was 14 and it didn’t do me any harm. The book still holds a space on both my shelf and in my memory, and I highly recommend giving it a try.

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight

Jennifer E. Smith (2011)

Let me set the scene: You’re stuck in JFK Airport after missing your flight, you’re having a horrible day, and you want to get to where you were meant to be. Suddenly, a cute boy catches your eye and you find out he’s British, and not only is he supposed to be on the same flight as you, but he’s sitting in your row. You spend the whole flight talking, only to lose track of each other upon landing without having exchanged contact details. 

The Statistical Probability of Love at First Sight plays out over a 24 hour period, tracking the story of two youngsters in their desperate efforts to somehow, miraculously find their way back to each other. Technically not teenagers, because she's 20 and he's 22, but they are each other's first love so... I'm counting it. I’ve never forgotten this story, and it might restore your belief in love at first sight. 

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging

Louise Rennison (1999)

Of all the books on this list, this one is definitely aimed towards a younger audience who have yet to experience their first ‘true’ love. However, at the age of 33, I still love this book and the movie adaptation of it.

Angus, Thongs, and Full-Frontal Snogging is actually the first book in a 10 book series which follows the coming-of-age story of Georgia Nicholson. There’s a lot of things that might make less sense to American readers than British, but if you can get past that, you’re in for a lot of laughs and lots of moments that anyone can relate to. Imagine Bridget Jones, but with far less life experience.

Opposite of Always

Justin A. Reynolds (2019)

Opposite of Always is one of those books which doesn’t wait until the end to break your heart and leave you emotionally scarred. Two teenagers, Jack and Kate, meet at a party. She wins his heart and his friends' affection, and then she dies. But that’s not where the story ends, because if it was, this book wouldn’t have made my list. 

After her death, Jack is sent back in time to the moment when they first met, and he has the chance to prevent her from ever dying. But if he chooses to keep her alive, that choice has hefty consequences for someone else in his life, and he has to make the choice between changing history or simply reliving the sad tale all over again. 

It’s Kind of a Funny Story

Ned Vizzini (2006)

The movie adaptation of It’s Kind of a Funny Story is one of my favorite movies of all time, and the book holds a special place in my heart. It’s not just a story of teenage love, but one of finding yourself and your confidence, overcoming mental illness, deciding what you want to be, and discovering hope for the future. 

The pressure of getting into the perfect highschool and making his parents happy sends Craig Gilner on a self destructive path of starvation, insomnia and, eventually, a suicide attempt. He checks into a mental hospital where he meets friends, and a beautiful girl, who help him find the joy in life and confront his anxieties.

Better Than the Movies

Lynn Painter (2021)

Better Than the Movies might be the only book on this list to be entirely centered around a teenage love triangle, and it’s a story that’s been told time and again throughout literary history. A girl has a crush on a boy, and her annoying (but attractive) neighbor is friends with her crush, and agrees to help her in her efforts to get her crush's attention. 

However, it’s never that straightforward, and soon she ends up discovering that what she needs might have been under her nose the entire time. Better Than the Movies is about discovering that perfection doesn’t exist, and maybe you need to dig a little deeper to figure out what will really bring you happiness. It’s a cliché, but that doesn’t make it any less heartwarming to read. 

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When I first delved into Astro Bot's immersive galaxy, I was astonished to see how many cameos it packed in. Sure, I suspected a few would show up, but I would have never guessed to see a whopping 173 exclusive cameos.

The future of Astro Bot is even more exciting, with the promise of the DLC expanding the cameo collection. While their identities are shrouded in mystery, we can't help but speculate and eagerly await the next wave of characters. Here are our top picks for the cameos we hope to see next in Astro Bot.

Rayman

Astro Bot's end-credits scene fueled the rumor mill when it hinted at a few titles not shown in the game. One of which was Rayman, the boy wonder of PlayStation's hit platformer series. Before I saw the scene, I had actually been pondering his nonexistence in the game, especially since characters around the same period were available.

Now, it's looking like he'll be a part of the universe in some shape or form. And I just know that Rayman's unique platformer mechanics would be a perfect fit for Astro Bot, setting the stage for a challenging new world.

Assassin's Creed characters

Besides Rayman, the end-credits scene sparked excitement for an Assassin's Creed crossover. The sheer abundance of AC titles makes it hard to pick just one character for Astro Bot. However, Ezio seems like a safe bet as one of the most-known characters in the franchise.

If it were up to me, I would go for someone slightly more underrated, like Kassandra in Assassin's Creed Odyssey. Whatever the case, I just want to see that tiny Astro Bot in the iconic assassin's hoodie and maybe an option to free-fall down in a level.

Marvel's Spider-Man's Miles Morales and Peter Parker

Since Astro Bot harnesses several Insomniac Games appearances, why not add a few more with Peter Parker and Miles Morales? Both have already immersed themselves in multiple universes, so having them in Astro Bot isn't too much of a stretch.

It's not like Spider-Man hasn't been in Astro Bot title before, regarding the webified Easter Egg in Astro's Playroom. That also gives me an idea of incorporating a new web-slinging ability to diversify the bot's skills.

Cloud Strife (And basically any Final Fantasy character)

The Final Fantasy series is no stranger to gaming collaborations, from Kingdom Hearts to Fall Guys. In light of this, I'm hoping for at least one more crossover with Astro Bot. Given that Rebirth was released in the same year, Cloud Strife would be my first pick.

Like Spider-Man, Cloud has an Easter Egg of his own in Astro's Playroom, placing his iconic sword in a spotlight. But if not Cloud, then maybe Team Asobi could go with Final Fantasy's many other characters. They could kick it old school with the original's main protagonists or enter the modern era with FFXVI's Clive Rosfield.

The Prince of Persia

I've been seeing many desires for various Astro Bot cameos, but the one I haven't heard about much is the Prince from Prince of Persia. Since we previously dug into a potential Assassin's Creed collab, Team Asobi could give some love to Ubisoft's other title to complete the collection.

I can already see it now: a challenging desert level with the Prince awaiting your rescue in a tranquil oasis. You could also add in the Astro Bot's Time Stopper ability to create the ultimate collaboration.

Kingdom Heart's Sora

Even though there are many staples of my childhood in Astro Bot, the Kingdom Hearts series is the only one missing. It totally makes sense for this franchise to be included, mainly since they both share the qualities of featuring cameos. Plus, the Space Galaxy reminds me a lot of Kingdom Heart's worlds with their planet layouts.

Sora would be the obvious choice for a VIP bot as the series' main protagonist. Throw on some spiky hair and a keyblade to a character, and voila, you got yourself a robotic Sora. Heck, even just adding a keyblade to the bot would make me happy.

Helldiver

A Helldiver Astro Bot seems like a pretty good idea, given the huge success it has gained over the past year. Not to mention the fact that it is a Sony title, which makes me wonder why it isn't in Astro Bot in the first place.

Astro Bot already features a ton of characters sporting a body suit and helmet look. In fact, I did get some Helldivers' vibes from the Killzone bot's design. It could act as a foundation for the suit if Helldivers ever makes it into Astro Bot.

Sly Cooper's Bentley and Murray

When I first saw Sly Cooper enter the world of Astro Bot, I was ecstatic to see my old childhood icon in the bot's adorable get-up. However, I couldn't help but think that Sly looked a bit lonely at the Crash Site. The reason for that lies in Cooper Gang's constant need for togetherness, where Murray and Bentley have (for the most part) stayed at his side.

So, please, Team Asobi, share some love for Murray and Bentley. They are as much a part of the Cooper gang as Sly is.

Stellar Blade's EVE

In addition to Rayman and Assassin's Creed, Stellar Blade was another title that could be in the cards. And, if I had to choose a VIP bot for this entry, it would have to (obviously) go to EVE. She has the combat and exploration down, making her the right choice for this platformer game.

I wouldn't mind getting a Stellar Blade-inspired world for a potential level, diving us into a dystopian world filled with Naytiba-like enemies.

Twisted Metal's Sweet Tooth

To keep us on Astro Bot's nostalgic train, I would love to see Sweet Tooth cause some mayhem in the galaxy. I know he's a bit more rambunctious than the other characters on this list, but maybe we need a little insanity in this roster.

That way, a new potential racing level could be included in the game, going along with the fast-paced nature of the courses. It'll work out well for the upcoming speedrunning feature, which will be coming to the Astro Bot DLC. I mean, the game does have an area called the "Crash Site," so a Twisted Metal integration does seem highly plausible.

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Comparing video games to good literature used to be the ultimate gotcha for the longest time. Simply bringing up games as a serious option for storytelling could get you laughed out of the room in some circles, but this is slowly changing, and non-explicit narratives are responsible for this.

Now, simply obscuring a game's story is not enough to make it interesting, engaging, or even genuinely worth engaging with. There must still be a spark of something special tucked away behind the monster closets and the resource grinds. Slowly but certainly, more and more developers are figuring out that they don't have to explain themselves to the player in the simplest terms possible.

Some games, like Bungie's classic Marathon for example, have embraced this type of oblique narrative progression from the very start. It's just that, outside of niche communities, the general gaming public didn't care to discuss them until decades after the fact. That's all changing slowly, and this is immensely thrilling for reasons we're about to go into.

Here, I've grabbed a few mainstream examples of games with huge amounts of non-explicit or obscure narrative elements to see how they fit into the wider context of video game storytelling.

Destiny is all about civilizational trauma

On the face of it, the Destiny franchise has simply been about fending off armies of aliens in a post-apocalyptic far-future. Behind the scenes, though, it's a fair bit different. Much as was the case with Marathon, it's important for a Bungie shooter to offer two layers of narrative development: the first is surface-level and obvious, where Guardians beat down the imminent threat and give humanity a second lease on life... over and over again.

The second layer, however, is anything but obvious. It needs to be peeled back by going through veritable mountains of lore---much of it available over at Ishtar Collective---and piecing together character motives, universal ontology, and oodles upon oodles of other features over a long period of time. This is only for the really invested players, and while I'll be the first to admit that Bungie doesn't always deliver, there's something special cooking in the background of Destiny for sure.

Interacting with Destiny's deep lore is extremely ergodic, if I'm being honest. It's not everyone's cup of tea at all. Bungie makes you work for the game's big revelations, and quite often, they simply don't land in the moment-to-moment campaign. The simpler stuff takes precedence, and that's probably for the best.

From my point of view, Destiny is actually about people's inability to cope with gods and the impossibility of proper communication between them. The Witness itself---the game's biggest Big Bad so far---came about as a response to the Traveler's presence. A silent deity hovering above its people simply stopped being enough for the Precursor civilization, and so they became the Witness. This set off a series of events leading to the slaughter and destruction of untold trillions, with the latest batch of the Witness' victims--the Eliksni, the Cabal, and the humans---barely surviving by the time the Light and Dark saga wrapped up.

Elden Ring is all about changing the rules of reality

It's easy to get lost in Elden Ring's moment-to-moment lore, characters, their relationships, and how they may or may not have interacted with one another. Doubly so, due to the developers' insistence on not giving us the whole picture and narrative. Instead, FromSoft's games are almost ridiculously oblique from an outsider's perspective. They only really come into their own when you're poring through item descriptions and whatnot, and that's a pretty big ask for the average player.

Disregarding any hunt for "true lore" for a little bit, Elden Ring seems like an infinitely loaded monster closet. You travel through one region after another and dismantle its defenders, take down huge monsters, and make yourself a nuisance for about 90 percent of the continent. Admittedly, it's fun to think about the game from this point of view, but that misses the point.

In truth, the bits that I myself can make sense of suggest that the Lands Between host a war for the nature of reality itself. The key is the Elden Ring itself, of course: a strange object that somehow dictates how the continent, the world, or the universe functions. The Elden Ring is so powerful, in fact, that removing a particular part of it nullifies death itself, so that's fun.

Now, toying with the ontology of existence is... problematic, to say the least, and the Lands Between are reeling from various factions and deities' attempts to capitalize on taking control over the Elden Ring.

No Man's Sky is all about coping with the fact that nothing matters

Did you know that No Man's Sky actually has a story? It's an oblique matter, I'll give you that, but it's genuinely the stuff of deep, existential horror, and it's about as far from being obvious as possible.

The gist of it is that it is, boringly enough, a simulation. The bit that amortizes this "problem" is that No Man's Sky does away with the usual Matrix-pattern take on this trope. This game, instead, tries hard to drive home the point that it straight-up does not matter whether its own story exists in a simulation or not. Further, its NPCs sometimes break the fourth wall and ask you, the player, whether you can be certain that you, too, do not exist in a higher-order simulation and whether you'd be able to tell if one is running in the first place.

Aside from this, No Man's Sky also plays host to what may or may not be the primordial god of its universe. There's also a single being that killed trillions of thinking creatures in its first life and waxes philosophic with the player when push comes to shove. It's oddly poetic, the whole shindig.

Games are more and more eager to give their players mental homework, and that's a good thing

One thing all three examples I highlighted here have in common is that their true narratives require a non-insignificant amount of mental legwork from the player. The fact that it's all entirely optional and doesn't come in the way of gameplay or of more surface-level storytelling is awesome, too. Those of us who want to engage with this stuff can do so. Those who choose not to, however, can just shoot guns and slash away at monsters, and they're still not missing out on the most important part of the medium.

This drives home the argument that video games are maturing into a genuinely engaging narrative medium. Figuring out the stuff I outlined above took a lot of work from the community, collecting data entries, lore tidbits, and other remarkably obscure writings. And people often still have to make their own conclusions about the things that are presented to them. For example, Elden Ring's actual story and the truth behind the Greater Will are still hotly contested, even after the DLC's been out for months and the game's been datamined to heck and back.

I genuinely believe Elden Ring would be a way worse game if not for FromSoft's sometimes obnoxious insistence on mystery, and this whole aspect of it is---once again---optional.

It's an impressive feat, and I'm extremely thankful for the developers who choose to tell stories such as these. And I'm not the only one.

The post How explicit does a video game’s lore need to be, anyway? appeared first on Destructoid.

There seems to be something of a tidal wave of cozy farming sims hitting the market currently, and it can be hard to tell what makes one stand out against all the rest. Back in June, I played the demo for Garden Witch Life, and fell in love with it.

Garden Witch Life is out now on PC (via Steam and Epic Games), Nintendo Switch, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S. If you play on any of the mentioned platforms and have been looking for a new cozy game to dive into, you should give it a try. 

After losing your job to mass layoffs and realizing that you’re not quite ready to head home to your parents and admit defeat just yet, you bump into May, who is a rather lovely anthropomorphic cactus with a café on Moonflower Island. Not only does she give you cake (which makes anyone instantly likeable in my eyes) and good life advice, but she goes out of her way to let you stay with her overnight. This cactus lady is very trusting of strangers.

Then, in what is perhaps the most generous move anyone could possibly make, she gives you the keys to an entire (admittedly run down) treehouse, along with a bunch of land that you can do with as you please. Apparently nobody else wants it, for reasons which are left unsaid, and of course you bite her hand off because who wouldn’t? If only real life were more like a farming sim. This is the first step in a massive life change, and we've all needed one of those at some point.

You’re then left to pretty much fend for yourself. Of course you have regular interactions with the many anthropomorphized townsfolk, and you have to do quests for them as well, but it’s very easy to forget about that aspect of the game entirely. There are endless corners of the map to explore, items to be foraged, and even a few animals to be petted. You’ll keep going until you pass out. No, literally, but more on that later.

One of the best things about Garden Witch Life is the decoration aspect. In a move that makes me more happy than I could ever say, you’re not limited to right angles or a grid system when it comes to placing furniture. You can more or less freely rotate everything, and place it wherever you want. Items can slightly overlap to prevent irritating gaps, and squares are a thing of the past. It’s beautiful. 

I will say that Garden Witch Life is not my perfect cozy sim game. There are things not currently in the game which definitely should be, such as crafting from storage. In order to craft or cook anything, you have to have the necessary resources in your inventory. It’s not that much of a big deal, and you can easily work around it by placing chests close to the crafting bench, but it does add an unnecessary extra step.

Crafting or cooking anything, especially early on in a playthrough, will unlock more recipes. Turning logs into planks will provide the recipe for a wooden storage chest, for example. Gathering items works in very much the same way, with everything you pick up unlocking some form of recipe. It’s always exciting to see the pop-up telling you what you’ve learned, and I’ve found that I’m more driven to craft, knowing that I’ll get new recipes from doing so. 

The cooking mini-game is a joy in itself. It reminds me of my dearly beloved Cooking Mama. You use the chopping board to prepare ingredients and then you need to cook them in the cauldron. You control the temperature, add ingredients one at a time, stir the mix, and eventually end up with a fully cooked meal to increase your stamina. All that’s missing is an interactive blow feature.

One of the things I’m hoping is added in future updates is some kind of warning before the end of the day. It’s very easy to lose track of time in Garden Witch Life, and I’ve found myself passing out at the end of the day multiple times simply because I forgot to look at the clock. I pride myself on my ability to never pass out from exhaustion in cozy games, so this has been a humbling experience. 

I’ve only just started my play through of Garden Witch Life, and I know that I am very far from unlocking and understanding all of the features that await me, but I know that I could throw hours of my life into creating the perfect hideaway treehouse and exploring everything Moonflower Island has to offer. I think the things that make me love Garden Witch Life are the very issues that I've mentioned above.

Life isn't perfect, but sometimes it throws you curveballs taking you in a direction you never imagined you could go. That's the lingering thought when playing, and I happen to love it when games impart valuable wisdom without really even trying. While Garden Witch Life might not be perfect, it's beautiful, charming, and it feels... Free. You can be whoever you want to be on Moonflower Island, and we all need more of that kind of freedom.

The post Looking for a new cozy game? Try Garden Witch Life appeared first on Destructoid.

Is there a cozy gamer in your life who longs to display their love for Stardew Valley in the house? Or are you trying to get ahead on shopping for the holidays, looking for ideas for the virtual farmer in your life? Don’t worry, I’ve got you covered. 

If you want to get your hands on some gifts for a Stardew Valley fan, it can be hard to tell what’s official and what isn’t. But there is a long list of merch endorsed, or otherwise directly worked on, by Eric “ConcernedApe” Barone.

From plushes to graphic novels, here are 10 of the best bits of merch that any fan would be happy to receive.

Stardew Valley Cookbook

You don’t need to be a chef to appreciate this hardback, beautifully decorated, and lore-filled cookbook. Containing over 50 vegetarian recipes either inspired or directly taken from Stardew Valley, this is definitely one of the best gifts you could ever buy for the fan in your life. And who knows, maybe you’ll get a home-cooked dinner out of it? Can’t turn your nose up at that.

Stardew Valley Board Game

If you love playing Stardew Valley online with others, then you’ll love taking it to the tabletop in board game format. The aim of the game is, as you might predict, the same as the aim of the game — rebuild the farm, crow crops, and make friends. Barone directly worked on the board game, and it comes with an enormous number of tokens and items to use in your playthrough. 

Stardew Valley Map Poster

There are hundreds of unofficial prints of the Stardew Valley map out there to purchase, but the only one endorsed by Barone can be purchased through The Yetee. Measuring 16 inches by 20 inches, I’m positive that any lover of Pelican Town will display this anywhere with pride. 

Krobus Plush

I’m the first to admit that I may be biased, as Krobus is my favorite character in Stardew Valley. However, I still think this is the best plush available from the long list of plushies on offer. Again, there are imitations out there to find, but the officially endorsed version is available through Fangamer, and he’s wonderfully derpy in the best kind of way. He just looks confused, as anyone would be if they were suddenly a plush.

Stardew Valley Skull Shirt

This is entirely personal preference, but as soon as I saw this skull shirt I knew I had to have it. It’s just so juxtaposed to the coziness of the game, not to mention that it just matches my aesthetic perfectly. Besides, this list wouldn’t be complete without at least one shirt, and this is my favorite.

If you want alternatives, there are also Bachelor and Bachelorette shirts available, as well as this cute-yet-creepy Junimo anatomy shirt and a long list of other designs.

Before the Farmer Graphic Novel

Have you ever wondered what life was like in Pelican Town before you arrived, took over the farm, and improved the lives of everyone there? Well, this graphic novel is your chance to find out. Inside the 144-page hardcover comic, you’ll also find out what brought Joja to the town and how it changed things before you changed them even more.

Animal Hanger Plush Blind Box

Who doesn’t love a surprise? Well, it doesn’t come much more surprising than blind boxes, and this one gives you (or your loved one) a chance to collect all the animals who call the Farm home. The whole gang's here, including Shane’s blue chicken and, my favorite, a weirdly round duck. 

Stardew Valley Complete Vinyl Soundtrack Box Set

This set of four differently colored vinyls includes 77 tracks from Stardew Valley, up to and including those tracks included in the 1.3 update. Also included is a digital download of the 1.5 soundtrack, although if you want songs from that update and the later 1.6 update on vinyl, you’ll need to purchase the second box set of vinyls. On the plus side, they make a kickass pair, even if they’re just on display in vinyl frames.

Stardew Valley Guidebook

The Stardew Valley Guidebook is exactly what you’d expect it to be. It’s a compendium of how-to’s and where-to-find guides in a handy format. It’s fully updated to include everything added in the 1.6 update, so it will be perfect for any fan, especially those playing on console or mobile who haven’t yet had a chance to dive into the new content. The dust jacket even doubles as a resident guide, including their likes and dislikes. 

Mermaid’s Pendant

I couldn’t write this list without including this one because if you want a Stardew Valley-inspired gift for someone you love (specifically a partner), they don’t get more special than this. In the game, the Mermaid’s Pendant takes the place of an engagement ring. Don’t let that scare you away from purchasing this for your special someone, but maybe explain your intentions before they open it to avoid possible confusion.

The post The best Stardew Valley merch for the cozy gamer in your life appeared first on Destructoid.

From an objective point of view, Destiny 2 is a thoroughbred Bungie shooter. Satisfying movement and gunplay, loads of gear to chase after, and all the trappings of a modern live-service content treadmill. Yet, the fantasy it sells to the player is a fair bit different. The Destiny you see in passing isn't quite the Destiny that lured me in.

The bit that spurred me to actually articulate why I first started playing Destiny 2 came about very, very recently, with Bungie's announcement of the content structure for 2025. Now, the stuff Bungie told us about sounds fine. Interesting, even, but that's not really what I want to talk about here at all. Instead, it's the artwork. Specifically, the very picture I use as the featured header above.

Now, Destiny has always been excellent at showing awesome alien vistas without actually allowing you to actually properly interact with them. And, to be perfectly frank, "interact" in this context is basically sci-fi overlanding with a bit of survivalism thrown in, for good measure. Obviously, that is not what Destiny is, but much of its art does rhyme with the concept.

One of Beyond Light's most striking pieces of media wasn't a screenshot of a decked-out Guardian taking down a squad of Fallen in a single (frosty) attack. Instead, it was a calm image of a Guardian taking a cliffside breather, with the Pyramid vessel in the far background.

This piece of art is most certainly not an outlier. Huge, sweeping vistas come part and parcel with every single pre-release artwork package Bungie puts out, and they help ground the world in a way no in-game vista ever could. Destiny has always been famous for all of the delightful views Guardians witness on their way to pummel this week's new ontological hyper-predator. This is a surface-level nod at the grander; it's a suggested exploration happening in-universe and is about as far as Destiny 2 goes.

Yet, I often find myself wanting to interact with the environment and just explore the world of Destiny, and I'm most definitely not the only one. That's where Starfield comes into the picture.

Pre-release, Starfield, too, targeted the same sense of awe as Destiny often did. And from the beginning, one key difference kept their journeys distinctly apart — Bungie's world stayed neat and focused, whereas Starfield, by virtue of its gameplay, could not. Then it was hey, presto, suddenly I could reach out and venture into the concept art to explore all those places I could never access in Destiny.

In this respect, Starfield is perfect. It's an effectively infinite exploration engine, brimming with places to be and weird things to find. I've also upgraded the exploratory aspects of the game with the delightful Desolation - POI Overhaul mod by agd25, as well as Shade's Vehicle Tuner. The former makes POIs a bit more sensible and far spread out, while the latter adds actual overlanding features to the REV-8 buggy. All this plays further into the free-form sci-fi exploration niche I've hoped to experience for literal years now.

And sure, perfect is a bit much, as Starfield isn't on top of its game elsewhere. It's clunky and underbuilt in some major ways, and after about 120 hours of gameplay, it struggles to truly surprise me in a meaningful way. Such is the nature of these things. I was never under the impression that an actual playable game could deliver the same sense of awe as static concept artwork could, of course, so I'm generally okay with the trade-off.

Raiding and completing dungeons is, understandably, the high-point of any Destiny player's experience with the game. Yet, those aren't the bits I myself appreciate the most about the game. Instead, I've always been fond of just snooping around the maps, finding one-off setpieces (now entirely devoid of any activity) and enjoying the Bungie artists' penchant for detail. Try looking up the old Niobe Labs in the EDZ map, for example, and it won't take long at all to feel like you've unearthed a forgotten secret in the far-future, post-apocalyptic Switzerland of Destiny.

I've never been particularly fond of live-service offerings, and Destiny 2's infamous sunsetting, in particular, managed to break my infatuation with the game itself. The artists' hard work I still very much appreciate, of course, but the removal of Io and Titan - some of my favorite stomping grounds - nudged me to look elsewhere for my exploratory adventures. Starfield is so close to what I wanted in this respect that it's gotten annoying by now. Yet, the game's insistence on repeating points of interest over and over again, populating its worlds with fauna that doesn't act like it belongs, and generally being just the tiniest bit too janky to achieve proper immersion really pulls me out of of the world.

Starfield could very well be the game I want it to be, but it just isn't yet. Maybe in a few years' time, when Bethesda pushes out a few more meaningful, game-changing updates such as REV-8, modders release more delights such as Desolation, and we've had a few more big expansion packs in tow. It's a big maybe, to be sure, but it's not an impossible hope, either. And hey, the same absolutely cannot be said about Destiny, which is more than happy to stick with its unreachable vistas and tightly curated combat hallways.

Now, obviously, I don't expect this topic to make sense to everyone. For most players, Destiny 2 is all about those things that keep us glued to the screen in the moment-to-moment gameplay. That is, of course, perfectly fine and valid. If you'd like to get a better idea of what I've been mulling on about here, though, I recommend checking out Bungie's very own 10-year Destiny "Art Blast" over on ArtStation to begin with. Then, if you're still up for it, scroll on through the absolutely phenomenal unofficial concept art collection hosted by Redditor Dark129. It consists of about 2,000 pieces of Bungie's Destiny artwork, and it communicates the scope and scale of this universe incredibly well.

Bungie isn't likely to lean into the more exploratory, conceptual aspects of Destiny anytime soon, I'm afraid. The game's patrol zones are simply too busy and too small to properly deliver on that promise. That's okay, though. Starfield is extremely imperfect in many of the things it tries to do, but it almost gives me that oblique high that Bungie's been hinting at all along. In that sense, it certainly fails to deliver, but looking at it from a different point of view, it sure as heck is the closest I've gotten to it. So, I'll take it happily.

In the end, I suppose I'm just trapped between Starfield's comparative mediocrity and Destiny's forever-unattainable fantasy, forever bouncing between the two until the end of time. Or, rather, until Starfield's been appropriately modded.

The post Starfield is what I always wanted Destiny to be, but it too fails to deliver appeared first on Destructoid.

Escape From Tarkov has, by most measures, managed to stabilize its community and meta since the last time I talked about it. The big tripwire update is neat, too, but I just can't bring myself to play it anymore. Instead, I spend my time in SPT, and it's a hoot.

Now, obviously, I'm a bit weird when it comes to my gaming preferences. I actively play Helldivers 2 on my own, deliberately. And, really, I've never been shy about the fact that I adore what the SPT team has done with Escape From Tarkov. By now, though, I'm absolutely all-in on Single-Player Tarkov with virtually no interest in actually getting my PMC eviscerated by a cheater on the official servers. Some are probably going to wonder why on Earth wouldn't I just jump into Escape From Tarkov's official PvE mode, and the answer is actually very simple: mods.

The fact that SPT (now simplified from the mod's previous SPT-AKI moniker) is a fair few build and content updates behind official has stopped worrying me. The FOMO of using the aforementioned tripwires, bipods, and the revered Desert Eagle gets pretty inconsequential when you have access to SPT's ridiculously varied glut of player-made content, you see.

To be fair, SPT has always had mods. A community has been brewing in the background of this project for a very long time now, and some modders are still simply updating their years-old custom content to keep it relevant in 2024 and beyond.

From my personal experience, however, it wasn't until SPT's 3.8 build (one before the current 3.9ish) that SPT's modding scene really took off. We now have significant near-weekly community content drops from some creator groups. Usually, they include entirely new guns, such as IWI Carmel, which I don't believe I've seen in any other media just yet.

For the nostalgia hounds, however, I'd recommend both variants of the classic Remington ACR carbine, as they allow you to set up custom builds with different generational variants of the weapon. For those who want to modernize their ACR kit, the Modern Warfare 3 version of the fictional MCW platform has also been developed for SPT. Yes, those are three different versions of the same weapon, more or less, except each is slightly different in some meaningful ways. Perfect for a gun nerd.

New guns are just the tip of the iceberg for SPT, naturally. I've previously discussed the addition of Pokemon cards to the game as an optional high-value collectible. Well, now there are Yu-Gi-Oh cards available, too. If you want to add even more zesty variety to your SPT experience, you could install the More Energy Drinks and WTT - Corner Store mods as well, each adding a kind of ridiculous number of real-world food 'n' stuff. I've installed an incredible number of mods to my build of SPT by now, and there have been no problems with crashing or anything like that. The initial loading, granted, is a bit longer, but I can live with it.

Just to circle back to SPT being a few content updates behind Escape From Tarkov live, a dedicated modder has back-ported all of Update 15's new guns, clothing, armor, and attachments into SPT 3.9 already. Kind of ridiculous, isn't it?

The sheer breadth and variety of community-made mods for SPT are astonishing. Escape From Tarkov is the much-needed baseline for SPT, and BSG's work is hugely valued. The thing is that I just cannot see myself returning to the stock Tarkov experience, and I'm sure I'm not the only one.

This is where it gets interesting, sort of. Battlestate Games has, as of very recently, stated that "[they] will add MOD support for PvE mode after release of the game." I've got absolutely no idea how that might work, but I expect this will be a hugely neutered feature that won't be able to compare to the stuff that SPT modders have been putting out.

It's still good news, of course, and a potential sign that BSG might properly upgrade the official PvE game mode down the line.

As it currently stands, though? SPT has far superior AI, a greater variety of content, and essentially weekly content drops that you can but don't have to interact with. All of it is driven by the community, all thanks to mods. I just don't see the official PvE mode being open enough to meaningfully integrate all of these upgrades.

And so I'm more than happy to stick a few builds behind Tarkov proper just to be able to access the SPT community's content goodness. In fact, I'm way more excited about new mod drops nowadays than I am about Escape From Tarkov's major content updates. It's not something I expected to happen just a few years back, but here we are.

The post I’m more excited about Single-Player Tarkov mod’s player-made content that the official updates appeared first on Destructoid.

Just shy of eight years after the release of Planet Coaster, developer Frontier Developments is looking to build upon the ultimate amusement park-building experience with a sequel. Frontier recently invited me to spend about an hour and a half hands-on diving into some park building in Planet Coaster 2, and I'm very excited about the direction in which the theme park sim appears to be heading.

Pack your bathing suit

The first part of the preview dropped me into a Scenario that I was told is about midway through the reworked Career mode in Planet Coaster 2. My inherited park was split into two separate partitions, and it's my job to essentially build a water park in one of them. I knew that water parks were the big draw of the sequel, but I was afraid it would just be the addition of some simple water-themed rides. I'm happy to report, that's not the case.

While there are in fact some new water-based flat rides, the main new feature here is being able to build your own beaches and pools. There are a few pre-made pools you can build, but you can also free-form build your own, shaping the size and the depth of the water. Aside from looks, this also impacts how you can further interact with the pools you build.

Several new rides also interact directly with the pools you build. You have the option of keeping your pool as its own attraction in itself, be it a simple swimming pool, a wave pool, or even building out a lazy river for your guests to wade around the park, but you also have the option of integrating rides with the pool. New attraction options include water slides and flumes, with the opportunity to build your own custom creations, dumping your visitors into your pools at the end of the ride.

Instead of taking the easy route and just throwing in some simple new rides, Frontier has added in-depth and fleshed-out systems that allow you to get creative and build some impressive water parks. The great thing is, it's up to you if you want to make the water park section of your amusement park its own thing, or you can integrate it alongside your standard coaster park.

Putting the THEME in Theme Park

Even though I only have about 50 hours in the original Planet Coaster—very casual numbers to the park-building aficionados—I immediately realized there are a handful of major quality-of-life improvements in the sequel. A very divisive task in the park-building world, the placement of queues and paths, has been fleshed out and optimized, making the process of wrapping your queues around the limited space in your park much easier than I remember in the original.

New themes have been added when building parks, giving players plenty of options for designing thematic sections of their park including the Resort, Aquatic, Viking, and Mythological themes. The custom pools you build can also integrate the new themes and props, allowing you to create uniquely themed sections of your park, just like you'd see at Disney World.

For the real park-building pros who like to add all the nitty gritty details, a new event sequence tool allows players to perfectly time and execute mesmerizing effects to further bring rides and the park itself to life. Some of the creations from the original Planet Coaster we absolutely insane, and I can't wait to see what players who take the time to master all the new systems in Planet Coaster 2 will be able to come up with.

A little more management

My only issue with the newer simulation titles including Planet Coaster, Planet Zoo, and Jurassic World Evolution is that the management options feel a bit thin. I didn't get to see all the new aspects of Planet Coaster in that regard, but what I did see was certain improvements to the management features available.

I spoke with Planet Coaster 2 Senior Executive Producer Adam Woods and Game Director Richard Newbold about this exact thing, and they assured me that improving the actual management aspect of your park was a big focus when developing the sequel. First and foremost, an entire narrative aspect has been implemented alongside the Career Mode, with fully voiced characters.

As you progress through the Career Mode you'll be presented with challenges on how to tackle each scenario, earning starts for completing various challenges. As you accrue more stars, you can access more scenarios.

But even on a base level, more management options are present in Planet Coaster 2. There are more staff to hire, more management-related buildings to build, and services to maintain. Players will have to build power generators and setup a power grid to keep their park running. Any attractions or pools will need to be properly maintained, and cleaned, as well as provided with a source of water via water pumps.

Planet Coaster 2 is set to launch on November 6, 2024 on PC via Steam and Epic Games Store, PlayStation 5, and Xbox Series X|S at a price point of $49.99. A Deluxe Edition is also available for $64.99 which comes with the Vintage Funfair Ride Pack. This pack features a collection of 10 vintage attractions including a nostalgic Grand Carousel and some traditional wooden coasters.

The post Planet Coaster 2 enters the splash zone with the addition of water parks appeared first on Destructoid.

I always had mixed feelings about the original New World. I first played it when it launched in 2021 and got to experience the full mix of genuinely enjoyable gameplay, questionable server issues, and quests that repeated the same few objectives throughout most of my playthrough. Even with all that said, I still dedicated over 400 hours to it, and I enjoyed the pace change from more traditional MMOs.

Fast forward to 2024, Amazon Games announced a rerelease for this moderately successful MMO named New World: Aeternum. Since I'd been away from the community for a while, I had no idea what to expect going into it, and I'll admit to feeling some slight pessimism initially. Nonetheless, I looked forward to accepting and hopping into the Open Beta's early access weekend.

Fortunately, while it had a couple of mishaps here and there, New World: Aeternum did a great job at adding refreshing and interesting changes without turning it into a messy mish-mash of random features. I'll admit it: I'm hooked again, even if this revamped version has its ups and downs.

I was even more pleasantly surprised when I learned that this is a free, fresh-start rerelease for anyone who already owns New World. While it seems mostly intended for those with the Rise of the Angry Earth expansion, anyone with the base game will also see a good chunk of Aeternum's changes. At the very least, I was happy to hear that, outside of losing our original characters and servers, we would all get the chance to experience New World: Aeternum regardless of whether we had the expansion. Despite some pessimism at first, this was a positive thought I kept in mind as I was playing the open beta.

A rough start

I won't harp on my first few minutes of tackling New World: Aeternum's servers too much, especially since this was a beta test, but I still felt it was worth mentioning as someone who has firsthand experience with New World 1.0's launch. While I didn't encounter long queues or crashes like in the latter, minor error hiccups occurred, with a real possibility of them resurfacing later. Admittedly, this much is par for the course for live-service game launches and is ultimately up to personal discretion, but the parallels it drew to New World's 2021 launch lingered in my mind for some time.

That is until I finally entered the game and immediately experienced some new changes within the first few minutes. Any bad taste in my mouth at that point vanished instantly in favor of curiosity and intrigue. Wanting to see what other new features I'd discover, I dove in eagerly and forgot about my initial sour attitude going into this. Instead, it was replaced with fascination and optimism, albeit some skepticism that lingered even a couple of hours into my playthrough.

A few changes make all the difference

New World: Aeternum starts us off in a familiar setting, introducing us to Father Russo, Captain Thorpe, and crewmates on a pirate ship before diving into the game's character creator. Immediately, I recognize two massive changes: the polish of New World's new cutscenes and the revamped character menu. Rather than just designing your appearance and figuring out your weapons later, the game introduces you to archetypes, which are basically traditional character classes that impact your starting stats, weapons, and armor. Afterwards, you go into appearance and name-changing as usual.

I've always liked having a character class in games, especially MMOs, even if New World's original open-ended approach was more interesting to start. Since archetypes affect both your weapons and trade skills, giving you a 50-level boost to various skills, I'm left feeling curious about how it'll impact early and mid-game skilling, particularly once the trading post gets involved.

From this point onward, my optimism grew, and I suddenly felt genuinely eager to keep playing to see what other changes there were. By this moment, I had the game open for about ten minutes, and five of those were figuring out a weird server bug. Since I used a sword and shield during my first playthrough of New World, I entered New World: Aeternum as a ranger, giving my character a bow and spear to spice things up. There's a musketeer option, too, but I never really liked the feel of guns in the original and wanted to stick to something more familiar.

My unexpected feelings of intrigue and curiosity continued as I witnessed more of the game's cutscenes and, later, the tutorial. Although my memories of the original New World's tutorial were a little foggy due to how long it's been since I've seen this, I immediately recognized the stark contrast in the setup, our protagonist's background, and the sequence of events that happen in it. We're no longer just a random person who stumbled into a corrupted plane of existence and were forced to fight random enemies for reasons we'd barely pay attention to.

Instead, New World: Aeternum lays everything out through fascinating storytelling, a plot that actually makes sense, and surprisingly entertaining cutscenes that I enjoyed from beginning to end. We are a pirate who was part of the ship's crew, with Father Russo and Captain Thorpe's situations laid out in detail in front of us. I won't spoil what happens, but let's just say it makes more sense than whatever happened in the original New World. Even the tutorial and your usual ol' learning of the game's controls make sense now as you actively fight against the now-corrupted crew and have to fight your way out of the mess before your character dies.

Every change that New World: Aeternum introduces builds itself up to be a worthwhile successor to its original form even within its first few minutes. These feelings flourished as I played the game and noticed major and subtle quality-of-life changes, character interaction changes, and quest tweaks that made New World feel alive and refreshing. As time went on, though, I noticed that while there were plenty of differences, there were just as many similarities that were difficult to miss.

Something feels a little familiar

After leaving the vastly improved tutorial that shocked me beyond belief, I finally entered New World's main map. From the get-go, I was expecting a completely different game from what I experienced over two years ago. Instead, there were numerous similarities, and I noticed this almost immediately. Sure, the quest themselves are different, and there's enough changes that I wouldn't call New World: Aeternum identical to its original. Nonetheless, I wouldn't quite call it a day-and-night difference between the two versions.

One of the first places I checked was my weapons and skills. After all, I eventually got pretty involved in fine-tuning my builds so I could get more involved in expeditions in the original. Although I didn't expect a complete revamp, I wasn't anticipating the skills and buffs to be almost identical. I don't mind this, as that means I won't have to use too much brain power to come up with completely new builds from scratch, but I was hoping there'd be a few noteworthy changes.

The map and area names are also quite similar, with some level differences and quest-specific changes, as is the general mission structure. I've always enjoyed New World's quests despite most of them telling you to kill enemies and find items, and New World: Aeternum is no different. There's just something about seeing how your actions directly impact the world around you and the liveliness of the character's interactions with you that make generic quests feel worthwhile. You may not get vastly different mission structures in Aeternum, but you will get more interesting versions of what already existed.

The last main similarity I noticed immediately is the combat. While New World: Aeternum's feels much more polished and fluid than in its predecessor, it's still the same at its core. Trust me, I'm happy that I won't have to learn a completely new fighting style, but there are certainly opportunities to add some flair to combat, enemy types, and even basic movement that you won't see in this new version. The enemies themselves are also mostly the same, aside from some quest-related bosses.

Unfortunately, I didn't quite find an opportunity to try out PvP during this part of the open beta, but I'm definitely looking forward to it in the future. I had a whole basket of issues with it in the original version of New World, but with how much smoother combat feels now, I'm optimistic that there's been some noticeable improvement.

Despite these similarities, there are a bunch of changes that make New World: Aeternum interesting. NPC dialogue was completely reworked, several new quests feature some pretty fun objectives and boss battles, and most of the characters actually serve a purpose beyond just spouting exposition and dialogue that goes in one ear and out the other. There are enough changes in Aeternum to make the experience feel fresh and exciting while still staying familiar enough that someone who hasn't played for a while can get back into the swing of things without getting overwhelmed.

The world is old, but the experience is new

Although this might sound like I got bored or disinterested in Aeternum quickly, I still managed to fly through a good chunk of the open beta's content without even thinking about the time. If New World: Aeternum is so similar to the original, why was I able to play so much of it again without feeling bored?

Surprise. This feeling of surprise over witnessing how different yet familiar New World: Aeternum feels and how these changes are enough to revitalize my desire to replay it all over again. The original New World served as a valuable lesson for Amazon Games, and Aeternum's changes reflect this in every way.

New World: Aeternum also seems to be geared towards a few specific audiences. If you were on the fence about the original, Aeternum might be just what you need to try this game out. If you already enjoyed New World but just got a little tired of it, there's enough new content to enjoy that'll make the experience feel fresh. For anyone looking for a direct sequel, though, you won't find that here, and that's completely okay. If you're me, you'll feel overall content with the direction Aeternum is moving toward but still step forward cautiously in case the late-game experience goes awry or any drastic changes occur later down the line.

New World: Aeternum's open beta will run from September 13 to 16 on Xbox Series X/S, PS5, and PC via Steam. Its full release is planned for October 15, 2024.

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Tiny Tina's Wonderlands: The Land of Giants issue #1 in August 2024 and further explored the Borderlands universe through its versions of D&D, Bunkers & Badasses, just as Tiny Tina's titular game did. Now, we have five pages from the second issue, which will be released on September 18, 2024, to show you.

In the first issue of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands: The Land of Giants, we were introduced to the colorful cast of characters and read about their escapades in a brand new story that Tiny Tina's put together for them. After a short side quest, the party finds themselves in Boomstone, where a hill giant named Hilly the Kid has been causing a bit of a ruckus. That's where we left off, and the first five pages of issue 2 pick right up from that point. Trust me when I say you're going to want to read about how the party helps Hilly the Kid calm down.

5 exclusive preview pages from Tiny Tina's Wonderlands: The Land of Giants issue #2

Below, I've showcased all five of the pages that Dark Horse Comics provided for us to reveal in this exclusive preview to fans. As I said, take your time to read through them because you'll see how this is a true Borderlands story plucked directly from Tiny Tina's mind.

As you can see, the story takes a pretty wild turn. While the party is trying to figure out what they can do about Hilly the Kid, they get lost in a haircut competition, and everything goes a bit off the rails. This fits the vibe of Tiny Tina's Wonderlands and its quirky twist on Dungeons & Dragons beautifully.

The main quest is never the main quest for long with Tiny around. The world state can change in an instant, and the party often doesn't have a choice when it comes to the zany side quests because they almost always end up doing whatever Tina wants them to do.

I love that the comic translates the humor of the games so well because, as some people reported when they saw the Borderlands movie, it's not an easy universe to bring into other mediums. If you're eager to read more, head over to Dark Horse Comics and pre-order your copy so you don't miss out.

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There are a lot of easter eggs in Final Fantasy XIV, the most beloved of which involve NPCs showing up in unexpected places. As we head into spooky season, players are just starting to rediscover a seasonally appropriate example of this. 

Edda Pureheart, the NPC we’re introduced to during the main story and who later makes an appearance in Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard) and Palace of the Dead is, and I’m sorry to break it to you if you’re thus far unaware, dead. However, this doesn’t prevent her from making an appearance every now and then. 

If you’re lucky, it’s possible to come across Edda’s ghost in any of the three starting city states (Limsa Lominsa, Gridania, or Ul’dah). And I do mean very lucky, because she has a less than 1% chance to spawn in her ghostly form. She’ll stick around for a few seconds, then disappear as though she was never there. 

Now here comes possibly the worst part: she will only show up at 2 a.m. in one of the possible locations, and only on a rainy night. It’s fair to say that the odds are stacked against you when it comes to waiting for this encounter, but if you’ve ever tried to catch any of the particularly rare fish in FFXIV, then you should be used to this kind of hellish probability. 

She’ll only appear if you’ve finished Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard), but that’s where the certainty ends. There are conflicting tales as to when she stops appearing, with some people saying she will stop showing up after you complete level 50 of Palace of the Dead, and others saying that she will continue showing up regardless of whether you’ve completed Palace of the Dead or not. 

The ghost made its first appearance alongside the addition of Tam-Tara Deepcroft (Hard) way back in patch 2.3, but it’s definitely an easy one to miss or simply not know about. It’s understandable that a new wave of players are beginning to discover her existence, and it warms my heart that people are still talking about Edda so long after her fate was sealed.

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Deadlock, Valve's most poorly guarded secret since 2003, is already a considerable hit among Steam's ever-growing user base. The hybrid shooter is shaping up to be way more than a novelty and has rarely dipped below the 140,000 concurrent player mark in the past week ever since it was officially announced last week.

Sadly, despite its early state, Deadlock has already caught the eye of enough cheaters to disrupt the game.

Cheaters love Valve games

Video game cheats are part of an industry whose real numbers are hard to find out, but we know cheaters permeate all layers of the competitive ladder in all games affected. Many games even see pros getting caught for illegal activity every year.

What's weird about Valve's games is that cheats come by even when there's no competitive or profitable angle in sight. Team Fortress 2, one of Valve's most endearing titles, is as close as a shooter can get to a party game. Sure, it later added a competitive mode, but Team Fortress 2 spent most of its life being a fun romp devoid of the pressures we tend to associate with more competitive titles, such as Valve's own Counter-Strike.

Still, none of that prevented Team Fortress 2's servers from first being disrupted by cheaters, then by a swarm of bots so large it permeated every server and barely left any space for regular players to even get in. The issue grew so debilitating and lasted so long that fans sought to make a campaign to beg Valve to save the game.

Valve ended up mostly fixing the problem at some point, but that was the bizarre reality of Team Fortress 2 for a while. All fans are naturally hoping Valve took the necessary notes to prevent something similar from happening to Deadlock as well.

Valve's new MOBA-like shooter was certainly made with a competitive angle in mind, but the game barely even has any way of measuring one's Matchmaking Ranking, let alone have a serious ranked mode. It's still that bare-bones. And yet, it's not entirely impossible to meet players who will happily lower your unknown MMR by using obvious cheats that render you unable to compete.

In Deadlock, all characters have their own collection of wild abilities, so we're long past the time when cheaters would just headshot you through a wall. You can now expect all sorts of shenanigans, like enemies who teleport away from you right as you're about to get killed.

That's not to say, however, that old-timey cheaters with wallhack and aimbots are no longer a thing —they definitely are.

Those are the classics that you can be sure will always remain preserved.

What's the thing with cheaters in Valve games?

What's the point of cheating in Deadlock? Like, really - even if you're a cheater or a cheat-maker, why out yourself so early on? When Valve can so easily catch the accounts producing weird results among its still small player base and possibly find ways to counteract this kind of software in its infancy?

Are the cheat-makers just too confident that they cannot lose this war, or is trolling Valve games just too irresistible to them? We may never find out.

I'm glad I'm yet to find obvious cheaters in Deadlock, as they have the power to be especially annoying. Finding cheaters in TF2, a game that I can just leave as I please, has nothing on finding them in a game where a match might take up to 50 minutes. Well, probably not that long when cheaters are involved, but you get what I mean.

As of right now, I'm yet to find something to complain about regarding Deadlock, and I wholeheartedly recommend anyone try it as well.

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The Silent Hill 2 remake is on the horizon, and I didn't know what to make of it for the longest time. Credit where credit is due, I find the dense amount of mind fog preventing me from gauging my own hype for it to be an aptly positive sign, but it's Bloober team's latest update that really made me feel like this could be the real deal.

I’ve been following the Silent Hill series ever since Konami included a demo for the original game in the original PAL package of Metal Gear Solid. Was that a more charitable Konami from a nicer time in gaming, or had the company been evil all along and was trying to get 10-year-old me to pee his pants? I don't know, but I'm cool with either option because that demo changed my perception of what games could and should be.

I've always been skeptical of remasters and remakes. The too-polished nature of some remasters might erode the beautiful memories we have of some of our favorite classics' rough edges, and remakes can completely replace them, sometimes by what many deem "soulless" elements. I don't agree with the soulless part.

I'm pretty sure everyone involved with a high-profile remake is certainly putting their heart and soul into it, but that doesn't mean that the new project's soul understands or is connected to the original ones. I was never a fan of Bloober team, and my sentiment didn't change for the better when the company showed gameplay for the Silent Hill 2 remake via a combat trailer. Things didn't need to get worse, but they did when the company announced it was done with psychological horror — while developing the quintessential psychological horror game that it'd chosen to do.

Things only began to look better for me when PlayStation revealed an exploration trailer, which mostly seemed to get the tone and ambiance of a current-gen Silent Hill right.

I also liked the diegetic way in which James interacted with the items and accessed the map, but I wasn't crazy about the way in which we'd get a social media-like notification on the left side of the screen that came accompanied by a "BWAM" sound. It felt like Bloober had the right vision, but they also had to pair every right move with a slight step back.

Then Bloober announced the "No User Interface" mode, an option that basically removes all non-diegetic information the base game shows you on screen. I believe that this mode would, among many other things, fix the missed opportunity at immersion.

The fact that Bloober made the announcement with such joy leads me to believe that this is how the studio has always wanted you to play the game. Did Bloober have to tone it down to avoid the ire of a bigger company? One that wants a game that is more in line with modern releases and not one that would dare to take horror in a more horrifying direction?

No UI helps Silent Hill in more ways than one

Silent Hill works great with fixed camera angles because the original trilogy featured fantastic horror direction. Even though we no longer had the hard-fixed angles of Resident Evil's pre-rendered backgrounds, we were still looking at the game in the way that the developers had wanted us to. It worked masterfully.

It also works in first person, as we saw with P.T. However, the point of view chosen for the remake doens't work as well. It worked with Resident Evil 4, which popularized the over-the-shoulder camera to great effect, but even RE4's biggest fans will tell you that it just isn't as scary as the previous games in the Resident Evil series. It gives us too much control over the camera to set the mood and give players great jump scares. Nath, the developer of '90s revivalist horror title Hollowbody, shows it pretty well in this tweet showing a modded Silent Hill 3 with an over-the-shoulder 3rd person perspective:

There are things you can't help but lose by going with RE4's camera, but the removal of the UI could dramatically help with the immersion. It'll make you feel like there are important pieces of information you don't immediately have access to and, thus, things you're not in control of.

I’m of the mind that a remake should make bold moves — sometimes even crazy-sounding ones — like the ones seen with FFVII Remake/Rebirth. Tinkering with the gameplay in a way that would make it even scarier and seemingly less welcoming could do the game a great service. The problem? The awesomeness of these moves might take a while to realize. Silent Hill 2 didn't enjoy the commercial success of the original game, and it took people some time to realize that they were, indeed, experiencing something far better than even the first game.

Team Silent suffered because of that back in 2001 because Silent Hill 2 cost much more to make and made much less money than the first one, and those were more forgiving times. The Silent Hill 2 remake might have to hit a home run on day one to avoid the Internet's vitriol — even if a genuinely spectacular game exists within.

That is not to say that "No UI" should be the only way to play the game. I'm not applying the same Dark Souls purist logic that rejects any idea of an easier difficulty setting — but I think this should be the base way to play the game. I'm saying that right after the brightness settings recommendations, you should see an important figure from the series canon, say, the Shiba Inu from Silent Hill 2's dog ending, recommending you to turn off the UI.

As a person who's often resorted to turning off the UI in horror games, I believe that this will likely be the best way to enjoy Silent Hill 2 by far. It would be a shame if the game fails to capture the hearts of players just because they unwittingly decide to engage with the most horrifying game in existence in the safest way possible.

The remake will also allow players to toggle a "'90s filter". I immediately thought that sounded cool, but then I realized that the game already had the most iconic '90s filter of all time: its fog. So what's that about? We'll find out on October 8 when the game comes out for the PlayStation 5 and PC.

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Dress to Impress is one of the most popular games on Roblox to date, with hundreds of thousands of players daily. Players dress up to various themes to be voted on, with players with the highest score finishing on the podium.

Part of the game is being able to change your nail color with a nail technician dutifully waiting to help you out. It’s this nail tech, named Lana, that leads you into the horrifying lore that’s going on underneath the surface of the game.

Seeing as how the story is scattered throughout details in the game, questionnaires held by the official Roblox accounts, videos, and more, it’s tough to keep track of. Here’s the full story of the lore on Dress to Impress, and what’s going on with that creepy nail technician.

Lana lore explained

The lore began on April 1, 2024, during the April Fool’s Day update. Instead of Lana appearing normally, she was crying. On her desk was a journal, where Lana confessed that she hated working as a nail tech at the runway. She said she felt like nobody knew her name and no one appreciated her. 

However, it took a turn for the creepy when Lana proclaimed she would get her revenge on all of those who ignored her and that she would set fire to the nail studio. Behind her were missing posters, and next to the diary was a target list. It included many of the developers of Dress to Impress. The important ones to note on the list are the creator of the game, Gigi, and M0T0PRINCESS, who writes most of the lore.

Soon after this update, an official YouTube channel was made by Lana, LanaDoesNails, and unsettling videos began to be posted, filled with red lighting and static. They’re very reminiscent of analog horror. These videos didn’t make a lot of sense to the players when they were first posted, but they’ll be important later on. 

Lana airing out all the dirty laundry on the runway caught the attention of the wrong people. On April 20, the next update came out with a new diary on Lana’s desk. It reads that the Lana at the desk is not the real Lana. She’s been replaced by a doppelganger. The reader is then told to find her, with Lana’s Roblox user ID appearing. Go to her page, and you’ll find a creepy game called The Forest where you’ll learn more about Lana’s history. She was drowning in medical debt, and Gigi offered to pay it off if she worked at the runway. But Lana didn’t know the truth about the runway at the time, which was that it was run by a mysterious group called The Awakening. 

That same diary says that Dress to Impress is run by this evil group, and they have plans against the player base. Lana created her own group on Roblox, which was meant to be a rebellion against The Awakening, called Saudade. Several accounts were already a part of the group, and many players flocked to join Lana against The Awakening.

The Awakening relates back to Lana’s YouTube. The first video posted what appeared to be security footage before a red and black face appeared on the screen asking why Lana dared to reveal their plans. Since the video was titled Awakening, it’s not hard to infer that it’s the same group threatening Lana that runs the game.

More questions than answers

Lana would hold questionnaires in her server with the players, answering questions about both groups. However, something was off in these questionnaires. One day, Lana would be wearing an eyepatch, and then the next claim she’d never worn an eyepatch in her life. She would give conflicting answers, even claiming that The Awakening wasn’t evil at all after saying Gigi and The Awakening wanted to use the player base for human experiments. 

It turns out that players were not speaking to the same Lana the entire time. Someone was cloning Lana, and different doppelgangers would show up and answer questions. Lana’s account and the Saudade group would post that someone was taking over Lana’s account and using her for their own means, including sacrificing the members of Saudade. 

Lana then does something wild — she begins holding executions of her group members in her questionnaire server. No, I’m not kidding. She executed three Saudade members before M0T0PRINCESS held her own questionnaire, claiming that Lana was using the body parts of those killed to make herself stronger. 

In the final questionnaire, two former Saudade members kill Lana. Or they at least killed one of the Lanas. 

A YouTube video titled The Last Serenade was posted quickly afterward. This video reveals that Lana is still out there and leads players to a portal at the end. This portal brings you to The Fortress server, where you can explore rooms that give us a huge look at what’s actually happening through the various notes on the walls and

The Beast Within

Lana’s doppelgangers, and subsequently everything awful that’s been happening with The Awakening, have been orchestrated by a massive Eldritch monster named Agamemnon. This creature has been the one creating all the Lanas to do their bidding, using the body parts to gain strength, and likely is who really started The Awakening. Agamemnon manipulates the Lanas in an attempt to reach his pure form. 

This was further confirmed by another video, which shows how Agamemnon manipulated Lana into trusting him and doing what he wanted. 

Hints of Agamemnon can be found in the Dress to Impress servers, such as walking through the wall into what’s referred to as the meat room (which many theorize is Agamemnon’s stomach) or entering Freeplay Mode and finding the mural which shows a horrifying, massive red and black creature. This is Agamemnon. 

In the Summer Update for the game, a new diary was found. It simply repeated “I love my job” repeatedly. On the next page, “I don’t feel the plague” is written. This relates back to Agamemnon, who started a group called The Plague. Lana is also in this group, and we have yet to find out what The Plague plans to do. 

This leads us to the most recent lore in the September 1 update. Lana has been entirely replaced by a new nail tech, Lina. If you walk through a spot in the wall in the nail room,  you’ll drop down to a floor below where a Lana is being held in a cage, next to an empty one labeled for another Lana. 

The Plague is coming

While there’s still a lot to be uncovered, this is what we can take from the lore. Dress to Impress is being run by a cult called The Awakening, which serves to help the creature Agamemnon gain strength to reach its true form. Lana has been cloned many times to aid in this, but some of the clones are going rogue and trying to warn the players before Agamemnon can gain enough strength. 

What’s still a mystery is whose side Lana is really on. Is she being manipulated into thinking she’s doing what’s right? Or is she evil? Is the real Lana trying to stop all this but isn’t able to? What happens if Agamemnon gains full power?

A good guess is that The Plague is the chaos that will reign down upon the Earth if Agamemnon reaches its true form. However, I don't know how this would be shown in a game about dressing up in cute clothes. We’re hopeful that the upcoming Halloween Update will give us answers, but nothing is for certain.

On the surface, Dress to Impress seems like a simple fashion game that anyone can play and enjoy. However, next time you’re getting ready to slay the runway, don’t forget about what’s going on underneath the floorboards. 

The post The Dress to Impress lore is actually terrifying appeared first on Destructoid.

As the evenings start to draw in, the leaves begin to change, and Halloween approaches, it’s natural to start to think about all things spooky. Witches are an icon of the spooky season, but they don’t just appear in works of fiction. 

As someone who has, over the years, developed something of an obsession with both fictional and more real-life depictions of witches, it’s safe to say that I’ve read a lot of books on the subject. Whether you’re looking for something to escape reality, or something a little more factual, here’s 10 of the best books about witches.

The Witches by Roald Dahl (1983)

I’m going to ease us in gently and start this list with the book that started it all for me, and likely a lot of others — The Witches. As a child, this book is akin to light horror, but it’s a staple read for any youngster in my eyes. Even now as an adult, I still love going back and reading this Roald Dahl classic, soaking up the imagery and imagination within the story.

The book was adapted into a movie in 1990 (and again, later in 2020, but we don’t talk about that version), which still gives me the heebie-jeebies to this day thanks to the ever present creep-factor both on screen and within the pages of the source material.

The Once and Future Witches by Alix E. Harrow (2020)

Imagine the suffragette movement, but instead of fighting for the right to vote, women are fighting for the right to once again practice magic. That’s the tale embedded in the pages of Harrow’s Once and Future Witches. 

This one is full of anger, and almost works as a sort of alternate reality to real-life history, with its characters facing an uphill battle against abuse, trauma, and absolute injustice. It’s definitely not a tale I would recommend as a light read, but if you’re looking for something a little darker to sink your teeth into, give The Once and Future Witches a try.

The Witches of Vardo by Anya Bergman (2023)

The first book of many on this list to bridge the gap between fiction and reality, The Witches of Vardo follows the story of a distraught widow as she enters into an adulterous relationship with a merchant, only to be discovered by the merchant’s wife. The spurned wife then goes on to accuse her of being a witch. Seeking to rescue her from captivity is her daughter, Ingeborg. 

Although this story is not a true one, at least as far as I have ever discovered during my in-depth research of witch trials around the world, it is set at the time of the Vardo Witch Trials in Northern Norway, which took place between 1662 and 1663. 

The Daylight Gate by Jeanette Winterson (2012)

Alice Nutter was one of the women accused of witchcraft in England during the Pendle witch trials of 1612. The main character of The Daylight Gate is based on, and shares her name with the historically very real Alice Nutter, although the story contained within the pages of this book is not supposed to be an accurate retelling of historical events or the life of the woman. 

However, having the very real basis of Alice Nutter as a character does add some weight to the heavy contents of The Daylight Gate. Winterson gives an all-too-real glimpse into British life during the frankly terrifying 17th century, when witch trials were sweeping the globe.

The Crucible by Arthur Miller (1953)

The Crucible is an absolute must read for anyone who is either interested in the history of witches or witch trials. It’s not quite fact, not quite fiction, but a little of both. The Crucible is a play, which does mean that the book is set out in script format for the most part, but that doesn’t defer from the story within the pages.

The characters of The Crucible all share names and roles with real people who were alive, and many of whom died, during the Salem witch trials in 1692. Their stories are based in reality although, at times, dramatized for effect. If you’re wanting to learn more about Salem, this is an amazing starting point. 

Witch Child by Celia Rees (2000)

When her grandmother is tried and convicted of witchcraft, Mary is shipped off to the Colonies in New England and finds herself caught between two communities - the Puritans, where witchcraft will get her killed, and as described by Rees, the “shamanistic” Native Americans. 

While definitely aimed towards a young adult audience, the suspense and imagery in Witch Child is enough to keep the attention of readers of every age, and Rees does an amazing job of capturing the essence of Puritan paranoia which was around when the first Colonies were formed in New England. 

The Heretic's Daughter by Kathleen Kent (2008)

In another choice which bridges the gap between fiction and fact, The Heritic’s Daughter focuses on the life of Martha and Sarah Carrier. Martha Carrier was one of the first women to be accused and convicted of being a witch in Salem, and this book takes her life and dramatizes it to glorious effect. 

Kathleen Kent is actually a direct descendant of the Carriers, and this was her first novel, telling the fictionalized tale of her kin and everything they went through during the hysteria of the late 17th century. Definitely a hard read, but if you’re interested in witches, one that I would highly recommend.

Six Women of Salem by Marilynne K. Roach (2013)

From healthy blends of fact and fiction, to something which is proven fact, Six Women of Salem does exactly what it says on the tin, or should I say cover? 

Following the lives of six of the accused ‘witches’ in Salem both before and during the Salem witch trials, this book is insightful, at times difficult to read, and at other times heartwarming. It truly takes these historical people and makes them very real, leaving you wondering whether, in a different lifetime, you could have been friends. 

The Witchfinder’s Sister by Beth Underdown (2017)

If you’ve had your fill of books which focus on the accused womens perspective, you should give The Witchfinder’s Sister a try. Inspired by the real-life, notorious Witchfinder General Matthew Hopkins, this book takes his life and his fight against witchcraft, fictionalizes it, and turns it into an incredibly heavy read. 

After moving back home to her brother’s house and discovering that he is hell-bent on sending innocent women to the gallows, Alice struggles to decide where her loyalties should be, and discovers some terrifying secrets from her own families past. 

The Hammer of Witches by Christopher S. Mackay (2009)

I cannot write this list without mentioning the book which started the hysteria of witch trials, was used by King James I in his mission to seek out and eradicate witchcraft, and essentially gave birth to all of the lore we know today about witches and their craft - Malleus Maleficarum, published in 1486. 
Having said that, I wouldn’t recommend seeking out the original text — I have it, it’s written in Latin, and trying to translate it is a pain. However, there is a modern translation available in the shape of The Hammer of Witches, which is the only modernized version of this macabre textbook I’ve ever been able to find.

The post 10 Best Books About Witches Of All Time appeared first on Destructoid.

Video game-based movie adaptations often prove disastrous, but Sonic the Hedgehog managed to avoid joining that club. The rather unsightly first looks at the titular Blue Blur broke the Internet, but Sonic (Ben Schwartz) was redesigned, his live-action blockbuster debut turned out to be a massive hit, and now, his beloved video game series has become the basis for an entire franchise.

Following up both Sonic the Hedgehog 2 and the Paramount+ streaming series Knuckles is Sonic the Hedgehog 3. This time around, Shadow the Hedgehog (Keanu Reeves) stands as the central antagonist, giving Sonic, Tails (Colleen O'Shaughnessey), and Knuckles (Idris Elba) a run for their money. Thus, they're left little choice but to form an uneasy alliance with their longtime enemy, Dr. Robotnik (Jim Carrey), who's also set to go on quite a journey of his own.

As revealed in the Sonic 3 trailer, Robotnik will come face to face with his equally scientifically-inclined grandfather, Gerald Robotnik (Carrey). If you're not too familiar with the extensive and sometimes complicated lore of the Sonic video game franchise, but want to learn a bit about Gerald ahead of Sonic 3, you've come to the right place.

Gerald's video game history

Though his brief appearance in the inaugural Sonic 3 trailer may indicate that Gerald Robotnik is a bit of a goof, much like his grandson, that's not quite the case. Since making his debut in the 2001 platformer Sonic Adventure 2, it has consistently been shown that Gerald is a brilliant scientific mind. He was specifically sought out to lead the secretive research program Project Shadow under the direction of the United Federation. He accepts, ultimately doing so to unlock the secret to immortality. With trial and error, he eventually creates Shadow the Hedgehog himself.

Unfortunately, his time as one of the leading minds of Project Shadow comes to a swift end. As he completes Shadow, the government gets cold feet and deems his work a danger to humanity. This eventually leads to him being sequestered on Prison Island, where he's left with no choice but to continue his research under the government's close watchful eye. Shadow, now completed, initially escapes custody but is soon brought to Prison Island and kept in suspended animation. Dr Robotnik later releases him from this imprisonment long after Gerald loses his mind and is executed.

Maria Robotnik and the future of the Sonic film franchise

Seeing as the movies don't follow the exact canon of the games, Gerald Robotnik could be up to all sorts of things in in Sonic 3. Surprisingly, there's a good chance that his story in the film could be similar to that of his video game counterpart.

In addition to potentially aiding in the creation of Shadow the Hedgehog, the plot may hint at the tragic fate of another character: his granddaughter Maria Robotnik (Alyla Browne), who has been confirmed to appear in the threequel in some capacity. She's the main motivating factor behind Gerald's decision to join Project Shadow and, unintentionally, his descent into madness.

When he signs up, she's terminally ill, and he wants to use his research to save her life. Sadly, his involvement in the program leads to the exact opposite. With Project Shadow crumbling, troops from the Guardian Units of Nations, or G.U.N., are sent to the Space Colony ARK, where Gerald is conducting his research. With armed personnel swarming, Maria and her friend Shadow are forced to flee.

Shadow makes it out, but Maria is shot and killed by an ARK soldier, which sends Gerald into a tailspin and manifests in his plan to destroy the world using Shadow. It's entirely possible he could seek revenge for her death in the film and use Shadow as the means to do so, or she has yet to be killed and will be over the course of the film, setting up a fourth movie.

All in all, Gerald Robotnik, despite not being the most well-known character in the Sonic canon, remains one of its most vital. It will be interesting to see how he's used on the big screen when Sonic the Hedgehog 3 premieres on December 20, 2024.

The post Sonic the Hedgehog 3: Who is Gerald Robotnik? appeared first on Destructoid.

Growing up, several films stuck in my memory, helping develop my love for the medium and encouraging me to study film at a university level. Pokemon: The First Movie, I'm not ashamed to say, is certainly one of them. The hype surrounding it, the whole experience with the free cards, themed decorations, and the excitement of a trip to the cinema all helped secure it as a well-loved memory of the film.

However, while writing an article on the worst video game movie adaptations, I found that critics of the time hated it. This was a surprise for me, as I knew full well most of my friends at the time, and even now, as we look back on it, remember it being really rather brilliant.

Why did critics hate Pokemon: The First Movie so much?

I took a journey through history and dug up a bunch of critics' reviews from all the way back in 1998, when the internet was just really beginning to open up. From my investigations, one thing became abundantly clear: reviewers of the late '90s were wholly unimpressed by this Japanese export that was taking the younger generation by storm.

From what I could gather, most reviewers simply weren't familiar with the source material. Even Roger Ebert, one of the finest film reviewers, struggled to grasp the concept of Pokemon, quoted as saying that "The story is idiotic" and that "The individual Pokemon have personalities that make the Teenage Ninja Mutant Turtles look like Billy Crystal." Overall, the Pokemon phenomenon and craze seemed to have missed most reviewers, with this film being their first real exposure to the show, characters, and game that came along with it.

I think it is clearly a case of Pokemon: The First Movie being misunderstood by critics. Words like idiotic and humorless are thrown around, with the New York Times proclaiming that "the magic doesn't bridge the generation gap" when watching as an adult.

Reviewers were also unimpressed with the level of animation. Tim Brayton, writing for Alternate Ending, points out that "for the film that remains, 20 years later, the highest-grossing anime film in North American history, one would long for there to be at least any artistry." Numerous reviewers mirrored this sentiment.

A fast fan favorite

I vaguely remember the hype surrounding the film before it came out and the excitement of seeing it in the cinema. I received my free special edition Pokemon card, which was the much-sought-after Pikachu. With popcorn and a drink in hand, my mother led me to the screen.

As a child, I was an avid collector and trader of cards and had watched enough of the TV show to be intimately familiar with the characters. I knew what I wanted to see and was pumped for a story about Mewtwo, the most powerful Pokemon of all. Basically, I was a 9-year-old in the late '90s; Pokemon was pretty much my life at that point. This is, I think, the core of what fans love so much about the film.

Pokemon: The First Movie is complete fan service. There isn't a complete story in its almost 90-minute run time. We get little in the way of introduction to the characters, Pokemon, or universe because we are expected to know it all already. As TheUnknown871-3 on IMDB points out, "It really just feels like an extended version of a TV episode rather than a feature film."

This is perfect for the fans. We went to the cinema or watched the DVD with all the background knowledge we needed. This extra-long episode of Pokemon was essentially just a special dedicated to the most powerful Pokemon of all. This is why we loved it, I think. It was made for the Pokemon trainers among us, not for people who couldn't tell a Weedle from a Wigglytuff.

What the fans wanted from the movie, the fans got. It was a delve deeper into the world of Pokemon for the fans, and even now, the reviews are full of love for the franchise and nostalgia. TheMovieDiorama raves that "As a hardcore Pokemon fan, I can say that young Luke was damn happy with this, and old Luke still is!". This is where the film shone.

Why Pokemon: The First Movie divided critics and fans

If you were out of the Pokemon loop, the film was kind of dumb, and the highs and lows were lost due to unfamiliarity with the characters and backstory. Watching the warring Pokemon cry together over Ash Ketchum's petrified corpse wouldn't have too much gravitas if you weren't familiar with the epic battles he had waged in previous episodes.

Pokemon: The First Movie is a film for the Pokemon-loving audience. The high audience review score is due to how satisfying the movie is for folks invested in the franchise. Coming into the film as an outsider with little knowledge of it previously would definitely be disappointing. It can hardly stand up to the masterfully made Princess Mononoke, which came out only one year earlier.

Looking back at Pokemon: The First Movie, it's clear how much context plays a part in how well both critics and fans receive a film. As noted by both, the movie was just a continuation of the show. Clearly, without the context, this film doesn't stand up on its own. It is a film that needs some understanding of the lore and its characters to be genuinely appreciated.

We can see the same thing happening now with video game adaptations. Taking Uncharted, released in 2022, as an example, we again have a resounding flop from reviewers, but fans of the franchise are quick to jump to its defense. It seems that sub-par films can ride on the love and familiarity of the fans. However, reviewers aren't quite as quick to don the nostalgia-tinted spectacles.

At least Pokemon managed to serve the fans well. Now, all we have to scratch that video game itch are films like Borderlands; which makes Pokemon: The First Movie look Oscar-worthy.

The post Revisiting Pokemon: The First Movie and why it didn’t capture critics, but blasted off with fans appeared first on Destructoid.